Posted in Whathaveyou on March 7th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
It was only like a week and a half ago that Philadelphia heavy rockers HIGH LEAF announced their new lineup, but they warned then that word of their debut album was impending, and here we are. The record in question is called Vision Quest, and, well, I hope it’s good because at this point I’ve posted about the band three times with nothing more to go on as regards their sound than the video you can see below at the bottom of this post (as well as the other two). I haven’t heard any of it yet, and have basically been going based on that clip and the clear professionalism with which they present themselves, at least as far the genre goes.
That is to say, they’re not wearing suits and talking about the quarter’s profits, but for a band following where the riffs go, their beginning hasn’t been subject to the same stumbling sensibilities of so many others getting their collective shit together. To wit, three press releases and no audio yet. I hear tell that’s about to change, at least as they start sending out review downloads of the album, once again called Vision Quest.
Fair enough. I guess if I hear it and it’s terrible or not a fit at all or whatever, you’ll know because I won’t post about them again, but I’ve got a decent feeling going into it and my hopes are up, come what may. May 5, to be precise.
Pop goes the PR wire:
HIGH LEAF Announces debut Album “Vision Quest”, Release is set for May 5th, 2023!
The wait is FINALLY over! HIGH LEAF (ALL CAPS) will be self-releasing their debut album “Vision Quest” on Riffslayer Records Friday, May 5th. It will be available on all digital platforms, and also on CD. You can pre save the album on Spotify here:https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/highleaf/vision-quest
Recorded last September (with their original lineup) at Retro City Studios in Philadelphia with Joe Boldizar (Ruby the Hatchet, Age Of Truth, Ecstatic Vision) over 5 days, the band worked tirelessly to capture the unique essence of each song.
The Mixes were engineered by Patrick Fiore (HIGH LEAF) and Joe Boldizar at Retro City Studios over the course of a month. The album was mastered by 4x Grammy Award Winner Will Borza (Deftones, 30 Seconds to Mars, ZZ Top) at Borza Mastering in California.
The band will also be having an Album Release show on June 3rd at Silk City in Philadelphia, PA. Tickets can be purchased at https://www.etix.com/ticket/p/4521556/high-leaf-philadelphia-silk-city in advance for $12.
Vision Quest Track List: 1. Green Rider 2. Vision Quest 3. Subversive 4. Dead Eye 5. Hard to Find 6. Painted Desert 7. March to The Grave 8. The Rot
You can catch the band live at: 04/21/2023 @ The Depot- Baltimore with Indus Valley Kings 04/29/2023 @ The Long Island Sludge, Doom and Metal Fest 04/30/2023 @ The Union Firehouse- Mt. Holly, NJ with Sleep Signals, Silvertung, Sick Century 05/05/2023 @ The Gem- Spring City, PA 06/03/2023 @ Silk City, Philadelphia, PA. (ALBUM RELEASE SHOW) w/ Ritual Earth & Thunderbird Divine 06/22/2023 @ The Maryland Doom Fest- Fredrick, Maryland
HIGH LEAF on this recording: Patrick Fiore – Lead Guitar Corey Presner – Vocals/Guitar Marc Lampasona – Drums Matt Rib – Bass
HIGH LEAF is: Patrick Fiore- Lead Guitar Corey Presner- Vocals/Guitar Brian Schmidt- Bass Dean Welsh- Drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on February 27th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Among the crucial bits of information here as regards nascent Philadelphia heavy rockers HIGH LEAF is that they prefer their moniker written in all-caps. Also that they have a new rhythm section, having brought in Brian Schmidt and Dean Welsh on bass and drums, respectively, at some recent temporal juncture. You might recall in Sept. 2022 they entered Retro City Studios in to record their debut offering with producer Joe Boldizar — whose Philly cred wants for nothing with the likes of The Age of Truth, Ruby the Hatchet and Ecstatic Vision on the CV, among others — and given the hint below toward an actual release for said full-length, I’m assuming it’s done. Introducing the lineup, I guess they kind of had to say something about it, if only to avoid the first and most obvious question they’d otherwise be asked. By me if no one else.
After reading the initial announcement guitarist Patrick Fiore sent over, I was curious to see if Schmidt and Welsh actually feature on the recording, or what the timing was on their arrival in the group, which wasn’t originally mentioned. I hit up Fiore and asked about putting the band together again. Turns out it’s the older lineup on the record, as the change didn’t happen until December. Fair enough. Seems like it was pretty smooth, as far as reformations go.
I didn’t ask, but I wonder too if there’s a label behind it as yet, or if one will be. HIGH LEAF have put a lot into a professional presentation for a band just getting started — even the shirts they sell on Bandcamp are full-color screens — and the feeling I get is they’re looking to catch as many ears and eyes as they can, make an impact. I’ve got my hopes up at this point that the music stands up to that when it arrives.
They’ll be at Maryland Doom Fest in June, which frankly would be enough for me to want to write about them even without any of the other stuff they have going on. JB doesn’t book BS.
Here’s their update:
Philadelphia Stoner Rock Band HIGH LEAF announce 2023 Lineup
After a short winter hibernation, Philadelphia Stoner Rock quartet HIGH LEAF (All Caps) has shaken off the frost to announce their NEW 2023 lineup and first shows of the year. You can also be on the lookout for information regarding the band’s debut album and single coming in the next few weeks!
Patrick Fiore on reforming the band/new members: “Losing half the band in December was kinda a shock to us. We weren’t really anticipating having to replace half of a band. We had just finished recording our debut album, and were in the process of shopping the record and getting positive responses back. Unfortunately, their departure kinda slowed everything down due to the uncertainty around the band. We were lucky that our long time friend Brian Schdmit’s (who we have known for about 10 years) band was breaking up so we asked him to join on bass. Brian then suggested his friend Dean Welsh to try out on drums for us, and Dean was an amazing fit. It really didn’t take long for us to gel. We even played a show with only four weeks of practice! We are really excited to have these guys on board and look forward to the music we will create together.”
As for the debut Album: ” Last September we recorded our debut album at Retro City Studios (Ruby the Hatchet, Age of Truth, Ecstatic Vision) with Joe Boldizar in Philadelphia, PA. We are really proud of the way the album came out, and look forward to sharing it with the world. We are planning a late spring/early summer release for the album, with a detailed announcement coming within the next two weeks.”
You can catch the band live at: 4/30/2023 @ The Union Firehouse- Mt. Holly, NJ with Sleep Signals, Silvertung, Sick Century 06/22/2023 @ The Maryland Doom Fest- Fredrick, Maryland
HIGH LEAF is Patrick Fiore- Lead Guitar Corey Presner- Vocals/Guitar Brian Schmidt- Bass Dean Welsh- Drums
Posted in audiObelisk on February 14th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Yes, Valentine’s Day is commercial schlock that’s taken the pagan love of screwing and the already co-opted Catholic hackery subsequent to it and adding capitalist greed for a final punch of awfulness to create a day that not only isn’t about love so much as making one feel inadequate, lonely and obligated to spend money. As holidays go, it’s pretty high on the bullshit scale. From the price of roses to the gendered performance of obligation, I have a hard time imagining a worse incarnation of a holiday that’s supposed to be about love or one that’s easier to hate in itself. And I lead a life that’s full of love. Every day. So no, I’m not just lonely.
Enter Thunderbird Divine, who stand in persistent and ready contrast to that-which-is-generally-terrible. The Philadelphia heavy psych rockers started off 2023 by unveiling the surprise cover of The Osmonds‘ “Crazy Horses” (premiered here), and in a similarly playful spirit, they offer the below take on Barry White‘s “I’m Gonna Love You Just a Little More, Babe” as a Valentine’s special. The track first appeared on the soul legend’s 1973 debut album, I’ve Got So Much to Give — the cover art above is a port from the album’s less walrusized original — and across its six-plus minutes as interpreted by Thunderbird Divine, the hook and characteristically sultry vibes become fodder for weirdo psych duggery, drifting guitar over a solid underlying rhythm, spoken word obscured by effects, and so on. Thunderbird Divine‘s cover is actually shorter than the original at 6:40, but it is still plenty of time for it to put you in the mood, either for love or maybe a snack, depending on your disposition.
It’s not Thunderbird Divine‘s first engagement either with the ’70s or with a particularly funky psychedelia — if only there was a handy portmanteau for that — but it’s good fun, and anything that injects actual enjoyment into Valentine’s Day is more than welcome as far as I’m concerned. You’ll hear White sampled, and other oddball additions to the foundation of the track, and sure enough, it flows with easy swagger. You’ll recall Thunderbird Divine‘s last studio release — before “Crazy Horses” — was 2020’s The Hand of Man EP (review here). They had been working on new originals as of 2020, but if they’ve shifted their attention toward building a backlog of cover tunes, well, I’m not hearing anything thus far in these two — or their prior jab at The Yardbirds, for that matter — to make me want to argue.
Send it to someone you love. If the response is positive, you know it’s meant to be. However it works out, I wish you more actual love and fewer manufactured celebrations.
Enjoy:
Thunderbird Divine, “I’m Gonna Love You Just a Little More, Babe” (Barry White cover) track premiere
Philly’s Psych Rock Collective, Thunderbird Divine, Releases Barry White Cover for Valentine’s Day
Thunderbird Divine serenades you for Valentine’s Day with a fresh recording of Barry White’s first classic solo tune, “I’m Gonna Love You a Little More, Babe.” The six-plus-minute psych-funk cover might seem an odd choice for any rock band other than Thunderbird Divine.
“Honestly, we all just dig the song,” says Erik Caplan, the band’s vocalist/guitarist/player-player-of-odd instruments. “(Drummer) Mike Stuart fell in love with that funked-up groove, and that opening riff is just too much fun to play.”
Naturally, the biggest challenge in tackling an R&B opus of this stature was the vocal line, which originally featured White’s signature baritone, not to mention his famous narration.
“Not gonna lie, that frankly scared me,” Caplan explains. “I’m not The Love Walrus, and, really, nobody is. Barry White had this ability to deliver a song with sincerity and frank smoothness. Not everyone can do that. My bandmates were encouraging, (Keys player) Jack Falkenbach told me ‘Don’t worry about doing it like Barry. Do it like you.’ And of course he was right. Jack usually is.”
As for the meat of the song itself, there are some notable deviations from the original to match Thunderbird Divine’s sonic sensibilities.
“We had to do our own thing with it,” says Caplan. “That certainly meant honoring the original, but it had to have our stamp on it. So we added some drones, mellotron, electric sitar, backwards stuff, Barry himself, ranting about cutting a spot for Paul Quinn college, a bass VI solo… but the root of the song is anchored by (bassist) Josh Solomon and Mike. Once we had that foundation, we were free to explore and build.”
The tune is available at the price of “Pay what you want” at Thunderbird Divine’s bandcamp page.
Thunderbird Divine is: Erik Caplan – guitar/lead vocals/theremin/etc. Jack Falkenback – keyboard/vocals Josh Solomon – bass/vocals Mike Stuart – drums/vocals
Posted in Whathaveyou on January 26th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
A fair amount going on early this year for Ecstatic Vision, which is reasonable because they kick a more than fair amount of ass. The Philly psychblasters are continuing to support last year’s Elusive Mojo (review here) even as they work toward the March 17 release of Live at Duna Jam, which captures their performance at the ultimate daydream of a getaway festival, held annually on a Sardinian beach (see photo above; I don’t know who took it or I’d give credit). Before they go on this massive European tour newly announced, they’ll play two hometown Philadelphia dates with long-running Oregonian classic heavy gurus Danava on March 31 and April 1, which, if it needs to be said, is a good-ass show.
The Euro tour starts April 27, and includes stops at Astral Festival in Berlin, Desertfest London, Sonic Whip, Berlin Desertfest, Gockelscream, Esbjerg Fuzztival, and probably others that I missed on the list below, but if that seems like a lot of festivals, it is. And if you’d ever seen Ecstatic Vision live you’d want them to come and play your festival too.
From social media:
Ecstatic Vision – Live at DunaJam LP, CD, and DVD dropping in March on @heavypsychsounds_records !
Live At Dunajam is the brand new album of the US psychedelic wizards Ecstatic Vision. Recorded live at the legendary Dunajam in June 2022. Mixed by Joe Boldizar. Mastering by Claudio Gruer at Pisi Mastering. Layouts by Branca Studio. Cover album photo by David Wiggins.
“A secret show in hidden location, we absolutely laid everything to waste. You should be excited about this – pure lawlessness.”
Ecstatic Vision European Tour: 27/04/2023 FR Lille La Bulle Café 28/04/2023 FR Paris La Maroquinerie 29/04/2023 NL Haarlem Slachthuis 30/04/2023 UK Bristol Astral Festival 01/05/2023 UK Leeds Old Woollen 02/05/2023 UK Glasgow Ivory Blacks 03/05/2023 UK Preston Continental 04/05/2023 UK Newcastle upon Tyne Lubber Fiend 05/05/2023 UK London Desertfest 06/05/2023 NL Nijmegen Sonic Whip 07/05/2023 FR Reims Les Vieux de La Vieille 08/05/2023 FR Nantes Décadanse 10/05/2023 ES Barcelona Sala Meteoro 11/05/2023 ES Zarogoza Sala Utopía 12/05/2023 ES Pozal de Gallinas Valladolid 13/05/2023 PT Lisboa Galeria Zé dos Bois 14/05/2023 PT Porto WS69 15/05/2023 ES Madrid Sala Silikona 16/05/2023 FR Toulouse Connexion Live 17/05/2023 FR Montpellier L’Antirouille 19/05/2023 FR Grandfontaine Brasserie de Framont 20/05/2023 DE Münster Rare Guitar 21/05/2023 DE Berlin Desertfest 22/05/2023 CZ Pilsen Anděl Music 23/05/2023 AT Linz Kapu 24/05/2023 DE Jena KuBa 26/05/2023 DE D.-Dittersbach GockelScream #4 27/05/2023 DK Esbjerg Fuzztival 28/05/2023 DK Copenhagen Råhuset 30/05/2023 FIN Helsinki G Livelab 31/05/2023 EST Tallinn Sveta 01/06/2023 LV Riga NOASS art centre 02/06/2023 LTU Vilnius XI20 03/06/2023 PL Warsaw Hydrozagadka 04/06/2023 PL Krakow Alchemia 06/06/2023 NL Utrecht dB’s
ECSTATIC VISION is Doug Sabolik Michael Field Connor Kevin Nickles Ricky Kulp
Posted in Reviews on January 12th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
We press on, until the end, though tired and long since out of adjectival alternatives to ‘heavy.’ The only way out is through, or so I’m told. Therefore, we go through.
Morale? Low. Brain, exhausted. The shit? Hit the fan like three days ago. The walls, existentially speaking, are a mess. Still, we go through.
Two more days to go. Thanks for reading.
Winter 2023 Quarterly Review #81-90:
Farflung, Like Drones in Honey
No question Farflung are space rock. It’s not up for debate. They are who they are and on their 10th full-length, Like Drones in Honey (on Sulatron, which suits both them and label), they remain Farflung. But whether it’s the sweet ending of the “Baile an Doire” or the fuzz riffing beneath the sneer of “King Fright” and the careening garage strum of “Earthmen Look Alike to Me,” the album offers a slew of reminders that as far out as Farflung get — and oh my goodness, they go — the long-running Los Angeles outfit were also there in the mid and late ’90s as heavy rock and, in California particularly, desert rock took shape. Of course, opener “Acid Drain” weaves itself into the fabric of the universe via effects blowout and impulse-engine chug, and after that finish in “Baile an Doire,” they keep the experimentalism going on the backwards/forwards piano/violin of “Touch of the Lemmings Kiss” and the whispers and underwater rhythm of closer “A Year in Japan,” but even in the middle of the pastoral “Tiny Cities Made of Broken Teeth” or in the second half of the drifting “Dludgemasterpoede,” they’re space and rock, and it’s worth not forgetting about the latter even as you blast off with weirdo rocket fuel. Like their genre overall, like Sulatron, Farflung are underrated. It is lucky that doesn’t slow their outbound trip in the slightest.
Whether you want to namedrop one or another Coltrane or the likes of Amon Düül or Magma or whoever else, the point is the same: Neptunian Maximalism are not making conventional music. Yeah, there’s rhythm, meter, even some melody, but the 66-minute run of the recorded-on-stage Finis Gloriae Mundi isn’t defined by songs so much as the pieces that make up its consuming entirety. As a group, the Belgians’ project isn’t to write songs to much as to manifest an expression of an idea; in this case, apparently, the end of the world. A given stretch might drone or shred, meditate in avant-jazz or move-move-move-baby in heavy kosmiche push, but as they make their way to the two-part culmination “The Conference of the Stars,” the sense of bringing-it-all-down is palpable, and so fair enough for their staying on theme and offering “Neptunian’s Raga Marwa” as a hint toward the cycle of ending and new beginnings, bright sitar rising out of low, droning, presented-as-empty space. For most, their extreme take on prog and psych will simply be too dug in, too far from the norm, and that’s okay. Neptunian Maximalism aren’t so much trying to be universal as to try to commune with the universe itself, wherever that might exist if it does at all. End of the world? Fine. Let it go. Another one will come along eventually.
Four years after their 2018 self-titled debut (review here), Denver heavy rock and rollers Near Dusk gather eight songs across and smooth-rolling, vinyl-minded 37 minutes for Through the Cosmic Fog, which takes its title from the seven-and-a-half-minute penultimate instrumental “Cosmic Fog,” a languid but not inactive jam that feels especially vital for the character it adds among the more straightforward songs earlier in the record — the rockers, as it were — that comprise side A: “The Way it Goes,” “Spliff ’em All,” and so on. “Cosmic Fog” isn’t side B’s only moment of departure, as the drumless guitar-exploration-into-acoustic “Roses of Durban” and the slower rolling finisher “Slab City” fill out the expansion set forth with the bluesy solo in the back end of “EMFD,” but the strength of craft they show on the first four songs isn’t to be discounted either for the fullness or the competence of their approach. The three-piece of Matthew Orloff, Jon Orloff and Kellen McInerney know where they’re coming from in West Coast-style heavy, not-quite-party, rock, and it’s the strength of the foundation they build early in the opening duo and “The Damned” and “Blood for Money,” that lets them reach outward late, allowing Through the Cosmic Fog to claim its space as a classically structured, immediately welcome heavy rock LP.
The 2023 self-titled debut EP from Portland, Oregon’s Simple Forms collects four prior singles issued over the course of 2021 and 2022 into one convenient package, and even if you’ve been keeping up with the trickle of material from the band that boasts members of YOB, (now) Hot Victory, Dark Castle and Norska, hearing the tracks right next to each other does change the context somewhat, as with the darker turn of “From Weathered Hand” after “Reaching for the Shadow” or the way that leadoff and “Together We Will Rest” seem to complement each other in the brightness of the forward guitar, a kind of Euro-style proggy noodling that reminds of The Devil’s Blood or something more goth, transposed onto a forward-pushing Pacific Northwestern crunch. The hints of black metal in the riffing of “The Void Beneath” highlight the point that this is just the start for guitarists Rob Shaffer and Dustin Rieseberg, bassist Aaron Rieseberg and grunge-informed frontman Jason Oswald (who also played drums and synth here), but already their sprawl is nuanced and directed toward individualism. I don’t know what their plans might be moving forward, but if the single releases didn’t highlight their potential, certainly the four songs all together does. A 19-minute sampler of what might be, if it will be.
Probably safe to call Lybica a side-project for Justin Foley, since it seems unlikely to start taking priority over his position as drummer in metalcore mainstays Killswitch Engage anytime soon, but the band’s self-titled debut offers a glimpse of some other influences at work. Instrumental in its entirety, it comes together with Foley leading on guitar joined by bassist Doug French and guitarist Joey Johnson (both of Gravel Kings) and drummer Chris Lane (A Brilliant Lie), and sure, there’s some pretty flourish of guitar, and some heavier, more direct chugging crunch — “Palatial” in another context might have a breakdown riff, and the subsequent “Oktavist” is more directly instru-metal — but even in the weighted stretch at the culmination of “Ferment,” and in the tense impression at the beginning of seven-minute closer “Charyou,” the vibe is more in line with Russian Circles than Foley‘s main outfit, and clearly that’s the point. “Ascend” and “Resonance” open the album with pointedly non-metallic atmospheres, and they, along with the harder-hitting cuts and “Manifest,” “Voltaic” and “Charyou,” which bring the two sides together, set up a dynamic that, while familiar in this initial stage, is both satisfying in impact and more aggressive moments while immersive in scope.
Just as their moniker might belong to some lost-classic heavy band from 1972 one happens upon in a record store, buys for the cover, and subsequently loves, so too does Naples four-piece Bird tap into proto-metal vibes on their latest single Walpurgis. And that’s not happenstance. While their production isn’t quite tipped over into pure vintage-ism, it’s definitely organic, and they’ve covered the likes of Rainbow, Uriah Heep and Deep Purple, so while “Walpurgis” itself leans toward doom in its catchy and utterly reasonable three-plus minutes, there’s no doubt Bird know where their nest is, stylistically speaking. Given a boost through release by Olde Magick Records, the single-songer follows 2021’s The Great Beast From the Sea EP, which proffered a bit more burl and modern style in its overarching sound, so it could be that as they continue to grow they’re learning a bit more patience in their approach, as “Walpurgis” is nestled right into a tempo that, while active enough to still swing, is languid just the same in its flow, with maybe a bit more rawness in the separation of the guitar, bass, drums and organ. Most importantly, it suits the song, and piques curiosity as to where Bird go next, as any decent single should.
Without getting into which of them does what where — because they switch, and it’s complicated, and there’s only so much room — the core of the sound for Melbourne-based four-piece Pseudo Mind Hive is in has-chops boogie rock, but that’s a beginning descriptor, not an end. It doesn’t account for the psych-surf-fuzz in two-minute instrumental opener “Hot Tooth” on their Eclectica EP, for example, or the what-if-Queens–of–the–Stone–Age-kept-going-like-the-self-titled “Moon Boots” that follows on the five-song offering. “You Can Run” has a fuzzy shuffle and up-strummed chug that earns the accompanying handclaps like Joan Jett, while “This Old Tree” dares past the four-minute mark with its scorching jive, born out of a smoother start-stop fuzz verse with its own sort of guitar antics, and “Coming Down,” well, doesn’t at first, but does give way soon enough to a dreamier psychedelic cast and some highlight vocal melody before it finds itself awake again and already running, tense in its builds and overlaid high-register noises, which stand out even in the long fade. Blink and you’ll miss it as it dashes by, all momentum and high-grade songcraft, but that’s alright. It does fine on repeat listens as well, which obviously is no coincidence.
On. Slaught. Call it atmospheric sludge, call it post-metal; I sincerely doubt Philadelphia’s Oktas give a shit. Across the four songs and 36 minutes of the two-bass-no-guitar band’s utterly bludgeoning debut album, The Finite and the Infinite, the band — bassist/vocalist Bob Stokes, cellist Agnes Kline, bassist Carl Whitlock and drummer Ron Macauley — capture a severity of tone and a range that goes beyond loud/quiet tradeoffs into the making of songs that are memorable while not necessarily delivering hooks in the traditional verse/chorus manner. It’s the cello that stands out as opener “Collateral Damage” plods to its finish — though Macauley‘s drum fills deserve special mention — and even as “Epicyon” introduces the first of the record’s softer breaks, it is contrasted in doing so by a section of outright death metal onslaught so that the two play back and forth before eventually joining forces in another dynamic and crushing finish. Tempo kick is what’s missing thus far and “Light in the Suffering” hits that mark immediately, finding blackened tremolo on the other side of its own extended cello-led subdued stretch, coming to a head just before the ending so that finale “A Long, Dreamless Sleep” can start with its Carl Sagan sample about how horrible humans are (correct), and build gracefully over the next few minutes before saying screw it and diving headfirst into cyclical chug and sprinting extremity. Somebody sign this band and press this shit up already.
This is a rock and roll band, make no mistake. Berlin’s Scream of the Butterfly draw across decades of influence, from ’60s pop and ’70s heavy to ’90s grunge, ’00s garage and whatever the hell’s been going on the last 10-plus years to craft an amalgamated sound that is cohesive thanks largely to the tightness of their performances — energetic, sure, but they make it sound easy — the overarching gotta-get-up urgency of their push and groove, and the current of craft that draws it all together. They’ve got 10 songs on The Grand Stadium, which is their third album, and they all seem to be trying to outdo each other in terms of hooks, electricity, vibe, and so on. Even the acoustic-led atmosphere-piece “Now, Then and Nowhere” leaves a mark, to say nothing of the much, much heavier “Sweet Adeleine” or the sunshine in “Dead End Land” or the bluesy shove of “Ain’t No Living.” Imagine time as a malleable thing and some understanding of how the two-minute “Say Your Name to Me” can exist in different styles simultaneously, be classic and forward thinking, spare and spacious. And I don’t know what’s going on with all the people talking in “Hallway of a Thousand Eyes,” but Scream of the Butterfly make it easy to dig anyway and remind throughout of the power that can be realized when a band is both genuinely multifaceted and talented songwriters. Scary stuff, that.
Based in Kassel with lyrics in their native German, Holz are vocalist/guitarist Leonard Riegel, bassist Maik Blümke and drummer Martin Nickel, and on their self-titled debut (released by Tonzonen), they tear with vigor into a style that’s somewhere between noise rock, stoner heavy and rawer punk, finding a niche for themselves that feels barebones with the dry — that is, little to no effects — vocal treatment and a drum sound that cuts through the fuzz that surrounds on early highlight “Bitte” and the later, more noisily swaying “Nichts.” The eight-minute “Garten” is a departure from its surroundings with a lengthy fuzz jam in its midsection — not as mellow as you’re thinking; the drums remain restless and hint toward the resurgence to come — while “Zerstören” reignites desert rock riffing to its own in-the-rehearsal-room-feeling purposes. Intensity is an asset there and at various other points throughout, but there’s more to Holz than ‘go’ as the rolling “50 Meilen Geradeaus” and the swing-happy, bit-o’-melody-and-all “Dämon” showcase, but when they want to, they’re ready and willing to stomp into heavier tones, impatient thrust, or as in the penultimate “Warten,” a little bit of both. Not everybody goes on a rampage their first time out, but it definitely suits Holz to wreck shit in such a fashion.
Posted in Reviews on January 6th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
There was some pretty good stuff this week, I gotta say. Feels self-congratulatory to be like, ‘hey good job slating reviews, me!’ but there it is. I don’t regret hearing anything I have thus far into the Winter 2023 Quarterly Review, and sometimes that’s not the case by the time we get to Friday.
Of course, there’s another week to go here as well. We’ll pick it back up on Monday with another 10 records and proceed from there. If you’ve been following along, I hope you’ve found something you dig as well.
Winter 2023 Quarterly Review #41-50:
Astrosaur, Portals
This is what happens when you have virtuoso players writing songs rather than paeans to their own virtuosity. Led by founding guitarist Eirik Kråkenes, with drummer Jonathan Eikum (also Taiga Woods) and bassist Steinar Glas (also Einar Stray Orchestra), Astrosaur are blindingly progressive on their third full-length, Portals (on Pelagic), operating with post-metallic atmospheres as a backdrop for stunning instrumental turns, builds and crashes, willful repetition and the defiant denial of same. There’s more scope in the intro “Opening” than on some entire albums, and what “Black Hole Earth” begins from there is a dizzying array of sometimes cosmic sometimes earthborn riffing, twisting bass and mindfully restless drums. “The Deluge” hitting into that chase after four minutes in, that seemingly chaotic swirling noise suddenly stopping “Reptile Empire” and the false start to the 23-minute epic “Eternal Return” — these details and many besides give the overarching weight of Portals at its heaviest a corresponding depth, and when coupled with the guitar’s ability to coast overhead, they are genuinely three-dimension in their sound. You’d be right to want to hear Portals for “Eternal Return” alone, but there’s so much more to it than that.
Kvasir‘s Sagittarius A* Star is named for the black hole at the center of the galaxy, and the 21-minute single-song EP is the follow-up to their 2021 debut album, 4 (review here), a dug-in proto-metallic exploration composed in movements that flow together as a whole organic work. The Portland-based four-piece of guitarists Christopher Lee (also vocals) and Gabriel Langston, bassist Greg Traw and Jay Erbe work on either side between traditional metal and heavy rock riffing, inhabiting both here as “Sagittarius A* Star” launches into its initial verses over the first four minutes, a solo emerging after 5:30 to set the pattern that will hold for the remaining three-fourths of the song. A slowdown takes hold about a minute later and grooves until at about nine minutes in when the bass comes forward and things get funkier. The vocals return at about 11:30 to complement a galloping riff that’s fleshed out until just after the 14-minute mark, when a jazzier instrumental movement begins and the band makes it known they’re going out and not coming back, the swaying finish with more insistent guitar, first interjecting then satisfyingly joining that sway, capping with a (still plotted) jammier feel. If that’s the Milky Way succumbing to ultragravity and being torn apart molecule by molecule en route to physics-defying oblivion, then fair enough. Worse ways to go, certainly.
Though the leadoff Sins of the Father gets reminds of circa-’90s noise metal like Nailbomb, Marylander four-piece Bloodshot lean more into a hardcore-informed take on heavy rock with their aggressively-purposed debut album. Comprised of vocalist Jared Winegardner, guitarist Tom Stacey, bassist Joe Ruthvin (ex-Earthride) and drummer JB Matson (ex-War Injun, organizer of Maryland Doom Fest, etc.), the band push to one side or the other throughout, as on the more rocking “Zero Humility” and the subsequent metallic barker “Uncivil War,” the mid-period Megadeth-style riffer “Beaten Into Rebellion,” the brooding-into-chugging closing title-track and “Fyre,” which I’m pretty sure just wants to kick my ass. The 10-track entirety of the album, in fact, seems to hold to that same mentality, and there’s a sense of trying to recapture something that’s been lost that feels inherently conservative in its theme — “Faded Natives,” “Visions of Yesterday,” the speedier “Worn and Torn,” and so on — but gruff though it is, Sins of the Father offers a pissed-off-for-reasons take on heavy that’s likewise intense and methodical. That is to say, they know what they’re doing as they punch you in the throat.
A second release through Heavy Psych Sounds and Tons‘ third full-length overall, Hashension wears its love of all things cannabian on its crusty stoner sludge sleeve throughout its six-track/39-minute run, begun with the riffnotic “Dope Dealer Scum” before “A Hash Day’s Night” introduces the throatripper vocals and backing growls and a more heads-down, speedier tempo that hits into a mosh of a slowdown. “Slowly We Pot” — a play on Obituary‘s Slowly We Rot — to go along with the Beatles, Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd (and Gummo) titular references — follows in a spirit as angry as one imagines Bongzilla might be if someone un-freed their weed. Yes, “Hempathy for the Devil” and “Ummagummo” precede the sample-topped slamming march of “Hashended,” and lo, the well-baked extreme sludge they’ve wrought rumbles and thuds its way out, not so much gnashing in the way of “A Hash Day’s Night” or the roll after the midpoint in “Ummagummo” — though the lyrics there seem to be pure weed-worship — but lumbering in such a way as to ensure the point gets across anyhow. I’m not going to tell you you should be stoned listening to it, because I don’t know, maybe you’re driving or something, but I doubt Tons would argue if you brought some edibles to the gig. Enough to share, perhaps.
Mothman & the Thunderbirds vs. World Eaters, Split
In the battle of Philly solo-project Mothman and the Thunderbirds vs. Ontario-based duo World Eaters, the numbers may be on the side of the latter, but each act offers something of its own on their shared 18-minute EP. Presenting two tracks from each band, the outing puts Mothman and the Thunderbirds‘ “Rusty Shackleton” and “Nephilim” up front, the latter particularly reinforcing the Devin Townsend influence on the part of multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Alex Parkinson, while “Flash of Green” and “The Siege” from World Eaters — drummer Winter Stomp and guitarist/bassist/vocalist/synthesist David Gupta — present an atmospheric death metal, more than raw bludgeoning, but definitely that as well. As a sampler platter for both bands, there’s more time to get to know World Eaters since their songs are markedly longer, but the contrast from one to the other and the progression into the mire of “The Siege” gives the split an overlaid personality, almost a narrative, and the melodies in Parkinson‘s two cuts have a lingering presence over the masterful decay that follows in World Eater‘s material. One way or the other, these are both relatively upstart projects and their will toward progression is clear, as pummeling as its form may be. Right on.
Preceded by the two-song single Witches Brew/Psychedelic Roadkill, the six-song/24-minute Dark Matter Pt. 1 is short but feels nonetheless like a debut album from Sonoma County, California (try the cabernet), three-piece Deer Lord, who present adventures like getting stoned with witches on a mountaintop, riding free with an out-on-bail “Hippie Girl” in the backseat of presumably some kind of roadster, going down the proverbial highway and, at last, welcoming you to “Planet Earth” after calling out and casting off any and all “Ego” along the way. It is a modern take on stonerized heavy, starting off with “Witches Brew” as the opener/longest track (immediate points) with a languid flow and psychedelic underpinnings that flesh out even amid the apex soloing of “Planet Earth” or the fervent push of the earlier “Ride Away,” that tempo hitting a wall with the intro of “Ego” (don’t worry, it takes off) so as to support the argument in favor of Dark Matter Pt. 1 as an admittedly brief full-length, the component tracks working off each other to enhance the entirety. The elements beneath are familiar enough, but Deer Lord put an encouraging spin of their own on it, and especially as their debut, it’s hard to imagine some label or other won’t get on board, if not for pressing this, then maybe Pt. 2 to come. Perhaps both?
IO Audio Recordings, Awaiting the Elliptical Drift & VVK
Compiling two 2022 EPs into a single LP and releasing through a microcosm of underground imprints in various terrestrial locales, IO Audio Recordings‘ Awaiting the Elliptical Drift & VVK is my first exposure to the Orange, CA, out-there-in-space unit, and from the blower kosmiche rocking “Awaiting the Elliptical Drift” to the sitar meditation “Luminous Suspension,” and the hazy wash of “Sunrise and Overdrive” (that’s side A) to the experimentalist consumption of “VVK” and “Gramanita” rounding out with its heartbeat rhythm giving over to a hardly-flatlined drone after shuffling cool and bassy and fuzzy with jangly jam strum overtop, I tell you in all sincerity it won’t be my last. There’s a broad cross-section stylistically, which suits a compilation mindset, but I get the feeling that if you called it an album instead, the situation would be much the same thanks to an underlying conceptualism and the adventuring purpose beneath the open-structured fluidity. That’s just fine, as IO Audio Recordings‘ sundry transformations only enhance the anything-that-works-goes and shelf-your-expectations listening experience. Not that there’s no tension in their groovy approach, but the abiding sensibility advises an open mind and maybe a couple deep breaths in and out before you take it on. But then definitely take it on. If you need me, I’ll be spending money I don’t have on Bandcamp.
While “bong” in a band name usually connotes dense sludge in my head, Oslo four-piece Bong Voyage defy that stereotype with their Dec. 2022-released second single, “Feverlung” — the first single was October’s “Buzzed Aldrin” — and no, the song isn’t about the pandemic, it’s about getting high. The six-minute rocker hoists jammy flourish mostly in its second half, in a break that, in turn, shifts into uptempo semi-space rock post-Slift pulsations atop a progression that, while I’ll readily admit it sounds little like the song on the whole still puts me in mind of Kyuss‘ “Odyssey” in its vocal patterning and melody. That ending is a step outward from the solidified early verses, which are more straight ahead heavy rock in the vein of Freedom Hawk or a less-directly-Ozzy take on Sheavy, and while one listening for them to bring it back around to the initial riff will find that they don’t, the band’s time isn’t necessarily misspent in terms of serving the song by letting it push beyond exospheric traps. They won’t catch me by surprise next time aesthetically, and it wouldn’t be a shock to find Bong Voyage in among the subset of up and coming heavy rockers that’s put Norway on the underground radar so much these last couple years. Either way, I’ll look forward to more here.
In its early going, Sun Years‘ “Codex” stagger-sludges like Eyehategod with guitarist Dalton Huskin‘s shouty echoing vocals on top, but as it moves into its second half, there’s a pickup in tempo and a bit of swirling lead guitar emerges in the 4:37 song’s closing stretch as Asechiah Bogdan (ex-Windhand, ex-Alabama Thunderpussy) makes his presence felt. Alongside bassist Buddy Bryant and drummer Erik Larson (once-and-again guitarist for Alabama Thunderpussy, drummer of Avail, Omen Stones, ex-Backwoods Payback, the list goes on), Bogdan and Huskin explore mellower and more melodic reaches the subsequent “Teeth Like Stars,” still holding some of their demo’s lead track’s urgency as a weighted riff takes hold in trade with the relatively subdued verse. That’s a back and forth they’ll do again, moving the second time from the more weighted progression into a solo and build into a return of the harsher vocals, some double-kick drumming and a last shove that lasts until everything drops out except one guitar and that riffs for a few seconds before being cut off mid-measure. Well, that’s a band with more dynamic in their first two tracks than some have in their entire careers, so I guess it’s safe to say it’ll be worth following the Richmond, Virginia, foursome to see where they end up next time out.
Recorded by Jan Oberg (Grin, Slowshine, EarthShip) at Hidden Planet Studio in Berlin, Daevar‘s five-track/32-minute 2023 debut album, Delirious Rites, arrives likewise through Oberg‘s imprint The Lasting Dose Records and finds the man himself sitting in for guest vocals on the 10-minute “Leviathan” alongside the band’s own bassist/vocalist Pardis Latif, who leads the band from the depths of the rhythm section’s lurch on the gradually unfolding Windhand-vibing leadoff “Slowshine,” the particularly Monolordian “Bloody Fingers” with Caspar Orfgen‘s guitar howling over a marching riff, and “Leila” where Moritz Ermen Bausch‘s drums offer a welcoming grounding to Electric Wizardly nod and swirl. Thus, by the time his spot in the aforementioned “Leviathan” rolls (and I do mean rolls) around, just ahead of closer “Yellow Queen,” the layers of growling and screaming he adds to the procession are a standout shift well placed to play off the atmosphere established by the previous tracks. Shortest at 5:10, “Yellow Queen” lumbers through more ethereal doom and hints at a psychedelic current that might continue to develop in a midsection drifting break that builds back into the catchy plod from whence it came. Not necessarily innovative at this point — they’re a new band — but they seem to know what they want in terms of sound and style, and that only ever bodes well.
Posted in audiObelisk on January 4th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Look, it’s a cool song, alright? And if it sends you, say, on an Osmonds listening bender for some untold period of time, maybe forever, who is anyone to judge? Who among us will stand in judgment of Thunderbird Divine drummer Mike Stuart, guitarist/vocalist Erik Caplan, keyboardist/vocalist Jack Falkenbach or bassist/vocalist Josh Solomon?
Shit, not me. Because I’ve heard the 1972, by-the-Osmonds version of “Crazy Horses,” and that’s a ’70s heavy groover all the way as well as a pop tune you’re going to have stuck in your head into perpetuity. Philly’s Thunderbird Divine take it on with due ceremony — they make it a party because it is one — and with respect to the original. Its spirit of homage, to the song itself and that weird and beautiful moment in the history of rock and roll, is palpable. Chunky riff out front, organ flourish not far behind, and Caplan‘s vocal quick into the verse, and yeah, they’re riding that groove and god damn right to do it. A gang-shout chorus is a nice touch, and various other hey-we’re-all-here-too-having-a-good-time backing lines in the verses reinforce the point, which is this is a blast. So come down off your own horse — high up as it is — and enjoy yourself for about, oh, three minutes flat. Dare you.
There is precedent, if you need it. Eons and eons ago, in 2006, New York’s Puny Human (still miss seeing Jim Starace on stage; he was incredible) took on “Crazy Horses” as part of Small Stone Records‘ compilation Sucking the ’70s: Back in the Saddle Again, sandwiched between the likes of Sasquatch and a Clutch/Five Horse Johnson collaboration, so yes, “Crazy Horses” is legit, however goofy its origins may be. Isn’t that what good art does? Takes what’s been done before and makes something new from it? I doubt the Osmonds new at the time their track would be come beardo-fodder half a century later, but if you can believe it, stranger shit has happened.
Thunderbird Divine, who’ve done some lineup jumbling since last I heard from them, are the perfect band to capture the vibe here — don’t forget, they also did up The Yardbirds that one time, though that’s a little more in-wheelhouse, genre-wise. For more from them, check out their 2020 EP The Hand of Man (review here) and find yourself hoping like I do for more soon. New album reportedly in the works, and apparently they’ve got something special coming for Valentine’s Day. Can you feel the love yet?
This one’s gonna be in your head forever, so you might as well get used to it and enjoy:
“I think ‘Crazy Horses’ is a secret golden ticket for rock musicians,” says Erik Caplan, Thunderbird Divine’s Guitarist/Vocalist/Weird Instrumentalist. “That album is a decoder ring for messages from a group of oddball ’70s superheroes. Folks of a certain age might only remember The Osmonds as a family of Mormons with exceptionally huge smiles who occasionally sang sugary sweet love songs in front of screaming teenage girls in middle America. While this is true, these brothers were also a very legit rock band with the skills to write and perform banger rock tunes. The title track and “Hold Her Tight” sound like Sir Lord Baltimore with horns. These guys could really play, and great stuff can often come from unexpected sources.”
“Musically, the song is a perfect match for us,” Caplan explains, “It’s got a driving groove, a weird synth part and a hook for everyone to yell. Jack (Falkenbach, Keys/Vocals) got into the freaky ribbon synth used to make the ‘horsey’ sounds. He went and found one of these things. Mike (Stuart, Drums/Vocals) became slightly obsessed with the song, and he did a deep dive into The Osmonds’ catalog. He also created the ‘Horse Fink’ illustration. I think he might be an Osmonds historian now. He crushed the drumming on this recording. Josh (Solomon, Bass/Vocals), the newest addition to our collective, took the song by the horns and dug into the production. He’s got a great ear for arrangements and wasn’t afraid to visit some experimental places with the recording.”
“Is our version a slavish reproduction of the original?” Caplan asks. “No. But that’s not what we do. As George Clinton said, ‘Nothing is good unless you play with it.’ We had a lot of fun in the recording process, and I can’t remember laughing so much at a session. And now it’s one of our favorites to perform live. Granted, we don’t have the outfits or the choreography, but, man, it’s a blast.”
Thunderbird Divine is: Erik Caplan – guitar/lead vocals/theremin/etc. Jack Falkenback – keyboard/vocals Josh Solomon – bass/vocals Mike Stuart – drums/vocals
Posted in Questionnaire on December 1st, 2022 by JJ Koczan
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: Matt Hollenberg of Sarattma, Titan to Tachyons, Cleric, John Frum, John Zorn and More
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How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?
Generally I try to be spontaneous and interactive with music as an energy unto itself. I value sensory first, non-ideological, anti-marketable approach. Engaging with “the thing itself” through subconscious methods. Also interested in genre-busting approaches and building bridges between disparate elements.
Describe your first musical memory.
When I was six years old I went to a funeral and saw the piece Albeniz ‘Asturias’ played on piano. It was trance inducing and transcendent. I immediately went home and figured out the main themes on the house piano. From then on I was very hooked into music and understood a fundamental thing that it was about that was viscerally felt.
Describe your best musical memory to date.
Probably watching Secret Chiefs 3 on the floor of the stone in 2007 before I knew anyone in that scene and it was just purely mind blowing. Feeling that I was watching from the outside and wishing I could do something like that it. Was a viscerally magical experience.
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
Definitely the last few years when my belief that human beings and the systems we’ve created generally would progress over time and get better. It’s easy to think that through your early life as it’s what feels most comfortable to believe. But then to see the world’s systems and institutions continually fail and get worse over time, not better; this changes one’s general outlook on human delusion and destiny for sure!
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
Ideally to self actualization that reflects an energy beyond culture and beyond localized time and space.
How do you define success?
Doing what you want on your own terms the best you can do it with no interfering forces in the way.
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
One time I saw a cat get run over and I watched it die and it’s always stuck with me as it was awful to watch. It had a seizure and shook all over the place and its head exploded it was terrible.
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.
My favorite thing is not knowing what I’d like to create and finding out as a progression. The more I do, the more I realize it’s best not to plan things too intricately as it ruins the mystery of art.
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
To trigger experiences that are unique and singular onto the art object itself that triggers the experience.
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
