Posted in Questionnaire on March 2nd, 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: Alexander Adams of Plague of Carcosa & Lurker Bias
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How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?
I play the drums and other devices in a group called Plague of Carcosa. The how is less interesting; I was looking for a new project, Eric reached out through a friend I think?
Describe your first musical memory.
One of my parents is a classically-trained opera singer, so I have a ton of very early memories that all kind of group together. Lots of foreign languages, lots of being quiet in a theater when I’d rather be doing kid stuff, lots of flowers after.
Describe your best musical memory to date.
Memorizing all the lyrics to “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)” when I was a teenager.
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
Once when I was a teenager a friend told me I couldn’t memorize all the words to “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)” and I firmly believed that I could.
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
Hopefully toward more fully-realized art.
How do you define success?
You make a thing, people like the thing, they support you on your way to the next thing.
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
I mean, there are a lot of dark places that humanity has gone, and there are plenty of those that I could erase from my brain and be a little happier.
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.
A concept record following the story of The Music of Erich Zann.
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
Depends on the kind of art.
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
Live theater is coming back, that’s very exciting.
Posted in Features on April 14th, 2020 by JJ Koczan
The statistics of COVID-19 change with every news cycle, and with growing numbers, stay-at-home isolation and a near-universal disruption to society on a global scale, it is ever more important to consider the human aspect of this coronavirus. Amid the sad surrealism of living through social distancing, quarantines and bans on gatherings of groups of any size, creative professionals — artists, musicians, promoters, club owners, techs, producers, and more — are seeing an effect like nothing witnessed in the last century, and as humanity as a whole deals with this calamity, some perspective on who, what, where, when and how we’re all getting through is a needed reminder of why we’re doing so in the first place.
Thus, Days of Rona, in some attempt to help document the state of things as they are now, both so help can be asked for and given where needed, and so that when this is over it can be remembered.
Thanks to all who participate. To read all the Days of Rona coverage, click here. — JJ Koczan
Days of Rona: Eric Zann of Plague of Carcosa (Chicago, Illinois)
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How are you dealing with this crisis as a band? Have you had to rework plans at all? How is everyone’s health so far?
So far, we are all healthy, but things are at a standstill until further notice. Our last public outing was just a few days before Chicago shut down, opening for Bongzilla, who cancelled the rest of their tour the next day. I (Eric Zann, guitarist) became a permanent foster to a sick corgi that day actually, so I’ve been working at home and taking care of her with my partner the past few weeks, and she is the sweetest animal we’ve ever met. Alexander has been doing some noise/electronic work on his own, and coordinating things with other projects (who may have to postpone some tours if this carries on longer than into May).
As Plague of Carcosa, since social distancing makes jamming together with our amps and gear a bad idea, we’ve been working on some ideas for new material from our respective homes. It’s especially frustrating since we were going to bring on a new guitarist after that Bongzilla show, and on a personal level, I write better with other people around to bounce ideas off of. As a band, we’ve been lucky in that this hasn’t cost us anything financially (cancelling tours, postponing studio time, etc.).
What are the quarantine/isolation rules where you are?
In Chicago, things are pretty tight, and getting tighter. All bars and venues have been shut down for close to three weeks now. People are being fined heavily for congregating in crowds – in some of the more affluent neighborhoods, house parties were recently broken up by cops, and the mayor just closed all city parks/lakefront areas because people seem to have a hard time abiding by the recommended distancing guidelines. Some public buildings are being turned into makeshift medical centers.
How have you seen the virus affecting the community around you and in music?
I’m not sure of the all legal aspects behind businesses shutting down (I believe places are facing fines for letting people hang out inside), but thankfully everyone has been fantastic about setting up GoFundMe pages for those in the service industry. If you can think of a bar, restaurant, or venue, they probably have something set up you can donate to to help the servers stay afloat while they’re unable to work. Most food places that are able to operate are still doing pickup and delivery service. Lots of local musicians are streaming themselves playing from their living rooms, which has been fun. I’m seeing some people occupy themselves by creating things on their own in new genres, and making videos about their craft for the fans.
Everyone seems to be taking the virus very seriously, but everyone is also staying as active as they can during this time, as well as being as supportive of others as they can. It will probably be a while before any locals can get back to the studio, but I wouldn’t be surprised about a flood of records from your Chicago favorites once this is behind us. Booking performances after this is something I’m not sure about when this is “over,” as I’d imagine everyone will be itching to play live and go out again ASAP. Venues will probably be getting tons of emails daily. We’ll just have to see how things go on the performance front.
What is the one thing you want people to know about your situation, either as a band, or personally, or anything?
Posted in audiObelisk on July 16th, 2019 by JJ Koczan
Chicago instrumentalist two-piece Plague of Carcosa will release their new EP, Ocean is More Ancient than the Mountains, on July 19 through Sludgelord Records on tape and Gipsy House Recordings on CD. The title, like much of the band’s framework, derives from the horror literature of H.P. Lovecraft, and the two songs on Ocean is More Ancient than the Mountains, “Crawling Chaos” and “Madness at Sea,” do likewise, the former being a 1921 short story related to the outer-god Nyarlathotep, while the latter refers to Cthulhu. So the big guns, as far as Lovecraft goes. Fair enough, as guitarist Eric Zann and drummer Lark McGee have the tone and pummel to match the giant mythical beasts they’d purport to base their work around. As to whether the two of them were sitting in the rehearsal space with their Lovecraft compendium out going, “Okay, now we’ll make this riff represent when he says, ‘Loathsomeness waits and dreams in the deep, and decay spreads over the tottering cities of men,'” but it’s of course an atmospheric impression, and after a few years of lineup changes — doing time over the last three years as a solo-project, a trio, and even a four-piece on last year’s 14-minute “Rats in the Walls” single — they basically have the whole “eldritch dark cosmos” thing down.
And it should go without saying that Lovecraft dilettantes, non-fans or those who’ve simply never engaged with the material and its old-style hyper-formal prose won’t necessarily lose out on the listening experience for not being immediately ready to connect the cumbersome title to the short story “The White Ship” from whence it comes. The 15-plus-minute offering has a rumbling, noisy appeal all its own, and one would be remiss not to liken it to acts like Bongripper (whose Dennis Pleckham mastered) or even the much-missed Beast in the Field — the tone at the start of “Madness at Sea” particularly for the latter — but its combination of fullness of sound and a duo’s elemental cacophony helps bring personality to Ocean is More Ancient than the Mountains beyond the basic thematic. “Crawling Chaos” indeed lurches forward, building into a sensory overload of which Nyarlathotep himself might be proud before entrancing with low-end distortion into a long deconstructing fadeout, while “Madness at Sea” starts out with feedback and unfurls a more undulating central progression with harder stops and will eventually also seem to rip itself apart on a molecular level before it’s done. “Madness at Sea” might be the more punishing of the two, but it’s a picking of poison either way on the two-songer, as Zann and McGee create a massive, churning abyss of groove and ill-intentioned tone. If the ocean is more ancient than the mountains — technically true — then Plague of Carcosa do well in conjuring what horrors might lie in the unfathomable deep.
I won’t profess to know whether Plague of Carcosa will keep their current configuration or seek to add another member (or two), but the best argument in favor of their current form seems to be coming from the band itself in these songs. I’m no expert on Lovecraft, but the brutal ambience McGee and Zann bring to bear on Ocean is More Ancient than the Mountains is a grim thrill unto itself, and only suggests further reading. And by reading, I mean crushing. And by crushing, I mean being crushed. Just so we’re clear.
You can stream Ocean is More Ancient than the Mountains on the player below. More info off the PR wire follows.
Please enjoy:
Plague of Carcosa is a 2-piece instrumental doom band formed in the spring of 2016; the band was created by cult leader Eric Zann in the forgotten corners of Chicago to explore the darker, more droning side of metal. Taking cues from the heavy textures Sunn O))) and Bong, and introducing the terrifying themes of Lovecraft, Eric self-released the debut The Color Out Of Space, and the cult grew. Recruiting a drummer and second guitarist as high priests of the cult, the group quickly took to playing in a style often compared to local heroes Bongripper, whilst also taking notes from the mighty Conan and Thou. As they honed their material, Eric released the 70-minute experimental piece (‘Ritual 1’) and shortly after, the group worked with Andy Nelson (Weekend Nachos) on their first release as a group, Hastur, which was unleashed upon the world in May of 2017. The winter of 2018 saw the release of ‘Rats in the Walls,’ a 15-minute behemoth, which was mastered by Dennis Pleckham of Bongripper.
The latest release, Ocean Is More Ancient Than The Mountains, once again sees the cult teaming up with Andy Nelson and Dennis Pleckham, this time operating only as a two-piece. While they have lost a high priest, they have gained followers all over the world with their sonic adaptations of the works of Lovecraft and invocations of the Great Old Ones. The opener ‘The Crawling Chaos’ serves as a tribute to the great Nyarlathotep and sees them seamlessly blending their signature colossal doom riffs with a touch of grindcore at the climax. The other half of the EP, ‘Madness at Sea,’ is intended to pay tribute to the ‘Call of Cthulhu’ chapter of the same name. Melding drawn-out, ever-evolving riffs with more ambient sections that crash into walls of feedback, it is a fitting depiction of the sailors losing their sanity when being faced with the mountainous Cthulhu in his sunken corpse city.
Ocean Is More Ancient Than The Mountains is set for release digitally and audio cassette via Sludgelord Records on July 19th 2019.
Plague of Carcosa is: Eric Zann – strings Lark McGee – drums
