[Click play above to hear the premiere of ‘At the Beginning’ from Libido Fuzz’s A Guide into Synesthesia. Album is out next month on Pink Tank Records.]

Bordeaux-based three-piece Libido Fuzz return on Pink Tank Records with A Guide into Synesthesia, their second full-length, and with it set up a linear course running from blazed-out boogie rock to hard-impact psychedelic blues jams. A 41-minute/six-song outing, it follows 2015’s Kaleido Lumo Age (review here) and is no doubt intended to work across a vinyl LP, which is appropriate given the trio of drummer Thibault Guezennec, vocalist/guitarist Pierre-Alexis Mengual and bassist Rory O’Callaghan‘s penchant for classic forms. But even keeping the inevitable split between sides A and B in mind, Libido Fuzz enact a front-to-back flow that seems to push further outward as it goes, until finally it reaches the 12-minute semi-title-track “Guide Me into Synesthesia” at the end and decides there’s no return.

Up to — and really through — that point, Libido Fuzz keep a steady blend of the retro and modern, the terrestrial and the ethereal, the frenetic and the drifting, and what results in the span of the tracks, which were recorded by Marco Lima with a mix and master by Franck Roder, is an organic-feeling and nuanced heavy rock that draws power from its moments of thrust and uses that momentum wisely to carry through its slower parts. It is dynamic in the sense of where Mengual, Guezennec and O’Callaghan take it, from the Radio Moscow-style manias of opener “Sparks” and the intro to “Clouds and Birds,” all blinding turns and risk-laden rhythms, to the smooth-grooving B-side occupants “The Last Psychedelic Blues” and of course, “Guide Me into Synesthesia” itself.

Foremost, it is tied together through the overarching naturalism in the performances. Guezennec‘s bass drum, prominent in the mix, is sometimes responsible for holding an entire song together, as it seems to be doing as “Clouds and Birds” drifts farther from its raging start, but fortunately it proves more than up to the task, and while O’Callaghan‘s warm basslines add a jazzy flair to coincide with all the swing of “At the Beginning,” Mengual takes advantage of the space created to pull out heavy blues-style solos that, regardless of tempo, have a kind of hypnotic effect on the listener. At no point are they technically showy, and the production of A Guide into Synesthesia is clearly geared toward a live feel, but they execute their material with confidence from “Sparks” onward, and indeed they seem well aware of the fires they’re setting, the thrust of that opener creating a sense of movement that is translated into everything that follows, regardless of the actual direction a track like the subsequent “Violence of the Sea” actually follows.

Which obviously is something to mention only for the drastic and immediate turn it represents from A Guide into Synesthesia‘s beginning, the second cut’s bookending progression seeming to nod directly at Trouble‘s “The Tempter” in its structure and layers of harmonized guitar while backing off in a middle third that finds the band stomping through more boogie à la “Sparks,” if perhaps even catchier in the hook. Those twists may well be intended to throw the listener off course, but Libido Fuzz are fluid enough in their transitions that as the drums finish “Violence of the Sea” and “At the Beginning” picks up with a more straightforward heavy rock shuffle, there’s nothing to call incongruous about what they’re doing in terms either of the album’s scope or the jump from one vibe to another.

Synesthesia might be described as a trading of senses. Seeing smells, smelling sounds, touching light, and so on. It’s a rare condition, and the stuff of psychedelic daydreams, and in terms of this album, the keyword in the title would seem to be “guide,” since it gives the impression of Libido Fuzz leading their audience into this place of what might feel like some greater cosmic knowledge. That’s a fair enough explanation for how the second half of the tracklisting plays out, with “Clouds and Birds” (which I actually think is on side A, though I can’t confirm that) marking the point of shift into more ethereal fare that “The Last Psychedelic Blues” — which isn’t — and “Guide Me into Synesthesia” — which is — only continue to expand. Mengual‘s guitar and O’Callaghan‘s bass explore open spaces after settling in post-intro, and samples and cymbal washes from Guezennec lead gradually, fluidly, into a comfortably-paced nod that serves as bed or wah swirl and possibly the album’s best solo, which finishes in time for a big rock ending. Show’s over, everyone go home.

Not nearly. With the finale so expansive afterward, the penultimate “The Last Psychedelic Blues” is tasked somewhat with summarizing A Guide into Synesthesia, and it does so with a play between nigh-on-overwhelming fuzz and airier verse-making. All three players shine. In prime power-trio fashion, Libido Fuzz resonate their chemistry forth until the quiet stretch of guitar sentimentality leads to the beginning of “A Guide into Synesthesia,” the extended instrumental journey that will round out the LP. Its beginning feels suitably like an arrival, and it is, and sure enough, a massive and engaging jam ensues, but the band leave room early on for verses without taking advantage. Maybe live. A scorching midsection solo meets with wah bass and building drums, and from there, Libido Fuzz set the course by which they’ll end, plotted but molten, and cutting just before the 10-minute mark to some far-out guitar noise that may or may not be intended to manifest the synesthetic.

I don’t know how it tastes, but it sounds like a trance, and as an epilogue for A Guide into Synesthesia, it’s the last of several pleasant surprises the album presents while highlighting the overall growth of Libido Fuzz from their debut and giving the impression — on any number of sensory levels — that growth is still in progress and likely to remain that way willfully. One can hear Mengual, O’Callaghan and Guezennec pushing themselves in the realization of these songs, both in the stylistic ground they cover and in the actual performances, and among the many encouraging aspects of A Guide into Synesthesia, it’s that feeling of purpose that most defines it.

Libido Fuzz on Thee Facebooks

Libido Fuzz on Bandcamp

A Guide into Synesthesia at Pink Tank Records

Pink Tank Records on Thee Facebooks

The Taurus Triangle doesn’t necessarily sound like a band’s seventh album. That is to say, after putting out seven records in the span of 11 years, one might expect that German trio Burn Pilot — or Burnpilot, depending on who you ask — to have settled into something of a creative routine. Even if their sound was still growing, which by no means is a given, it would be at kind of a steady pace, in the same manner each time out.

That’s not the case with these seven tracks, which do indeed build on the style of 2014’s Intense, but do so in a way that seems to strip down that album’s approach down toward its core in songwriting that runs a span between modern boogie, rawer punk — hello, “Death by Machine Power” — and flowing psychedelia.

It’s a progressive blend that would pair exceedingly well with Russia’s The Grand Astoria on tour and even being my first experience with the work of brothers Sidney (vocals/drums) and Joel Jaffe (bass/vocals) and guitarist/vocalist Jonas Hehemann, it’s easy to hear the sense of accomplishment with which they move back and forth between the various elements at play, whether it’s beginning the crisp 34-minute run of the Pink Tank Records release with quiet, grunge-style guitar work before moving into the almost frenetic fits and shuffle of “Hit the City,” or injecting instrumental centerpiece “Levitation” with a bluesy lead and rolling, languid nod.

Because so much of their approach is based on push and movement and go-go-go-go-go, the actual scope of The Taurus Triangle feels subtle, and by no means does any single track represent the entirety of the album. Combined with the momentum the three-piece build as they move from one piece to the next, from “Hit the City” into the initial jangle and subsequent thrust of “Death by Machine Power,” and on from there, it’s that variety that makes The Taurus Triangle so intriguing.

Since they close with their longest song, the six-and-a-half-minute (they’ve gone much longer in the past) “Justice at Play,” side A has four tracks and side B three, and one finds that even with the initial push of the opening duo as it bleeds into the quieter start of “Krautrausch,” which almost tries to nestle into that Graveyardian heavy ’10s mid-paced boogie but can’t quite let go of the throttle by the finish of its build, the diversity of songwriting remains the most constant factor throughout.

Underlying that, of course, is a considerable amount of chemistry, not only between the brotherly rhythm section, but with Jonas as well. That may well be the most telling factor when it comes to understanding that Burn Pilot are on their seventh record.

Their songwriting is fluid despite its often angular take and more than just swapping back and forth between quiet and loud, fast and slow, they mount a dynamic take that plays up resonant hooks like that in “Krautrausch” and give each half of the record its due as a whole entity in addition to offering some standout factor in each song.

So yeah, they sound experienced. They are experienced. Maybe it’s because they’ve worked at a rate of putting out a record every year and a half — a classic model if ever there was one — and maybe it’s because The Taurus Triangle is my first time really digging into their sound, but it’s striking how established they come across while still being refreshingly energetic — to put it in a word: young — in their delivery.

Granted there’s a side-swap in between on the vinyl version, but the range is perhaps best displayed as “Krautrausch” and the flowing, solo-topped instrumental “Levitation” move into “Transformation,” which mirrors the earlier push, if in a somewhat expanded mindset, gradually moving toward a more intense thrust as it goes until by its end, the effects-laden solo gives way to a fuller sprint and the song caps with a build that cuts off to let “You Will Fall” take hold. It does so by teasing a slowdown and then reviving the gallop before opening again to its verse, also more ’90s than ’70s in its roots, and playing to more direct switches in tempo and drive.

In this way, Burn Pilot add breadth without giving up the already-noted momentum they’ve clearly worked to gain. And as one might expect, it’s up to “Justice at Play” as the finale to round out the front-to-back flow and summarize the ground covered and the methods by which they’ve covered it, which it does by boasting yet another blazing lead from Hehemann — there are many, they shine — some jagged, almost noise-rock groove, punker thrust, and heavy blues command. In one song.

For the simple fact that it doesn’t completely fall apart, The Taurus Triangle‘s closer impresses, but again, it’s hardly Burn Pilot‘s first time at the dance, and they very obviously know what they want their songs to do at any given point. I guess that’s the biggest takeaway from the record in the end.

Burn Pilot, as a group with more than a decade together under their belt, show themselves as having a dynamic songwriting process, fervent execution and a seemingly ongoing creative progression that one can hear sharply realized in their tracks. Seven albums later and still actively, willfully growing? I dare you not to admire that.

Burn Pilot on Thee Facebooks

Burn Pilot on Bandcamp

Burn Pilot at Pink Tank Records

Pink Tank Records on Thee Facebooks

By the time German trio Burn Pilot — also stylized as Burnpilot — release their new album, The Taurus Triangle, on Sept. 30, they will no doubt be ready to embark on their latest European tour to herald its arrival. The record finds Burn Pilot releasing through Pink Tank Records for what I believe is the first time following a prior alliance with Setalight Records, which had previously offered up the band’s punker-delic blend on 2012’s Passionate, and perhaps its follow-up, 2013’s Intense. Both of those albums are starting to run low on the band’s Bandcamp (linked below), and I’d expect no different of The Taurus Triangle once it hits.

Burn Pilot have a live video of “Hit the City” from the new album as well that you can check out with the tour dates and vinyl info below. From the PR wire:

THE TAURUS TRIANGLE by BURN PILOT out 30.09.2016

It’s not only a new record by one of the best live bands who are around in Germany, it’s also their 10th anniversary album which is filled with Energetic-Psychedelic-Stoner-Punk. 100% live recorded, 120% Burn Pilot!

TRACKLIST:
1. HIT THE CITY
2. DEATH BY MACHINE POWER
3. KRAUTRAUSCH
4. LEVITATION
5. TRANSFORMATION
6. YOU WILL FALL
7. JUSTICE AT PLAY

VINYL FACTZ:
500 VINYL TOTAL
100 BLACK WHITE SPLATTER (excl. Pink Tank Edition incl. Poster)
100 RED BLACK SPLATTER (excl. Band Edition incl. Poster)
300 BLACK (wholesale Edition)

All on 180g heavyweight vinyl, 300g heavyweight gatefold cover and incl. download card.

CD FACTZ:
1.000 COPIES TOTAL (jewel case)

Burn Pilot on Tour:
16.09. Heidelberg – Villa Nachttanz (+ ???)
23.09. Karlsruhe – AKK
24.09. Rastatt – Art Canrobert
30.09. Bielefeld – Forum NEW ALBUM RELEASE SHOW
14.10 Berlin – Fischladen
15.10 Hannover –
20.10. Hengelo – Innocent *
21.10. Bielefeld – Nr. z. P. *
22.10. Dortmund – Junkyard *
28.10. Kiel – Pumpe *
29.10 Hamburg – Astra Stube / Bar 227 *
*Pink Tank Festivals 2016

Founded in 2005
Released “CHEVY TIMEMACHINE” in 2007
Did not release “FREE AT LAST” in 2008
Released “RIOTS IN JERUSALEM” in 2009
Released “BOHEMIAN TRAUMA” in 2010
Released “REVEAL” in 2011
Released “PASSIONATE” in 2012
Released “INTENSE” in 2014
“The Taurus Triangle” in 2016

We played our asses off on approx. 500 gigs in Europe and the U.S.

https://www.facebook.com/Burnpilot-154038901295188/
https://burnpilot.bandcamp.com/
http://burnpilotmusic.bigcartel.com/
https://www.facebook.com/pinktankrecords/
http://www.pink-tank-records.de/

Burn Pilot, “Hit the City” live at Melting Butter Session #2

German outfit ZQKMGDZ have signed to Pink Tank Records and made their second album, Orbit Dualkraut, available now to preorder. The band lists their full-name as 10.000 km² Gegen Die Zeit, of which I’m just going to assume translates in their native language to the acronym in question, and made their long-player debut last year with Dimension Plasma. They’ll have Orbit Dualkraut out on Aug. 26 in a number of different editions, CD, vinyl and digital, and it seems each will include some different look from the others, whether that’s in color, longer songs or a bonus track. If you’re going to put a bonus track on your record, by the way, you should probably call it “Space Golem,” which of course ZQKMGDZ do.

From the PR wire:

ORBIT DUALKRAUT is the long awaited second release by ZQKMGDZ. The three guys from Lübeck, Germany are nailing it again with their unique Interstellar Psycho Doom. A fantastic mixture between Stoner-, Psychedelic-, Kraut- and Doom Rock straight outta space. With ORBIT DUALKRAUT Don Alfredo (Warpguitars & Roar) & Don Libido (Subways of Doom) Don Fernando (Spacedrums) made a big step forward. Harder, louder and more angry they crank the fuzz out of their amps.

Release Date:
26th of August 2016 on limited vinyl, cd and digital
Pre-order 1st of July 2016 via Pink Tank Records

VINYL
– 500 copies total all on 180g heavyweight vinyl pressed in Germany
– 200 copies dualkraut green incl. exclusive ZQKMGDZ patch, CD & Poster (Pink Tank Records & band edition)
– 300 copies clear (wholesale edition)
– 350g heavyweight cover

CD
– 700 copies total
– 200 copies exclusive vinyl version
– 500 copies jewel case 4/4 page booklet & BONUS TRACK
– both incl. long versions of Monkraut Jupiter & Ape Apocalypse Monkey Doom

DIGITAL
– long version of Monokraut Jupiter & Ape Apocalypse Monkey Doom
TRACKS:

VINYL:
A:
Plasma Russian – 05:59
Hypergrant – 08:02
Monokraut Jupiter – 06:53
B:
Orbit Dualkraut – 06:05
Ape Apocalypse Monkey Doom – 14:47

CD
01. Plasma Russian
02. Hypergrant
03. Monokraut Jupiter (long version 11:53)
04 Orbit Dualkraut
05 Ape Apocalypse Monkey Doom
06 Space Golem (BONUS TRACK)

DIGITAL
01. Plasma Russian
02. Hypergrant
03. Monokraut Jupiter (long version 11:53)
04 Orbit Dualkraut
05 Ape Apocalypse Monkey Doom

https://www.facebook.com/ZQKMGDZ/
https://10000kmgegendiezeit.bandcamp.com/
http://www.pink-tank-records.de/label-1/the-pink-tank-family/zqkmgdz/

ZQKMGDZ, Orbit Dualkraut (2016)

Finnish heavy psych rockers Kaleidobolt have announced that they’ll tour early next month in Europe alongside Radio Moscow. Significant company to keep. Kaleidobolt go supporting their second album, The Zenith Cracks (review here), which is newly released through Pink Tank Records, while Radio Moscow — not that they need an excuse; touring is just kind of what they do at this point — head over for their new live album, Live in California. As a still relatively new band who’ve worked hard and quickly through two albums and already have a couple tours to their name, Kaleidobolt would seem to be taking a next step in hooking up a higher-profile support slot, so it should be interesting to see what comes of it for the rest of the year, if this is the last time they get out before 2017 or if there’s more in the works. Working hard begets more hard work, and so on.

Dates, background and audio, culled from the internets:

Time to let the cat out of the box: we’re gonna play a bunch of shows with Radio Moscow in a few weeks!

01.08 IT Treviso ALTROQUANDO
02.08 IT Marina di Ravenna Hana-Bi
03.08 CR Zagreb KSET
04.08 AT Wien ARENA WIEN
05.08 AT Waldhausen LAKE ON FIRE FESTIVAL 2016 – 05.+06. August
07.08 DE Jena Kulturbahnhof Jena
08.08 DE Berlin Lido Berlin

Kaleidobolt is:
Sampo Kurki: electric guitar, acoustic guitar, lead vocals.
Marco Menestrina: bass, B3 Hammond, piano, theremin, vocals.
Valtteri Lindholm: drums, maracas.

Kaleidobolt is a power trio that came together in early 2014 in Helsinki. In the short time they’ve been together, they’ve gained the reputation of being one of the most exciting live bands around. Their music is a dizzying maelstrom of progressive song structures, crushing riffs and loose psychedelic soundscapes, delivered with joy and ferociousness. Their first self titled album was released 2015 and brought the guys a huge success all over the world. In between two European Tours Kaleidobolt recorded 8 new tracks which will come out on their second album The Zenith Cracks on 01st of July 2016.

https://www.facebook.com/kaleidobolt/
https://kaleidobolt.bandcamp.com/album/the-zenith-cracks
http://www.pink-tank-records.de/label-1/the-pink-tank-family/kaleidobolt/
https://www.facebook.com/pinktankrecords/

Kaleidobolt, The Zenith Cracks (2016)

This one’s for all the marbles. Or at very least tiddlywinks. The last day of The Obelisk’s Summer 2016 Quarterly Review begins. I’ll admit that when I was planning this out — started soon after the last Quarterly Review was finished in early April; that one ran late, this one has run early — I decided to take it easy on myself the last day. Still 10 reviews, so not that easy, but in terms of what’s included today, a lot of is stuff I feel pretty comfortable talking about, whether it’s bands I’ve covered before (which a lot of it is, now that I look at the list) or whatever. If you’ve been keeping up this week, thanks. I hope you found some cool music.

Quarterly Review #41-50:

Atomikylä, Keräily

From the Finnish hotbed of Tampere, Atomikylä made a striking impression with their 2014 Svart Records debut, Erkale (review here), giving a take on psychedelic black metal that was immediately and truly their own in its balance of elements. The band, featuring members of Dark Buddha Rising and Oranssi Pazuzu, return with doom-jazz fervor on sophomore full-length, Keräily, with three songs covering yet-unnamed stylistic reaches and offering a get-to-the-studio-and-see-what-happens experimentalism to go with their plotted course on 18-minute opener and longest track (bonus points) “Katkos,” which is followed by the building horn freakout “Risteily” (9:15), from which a space rock push takes hold on drums, resulting in maddening guitar swirl – because of course – and closer “Pakoputki” (6:55), which consumes with a darker thrust and more up-front blackened vibe that still holds onto some of the psychedelia in its layers of guitar. Keräily progresses effectively from Atomikylä’s debut and highlights just how individualized they are as a group. They continue to have the potential to do really special work, and the argument is easy to make they’re already doing it.

Atomikylä on Thee Facebooks

Svart Records

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Sunnata, Zorya

As opener and longest track (bonus points) “Beasts of Prey” careens toward its apex finish near the 12-minute mark and the title-track begins is crashing, harmonized intro before moving into an Alice in Chains-via-stoner verse, the distance Poland’s Sunnata cover on their second full-length, Zorya, begins to really unveil itself. There doesn’t seem to be a genre within the heavy sphere that’s off limits. They never get into death metal, but heavy rock, doom, psychedelia, prog, sludge – it’s all in play at one point or another in Zorya’s five-track/50-minute run. The reason the album works and isn’t just a haphazard mash of styles is because Sunnata, who’ve been active in Warsaw since the last decade, make each one their own and thus bend genre to suit their purposes and not the other way around. They continue to impress through the rush of “Long Gone,” the airy expanse of “New Horizon” and the more brooding closer “Again and Against,” conjuring effective flow from what in less capable hands would be disparate components.

Sunnata on Thee Facebooks

Sunnata on Bandcamp

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White Dynomite, Action O’Clock

I have kind of a hard time with White Dynomite. Not musically – the Boston five-piece’s new EP, Action O’Clock (on Ripple) typifies their accessible punk rock; a reminder of a time when the style used guitars – but conceptually. Their lineup features bassist Tim Catz and vocalist Craig Riggs (on drums) of Roadsaw, as well as guitarist Pete Knipfing (also Hey Zeus, Lamont), vocalist Dave Unger and guitarist John Darga, and while I can’t argue with the charm of a track like “Werewolf Underwear” or “Evil Ballerina” — the lyric “Tutu woman, too too much for me” alone makes Action O’Clock worth the price of admission, let alone “I got fangs in my pants” from “Werewolf Underwear” – but I haven’t yet been able to listen to the band in the context of it having been six years since the last time Roadsaw released an album, and thinking about years passing, priorities and whatnot. They sound they’re having a blast all the way through, and I won’t begrudge them exploring other influences, I guess I just miss that band.

White Dynomite on Thee Facebooks

Ripple Music website

—

Horehound, Horehound

Pittsburgh newcomers Horehound formed just last year, so one might go into their self-titled debut full-length thinking it’s an early arrival, but in an unpretentious seven-track/33-minute collection of straightforward but engaging doom rockers, the five-piece demonstrate a clear idea of what they want to do sonically. While it may not represent where they’ll ultimately end up as a band, its songs sound fleshed out in terms of direction and the resultant feel on the release is much more album than demo. So be it. A particular highlight is “The Waters of Lethe,” on which a sweeter melody emerges in the guitar and vocals, but neither will I discount the low-end crunch and vocal call-and-response in closer “Waking Time” or the more uptempo thrust of second cut “Sangreal.” Not that Horehound don’t have room to grow, but their initial offering preaches well to the converted and should give them a solid foundation to work from in that process.

Horehound on Thee Facebooks

Horehound on Bandcamp

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Sulfur Giant, Beyond the Hollow Mountain

Beyond the Hollow Mountain is the first full-length from Portuguese mostly-instrumentalists Sulfur Giant, who bring together influences from classic progressive rock, psychedelia and heavy rock so that when they dip into Iommic riffing on “Vertigo,” it’s no stranger than the peaceful jamming of “Whisper at Dawn,” which follows. Friendly if not exactly innovative, Sulfur Giant’s debut makes its chief impression with the four-piece’s instrumental chemistry, which brings about an easy flow within and between the eight tracks, which having already been issued digitally will see vinyl release later this year on Pink Tank Records. It’s hard to ignore what organ adds to “Evermore,” but “Sea of Stone” sneaks in some vocals amid its thicker-riffing and Sungrazer-style exploration, and “Magnolia” and the galloping “Unleash Fears” follow suit, so Sulfur Giant have a few tricks up their collective sleeve they hold back from the initial roll and gallop of the opening title-track. All the better.

Sulfur Giant on Thee Facebooks

Pink Tank Records

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New Planet Trampoline, Dark Rides and Grim Visions

Never say never in rock and roll. From Cleveland, Ohio, the psych-rocking four-piece New Planet Trampoline called it quits in 2008, leaving behind an unfinished album. After coming back together for 2014’s The Wisconsin Witch House EP, the ‘60s-stylized outfit set themselves to the task of finishing what became Dark Rides and Grim Visions, basking in the glow of early Floyd, Beatles and others of the ilk while keeping a harder edge to songs like “Grim Visions” and a healthy cynicism to “We’ll Get What We Deserve” and the tongue-in-cheek keyboard-laced closer “Haunted as Fuck.” Of the several more extended tracks, the nine-minute “Acts of Mania” is the longest, and provides suitable patience and atmospherics to stand up to its scope. All told, Dark Rides and Grim Visions is a formidable journey at 13 songs/68 minutes, but after more than half a decade away, it’s hard to hold New Planet Trampoline having their say against them, particularly when that say is as lush and dreamy as “This is the Morning.”

New Planet Trampoline on Thee Facebooks

New Planet Trampoline on Bandcamp

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Hypnos, Cold Winds

With their second LP, Cold Winds (on Crusher Records), Gothenburg’s Hypnos seem to be betting that the next step in the retro game is NWOBHM. They make a convincing argument; it’s kind of how it went the first time around, and their songwriting offers a top-notch look at the moment where Thin Lizzy bounce became Iron Maiden gallop, as on second cut “I’m on the Run,” just minutes after opener “Start the Hunt” featured a flute solo. Broken into two sides, each one works its way toward a longer finale – “Det Kommer en Dag” (7:23) on side A and “1800” (8:32) on side B – but sonic diversity and changes in song structure throughout do much to keep Cold Winds from feeling overly plotted, and like their countrymen in Horisont, Hypnos offer a seamless melding of classic heavy rock and metal, soaring and scorching on “Descending Sun (Unrootables White)” and swinging and swaggering immediately thereafter on “Cold September,” both accomplished with unwavering command.

Hypnos on Thee Facebooks

Hypnos at Crusher Records

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Honky, Corduroy

Texas boogie rockers Honky were last heard from with 2012’s 421 – which I’ll assume is the “going to 11” equivalent for getting high – and their eighth outing, Corduroy, finds bassist JD Pinkus (Butthole Surfers, Melvins) and guitarist Bobby Ed Landgraf (Down) hooked up with drummer Trinidad Leal of Dixie Witch and Housecore Records for the release. To call is business as usual for the underrated outfit in the classic swing and grit they hone would only be a compliment, songs like “Baby Don’t Slow Down,” “Bad Stones” and the harmonized “Double Fine” offering soul as much as push, ‘70s influences given a modern kick in the ass throughout as a swath of guests, including Melvins drummer Dale Crover, come and go, perhaps none making their presence felt as much as Rae Comeau, whose work on “Bad Stones” makes that song a highlight – not to take away from the a capella cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Moby Dick,” here retitled as “Mopey Dick,” that closes. Chicanery ensues, booze flows, good times are had for those who’ll have them.

Honky website

Housecore Records website

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Cheap Wine, Sad Queen

Distinguished as on centerpiece “The Rambler” by their use of organ amid a semi-retro heavy boogie style, French five-piece Cheap Wine recorded Sad Queen – as the cover art says – live for Celebration Days Records. It’s somewhere between an EP and album, and strips away some of the individual track length of their 2013 debut, Mystic Crow, in favor of maximizing the energy put into each piece, the subdued “Intro” and “Opening” that start sides A and B, respectively, aside, though as “Opening” feeds cleanly into the quiet, airy and soulful beginning of the title-track, even that seems to have a tension that builds toward its eventual release, different from the shuffling raucousness of the post-“Intro” opener “Cyclothymic” maybe, but palpable nonetheless. They close somewhat melancholy on “Yesterday’s Dream,” but the complementary guitar of Valentin Constestin and keys of Ahn Tuan aren’t to be missed, nor how well work in concert with vocalist Mathieu Devillers, bassist Valentin Lallart and drummer Louis Morati.

Cheap Wine on Thee Facebooks

Celebration Days Records website

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Gurt & Trippy Wicked and the Cosmic Children of the Knight, Guppy

The UK heavy scene excels at not taking itself too seriously. To wit, Gurt and Trippy Wicked and the Cosmic Children of the Knight get together for a split (on When Planets Collide for CD and HeviSike cassette) and, they call it Guppy and the first two songs are “Owlmegeddon” and “Super Fun Happy Slide.” It kind of goes from there. Recorded together, sharing a drummer and collaborating on the centerpiece, “Revolting Child,” it’s basically two outfits who are close friends coming together to have a good time, but that doesn’t take away from Gurt’s sludgy intensity on “I Regret Nothing” or the nodding heavy rock Trippy Wicked hold forth on closer “Reign.” Taking its title from the two band names put together, one can only wonder if this will be the last conjoined offering Gurt and Trippy Wicked will make, or if there might be a whole school of guppies in the future. Frankly, this sounds like too good a party to only throw it once.

Gurt on Thee Facebooks

Trippy Wicked on Thee Facebooks

When Planets Collide website

HeviSike Records

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Tempo-blasting Finnish boogie rockers Kaleidobolt will release their second album, The Zenith Cracks (review here), July 1 via Pink Tank Records. Now veterans of Desertfest Berlin, the still-just-about-two-years-old band put a considerable performance sensibility into the new record, pushing well into a live feel and capturing an energy that feels stage-ready if not actually taken from the stage. I haven’t seen them live to compare one to the other, but as it maniacally careens from one winding riff into the next, an overarching groove floating atop all the whole, it’s clear that what Kaleidobolt are aiming for is to put boots to ass and get everything and everyone in their vicinity in motion. In terms of movement, their material is not what you would call lacking.

The trio is comprised of guitarist/vocalist Sampo Kääriäinen, bassist/vocalist Marco Menestrina and drummer Valtteri Lindholm. Menestrina directed their new video for “Steal My Thunder” from The Zenith Cracks, and the jerky jumps of the images in the clip really only emphasize the similar movement in the song itself, which sounds like it could come flying apart at any moment but of course never does. “Steal My Thunder” not only holds together, but offers one of The Zenith Cracks‘ strongest hooks, and while it doesn’t necessarily speak for some of the heavy psychedelic ground the band covers on the B-side of the album, it does make a fervent introduction to the record for anyone who hasn’t yet had the chance to get their limited-vinyl preorders in.

I continue to dig these cats. If you’re sensitive to quick-jumps in images (sometimes I get headaches), you might want to take the clip in stages, but even if you hit play and click off to let the song play out, I think you’ll find it’s worth the time.

Please enjoy:

Kaleidobolt, “Steal My Thunder” official video

+++ STEAL MY THUNDER BY KALEIDOBOLT +++

Brand new music video for Steal My Thunder, from The Zenith Cracks. Enjoy!

Shot and edited by Marco, except for the cabin footage, which was shot by Jutta Menestrina.

Kaleidobolt – Steal My Thunder. From the album The Zenith Cracks. Shot and edited by Marco Menestrina. Additional filming by Jutta Menestrina. All rights reserved. 2016 Pink Tank Records.

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Kaleidobolt on Bandcamp

Kaleidobolt at Pink Tank Records

Helsinki trio Kaleidobolt will release their second album, The Zenith Cracks, on July 1 via Pink Tank Records, and as any follow-up worthy of the name should, it builds off its predecessor in noteworthy and exciting ways. That prior debut was last year’s self-titled (review here), which showcased a band barely a year old making strides suited to acts of much longer tenure. With The Zenith Cracks — topped off by Adam Burke cover art — guitarist/vocalist Sampo Kääriäinen, bassist/vocalist Marco Menestrina and drummer Valtteri Lindholm highlight creative breadth and nuance across eight tracks of boogie-laced heavy psychedelia, executing winding riffs with crispness worthy of The Atomic Bitchwax on the intro “Off the Cuff,” reveling in fuzz nod on “Inbred” and freaking out across a jam-heavy closing duo of “City of the Sun” and “Spoil.”

This is accomplished all while brandishing instrumental chemistry and toss-off vocals that seem to leave a trail of hooks behind them as they race or lumber past, songs like “Murderous Ways,” “The Crux” and “City of the Sun” landmarking memorable impressions on both of The Zenith Cracks‘ gatefold-earning sides while “Steal My Thunder” proffers madman Sabbathian blues with frantic piano deep in the mix and the prior “Helle” opens side B with, if you’ll pardon, a bit of finger to coincide.

Lindholm takes a drum solo on “City of the Sun,” and Kääriäinen‘s guitar is a guiding presence throughout, steering through the shuffle of “Murderous Ways” and the twists of “The Crux,” but Menestrina brings the true standout performance across the album’s span, his choice basslines complementing and enhancing the guitar without losing sight of their place as the rhythmic foundation of the band. To have Kääriäinen depart in “The Crux” for a winding lead and find Menestrina not just keeping pace, but building off what his bandmate is doing is a thrill often lost on the classic heavy rock set, and the power of the trio is all the more prevalent for it.

It’s something immediately apparent as “Off the Cuff” — it may well have been — takes quick flight into a dizzying array, and remains true as “Murderous Ways” spaces out in its midsection, as organ takes hold late in “The Crux,” and as “Inbred” departs its initial push and subsequent jazzy dreaminess to a more fully-fuzzed groove. I won’t take away from what Lindholm brings to the drums — his crash is the anchor as “Inbred” winds down — or what Kääriäinen is doing on guitar throughout, but Menestrina basically puts on a how-to-be-a-kickass-heavy-rock-bassist clinic without sounding like he’s putting on a clinic, and the result is one of the most resonant impressions Kaleidobolt offer with the whole of The Zenith Cracks.

A key to the debut was the flow Kaleidobolt established between the tracks, and it’s to the benefit of The Zenith Cracks that that penchant hasn’t been lost. “Helle” eases into a more broad-reaching second half of the album, its still-complex blend of acoustic and electric strum opening to the crazed forward motion of “Steal My Thunder.” Kääriäinen, Menestrina and Lindholm trade back and forth in tension and release before shifting in the midsection to a stretch of minimal guitar leading to a surf-type line from which they build back up in layers of vocals around the lines, “Spiraling, spiraling, spiraling further/We are spiraling further from home,” in intertwined late-’60s psychedelic chants.

The cowbell arrives — finally! — after the slower-rolling intro of “City of the Sun,” and does so with Mountain-esque abandon, the band shifting into high-gear for a Kääriäinen lead only to turn back to the aforementioned drum solo in the second half, from which they miraculously return to the slower tempo fuzz of the song’s open. It’s an exhausting stretch, but Kaleidobolt back it with the 10-minute finale, “Spoil,” which bides its time through a multi-stage intro thrust and spaced-out verses in order to setup the freakout to come as they take off instrumentally into the sunset and pull apart in an extended closing raucous enough to answer for what came before it.

Between the sonic character the band portrays here and the command they’ve taken of their sound, Kaleidobolt‘s The Zenith Cracks provides a play-it-louder response to the potential Kaleidobolt exhibited their first time out. Perhaps most telling is that even as the band’s ambition has grown in terms of aesthetic, they’ve drawn closer together as players as well, and so their material is all the more assured as it works quickly to take these forward steps. One wouldn’t begrudge Kaleidobolt taking their time after The Zenith Cracks, but we’d be lucky to get another installment from them in 2017.

Kaleidobolt on Thee Facebooks

Kaleidobolt on Bandcamp

Kaleidobolt at Pink Tank Records