Posted in Whathaveyou on December 19th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
I mean, you’ve got hometown Athenian heroes Planet of Zeus at the top of the bill with no less than Colour Haze immediately beneath, so yes, Heavy Psych Sounds Fest Athens 2026 basically looks like a party from the word go, since as the first lineup announcement, this is the word go. Those two names will surely catch the eye, but Witchthroat Serpent from France and Greece’s own 1782 remain monsters, and I don’t know Dismiss, but I bet you’ll see the name around again before April gets here, and bluesy rockers Fuzzrider provide further hometown representation in this initial lineup.
Can’t help but wonder if Colour Haze touring in Spring means their new album is or will be done by the time they head out, though either way that they’ll be on a stage someplace, somewhere, at any time, is always good news for the planet in general. Interesting mix of some darker sounds here, and the Sab-worship riffing of 1782 is welcome anytime, but of course there’s still more to come so we don’t have the complete picture either. I have a hard time keeping up with HPS Fests around Europe and the US, since I believe the Italian label/booking agency is up to a baker’s dozen of them (not really, but maybe; let me know if you want to do one in the absolute heavy rock hotbed that is Parsippany, NJ) as they admirably spread the good word of heavy vibes and blowout times, and between fest and label news sometimes it feels like the press releases don’t stop, but when I can cover, as here, I want to, because this is an important era in the heavy underground, and gatherings like these are worth celebrating.
That’s my two cents. I know, no one asked. You’ll find the actual information you came for below, courtesy of the PR wire:
HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST – ATHENS 2026 – FIRST CONFIRMED BANDS ANNOUNCED
THE HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST is landing in Athens again on April 3rd and 4th 2026, bringing with it an unstoppable rock earthquake! For two electrifying nights, ARCH Club and Universe will transform into hotspots for the stoner, doom, and psych rock scene, hosting some of the genre’s most legendary names.
Today Heavy Psych Sounds Records in cooperation with TMR Entertainment Group is announcing the FIRST CONFIRMED BANDS !!
– HPS FEST ATHENS 2026 – 3rd April @ ARCH Club 4th April @ Universe
– FIRST CONFIRMED BANDS –
PLANET OF ZEUS COLOUR HAZE WITCHTHROAT SERPENT 1782 DISMISS FUZZRIDER + more TBA
Posted in Whathaveyou on October 8th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
If you’ve already been, you don’t need me to tell you to go. If not yet, then go ahead and consider this encouragement. Nestled into its wooded riverside corner, a gorgeous setting with stages large and small, able to be correspondingly relaxing and intense, Bear Stone Festival 2026 has unveiled the first names for its lineup for next July. At the risk of getting personal, I was more than a bit heartbroken to miss the fest this year after attending in 2024, and with a lineup that includes Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats, Elder, My Sleeping Karma, Planet of Zeus, Travo, Ungraven, Saint Karloff, Ungraven, and more, including the continuing commitment to showcase homegrown Croatian acts, the four-dayer’s bill already highlights the growth underway for the festival itself. Progression, both in terms of stylistic outreach and getting bigger names. The art, the people, the sound, the lights, the place. I sincerely hope I get to go back.
Check out the 2025 aftermovie at the bottom of the post. It’s very much like that, only not slow motion. Here’s the announcement from the PR wire:
Bear Stone Festival 2026 – First Lineup Announcement
Bear Stone Festival proudly unveils the first wave of its 2026 lineup, showcasing a bold spectrum of heavy music and beyond.
From the occult-tinged psychedelia of Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats and the progressive power of Elder, to the meditative soundscapes of My Sleeping Karma, the high-voltage rock of Planet of Zeus, and the raw underground energy of acts like TRAVO, ŽEN, Otrovna Kristina, Wyatt E., and many more, the bill perfectly reflects Bear Stone Festival’s commitment to musical diversity.
This year’s lineup brings a rich palette of genres such as Doom, Psych, Stoner, Punk, Garage, Experimental Noise, and many more, all set to erupt across the three stages nestled in Bear Stone’s unique natural landscape.
UNCLE ACID & THE DEADBEATS (UK) [Psychedelic Rock/Doom Metal]
The brainchild of Kevin Starrs, Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats have been crafting extraordinary music since 2009. Emerging from the British underground, they reshaped hard rock and downer blues with a deeply psychedelic and idiosyncratic edge. Fusing the playful melodies and harmonies of psychedelic pop with the dark thunder of proto-metal, Starrs conjures a sound that feels both eerily familiar and entirely new.
Resolutely individualist, Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats channel the spirit of heavy music’s past while remaining one of the most unique and electrifying live acts today.
ELDER (USA) [Progressive Rock/Space Rock]
Elder are a genre-defying rock band blending heavy psychedelia, progressive intricacy, and expansive soundscapes into long-form compositions that push the boundaries of modern rock. Over the course of six albums and numerous EPs, they’ve evolved from the stoner/doom underground into one of the most distinctive voices in heavy, exploratory music.
In 2024, Elder brought their powerful live show to arenas across the U.S. as the main support for Tool, marking a milestone moment in their journey ahead of their next album in 2025.
MY SLEEPING KARMA (DE) [Psychedelic Rock/Post-Rock]
My Sleeping Karma are a German instrumental quartet weaving psychedelic rock, stoner grooves, and post-rock atmospheres into cinematic sound journeys. After the tragic passing of longtime drummer Steffen Weigand in 2022, the band faced an uncertain future but ultimately found strength in continuing their path.
Their revival has reaffirmed them as one of Europe’s most powerful live acts, guiding audiences through immersive and emotional sonic explorations.
PLANET OF ZEUS (GR) [Stoner Rock/Stoner Metal]
Planet of Zeus, hailing from Athens, Greece, deliver heavy rock thunder that fuses raw riff-driven power with melodic exploration and bluesy dynamics. Since their formation in 2000, they’ve built a reputation for intense, sincere, and ever-evolving live performances, earning a loyal following at home and abroad.
With their latest album Afterlife (2024), the band continue to push their sound forward while cementing their place as one of Europe’s most vital underground rock acts.
TRAVO (POR) [Heavy Psych/Neo-Psych Rock]
TRAVO, from Braga, Portugal, are a four-piece force of heavy psych and garage rock, delivering a raw, high-octane sound that thrives on intensity and experimentation.
Renowned for volcanic live performances that blur the line between chaos and ecstasy, TRAVO stand as one of the most visceral and authentic voices in today’s psych rock scene.
WYATT E. (BE) [Drone-Ambient/Antique Doom]
Wyatt E. are a boundary-pushing force in the modern doom scene, blending massive riffs with layered instrumentation and a fearless approach to sonic experimentation. Their music weaves heavy psychedelia, progressive structures, and eclectic influences into immersive compositions that balance crushing weight with cinematic detail.
With acclaimed albums, extensive touring, and a reputation for powerful live performances, they continue to redefine what doom can sound like on a global scale.
UNGRAVEN (UK) [Doom Metal/Sludge Metal]
Ungraven is the brainchild of guitarist Jon Davis, now joined by David Perry on synths, organ, and piano, reshaping the project into a force of haunting, ambient heaviness. Abandoning the traditional rock-band setup, the duo crafts bleak and expansive soundscapes where slabs of crushing guitar collide with swirling synths in a sickening sonic duet.
Their music is both pummeling and introspective, channeling influences from Tangerine Dream to doom metal, forging a new chapter in their evolving tome of tone.
SAINT KARLOFF (NOR) [Stoner Rock/Heavy Psych]
Saint Karloff are a Norwegian power trio channeling the spirit of 70’s heavy rock through fuzz-soaked riffs, doom-laden grooves, and psychedelic fire.
With albums like All Heed the Black God (2024) and the monolithic Interstellar Voodoo (2019), they’ve carved out a place in the stoner/doom underground as one of its most electrifying and uncompromising voices.
ŽEN (CRO) [Indie-Psych/Shoegaze]
ŽEN are a Croatian trio weaving dreamy shoegaze, math-rock complexity, and psychedelic textures into an immersive and urgent sound.
Since forming in Zagreb in 2010, they’ve become a vital voice in Europe’s underground, carrying a strong feminist and DIY ethos that fuels both their music and their boundary-pushing live performances.
Otrovna Kristina are a Croatian hard rock trio fusing Anglo-Saxon riff traditions with the raw energy of the Balkans, laced with psychedelic excursions and soaring harmonies.
In their decade-long journey, they positioned themselves as guardians of volume, groove, and wild underground rock ’n’ roll.
DRONE HUNTER (CRO) [Stoner Rock/Groove Rock]
Drone Hunter are a Croatian instrumental trio delivering high-octane stoner rock driven by crushing riffs, heavy grooves, and relentless energy.
Since forming in 2012, they’ve built a reputation for powerful live performances and a raw, riff-worshipping sound that speaks louder than words.
GODZILLA WAS TOO DRUNK TO DESTROY TOKYO (ITA) [Acid Rock/Doom Rock]
Godzilla Was Too Drunk to Destroy Tokyo are a chaotic, genre-smashing outfit blending sludge, noise, punk, and doom into an unpredictable wall of sound.
With unhinged energy and a tongue-in-cheek attitude, they deliver crushing riffs and anarchic live shows that feel as wild as their name suggests.
HRMULJA (CRO) [Heavy Psych/Stoner Rock]
Hrmülja are a Croatian heavy psych/stoner rock band weaving fuzzed-out riffs, swirling grooves, and hypnotic atmospheres into their sonic brew.
They channel the spirit of the underground into thunderous and immersive live performances with raw energy and a taste for psychedelic exploration.
SUNTAN CLUB (AT) [Neo-Psychedelic Surf/Garage Rock]
Suntan Club are a four-piece from Vienna blending neo-psychedelic surf and garage rock into sun-drenched, fuzz-heavy soundscapes that radiate warmth and hazy euphoria.
With their latest EP Too Much Fuzz, they’ve expanded their sound into something louder, richer, and hypnotic, pairing it with ecstatic and immersive live performances that pull audiences under like a tidal wave.
LINIJA 109 (CRO) [Post-Rock/Shoegaze]
Linija 109 are a young all-girl band from Zagreb, formed in 2022, crafting original songs rooted in alt rock with influences of post-rock, shoegaze, and indie.
Through explosive live shows and an unapologetic youthful rebellion they managed to build a loyal underground following in a very short time.
In case you were wondering how our previous edition felt like, check out our official 2025 aftermovie.
Posted in Whathaveyou on July 10th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
Athens heavy rockers Planet of Zeus are set to celebrate their quarter-centennial this September with a special hometown show Sept. 6 at Technopolis. Offering support for the cause will be psychedelic mavens Khirki, and for Planet of Zeus, who have stayed active throughout their time, with their most recent long-player being last year’s punchy and hard-landing Afterlife (review here), the occasion is a chance to look back at everything they’ve accomplished in their years even as they continue to move forward as players and a group.
The announcement below was run through a major social media organization’s translation matrix, so if there are phrases wrong, maybe check social media or the ticket page or somesuch before you book your flight for this one, but it should be enough to give you an idea of what’s up for the party to come, which is sure to be a blast given the riffage Planet of Zeus have wrought over the last two and a half decades.
Congrats to the band on standing the test of time — arguably the hardest test to stand — and here’s the info for the gig:
Planet of Zeus celebrates 25 years of music with a big concert in Athens!
25 years have passed since the music launch that would change data in the domestic – and not only – heavy music firm. 25 years full of tension, agony, unstoppable efforts, occasional tours, but also creativity, artistic searches, emotional rollercoasters and comradeship!
If Planet of Zeus can be proud of one thing, it’s how they have stayed together, from the very beginning until now. From sweaty live performances in the legendary underground Rodeo and An Club, to large venue sold out shows and prestigious nationwide tours, the unbroken quartet has forged in the midst of the most difficult, but also internal intersections, and bonded as few. Bonding taking the stage as their concerts continue to this day to be some of the most leveling live experiences that the sound audience can enjoy.
Their milestones are countless. The 10,000 attendees at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Culture Center and the successful European tours alongside names such as Clutch, Grand Magus and Kvelertak, as well as the participation in Europe’s largest and largest metal festivals (Wacken, Hellfest, Graspop, Bloodstock, Mystic, etc. α. ) sums up an enviably consistent course.
Their increasing dynamics and popularity have rightfully established them as one of the most calculated forces of the wider European heavy rock / metal land. Their recent discographic comeback, with the “Afterlife” album, was a cut in their careers. The universal acceptance of the new material from their fanbase, as well as the explosive enthusiasm of the general public, came to attest that Planet of Zeus is in its best phase!
On Saturday, September 6th, we unite our voices and energies in one of the biggest and most important rock concerts of recent years! On that day, all roads will lead to the Technopolis of the Municipality of Athens, where Planet of Zeus will perform the anniversary live for their 25 years of march! Their heavy rock’n’roll anthem will get the first word and they themselves, boasting the greatest moments of their discography will deliver us a saturating show full of surprises, with the unique electricity that characterizes their every on-stage adventure!
The slogan is now known!
ADDITIONAL INFO Arrival time: 7:00 p.m. Start Time: 8:00 pm
Posted in Whathaveyou on May 26th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
In addition to the tour dates listed below, Greek heavy institution Planet of Zeus will be playing a show to celebrate 25 years of the band on Sept. 6 at Technopolis in Athens. Surely the tour will follow suit in terms of revelry as it carries the band through Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Belgium and the UK. They’ll be at France’s Westill Festival, which has had killer lineups for a few years now, and will play spots like the famed Little Devil in Tilburg and The Underworld in London, which is home to Desertfest, which the band also just played.
The band last year released their sixth album, Afterlife (review here), through Ihaveadrum Records, thereby tightening up their songcraft to hone an efficiency that no doubt will add to the momentum across these shows. They’re not hurting for back catalog with five prior records to represent, but the charge and force of their newer stuff is distinct, and one imagines it comes with a corresponding energy kick onstage.
Maybe you’ll see them, maybe you won’t. Maybe you heard the record, maybe you didn’t. If not, it’s at the bottom of this post, and even if you don’t get to a show, if you hear a thing you haven’t heard before, or you have and it’s been a few months, and you dig it and your day gets better, that’s why I’m here.
Posted in Reviews on December 12th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
Day four of five for this snuck-in-before-the-end-of-the-year Quarterly Review, and I’m left wondering if maybe it won’t be worth booking another week for January or early February, and if that happens, is it still “quarterly” at that point if you do it like six times a year? ‘Bimonthly Quality Control Assessments’ coming soon! Alert your HR supervisors to tell your servers of any allergies.
No, not really.
I’ll figure out a way to sandwich more music into this site if it kills me. Which I guess it might. Whatever, let’s do this thing.
Quarterly Review #31-40
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Sergeant Thunderhoof, The Ghost of Badon Hill
A marked accomplishment in progressive heavy rock, The Ghost of Badon Hill is the fifth full-length from UK five-piece Sergeant Thunderhoof, who even without the element of surprise on their side — which is to say one is right to approach the 45-minute six-tracker with high expectations based on the band’s past work; their last LP was 2022’s This Sceptred Veil(review here) — rally around a folklore-born concept and deliver the to-date album of their career. From the first emergence of heft in “Badon” topped with Daniel Flitcroft soar-prone vocals, Sergeant Thunderhoof — guitarists Mark Sayer and Josh Gallop, bassist Jim Camp and drummer Darren Ashman, and the aforementioned Flitcroft — confidently execute their vision of a melodic riffprog scope. The songs have nuance and character, the narrative feels like it moves through the material, there are memorable hooks and grand atmospheric passages. It is by its very nature not without some indulgent aspects, but also a near-perfect incarnation of what one might ask it to be.
The stated objective of Swallow the Sun‘s Shining was for less misery, and fair enough as the Finnish death-doomers have been at it for about a quarter of a century now and that’s a long time to feel so resoundingly wretched, however relatably one does it. What does less-misery sound like? First of all, still kinda miserable. If you know Swallow the Sun, they are still definitely recognizable in pieces like “Innocence Was Long Forgotten,” “What I Have Become” and “MelancHoly,” but even the frontloading of these singles — don’t worry, from “Kold” and the ultra Type O Negative-style “November Dust” (get it?), to the combination of floating, dancing keyboard lines and drawn out guitars in the final reaches of the title-track, they’re not short on highlights — conveys the modernity brought into focus. Produced by Dan Lancaster (Bring Me the Horizon, A Day to Remember, Muse), the songs are in conversation with the current sphere of metal in a way that Swallow the Sun have never been, broadening the definition of what they do while retaining a focus on craft. They’re professionals.
Trillion Ton Beryllium Ships, The Mind Like Fire Unbound
Where’s the intermittently-crushing sci-fi-concept death-stoner, you ask? Well, friend, Lincoln, Nebraska’s Trillion Ton Beryllium Ships would like to have a word, and on The Mind Like Fire Unbound, there’s a non-zero chance that word will come in the form of layered death metal growls and rasping throatripper screams representing an insectoid species about to tear more-melodically-voiced human colonizers to pieces. The 45-minute LP’s 14-minute opener “BUGS” that lays out this warning is followed by the harsh, cosmic-paranoia conjuration of “Dark Forest” before a pivot in 8:42 centerpiece “Infinite Inertia” — and yes, the structure of the tracks is purposeful; longest at the open and close with shorter pieces on either side of “Infinite Inertia” — takes the emotive cast of Pallbearer to an extrapolated psychedelic metalgaze, huge and broad and lumbering. Of course the contrast is swift in the two-minute “I Hate Space,” but where one expects more bludgeonry, the shortest inclusion stays clean vocally amid its uptempo, Torche-but-not-really push. Organ joins the march in the closing title-track (14:57), which gallops following its extended intro, doom-crashes to a crawl and returns to double-kick behind the encompassing last solo, rounding out with suitable showcase of breadth and intention.
Planet of Zeus make a striking return with their sixth album, Afterlife, basing their theme around mythologies current and past and accompanying that with a sound that’s both less brash than they were a few years back on 2019’s Faith in Physics (review here) and refined in the sharpness and efficiency of its songwriting. It’s a rocker, which is what one has come to expect from these Athens-based veterans. Afterlife builds momentum through desert-style rockers like “Baptized in His Death” and the hooky “No Ordinary Life” and “The Song You Misunderstand,” getting poppish in the stomp of “Bad Milk” only after the bluesy “Let’s Call it Even” and before the punkier “Letter to a Newborn,” going where it wants and leaving no mystery as to how it’s getting there because it doesn’t need to. One of the foremost Greek outfits of their generation, Planet of Zeus show up, tell you what they’re going to do, then do it and get out, still managing to leave behind some atmospheric resonance in “State of Non-Existence.” There’s audible, continued forward growth and kickass tunes. If that sounds pretty ideal, it is.
Cinematic in its portrayal, Le Premier Soleil de Jan Calet positions itself as cosmically minded, and manifests that in sometimes-minimal — effectively so, since it’s hypnotic — aural spaciousness, but Paris’ Human Teorema veer into Eastern-influenced scales amid their exploratory, otherworldly-on-purpose landscaping, and each planet on which they touch down, from “Onirico” (7:43) to “Studiis” (15:54) and “Spedizione” (23:20) is weirder than the last, shifting between these vast passages and jammier stretches still laced with synth. Each piece has its own procession and dynamic, and perhaps the shifts in intent are most prevalent within “Studiis,” but the closer is, on the balance, a banger as well, and there’s no interruption in flow once you’ve made the initial choice to go with Le Premier Soleil de Jan Calet. An instrumental approach allows Human Teorema to embody descriptive impressions that words couldn’t create, and when they decide to hit it hard, they’re heavy enough for the scale they’ve set. Won’t resonate universally (what does?), but worth meeting on its level.
There are two epics north of the 10-minute mark on Caged Wolves‘ maybe-debut LP, A Deserts Tale: “Lost in the Desert” (11:26) right after the intro “Dusk” and “Chaac” (10:46) right before the hopeful outro “Dawn.” The album runs a densely-packed 48 minutes through eight tracks total, and pieces like the distortion-drone-backed “Call of the Void,” the alt-prog rocking “Eleutheromania,” “Laguna,” which is like earlier Radiohead in that it goes somewhere on a linear build, and the spoken-word-over-noise interlude “The Lost Tale” aren’t exactly wanting for proportion, regardless of runtime. The bassline that opens “Call of the Void” alone would be enough to scatter orcs, but that still pales next to “Chaac,” which pushes further and deeper, topping with atmospheric screams and managing nonetheless to come out of the other side of that harsh payoff of some of the album’s most weighted slog in order to bookend and give the song the finish it deserves, completing it where many wouldn’t have been so thoughtful. This impression is writ large throughout and stands among the clearest cases for A Deserts Tale as the beginning of a longer-term development.
I find myself wanting to talk about how big Liminal Escapism sounds, but I don’t mean in terms of tonal proportion so much as the distances that seem to be encompassed by Greek progressive instrumentalists Anomalos Kosmos. With an influence from Grails and, let’s say, 50 years’ worth of prog rock composition (but definitely honoring the earlier end of that timeline), Anomalos Kosmos offer emotional evocation in pieces that feel compact on either side of six or seven minutes, taking the root jams and building them into structures that still come across as a journey. The classy soloing in “Me Orizeis” and synthy shimmer of “Parapatao,” the rumble beneath the crescendo of “Kitonas” and all of that gosh darn flow in “Flow” speak to a songwriting process that is aware of its audience but feels no need to talk down, musically speaking, to feed notions of accessibility. Instead, the immersion and energetic drumming of “Teledos” and the way closer “Cigu” rallies around pastoral fuzz invite the listener to come along on this apparently lightspeed voyage — thankfully not tempo-wise — and allow room for the person hearing these sounds to cast their own interpretations thereof.
One could not hope to fully encapsulate an impression here of nearly three and a half hours of sometimes-improv psych-drone, and I refuse to feel bad for not trying. Instead, I’ll tell you that Grand Fractal Orchestra — the Psychedelic Source Records 3CD edition of which has already sold out — finds Budapest-based guitarist Ákos Karancz deeply engaged in the unfolding sounds here. Layering effects, collaborating with others from the informal PSR collective like zitherist Márton Havlik or singer Krisztina Benus, and so on, Karancz constructs each piece in a way that feels both steered in a direction and organic to where the music wants to go. “Ore Genesis” gets a little frantic around the middle but finds its chill, “Human Habitat” is duly foreboding, and the two-part, 49-minute-total capper “Transforming Time to Space” is beautiful and meditative, like staring at a fountain with your ears. It goes without saying not everybody has the time or the attention span to sit with a release like this, but if you take it one track at a time for the next four years or so, there’s worlds enough in these songs that they’ll probably just keep sinking in. And if Karancz puts outs like five new albums in that time too, so much the better.
It probably goes without saying — at least it should — that while the classic folk fingerplucking of “Whispering Waters” and the Americana-busy “Laurel Creek Blues” give a sweet introduction to Blake Hornsby‘s A Village of Many Springs, inevitably it’s the 23-minute experimentalist spread of the finale, “Bury My Soul in the Linville River,” that’s going to be a focal point for many listeners, and fair enough. The earthbound-cosmic feel of that piece, its devolution into Lennon-circa-1968 tape noise and concluding drone, aren’t at all without preface. A Village of Many Springs gets weirder as it goes, with the eight-minute “Cathedral Falls” building over its time into a payoff of seemingly on-guitar violence, and the subsequent “O How the Water Flows” nestling into a sweet spot between Appalachian nostalgia and foreboding twang. There’s percussion and manipulation of noise later, too, but even in its repetition, “O How the Water Flows” continues Hornsby‘s trajectory. For what’s apparently an ode to water in the region surrounding Hornsby‘s home in Asheville, North Carolina, that it feels fluid should be no surprise, but by no means does one need to have visited Laurel Creek to appreciate the blues Hornsby conjures for them.
With a sensibility in some of the synth of “Hacamat” born of space rock, Congulus have no trouble moving from that to the 1990s-style alt-rock saunter of “Diri Bir Nefes,” furthering the momentum already on the Istanbul-based instrumentalist trio’s side after opener “İskeletin Düğün Halayı” before “Senin Sırlarının Yenilmez Gücünü Gördüm” spaces out its solo over scales out of Turkish folk and “Park” marries together the divergent chugs of Judas Priest and Meshuggah, there’s plenty of adventure to be had on Göçebe. It’s the band’s second full-length behind 2019’s Bozkır — they’ve had short releases between — and it moves from “Park” into the push of “Zarzaram” and “Vordonisi” with efficiency that’s only deceptive because there’s so much stylistic range, letting “Ulak” have its open sway and still bash away for a moment or two before “Sonunda Ah Çekeriz Derinden” closes by tying space rock, Mediterranean traditionalism and modern boogie together in one last jam before consigning the listener back to the harsher, decidedly less utopian vibes of reality.
Posted in Whathaveyou on September 25th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
A strong first impression from Desertfest London 2025 is no big surprise. The UK’s premier heavy festival will feature Elder, as previously noted, as well as Zeal & Ardor, Amenra, Stoned Jesus, The Devil and the Almighty Blues, Planet of Zeus, Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol, Josiah, and others. Note 10,000 Years supporting their new record and first for Ripple. Note Volcanova because they’re a new-ish band on the way up. Note Bobbie Dazzle as Sian Greenaway moves forward from her time with Alunah. Note Sons of Alpha Centauri because they don’t tour a ton. Note Black Willows because they rule, on and on. There’s a lot to be unpacked here even before you get to Barbarian Hermit, Erronaut or Scott Hepple and the Sun Band, but the bottom line is the news is good.
Some of these acts will be shared with Desertfest Berlin and Desertfest Oslo, and I haven’t seen a lineup announcement for either of those yet, but it seems fair to think of it as imminent. In the meantime, Desertfest London 2025 has tickets on sale, should you either want to purchase one or spend the rest of your week until payday fantasizing about doing so and then make the buy. I haven’t been there since 2013 — would go, happily — and still feel comfortable heartily recommending the experience as life-changing for the better.
From the PR wire:
DESERTFEST LONDON ANNOUNCES FIRST WAVE OF BANDS FOR 2025 INCLUDING ZEAL & ARDOR, ELDER, AMENRA AND MORE
Desertfest London have announced the first wave of bands for their 13th edition, which will take place across multiple venues in Camden on Friday 16th – Sunday 28th May 2025. Weekend tickets are available HERE: www.desertfest.co.uk
Swiss avant-garde metallers Zeal & Ardor are confirmed to headline the Roundhouse on Saturday night. Led by Manuel Gagneux, the group will undoubtedly deliver a masterclass in genre-pushing riffery following the release of their highly acclaimed fourth album Grief in August.
Desertfest favourites and psych-rock masters Elder will be headlining Friday night with a special performance celebrating 10 years of their album Lore, which was the band’s third full-length release and a watershed moment in their history cementing the hallmark Elder sound.
Frontman and lead guitarist Nick DiSalvo adds, “Lore is turning 10 years old. This album marked a point of departure for Elder upon a path which the band is still walking now. For us, this is the record where the band came into its own as a unique voice in the heavy rock underground. As we approach our second decade as a band, we feel it’s appropriate to look back on this landmark for us and acknowledge it properly, which is why we’re doing a tour performing the entire album along with some other tracks from our earlier catalogue; we’ll give this era of the band a proper celebration before turning our attention once again toward the future and the next album, currently being written.”
After their crushing performance at Desertfest London in 2019, the boundary defying postmetal titans Amenra will be returning to deliver shared catharsis and indoctrinate more to the Church of Ra with their undeniably powerful and haunting atmospherics.
Currently celebrating their 15th anniversary, the Ukranian trio Stoned Jesus will be bringing their mix of doom, prog and grunge whilst The Devil & The Almighty Blues will be hardhitting heavy- slung blues rock.
With new music on the horizon and known for their thunderous live reputation, Planet Of Zeus will be stirring things up, as will Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol with their selfprofessed brand of Doom-Wop.
Also announced are Josiah, Sons Of Alpha Centauri, Volcanova, Black Willows, 10,000 Years, Scott Hepple & The Sun Band, Barbarian Hermit, Erronaut and Bobbie Dazzle.
Weekend Tickets for the event are on sale now via www.desertfest.co.uk with more bands to still be announced!
FULL LINE-UP SO FAR ZEAL & ARDOR | AMENRA | ELDER |STONED JESUS | THE DEVIL & THE ALMIGHTY BLUES | PLANET OF ZEUS | RICKSHAW BILLIE’S BURGER PATROL | JOSIAH | SONS OF ALPHA CENTAURI | VOLCANOVA | SCOTT HEPPLE & THE SUN BAND | BLACK WILLOWS | 10,000 YEARS | BARBARIAN HERMIT | ERRONAUT | BOBBIE DAZZLE
Posted in Whathaveyou on January 23rd, 2024 by JJ Koczan
Pretty rad bill out of the gate for Rock Im Wald, which tops its thus-far bill with Danko Jones, who should be made an ambassador for Canada by now, as well as Sweden’s Graveyard, might-have-a-new-record-out-by-July UK stompers Orange Goblin, and the Brant Bjork Trio with its namesake on guitar and Mario Lalli on bass. Then you get into Planet of Zeus coming from Greece — maybe touring with Godsleep? — an appearance from The Devil and the Almighty Blues, which doesn’t happen all the time and you want to be there when it does, and the implied confirmation of summer European activity for High Desert Queen out of Texas, and it’s a win even before you get down to The Great Machine‘s madcap performance penchant, the upstarts Margarita Witch Cult, El Caco who released their first album in seven years in 2023, a partially-revamped Asomvel and Psychonaut‘s post-metallic texturing. It’s 13 bands. They’ve all got something going on.
The fest is set for July 25-27. Both SonicBlast and Hoflärm (in Portugal and Germany, respectively) are two weeks later, Aug. 8-10. Among the shared confirmations there are Brant Bjork Trio (who also announced a Spring run around the Desertfests and Sonic Whip) and Graveyard (for SonicBlast), so fair enough to expect tour announcements to come from them, and I’ll add Planet of Zeus and Margarita Witch Cult to that with an asterisk for ‘likely’ since of course I never actually know anything about anything.
There will be more to come, of course — it’s a three-dayer — and I’ll do my best to keep an eye out, but already there’s a lot to dig here. From socials:
We are delighted to present the first 13 bands for our Rock im Wald Festival 2024, taking place from July 25th to 27th. As always, we have once again given our best to offer you Rock’n Roll in its most beautiful facets. And there is more to come soon, of course. Finally, we aim to provide you with three festival days filled with musical surprises and highlights this year.
For those of you who are already convinced, you can now secure your tickets in our ticket shop, which can be found at the following link. https://rockimwald.de/ticket-shop/ Cheers & Peace Eure #RIW Crew
Line-Up so far: DANKO JONES | GRAVEYARD | ORANGE GOBLIN | BRANT BJORK TRIO | PLANET OF ZEUS | THE DEVIL & THE ALMIGHTY BLUES | THE GREAT MACHINE | PSYCHONAUT | EL CACO | ASOMVEL | GODSLEEP | HIGH DESERT QUEEN | MARGARITA WITCH CULT
Posted in Radio on November 11th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Doing an all-Greek episode was so blindingly obvious that I actually had to check to make sure I hadn’t already done one somewhere in the last four years or so that I’ve been doing The Obelisk Show for Gimme Metal. Like, duh. And the playlist? One of the easiest times I’ve ever had putting one together. So many bands, so many vibes, so much to choose from.
Lotus Emperor’s new record, which was reviewed yesterday, was the impetus for the entire thing, so it seemed only fair to start with that, but I wanted to make sure to include a fair bit of landmark acts — 1000mods, Villagers of Ioannina City, Planet of Zeus, Naxatras, Nightstalker, Puta Volcano — alongside up and comers like Bus, Supermoon, Lotus Emperor, Acid Mammoth, Honeybadger, Half Gramme of Soma, and so on, in order to give some sense of the scope of the Greek underground, which for my money is one of the strongest in the world and an ecosystem of bands and fans unlike any other happening right now in Europe (if you want to expand to the rest of the world, Australia would rival).
Before I turn you over to the playlist, I’ll give the inevitable disclaimer that this represents but a fraction of Greece’s vibrant heavy creative community, and that there’s basically a planet’s worth of bands in Athens alone, never mind anywhere else in the country. I say in one or another of the breaks that I consider Greece at least as strong a scene as Sweden and Germany in terms of everything but broader recognition, and I stand by that. If you hear this show and want to dig further into any of these acts or find others, that’s the ideal.
Thanks if you listen and thanks for reading.
The Obelisk Show airs 5PM Eastern today on the Gimme app or at: http://gimmemetal.com.
Full playlist:
The Obelisk Show – 11.11.22 (VT = voice track)
Lotus Emperor
Petra
Syneidesis (2022)
Villagers of Ioannina City
Dance of Night
Age of Aquarius (2019)
Acid Mammoth
Black Dust
Caravan (2021)
VT
1000mods
Navy in Alice
Super Van Vacation (2011)
Half Gramme of Soma
Muck & Cheese
Slip Through the Cracks (2022)
People of the Black Circle
Alchemy of Sorrow
People of the Black Circle (2022)
Seer of the Void
Lysergus Mons
Revenant (2020)
The Same River
Weight of the World
Weight of the World (2022)
Church of the Sea
No One Deserves
Odalisque (2022)
Supermoon
Mantra
Supermoon (2020)
VT
Planet of Zeus
All These Happy People
Faith in Physics (2019)
Burn the Sun
A Fist for Crows
Le Roi Soleil (2022)
Naxatras
The Battle of Crystal Fields
IV (2022)
Honeybadger
Laura Palmer
Pleasure Delayer (2020)
Nightstalker
Sad Side of the City
Great Hallucinations (2019)
Bus
Moonchild
Never Decide (2020)
VT
Puta Volcano
Black Box
AMMA (2020)
Last Rizla
Dive
Mount Machine (2018)
The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal airs every Friday 5PM Eastern, with replays Sunday at 7PM Eastern. Next new episode is Nov. 25 (subject to change). Thanks for listening if you do.
