Posted in Bootleg Theater on September 17th, 2021 by JJ Koczan
Pretoria, South Africa’s Caution Boy released their 10th full-length, Alligator, last week through Mongrel Records. That’s 10 albums released in about five years, mind you. True some of the recordings date back much further, but 10 records of anything is an impressive milestone to reach, however long it took to get there. And these aren’t just rehearsal room jams. Caution Boy play songs. Catchy songs. Varied songs. Rocking songs. Formerly a solo-project of guitarist/vocalist Andi Cappo, the band enter Alligator as a trio with Treveshan Pather playing bass and Archie Kinnon on drums, and of course that has an effect on the material, the dynamic. Cappo had worked with a range of guests on records like 2018’s Spastic Plastic or 2017’s 2016-2017, but as I understand it, Caution Boy have never been a full band in this way, and Alligator is the first offering they’ve had through Mongrel.
Those who follow or are aware of the label’s oeuvre will maybe recognize the (co-)production hand of Evert Snyman (Ruff Majik, solo work, etc.) on “Consolation,” a video for which is premiering below. The post-Songs for the Deaf desert-style fuzz and crunch of guitar tone on that topical, hooky album highlight extends to brash, punkish cuts like “Ever the Optimist” and “Mutual” — more Mondo Generator than Queens of the Stone Age, though not as willfully mean — as well as the grungy “So Sick.” “Consolation” arrives as the third piece of an opening salvo before “Ever the Optimist” goes deeper into aggression, with the opening title-track setting a careening, urgent tone (Snyman guesting on piano helps that) that the Melvinsian starts and stops of “Silence the Screams” gleefully bashes to bits like Rob Crow got mad at a thing. Speed wins the day, but “Swallow Me Whole,” like “Consolation” and really the rest of what surrounds ahead of the comedown-until-it-isn’t closer “Hue,” it’s clear that songwriting is the underlying focus. Seems highly unlikely a band gets to its 10th album otherwise. If you want to write songs, you need to write songs. There’s your deep-rooted insight for the day.
Because Alligator is already out — I’m late to the party, as ever — you can stream the eight-song album in its 27-minute entirety. Is that a full-length? They call it one, the songs flow together, and with the punkier aspects, arguing seems even more like a waste of time than usual, so yeah, it must be. In any case, unassuming though the amount of your busy day Caution Boy might take up with these tracks, the numbers are deceptive. Having listened once, one might be inclined to, say, put Alligator on again. One with less prior experience with the band’s work — like myself — might then be inclined to dig further back to 2019’s Vice Versa or the aforementioned Spastic Plastic to hear some of the differences between Caution Boy as a solo-project and as a full group, which, yes, do exist, despite a consistency of influence and a somewhat irreverent point of view. From there, who knows where one might end up? For what it’s worth, 2016’s Chapter 1-11 (Eleven) has plenty of hooks too. Have fun.
Video and PR wire info follow here.
Please enjoy:
Caution Boy, “Consolation” video premiere
Caution Boy on “Consolation”:
“Consolation” is a mirror held up to society, reflecting the reality of the pandemic generation. This is laced with glorified glimpses of the good times before & hopefully the good times to come, symbolized by karaoke, which is almost like a traditional pass time across the globe. This also symbolizes the transition for Caution Boy, which started as a solo project, performed as as 1 man “karaoke from hell” to a full band.
“Consolation” is an alternative dance punk rock homage to the covid 19 pandemic. From how the powers that be capitalized on the weak, to the individuals who were too stubborn to take precautions, to the internal & external struggles that go hand in hand with isolation.”
The times are changing… and so is Caution Boy, what began as a demented, alternative punk rock “karaoke from hell” solo project; has metamorphosized into a monstrous trio, whose only mission is to destroy stages, ear drums & the normalized standards of society. Andi Cappo on the strings & screams, Treveshan Pather on the oh so low notes & Archie Kinnon on hides & twiggs.
What started as a sardonic reference to the cheesy phrase “see you later, Alligator”, turned into a ferocious animal, relentless, waiting to tear you limb from limb. It was inspired by the ruthless actions & reactions to orbiting the vicious virus spreading across the planet, from the effects of isolation to the political impacts, to the death of people near & dear to us.
The first recording dates just so happened to fall in the first week of South Africa’s (seemingly never- ending) lockdown. In the months that followed the mindset and songs started to change, some were dropped, new ones were written, and others became more relevant than ever. It is composed of eight high energy, pedal to the metal songs that Andi describes and “barely an album” – with a cheeky wink and his tongue in his cheek.
The bands latest album is co-produced and recorded by the band over a few days, spread over a few months from late 2020 to early 2021, with Evert Snyman (Pollinator, Ruff Majik) from Pariah Studios in the co- producer’s driving seat, and in charge of the recording, mix and master.
Acid Magus release Wyrd Syster July 30 on Mongrel Records. Hardly a year after unveiling their first single and thereby exposing the lizard people of their native Pretoria, South Africa, heavy psychedelic four-piece Acid Magus bring forth Wyrd Syster as their debut full-length through countryman imprint Mongrel Records. It is duly tripped out, putting modern psych and garage-style heavy in a nebular swirl and sculpting the results into songs of varying length and intent, sometimes headed ‘out there’ in a fashion that reminds of Black Rainbows — looking at you, “Conscientious Pugilist” and “She is the Night” — and offering more weighted blowout heavy ethereality in its closing pair “Evil” and “Red Dawn,” the latter of which answers the shouts of “Rituals” earlier on as though to confirm that, no, their arising from all that wash of fuzz was not a dream, but a reality altered by the molten churn bent to the band’s will. Garage doom is a factor — Witch, Uncle Acid‘s melodious threat, etc. — but so is grunge, and there’s depth of mix to account for all of it as made earthbound by guitarist Keenan Kinnear, bassist Jarryd Wood, drummer Roelof van Tonder and vocalist Christiaan Van Renen. One way or the other, Wyrd Syster is the stuff of run-on sentences and mixed metaphor, clearly.
True, all things are fleeting, ephemeral, mortal, and some day the sun will swell to however many times its size, burn away the oceans and the atmosphere and eventually the rest of the planet itself. Nothing we as a species do or have ever done can possibly last or matter into such a scale of time. Can’t argue. Sooner or later, the bubble that is the universe itself may simply pop. But in the meantime, Acid Magus cull 44 minutes of deep-dive-ready, headphones-on fuzz-o-buzz, the riffs of the title-track leading the way with echo-drenched leads and a laid back hook delivery from Van Renen. The rhythm is a subtle charge, but it’s intermittent, coming and going amid drifting guitar and a more open verse, and spaciousness and atmosphere feel as much an essential facet of the band’s execution as does the lattice from which they launch, but “Wyrd Syster” is also only half a tell.
As the shortest inclusion — the interlude “Virgo” notwithstanding — on the album that bears its name, “Wyrd Syster” is as much a tease as it is an introduction to what follows, and there’s a marked shift as “Rituals” takes hold with riffage hypnotic and more patient in its flow, the rolling groove that starts out receding behind the central guitar line only to emerge again, massive, powerful, as the procession hits its payoff. For all the space the band have covered, they’ve only just begun, and “Conscientious Pugilist” follows with samples, a spaced-out wacky solo backed by room-emphasis drums leading to Sabbath crunch, start-stop-then-all-start shove and echoing screams and suddenly you get a better sense of why one might call the band “experimental.” It’s not so much about them playing their instruments upside down or making noise for noise’s sake — nothing wrong with that if that’s your thing — but there’s a sense of adventure in “Conscientious Pugilist” as the longest track on Wyrd Syster, and even in the moment to recover that the subsequent quiet stretch of “Virgo” represents as the record’s centerpiece, the impact of Acid Magus‘ outbounding is not to be understated. No lack of exploration for their carrying structure with them.
I’ll make it easy for you: If you’re not on board by the time they ooze into “She is the Night,” the rest will only be a slog, but for those who can get to it and those to whom it gets, side B of Wyrd Syster has plenty more delights of its own to offer, mirroring the shortest-to-longest setup of “Wyrd Syster,” “Rituals” and “Conscientious Pugilist,” but with “She is the Night” setting out from a place less initial than the opener (duh), benefiting from the altitude adjustment already wrought by Acid Magus on the tracks preceding. Like the title-track, “She is the Night” has a standout delivery of its titular lyric, and its guitar rings in ambient fashion, but the joy is the nod and layered movement that takes hold at the end, rumbling out to stillness eventually as all things must, but leaving that resonant guitar behind as an epilogue. “Evil” churns and writhes and seeps and careens through dynamic turns, coalescing around its groove as much as anything, and cutting off cold ahead of “Red Dawn” at the finish. I don’t think the closer is about the Patrick Swayze movie, but I’ve certainly been wrong before. The fuzz and the hey-man-what’s-wrong-aren’t-you-coming shove are reaffirmed early alongside a melodic highlight and given counterpoint in the slower march that arises, spaceborne and elephantine, to lead into the last fadeout with silence to spare at the end, more cosmic than kosmiche, but unfurling in the vacuum either way.
Whether or not you take the journey out the airlock with Acid Magus is ultimately up to you, but Wyrd Syster provides more than enough reach and breadth and resonance to justify the minimal effort in doing so. As their debut — if in fact it is — it shows a distinct chemistry taking shape within the familiar aspects of genre, and sees the band honing their persona out of the various elements and tropes with which they’re working. Consider yourself dared to give it a shot and see where it takes you.
Impassioned, epic, slow, and heavy; it’s all here as Acid Magus present their finest work to date.
In the faint light that separates dreams from reality, lies from truth and heaven from hell, lives the Acid Magus. Meditating, surrounded by darkness and light, energising the air with electric anticipation. Come forward and listen, stay awhile, there are no sins.
“For the first time the band have experimented with some low tuning, so expect octave drops and tempo changes. All the psych/stoner/doom vibes to be expected but once again, that alt rock accessibility lingers.” Comments guitarist Keenan Kinnear
Line Up: Keenan Kinnear: guitars Jarryd Wood: bass guitar Roelof van Tonder: drums Christiaan Van Renen: vocals
Posted in Whathaveyou on May 25th, 2021 by JJ Koczan
Look, just stream the track. I could go on here about Acid Magus taking grunge rock and blasting it into a spaced-out shoegaze oblivion on Wyrd Syster, or talk about mountains and sunrise or whatever the hell, but I won’t pretend anyone gives a crap. What you need to know is that “Wyrd Syster” opens the four-piece’s debut album and sets the vibe tonally and melodically, but that in subsequent jams like “Rituals” or the particularly consuming “Conscientious Pugilist,” they get jammier, more cosmic and more daring, so that by the time “Red Dawn” quiets down in its second half, you just know that hit is coming back and then it does and it rules because glory glory rock and roll and all that happy mountain stuff. I can’t tell you how to live your life. I can tell you that if you track down this record when it comes out it’ll make your day better. What you do with that is up to you.
From the PR wire:
Acid Magus – Wyrd Syster – RELEASE DATE 30th JULY 2021
In the faint light that separates dreams from reality, lies from truth and heaven from hell, lives the Acid Magus. Meditating, surrounded by darkness and light, energising the air with electric anticipation. Come forward and listen, stay awhile, there are no sins…
Acid Magus is an experimental rock outfit from Pretoria, South Africa. Doom, stoner, punk, psych, and classic rock are all common themes. As huge fans of the rock greats (Zeppelin, Sabbath), stoner/desert rock behemoths (Kyuss, Sleep) as well as the tripped out psychedelic stylings of modern “psych” bands like Slift. Acid Magus take inspiration from all kinds of great music, spanning the entire gamut from 60s Hendrix/The Doors to Hawkwind and Scorpion at their heaviest, all the way to pretty much everything inspired by Black Sabbath today. All this with maybe a little Alt Rock sensibility thrown in for good measure. With an uncompromising, DIY approach to writing, Acid Magus promises to offer up only the best, most impassioned musical works. Long, slow, heavy, soft, it’s all there, and it comes from the heart…
Track Listing: 1. Wyrd Syster 2. Rituals 3. Conscientious Pugilist 4. Virgo 5. She Is The Night 6. Evil 7. Red Dawn
Line Up: Keenan Kinnear: guitars Jarryd Wood: bass guitar Roelof van Tonder: drums Christiaan Van Renen: vocals
Posted in Bootleg Theater on February 17th, 2021 by JJ Koczan
The words Die Ek, which the band presents with a lower-case second ‘e’ — Die ek — translate from Afrikaans to “The I.” So it makes a kind of roundabout sense that their video for the song that bears their name should have an element of self-confrontation to it. The single and clip premiering here follow another song, “Fokijuk,” that showed up last Fall, and though there’s word that the Pretoria-based trio recorded an album, I’m not sure as to the circumstances of the release, if that’s coming or what. No doubt whatever they initially planned when they were in the studio late in 2019, the plans evaporated due to outside circumstances. By which I mean the fucking plague.
Sonically, Die Ek present an interesting meld of heavy fuzz with flowing rhythms that seem born of an underlying current of pop. “Die Ek,” the song, is nothing if not modern, and the starts and stops of “Fokijuk” speak to a progressive bent that’s bound to come up again elsewhere on the full-length, whenever that should surface. This track is short, but still brings an individualized feel to its fuzzy base, and though one can trace its overarching lead line to the likes of Yawning Man and maybe some of its contemplative depth to latter-day Truckfighters, those desert-ish hues are just part of a broader palette the trio headed by Riaan le Roux on guitar, vocals and keys, with Duncan Potgieter on drums and Dylan du Toit on bass. There’s some Queens of the Stone Age in there too, and since we’re in South Africa, one might mention Ruff Majik as a more local port for that feel, but Die Ek are far less defined by their influences than what they do with them.
If you’re sensitive to flashing lights, watch out for some of the verse in the midsection here, but beyond that, the video presents a decidedly cinematic front, like Fight Club if no one actually got hit. Again, it’s brief, so not looking to take up too much of your day, but it delivers a song that says more than its three-minute runtime might lead one to believe.
I won’t delay further. Dig in and enjoy. Info follows the player below:
Die Ek, “Die Ek” official video premiere
Riaan le Roux on “Die Ek”:
The song was inspired by the observation that there is a never ending play between darkness and light. One cannot exist without the other. This duality that we all live in every day has a balance and takes the form of a dialog. Therefore, one can be more expressed or articulated in any given situation. This creates conflict within us. It implies the foundational elements of the hero’s journey. The known and the unknown. Out of the darkness we came into the light and one day we shall return from whence we came. At its core it is the way we learn and the point of origin for ‘Die ek’, hence the title.
The preproduction for the song was done back in 2014 by Riaan. It was the song that was written for the concept and the name of the band. These elements were developed over long conversations between Riaan and his brother Allan, that also features in the video. It has two guitar lines that work in a contrapuntal way with each other in order to express the unity in the duality. These lines are repeated throughout the song and gives it a cyclical feel. Again pointing to the nature of this duality. Later came the vocal parts that had two distinct voices speaking to each other. Over a groove that puts the snare and Hi-Hat shots in unexpected places, suggesting the conflict in motion.
The song was then recorded at Wolmer studios. With the original lineup. Jorik Pinaar (Not my Dog, among others) Wouter Reyneke (Anton Goosen and many more). After recording the song, Jorik moved to Cape town and and was replaced by Nelis du Plessis. After some months Wouter moved to Cape town and Nelis to Kempton Park. The song went dormant for many years. In 2019 it reemerged with the addition of the new members (Dylan and Duncan) that injected it with a fresh batch of dedication and enthusiasm. ‘Die ek’ was finally recorded mixed and mastered by Riaan at Die ek HQ in Beckett st Pretoria.
Die Ek on “Die Ek” video
Riaan’s initial idea for the video was that It would be a scene out of a dream where you are trying to hit someone. In the dream the characters represent the element in oneself that you want to destroy. However, you can never land a punch. He then developed this concept over many conversations with Allan and Heleen and Susan van Tonder (Tiger & Lilly Productions) In many ways the video is self-explanatory and a visual representation of what happens in the music and lyrics. It personifies darkness and light in two characters. The characters seem to be interchangeable as the protagonist even though the focus is on the light character in the beginning. This becomes clearer as the video progresses. The locations, like in all Die ek’s videos, have a special meaning and are close to their HQ. An interesting side note on the verse part (flashing lights): it was found by accident. That kind of lighting can only be found never organized or paid for. It supported the concept of darkness and light so beautifully. These chance elements are inadmissible and mirror life in the most profound way. The direction of the video was a collaboration between Riaan, Allan, Heleen and Susan. It was edited by Riaan and shot by Heleen and in some cases Susan.
Die ek is a progressive Afrikaans rock band founded in Pretoria by Riaan le Roux in 2014. Since then there have been many obstacles. These obstacles, while preventing the project from seeing the light of day, where instrumental in the growth and ultimately invaluable in its creational processes. Towards the end of 2019 the first album was recorded at Die ek HQ. During the same year Die ek launched their first single ‘Verkeerde Voet’ alongside a video and a show played in Pretoria.
In 2020 the band was set to launch their second single ‘Fokijuk’ with a video that was to be shot in March of that year. The song features a distinct apocalyptic sound and in its essence communicates the destruction of structures in the mind. The end of a belief system or broadly speaking – a way of life that is unsustainable. A song that was composed in 2016. Needless to say in March of 2020 the world came to a standstill everything that was would inevitably change. In September the band finally got the chance to record the video. A beautiful collaboration was born out of the ashes of the year. Tiger and Lilly productions produced a video that completely aligned with the intention and tone of the song. The video was launched in October.
Die Ek is: Duncan Potgieter (Drums) Dylan du Toit (Bass) Riaan le Roux (Vocals, Guitars, Synth, Piano)
So Day 1’s done and it’s time to move on to Day 2. Feeling stressed and totally overwhelmed by the sheer amount of stuff still to be done? Why yes, I am. Thanks for asking. In the past, I used to handle the Quarterly Review well ahead of time. It’s always a lot to get through, but the week before, I’d be setting up back ends, chasing down links and Bandcamp players, starting reviews, etc., so that when it came time, all I had to do was the writing and plug it all into a post and I was set.
There was some prep-work done this past weekend, but especially this time, with my old laptop having been stolen in May, it’s all been way more jazz-improv. I was still adding releases as of last Friday, and writing beforehand? Shit. With the baby having just figured out how to climb? Not bloody likely. Accordingly, here we are, with much to do.
It’ll get done. I haven’t flubbed a Quarterly Review yet, and if I took an extra day to get there, I’m under no delusion that anyone else would care. So there you go. Let’s hit it for Day 2:
Quarterly Review #11-20:
Glanville, First Blood
First Blood is the aptly-titled five-song debut EP from Glanville, a newcomer dual-guitar outfit with established players Philip Michel (The Earwix) on lead and Christopher West (Named by the Sun, ex-Stubb, etc.) on rhythm, Wight’s Peter-Philipp Schierhorn on bass and René Hofmann on vocals, and Thomas Hoffman (ex-Bushfire) on drums. Based in Germany and the UK, the group present 23 minutes of material on their first outing, drawing from the guitar-led likes of Thin Lizzy and Judas Priest to capture early metal and present it with a heavy rocking soulfulness and modern production. The most raucous of the cuts might be centerpiece “Durga the Great,” but neither “God is Dead” nor “Dancing on Fire” before nor “Demons” and “Time to Go” after want for action, and especially the latter builds to a furious head to close out the release. Hofmann as a standalone singer wants for nothing in range or approach, and the band behind him obviously build on their collective experience to dig into a stylistic nuance rarely executed with such confidence. They’ve found a place willfully between and are working to make it theirs. Can’t ask for more than that.
Having just recently signed to Argonauta Records for a new album in 2019, Austin doomers Destroyer of Light follow their 2017 long-player, Chamber of Horrors (review here), with a further auditory assault in the lumbering Hopeless. Psychedelic and yet still somehow traditional doom lingers in the brain after “Nyx” and “Drowned” have finished – the latter with an Alan Watts sample discussing alcoholism – and the band moves into demos for Chamber of Horrors cuts “Into the Smoke,” “Lux Crusher” and “Buried Alive.” Between the two previously unreleased songs and those three demos, Hopeless pushes to 39 minutes, but it’s probably still fair to call it an EP because of the makeup. Either way, from the miserable plod of “Nyx,” in which each chug in the riff cycle seems to count another woe, to the rolling nod early and surprising melody late in “Drowned,” Hopeless is anything but. Anticipation was already pretty high for Destroyer of Light’s next record after the last one, but all Hopeless does is show further depth of approach and more cleverly-wielded atmospheric murk. And the more it sounds like there’s no escape, the more Destroyer of Light seem to be in their element.
The inevitable question is “Why a lizard?” and if you make it four minutes into 11-minute opener “Fractal Panorama” and don’t have your answer, go back ad start over. Moscow heavy psych instrumentalists The Re-Stoned intend the reptile as a spirit guide for their new outing Stories of the Astral Lizard (on Oak Island Records), which follows quickly behind their late-2017 offering, Chronoclasm (review here), and given the ultra-patient desert vibes in the opener, the acoustic-laced folk-prog of “Mental Print for Free,” the languid meander of “A Companion from the Outside,” the swirling sprawl of the 16-minute “Two Astral Projections” and the final cowpoke drift of “The Heather Carnival,” one might indeed just find a lizard sunning its belly amid all the atmospheric evocations and hallucinatory vibes. I’ll take “Two Astral Projections” as the highlight, but mostly because the extra length allows the band to really dig in, but really the whole album feeds together gorgeously and is a new level of achievement when it comes to atmosphere for The Re-Stoned, who were already underappreciated and find themselves only more so now.
Right on fuzz, right on groove, right on vibe – there isn’t much else one might say about Ruff Majik’s Seasons (on Rock Freaks Records and Forbidden Place Records) beyond “right on.” Heavy rock with twists of psychedelia, the Pretoria, South Africa, three-piece of Johni Holliday, Jimi Glass and Benni Manchino make their home on the lines of various subgenres, but wherever they go, the proceedings remain decisively heavy. To wit, a cut like “Breathing Ghosts” or the later “Birds Stole My Eyes” might dig into shuffle boogie or extreme-metal-derived thrust, but there’s a chemistry between the members and a resonant looseness that ties the material together, and as the last 14 of the total 66 minutes are dedicated to “Asleep in the Leaves,” there’s plenty of progressive weirdness in which to bask, one song moving through the next such that neither “Hanami Sakura (And the Ritual Suicide” nor the semi-doom-plodding “The Deep Blue” nor the funky twists of “Tar Black Blood” come across as predictable. Seasons might take a few listens to sink in, but it’s easily worth that effort.
Hyperbole-worthy post-ism from Switzerland’s Soldat Hans makes their sophomore outing, Es Taut – on Wolves and Vibrancy Records as a 2LP – a forward thinking highlight. As rich in atmosphere as Crippled Black Phoenix and as lethal as Converge or Neurosis or anyone else you might dare to put next to them, the six-piece made their debut with 2014’s Dress Rehearsal (review here) and served notice of their cross-genre ambitiousness. Es Taut finds them four years later outclassing themselves and most of the rest of the planet across three extended tracks – “Story of the Flood” (26:15), “Schoner Zerbirst, Part I” (8:03) and “Schoner Zerbirst, Part II” (18:56) – that sprawl out with a confidence, poise and abrasion that is nothing short of masterful. Es Taut may be a case of a band outdoing their forebears, but whatever their legacy becomes and however many people take notice, Soldat Hans singlehandedly breathe life into the form of post-metal and prove utterly vital in so doing, not only making it their own, but pushing forward into something new in ambience and heft. This is what a band sounds like while making themselves indispensable.
Calling to order a nod that’s immersive from the opening strains of leadoff/longest-track “Firefly” (still immediate points), Los Angeles trio High Priestess build out the psych-doom ritualizing of their 2017 demo (review here) to make their self-titled full-length debut through Ripple Music. The difference between the demo and the album in terms of what’s included comes down to artwork and the track “Take the Blame,” which adds its bell-of-the-ride swing between the atmosphere and melodic focus of “Banshee” and the spacious roller “Mother Forgive Me.” Potential is writ large throughout from guitarist/vocalist Katie Gilchrest, bassist/vocalist Mariana Fiel and drummer Megan Mullins, as it was on their demo, and even the harsh growls/screams on “Despise” seem to have found their place within the proceedings. As they wrap with the guitar-led jam of “Earth Dive,” High Priestess put the finishing touch on what’s hands-down one of 2018’s best debut albums and offer a reminder that as much potential as there is in their sound for future development, the accomplishments here are considerable unto themselves.
Four tracks of gurgling riffy plunder pervade Astrological Passages, the 41-minute – longer if you get the digital version or the tape/CD, which includes the 7:24 “Dominion of Oblivion” – debut album from Columbus, Ohio’s Weed Demon. Delivered on vinyl through Electric Valley Records, the nodder/plodder carves out a cave for itself within a mountain of tonally thick stoner metal riffing, infusing a sense of sludge with shouted and growled vocals from guitarists Andy and Brian and bassist Jordan – only drummer Chris doesn’t get a mic – and an overarching sense of bludgeoning that’s Sleep-derived if not Sleep-adjacent in terms of its actual sound. Nasty? Why, yes it is, but as “Sigil of the Black Moon” heads toward the midpoint of its 10-minute run, the repetitive groove assault makes the band’s intention plain: worship weed, worship riff. They get faster on “Primordial Genocide” and even sneak a bit of speed in amidst the crawl before the banjo takes hold in the second half of 12-minute closer “Jettisoned” – more Americana sludge please; thank you – but they never lose sight of their mission, and it’s the uniting factor that makes their debut hit like the brick to the head that it is.
With Sentinels, Oxford, UK, five-piece Desert Storm pass a decade since making their self-titled debut in 2008. They followed that with 2010’s Forked Tongues (review here), 2013’s Horizontal Life and 2014’s Omniscient (review here), and though they had a single out in 2014 on H42 Records as a split with Suns of Thunder (review here) in 2016, Sentinels is their first outing on APF Records and their first long-player in four years. Burl has always been an important factor in what they do, and the High on Fire-meets-Orange Goblin slamming of “The Brawl” backs that up, but Desert Storm have left much of the hyper-dudeliness behind in favor of a more complex approach, and while Sentinels isn’t a minor undertaking at 10 songs and 51 minutes, longer cuts like “Kingdom of Horns” and “Convulsion” demonstrate the maturity they’ve brought to bear, even as the one-two punch of “Drifter” and “The Extrovert” offer swinging-fist hooks and beard-worthy chug that assures any and all testosterone quotas are met.
Based in Los Angeles, Ancient Altar — Scott Carlson (bass/vocals), Barry Kavener (guitar/vocals), Jesse Boldt (guitar) and Etay Levy (drums) – were last heard from on 2015’s dug-in atmosludger Dead Earth (review here), and they return lo these several years later with the two-tracker Cosmic Purge/Foie Gras, pushing into more extreme crush-of-riff with an abandon that’s anything but reckless. On the contrary, there’s some clear development in the 10-minute “Cosmic Purge” and 13-minute “Foie Gras,” rolling out oppressive grooves with blended screams/shouts and cleaner vocals. As with the last album, a drive toward individuality is central here, and Ancient Altar get there in tone while bringing forth a sense of scope to a sound so regularly thought of as closed off or off-putting in general. In its early going, “Foie Gras” hypnotizes with echoing melody and spaciousness only to resolve itself in a deeply weighted dirge march, furthering the pummel of “Cosmic Purge” itself. I don’t know if the EP – on vinyl through Black Voodoo Records, CD on Transcendental Void Records – will lead toward another album or not, but the sense of progression in Ancient Altar’s style is right there waiting to be heard, so here’s hoping.
Listen to it on headphones and the kickdrum on Black Box Warning’s Attendre la Mort is downright painful. Next-level blown-out aggro pulsations. Brutal in a physical sense. The rest of the band doesn’t follow far behind in that regard. Riffs are viscous and violent in noise rock tradition, but denser in their tone despite some underlying punkishness, and the vocals are likewise distorted and abrasive. The five-song/23-minute EP’s title translates to “Waiting for Death,” and each of the tracks is a dose: Opener “5 mg” is followed by “4 mg,” “1 mg,” “2 mg” and “3 mg.” Unsurprisingly, pills are a theme, particularly on “4 mg,” and the sense of violent threat is clear in “2 mg” and 3 mg,” which boast lines like, “Watch them all scream/Watch your enemy bleeded,” and “You are the pig/I am the butcher,” respectively. Between the lyrical and the general aural cruelty, the dis-ease is consuming and unmitigated, sludge becoming a slow-motion grindcore, and that’s clearly the point. Not stabbing, but gouging.
Posted in Whathaveyou on May 17th, 2018 by JJ Koczan
A conceptual work wherein each batch of three songs was actually written in a different season, the suitably titled Seasons was self-released by Pretorian trio Ruff Majik digitally on April 20. As the band is set to tour Europe this summer twice, making stops first at Freak Valley and then at SonicBlast Moledo, and, you know, as the album kicks ass, it’s not a huge surprise that it’s been picked up for physical release. And it’s all the more telling that rather than trickle out one format at a time over a period of years (or seasons, for that matter), Ruff Majik are taking care of it all in one shot. The limited 2LP will be out through the Freak Valley-associated Rock Freaks Records in a variety of editions, and the CD and tape versions will arrive through US imprint Forbidden Place.
Both labels have the album up for preorder now. Here’s the PR wire to tell you pretty much exactly what I just told you using different words:
Ruff Majik Reveal Details to Release SEASONS on CD, Cassette and Vinyl
2018 is turning out to be an incredible year for South African Sludge n Rollers Ruff Majik. With two European tours booked that will see them playing Freak Valley Festival and SonicBlast as well as a host of club shows.
They also released their debut full-length album Seasons on the 20th April to widespread critical acclaim. The guys are happy to announce that they have signed deals with US label Forbidden Place Records to release and distribute Seasons on CD and cassette, while German label Rock Freaks Records will be releasing three versions of the double LP: classic black, coloured (still a secret) and die-hard (very limited).
Vocalist and guitarist Johni Holiday commented on the news “Ruff Majik is immensely excited to take the next step in furthering our career by bringing out physical copies. With the backing of Rock Freaks and Forbidden Place, we’re making a lifelong dream come true!”
Pre-order Seasons on CD or Cassette here and on Vinyl here.
Tracklisting: 1. Harpy 04:49 2. Gone down in the woods today 05:15 3. Breathing ghosts 04:20 4. Last of the witches 03:53 5. It flies at night 03:48 6. Hanami Sakura (and the ritual suicide) 04:26 7. The deep blue 08:04 8. Hammered are the gods 04:42 9. Birds stole my eyes 04:17 10. Tar black blood 03:15 11. Come all ye druids 05:04 12. Asleep in the leaves 14:10
Posted in audiObelisk on March 21st, 2018 by JJ Koczan
Come this Spring/early Summer, Pretorian heavy psych trio Ruff Majik will embark on a European tour for the first time. They do so supporting their upcoming new album, Seasons, and in addition to a Sound of Liberation showcase on May 26 in Wiesbaden that also includes My Sleeping Karma and Colour Haze in the lineup — not too shabby — they’ll be appearing at Freak Valley 2018 in Germany and SonicBlast Moledo 2018 in Portugal. Clearly the plan is to get around.
Fair enough. Imagine Goatsnake jamming a blowout tapped on mushrooms while backpacking during a semester abroad and you might be somewhere near the swing and sneer of Ruff Majik‘s new streaming single, “Come all Ye Druids,” which is premiering below. I haven’t yet had the pleasure of hearing Seasons — which is out April 20 and may or may not bear the subtitle A Stag in the Leaves— in its entirety, but the South African trio three-piece have put out three prior “chapters” under the Seasonsbanner in last June’s Seasons 1, Chapter 1: The Hare and the Hollow, last September’s Seasons 1, Chapter 2: A Finch in a Cherry Tree and last December’s Seasons 1, Chapter 3: A Dragon and His Hoard, so whether the impending Seasons is part of the same overarching storyline — i.e., if it’s “Chapter 4” — or some next step in the cycle, I couldn’t say, but the mystery only adds intrigue to the track itself, which as intimated above, brims with riffy and tripped-out groove.
The tones are thick but not immobile, and guitarist/vocalist Johni Holidayis right when he asserts below that the band is getting heavier. What they haven’t done, at least going by “Come all Ye Druids,” is abandon the spirit of spontaneity that comes from jam-based songcraft, and so whether it’s Holiday‘s riffs, the washing crash of drummer Ben Manchino or the air-pushing low end from bassist Jimmy Glass, the four-minute track wants nothing for momentum as it pushes its way through its drity, sludge-infused nod. The hook arrives over toms and the central riff picks back up even more infectious than when it left, the swagger of the verse at once dangerous and immersive. A fuzzed out so fights for dominance in the second half of the track, but it seems nothing can overcome the main riff, which takes hold again and seems to override everything else as the track fades just past the four-minute mark.
As to just how much of what Ruff Majik are doing on Seasons might be represented in “Come all Ye Druids,” I couldn’t say. Given how loose-swinging the single is, I’d believe you if you told me the record went just about anywhere. Take a listen below and see if you can guess. A quote from Holiday and PR wire info follows.
Please enjoy:
Johni Holiday on Seasons:
With this release, Ruff Majik decided to set sail into newer, sludgier directions. We decided long ago that we wouldn’t be that band that people would complain about, saying ‘they used to be heavier.’ Hell no, every time we bring out new music we want to move forward, become heavier, more intense. We still like to include bluesy bits, sure. But this song is made to be filthy, heavy, oily sludge ‘n’ roll. Next time we might do something a bit more doom again, who knows hahaha. All I know is that right now, Ruff Majik is becoming a groove machine, and we like it.
The band embark on their 1st European tour in June 2018 which sees them play Freak Valley Festival in Germany along with a host of club shows supporting the likes of Colour Haze, My Sleeping Karma and The Devil and the Almighty Blues. They’ll be back in Europe in August to play SonicBlast in Portugal.
Ruff Majik live: Support for The Devil and the Almighty Blues: 24 May, Stuttgart, Goldmarks 28 May, Munich, Feierwerk 29 May, Vienna, Arena 30 May, Leipzig, Werk 2
Supporting Colour Haze and My Sleeping Karma: 26 May, Wiesbaden, Schlachthoff 31 May, Freak Valley Festival, Netphen 2 June, Dresden, Beatpol (supporting Mars Red Sky)
In a small, secluded mining town in rural South Africa, three friends heard the call of the void, and spat fuzz back at it. Thus, Ruff Majik was formed, and the boys decided it was time to move to the city to spread their gospel of riff worship and sound sorcery.
Ruff Majik moved to Pretoria, South Africa, where they’ve become infamous for their lively shows and aggressive on-stage persona. With their brand of what they call “stoner rock / sludge ‘n roll” they move between slow grooves and breakneck speeds in the blink of an eye, with live shows being described as ‘whiplash inducing’.
The band surfaced in 2015 with the release of their first 6 track, The Bear. This got them lots of attention from reviewers all over the world. They quickly followed up with The Fox in 2016. In 2017 Ruff Majik released The Swan, The Hare and the Hollow, A Finch in a Cherry Tree and A Dragon and his Hoard, the latter three being part of upcoming full-length Seasons.
The members are Johni Holiday (guitar/vocals), Jimmy Glass (bass guitar) and Ben Manchino (drums).
tone on that topical, hooky album highlight extends to brash, punkish cuts like “Ever the Optimist” and “Mutual” — more Mondo Generator than Queens of the Stone Age, though not as willfully mean — as well as the grungy “So Sick.” “Consolation” arrives as the third piece of an opening salvo before “Ever the Optimist” goes deeper into aggression, with the opening title-track setting a careening, urgent tone (Snyman guesting on piano helps that) that the Melvinsian starts and stops of “Silence the Screams” gleefully bashes to bits like Rob Crow got mad at a thing. Speed wins the day, but “Swallow Me Whole,” like “Consolation” and really the rest of what surrounds ahead of the comedown-until-it-isn’t closer “Hue,” it’s clear that songwriting is the underlying focus. Seems highly unlikely a band gets to its 10th album otherwise. If you want to write songs, you need to write songs. There’s your deep-rooted insight for the day.
