Posted in Whathaveyou on June 25th, 2026 by JJ Koczan
A strong lineup for Descendants of Crom VIII is nothing new. The annual Pittsburgh-based celebration of underground heavy returns this Sept. 11-12 with 14 acts playing at Thunderbird Music Hall, including Tombs and Novembers Doom headlining, a rare appearance from The Midnight Ghost Train and Gozu coming down from Boston to support their new album, among others.
I’m pretty sure this is the complete bill, as it’s basically in line with last year’s edition, but some shuffling may take place between now and September, you never know. I’ve never had the pleasure of hitting this one — Pittsburgh is like a six-hour drive, minimum, and that’s apparently just far enough to be really far — but it’s always cool to see who’s going to be there, and this looks like a cool mix of styles, geographies, and levels of intensity.
Behold:
Blackseed Services and Thunderbird presents: Descendants of Crom VII
Saturday, September 11 and 12th, 2026 Thunderbird Music Hall 4053 Butler Street, Pittsburgh, PA
For nearly a decade, Descendants of Crom has brought together fans and artists from across the heavy underground for a weekend dedicated to doom, sludge, psych, black metal, post-metal, and the darker edges of heavy music.
Founded out of a passion for discovering and supporting original heavy music, Descendants of Crom has continually sought to bring both revered underground artists and emerging voices to Pittsburgh while helping foster a thriving regional heavy music community.
FRIDAY – SEPTEMBER 11 TOMBS FRAYLE WITCHING BRIMSTONE COVEN SUNDRAS
SATURDAY – SEPTEMBER 12 NOVEMBERS DOOM THE MIDNIGHT GHOST TRAIN HUNTSMEN NIXIL GOZU MOTHERLESS IRONFLAME FALSE GODS THE LONG HUNT
Single Day Passes are also made available on Thunderbird’s Site.
Built through a DIY spirit and presented with a professional approach, Descendants of Crom has become a destination for those who value authenticity, atmosphere, and the shared experience of underground music.
Descendants of Crom VIII returns to Thunderbird Café & Music Hall on September 11 & 12, 2026 for two days of immersive atmosphere, crushing volume, and unforgettable performances.
The new Fuzznaut album, Resistant Spirit, will be released this Friday, Oct. 17. A release show is slated for the next night at Mr. Roboto Project in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where the solo-project of Emilio Rizzo is based. Resistant Spirit is the third Fuzznaut long-player, and its eight-song/35-minute run is comprised in part of material Rizzo has issued as singles over the course of the last year-plus. “Sufferlove,” “Spacerock,” “Wind Doula” and “Earbleeder” have each seen a standalone release, in that order, since Feb. 2024, so fair enough to bring them together along with the foreboding rumble of the title-track, which opens after the sample-topped, post-heavy “Intro” with a splash of noise before settling into a riffy drone, using space in the mix for effects, but definitely moving, even without drums. Soon enough this will become a theme for the album.
Dylan Carlson and Earth are acknowledged touchstones for Fuzznaut and have been all along, but I’m not sure Earth have ever so actively leaned into stoner-doom as “Earbleeder” does, evolving from an Electric Wizard-style nodder into a broader-reaching strum, then turning back to finish with a structure that, for a drone record, feels awfully straightforward. It may be Rizzo is heading that way in writing terms, as “Defiant Prayer” answers back later to the creep of “Resistant Spirit,” with some kind of percussion or beat being kept early on that reinforces the notion of Fuzznaut perhaps slowly evolving into a fuller-band entity, even if still a one-person outfit. I know better than to speculate. The variety of tone between “Sufferlove,” with its Jesu-y resonance, and the pointedly printed-in-the-infernal-method riff of “Wind Doula” — which expands on that with an Author & Punisher-aware thud in the first half and a topping solo layer in the second — alone is enough to make guessing silly.
“Spacerock” is the longest inclusion at 6:49 and is centered around resonance, and the riff underneath all that reverb changes over time but retains its basic ether-bound direction. The closer, “BRKN,” sweeps in and has a similar feeling of breadth tonally. I’m not sure if Rizzo is looping the rhythm line live and soloing over it, or overdubbing the lead track later, but he brings a sense of depth to the mix on what’s still a pretty minimal — if loudly minimal — almost-if-not-entirely-guitar arrangement. Presumably that’s where the benefit of experience comes in, but as one would hope for a third full-length from this or really any project, Fuzznaut has been able to internalize lessons and ideas from past releases and translate them into immersive creative progress here. As ever, Rizzo is venturing into somewhat uncharted ground from where the project began, and across Resistant Spirit, it sounds like he’s having fun doing it.
The PR wire below has a line about blurring the line between songs and soundscapes. I agree with that. That’s part of what’s happening. Consistently in Fuzznaut‘s work, though, there’s a feeling of evocation from the material. The music carries the listener in a different way in Resistant Spirit, both in that there’s more motion in terms of the riffs being played and the immersive affect of the tones, but for sure that’s still in balance with the fact of this as drone music. Earth, again, have a similar intention at times (also a full band), but Fuzznaut is further distinguished by the ground being explored, and that has let Rizzo develop the project on its own path. There are parts here where he sounds as entranced as you feel, and there’s just about no way that isn’t on purpose.
Resistant Spirit streams in full below, followed by more info from the PR wire.
Please enjoy:
FUZZNAUT is the solo project of Emilio Rizzo, emerging from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Resistant Spirit, his third album, arrives on October 18th via Leafy Brain Recordings.
Resistant Spirit is the new album from Fuzznaut bringing seven songs of genre blending alchemy of guitar based doom metal, shoegaze, post-rock, and drone.
At its core, Resistant Spirit is about the struggle to maintain individuality, from the mainstream forces of conformity, spectacle, and perfectionism. Using the power of the riff as an aural expression of resilience. From the mantra like opener to the distorted melancholic reverb drenched closing song BRKN. To heavy riff laden tracks Earbleeder, and Defiant Prayer, that weave seamlessly into atmospheric drone and clang of Sufferlove and Resistant Spirit. Fuzznaut’s heavy guitar layers conjure sonic textures, building a sonic world to get immersed into. The seven tracks in Resistant Spirit blur lines between songs/soundscapes.
Grounded in a staunch DIY ethos, Rizzo handles every aspect of the Fuzznuat project himself—recording the music, designing the artwork, booking, and performing live as a one-man band.
As of 2025 Fuzznaut has existed for 7 years. Rizzo’s debut EP, Form is Emptiness (2019), gained traction on Bandcamp in 2024 as an underrated doomgaze gem that was included in their Blissful Noise, Bad Vibes: A Doomgaze Primer, solidifying Fuzznaut as a foundational artist in the genre.
Credits Resistant Spirit was Mixed by Fuzznaut and Mastered By Mario Quinetero (Spotlights/Audio MQ ) 2024-2025 Album artwork and layout by Chris Smith Grey Aria Design OUT CD and BANDCAMP/AMPWALL/ BIG CARTEL
Posted in Whathaveyou on July 28th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
Set for Sept. 26-27 in Pittsburgh, PA, Descendants of Crom VII runs a gamut from dark-arts-heavy to loyalist doom metal, scathing fuckall sludge and then some. From Ringworm and Crypt Sermon and the classic-style radness of Valkyrie to new adds Fog Giant and the horns-up Olathia, it’s a span of styles that speaks the to progression of the festival’s curation over the years. Thunderbird Café and Music Hall is hosting the two-dayer, and of course is once again helmed by Shy Kennedy of Blackseed Services, whose band Funerals (they used to be Horehound) are also on the bill.
I don’t know if anyone seeing this will get there or not, like in a just-read-this-post-then-bought-a-ticket sense, but it’s a universe of infinite possibility, and generally speaking, isn’t your day made better knowing something cool is happening whether or not you’ll get to see it? I think that’s why I might still be doing this after so long. OMG we had a breakthrough just now, you guys.
From the PR wire:
DESCENDANTS OF CROM VII – September 26 & 27 – Pittsburgh, PA
The underground rises once again. Descendants of Crom VII returns to Thunderbird Café & Music Hall on September 26–27, 2025, bringing two nights of genre-defying heavy music, collaborative creativity, and the raw energy of Pittsburgh’s thriving DIY spirit. Now in its seventh year, DOC continues to grow in scope and reputation, while staying fiercely committed to underground authenticity.
Presented by Blackseed Services in collaboration with Thunderbird Café, this year’s festival features an unmissable lineup, including sludge juggernauts BLACK TUSK, the epic intensity of VALKYRIE, doom torchbearers CRYPT SERMON, and Cleveland hardcore legends RINGWORM. Supporting acts span a range of sonic extremes: FISTULA, CHERUBS, SATHANAS, WEED DEMON, REBREATHER, EDHOCHULI, OLATHIA, FUNERALS (formerly Horehound), BROWN ANGEL, RIPARIAN, FOG GIANT, and PASSING BELL.
DOC isn’t just a lineup—it’s an experience. From custom-brewed beer and small-batch hot sauce collabs to themed vendor offerings and exclusive merch, the weekend celebrates the underground in all its forms. Blackseed Services has spent over a decade cultivating Pittsburgh’s heavy music culture by consistently showcasing unique artists — many of whom fans wouldn’t otherwise get to see locally—while lifting up the city’s own talent.
With a focus on genre inclusiveness, artist integrity, and authentic community building, DOC is where longtime followers of the riff meet new initiates. Fans come for a favorite band and leave with a deeper connection to a movement — and often, a few new obsessions.
Posted in Whathaveyou on June 25th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
With more reportedly on the way, the Pittsburgh-based dark arts heavyfest Descendants of Crom has announced the first round of acts for its seventh — or VIIth, if you prefer — edition this September. Set to take place over two days, Sept. 26-27, at Thunderbird Music Hall, the festival continues its strong run of doom, metal and sludge with this year’s lineup from the rank pill-popped Midwestern apathy of Fistula to Crypt Sermon‘s trad-metal standard-bearing, Black Tusk‘s progressive take on Southern heavy and Valkyrie‘s pastoral, modernized classic rock, and much more besides.
It hadn’t occurred to me until I was grabbing the embed at the bottom of this post, but fest-staples Rebreather — I need to buy a new Rebreather shirt because my last one got a hole in the side and I don’t want to be without one — are four years removed from their killer comebacker The Line, its Width and the War Drone (review here), and I can’t help but be curious if the sludge-rooted Ohio outfit will have anything new in the works. Time for some social media digging? Yeah, maybe after I put that shirt in my Bandcamp cart.
Much continued respect to Descendants of Crom VII headed into its seventh year. I’ve never been — it’s traditionally right around the weekend of my wedding anniversary, Sept. 28 — but it’s always cool to see who’ll be there and to keep up as the fest has expanded its palette and grown into the warrior you see before you on the poster. Killer.
Dig:
DESCENDANTS OF CROM VII – September 26 & 27 – Pittsburgh, PA
The forge is burning hot—it’s time to reveal the first wave of bands confirmed for this year’s gathering of the underground faithful. DOC VII returns with two days of heavy music, diverse in sound and tone, never compromising on originality or quality.
…and more to come, including our co-headliners, regional support, vendors, and sponsors.
EARLY CROW “WEEKEND WARRIOR” PASSES ON SALE NOW: Very limited—only 50 available Available through July 4 or until sold out –After that: regular advance single-day & weekend passes launch
No band submissions please, but vendors and sponsors can still reach out to Blackseed Services.
Come join our celebration this year, after all… We Are All Descendants of Crom ⚔️
EARLY CROW WEEKEND WARRIOR $50, 50 tickets available
Advance single day and weekend pass tickets will be available after the Early Crow options are gone or on July 4th.
Pittsburgh drone rock instrumentalists The Long Hunt will self-release their fourth album, Natural Order, on July 18. The eight-track outing continues the trio’s collaboration with Matt Very, who mastered their 2022 third LP, Threshold Wanderer (review here) and who recorded along with The Long Hunt guitarist Trevor Richards, and runs a deceptively taut 38 minutes while casting vivid impressions in sound. To be sure, it is a whole-album affect and an overarching flow becomes an essential component of their approach, letting the intended immersion of the listener happen early in the brief “It Hunts the Shadows” before “The Cosmic Egg” (video premiering below) finds Richards, bassist Allison Kacmar Richards and drummer Mark Lyons pairing Neurosis-circa-The–Eye–of–Every–Storm-style ambience with more straightforward chug and a crescendo of angular starts and stops.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the three-piece spend some time in conversation with Earth. Particularly, centerpiece “Spine of Dusk” has a wistfulness to its lead lines that feels like it was perhaps printed in the infernal method, but the more loosely psychedelic lean of “Assiduous Gnaw” beforehand presents a different context, plotted and thoughtful with a touch of Pelican-y fuzz in the second half, and in both songs, The Long Hunt retain the ability to bring their own spin to their influences. “Assiduous Gnaw” takes off on one of the most satisfying nods Natural Order has to offer, and the slower amble of “Spine of Dusk” comes across as more dynamic for it. The entire album is sequenced like this, so that one song feeds off the next and the whole procession becomes richer as you go. This tells you it was made to be heard front-to-back, and at 38 minutes, The Long Hunt have for sure done their diligence in making that manageable for the listener.
“Tooth and Claw” is patient, progressive and heavy in kind, with the densest tonality the band has yet had on offer and a resonant churn happening in the mix from the midsection break onward, adding emphasis to the rhythm of the song as it moves through its noisy finish into the bass-and-drum comedown carries into the residual drone that finishes ahead of “The Liminal Flow.” The penultimate cut calls back a bit to “Spine of Dusk,” but becomes more active than it first appears as Richards builds tension in the guitar and the band hold their push, not overbearing or out of place with what’s come before, but still offering something new as they move toward the end of Natural Order with “A Narrow Path.”
Stick clicks count in a gentle fuzz as The Long Hunt round out in contemplative fashion. Post-grunge flourish emerges from the guitar, keeping in line with where the band have been up to this point, and an ambling sway complements. Although it’s tied for being the longest inclusion on Natural Order at 5:38 (with “Assiduous Gnaw”), “A Narrow Path” presents itself half as an epilogue for the entire LP, and it serves that function well; not necessarily by summarizing the sprawl the band have enacted or the opportunity for immersion they’ve given their audience, but by attending once more to the atmosphere wrought by their subdued pacing and mellow vibes. They are heavy in presence and groove throughout, but obviously working under an expanded definition of what that means.
The on-theme video for “The Cosmic Egg” premieres on the player below, followed by more from the PR wire.
Please enjoy:
The Long Hunt, “The Cosmic Egg” video premiere
The official music video for The Long Hunt’s new song “The Cosmic Egg” from the album “Natural Order” – out July 18, 2025.
Building upon the foundation set from previous work, the band expands its signature all-instrumental sound across eight new tracks of post-psychedelic drone-doom. Dense fuzzed-out guitars give way to sparse interludes and textured minimalism with driving bass and drums creating a firmament encapsulating sprawling sonic landscapes. The exclusion of vocals and lyrics allows ample space for the listener to create their own worlds to explore.
The album was recorded in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the Spring of 2024 by Matt Very (Very Tight Recordings) and Trevor Richards. Mastered by Dave Polster at Well Made Music in Bristol, Virginia. Limited vinyl release pressed through Hellbender Vinyl.
Tracklist: 1. It Hunts The Shadows 2. The Cosmic Egg 3. Assiduous Gnaw 4. Spine of Dusk 5. Tooth and Claw 6. The Liminal Flow 7. A Narrow Path 8. Pillar of Dawn
The Long Hunt is: Trevor Richards: Guitar Allison Kacmar Richards: Bass Mark Lyons: Drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on May 22nd, 2025 by JJ Koczan
The homies over at The Sleeping Shaman had a premiere up for “Spine of Dusk” from Natural Order, but I didn’t want to bite off that, so below you get the opener “It Hunts in the Shadows” (and probably after tomorrow the other song as well; that’s how these things usually go) and the info on the forthcoming fourth LP from Pittsburgh instrumentalists The Long Hunt, which has been given the somewhat ominous title of Natural Order. Moody in a post-rock kind of way, the lead cut on the record swings and chugs at a mid-paced tempo, hooking the listener through ease of access and repetition alike. The vibe is suitably organic.
You can see below the titles seem to speak to the natural world/order as well, so perhaps the trio are working with a theme, but it’ll still be a bit before we find out either way for sure. From Bandcamp:
Pittsburg’s Instrumental Trio The Long Hunt share the news of a new album and the first single
In many philosophical and spiritual traditions, the number 4 is associated with the four elements: earth, air, fire, and water, which are seen as foundational to the world and physical nature. It’s a number often linked to order, structure, and natural cycles, such as the four seasons and the four phases of the moon. With these themes in mind, The Long Hunt is proud to present their fourth record, Natural Order.
Building upon the foundation set from previous work, the band expands its signature all-instrumental sound across eight new tracks of post-psychedelic drone-doom. Dense fuzzed-out guitars give way to sparse interludes and textured minimalism with driving bass and drums creating a firmament encapsulating sprawling sonic landscapes. The exclusion of vocals and lyrics allows ample space for the listener to create their own worlds to explore.
The album was recorded in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the Spring of 2024 by Matt Very (Very Tight Recordings) and Trevor Richards. Mastered by Dave Polster at Well Made Music in Bristol, Virginia. Limited vinyl release pressed through Hellbender Vinyl.
Tracklist: 1. It Hunts The Shadows 2. The Cosmic Egg 3. Assiduous Gnaw 4. Spine of Dusk 5. Tooth and Claw 6. The Liminal Flow 7. A Narrow Path 8. Pillar of Dawn
The Long Hunt is: Trevor Richards: Guitar Allison Kacmar Richards: Bass Mark Lyons: Drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 27th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
Pittsburgh-based underground festival Descendants of Crom has announced its first annual rRitual showcase for April 5. The night will feature six acts — three locals, three out-of-towners — and will get a still-probably-gonna-finish-late early start at 7:30.
If you saw that post a little over a week ago about the Temptress and Thunderchief tour, yeah, this is a stop on it and an occasion for the tour itself. The darkly progressive Axioma from Cleveland are the third import outfit, while the hometeam will be represented by Funerals, with former members of Horehound, as well as Altar and the Bull and Gloom Doom.
Yes, I realize this is next week. No, I’m not necessarily thinking everyone who sees this is going to drop whatever they’re doing and fly to Western PA next weekend. But maybe you are going there, or maybe someone you know is, or maybe you haven’t heard these bands before and it’s a name to chase down next time you’re bored. I don’t know, but it’s a thing that’s happening and apparently the intent is to make it an annual event to complement Descendants of Crom, which is Blackseed Services‘ prior-established festival offering. This may then be the first — I can’t help but roll the ‘r’ — rRitual of many to come.
Maybe I’m just happy I get to spend my days sitting at the computer listening to music and writing about it and so something like this comes along and I’m like “Oh so that wasn’t a spelling mistake in that Thunderchief post” and then one post leads to another leads to another and all of a sudden it’s been like 16 years and here you are. I had a friend send me a letter the other day. He signed it, “keep writing.” Shit, man. I can’t seem to stop.
If you do go, I hope it’s a blast. Here’s the info, ticket link and such:
rRitual: First Annual Descendants of Crom Showcase
Presented by Blackseed Services, this special event will be an annual showcase mixer, focusing on the darker, atmospheric styles. Doom/Stoner/Sludge/Blackened.
Featuring: Temptress (NC/TX) Thunderchief (Richmond) Axioma (Cleveland) with local support: Funerals Altar and the Bull Gloom Doom
Posted in Bootleg Theater on February 13th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
This is some nasty, nasty shit. I wouldn’t lie to you. Bottom line, top line and all lines in between — nasty.
Based in Pittsburgh and having just last month put up their two initial singles — “Hollow Eyes,” for which a lyric video premieres below, and the concurrent “The Burden We Have Become” — Passing Bell are a new band that pulls together members of Horehound, The Long Hunt and others and who have set themselves immediately to the work of vicious stylization. The harsh, largely indecipherable barks of vocalist Kevin Tuite — good thing it’s a lyric video — are the flay to coincide with the bludgeon of riff in “Hollow Eyes,” and though it and its companion piece are relatively short at under five minutes, that’s plenty of time for Tuite, guitarist/engineer Trevor Richards, bassist Russ Johnson and drummer Christian Dean to affect a mood (by souring it) and entrench themselves onto the brain of the listener, there to fester.
The lyrics for “Hollow Eyes” are below — why not? I never include lyrics but probably should — and surely lines like “Hollow eyes reflect across darkened water under starless skies” give some impression on their own of where Passing Bell are coming from. “Fester” is in there too, as part of a litany of grim descriptives to go along with the biting instrumentation behind. So is this the part where I say that given the extreme nature of the music, listeners should be advised before taking it on that it’s not going to be for everybody? You bet your ass it is. While “Hollow Eyes” and “The Burden We Have Become” both have one foot in a rock-based groove, the other has a boot on your larynx, and admittedly, that’s not something universally accessible. If you can get on board with the rawer side of Passing Bell as they present themselves here, so much the better. Go see them live. Be a fan. Caustic bands need love too, mate. Get in there with hugs and enjoy.
Lovey dovey. If you can’t hear that here, in the overarching catharsis if nowhere else in the four and a half-ish minutes, that’s okay. Some bands make it a challenge.
Please enjoy:
Passing Bell, “Hollow Eyes” lyric video premiere
From Crevices so dark the moon dare not spare light Hollow eyes reflect across darkened water under starless skies
An abhorrent wind does spring forth Driven forward, reins held by the cursed whispers gasped from a mouth of multiple tongues
Hollow eyes reflect across darkened water under starless skies a lasso cast by the (sinister) Advancing in violent bursts etching beauty to jagged stone.
A scorched and tarred trail of festering slime is what’s left behind A mother of amphibious plains beckons A corrupt summons an invitation utterly blasphemous
Hollow eyes reflect across darkened water under starless skies
Embark into the wild under the distant darkened sky Join her scaled womb draped in moss Marinate in the fetid waters of the desolate marsh
released January 10, 2025
Passing Bell are: Kevin Tuite : Vocals & Lyrics Christian Dean: Drums Russ Johnson: Bass Trevor Richards: Guitar
Album photography by Russ Johnson. Recording and mixing by Trevor Richards.
