Posted in Whathaveyou on September 13th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
It’ll be a win if they don’t post another update to the bill before this gets posted. If you’ve been keeping up on social media, Oslo’s Høstsabbat has come roaring back after a pretty quiet summer to continue to flesh out its 10th anniversary lineup ahead of taking place late next month, and it seems like I fell behind quickly. But honestly, doing the adds in a bunch like this reinforces in my mind the variety on offer in Høstsabbat 2023 and the fact that the festival is reaching farther than they ever have to work in different sides and styles to the weekend, which boasts Bongripper, Yawning Man and LLNN alongside Spurv, Iron Bra, Aiming for Enrike, Elephant Tree, Sigh and a host of others.
‘Heavy’ is a common thread for a lot of it, but I don’t think Høstsabbat are even limited by that at this point. Electronic music, singer-songwriters, extreme metal — it all seems like a fit when the minds behind the thing are this open.
I don’t know how much more there is to be revealed, but I’ll do my best to keep up. I’m sad to say I won’t be there this year, but I do know from past experience it’s an incredible time. If you go, have one.
From socials:
HØSTSABBAT 2023 – MANDALAI LAMAS
The announcements we have left might be few, but the sheer quality of the remaining bands is nothing but total fire!
The band of the day is a homegrown treasure. They are hard to pinpoint to any specific genre,or subgenre for that matter, but they have the ability to please any fan of guitars, drums and bass – so narrowing them down just doesn’t feel right.
It would be unfair to both our audience and the band.
Mandalai Lamas explore the depths of rock n´roll with a swagger impossible to ignore, and of course, even harder to dislike. The swing and flow these gentlemen provide has no boundaries. It takes you from coast to coast, finding elements that are fundamental, and always have been fundamental, for an output as lush as the sound of Mandalai Lamas. Classic, but fruitful rock with an extraordinary groove if you will
It feels timeless, but still fresh and new. That’s a thing you don’t see every day.
Please welcome Mandalai Lamas to Høstsabbat 2023!
HØSTSABBAT 2023 – LEONOV
Maybe some of you caught the fairly rare experience of seeing Leonov live in the church last fall, as they supported Ufomammut?
If you did, you know what to expect. If you didn´t, here it comes: There is hardly a more cinematic band suited for the aesthetics of Høstsabbat than Leonov.
They take their appearance to another level, while co-existing with delightful video projections, a black and white magic channeling sorrow and hope, accompanied by ethereal vocals, atmospheric arrangements and razor sharp riffs. Their execution is pure class, and a joy to witness
The meditative post-metal coming from this five piece is very well composed and has an earthly, organic and heart felt feeling to it.
Leonov has the ability to create their own realm, and you get totally lost.
Please welcome Leonov to Høstsabbat 2023
HØSTSABBAT 2023 – REAPING FLESH
It´s Monday, and the only right thing to do, is to kick the week off with what could possibly be the biggest wake-up call of this year’s lineup.
Reaping Flesh is cut directly from the northern punk & hardcore tribe, and includes members from legendary Kollwitz, The Spectacle and Gabriel, giving us a fair idea of how this rather new band would sound like.
The sonic devastation of Reaping Flesh is the raw, in-your-face kind of metal found at the back of your memory, being the key figure to why you still go to shows and start moshpits out of instant buzz and excitement! It triggers all the buttons. It´s a rare and fantastic thing, to be able to present a band as a mixture between black, death, thrash, punk and hardcore, knowing it is actually true.
That mixture is Reaping Flesh – and they will come to destroy!
Posted in Whathaveyou on September 1st, 2023 by JJ Koczan
With the May release of their latest full-length, Growth (review here), fresh in mind, Poland’s Moonstone are the latest addition to the lineup for this October’s 10th anniversary Høstsabbat. They arrive preceded by the tightening of songcraft that Growth showcased, living up to its name in terms of progression, and ostensibly take the slot vacated as a result of Chicago psych drifters REZN calling off their Fall tour in Europe. Rest assured, the Kraków-based outfit will have space and heft to spare as they make what will no doubt be a bold attempt to flatten that old church, the Kulturkirken Jakob, which houses the festival’s main stage.
I’m doing my best to be stoic in coping with missing Høstsabbat this year owing to familial obligation — kid’s turning six that weekend — and the addition of Moonstone, whom I’ve never seen and will likely have very few if any other opportunities to ever see, isn’t helping the emergent wistfulness. So it goes. Maybe I’ll play in the bounce house at the birthday party.
From Høstsabbat on the ol’ socials:
HØSTSABBAT 2023 – Moonstone
Høstsabbat is getting closer by the day, and as you can see – we are eager to present the last batch of bands to all of you. We have had a killer tradition with Polish bands on our lineup over the last years, and we are sticking to our guns, also on our anniversary.
Moonstone might be another hidden treasure to many of you. Emerging from the ever-prolific Polish stoner-doom scene, they are slowly paving their to our hazy consciousness. This fall they were set to support REZN all around Europe, and that gig itself is living proof of the sheer talent lying within Moonstone. But as REZN cancelled their whole tour last minute, the chance to have Moonstone on our lineup arose. It was a chance not to be missed.
They play highly meditative, heavy AF, almost classic stonerdoom. They push all the right buttons. Massive low-end, chanting vocals and of course: Excellent riffs. They got the whole package, and will give you goosebumps. Promise!
Please welcome Moonstone to Høstsabbat 2023(#128165#)
Posted in Whathaveyou on August 28th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Hometown experimentalists Aiming for Enrike are the latest addition to Høstsabbat 2023, and serve as another example of the Oslo-based festival branching out to include new sounds and ideas. I wasn’t familiar with the two-piece, so checked out this year’s Empty Airports and found it to be an enticing blend of keyboard exploration, manipulated drums, an intensity of purpose that feels inherited from krautrock more than the audio itself, though “Square Machine” did get up to some noise after reminding of the Scarface soundtrack earlier on, which I’d totally believe is on purpose.
Aiming for Enrike aren’t the first electronica-minded outfit to be confirmed for Høstsabbat, which also announced LLNN-offshoot John Cxnnor way back in Spring, but Simen Følstad Nilsen and Tobias Ørnes Andersen bring an avant dance sensibility to the proceedings that wasn’t there before. Growth! Forward progression! Entanglements of aesthetic! These are the things.
From social media:
HØSTSABBAT 2023 – AIMING FOR ENRIKE
It’s the day of the Sabbath – normally not our announcement day.
Suitable as it is nevertheless, as our band for today is far from the «normal» Høstsabbat band, if there ever was one.
We have been waiting for this announcement for quite some time, as they enchanted thousands of people at Øyafestivalen a couple of weeks ago, but now, the time is here:
Aiming For Enrike has been a force of nature in our domestic music scene for years and years, and their journey has been nothing less than spectacular.
Evolving from a chaotic and noisy two piece, pouring out aggressive and complex metal and hardcore riffs.
They are now a full blown two-piece handling stadium-sized stages with pounding, energetic and challenging club beats, accompanied by signature interstellar soundscapes and rhythms. Totally captivating, always mind blowing, never boring.
We are beyond stoked to present Aiming For Enrike at Høstsabbat 2023
Posted in Whathaveyou on August 23rd, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Makes total sense, a Desertfest in Oslo. The Norwegian underground has blossomed in the last decade to be one of the most vital in Europe, with the ever-present black metal remaining a staple of the national diet as heavy rock, prog, psychedelia, noise rock, post-hardcore/post-metal, etc. have assumed a forward-looking generational position. It is, you might say, a growth market. And Desertscene in London and Sound of Liberation, which together helm the Desertfest brand, know an opportunity for growth when they see it. Ask Antwerp, Belgium. Ask New York.
Norway today is packed with up and coming acts, including some of Europe’s brightest prospects in Slomosa and Kanaan, as well as bands like Saint Karloff, Superlynx, SÂVER and a ton of others who don’t begin with the letter ‘s,’ and that’s before you get to a Norwegian cross-subgenre institution like Enslaved or the whole Bergen-based Apollon Records prog rock scene. And never mind international acts. New bands emerging, veteran acts continuing to do relevant work, it’s fertile ground for a heavy fest, and if one or any of the above wound up on the bill for Desertfest Oslo 2024, it would only be fitting, but no information has been given in that regard as yet.
That’s right. The website is launched, but there’s no real information to be had beyond the dates the festival will take place, which is May 10-11, making Desertfest Oslo a Springtime complement to Høstsabbat, held each October, and close if not concurrent to Desertfest in London and Berlin. I don’t know the dates for Berlin, but May 10-11 is a week before London happens. It may be that a whole bunch of tours next May in the Desertscene/Sound of Liberation sphere are about to make a big swing north. We’ll see how it goes.
So, I don’t have any idea who’s playing yet — first announcement next month, reportedly — but as far as I’m concerned, the simple existence of an email list is news in this case because of the potential that 10 years from now we’ll still be talking about this fest. Not a guarantee, of course, but possible for sure, and if so, this will be the beginning of that. So here’s the dates, as posted by Desertfest Oslo team:
Posted in Whathaveyou on August 22nd, 2023 by JJ Koczan
An experiment on my part this week as I wait for Høstsabbat to actually announce the band/artist/generally-creative-performer they’ll add to their 10th anniversary lineup. Friday has been the day all along, and I’ve tried to stay on top of it as best as I can — mixed results in that, but so it goes — and I wondered if I might be able to guess a few things about today’s add without actually knowing who it is.
Well, there’s always plenty of heavy-heavy-heavy in a Høstsabbat lineup, so could be that route today, or something more in the vein of noise/hardcore as the fest has been branching into the last few years. Could be a dig or two out of the native Norwegian underground, certainly always welcome, or a stoner rock band for the basement. Høstsabbat this year seems to be making a point to include more women artists, and there’s always room for more diversity in multiple regards. Or I guess it could be psych, post-metal, or something more experimental.
So I guess my guess is — wait for it — anything. The fest has grown broad enough that it can do just about whatever it wants.
I bet when the announcement comes down, I’m right.
Until next Friday, then:
HØSTSABBAT 2023 – Gravy Jones
Sabbathians – We are back!(#128293#)
It´s FRIDAY, and finally time for another addition to our 10-year anniversary!
Summer is soon to be over, and the chimes from our Church of Riffs feels less distant by the day.
Høstsabbat is near.
The lineup is sick already, but we still have a good handful of bands to be unveiled.
Expect them presented rapidly over the next couple of weeks.
Our next announcement is probably a hidden gem for many of you.
That will not last for very long.
GRAVY JONES delivered one of the most vital, intriguing and spellbinding shows going down in the Oslo clubs last winter, and the decision to put them on the anniversary bill was immediately triggered by pure excitement and adrenaline alone, as it should. Those shows happen, not very often, but when they do: What a magical feeling! Gravy Jones has that feeling.
Their musical outbursts is grooving between progressive twists, heavy riffs, frantic keys and catchy hooks. It is an intense cocktail to witness.
Gravy Jones play their songs with utmost passion and will, giving every one in the whole room a solid jaw-drop. Its hard to pay them justice through words, they do it much better themselves through volume and energy. This will be one for the books. Please welcome Gravy Jones to Høstsabbat 2023!
Posted in Whathaveyou on August 7th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Why 4 10? Am I crazy to think of number-title albums as somewhat aberrant? Is it crazier to think that’s what Oslo’s Superlynx might’ve been going for in naming their upcoming album as they did? Well, there’s four of them now and it’s the 10th anniversary of the band, so it’s not at all without reasoning behind it — even though the record itself was made as a trio — and if you want an efficient capsule of what’s up with Superlynx lately, you’re probably not going to find one using fewer characters. I don’t have much experience to speak from, but I hear good things about brevity.
The first single from 4 10 is the opener “Into the Sun,” and you can see the video for it at the bottom of this post, suitably atmospheric with undulating waves and such. I haven’t heard the full record yet — they’ll release it Sept. 9, which is before Oct. 4, or 04/10 if you write it Euro-style — but there’s about two months to go before it’s out, so I’m not complaining. But from what I’m hearing in the new song, it sounds like an expansion on 2021’s Electric Temple (review here), which is about what I’d hope for. Not like they’re coming into the record not knowing who they are.
Argonauta sent the following down the PR wire:
Norwegian Psychedelic Doomsters SUPERLYNX Reveal Full Album Details; “4 10” Out In September
Norway-based Psychedelic Doomsters SUPERLYNX celebrate their 10th anniversary by releasing new music, a new additional member and the return to stage. The band recently teased their new journey with the single “Into the Sun”, which is “a song suited for closing your eyes and drifting away” says the band.
The new album is entitled “4 10” and it is written and played by the original trio Pia, Ole and Daniel as usual, but since the recording the band has expanded by including additional guitarist Espen Krøll. He will join the band on stage from now on for an even fuller live sound.
“Jamming has always been important to us in addition to songwriting”. Superlynx says “This time all the music on the album was created through jamming sessions where the music that came out lead the way and turned into these songs. The entire album was recorded in the rehearsal space where we started out a decade ago, by our drummer Ole Teigen / Crowtown Recordings. The focus on 4 10 is imagination, dreams, connection and an open view. Today we further explore fuzzed out heavy psych, improvisation and the depths of dreams and surrealism”.
When Superlynx is asked about musical influences the answer is something like “the sum of all the different music we all listen to and are inspired by, be it doom, drone, psych, shoegaze, desert rock, grunge, metal, old blues, jazz, 60/70s rock”.
The members have a lot of music in common but also different influences. It is all a part of them, and something that naturally affects their own style of playing. Superlynx follows no rules except what sounds and feels right, and lets the music lead their way.
Ah, a Quarterly Review Wednesday. Always a special occasion. Monday starts out with a daunting look at the task ahead. Tuesday is all digging in and just not trying to repeat myself too much. Wednesday, traditionally, is where we hit the halfway point. The top of the hill.
Not the case this time since I’ll have 10 records each written up next Monday and Tuesday, but crossing the midpoint of this week alone feels like an accomplishment and you’ll pardon me if I mark it as such. If you’re wondering how the rest of the week will go, tomorrow is all-business and Friday’s usually a party one way or the other. My head gets so in it by the middle of next week I’ll be surprised not to be doing this anymore. So it goes.
Quarterly Review #21-30:
Khanate, To Be Cruel
Who among mortals could hope to capture the horrors of Khanate in simple words? The once-New York-based avant sludge ultragroup end a 14-year hiatus with To Be Cruel, a fourth album, comprising three songs running between 19-21 minutes each that breed superlative hatefulness. At once overwhelming and minimalist, with opener “Like a Poisoned Dog” placing the listener in a homemade basement dungeon with the sharp, disaffection-incarnate bark of Alan Dubin (also Gnaw) cutting through the weighted slog in the guitar of Stephen O’Malley (also SunnO))), et al), the bass of James Plotkin (more than one can count, and he probably also mastered your band’s record) and the noise free-jazz drumming of Tim Wyskida (Blind Idiot God, etc.), they retain the disturbing brilliance last heard from in 2009’s Clean Hands Go Foul (discussed here) and are no less caustic for the intervening years. “It Wants to Fly” is expansive and wretched death poetry set to drone doom, a ritual made of its own misery, and the concluding title-track goes quiet in its midsection as though to let every wrenching anguish have its own space in the song. There is no one like them, though many have tried to convey some of what apparently only Khanate can. As our plague-infested, world-burning, war-making, fear-driven species plunges further into this terrible century, Khanate is the soundtrack we earn. We are all complicit. All guilty.
Though plenty atmospheric besides, Vancouver heavy fuzz rockers Space Queen add atmosphere to their nine-song/26-minute Nebula EP through a series of four interludes: the a capella three-part harmonies of “Deluge,” the acoustic-strummed “Veil” and “Sun Interlude,” and the finishing manipulated space-command sample in “End Transmission” after the richly melodic doom rock of “Transmission/Lost Causemonaut.” That penultimate inclusion is the longest at 6:14 and tells a story in a way that feels informed by the three-piece of drummer/vocalist Karli MacIntosh, guitarist/vocalist Jenna Earle and bassist/keyboardist/vocalist Seah Maister‘s past in the folk outfit Sound of the Sun, but transposes its melodic sensibility into a heavier context. It and the prior garage-psych highlight “When it Gets Light” — a lighter initial electric strum that arrives in willful-seeming contrast to “Darkest Part” immediately preceding — depart from the more straight-ahead push of opener “Battle Cry” and the guitar-screamer “Demon Queen” separated from it by the first interlude. Where those two come across as working with Alice in Chains as a defining influence — something the folk elements don’t necessarily argue against — the Nebula EP grows broader as it moves through its brief course, and flows throughout with its veering into and out of songs and short pieces. This is Space Queen‘s second EP, and if they’re interested in making a full-length next, they sound ready.
Fasano, Italy’s King Potenaz debut on Argonauta Records with Goat Rider, which conjures raw fuzz, garage-doom atmospherics, and vocals that edge toward aggression and classic cave metal, early Venom or Celtic Frost having a role to play even alongside the transposition of Kyuss riffing taking place in the title-track, which follows “Among Ruins” and “Pyramids Planet,” both of which featured on the trio’s 2022 Demo 6:66, and which set a tone of riff-led revelry here with a sound that reminds of turn-of-the-century era stoner explorations, but grows richer as it moves into “Pazuzu (3:33)” — it’s actually 5:18 — with guest vocals from Sabilla and the quiet three-minute instrumental “Cosmic Voyager” planet-caravanning into the 51-minute album’s second half, where “Moriendoom (La Ballata di Ippolita Oderisi)” and the even doomier “Monolithic” dig into cultish vibes and set up the bleak shuffle of nine-minute closer “Dancing Plague,” departing from its central ’90s-heavy riff into a mellow-psych movement and then returning from that outward stretch to end. Even at its most familiar, Goat Rider finds some way to harness an individual edge, cleverly using the mix itself as an instrument to create the space in which the songs dwell. It may take a few listens to sink in, but there’s real potential in what they’re doing.
With the release of their third album, New World Hoarder, German art-sludgers Treedeon celebrate their first decade as a band. The combined vinyl-with-CD follows 2018’s Under the Manchineel (review here) and proffers raw cosmic doom in “Omega Time Bomb,” crossing the 10-minute line for the first time after the particularly-agonized opener “Nutcrème Superspreader” and before the title-track’s nodding riff brings bassist Yvonne Ducksworth to the fore vocally, trading off with guitarist Arne Heesch as drummer Andy Schünemann crashes cyclically behind. “New World Hoarder” gives over to side B opener “Viking Meditation Song,” which rolls like an evil-er version of Goatsnake, and “RHV1,” on which Heesch and Ducksworth share vocal duties, as they also do in 12-minute closer “Läderlappen” — a shouting duet in the first half feels long in arriving, but that’s how you know the album works — as the band cap with more massive chug following an interplay of melody and throatier fare. They’re right to ride that groove, as they’re right about so much else on the record. Like much of what Exile on Mainstream puts out, Treedeon are stylistically intricate and underrated in kind.
There are a couple different angles of approach one might take in hearing Orsak:Oslo‘s In Irons full-length. The Norway/Sweden-based instrumental troupe have been heretofore lumped in with heavy post-rock and ambient soundscaping, which is fair enough, but what they actually unveil in “068 The Swell” (premiered here), is a calming interpretation of space rock. With experimentalism on display in its late atmospheric drone comedown, “068 The Swell” moves directly into the more physical “079 Dutchman’s Wake (Part I),” the languid boogie feeling modern in presentation and classic in construction and the chemistry between the members of the band. The drums sit out much of the first half of “069 In What Way Are You Different,” giving a sense of stillness to the drone there, but the song embraces a bigger feel toward its finish, and that sets up the feedback intro to “078 The Mute (Part II),” which veers dreamily between amplifier drone and complementary melodic guitar flourish. Taking 17 minutes to do it, they close with “074 Hadal Blue,” which more broadly applies the space-chill of “068 The Swell” and emphasizes flow and organic changes from one part to the next. Immersive, it would be one to get lost in if it weren’t so satisfying to pay attention.
Fuck. Yes. As much grind as sludge as electronics-infused hardcore as it is furious, unadulterated noise, the 12-song/50-minute onslaught that is Boss Blades arrives via Modern Grievance at the behest of Jon Weisnewski, also of Sandrider, formerly of Akimbo. If Weisnewski‘s name alone and the fact that Matt Bayles mixed the self-recorded debut LP aren’t enough to pull you into the tornado of violence and maddening brood that opener “Boss Blades” uses to open — extra force provided by one of two guest vocal spots from Dave Verellen of Botch; the other is on “Lasers in the Jungle” later on — then perhaps the seven-minute semi-industrial march of “Obsolete Food” or the bruising intensity of “Poorly Made Pots” or the minute and a half of sample-topped drone psych in “Guitart,” the extreme prog metal of “Eat Meth” or “Manifest Piss Tape” will do the trick, or the nine-minute near-centerpiece “Many Knives” (which, if there’s a Genghis Tron influence here generally — and there might be — is more the last record than the older stuff) with its slow keyboard unfolding as a backdrop for Dust Moth‘s Irene Barber to make her own guest appearance, plenty of post-everything cacophony mounting by the end, grandiose and consuming. I could go on — every track is a new way to die — but suffice it to say that this is what my brain sounds like when my kid and my wife are talking to me about different things at the same time and it feels like my skull is on fire and I have an aneurysm and keel over. Good wins.
Sometimes harsh but always free, 2022’s Chapter 4 from Croatian instrumentalist double-guitar five-piece Mycena — guitarists Marin Mitić and Pavle Bojanić, bassist Karlo Cmrk, drummer Igor Vidaković and synthesist/noisemaker Aleksandar Vrhovec — brings three tracks that are distinct unto themselves but listed as part of the same entirety, dubbed “Dissolution” and divided into “Dissolution Part 1” (17:49), “Dissolution Part 2” (3:03), and “Dissolution Part 3” (18:11), and it may well be that what’s being dissolved is the notion that rock and roll must be confined to verse/chorus structuring. Invariably, Earthless are a comparison point for longform instrumental heavy anything, and given the shred in “Dissolution Part 1” around five minutes deep and the torrent rockblast in the first half of “Dissolution Part 3” before it melts to near-silence and quietly noodles its way through its somehow-dub-informed last 11 or so minutes, building in presence but not actually blowing up to full volume as it caps. While totaling a manageable 39 minutes, Chapter 4 is a journey nonetheless, with a scope that comes through even in “Dissolution Part 2,” which may just be an interlude but still carries a steady rhythm that seems to reorient the band ahead of their diving into the extended final part, the band sounding natural in making changes that would undo acts with less chemistry.
Filthy tone. Just absolutely nasty. Atlanta’s Bog Monkey tracked Hollow, their self-released debut LP, with Jay Matheson at The Jam Room in South Carolina, and if they ever go anywhere else to try to capture their sound I’d have to ask why. With seven cuts totaling 33 minutes play-time and fuzz-sludge blowouts a-plenty in “Facemint,” the blastbeaten “Blister” and the heads-down largesse-minded shove-off-the-cliff that is “Slither” at a whopping 2:48, Hollow transposes Conan-style shouted vocals on brash, thickened heavy, the bass in “Tunnel” and forward-charging leadoff “Crow” with its thrash-riffing hook is the source of the heft, but it’s not alone. Spacious thanks to echoes on the vocals, Hollow crushes just the same, and as the trio plunder toward the eight-minute “Soma” at the end, growing intense quickly out of a calmer intro jam and slamming their message home circa 3:40 with crashes that break to bass and guitar noise to establish the nod around which the ending will be based, all you can really do is look forward to the bludgeoning to come and be glad when it arrives. Don’t be fooled by their generic name, or the silly stoner rock art (which I’m not knocking; it being silly is part of the point). Bog Monkey bring together different styles in a way that’s thoughtful and make songs that sound like they just rose out of the water to fucking obliterate you. So go on. Be obliterated.
Punkish in its choruses like the title-track or opener “Sports,” the four-song Dead Nature EP from South Africa’s The Man Motels is the latest in a string of short releases and singles going back to their 2018 full-length, Quit Looking at Me!, and they temper the urgency of their speediest parts with grunge-style melody and instrumental twists. Bass and drums at the base of “Young Father” set up the sub-three-minute closer as purely punk, but sure enough the guitar kicks in coming out of the verse and one can hear the Nirvana effect before it drops out again. Whether it’s a common older-school hardcore influence, I don’t know, but “Sports” and “Young Father” remind of a rawer Fu Manchu with their focus on structure, but “The Fever” is heavier indie rock and culminates in a tonally satisfying apex before cutting back to the main riff that’s led the way for… oh, about three minutes or so. All told, The Man Motels are done in 15 minutes, but they pack a fair amount into that time and they named the release after its catchiest installment, so there. Maybe not the kind of thing I’d always reach for in my own listening habits, but I’m not about to rag on a band for being good at what they do or showcasing their material with the kind of energy The Man Motels put into Dead Nature.
With a couple short(er) outings to their credit, Bayonne, New Jersey, three-piece Pyre Fyre present seven songs in the 18 minutes of their self-titled, which just might be enough to make it a full-length. Hear me out. They start raw with “Hypnotize,” more of a song than an intro, punkish and the shortest piece at 1:22. From there, the Melvins meet Earthride on “Flood Zone” and the range of shenanigans is unveiled. Produced by drummer/noisemaker Mike Montemarano, with Dylan Wheeler on guitar, Dan Kirwan on bass and vocals from all three in its hithers and yons, it is a barebones sound across the board, but Pyre Fyre give a sense of digging in despite that, with the echo-laced “Wyld Ryde” doled out like garage thrash, while “Dungeon Duster/Ice Storm” sounds like it was recorded in two different sessions and maybe it was and screw you if that matters, “Don’t Drink the Water” hits the brakes and dooms out with stoner-drawl vocals later, “Arachnophobia” dips into a darker, somehow more metal, mood, and the fuzzy “Cordyceps” ends with swagger and noise alike in just under two and a half minutes. All of this is done without pretense, without the band pausing to celebrate themselves or what they just accomplished. They get in, kick ass, get out again. You don’t want to call it an album? Fine. I respectfully disagree, but we can still be friends. What, you thought because it was the internet I was going to tell you to screw off? Come on now.
Posted in Whathaveyou on June 16th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
We don’t even get the title of the new Superlynx album yet, let alone the release date — guessing September based on ‘early Autumn’ below — but we do find out that the Norwegian former-trio are now a four-piece with the addition of second guitarist Espen Krøll alongside vocalist/bassist Pia Isaksen, guitarist Daniel Bakken, and drummer Ole Teigen and there’s the reveal of the first single from the impending long-player called “Into the Sun,” which is delightfully headfirst-dive-in immersive in its post-doom wash and hypnotic melody. There’s a video for the song at the bottom of the post. If you skip from here, I won’t argue.
If you’re still here, thanks. Superlynx were announced last month as signing to Argonauta for their next full-length, so this news is part of a campaign already in progress, but that’s just fine. The band’s next album will follow behind 2021’s Solstice EP (review here) and be their fourth overall and first for Argonauta, though the Italian label also issued Isaksen‘s solo album under the Pia Isa moniker, 2022’s Distorted Chants (review here). Their last record was 2021’s Electric Temple (review here), which pushed deeper into the kinds of atmospherics that “Into the Sun” seems to present with stately patience. I’m looking forward to this album, if you couldn’t tell. I dig the band. You might also if you get the chance to check them out.
And with that, we turn it over to the PR wire and its magically blue text:
Norwegian Psych Heavy Rockers SUPERLYNX Release Single and Video of the New Song “Into the Sun”
After their recent signing with Italian label ARGONAUTA Records, Norway-based Psychedelic Doomsters SUPERLYNX release the first song from their forthcoming album, expected by early Autumn and whose details will follow in the next weeks.
The new song “Into the Sun” sees the band digging into their most introspective and ethereal twist.
“Into the Sun is one of the first songs that came out of our first jams for the new album, and it actually turned out very close to the initial jam. We feel it is a mellow and quite uplifting song, just diving into a feelgood vibe. It is about letting go and enjoying the moment, through an escape from your troubles and to your favourite space whatever that is, and allowing yourself to just be here and now.” Superlynx say.
“Pia who wrote the words comes from an island and has a deep connection to the sea, to beaches and the sun and the words are written from that perspective. But whatever is one´s favorite place or escape – sometimes you just have to let things be, zone out and have a good time. To us this is definitely a song suited for closing your eyes and drifting away.”
SUPERLYNX exceeds genres with their distinct sound and melts heavy psychedelic rock, doom, meditative atmospheres and droning riffs together. In 2023 Superlynx will celebrate their 10th anniversary as a band with releasing new music, a new additional live member and returning to the stage.
Indeed, the new album is written and played by the original trio Pia, Ole and Daniel as usual, but since the recording the band has expanded by including additional guitarist Espen Krøll. He will join the band on stage from now on for an even fuller live sound.
«We are super happy to have Espen in the band. He is a lovely person and guitarist and fits right in. We really look forward to hitting the stage with him» the band says.
Did you know? The name Superlynx is inspired by the big, beautiful, shy and rare, yet hunted cat living in northern areas – the Lynx. The band wanted to have a link to nature and the animal realm in their name, and it represents both a natural force, and the massive, heavy and rough but also fragile in their music. The Lynx also has its name from lux – meaning light – because of its super luminous eyes, and light is a constant focus for Superlynx even in their darker music.
