Posted in Whathaveyou on May 4th, 2021 by JJ Koczan
This should be a pretty familiar story by now in that here’s a band who released a cool album last Spring. And, well… last Spring happened. Last Spring definitely happened in Italy, and it happened pretty much everywhere. So maybe you didn’t catch Satyrus‘ Rites (review here) the first time through and thus you missed out on its cult-worship-meets-’90s-doom vibes, drawing of course from Sabbath but also such righteous progeny as Electric Wizard, Corrosion of Conformity and even Alice in Chains along its lumbering course.
Bottom line here? Cool record, worth the revisit. Argonauta has stepped up to put it out on May 28, and they have preorders up now. You can also stream Rites through the band’s own Bandcamp, or if you’re not feeling like diving all the way in at once, the label has “Stigma” up on its own through YouTube. They’re making it easy, folks.
Sicily occult doom metal heavy weights, SATYRUS, who just recently signed a worldwide record deal with Argonauta Records, have revealed more album details about their first full-length album!
The four-piece self-released their debut Rites in March 2020, when they quickly gained the attention by several labels and heavy doom metal fans around the globe. Now, Argonauta Records is going to release the album as CD and Digital formats on May 28, 2021, and added a new track to their label channel.
Featuring members of bands alike Malauriu or Wolvesguard, SATYRUS invites its listener on a slow and dark ride into the abyss of doom heaviness. The band members‘ backgrounds allow them to create a wider field in between the doom, black metal, psych and progressive sounds to classic and occult metal.
“Rites is an album that digs into the old school occult music influenced by the likes of such as Coven, Black Widow or Sabbath, but with kinda new fuzzy sound, some black metal atmosphere and, especially our love for the occult. ” The band states. “We hope you enjoy our sound and the ones who decide to buy this record, will be surrounded by pure and lysergic dark and heavy music.”
The ongoing nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, the varied responses of publics and governments worldwide, and the disruption to lives and livelihoods has reached a scale that is unprecedented. Whatever the month or the month after or the future itself brings, more than one generation will bear the mark of having lived through this time, and art, artists, and those who provide the support system to help uphold them have all been affected.
In continuing the Days of Rona feature, it remains pivotal to give a varied human perspective on these events and these responses. It is important to remind ourselves that whether someone is devastated or untouched, sick or well, we are all thinking, feeling people with lives we want to live again, whatever renewed shape they might take from this point onward. We all have to embrace a new normal. What will that be and how will we get there?
Thanks to all who participate. To read all the Days of Rona coverage, click here. — JJ Koczan
Days of Rona: Giorgio Trombino of Elevators to the Grateful Sky, Assumption, Sixcircles and Dolore (Palermo, Italy)
—
How have you been you dealing with this crisis as a band? As an individual? What effect has it had on your plans or creative processes?
We had scheduled our final pre-album rehearsals when the lockdown kicked in. Everything was already in the pipeline but now all plans have been postponed to who-knows-when. That being said, Assumption has always been a long-distance band since we all live in different places, basically three in Northern Italy and one in Slovenia. I mean, our regular band life is already about getting to meet just for specifically planned occasions, so we know the hassle. We would love to stick together much more than we are allowed to and not just for playing and recording. On a personal level, lockdown was ok and I’ve tried to make most out of it. I even managed to move to a new house with my girlfriend as we had like a special permit to carry the furniture, drive back and forth and so on. I have been reading, watching movies and writing new music the rest of the time.
How do you feel about the public response to the outbreak where you are? From the government response to the people around you, what have you seen and heard from others?
Situations differ a lot from region to region. Northern regions like Lombardia and Piemonte are still facing the toughest tasks, whereas both major islands and southern Italy in general have seen slightly better times. Veneto, the region I currently live in, has received much praise and is now regarded as a national model in contagion management in spite of the idiotic and extremely unstable discourses of regional President Luca Zaia. It seems like he basically did all he could to try and dismantle this region’s efficient healthcare system during the last few years but in the end he took all of his staff’s credit for the good results. I mean, what else would you expect from someone whose political party (Lega, formerly Lega Nord) is one of the most arrogant, self-righteous and repulsive right wing piles of shit ever in this country? As for the people I know and love, a good percentage of them was freaking out at home. I decided to choose just a few pieces of daily information I felt essential, switched off the rest of the panic-inducing media and focused on other stuff. I, for one, am really grateful for how things turned out for my family and me.
What do you think of how the music community specifically has responded? How do you feel during this time? Are you inspired? Discouraged? Bored? Any and all of it?
First it seemed like house streaming and people doing stuff live on Facebook were the answer. I stand with what Nick Cave said about them in early April, I think most of that stuff is plain self-indulgence. Live music is mostly a social thing, there’s no way a surrogate experience can ever avoid being boring and feel adulterated. I have written tons of music for almost all of my projects, worked on commercial tunes for advertisement, home demoed 90 percent of a future Sixcircles album did a lot of stuff that I always wanted to focus on and I have been waking up each morning wanting to do more and go to places I hadn’t been musically before. You know, Moody Blues once said thinking is the best way to travel. For what concerns the broader music community, I know many people in the live music world that are struggling to survive and some drive-in gig isn’t simply enough to change things. I can only wish for a speedy twist in the plot for people dealing with this.
What is the one thing you want people to know about your situation, either as a band, or personally, or anything? What is your new normal? What have you learned from this experience, about yourself, your band, or anything?
A disproportionate event such as the one we’re all going through now offers a whole array of free lessons to be learned. Biggest one is that all things must pass. Inhabitants of the privileged sector of the planet are now familiar with a redefined concept of “personal restriction” to some extent. Covid has pulled the best and worst out of everyone and hung a huge question mark over our heads. Franco Maresco, a Sicilian director whose art I admire, has recently said in an interview that mankind won’t learn much from the pandemics, just like many times before. I partly share this vision and feel like covid is a portion of a bigger dysfunctional picture anyway. I’m essentially hoping for best and preparing for worst. I can say I felt nauseauted by the trendy optimist logorrhoea that flooded the Italian web when everybody started writing, painting, drawing the phrase “ce la faremo” (“we will make it”) on whatever available surface. After all, Turgenev once stated that there are situations, however touching, from which one nevertheless wants to escape… as for Assumption, the band is made of people I love. We will simply carry on and do our stuff whenever it’s possible again.
Posted in Reviews on March 25th, 2020 by JJ Koczan
Ah, the Wednesday of a Quarterly Review. Always a special day in my mind. We hit and pass the halfway point today, and I like the fact that the marker is right in the middle of things, like that sign you pass in Pennsylvania on Rt. 80 that says, “this is the highest point east of the Mississippi,” or whatever it is. Just a kind of, “oh, by the way, in case you didn’t know, there’s this but you’re on your way somewhere else.” And so we are, en route to 50 reviews by Friday. Will we get there? Yeah, of course. I’ve done this like 100 times now, it’s not really in doubt. Sleeping, eating, living: these things are expendable. The Quarterly Review will get done. So let’s do it.
Quarterly Review #21-30:
The Cult of Dom Keller, Ascend!
They’re not going quietly, that’s for sure. Except for when they are, at least. The Cult of Dom Keller send their listeners — and, it would seem, themselves — into the howling ether on the exclamatory-titular Ascend!, their fifth LP. Issued through Cardinal Fuzz and Little Cloud records it brings a bevvy of freakouts in psych-o-slabs like “I Hear the Messiah” and the early-arriving “Hello Hanging Rope” and the building-in-thickness “The Blood Donor Wants His Blood Back,” and the foreboding buzz of “We’re All Fucked (Up),” peppering in effective ambient interludes ahead of what might be some resolution in the closing “Jam for the Sun.” Or maybe that’s just narrative I’m putting to it. Does it matter? Does anything matter? And what is matter? And what is energy? And is there a line between the two or are we all just playing pretend at existence like I-think-therefore-I-am might actually hold water in a universe bigger than our own pea-sized brains. Where do we go from here? Or maybe it’s just the going and not the where? Okay.
Brooklynite trio Grandpa Jack are working toward mastery of the thickened midtempo groove on their second EP, Trash Can Boogie. Led by guitarist/vocalist Johnny Strom with backing shouts from drummer Matt C. White and a suitable flow provided by bassist Jared Schapker, the band present a classic-tinged four tracks, showing some jammier psych range in the 7:47 second cut “Untold” but never straying too far from the next hook, as opener “Ride On, Right On” and the almost-proto-metal “Imitation” show. Finishing with “Curmudgeon,” Grandpa Jack ride a fine line between modern fuzz, ’90s melody and ’70s groove idolatry, and part of the fun is trying to figure out which side they’re on at any given point and which side they’ll want to ultimately end up on, or if they’ll decide at all. They have one LP under their collective belt already. I’d be surprised if their next one didn’t garner them more significant attention, let alone label backing, should they want it.
There’s metal in the foundation of what Woven Man are doing on their 2019 debut, Revelry (In Our Arms). And there’s paganism. But they’re by no means “pagan metal” at least in the understood genre terms. The Welsh outfit — featuring guitarist Lee Roy Davies, formerly of Acrimony — cast out soundscapes in their vocal melodies and have no lack of tonal crunch at their disposal when they want it, but as eight-minute opener/longest track (immediate points) shows, they’re not going to be rigidly defined as one thing or another. One can hear C.O.C. in the riffs during their moments of sneer on “I am Mountain” or the centerpiece highlight “With Willow,” but they never quite embrace the shimmer outright Though they come right to the cusp of doing so on the subsequent “Makers Mark,” but closer “Of Land and Sky” revives a more aggressive push and sets them toward worshiping different idols. Psychedelic metal is a tough, nearly impossible, balance to pull off. I’m not entirely convinced it’s what Woven Man are going for on this first outing, but it’s where they might end up.
Whether drifting mildly through the likes of drone-laden pieces “Down by the Water,” the CD-only title-track or “Alexandria” as they make their way toward the harsh bite at the end of the 11-minute closer “Scavengers of the Wind,” Bath, UK, heavy post-rockers Charivari hold a firm sense of presence and tonal fullness. They’re prone to a wash from leadoff “When Leviathan Dreams” onward, but it’s satisfying to course along with the four-piece for the duration of their journey. Rough spots? Oh, to be sure. “Aphotic” seethes with noisy force, and certainly the aforementioned ending is intended to jar, but that only makes a work like “Lotus Eater,” which ably balances Cure-esque initial lead lines with emergent distortion-crush, that much richer to behold. The moves they make are natural, unforced, and whether they’re trading back and forth in volume or fluidly, willfully losing themselves in a trance of effects, the organic and ethereal aspects of their sound never fail to come through in terms of melody even as a human presence is maintained on vocals. When “Down by the Water” hits its mark, it is positively encompassing. Headphones were built for this.
Bit of a supergroup here, at least in the underrated-New-York-art-noise sphere of things. Vocals and riffy crunch provided by the masterful Chris Spencer (formerly of Unsane), while Cop Shoot Cop‘s Jim Coleman adds much-welcome electronic flourish, Swans/Xiu Xiu bassist Chris Pravdica provides low end and the well-if-he-can-handle-drumming-for-Swans-he-can-handle-anything Phil Puleo (also Cop Shoot Cop) grounds the rhythm. Presented through Ipecac, the four-piece’s declarative self-titled debut arrives through Ipecac very much as a combination of the elements of which it is comprised, but the atmosphere brought to the proceedings by Coleman set against Spencer‘s guitar isn’t to be understated. The two challenge each other in “E605” and the off-to-drone “Consequences” and the results are to everyone’s benefit, despite the underlying theme of planetary desolation. Whoops on that one, but at least we get the roiling chaos and artful noise of “This Dead Sea” out of it, and that’s not nothing. Predictable? In parts, but so was climate change if anyone would’ve fucking listened.
The nautically-themed follow-up to Bellingham, Washington, progressive heavy/noise/post-hardcore rockers Dryland‘s 2017 self-titled debut album, the four-song Dances with Waves EP finds the thoughtful and melodic riffers working alongside producer/engineer Matt Bayles (Mastodon, Isis, etc.) on a recording that loses none of its edge for its deft changes of rhythm and shifts in vocals. There’s some influence from Elder maybe in terms of the guitar on “No Celestial Hope” and the finale “Between the Testaments,” but by the time the seven-minute capper is done, it’s full-on Pacific Northwest noise crunch, crashing its waves of riffs and stomp against the shore of your eardrums in demand of as much volume as you’ll give it. Between those two, “Exalted Mystics” moves unsuspectingly through its first half and seems to delve into semi-emo-if-emo-was-about-sailing-and-death theatrics in its second, while “The Sound a Sword Adores” distills the alternating drive and sway down to its barest form, a slowdown later setting up the madness soon to arrive in “Between the Testaments.”
Brass Owl foster on their self-released debut full-length, State of Mind, a brand of heavy rock that maintains a decidedly straightforward face while veering at the same time into influences from grunge, ’70s rock, the better end of ’80s metal and probably one or two current hard or heavy rock bands. You might catch a tinge of Five Horse Johnson-style blues on “No Filter – Stay Trendy” or the particularly barroom-ready “Jive Turkey,” which itself follows the funkier unfolding jam-into-shredfest of “The Legend of FUJIMO,” and the earlier “Hook, Line & Sinker” has trucker-rock all over it, but through it all, the defining aspect of the work is its absolute lack of pretense. These guys — there would seem to have been three when they recorded, there are two now; so it goes — aren’t trying to convince you of their intelligence, or their deep-running stylistic nuance. They’re not picking out riffs from obscure ’80s indie records or even ’70s private press LPs. They’re having a good time putting traditionalist-style rock songs together, messing around stylistically a bit, and they’ve got nine songs across 43 minutes ready to roll for anyone looking for that particular kind of company. If that’s you, great. If it ain’t, off you go to the next one.
From even before you press play on Press Start, the 22-minute debut release from South Africa’s Battle City, the instrumental duo make their love of gaming readily apparent. Given that they went so far as to call one song “Ram Man” and that it seems just as likely as not that “Ignition” and “Ghost Dimension” are video game references as well, it’s notable that guitarist/bassist Stian “Lightning Fingers Van Tonder” Maritz and drummer Wayne “Thunder Flakes” Hendrikz didn’t succumb to the temptation of bringing any electronic sounds to the six-song offering. Even in “Ghost Dimension,” which is the closer and longest track by about three minutes, they keep it decidedly straightforward in terms of arrangements and resist any sort of chiptune elements, sticking purely to guitar, bass and drums. There’s a touch of the progressive to the leadoff title-track and to the soaring lead “Ignotion,” but Press Start does likewise in setting the band’s foundation in a steady course of heavy rock and metal, to the point that if you didn’t know they were gaming-inspired by looking at the cover art or the titles, there’d be little to indicate that’s where they were coming from. I wouldn’t count myself among them, but those clamoring for beeps and boops and other 8-bit nonsense will be surprised. For me, the riffs’ll do just fine, thanks.
Spacious, varied and progressive without losing their heft either of tone or presence, Manchester, UK, trio Astral Bodies debut on Surviving Sounds with Escape Death, working mostly instrumentally — they do sneak some vocals into the penultimate “Pale Horse” — to affect an atmosphere of cosmic heavy that’s neither indebted to nor entirely separate from post-metal. Droning pieces like the introductory “Neptune,” or the joyous key-laced wash of the centerpiece “Orchidaeae,” or even “Pale Horse,” act as spacers between longer cuts, and they’re purposefully placed not to overdo symmetry so as to make Escape Death‘s deceptively-efficient 36-minute runtime predictable. It’s one more thing the three-piece do right, added to the sense of rawness that comes through in the guitar tone even as effects and synth seem to surround and provide a context that would be lush if it still weren’t essentially noise rock. Cosmic noise? The push of “Oumuamua” sure is, if anything might be. Classify it however you want — it’s fun when it’s difficult! — but it’s a striking record either way, and engages all the more as a first long-player.
Following its three-minute chanting intro, Satyrus let opener and longest track (immediate points) “Black Satyrus” unfold its cultish nod across an eight minutes that leads the way into the rest of their debut album, Rites, perhaps more suitably than the intro ever could. The building blocks that the Italian unit are working from are familiar enough — Black Sabbath, Saint Vitus, Electric Wizard, maybe even some Slayer in the faster soloing of second cut “Shovel” — but that doesn’t make the graveyard-dirt-covered fuzz of “Swirl” or the noisefest that ensues in “Stigma” or subsequent “Electric Funeral”-ist swing any less satisfying, or the dug-in chug of bookending nine-minute closer “Trailblazer.” Hell, if it’s a retread, at least they’re leaving footprints, and it’s not like Satyrus are trying to tell anyone they invented Tony Iommi‘s riff. It’s a mass by the converted for the converted. I’d ask nothing more of it than that and neither should you.
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 18th, 2020 by JJ Koczan
Italian cult doomers Satyrus have set an April 3 release for their debut album, Rites, which every bit earns its spooky, ‘v’s-instead-of-‘u’s cover art with its dug in riffs and weirdo fuzz vibes. Because cult doom works in mysterious ways, the band are streaming the offering in its six-song entirety now through their Bandcamp page, but they’re doing so with each song listed individually. So you get 11-minute opener and longest track (immediate points) “Black Satyrus” on one page and the Sabbathian roll of the next cut, “Shovel,” on another.
Frankly, take it however it comes. Yeah, the Palermo four-piece are working with familiar-enough elements for the most part, but if you’re willing to give “Black Satyrus” a shot — and screw it, if you’re reading this you’re probably on pandemic lockdown, so you’ve got time — you’ll be rewarded with an extra-awesome wash of fuzz that takes hold at around eight minutes in, totally consuming everything in its path as it goes. It’s another level. Like fuzz to 11, just all of a sudden. I’d say keep an ear out, but really, if you’re listening at all, you can’t miss it.
Enjoy:
Satyrus – Rites
Self-Released – 3 April 2020
Satyrus is a dark doom metal project from Palermo – Italy, created by guitarist Frankie Pizzimenti and vocalist Gianni Passafiume. Later joined by Freddy Fish on bass and Claudio Florio on drums, the four musicians with a very distinct background in music had a collective aim to churn out a slow, dark, yet heavy sound influenced by Black Sabbath, Coven and Pentagram.
This year with Morgan Perrone behind the drum kit, Satyrus are about to release their first album “Rites” that will surely surprise fans of doom, sludge and stoner rock. Featuring five songs, “Rites” sees the Italians merging heavy, distorted and fuzzy riffs with some bluesy and groovy rhythms and a sinister and dark atmosphere. Imagine Danzig, Black Sabbath and Monolord all jamming together in a dark and smoky room.
Posted in Whathaveyou on April 3rd, 2019 by JJ Koczan
April 19 is the release date for Elevators to the Grateful Sky‘s new album, Nude. It’ll be out through Greece’s Sound Effect Records after the band were caught up in the whole WTF-ness that took hold with HeviSike, their former aligned purveyor. That someone would pick them up isn’t a particular surprise — 2016’s Cape Yawn (review here), was good times all the way around — but that it’s a label with the psychedelic taste of Sound Effect should tell you something.
Mostly, when it comes right down to it, it should probably tell you to listen to the two new tracks the band have streaming in lyric videos embedded below. If it doesn’t tell you that, I will. So yeah, go ahead and give those a once-over. And it’s two of 11 total inclusions, so expect the band to have another trick or five up their collective sleeve.
Album info follows, courtesy of the label:
Elevators to the Grateful Sky – Nude
Elevators to the Grateful Sky are back with their third firey full-length album. ‘Nude’ showcases an extremely focused sound where early 90’s Seattle-Sub Pop vibes melt with seducingly psychedelic sections, heavy riffage and dreamy, sun-burnt instrumentals. Mastered at famed Mammoth Sound Mastering studio by Dan Randall (Iron Reagan, Noothgrush, The Walking Dead OST and countless others) and decorated by carefully hand-drawn imagery by vocalist Sandro Di Girolamo, the album comes in both coloured and black vinyl versions for the first time ever on Sound Effect Records. ‘Nude’ out on April 19th 2019.
Formed in sunny Palermo, Sicily in 2011, the band has since released one self-financed demo EP and two full-length albums, Cloud Eye (2013) and Cape Yawn (2016) on Transubstans Records (SWE) and Hevi Sike Records (UK) respectively. Their new, 11-songs album showcases a mature band whose varied songwriting has blossomed into distinctive compositions influenced by 90’s grunge, stoner and alternative rock acts such as SOUNDGARDEN, ALICE IN CHAINS, MASTERS OF REALITY, QOTSA, GODMACHINE and even DEAD MEADOW and EARTH. ETTGS’s hard-hitting edge has remained intact as they cross the entire spectre between psych jamming, acoustically soothing and straight heavy music.
“Nude” has been recorded and mixed by Silvio “Spadino” Punzo between Southern and Northern Italy in different sessions along 2018, and mastered by Dan Randall at Mammoth Sound Mastering (Maine, USA).
Elevators to the Grateful Sky is: Sandro di Girolamo – vocals and percussion Giorgio Trombino – guitars, bass, alto saxophone, congas, keyboards, alternate lead vocals Giuseppe Ferrara – rhythm guitars Giulio Scavuzzo – drums, darbouka, tambourine, percussion and alternate lead vocals
Well here we are. Standing on the precipice of a week of 50 reviews, looking out together at the geographic and sonic expanses that will be covered. I never know entirely what a given Quarterly Review is going to bring. Some have been smooth, some not. This one is being put together very little pre-production in terms of chasing down band links and that sort of thing, so I expect it’s going to be an adventure one way or another. I’ll keep you updated as we go as to my mental state and the deterioration thereof.
If you don’t know the drill, The Obelisk’s Quarterly Review is a week every three months in which I review 10 albums per day, Monday through Friday. Some of it was released in the prior three months, some of it is brand new, some of it probably isn’t out yet, some of it is probably older. It’s all relevant one way or another. I hope you find something you enjoy.
Quarterly Review #1-10:
Sourvein, Aquatic Occult
Looking at the makeup of Sourvein’s much-awaited fourth album, Aquatic Occult (on Metal Blade), it’s understandable why it might’ve taken five years to put together. Yes, they had splits out in between, as they do, but the band’s last full-length was 2011’s Black Fangs (review here), and though the 14-song/42-minute Aquatic Occult is manageable, with a host of interludes to carry the listener along its thick-toned, undulating waves, a swath of guest appearances no doubt played havoc with logistics. Fortunately, Sourvein’s figurehead, vocalist T-Roy Medlin, seems to thrive on chaos. Working with producer Mike Dean (C.O.C.), and a revolving-door lineup that here features Lou Gorra of Halfway to Gone, Medlin brazenly explores a more melodic dynamic than he ever has. It’s a rare band looking to experiment after 20 years, a rarer band still that pulls it off so well. There’s still some sludgy rasp and guest growling, but Sabbathian roll is the order of the day ultimately and Medlin’s homage to his home in Cape Fear, North Carolina, establishes a breadth unheard before from Sourvein that’s worthy of the years and obvious effort that went into its making.
Hamburg duo Mantar’s blend of thrash, sludge and blackened doom is brash, righteously punkish and thus far uncompromised in its malevolent intent. On their second album and Nuclear Blast debut, Ode to the Flame, songs like “Era Borealis” swagger as much as they sneer, the middle-finger-up arrogance becoming part of the appeal. “The Hint” offers some tinge of melody and “I Omen” some organ-laced atmospherics, but Mantar, who debuted in 2015 with the also fire-minded Death by Burning (review here) on Svart, carry their extremity forward like the next logical step of the same impulses that High on Fire once brought forth. Their tempo shifts, from blazing squibblies to outright lumbering, are pulled off with due fuckall, and the shouts from guitarist/vocalist Hanno and drummer/vocalist Erinc are spit forth in a manner near-indecipherable but still have no trouble getting their point across. Mantar are positioning themselves to be the kick in the ass that the underground needs. The next few years (and albums) will see how that pans out, but for now they have two scorchers under their collective belt.
There is a stylistic restlessness to stretches of Elevators to the Grateful Sky’s second record, Cape Yawn (on HeviSike), that becomes the uniting factor between the adrenaline-amped opening with “Ground” and “Bullet Words” and the later dream-surf Yawning Man-meets-sax unfurling of the title-track. The Palermo, Italy, outfit have stated their intention as capturing a blend of ‘90s alternative and modern heavy. Fair enough, but hearing that play out on the penultimate “Mountain Ship” in a mix of weighted riffing and laid back vocals giving way to shouts, it seems that to me that next time out, Elevators to the Grateful Sky should probably just start saying they sound like themselves, because they do. Granted, they’re pulling elements from familiar sources – Soundgarden, Kyuss, etc. – but in giving them new context, the four-piece are defining their sound as moving fluidly between the various styles, and that’s to be commended. The more you put into listening, the more you’ll get out of it.
Representing a 50 percent reunion of Burning Witch, the droning contemplations and hellish atmospherics of The Poisoned Glass’ Ritual Productions debut, 10 Swords, pique immediate interest. And bassist/percussionist/etc.-ist G. Stuart Dahlquist and vocalist/keyboardist Edgy 59 do not disappoint. With unspeakable patience, they execute six grueling and cinematic pieces that seem to find comfort in tortured expression and that feel claustrophobic even as they continue to expand outward and downward through “Plume Veil” and “Toil and Trouble” into the extended closing duo “Silent Vigil” – spoiler alert: not actually silent – and “Low Spirits,” which moves from minimalist stillness through far-back screams and into a wash of synth before its seven minutes are up, covering more ground in one track than some bands do in their entire career. Fair to say on the whole 10 Swords is an immersive listen, but the prevailing vibe is much less “diving in” than “being swallowed whole by some obscure medieval terror.” So, you know, watch out for that.
Los Angeles newcomers Spirit Collector make their debut with the self-released, three-song Owls to Athens EP, clear in its intent and brimming with airy, post-rock-derived guitar atmospherics. A particularly telling moment arrives with the Terence McKenna sample in centerpiece “Reclaim Your Mind,” which speaks of casting off the culture of celebrity worship for a richer human experience, but it’s in the extended closer “Theosophy” (7:57) that Spirit Collector find their footing someplace between a doomed plod and thoughtful psychedelia, picking up a chugging momentum as they push through toward the almost blackened finish, having come a surprising distance since their eponymous opener set the tone for expanse. An encouraging first offering if somewhat familiar superficially as instrumental heavy post-rock (think Explosions in the Sky, Russian Circles, Red Sparowes, etc.), and there’s nothing in Owls to Athens to make one think Spirit Collector can’t move forward and develop the experimental drive they begin to show here.
Vieh, the debut full-length from Colonge-based desert rocking foursome Phiasco, takes its name from the German word for “cattle.” The band owe some of their fuzz to Truckfighters and some of their psychedelic wash to Sungrazer, but the attitude in songs like “Ultimate Warrior” – comprised largely of riffs topped with an extended sample from the titular professional wrestler – and “Sunndown” is their own, as is the we’re-still-having-a-really-good-time-while-we-make-this-15-minute-song closer “Phisco” (sic), a highlight of the live-recorded full-length, which across its span is light on pretense and heavy on bounce. Cuts like “Old Town” and opener “Back to the Future” – hey, that’s a movie! – bring catchy hooks, and the uptempo “Erasing Rabbits with My Phaserlight” winds up as harmonized as goofed out, and thus is all the more engaging. There’s a certain amount of getting by on charm here, but Phiasco have a capable, varied songwriting process that’s given due fullness and clarity in these eight tracks.
Man, who gives a shit about anything else when Glaswegian five-piece The Cosmic Dead are enacting their hypnotic swirl? Their latest instrumental invitation to watch existence melt is called Rainbowhead and it arrives through Paradigms Recordings (CD) and Blackest Rainbow Records (LP) with four tracks that serve as the band’s first full-length since 2014’s EasterFaust, though they’ve had splits in between to keep a prolific rate of offerings fitting for their explorational heavy psych/space rock. The bulk of Rainbowhead is engagingly upbeat as side A plays out across “Human Sausage,” “Skye Burial” and the 13-minute “Inner C,” and side B’s 18-minute title-track follows suit as The Cosmic Dead seem to have found a similar niche between progressive rock and psych to that which Mammatus proffered on their most recent outing. It suits The Cosmic Dead, and they keep an improv vibe prevalent as ever, grasping the subconscious with trip-on-it lysergic pulsations.
Deeply textured and lush in its construction around guitar arrangements, percussive and keyboard-laden melodic flourish, Postures’ second full-length, Halucinda (on World in Sound), plays back and forth between prog and heavy rock impulses. The Gothenburg, Sweden, five-piece seem most at home in extended tracks like “Myriad Man,” “Every Room” and the jazzy 10-minute “Wavemaker,” but even the acoustic-led centerpiece interlude “A Million Sequences” invites the audience to turn up the volume for maximum wash effect. Paulina Nyström delivers a powerful, commanding and fluid vocal performance, and while the rhythm section of bassist Per Pettersson and drummer Isak Björhag are the foundation on which these complex structures play out – Viktor Andersson and Benjamin Watts handle guitar; Madeleine Sjögren is credited with backing vocals/keys and Margit Gyllspång percussion/backing vocals – there’s no angle from which Postures don’t come across rich and vital in their winding but well-plotted course, one song feeding fluidly to the next until the dreamy “In the Dark” rounds out with the emotional apex of the record.
What else to call a stoner band from Estonia? Estoner’s appeal, however, goes well beyond their moniker. The Tallinn-based outfit’s second album, Lennud Saatana Dimensioonis, arrives in a handmade hexagonal CD package, heat sealed, as well as with complete visual accompaniment on limited VHS and cassette via Golem Records. The music is no less relentlessly creative, running a gamut between prog, black metal, heavy rock, psychedelia, space rock and probably a few others in its seven-track course. A song like “Teleporteerumine” conjures darkened swirl and “Reptiloid” follows through with foreboding threat, but Estoner plunge even deeper as they go, proferring aesthetic reach that makes seemingly disparate elements work together fluidly on “Hüvasti, Kosmiline Monoliit” and the 10-minute closing title-track. Perhaps the highest compliment one can pay to Lennud Saatana Dimensioonis is to call it Svart-worthy, as its diverse means of engulfing the listener speak to a forward-thinking approach that one can only hope Estoner continue to develop.
Extra points to Swedish troupe The Black Explosion for opening their third album, the space-fuzzed out Atomic Zod War (on Metalville Records), with its longest track, the 13-minute “Paralyzed.” That song offers a languid voyage through uncharted jammy reaches, and that sets an open, laid back expectation that the rest of the album seems only too glad to build on, from the Nebula-via-Monster Magnet blown out vibes of “Ain’t Coming Home” to the semi-garage buzz of “Going Down,” a highlight groove that emphasizes the natural, raw tones at play leading into “Get My Mind Together” and the finisher “Devil Inside,” which brings the guitar of Chris Winter (also Dollhouse) forward with backing from bassist Simon Haraldsson and drummer Andreas Lindquist that feels born of the new West Coast tradition but is likely playing off of older impulses. But for its hey-look-it’s-tits cover art, the grit Atomic Zod War offers comes through organically and draws the listener in with its live feel and underlying boogie.
Posted in Whathaveyou on December 10th, 2015 by JJ Koczan
Sicilian four-piece Elevators to the Grateful Sky released their debut full-length, Cloud Eye, in 2013 through respected Swedish imprint Transubstans Records. The band has inked a new deal for the follow-up to come out through UK label HeviSike Records in March. It’ll be a download/LP-only deal out March 11, and the band has unveiled the first song of presumably several that will make their way to the public ahead of the release in the form of “Ground,” which is enough to pique my interest in what the rest of the record might have in store.
The announcement that Elevators to the Grateful Sky had signed to HeviSike came through the PR wire and brought the song with it. Whole deal looks a lot like this:
HeviSike Records announce signing of Italian psych rockers Elevators To The Grateful Sky | New album Cape Yawn released in March 2016
Cape Yawn will released on 11th March 2016 through HeviSike Records
The Birmingham-based label HeviSike Records is thrilled to announce the signing of Elevators To The Grateful Sky, and with it the release of their brand new album Cape Yawn in March 2016.
In what will be the second full-length album for the Palermo, Italy-based band, Cape Yawn marks a dramatic shift in both gear and sound for the heavy psych rockers who first came to light with the release of their self-titled debut EP in 2011.
Formed by friends Sandro Di Girolamo (Ex-Undead Creep) and Giuseppe Ferrara – both of whom cut their teeth as the brutal (and now defunct) death metal set Omega – Elevators To The Grateful Sky pull together and package a diverse range of influences from each band member’s distinct experience. Joined by Bonham-worshipping drummer Giulio Scavuzzo and guitarist Giorgio Trombino the band is a pressure cooker filled to the brim with psychedelic metal, doom, classic and groove-laden rock.
Serving their early days in their native Palermo, it didn’t take long for their EP to find its way onto the desk of Swedish label Transubstans Records who jumped at the chance to release their debut album Cloud Eye in 2013. An out-and-out foray into the darkened days of early grunge and straight up heavy 70s rock and roll, fast forward to Cape Yawn and the band has developed even further. Complimenting and drawing on influences as diverse as Danzig, Fu Manchu and legendary alt rockers Morphine (the song ‘Laura’ on Cape Yawn is dedicated to the band’s lead singer Mark Sandman) to galvanize their songwriting talents, Elevators To The Grateful Sky produce something entirely of their own making. It’s an album that will keep audiences guessing and leave no rock lover wanting.
Cape Yawn by Elevators To The Grateful Sky will be released on 11th March 2016 on HeviSike Records. In the meantime, you can share and stream the brand new track ‘Ground’ here
Elevators To The Grateful Sky: Sandro Di Girolamo – Vocals Giuseppe Ferrara – Guitars Giorgio Trombino – Guitars Giulio Scavuzzo – Drums
