What, you thought just because they’re not a band anymore that might stop a vinyl release? Oh no, no, no, my friends. Because while the members of Vienna classic-style proto-metal-tinged heavy rockers Pastor may have already moved onto new bands like Ryte, Mothers of the Land, White Scorpion, Avalanche and Galactic Pot Healer, they did so by posting their second and final album, Unveil, on Bandcamp like it wasn’t no thing. Except it was a thing. It was a cool record. And cool records get vinyl releases on Cursed Tongue. That’s just the way of life.

So don’t expect to see Pastor anytime soon on a bunch of festival lineups or think there’s a long list of tour dates coming, because really what the May 8 vinyl issue of Unveil is doing is serving as a proper sendoff and a thanks-for-kicking-ass-while-you-did to the four-piece, who released their 2015 debut album, Evoke (review here) and prior 2014 single, Wayfaring Stranger/The Oath (review here), on Who Can You Trust? Records, earning kudos all the while for their combined manner of boogie and shred. Whether or not the band end up doing anything else at any point down the line, I don’t think you can listen to Unveil and not agree it earns its platter.

Preorders start April 3, as the label informs:

HEAVY PSYCH RIFF ROCKERS PASTOR SIGN TO CURSED TONGUE RECORDS FOR A GLOBAL VINYL RELEASE OF THEIR NEW ALBUM ‘UNVEIL’ MAY 8 2020

Cursed Tongue Records is very happy to announce the signing of Vienna, AU based riff-4some Pastor and look forward to release their sophomore and (potentially last) album entitled ‘Unveil’ premium vinyl. Pastor has yet again created an energetic, engaging and riff-heavy psych rock album full of heft and groove. ‘Unveil’ will kick your face in, knock you over, shred your skin to pieces, melt your brain and crush your skull to powder and all that will be left is your burned skin, shattered bones and knackered grinning skull.

Pastor is no new acquaintance to Cursed Tongue Records, as we have known about this band since their brilliant debut album ‘Evoke’ was released some 4+ years ago. So, when news about the digital release of a sophomore album pierced our radar, there was no hesitation and the quest for a vinyl release of this new album quickly formed in the deep dungeons at CTR headquarters. It didn’t take long for band and label to reach a common understanding that the world needed this album on the paramount medium and we quickly engaged in a plot to unveil the new album on vinyl.

The plot thickens, the plans solidify, and come May 8 2020 ‘Unveil’ will hit doom street and the Heavy Underground can rejoice in the heavy riffage that’s about to commence. Pre-orders for vinyl will run one months prior with a launch date scheduled for April 3rd 2020.

ALBUM BACKGROUND

‘Unveil’ is Pastor second album following a successful debut album entitled ‘Evoke’ released via Austrian label Who can you trust? Records in 2015. The band has the following insight to the story behind the creation of the follow-up album ‘Unveil’:
“So after our first record ‘Evoke’ was released we started gathering some songs. We did a couple weekenders here and there and ended up being on tour for a couple of weeks. During that time our tunes got slightly darker and more psych and we wanted to write songs reflecting the heavier side of our influences. It seemed we were going the direction we wanted to in the first place. “Unveil” documents this process very well, as we find.

In July 2017 we ended up again in lower Austria, where our first 7” was done and recorded there again. Bazoka Jürxn, who was our man of choice this time, captured perfectly what we wanted. Lots of beers were slammed and this time recording was way more of a party than a studio experience. We guess it was just because we knew what to expect and what we exactly wanted.

After the record was done we sort of mellowed out for a while. We started some new bands and Pastor kind of went on hiatus. The songs didn’t come naturally and we called it an end before writing stuff we couldn’t really identify with anymore. Our time was just up. We wanted to release “Unveil” somewhere, somehow and so we ended up putting it on Bandcamp. From there the good people from Cursed Tongue Records got aware of us and our last album and Niels was crazy enough to engage in releasing a record by a band that just split up.

We are more than happy that our last release is finding its way on vinyl, which was the way we wanted it to be right off the bat! So, sit back, grab a beverage of your preference and enjoy our last jams as Pastor called ‘Unveil’ Pastor was arik, shardik, alex & georg.”

Pastor might be done as a band (for now) in its current constellation, but the music lives on and we in Cursed Tongue Records firmly believe that music of this order demands a vinyl release no matter the situation – and we are pretty convinced that you, after having listened to ‘Unveil’, will testify to this as well! So in that in that we spirit we say: “For those about to riff, we salute you”!

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https://pastor.bandcamp.com/
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Pastor, Unveil (2019)

Austrian four-piece Pastor will make their full-length debut one month from today — that’s Aug. 17, if you don’t feel like checking the calendar — with Evoke, pressed in an edition of 500 LPs by Who Can You Trust? Records with cover art by the esteemed Adam Burke. A quick-running 29 minutes, the album nonetheless finds plenty of time to nestle itself into a classically-minded groove, the Vienna outfit putting together seven tracks that toe the line betwixt ’70s boogie and what would later become doom, managing to bring to mind a retro spirit — you might say they evoke it — without delving as far as some into retro fetishism. In addition, a punkish snottiness in side B’s “Moving On” adds a sense of attitude to go with the prevalent swing in the rhythm section of bassist Georg drummer Alex, which is a major factor throughout and puts Pastor in line with the likes of Denmark’s Demon Head in an up and coming push of Pentagram-influenced heaviness.

Vocalist/guitarist Arik and guitarist Shardik take forward position as the riffs lead the charge on the opening chug of “Voodoo,” but immediately the bass and drums play a key role in setting the heavy course and opening into the more rushing verse, weighted, swinging and talking of demons and things from “the other side.” A roll familiar in some aspects ensues, but Pastor bring a sense of presence to the material as well, and that thread continues to develop as “Voodoo” feeds into “Drowning Thoughts,” the songs feeling open despite a defined structure thanks in no small part to that rhythmic surefootedness. The story was much the same with their 2014 single, Wayfaring Stranger/The Oath (review here), which Who Can You Trust? also released, but of course the vibe of a full-length is different. “Wolf Vein” nods at the chug of “Hand of Doom” before shifting into a dual-guitar shuffle, replete with wah, soaked in vibe, and “Wicked Whispers” closes out side A with a proto-metallic gallop that finds Arik going a little guttural in his delivery in order to further the doomed feel.

“Moving On” kicks the second, shorter half of Evoke into immediate groove, marked out by fluid leads, the prior-noted punker edge, and a particularly memorable course of starts and stops, while “Devil’s Reef” pushes through early shuffle toward a slowdown in its second half that provides the foundation for a bluesy last-minute solo, the lyrics earlier in the track urging the listener to “be forewarned” in a well placed dogwhistle reference for the also-converted. And with “Evoke” itself, everything gets tied together, but a darkened swing still moves, and Arik pushes his vocals past the breaking point in delivering the title-line over winding Iommic riffery. Traditional in its overall approach, the album nonetheless carries a fresh feel in its stylized restlessness, and as Pastor‘s debut long-player, it finds them utterly cognizant of where they want to be as a band and the kind of ambience they want their material to… well, you know what I’m going to say.

Today I have the pleasure of hosting opener “Voodoo” as a track premiere to herald the album’s arrival one month from today. Evoke is available now to preorder from Who Can You Trust?, and Pastor will tour in Europe with Black Wizard beginning in Sept. A quote from Alex on the album’s making, the tour dates, the preorder link and more info follow the song on the player below.

Please enjoy:

RELEASE DATE: August 17th

Released in an edition of 500 copies on black vinyl.

“Evoke is basically a collection of our heaviest riffs we jammed in our rehearsal room and it’s raw,” explains drummer Alex. “It was recorded without a click track because let’s be honest, life won’t play to a steady beat either. We also didn’t do any of the usual post production fancy stuff because that’s just not us. Some of them songs were written in a hellish atmosphere, during the summer and some of them during the frosty days of a Vienna winter. I think you can hear that difference on the album pretty well. We entered the mighty halls of Elephant West Studios, with lady Sabina Sloth on the throne, chugged down some beers and just played all together in one room. We are more than excited about the result and the artwork, which was crafted by none other than Adam Burke. So sit back and turn your speakers all the way up until your whole neighborhood joins you for a drink. Enjoy the sounds of Evoke.”

“Evoke” track list:
SIDE A
A1 VOODOO
A2 DROWNING THOUGHTS
A3 WOLF VEIN
A4 WICKED WHISPERS
SIDE B
B1 MOVING ON
B2 DEVILS REEF
B3 EVOKE

Pastor Euro tour with Black Wizard:
Thu – 10.09 AUT – Graz @ Club Volt
Fri – 11.09 AUT – Linz @ Ann And Pat
Sat – 12.09 AUT – Innsbruck @ Prometheus
Sun – 13.09 – TBA
Mon – 14.09 – TBA
Tue – 15.09 AUT – Vienna @ Arena Beisl
Wed – 16.09 GER – Berlin @ Cortina Bob
Thu – 17.09 – TBA
Fri – 18.09 – TBA
Sat – 19.09 GER – Erfurt @ Cafe Tiko
Sun – 20.09 – TBA
Mon – 21.09 – TBA
Tue – 22.09 GER – Essen @ Panic Room
Wed – 23.09 – TBA
Thu – 24.09 SWI – Geneva @ L’Usine
Fri – 25.09 SWI – Olten @ Coq D’Or
Sat – 26.09 BEL – Arlon @ L’Entrepot
Sun – 27.09 BEL – Kortrijk @ The Pits
Sun – 27.09 BEL – Antwerp @ Music City
Mon – 28.09 – TBA
Tue – 29.09 ITA – Bologna @ Freak Out
Wed – 30.09 ITA – Bibione (VE) @ Beach Invaders Music Bar
Thu – 01.10 SLO – Ljubljana @ Channel Zero
Fri – 02.10 SLO – Ilirska Bistrica @ MKNZ
Sat – 03.10 ITA – Trieste @ Tetris Club

Pastor is:
Arik – vox/guitar
Shardik – guitar
Georg – bass
Alex – drums

Evoke Preorders

Pastor on Thee Facebooks

Pastor on Bandcamp

Who Can You Trust? Records BigCartel Store

Who Can You Trust? Records on Thee Facebooks

Austrian shuffle-prone trad heavy rockers Pastor announce that their full-length debut, Evoke, is set to arrive next month via Who Can You Trust? Records. You might recall the same label issued their 2014 7″ Wayfaring Stranger/The Oath (review here), but the LP is all new material, and though it shares cover art by Adam Burke in common with the preceding single, it’s far more cohesive stylistically, Pastor sounding sure of who they are as a band and what they want their songs to do across the relatively brief 29-minute span of the album.

I’ll be doing a track premiere in a couple weeks for one of the seven inclusions — not sure which yet, though I’m digging the title-track at the moment — so expect more on Evoke to come, but by way of an early heads up, here’s the album info, some comment from drummer Alex about making the record and the dates for Pastor‘s upcoming European tour with Black Wizard, set to begin Sept. 10.

All, of course, off the PR wire:

“Evoke” is the debut full-length of Pastor from Vienna, Austria. It is the follow-up to last years debut 7″ that featured the tracks “Wayfaring Stranger” and “The Oath”. The album will be released on August 17th through Who Can You Trust? Records in an Edition of 500 LPs on black Vinyl!

“It was done within five days,” says drummer Alex. “The recording dates were set pretty quickly after we decided to hit the studio so we had no time to work on the songs or think a lot about details, but we wanted it just that way. Chris from Who Can You Trust? Records was down with us again and we just had to do it. Evoke is basically a collection of our heaviest riffs we jammed in our rehearsal room and it’s raw. It was recorded without a click track because let’s be honest, life won’t play to a steady beat either. We also didn’t do any of the usual post production fancy stuff because that’s just not us.”

“Some of them songs were written in a hellish atmosphere during the summer and some of them during the frosty days of a Vienna winter,” he continues. “I think you can hear that difference on the album pretty well. We entered the mighty halls of Elephant West Studios, with lady Sabina Sloth on the throne, chugged down some beers and just played all together in one room. We are more than excited about the result and the artwork, which was crafted by none other than Adam Burke. So sit back and turn your speakers all the way up until your whole neighborhood joins you for a drink. Enjoy the sounds of Evoke.”

“Evoke” track list:
SIDE A
A1 VOODOO
A2 DROWNING THOUGHTS
A3 WOLF VEIN
A4 WICKED WHISPERS
SIDE B
B1 MOVING ON
B2 DEVILS REEF
B3 EVOKE

Pastor Euro tour with Black Wizard:
Thu – 10.09 AUT – Graz @ Club Volt
Fri – 11.09 AUT – Linz @ Ann And Pat
Sat – 12.09 AUT – Innsbruck @ Prometheus
Sun – 13.09 – TBA
Mon – 14.09 – TBA
Tue – 15.09 AUT – Vienna @ Arena Beisl
Wed – 16.09 GER – Berlin @ Cortina Bob
Thu – 17.09 – TBA
Fri – 18.09 – TBA
Sat – 19.09 GER – Erfurt @ Cafe Tiko
Sun – 20.09 – TBA
Mon – 21.09 – TBA
Tue – 22.09 GER – Essen @ Panic Room
Wed – 23.09 – TBA
Thu – 24.09 SWI – Geneva @ L’Usine
Fri – 25.09 SWI – Olten @ Coq D’Or
Sat – 26.09 BEL – Arlon @ L’Entrepot
Sun – 27.09 BEL – Kortrijk @ The Pits
Sun – 27.09 BEL – Antwerp @ Music City
Mon – 28.09 – TBA
Tue – 29.09 ITA – Bologna @ Freak Out
Wed – 30.09 ITA – Bibione (VE) @ Beach Invaders Music Bar
Thu – 01.10 SLO – Ljubljana @ Channel Zero
Fri – 02.10 SLO – Ilirska Bistrica @ MKNZ
Sat – 03.10 ITA – Trieste @ Tetris Club

Pastor is:
Arik – vox/guitar
Shardik – guitar
Georg – bass
Alex – drums

https://www.facebook.com/pastoraustria
http://pastor.bandcamp.com/
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http://www.facebook.com/pages/Who-Can-You-Trust-Records/187406787966906

Pastor, Wayfaring Stranger b/w The Oath (2014)

On their debut single for Who Can You Trust? Records, Austrian four-piece Pastor — and just to save you the trouble of trying to seek them out on Thee Facebooks, here’s the link — run pretty quickly through a barrage of doom and classic heavy rock influences. Throughout the just-over-eight-minute Wayfaring Stranger b/w The Oath 7″, one can hear traces of early Pentagram‘s post-Sabbath doom rock, metered out with ’70s swing and swagger that makes the most of a catchy, nod-ready groove and immediately strong rhythmic sensibility. It’s worth emphasizing that the A-side is not a cover of the traditional ballad — the most memorable version I can think of for “Wayfaring Stranger” was by 16 Horsepower, but plenty of people have done it, including Johnny Cash — and that the B-side is not referring to the German doom/cult rock outfit so far as I can tell. Both songs are originals and delivered with a brash tossed-off feel that speaks to some roots in punk and keeps a natural, live feel to the recording.

The band is a two-guitar four-piece based out of Vienna, comprised of the first-name-only lineup of guitarist/vocalist Arik, guitarist Shardik, bassist Georg and drummer Alex. Once again, this single is their first release, but arriving in a sleeve that unfolds to show a full piece by Adam Burke on the outside and a picture of the band on the inside, they’ve put together a presentation that stands the two tracks out as something more professional than a demo that got picked up by a label, though the effect is still basically giving an introductory sample to what Pastor are shooting for sonically in their early stages. To that end, “Wayfaring Stranger” greets with motoring stomp, natural echo on the vocals and an underlying grit that pans out in winding riffs, lead/rhythm interplay and a sense of rush in the chorus that’s not actually overly fast, the midsection opening to a groove that would be begging for vinyl pressing if it wasn’t already done. They finish the A-side big — no surprise there — and pick up after the platter flip with more ’70s-stylized hijinks with “The Oath.”

Some of the doomly feel is maintained, but “The Oath” builds on its companion track with even more swagger, shifting near its own middle to a Radio Moscow-esque thrust of heavy psych, Arik donning a similar bluesy inflection to Parker Griggs. Crashing back to the reality of the heavy-landing central groove, Pastor once again seem to turn up as the “The Oath” boogies to its finish, but the blues-by-doom impression is made, and without giving themselves wholly over to the post-Graveyard/Kadavar school of retro worship, the foursome have nonetheless managed to hone an authentic-sounding update of a familiar but still engaging vibe. The vinyl, with the 7″ itself in a white sleeve and the art from Burke surrounding, is pressed in an edition of 500 copies. If you can dig it, you might dig it.

Pastor, Wayfaring Stranger b/w The Oath (2014)

Pastor on Thee Facebooks

Pastor on Bandcamp

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