Posted in Questionnaire on July 14th, 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: Emilio Rizzo of Fuzznaut
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How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?
I compose and perform instrumental music that is heavy and meditative. I have always played in bands growing up. Due to life constraints it wasn’t always possible to start a band, but I had begun seeing other solo artists and it inspired me to try solo instrumental music. I had also started becoming infatuated with guitar gear especially guitars and pedals. One rule I gave to myself was that if I were to spend money on this, I would also have to make something with it.
At first the idea was to program drums and do a one man band sort of thing, but I did not find that inspiring so I stuck with guitar. This ended up being the blueprint of everything that came after, and with limiting certain things I have to maximize other things. It all sounds like music, and I like how it challenges the listener to first question “ok so it’s just a guitar”.
Describe your first musical memory.
I was about 5-6 years old watching MTV (When they used to show music videos), and Collective Soul “Shine” was my favorite song. It had a great guitar riff and I would play the tennis racket in lieu of an air guitar. I just loved how it sounded. The melody was catchy enough, but something about that guitar riff just sat right.
Describe your best musical memory to date.
I have two answers for this. First, was when I played my first show post-covid. I had a sense of how temporary all of this was and made a conscious effort to savor it. It was a cathartic performance and I felt a new connection with myself, the stage and the audience that was pretty indescribable. All I know is it flowed and is on of the reasons I work so hard is to capture that.
Second, a pleasant surprise is that people have reached out to me via social media, or at shows. Stating their music was influenced by mine, send me over there music, or I saw what you are doing and now I am starting my own solo project. It is an amazing feeling to inspire others.
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
I took some time to think about this one. A big one for me is the idea of if I were to play music it would have to be in a band. By that time I just finished grad school and had a 9-5 job and didn’t see much future playing music. It wasn’t until I started seeing heard demos on YouTube and getting into drone metal specifically Dylan Carlson’s solo record “Conquistador”. That showed me a type of solo instrumental artist that I wanted to be. Despite being one guitar in most of these cases there was still so much music being created. It was when this clicked I was able to begin crafting what is now Fuzznaut.
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
To me it leads to evolution, continued learning, and honing what you do. It’s not like you’re shooting for perfection (nothing can ever be and if it is its fleeting at best). In all of my pursuits as Fuzznaut when it comes to writing, social media, merch design, video editing, etc. I am always learning something, and then learning how to do it better. At the end of all this it will hopefully resonate with others and then can inspire something else new. It can be endless if you want it to be.
How do you define success?
Success to me is just living the life you want to live the best you possible can, given the circumstance and situation. Another thought in regard to art is getting as close as you can to your intended output, from vision to creation, which is rare but something I always attempt to do.
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
Senseless aggression at a Social Distortion show. The band decided to play all ballads, fights would just start breaking out and people would be getting kicked out. Just too much negative energy and vibe killing when that happens. I get it if it were in the pit, but these were during the slower country stuff and it was so incongruent.
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.
I would love to design fuzz pedals. I have some ideas in my head but I have no electrical engineering skills. I had bought a pedal building kit once, but I never followed through and ended up selling it. If I could collaborate with someone who knows what they are doing like Earthquaker Devices did when with Wata from Boris, and SUNNO))). That would be a bucket list thing for me for sure.
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
This question reminds me of a quote Buzz Osborne said “Art is Communication”. It sticks with me because for me it’s about communicating what can’t be said. Sometimes it’s just me saying to the world I exist and I can only articulate that with the music I make. A side effect of making that communication is also being able to connect with others.
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
Finally snagging a PS5. I game casually and feel like it’s time to take the leap into next gen. It is a nice escape to wind down with a single player game and live in that world for a bit.
Here begins day two of 10. I don’t know at what point it occurred to me to load up the Quarterly Review with killer stuff to make it, you know, more pleasant than having it only be records I feel like I should be writing about, but I’m intensely glad I did.
Seems like a no brainer, right? But the internet is dumb, and it’s so easy to get caught up in what you see on social media, who’s hyping what, and the whole thing is driven by this sad, cloying FOMO that I despise even as I participate. If you’re ever in a situation to let go of something so toxic, even just a little bit and even just in your own head — which is where it all exists anyhow — do it. And if you take nothing else from this 100-album Quarterly Review besides that advice, it won’t be a loss.
Quarterly Review #11-20:
Magnatar, Crushed
Can’t say they don’t deliver. The eight-song/38-minute Crushed is the debut long-player from Manchester, New Hampshire’s Magnatar, and it plays to the more directly aggressive side of post-metallic riffing. There are telltale quiet stretches, to be sure, but the extremity of shouts and screams in opener “Dead Swan” and in the second half of “Crown of Thorns” — the way that intensity becomes part of the build of the song as a whole — is well beyond the usual throaty fare. There’s atmosphere to balance, but even the 1:26 “Old” bends into harsh static, and the subsequent “Personal Contamination Through Mutual Unconsciousness” bounces djent and post-hardcore impulses off each other before ending up in a mega-doom slog, the lyric “Eat shit and die” a particular standout. So it goes into “Dragged Across the Surface of the Sun,” which is more even, but on the side of being pissed off, and “Loving You Was Killing Me” with its vastly more open spaces, clean vocals and stretch of near-silence before a more intense solo-topped finish. That leaves “Crushed” and “Event Horizon” to round out, and the latter is so heavy it’s barely music and that’s obviously the idea.
Three longform cosmic rock excursions comprise Wild Rocket‘s Formless Abyss — “Formless Abyss” (10:40), “Interplanetary Vibrations” (11:36) and “Future Echoes” (19:41) — so lock in your harness and be ready for when the g-forces hit. If the Dubliners have tarried in following-up 2017’s Disassociation Mechanics (review here), one can only cite the temporal screwing around taking place in “Interplanetary Vibrations” as a cause — it would be easy to lose a year or two in its depths — never mind “Future Echoes,” which meets the background-radiation drone of the two inclusions prior with a ritualized heft and slow-unfurling wash of distortion that is like a clarion to Sagan-headed weirdos. A dark-matter nebula. You think you’re freaked out now? Wild Rocket speak their own language of sound, in their own time, and Formless Abyss — while not entirely without structure — has breadth enough to make even the sunshine a distant memory.
An awaited debut full-length from Brooklyn multimedia artist/producer Brandon Gallagher, Trace Amount‘s Anti Body Language sees release through Greg Puciato‘s Federal Prisoner imprint and collects a solid 35 minutes of noise-laced harsh industrial worldbreaking. Decay anthems. A methodical assault begins with “Anxious Awakenings” and moving through “Anti Body Language” and “Eventually it Will Kill Us All,” the feeling of Gallagher acknowledging the era in which the record arrives is palpable, but more palpable are the weighted beats, the guttural shouts and layers of disaffected moans. “Digitized Exile” plays out like the ugliest outtake from Pretty Hate Machine — a compliment — and after the suitably tense “No Reality,” the six-minute “Tone and Tenor” — with a guest appearance from Kanga — offers a fuller take on drone and industrial metal, filling some of the spaces purposefully left open elsewhere. That leaves the penultimate “Pixelated Premonitions” as the ultimate blowout and “Suspect” (with a guest spot from Statiqbloom; a longtime fixture of NY industrialism) to noise-wash it all away, like city acid rain melting the pavement. New York always smells like piss in summer.
This band just keeps getting better, and yes, I mean that. Toronto’s Lammping begin an informal, casual-style series of singles with “Desert on the Keel,” the sub-four-minutes of which are dedicated to a surprisingly peaceful kind of heavy psychedelia. Multiple songwriters at work? Yes. Rhythm guitarist Matt Aldred comes to the fore here with vocals mellow to suit the languid style of the guitar, which with Jay Anderson‘s drums still giving a push beneath reminds of Quest for Fire‘s more active moments, but would still fit alongside the tidy hooks with which Lammping populate their records. Mikhail Galkin, principal songwriter for the band, donates a delightfully gonna-make-some-noise-here organ solo in the post-midsection jam before “Desert on the Keel” turns righteously back to the verse, Colm Hinds‘ bass McCartneying the bop for good measure, and in a package so welcome it can only be called a gift, Lammping demonstrate multiple new avenues of growth for their craft and project. I told you. They keep getting better. For more, dig into 2022’s Stars We Lost EP (review here). You won’t regret it.
Immediate three-part harmonies in the chorus of opener “Stealin’ Wine” set the tone for Limousine Beach‘s self-titled debut, as the new band fronted by guitarist/vocalist David Wheeler (OutsideInside, Carousel) and bringing together a five-piece with members of Fist Fight in the Parking Lot, Cruces and others melds ’70s-derived sounds with a modern production sheen, so that the Thin Lizzy-style twin leads of “Airboat” hit with suitable brightness and the arena-ready vibe in “Willodene” sets up the proto-metal of “Black Market Buss Pass” and the should-be-a-single-if-it-wasn’t “Hear You Calling.” Swagger is a staple of Wheeler‘s work, and though the longest song on Limousine Beach is still under four minutes, there’s plenty of room in tracks like “What if I’m Lying,” the AC/DC-esque “Evan Got a Job” and the sprint “Movin’ On” (premiered here) for such things, and the self-awareness in “We’re All Gonna Get Signed” adds to the charm. Closing out the 13 songs and 31 minutes, “Night is Falling” is dizzying, and leads to “Doo Doo,” the tight-twisting “Tiny Hunter” and the feedback and quick finish of “Outro,” which is nonetheless longer than the song before it. Go figure. Go rock. One of 2022’s best debut albums. Good luck keeping up.
Perfect Light is the closest Patrick Walker (also Warning) has yet come to a solo album with 40 Watt Sun, and any way one approaches it, is a marked departure from 2016’s Wider Than the Sky (review here, sharing a continued penchant for extended tracks but transposing the emotional weight that typifies Walker‘s songwriting and vocals onto pieces led by acoustic guitar and piano. Emma Ruth Rundle sits in on opener “Reveal,” which is one of the few drumless inclusions on the 67-minute outing, but primarily the record is a showcase for Walker‘s voice and fluid, ultra-subdued and mostly-unplugged guitar notes, which float across “Behind My Eyes” and the dare-some-distortion “Raise Me Up” later on, shades of the doom that was residing in the resolution that is, the latter unflinching in its longing purpose. Not a minor undertaking either on paper or in the listening experience, it is the boldest declaration of intent and progression in Walker’s storied career to-date, leaving heavy genre tropes behind in favor of something that seems even more individual.
Snagged by Heavy Psych Sounds in the early going of 2022, French rockers Decasia debut on the label with An Endless Feast for Hyenas, a 10-track follow-up to 2017’s The Lord is Gone EP (review here), making the most of the occasion of their first full-length to portray inventive vocal arrangements coinciding with classic-sounding fuzz in “Hrosshvelli’s Ode” and the spacier “Cloud Sultan” — think vocalized Earthless — the easy-rolling viber “Skeleton Void” and “Laniakea Falls.” “Ilion” holds up some scorch at the beginning, “Hyenas at the Gates” goes ambient at the end, and interludes “Altostratus” and “Soft Was the Night” assure a moment to breathe without loss of momentum, holding up proof of a thoughtful construction even as Decasia demonstrate a growth underway and a sonic persona long in development that holds no shortage of potential for continued progress. By no means is An Endless Feast for Hyenas the highest-profile release from this label this year, but think of it as an investment in things to come as well as delivery for right now.
The abiding shove of “Circle” and the more swinging “Abracadabra” begin Giant Mammoth‘s second full-length, Holy Sounds, with a style that wonders what if Lowrider and Valley of the Sun got together in a spirit of mutual celebration and densely-packed fuzz. Longer pieces “The Colour is Blue” and “Burning Man” and the lightly-proggier finale “Teisko” space out more, and the two-minute “Dust” is abidingly mellow, but wherever the Tampere, Finland, three-piece go, they remain in part defined by the heft of “Abracadabra” and the opener before it, with “Unholy” serving as an anchor for side A after “Burning Man” and “Wasteland” bringing a careening return to earth between “The Colour is Blue” and the close-out in “Teisko.” Like the prior-noted influences, Giant Mammoth are a stronger act for the dynamics of their material and the manner in which the songs interact with each other as the eight-track/38-minute LP plays out across its two sides, the second able to be more expansive for the groundwork laid in the first. They’re young-ish and they sound it (that’s not a slag), and the transition from duo to three-piece made between their first record and this one suits them and bodes well in its fuller tonality.
New Jersey trio Pyre Fyre may or may not be paying homage to their hometown of Bayonne with “Rinky Dink City,” but their punk-born fuzzy sludge rock reminds of none so much as New Orleans’ Suplecs circa 2000’s Wrestlin’ With My Ladyfriend, both the title-tracks dug into raw lower- and high-end buzztone shenanigans, big on groove and completely void of pretense. Able to have fun and still offer some substance behind the chicanery. I don’t know if you’d call it party rock — does anyone party on the East Coast or are we too sad because the weather sucks? probably, I’m just not invited — but if you were having a hangout and Pyre Fyre showed up with “Slow Cookin’,” for sure you’d let them have the two and a half minutes it takes them (less actually) to get their point across. In terms of style and songwriting, production and performance, this is a band that ask next to nothing of the listener in terms of investment are able to effect a mood in the positive without being either cloyingly poppish or leaving a saccharine aftertaste. I guess this is how the Garden State gets high. Fucking a.
Kamru, Kosmic Attunement to the Malevolent Rites of the Universe
Issued on April 20, the cumbersomely-titled Kosmic Attunement to the Malevolent Rites of the Universe is the debut outing from Denver-based two-piece Kamru, comprised of Jason Kleim and Ashwin Prasad. With six songs each hovering on either side of seven minutes long, the duo tap into a classic stoner-doom feel, and one could point to this or that riff and say The Sword or liken their tone worship and makeup to Telekinetic Yeti, but that’s missing the point. The point is in the atmosphere that is conjured by “Penumbral Litany” and the familiar proto-metallurgy of the subsequent “Hexxer,” prominent vocals echoing with a sense of command rare for a first offering of any kind, let alone a full-length. In the more willfully grueling “Cenotaph” there’s doomly reach, and as “Winter Rites” marches the album to its inevitable end — one imagines blood splattered on a fresh Rocky Mountain snowfall — the band’s take on established parameters of aesthetic sounds like it’s trying to do precisely what it wants. I’m saying watch out for it to get picked up for a vinyl release by some label or other if that hasn’t happened yet.
Posted in Whathaveyou on May 26th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
As they’ve shown a wont to do on occasion, Pittsburgh four-piece ZOM have announced their intention to head abroad for a short stint of select dates. Heralding their 2022 album, Fear and Failure, on StoneFly Records, the band will perform select UK shows in the company of The Velvet Queens from Lincolnshire in England, beginning in Newcastle before heading further north into Scotland for a stop at the famed Bannerman’s in Edinburgh — where once upon a time Conan recorded a live album — and looping back down to Rotherham, which is one of the not-insignificant drives on the stint.
Perhaps this is kindergarten-level insight, but I’m happy tours like this can happen again. I’m glad US bands can get out to where the action is — nothing against the creativity of the States’ underground, but the audience is in UK/EU and if you’re reading this you already know it — and that the possibility at least exists for Euro acts to come over here for festivals and so on, even if the reality of that is ridiculously and needlessly more difficult. But at least it’s possible. At least you can leave the fucking house. Isn’t that in itself enough reason to do so? I’m asking as someone who just had (kinda still has but let’s not talk about it) covid. Is this not the stuff of life?
Dates from the PR wire:
ZOM announce 2022 UK Tour
Pittsburgh, PA (USA) groove-heavy rockers, ZOM (StoneFly Records), are headed to the UK in late August, 2022.
ZOM initially had a UK tour booked in 2020 but we all know what happened that year.
Gero: “Yeah, it was a drag. We didn’t even get to announce it because we were watching this new virus thing like everybody else. You know how the rest went. Marc Walsh (booking agent – Rock the Foundry) has been a huge help. He had to start from scratch this year but put together a helluva run for us in the UK, where we’ve never played. Only Matt (guitar) has ever even been there.
“Obviously there’s so much rock n’ roll history there, never mind the geography and architecture. The four of us always dive into new cultures and local history so we couldn’t be more stoked to be going to England and Scotland. Most of all though, we can’t wait to play for some of our fans over there and make new ones. England’s been good to us. The Velvet Queens are going to be joining us on the road and it’s gonna be a blast.”
DATES: 08.31 Trillians Newcastle 09.01 Bannermans Edinburgh 02.09 The Hive Rotherham 03.09 Tap ‘n’ Tumbler Nottingham 04.09 The Metal Monocle Leicester
ZOM is: Gero Von Dehn: Vocals/Guitars Sam Pesce: Bass Ben Zerbe: Drums, Percussion Matthew Tuite: Guitar
Posted in Whathaveyou on May 24th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Collapse is the third full-length from Pittsburgh’s Horehound, and from the dug-in deathliness of “Sword on Fire” right into the lurching, chug-happy sweetness with which the repeated lines about how we’re all going to die are delivered in the subsequent “The Agent,” it is a moment of mastery for the band in terms of bringing together their impulses between heavy rock groove and more extreme atmospheric sludge intensities. The four-piece offer six songs in a concise-feeling-but-still-lush-sounding 33 minutes, beginning with their longest track (immediate points) “Hiraeth,” which sets forth a journey that seems to find resolution in the depth of bass in “The Rebirth” and the subtly metallic guitar sweep of “Dying Gaia.” I think the final growl on the album might be the word “reap,” and if so, fair enough for the story being told here about various human-created ecological brutalizations. To put it shortly and bluntly, Collapse is some grim shit. One thinks of bees dying in hives.
“The seas rise to the edge/There’s really nothing left/Everything’s been said/Everything’s been done/Everything is gone.” — “Hiraeth.” And that last “gone” is screamed with a throaty force that much of Collapse echoes, in sentiment as well as methodology.
While we’re talking about it, it’s also hard not to appreciate the band’s no-bullshit manner in dropping the record. Tell you it’s coming earlier in the week, then deliver. They aren’t even waiting for Bandcamp Friday. They’ve got a video up now for “Godful” that gets a little manic with the shaky-cam, but is still a fitting representation of the song, which itself sums up a fair amount of Collapse‘s breadth and impact.
Don’t tell them, but I’m gonna buy a CD just to have one.
From the PR wire and social media both:
HOREHOUND – COLLAPSE
We promised a release to you this Friday but we have a sneak peek track for you! You can hear this on our Bandcamp site where the album is now up for prerelease: https://horehound.bandcamp.com/album/collapse
But also here is a content video for the track GODFUL we hope you enjoy!
Tracklisting 1. Hiraeth 2. Godful 3. Sword on Fire 4. The Agent 5. The Rebirth 6. Dying Gaia
In a world where you can choose heavy, tension-releasing music fueled by anger and filled with hope, why choose anything else to put on your playlist, throw in your CD player, or on your turntable as part of your audio meditation and ritual? Horehound agrees and have created an album that sates the need to exhale. On May 27th, 2022 the East Coast (USA) based doom/sludge outfit Horehound unleash their third LP and fourth release, Collapse.
Horehound began writing this album in 2020, bringing it to Sid Riggs (Iommi, Saliva, Seether, Alice Cooper) to record and produce and having Tony Reed (Gojira, Electric Wizard, Cough) master it in late 2021. Collapse is heavy, inspired by the times, and the most articulate material the band has presented. Collapse will be available on all popular streaming services, released digitally, on CD, and on vinyl (preorder), so save the date: 5/27/22
Horehound is: Brendan Parrish (Guitar) Russ Johnson (Bass) Dan Moore (Drums) Shy Kennedy (Vocals/Synth)
Posted in Whathaveyou on May 9th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
That’s a nasty bit of heavy rock and roll taking place in the new single from resurfacing Pittsburgh sludgemovers Negative 13, and the fact that the band hasn’t put out an album in nearly 20 years reminds of some of the changes that have taken place in the by-and-large aesthetics of heavy in that time. To wit, the trend these days seems to be focused on melody and heavy rock acts are lining up to show off their melodic and/or harmonic prowess, vocally, instrumentally, or both, either through or organic means, layering, Autotune, etc.
Nothing against that. It’s a cycle of creative progressivism that has played out generationally before and probably will again. But it’s not what’s happening here. With Negative 13, I’m more taken back to the days of Emissions From the Monolith and bands like Sofa King Killer, Rue and Meatjack, who made a mission of their aggression to one degree or another and whose bent was heavy with a sense of hardcore-born disaffection. It was a mean time for riffs. And the regression here is satisfying. Maybe it’s time for that trend to shift again. Or maybe there’s just so much out there now that there’s room for everything in terms of sound. Either way, result is the same.
Info came from the PR wire, which since it’s email, is also kind of oldschool, come to think of it:
Stoner/Sludge Lords NEGATIVE 13 to Return with Mourning Asteri
Post-punk sludge quartet NEGATIVE 13 is back! Nearly 20 years after the release of their self-titled debut, NEGATIVE 13 is set to return with Mourning Asteri. The long-awaited second full-length from these veterans of the Pittsburgh, PA scene bears the mark of a band born anew. Retaining the groove-laden and abrasive fury from their early work, Mourning Asteri takes the band’s infusion of stoner, sludge, and doomcore to a new level.
Stream the album’s first single, titled “My Scars Are Showing Again”.
Mourning Asteri will be released on digital, CD, cassette, and vinyl formats on July 8. Pre-order the album now at negative13.bandcamp.com.
TRACKLIST: 1) My Scars Are Showing Again 2) Never Ending Exit Wound 3) Pain Prism 4) Mourning Asteri 5) Crack the Code 6) The Key and the Coat 7) Parahell 8) Villian
Formed in 1999, the Pittsburgh, PA quartet, NEGATIVE 13 (once known as Negative Theory), has continued to have a bit of an identity crisis. Describing their sound as post-punk infested stoner/sludge/doomcore, NEGATIVE 13 carries a curiosity that has allowed the band to reform after a hiatus with a wide-open palette of taste that reflects their artistic vision: interpret their brand of heavy metal however it is they feel fit.
Originally disbanding in 2003 after releasing their self-titled debut, the members never stopped communicating the idea of returning to the stage after going their separate ways—reuniting, however, for several shows in 2008 and 2009. After years apart, 2021 proved to be the year that things fell back into place for NEGATIVE 13, with original members drummer Chip Reynolds, vocalist Scott Fisher, and guitarist Edward Banchs reforming with the intention of fulfilling their original vision—writing albums that would leave a footprint in the metal world. With the 2021 addition of bassist Mary Bielich, the band worked on completing their second album, Mourning Asteri, in late 2021, further elevating their sound to new heights.
NEGATIVE 13 is:
Scott Fisher – Vocals Edward Banchs – Guitar Mary Bielich – Bass Chip Reynolds – Drums
[Click play above to stream the premiere of Deathwhite’s ‘No Thought or Memory.’ Album preorders are available here. The band says, “‘No Thought or Memory’ details the opioid epidemic ravaging the United States and the perils of addiction. It is well documented how pharmaceutical companies have made billions by getting people hooked on their substances. The fact that they have gotten away with it for so long is reprehensible, but how quickly prescription drug abuse can destroy lives and families is even worse. The amount of lives affected is untold and there is no end in sight.”]
Anonymous Pittsburgh melodic death-doom hood-bearers Deathwhite release their third full-length, Grey Everlasting, June 10 through Season of Mist. In some ways, it is business as usual for the unknown parties involved in the band. The core of their sound remains intact in honing a style that is richly and morosely melodic, recalling the depressive craft of mid-period Katatonia especially but having increasingly made it their own over the last decade; their first full-length, 2017’s For a Black Tomorrow (review here), serving as the impetus for the Season of Mist pickup and re-release early the next year, while early-2020’s Grave Image (review here) fostered vibes that were only well at home in the darkest of winter and the resoundingly bleak Spring that followed. Grey Everlasting, with production once again from Shane Meyer and Art Paiz — instruments at Cerebral Audio and vocals at Erik Rutan‘s Mana Recording, respectively — invariably carries much of their sound forward into its new collection of 11 songs. Even the cover art by Jérôme Comentale is a consistent presence from both albums prior and then some. For those who’ve followed Deathwhite over their now 10-year arc, they reaffirm the depressive melodic doom metal that’s expected of them.
They also expand on it. The intro “Nihil,” in just 97 seconds, signals a shift in focus toward keyboard orchestrations, setting an expanded foundation for the tracks that lead-single “Earthtomb” soon answers in an initial blastbeaten burst and one of Grey Everlasting‘s most memorable hooks. This uptick in keys continues throughout and strengthens songs like “No Thought or Memory” (premiering below), the last piece of the opening salvo “Quietly, Suddenly,” or the later “Formless,” bolstering the impact of the guitar, bass and drums while enhancing the often-harmonized vocals that are by now a signature aspect of Deathwhite‘s approach. Correspondingly, Grey Everlasting is the most extreme album the band have done to-date, as the double-kick drumming in “Earthtomb” and “No Thought or Memory” is a foreshadow of “White Sleep” and “Immemorial” at the center of the tracklist. The former follows the title-cut and is an immediately meaner shove, pulling back from its ferocity for the verse but seeming extra tense in the crashes there, as though sending a subliminal signal of where it’s ultimately headed.
It’s as though, having been saddled with a perceived death metal influence to some degree or other over their prior releases, Deathwhite decided to really dive into it in more than just those first measures of “Earthtomb.” The vocals in the second half of “White Sleep” become more guttural. They’re still clean on the whole — it’s not an all-out growl — but the change is remarkable and resonates with the more intense instrumental turn surrounding. “White Sleep” settles down in its final movement, bringing the residual pummel in the drums together with the keyboard, and “Immemorial” doesn’t give away the plot right away, but at 2:36 into its total 4:06, the drums signal a change and growing whispers far back in the mix more fully depart from the ultra-clean delivery, soon joined by layers of growling and screaming both.
In the context of the song itself and the 47 minutes of Grey Everlasting as a whole, it’s a relatively minor stretch of time — doesn’t even last until the finish of the song — but just by being there, it expands the reach of record and band alike, and it means that the aggressive threat that’s seemed to underlie Deathwhite‘s material all along has been real. The effect is such that when the double-kick starts in “So We Forget” after “Formless,” it’s that much harder to know what kind of shift is coming. It makes Deathwhite a more versatile band.
In that regard, one can also point to the use of space throughout Grey Everlasting. Similar to how they’ve always incorporated ideas from death metal, Deathwhite have always been atmospheric — at very least you would say their songwriting does not want for mood — but the standalone drums in the first half of the penultimate “Blood and Ruin,” or the open-sounding patient manner in which the title-track unfolds, the echo there on guitar, snare and vocals alike. Even “Nihil” and “Earthtomb” demonstrate the greater breadth that Grey Everlasting seems to evoke in its sound, the latter layering a solo over its central rhythm not by forcing it to squeeze in ahead of the vocals, but by using the room that was there already — same thing goes for the keys coming forward between vocal lines. And before it arrives in the final chug that caps the record, six-minute closer and longest track “Asunder” does not neglect this element either, as its steady progression of verse and chorus give over to a stretch of acoustic guitar before the vocals and guitar return and herald the aforementioned payoff, allowing for one last moment of quiet and thereby furthering its own summary of who Deathwhite are at this pivotal stage in their development.
Let’s be honest. To a certain degree, those who’ve heard either of the Deathwhite full-lengths before Grey Everlasting should have some idea of what’s coming in these songs, and their consistency is an asset in acting as the ground upon which they build. And part of that is the emotionality of the songs. That is not lessened for the more extreme parts nor overblown by an increase in the lushness of the instrumental melodies. Whether it’s the sharper lead guitar line in “No Thought or Memory” or the cavernous scope in the beginnings of “Blood and Ruin,” Deathwhite not only sound more sure of that ground, but confident in the new ideas being presented. That combination makes Grey Everlasting the broadest Deathwhite release yet, and speaks of new life even when so much feels dystopian and disconnected outside the music. I won’t call a record titled Grey Everlasting hopeful, but the songs are a comfort and a catharsis in kind. Even as they seem so steady in their miseries, there’s room for beauty and brutality alike.
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 9th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
I’m not saying I made this happen or anything, but I did email Season of Mist yesterday and ask what was going on with this record, because frankly, I just couldn’t take not knowing anymore. One way or the other, the press release below is my answer about anonymous Pittsburgh melodic death-doomers Deathwhite‘s impending third album, Grey Everlasting, which follows 2020’s Grave Image (review here) and 2018’s For a Black Tomorrow (review here) and is set to issue on June 10. Preorders, the cover art, track info and a video for post-intro lead cut “Earthtomb” are available below, and no, I haven’t sent another email to the label yet harassingly asking to premiere a song with a review, but I kind of feel like that’s only because I’m too busy typing this out first.
This is a band I really dig, and I’ve been looking forward to this album since they announced last June that they were working on it, let alone when they finished in October. Have to wonder if the June release date is just for pressing concerns or if it might coincide with some manner of touring domestically or abroad, but whatever. The title-track sounds like what I’ve been wishing Katatonia would put out forever, and for today I’m gonna just dig in here and enjoy it. You can do likewise with the new video.
Still have no idea who they are, by the way. That’s some impressively-maintained anonymity.
From the PR wire:
DEATHWHITE Reveals New Album Details, Shares Official Music Video for New Song
Enigmatic dark metal outfit DEATHWHITE will be releasing their third full-length, ‘Grey Everlasting,’ on June 10 via Season of Mist! The band is now sharing the devastating first single, “Earthtomb,” along with a music video! The heart-wrenching video, which was created by Guilherme Henriques, can be found at THIS LOCATION.
DEATHWHITE comments: “It is our abundant pleasure to share the video for ‘Earthtomb,’ the first single from ‘Grey Everlasting.’ The immaculate Guilherme Henriques shot the clip in Aceredo, Spain and Porto, Portugal. Unfortunately, the song and video are a rather timely and direct reflection of the times we live when unchecked power, deception, gas-lighting and flat-out lies are used as tools to wreak havoc upon humanity and sow discord.
“‘Earthtomb’ was written as our observation — and inherent wish — that these individuals succumb to their misdeeds. What is happening in Ukraine at the moment has, for the members of Deathwhite, made this song more prescient than ever. Our hearts go out to those impacted by this utter tragedy.”
‘Grey Everlasting’ will follow up 2020’s critically-acclaimed ‘Grave Image.’
‘Grey Everlasting’ is available to pre-order HERE: https://shop.season-of-mist.com/list/deathwhite-grey-everlasting and can be pre-saved to your streaming library HERE: https://orcd.co/greyeverlasting
The cover was created by Jérôme Comentale.
Tracklist: 1. Nihil (01:37) 2. Earthtomb (05:06) 3. No Thought or Memory (04:08) 4. Quietly, Suddenly (04:38) 5. Grey Everlasting (03:51) 6. White Sleep (04:22) 7. Immemorial (04:05) 8. Formless (03:35) 9. So We Forget (05:15) 10. Blood and Ruin (04:58) 11. Asunder (06:21) Total run-time: 48:03
Pittsburgh heavy rockers and tour veterans of Iceland ZOM will release their second full-length, Fear and Failure, through StoneFly Records on March 11. Vinyl preorders go up the same day ahead of an April 1 arrival. It was two years ago this week that the four-piece announced they were entering the studio with Jason Jouver recording in order to make the follow-up to 2018’s Nebulos (discussed here), which came out on Argonauta, for what would also be their first outing with the lineup of guitarist/vocalist Gero von Dehn, drummer Ben Zerbe, guitarist Matthew Tuite and bassist Sam Pesce.
Obviously it’s been quite a two years since. I have no idea how long the record’s actually been done, but the fact that they’re premiering a track and setting a date certainly brings it to mind as something fresh, and with what I’m hearing in this first cut, the switch from three- to four-piece and the decision to bring in Jouver on production don’t seem to have hurt them. This stuff is easy to dig, and since the intent is to grab attention and leave the listener more, that’s been done and then some.
Song premiere follows, then art and info from the PR wire. You know the drill for the heads-up. So, heads up.
Enjoy:
PITTSBURGH, PA STONER-GROOVE, HEAVY ROCKERS, ZOM SIGNS TO STONEFLY RECORDS FOR A WORLDWIDE VINYL RELEASE OF THEIR NEW ALBUM FEAR AND FAILURE ON APRIL 1st 2022
StoneFly Records is stoked to announce the signing of Pittsburgh, PA stoner-groove, heavy rockers, ZOM and look forward to release their sophomore album Fear And Failure on 180g vinyl. This album will be the 3rd album released by StoneFly Records.
Back in February 2021, not that long after I announced my intention of starting a record label, I was approached by Gero von Dehn; he expressed me his vivid desire to work with me for his new album. I must say I was immediately seduced by Fear And Failure! All songs were killers without fillers. Pure classic Stoner/Hard Rock vibes going on! The album even features a cover of Down The Highway by Nebula. It was a no brainer to me and I offered them a contract.
It was back in March of 2020 that the band entered the studio to record Fear And Failure but the pandemic slowed down the completion as well as any release plans they had. The album was recorded and engineered by Steel City go-to, Jason Jouver, at Plus/Minus studios. The album was mixed there and then went to legendary producer, Jack Endino, for mastering in Seattle, WA.
ZOM’S Fear And Failure will release digitally on March 11, 2022. Vinyl Pre-Order will go live at the same time on March 11, 2022. Vinyl will release on April 1st, 2022.
FEAR AND FAILURE TRACK LISTING: 1. Washed Away 2. Long Way Gone 3. Showtime 4. Third Life 5. Running Man 6. Stone 7. August 8. Another Day to Run 9. Down The Highway (Nebula cover) 10. The Plunge
ZOM is: Gero Von Dehn: Vocals/Guitars Sam Pesce: Bass Ben Zerbe: Drums, Percussion Matthew Tuite: Guitar
