One should know immediately that the two bands involved in this split, Lotus Thief and Forlesen, are intricately connected. Lotus Thief‘s lineup has been an evolutionary process that here finds them a six-piece, but three of those six players — vocalist Beth “Bezaelith” Gladding (also bass, guitar, mandolin, synth), screamer Alex “Ascalaphus” Lindo and guitarist/synthesist Petit Albert Yeh — also make up 75 percent of Forlesen, which is completed by Sam “Maleus” Gutterman on drums. And Gutterman was in Maudlin of the Well (which begat Kayo Dot), and Gladding and Lindo were both in Botanist and Yeh has played with the piano-driven Wreche, who like both units here are also on I, Voidhanger Records.

Lotus Thief has Mohrany (Heather) on backing vocals, Romthulus (Kevin) on guitar and Sonnungr (who I would imagine was born with a different first name) on percussion alongside Gladding, Lindo and Gutterman, they and Forlesen both offer one mostly-side-consuming track around 12 minutes long — Lotus Thief‘s “In Perdition” is 11:56, Forlesen‘s “Black is the Color” checks in at 12:19 — while highlighting the similarities of mindset and the beyond-genre outreach each makes in its own direction. Not discounting anyone else’s contributions to the material, but it’s Gladding at Lotus Thief‘s conceptual core, and the band’s established methodology of adapting obscure ancient texts — “In Perdition” draws lines from the first story of Giovanni Boccaccio’s 1353 story collection The Decameron, which tells the tale of a Master Ciappelletto in suitably lofty religious tones. I don’t think you were allowed to write anything in Europe before 1700 that wasn’t about God. Ask Galileo. Or Copernicus.

But it is amid a spacious strum that Gladding sets the foundation for “In Perdition,” moving smoothly into harmony with Mohrany with an air of Americana that feels as much 16 Horsepower as all the talk of perdition and paradise put one in mind of Lingua Ignota, but at about two and a half minutes, Lotus Thief transition to a resonant melodic wash and from there burst out with soaring goth metal lead guitar (that is to say, soaring, but still sad) and a slow roll punctuated by Sonnungr‘s crash and plod. By the time another minute has passed, Lindo has arrived with the first screams and the entire context of the song has shifted, but that’s not to be unexpected considering the avant garde nature of both these bands. But the moment of post-extremity works well and when the fog clears, Lotus Thief take a moment to examine how the texture has changed in “In Perdition,” Gladding ultimately stepping forward for a next verse as the track heads toward its midpoint.

I’ll cop to a lack of familiarity with The Decameron, but the thing seems to be that Master Ciappelletto was “The worst of men,” and died without confession, was named a saint, and the point of the story seems to be he was an asshole. Fair enough. A blackened push, winding of riff, echoing of scream, charged and tense but progressive and melodic in ambience, gives over to a stately guitar solo before Gladding returns for a final verse and the fluid ending, which I don’t want to call doomgaze because it feels like an insult or a too-easy summary for such a headphone-worthy depth of layering, but at least on paper is an interpretation of the style.

It’s a comedown at the end, and it’s from there that Forlesen — who are the newer of the two bands, with two LPs out to Lotus Thief‘s three (not that it’s a contest) — pick up with the gradual forward percussive build, low rumble and vague melodic vocal of “Black is the Color,” which rises in its first four minutes to a crash-laced duet from Gladding and Lindo. A duly foreboding, brooding lumber takes hold, with charred whispers and screams far back as a hairier lead guitar accompanies strikes of piano in dramatic fashion.

And drama is for sure part of the crux for both Lotus Thief and Forlesen, the latter of whom issued a cover of Type O Negative‘s “Red Water (Christmas Mourning)” (posted here) last month in time for the holidays, and that influence can be heard in the lead guitar on “In Perdition” and “Black is the Color” as well, the latter oozing into an atmospheric slog laced with what might or might not actually be far-back screams and whispers, vague presences moving through, with grounding by the drums and piano as it turns to its most minimal point, with drum thud in open space, whispers, and crashes that feel inevitable as a next step forward on the marching progression. Yeh‘s piano is all the more resonant circa 7:45 just before Gladding and Lindo return on vocals (both clean singing), but when they do, the song has clearly hit its crescendo.

In it, Forlesen are poised enough to stand up to Lotus Thief “In Perdition,” but the backdrop against which that happens is darker, and however much both groups come across like they’re working to push their respective sounds — which are different, no matter how much they might have in common — as far into the unknown as they can, they’re still writing songs as a part of that process, it’s just what “song” means that changes, and that, as an ethic, is something to be admired. The repeated line, “We’ll be as one,” with Gladding in more of a lead spot mix-wise, caps the nodding last section of “Black is the Color,” and after all the lurch and distortion, it’s the quietly thudding drums and the melodic delivery of those lyrics that end the split, which in about 24 minutes’ time has given a fitting summation of what each of these projects is about, working on its own respective wavelength while complementary to the other.

Lotus Thief and Forlesen aren’t the first to put out a split while sharing members, and I’ll emphasize again that each has its own persona and purpose, and that those are brought to life with no less clarity than the tonal aspects or aesthetic intentions that might be common between them under a kind of progressive post-black metal/doom/this-genre-is-still-being-made-check-back-later-for-a-clever-name umbrella. By bringing the two entities together as they do here, what they’ve done is to essentially let each give a sampling of what they’re about in a way that, as neither act’s sound is particularly accessible despite being at least periodically gorgeous, allows those who might hesitate in the face of something so outsider-art, even in a heavy context, to take both on and get a preliminary understanding for what they’re about. To do so, especially for those who haven’t before, feels like a fast track to mind expansion.

Forlesen, Black Terrain (2022)

Lotus Thief on Facebook

Lotus Thief on Instagram

Lotus Thief website

Forlesen on Facebook

Forlesen on Instagram

Forlesen on Spotify

I, Voidhanger Records on Facebook

I, Voidhanger Records on Bandcamp

I, Voidhanger Records on Soundcloud

I, Voidhanger Records website

Silent in terms of output since the release of their consuming second album Black Terrain (review here) late last year, now-Oregonian progressive post-black metallers Forlesen leave a mark on 2023 in seasonal form with the Type O Negative cover “Red Water (Christmas Mourning).” Originally on the seminal Brooklyn goth/doom metallers’ landmark 1996 LP, October Rust (discussed here), which fuck yes I listened to in high school, the track has been encased in obsidian and buried alive from the sound of the treatment Forlesen give it, but the stately plod of the original is intact within that. This isn’t the only heavy Xmas song out there this year by any means, but if you’re out shopping or some such and that Mariah Carey song comes on, at least you have something to clean the slate afterward.

The PR wire sent the release info. No word on a third Forlesen yet, which if I’m honest is kind of a relief since 2024 is already slammed with releases and the prospect of something that might be more realized than Black Terrain is intimidating. But hopefully they get there sooner or later, and some unexpected fun — yeah, fun — in the meantime is an invite to fans to dig further into the band’s influences. I also heartily approve of doom claiming Type O Negative in hindsight, just so you know.

Song is out Friday, which is in two days. You’ll make it. Here’s that info:

FORLESEN draws from dark ambient, epic doom, black metal and slowcore, to create a dynamic and experimental sound. The quartet are preparing to unveil their black metal cover of TYPE O NEGATIVE’s “Red Water (Christmas Mourning)” on streaming platforms on December 15th.

Vocalist and guitarist Ascalaphus comments:

“TYPE O NEGATIVE were foundational for me, serving as my gateway into doom metal and remaining one of my favorite bands since. In a spirit of Saturnian revelry and sincere mournfulness, we offer this cover of the Drab Four’s grimmest of holiday songs, one that emphasizes the duality that made them such a special band – embers hardly alight after the evening’s celebration, a dark chill entering the room, a sense of both grandeur and nostalgia, along with a very sharp sense of loneliness and despair.

In our cover, then, we simply implemented that duality through the black metal prism. A lushness of melody and atmosphere that provides the backdrop to basically any and every TYPE O NEGATIVE song, cut to the core with the brute strength of raw, piercing, unfiltered emotion. In many ways this is TYPE O NEGATIVE’s bombast taken one step further, and their cruelty and hardship perhaps one step further than that.

TYPE O NEGATIVE did a lot of covers and always made it sound like themselves. There’s an irony to the fact that for a band who could make whatever they touched their own, so many other bands now try (and fail) to imitate them or are fairly literal in their interpretation. So paradoxically, I think the best way to honor what made a song of theirs special is to reinterpret it.

God Jul! Io Saturnalia! Ho ho ho…”

The track has premiered on the Machine Music digital compilation titled Milim Kashot Vol. 5, featuring alongside the likes of PANOPTICON, GNAW THEIR TONGUES and TRHA. All sales of the compilation go to For The Wildlife, a wildlife rescue and rehabilitation center.

About FORLESEN:
FORLESEN formed in San Francisco at the end of 2016 and released their debut, Hierophant Violent, in 2020. Comprised of two side-length tracks, it soon found a cult following. Now based in Portland, OR, FORLESEN’s compositional evolution continued with the release of Black Terrain in 2022, which saw the band expand into previously untapped musical realms.

FORLESEN is:
Ascalaphus (ex-BOTANIST) – Vocals, guitars, synth, harmonium, bass
Bezaelith (LOTUS THIEF) – Vocals, bass, guitars, synth
Petit Albert (LOTUS THIEF) – Guitars, synth, Hammond B3 organ, backing vocals
Maleus (ex-KAYO DOT, ex-MAUDLIN OF THE WELL) – Drums

https://www.facebook.com/forlesen
https://www.instagram.com/forlesenmusic/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/0hbsfntkd5jzcw2ytorlmy?si=5d69081c91cd47c6

https://www.facebook.com/i.voidhanger.records
https://i-voidhangerrecords.bandcamp.com/
https://soundcloud.com/i-voidhanger-records
http://i-voidhanger.com/

Forlesen, “Red Water (Christmas Mourning)” (2023)

Forlesen, Black Terrain (2022)

You don’t have to work too hard to make sense of the grunge in Simple Forms‘ new single. Called “Into Midnight,” it’s a four-minute cruncher that puts its double-guitar configuration to progressive use in atmospheric flourish that calls to mind some of what’s happening in European prog-heavy right now, bands like Iron Jinn or even Messa and a slew of others delving into sounds that might be disparate or dissonant in order to bring something specific to a given piece. The Portland, Oregon, five-piece were last heard from in June with the standalone “And Only Days” (posted here) and before that, it was January when they unveiled “Unprecedented Uncertainty” (posted here). You’d almost think these things were run on a schedule.

Naturally, I have no idea either way, but when Simple Forms started rolling out material publicly, it was this way as well. After four songs and much “members of” hoopla given the band’s associations with YOB, Norska, Hot Victory and Dark Castle, , they compiled them into their early 2023 self-titled debut EP (review here), which was a burner. If they’re going the same route — and again, I don’t know this — they’re at three singles, so maybe one more and then another four-tracker. And hey, if you wanna make math of it, you put two four-trackers together and that’s an eight-song LP. Kind of a nice way to make it easy on yourself, at least potentially, and taking their time has allowed Simple Forms (going by appearances on the listening end) to explore different styles around their basic underpinning in generalities like “heavy,” “doom” and so on. Jason Oswald sounding as established as he does here fronting the band is also its own narrative thread.

If you’re feeling, I don’t know, nuts?, I guess you can link back to all the other posts about the other songs — I’m fairly sure they’re all accounted for. If you’re not one for rabbitholes, the stream of “Into Midnight” is below and the rest is on their Bandcamp, which is where the minimal blue text below was sourced:

Music recorded at Red Rockets Glare in Portland, OR
Engineered and Mixed by Dominic Armstrong
Mastered by Adam Gonsalves at Telegraph

Simple Forms:
Jason Oswald – Vocals, Synth
Ben Stoller – Drums
Aaron Rieseberg – Bass
Dustin Rieseberg – Guitar
Rob Shaffer – Guitar

https://www.facebook.com/Simple-Forms-2159388204175112
https://www.instagram.com/simpleformsnw/
https://simpleformsnw.bandcamp.com/

Simple Forms, “Into Midnight” (2023)

The debut album from Portland, Oregon’s Tigers on Opium will be issued through Heavy Psych Sounds, as the Italian imprint announced last week. The well-mustachioed four-piece have two EPs — the latest of them is 2022’s 503​.​420​.​6669​.​vol_two, which featured the single “The Perfect Cocktail” (premiered here) that was also released separately — and various other short releases under their collective belt, and to go with the unveiling of preorders, artwork and album details for their first long-player, they’ve got the first single streaming as well, which is how you do. The album is called Psychodrama, and fair enough.

Last week was the Quarterly Review, so I didn’t get to post the signing announcement as I otherwise would have. I’ll take the opportunity to congratulate the band on the deal. Especially if you have any kind of mind toward European touring, pretty much ever, Heavy Psych Sounds is where you want to be right now. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure Nuclear Blast would take them abroad too, but then the band would have to trigger the drums on all their studio output. That ain’t helping. The first single from the record, called “Sky Below My Feet,” has a right on hook and a lead riff that reminds of ’80s metal without actually trying to be it, midsection gets a little Green Lungy, minus the folklore, plus some QOTSA bounce. At the bottom of the post.

Alright, to the information! From the PR wire:

Heavy Psych Sounds to announce TIGERS ON OPIUM signing for their debut full length !!!

Psychodrama is Tigers on Opium’s debut full length.

ALBUM PRESALE:

https://www.heavypsychsounds.com/shop.htm#HPS293

USA PRESALE:

https://www.heavypsychsounds.com/shop-usa.htm

A structured form of therapy in which a person dramatizes a personal problem or conflict, usually in front of a group of other therapy participants. The other participants usually take part in the drama, though each performance focuses on a single person’s concerns. The goal of psychodrama therapy is to work together in a group to achieve a better understanding of past traumas and the influence they can create, the members must feel willing to work together.

“When I came across the idea of psychodrama therapy, I started to think about how we have so many joint experiences as a society that currently happen or have happened, and how they shape both our singular and collective consciousness. Music has always been a form of therapy for not just me, but a massive amount of the people in the world. I started to conceptualize this as an idea for the album, thinking that we all have so many connections to major/micro events in time, and generally similar interpretations of them. Like the idea of a psychodrama therapy session, I started to envision how the songs could play out about these different moments… Almost like vignettes or snapshots of life, with the song playing the role of the individual, and the listeners playing the role of the group.” — Juan Carlos Caceres (vocals/guitar/keys)

The album PSYCHODRAMA explores various psychological and social experiences that have shaped our cultural evolution. Occultism, Propaganda, Atomic Warfare, Media Consumption, Religion, Social unrest, Nostalgia, Mental Struggle, Pop Culture, Revolution, and Change – are all themes explored throughout the album.

Out via Heavy Psych Sounds on March 1st 2024.

Produced by Juan Carlos Caceres
Engineered by Jeanot Lewis-Rolland and Adam Bradley Pike.
Tracked in Portland, OR at JLR Audio Productions, Dream Awake Studio, and Toadhouse Recording
Drum Tech Ben Engen
Mixed by Adam Bradley Pike at Toadhouse Recording in Portland, OR
Mastered by Jack Endino in Seattle, WA
All songs by Tigers on Opium
Lyrics by Juan Carlos Caceres
All songs published by Triangles Around Us (BMI)
Artwork by Branca Studio

TIGERS ON OPIUM is
Juan Carlos Caceres – Lead Vocals, Guitars, Synths, Piano
Nate Wright – Drums, Vocals
Charles Hodge – Bass, Vocals
Jeanot Lewis-Rolland – Guitars, Vocals

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

heavypsychsoundsrecords.bandcamp.com
www.heavypsychsounds.com
https://www.facebook.com/HEAVYPSYCHSOUNDS/
https://www.instagram.com/heavypsychsounds_records/

Tigers on Opium, “Sky Beneath My Feet” official video

Tigers on Opium, 503.420.6669.vol_two (2022)

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: Anthony Gaglia of LáGoon, Oopsy Dazey & The Crooked Whispers

—

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

I just have fun creating music on my own and with my friends. I’ve been playing guitar since I was really young, but for the first chunk of my guitar playing years I was playing classical guitar and did so all the way through college. I still love playing classical guitar, but I got pretty burnt out on how strict it all felt. My only goal now is to make music that I enjoy and more importantly fun to play live.

Describe your first musical memory.

Cruising around in my dad’s work van listening to music. He had a huge tape collection and he’d pick me up from school and let me pick out a tape and we’d drive around and listen to whatever I picked out as loud as the van speakers would allow. More days than not I’d pick ZZ Top’s Tres Hombres. He gave that tape collection to me a few years back.

-Describe your best musical memory to date.

Man, hard to pick just one. I’ve met so many rad people and travelled to some pretty cool places doing this music thing. In college I composed a classical piece based on Haitian voodoo rhythms and traveled to Doha, Qatar to present it at the World Conference of Undergraduate Research which was pretty unreal, so we’ll roll with that one.

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

When I was going to music school and getting all types of music theory shoved down my throat I had this formulaic way of going about writing songs. I thought I needed to jam everything I was learning into the music I was making. I was so focused on every song needing to have key and time signature changes, weird chord voicings, or all of the above. It’s a complex you see a lot of music school kids fall into. If you’re familiar with any of the music I’ve released over the past 8 years it’s pretty obvious I’ve moved away from that haha. I still think there’s a time and place for some of that stuff and still like nerding out on music theory but my songwriting now is definitely more of a “less is more” approach.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

For me it leads to expanding into other genres. I think that’s true in music, other forms of art, and life in general. If you aren’t trying other things you’re just limiting what you can accomplish.

How do you define success?

Releasing projects that I’m proud of and being the best friend, son, and husband I can be.

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

We found an overdosed couple in the bathroom after one of the shows I played in college. It was the first show of mine my now wife ever came to. The guy survived but unfortunately his girlfriend wasn’t able to be resuscitated. It was a pretty heavy scene.

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

A classical album. I’ve got a few solo, duo, and quartet guitar pieces I’ve composed. Someday I’d like to get those worked out with some other players and record a live performance of them.

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

Bringing people together and giving them a sense of community they might not have without it.

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

Becoming a dad.

https://anthonygaglia.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100093983161060
https://instagram.com/oopsy__dazey
https://oopsydazey.bandcamp.com/
https://linktr.ee/oopsy__dazey

https://www.facebook.com/LaGoonPDX/
https://www.instagram.com/lagoonpdx/
https://lagoonpdx.bandcamp.com/

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

Oopsy Dazey, Oopsy Dazey (2023)

LáGoon, Bury Me Where I Drop (2022)

Anthony Gaglia, Voodoo Heartbeat (2020)

‘The Endless Road Home’ closes Lord Dying‘s new album, Clandestine Transcendence. It is the second track to be featured from the upcoming MNRK Heavy (formerly E1/eOne Heavy) release, which the Portland, Oregon-based four-piece will issue on Jan. 19, 2024. Preorders up, link below, all that stuff. The band was already on tour in Europe for this record — alongside Conan, no less — so if you’re there and you saw them, I’d love to hear how they were. The what-if-goth-Voivod shenanigans of “The Endless Road Home,” the shift toward melodic vocals, and the underlying threat of being pummeled at just about any interval make the four-minute piece a complex slab of progressive metal, furthering the righteous, way-dug-in weirdo chase that Lord Dying undertook with 2019’s Mysterium Tremendum (review here), which brazenly redefined their course.

A controlled chaos of intricacy suits them as “The Endless Road Home” demonstrates. You’ll find its video along with that for all-caps first single “I AM NOTHING, I AM EVERYTHING” under the blue text below, which of course comes from the PR wire:

LORD DYING: Portland Progressive Sludge Metal Conjurors Unveil “The Endless Road Home” Video; Clandestine Transcendence Full-Length To See Release This January Via MNRK Heavy

Preorder link: https://lorddying.ffm.to/clandestinetranscendence

Portland progressive sludge metal conjurors LORD DYING are pleased to unveil their haunting new animated video for “The Endless Road Home,” the closing track of their long-awaited new studio album, Clandestine Transcendence.

From the earliest rumblings of their debut demo and self-titled EP (both issued in 2011), through the piledriving force of 2013’s Summon The Faithless and devastating despair of 2015’s Poisoned Altars, LORD DYING has composed masterfully melancholic music for the misanthropic, with grit and grime.

In 2019, the band delivered Mysterium Tremendum. The heady and adventurous existential reflection on death of that record served as the impetus to a trilogy, and that story continues in 2023 with an increasingly ambitious follow-up, Clandestine Transcendence.

On Clandestine Transcendence, LORD DYING cofounders Erik Olson (guitar, vocals) and Chris Evans (guitar) are joined by Alyssa Mocere (former bassist for Eight Bells) and Kevin Swartz (current drummer of Tithe). Produced by Converge guitarist Kurt Ballou (High On Fire, Code Orange, Kvelertak) at his God City Studios, the twelve-track opus steps even further into the great unknown, filled with riffs and vibes.

Mysterium Tremendum – Latin for “awe-inspiring mystery” or “terrible mystery” depending on one’s view of existence – began a narrative centered on a central character the band calls The Dreamer, a conceptual theme that drove expansive, sometimes monstrous, and even plaintive and vulnerable music. Olson describes The Dreamer as an immortal being who wants to die. On Clandestine Transcendence, he gets that wish.

Of “The Endless Road Home,” Olson notes, “This song is dedicated to all the road dogs, travelers, bands, crew, people that make tours happen, people that go to shows and general rabble rousers. We salute you.”

—

Clandestine Transcendence is a wholly immersive listen. Tension, drama, and atmosphere abound all over songs like “The Universe Is Weeping” and “Unto Becoming.” The massive scope and melodic vocals found on album three expand further on Clandestine Transcendence. Sharpened songwriting, emphasizing hooks, helps push both extremes of the band beyond prior limits. Simply put, the softer side is even dreamier; the heavy side is twice as brutal.

Clandestine Transcendence will be released on January 19th, 2024 via MNRK Heavy on CD, LP, and digital formats. Find preorders at THIS LOCATION: https://lorddying.ffm.to/clandestinetranscendence

Clandestine Transcendence Track Listing:
1. The Universe Is Weeping
2. I AM NOTHING, I AM EVERYTHING
3. Unto Becoming
4. Final Push Into The Sun
5. Dancing On The Emptiness
6. Facing The Incomprehensible
7. A Brief Return To Physical Form
8. A Bond Broken By Death
9. Break In The Clouds (In The Darkness Of Our Minds)
10. Soul Metamorphosis
11. Swimming In The Absence
12. The Endless Road Home

LORD DYING:
Erik Olson – vocals/guitar
Chris Evans – guitar
Alyssa Maucere – bass/vocals
Kevin Swartz – drums

https://www.facebook.com/LordDying/
http://instagram.com/lorddying
http://lorddying.bandcamp.com/

http://www.mnrkheavy.com
http://www.facebook.com/MNRKHeavy
http://www.twitter.com/MNRKHeavy
http://www.instagram.com/MNRK_heavy

Lord Dying, “The Endless Road Home” official video

Lord Dying, “I AM NOTHING, I AM EVERYTHING” official video

There was no real arguing with Holy Grove at the time, either. Based in Portland, Oregon, the bluesy heavy psychedelic soul rockers made their self-titled debut (review here) in 2016 through Heavy Psych Sounds. The response, if it wasn’t immediate, was close enough to it to be indistinguishable, and justified. Production by Billy Anderson and Adam Pike and Mike Moore (the latter two overdubs), still-stunning cover art by Adam Burke, a sound as thick as fuzzy as you like and the powerhouse vocals of Andrea Vidal cutting through with command and presence. I don’t want to call it a no-brainer for fear of being misinterpreted as saying the record is dumb, but certainly for those listening to it, the “well duh this sure rules” factor was pretty high.

Holy Grove circa Holy Grove was Vidal, bassist Gregg Emley, guitarist Trent Jacobs and drummer Craig Bradford. The latter didn’t stick around, and the band would go through a succession of drummers for the better part of the next half-decade, even booking a run in early 2020 that would’ve featured Andy Patterson (The Otolith, ex-SubRosa, ex-Iota, etc.) on drums — like everything else that Spring, it was canceled, but the prospect existed — but the groove fostered by the ‘original’ or at least the ‘initial’ lineup of the band wants for nothing. Beginning the seven-track procession with the nodder “Death of Magic” before its apparent revival in the slow-lumbering “Nix” — Emley introducing on bass the central riff that hearkens to C.O.C.‘s “Albatross,” as well as to Quest for Fire and, while we’re on “duh,” Black Sabbath — the album immediately knows its place, what it is, what it wants to do, and why. There is no questioning of purpose, no tentative rolling of metaphoric dice. Sometimes a band just sounds like they know their shit rules. To wit, “Holy Grove.”

From Sleep to All Them Witches, Witch Mountain and YOB and well beyond, Holy Grove seemed content to let the riffs sort out their own place in a heavy underground sphere. Their doom, always heavy, was restrained in its severity by languid tempos and an abiding sense of largesse, and the stops and volume swells and scorching leads of “Holy Grove” demonstrate clearly their focus on craft over specific genre adherence. Their songs, on Holy Grove and its 2018 follow-up, Holy Grove II (review here), can be expansive, crunching or both, and “Nix” early serves as a precursor to the closing duo “Hanged Man” and “Safe Return” later, both of which also top seven minutes in length, while even the shorter, riff-centered “Huntress” — centerpiece of the record, mind you — has an atmospheric impression cast through its tones, the reach of its mix, and the treatment on Vidal‘s vocals, intermittently layered and dynamic in keeping with the instruments surrounding, aligning with the rest of the band for the speedier, ultra-Iommic swing push at the end of “Huntress.”

There wasn’t much more Holy Grove could’ve done to bring people on board, short perhaps of mailing everybody on the planet who might be interested a free copy of the record. The energy of the second half of “Huntress” is maintained into “Caravan,” which offsets the thrust of its verse by opening to a stop in its chorus, Vidal controlling a tempest with backing vocals in a moment reminiscent but not necessarily derivative of Witch Mountain, whose former singer Uta Plotkin seemed capable of similar conjurations but whose style is more doom overall. Jacobs takes a particular burner of a solo in “Caravan” — if it’s been a while since you heard the album, listen for it — and just before giving over to the last two tracks, Holy Grove find the highest gear in terms of shove that they’ll hit on their debut. When “Caravan” stops, it’s a heavy silence.

And at 8:49, “Hanged Man” announces its arrival with far-back, fading-in vocals and a pointed spaciousness reinforced as the guitar holds out its first distorted riff like the version of “Black Sabbath” that might’ve showed up on Dehumanizer had they re-recorded it (and why didn’t they?), and unfurls with patience toward its stop-chug and twist-around blues verse, at once traditional and their own. Guitar howls in the second cycle through, and the roll of the chorus gives over to a consuming tempo push, multi-tiered, that summarizes the trajectory and dynamic the band have employed throughout, whether that’s shifts in volume or meter, mood or vibe, let alone volume. “Hanged Man” slows again to slide into its final hook, and ends big to let the momentum carry over to “Safe Return” (7:20), which rounds out with more bluesy stomp, breadth in its backing-vocal-inclusive chorus, and a raucous finish well earned after the tempo kick.

All this was, was a killer debut record. 2016 had a few of them — King Buffalo, Elephant Tree, Vokonis, Spaceslug, Year of the Cobra, etc. — but Holy Grove stood out because, yes, Vidal is just that kind of a performer, and also because Holy Grove is executed with such clarity of vision. It’s not that the record’s perfect — it’s not supposed to be — but that for what it’s doing, it’s doing it in just the right way for itself. It’s its own thing. It exists within a sphere, a genre, and there are plenty of the pieces that make it that will feel familiar to those who know the style more generally, but beyond those superficialities, the persona of Holy Grove was cast in the lack of pretense of this first record and the absolute heart put into the songs.

It’s been five years, but I’m still hopeful Vidal, Emley, Jacobs and a drummer can get a third full-length together. There was still a lot of potential in II amid the band’s strident progression, but in addition to being interested in how they might have grown, I’d be happy just to have a few more songs from them. They never officially broke up or anything, but there hasn’t been a ton of activity in the last three or so years, which I get. Nonetheless, the revisit here only reminds of why I’d been hopeful in the first place.

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

—

Today’s Friday. Kid went to school Monday and Wednesday this week. Tuesday was election day — The Patient Mrs. is now on the school board, which will be good to balance against the two bought-off, book-banning fascists who also got elected — and yesterday and today are teacher’s convention. I don’t know if other states/countries have something similar — probably — but it’s basically two professional development days for teachers, and there is an actual convention they can go to. For kids it’s just days off.

So, days off. Which, of course, are days on.

Yesterday morning dragged so long I’m pretty sure I’m still there. I did finally get the kid out of the house to go to the grocery store, but it was an ‘early Zelda’ day at about 3PM — normally I might try to keep the tv off until 5 or thereabouts — and my back was so sore I could barely move like the entire day, and every word out of The Pecan’s mouth between 5:30AM when she got up and after 9PM when she finally went up to bed because The Patient Mrs. and I were going to bed and I finally convinced her to get the fuck out of our room so we could do that was whined. Whining. All day. Every fucking thing. Whine whine whine. Even about non-complaint stuff. All fucking day. All. Fucking. Day.

I tried to get the babysitter today and she didn’t text me back. I wouldn’t text me back either.

It’s also my sister’s birthday, which is nice. Dinner here, probably. Need to vacuum after working on the kitchen this week, but the new ovens (yes, two) are in and the new cooktop works (though fewer of our pans are induction-ready than we thought), so The Patient Mrs.’ DIY bent continues. She cut out the front of the cabinet to hold the double-oven. It was pretty fucking impressive. Measure twice, and all that.

This weekend is Heavy Psych Sounds in New York. Between family celebration and my back I don’t think I’m going to make it, but if you go there or to Baltimore, have a great time. I’ll be back here on Monday with more shenanigans in pursuit of an eventual sponsorship from Doan’s.

Have fun, be safe, drink water. Thanks for reading.

FRM.

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Most bands get one debut. Here’s Hippie Death Cult‘s second. It’s been an interesting few years in the life of the Portland, Oregonian heavy rockers, who with their third full-length, Helichrysum, mark a new path forward. In the two years between 2019’s 111 (review here) and 2021’s Circle of Days (review here), the then-four-piece built remarkable momentum for a time that at least in part included pandemic shutdowns, and as they resumed domestic and international touring — fests, headlining dates, support slots, the whole thing — later in 2021 they bid farewell to vocalist/organist Ben Jackson. A change up front is always significant, and the departure of the keyboard that had up to then been a likewise formidable presence and distinguishing feature in their sound would probably derail some acts, but Hippie Death Cult not only kept going as a trio, they also faced the departure of drummer Ryan Moore this past January.

Helichrysum, then, represents a kind of going to ground. With Jackson and Moore gone, the band held fast with the core duo of bassist and now-lead vocalist and lyricist Laura Phillips and guitarist/riffmaker Eddie Brnabic (who also produced and mixed here, with assistance from Ben Barnett and Jeremy Romagna engineering) bringing in the classic-styled Harry Silvers (also Robots of the Ancient World) on swing-drums. Tours continued, songwriting and recording obviously happened or we wouldn’t be talking about a new record, and they even managed to get it released in time to keep a two-year interval between albums — whether or not that was a goal, I don’t know, but it’s impressive, considering — while reimagining their sound.

And there’s the crucial point. With Phillips up front and the organ gone, and with Silvers on drums in place of Moore — I’d imagine drummers could opine on their respective styles based solely on the builds of their respective kits on stage; rack cymbals out, soon-to-be-busted crash and big kick in — Hippie Death Cult aren’t trying to deny things are different this time, and that’s about more than just no-keys or the gender of their lead vocalist. They’re diving headfirst into it. In the brooding chug of on-theme opener “Arise,” the rawness of the punch in the bass and the corresponding currents of prog and metal that were in Brnabic‘s guitar to start with are highlighted from the outset, and while the dynamic and the chemistry of Hippie Death Cult has shifted — Phillips letting out the first of the album’s several righteous screams as they transition to the guitar solo at about four minutes into the six-minute piece; a sample about a minute later brings more with the lava-flow finish; not a complaint — both are accounted for in the new incarnation of their sound. It’s a little different, and that can be scary, I know, but the lesson of Helichrysum is that sometimes it’s worth starting over.

From “Arise” on through the smooth-boogie, maybe-written-later-in-the-process “Shadows,” which follows, and into the mellower psych-doom of “Better Days,” Phillips owns the role taken on in the material, and she, Silvers and Brnabic seem to revel in the subsequent centerpiece “Red Giant” and the subsequent hippies-go-metal “Toxic Annihilator,” the two shortest inclusions on the album and, at least as applies to the latter, the most aggressive output they’ve had to-date, in case you were concerned that just because Hippie Death Cult have never thrashed before that might mean they couldn’t do it. They do, and make it their own. Bolstered by the tension of Brnabic‘s speedy chug in “Red Giant” — hard-boogieing through its layered solo with a willful recklessness that, frankly, rules, they set up “Toxic Annihilator” not only with more vocal screams (as opposed to the tubes in their amps, likely also screaming) but a swagger they’ve never really shown before in a brief, stage-minded series of stops as well as the riff parade preceding — the energy at the start of “Toxic Annihilator” is electric, palpable.

The last time Hippie Death Cult made a three-minute song it was the acoustic interlude “Mrtyu” on 111. In its production, “Toxic Annihilator” isn’t metal, but in its actual construction and purposes, it most definitely is, and it’s easy to imagine that what feels so much like it was written for the stage is duly flattening in a live setting. Atop a torrent of guitar, Phillips shouts her way through the early verse with Silvers‘ crash for complement, then croons through the build up to an almost Slayer-ish growl (thinking Tom Araya at the end of the intro to “Angel of Death,” minus the high note preceding) at the transition point to a headspinning, hypnotic digging in marked by another scream at the start of the next cycle through before the making-sure-the-barn-is-all-the-way-burnt solo finishes.

For anyone missing keys, the penultimate “Nefilibata” is introduced by organ before it nestles quickly into its midtempo groove, and all seems business as usual — amazing how effectively ‘usual’ is redefined here while staying true to a high standard of what that means — until a layered arrangement of melodic vocals marks it out from its surroundings, emblematic perhaps of a reconstructed band trying something new that might or might not further manifest in their sound as they move forward, but it makes “Nefilibata” a late highlight, and with the reorientation of that initial organ line, there’s no interruption to the flow that has carried them really from “Arise” without any more hitches than they’ve seemingly wanted there to be as they turn to “Tomorrow’s Sky” to close, the by-now familiar thud of the drums, a spacious guitar, and yes, a little more keys, coming about as close as Hippie Death Cult might to drift with the guitar floating above, mirroring the lower-frequencies of the drums and bass holding the rhythm while feeling bright and engaging in the doing.

Fluid front-to-back, “Tomorrow’s Sky” wants nothing for angularity as its early melancholy gives over to a verse with a lightly progressive feel and the band oozes toward the somewhat-understated winding finish with a grace that’s both familiar from what they’ve done in the past while also distinct from it in form. New, in other words. It’s not just that Hippie Death Cult went through lineup changes before they made their third LP. They took advantage of the opportunity those changes represented to bring new perspectives to what they do, and so while Helichrysum is more outwardly raw in its sound than they’ve been before, the songs that comprise it benefit from the vitality that becomes so much of the album’s focus. They will, one hopes, continue to grow organically as they settle further into this modus over the next few years, but the efforts they’ve made and the resilience they’ve shown already have their payoff here.

Hippie Death Cult, Helichrysum (2023)

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