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: JP of Bog Body

—

How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?

I am one half of Bog Body. Split between SVR and myself, we share most duties, but the one that is mine alone is drumming. We have been friends for a while, sharing musical and non-musical interests and somewhere in 2016 he contacted me about playing music and we set off from there. Bog Body started with a very simple idea; create rhythmically captivating music tied to the low-end and as abrasive as possible.

Describe your first musical memory.

My first musical memory is Beethoven’s 5th. I was enthralled with its famous refrain, hearing it felt like a name was given to something I could never identify before. I must have been five years old or so.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

Bog Body’s performance at Brooklyn Bazaar in the Fall of 2019. We shared the stage with Antediluvian and Adversarial; two very powerful and meaningful acts. I feel that our set that night was one of our best.

When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?

No. I subscribe to no dogma, no methods, or rules; so there exists little ability for anything to be tested in that regard. I believe in myself and those close to me — and they’ve never let me down.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

It’s self-fulfilling, self-devouring. I shudder to call myself an artist, but I can speak to progression leading only to further desires and goals. Along the way, a sense of fulfillment, a cathartic release might be found. Conversely, you might look back at your “progress” and only lament on its shortcomings… but in that way you’re still looking forward to righting the wrongs and improving.

How do you define success?

Setting goals, meeting those goals, and being relatively content with the result. Wading into the fog without an idea of what you want to accomplish seems to be the most likely scenario, but sometimes a guidepost found might be the most rewarding one. I’ll define success here as creating a recording and wanting to do more.

What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?

I’d take back discovering a dead family member.

Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.

I would like to collaborate with an artist of a kindred spirit, but different musical style. It would be a full immersion of methods and views; an ecstatic crash of ideas and violent emotion that could be captured to tape. I won’t say who, but maybe one day it will happen.

What do you believe is the most essential function of art?

To express. Whatever you may want to express, there will be at least one other human out there that it will resonate. A need to express will keep your art pure and without credence to clout, money, or attention. For me, I want to be lost in what I create. The moments you forget you’re playing and your eyes close instantly; that’s what art is for.

Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?

Robert Eggers’ new film, The Northman. I enjoyed the VVITCH and The Lighthouse. Eggers does so much without dialogue — it’s easy to get lost in the visuals and sound design of his films.

https://infernomerchstore.com/collections/bog-body
https://www.instagram.com/bog_body
https://www.facebook.com/bogbodyofficial
https://bog-body.bandcamp.com

https://profoundlorerecords.com
https://www.profoundlorerecords.bandcamp.com
https://www.instagram.com/profoundlorerecords
https://twitter.com/profound_lore
https://www.facebook.com/profoundlorerecords

Bog Body, Cryonic Crevasse Cult (2022)

The poll is closed, the results are counted and the top 20 albums of 2016 have been chosen. Hard to argue with the list as it’s shown up over the course of the past month, so I won’t try. Instead, let me just say thanks to incredible amount of participants who contributed this year.

All told, between Dec. 1 and Dec. 31, 612 people added their picks to the proceedings, compared to 388 in last year’s poll. Considering how much that number blew my mind on Jan. 1, 2016, I’m sure you can imagine how I feel about adding another 200-plus lists to the pot. In short, I’m astounded, deeply humbled and so, so, so grateful. I feel like we got enough of a sampling this year to give a genuinely representative showing for where people’s heads have been at, so thank you if you were a part of it.

Thank you as well as always to Slevin for running the poll’s back end and tabulating the results. As ever, the weighting system is one in which a 1-4 ranking is worth five points, 5-8 worth four, 9-12 worth three, 13-16 worth two and 17-20 worth one. You’ll find that list (plus some honorable mentions) below, followed by the raw-vote tally.

And after the jump, as has become the tradition, are the full lists of everyone who submitted, alphabetized by name. I’m in there too. It’s a huge amount to wade through, and even if you thought you heard everything in 2016, it should be more than enough to keep you busy for the next year.

One last note: I’m no statistician. Please allow for these numbers to change over the next couple days on some small level.

Let’s go:

Top 20 of 2016 — Weighted Results

1. Wo Fat, Midnight Cometh (375 points)
2. Greenleaf, Rise Above the Meadow (368)
3. Elephant Tree, Elephant Tree (324)
4. Asteroid, III (302)
5. Brant Bjork, Tao of the Devil (295)
6. Gozu, Revival (274)
7. Neurosis, Fires Within Fires (253)
8. King Buffalo, Orion (244)
9. Mars Red Sky, Apex III (Praise for the Burning Soul) (238)
10. Conan, Revengeance (232)
11. Cough, Still They Pray (228)
12. Holy Grove, Holy Grove (218)
13. SubRosa, For this We Fought the Battle of Ages (213)
14. Truckfighters, V (206)
15. Blood Ceremony, Lord of Misrule (200)
16. Khemmis, Hunted (192)
16. Red Fang, Only Ghosts (192)
17. Inter Arma, Paradise Gallows (181)
18. Witchcraft, Nucleus (174)
19. Opeth, Sorceress (173)
20. Church of Misery, And then there Were None (159)

Honorable mention to:
Causa Sui, Return to Sky (157)
Goatess, II: Purgatory Under New Management (157)
Black Mountain, IV (148)
Mos Generator, Abyssinia (144)
Wretch, Wretch (140)

Look at those tallies for number one and two. That race was close all month. Wo Fat kept out front for the most part, but Greenleaf kept it interesting and Elephant Tree’s debut snuck in there at third, which I love to see, both because it’s their first album and because that record was indeed so great. King Buffalo, another debut, also made the top 10, underscoring those two as bands to watch, and though Brant Bjork, Conan, Asteroid, Neurosis, Gozu and Mars Red Sky might be more expected names, they still certainly delivered excellent records, so again, nothing to fight with here. Things flesh out a bit in the 10-20 range, but I don’t think there’s one album on this list you could call is “miss.”

Top 20 of 2016 — Raw Votes

1. Wo Fat, Midnight Cometh (109)
2. Greenleaf, Rise Above the Meadow (92)
3. Brant Bjork, Tao of the Devil (87)
4. Elephant Tree, Elephant Tree (82)
5. Asteroid, III (80)
6. Gozu, Revival (76)
7. Conan, Revengeance (73)
8. Cough, Still They Pray (70)
9. Mars Red Sky, Apex III (Praise for the Burning Soul) (68)
10. King Buffalo, Orion (67)
11. Truckfighters, V (62)
12. Red Fang, Only Ghosts (61)
13. Khemmis, Hunted (60)
14. Blood Ceremony, Lord of Misrule (59)
14. SubRosa, For this We Fought the Battle of Ages (59)
15. Holy Grove, Holy Grove (58)
16. Church of Misery, And then there Were None (53)
17. Inter Arma, Paradise Gallows (49)
17. Witchcraft, Nucleus (49)
18. Opeth, Sorceress (47)
19. Mos Generator, Abyssinia (45)
20. Black Mountain, IV (44)
20. Causa Sui, Return to Sky (44)
20. Wretch, Wretch (44)

Honorable mention to:
Goatess, II: Purgatory Under New Management (43)
Mondo Drag, The Occultation of Light (43)
Geezer, Geezer (41)
Crowbar, The Serpent Only Lies (41)
Gojira, Magma (37)
Slomatics, Future Echo Returns (36)
Graves at Sea, The Curse that Is… (35)
Black Rainbows, Stellar Prophecy (33)
Beastmaker, Lusus Naturae (32)
Vokonis, Olde One Ascending (31)

Left a few more honorable mentions in the raw-vote count, just for fun and so you could get more of a feel beyond the top 20 itself, which you’ll notice has a couple ties in it as the raw votes usually do and reorganizes a bit from the weighted results. One and two remain the same, however, and in the same order, and you’ll see Wo Fat was the only album that scored more than 100 votes on its own. As a whole, there were over 2,400 separate entries for albums this year, which is by far the most spread out that the voting has ever been. Frankly, with so many people involved and such a variety of stuff being voted on, I’m amazed anyone managed to agree on anything at all, but of course they did and once again a stellar list is the result.

—

Well, Happy New Year.

Before I go, thanks again to Slevin for the work put into running the back end of this site and this poll particularly. I show up with the finish lists, but it’s his code that makes it happen, and his efforts are appreciated more than I can say. Dude has never asked me for anything in the nearly eight years I’ve been a constant pain in his ass.

After the jump, you’ll find everybody’s list, alphabetized by name. Please enjoy browsing. I hope you find something awesome, because there’s certainly plenty in there that qualifies, and if you see something that looks like it appears often enough that it should be included in one or both of the counts above, let me know in the comments.

Thanks.

Read more »

Do your Tuesday drear a favor and treat it to a run through ‘Broken Movements,’ the new track streaming now to go with the announcement of Oakland atmospheric doomers Worm Ouroboros‘ upcoming third album, What Graceless Dawn, which will be out this winter on Profound Lore. I think you’ll find it’s a more than fitting complement in its pervasive melancholy, melodic resonance and ambient weight. It gets heavy, yeah, or at very least it gets spacious — I wouldn’t call even its loudest moments “crushing” or intended to be so — but even the quiet stretches seem to bear down on you, the unsuspecting listener, who’s just sad because Friday is still so far away. I’ve been looking forward to this one for a while, having missed out on their last outing in 2012, so please be on the lookout for more to come.

For now, art and info and audio, courtesy of the PR wire:

WORM OUROBOROS: Dark Ethereal Doom Alchemists To Release What Graceless Dawn Full-Length Via Profound Lore This Winter; New Track Posted

With their third full-length, What Graceless Dawn, dark ethereal doom alchemists WORM OUROBOROS have brought into existence their deepest and most moving work to date. Set for release this December via Profound Lore, the follow-up to 2012’s critically-lauded Come The Thaw LP finds the Oakland-based trio of bassist/vocalist Lorraine Rath (ex-The Gault, Amber Asylum), guitarist/vocalist Jessica Way (Barren Harvest), and drummer Aesop Dekker (Vhol, ex-Agalloch, Ludicra) elevating the WORM OUROBOROS sound to a new echelon of sophistication through their amalgam of morose, 4AD-esque doom, introspective death rock, dark ambient, and enchanting chamber music. Through obsessive bass lines, ambient guitar movements, layers and overtones, the alluring vocal intertwining between Rath and Way, and Dekker’s subtle-yet-procession-like percussion What Graceless Dawn is a sonic vision of tragedy and despair, one of the saddest, most crippling, and gut-wrenching releases in the realm of heavy, dark, introspective music to bring the curtain down on the year.

Recorded and mixed at Oakland’s Earhammer Studios by Greg Wilkinson (Brainoil, Pallbearer, Noothgrush) Graceless Dawn will see official unveiling on December 2nd, 2016.
In the meantime, hear the forlorn sounds of second track, “Broken Movements,” via Profound Lore’s Soundcloud page at THIS LOCATION.

What Graceless Dawn Track Listing:
1. Day
2. Broken Movements
3. Suffering Tree
4. Ribbon Of Shadow
5. (Was It) The Cruelest Thing
6. Night

WORM OUROBOROS formed in June 2007 by Lorraine Rath and Jessica Way. With both musicians already having experience within the Bay Area heavy music scene — Way was previously part of metal band World Eater and Rath being a part of the influential Amber Asylum lineup as well as being co-mastermind of The Gault — WORM OUROBOROS set out to create music which explores the lines between fragility and strength, darkness and light, harmony and discord. Drawing inspiration from many places, including metal, doom, folk, progressive, and dark ambient genres, WORM OUROBOROS creates its own space; a creeping, dark landscape full of murky dreams and emotions. The band would see the inclusion of drummer Aesop Dekker in 2010 who would replace original drummer Justin Green.

http://www.facebook.com/WormOuroboros
http://www.profoundlorerecords.com
http://www.facebook.com/profoundlorerecords
http://www.profoundlorerecords.bandcamp.com

Worm Ouroboros, “Broken Movements”

Have to chuckle a bit at The Skull calling a tour ‘November of Doom,’ when they’re from Chicago and that same city is host to Novembers Doom, but hey, sometimes coincidences happen. On their latest run of Europe, which follows two earlier this Spring, including one that stopped for a total of three sets at Roadburn 2016, they’ll be joined by Portland, Oregon’s Witch Mountain. As coordination would have it, the two bands share a guitarist in Rob Wrong at this point, so though he’ll be pulling double-duty, the pairing makes an awful lot of sense. The Skull, who are continuing to support their 2014 debut, For Those Which are Asleep (review here), as well as a self-titled follow-up EP (review here), features vocalist Eric Wagner, bassist Ron Holzner, guitarist Lothar Keller and drummer Sean Saley, in addition to Rob Wrong.

To my recollection, this is the first time Witch Mountain will be headed to Europe since acquiring vocalist Kayla Dixon. They toured North America last Spring alongside Enslaved and YOB and are about due for a follow-up to 2014’s Mobile of Angels (review here), their gorgeous and fraught fourth full-length.

Both bands also play Erosion Festival 2016 (info here) in Missoula, Montana, this October.

From the PR wire:

THE SKULL featuring former Trouble members including vocalist Eric Wagner and bassist Ron Holzner are returning to Europe in November 2016!

The Skull & Witch Mountain:
11/04 Bristol, UK Exchange
11/05 Milton Keynes, UK Crauford Arms
11/06 London, UK Underworld
11/07 Tilburg, NL Little Devil
11/08 Utrecht, NL DBS
11/09 Karlsruhe, DE Jubez
11/10 Vienna, AT Doom Over Vienna
11/11 Arnstadt, DE Rockjunfer
11/12 TBA
11/13 Drachten, NL Iduna
11/14 Wiesbaden, DE Schlachthof
11/15 Kassel, DE Schlachthof
11/16 Hamburg, DE Hafenklang
11/17 Dortmund, DE Piano
11/18 Würzburg, DE Hammer Of Doom
11/19 Winterthur, CH Gaswerk

https://www.facebook.com/troubletheskull
http://theskullusa.com/
https://twitter.com/TheSkullUSA
http://shop.teepeerecords.com/
https://www.facebook.com/witchmountain/
http://witchmountain.bandcamp.com/

The Skull, Live at Roadburn 2016

Witch Mountain, Live at King’s Barcade, Raleigh, NC, March 26, 2015

What, like I’m gonna say something that could possibly make this news any better? It’s fucking YOB and Black Cobra touring together. That should and probably will be enough to reaffirm your belief in a universe composed of something more than bummers. Thanks, Nanotear Booking. YOB of course are out supporting last year’s stellar Clearing the Path to Ascend (review here), and this will be their second full-month of US touring behind their seventh album and Neurot Recordings debut, while if Black Cobra have ever stopped touring since about seven or eight years ago, well, I haven’t seen news about it.

According to reputable sources (read: the comments, though this particular commenter would know), Black Cobra have finished recording with Torche bassist Jon Nunez for the follow-up to 2011’s blistering Invernal (review here), so maybe this is the tour by which they’ll begin to bludgeon audiences with new material live. Only way to find out is to show up. In the meantime, YOB are also heading to Australia next week for a run presented by Life is Noise, and they play North West Hesh Fest (info here) at the end of the month — so what it all works out to is everybody’s very busy one way or another.

This just happens to be a particularly awesome way to keep busy:

YOB headlining North American tour w/ Black Cobra

Pacific Northwestern psychedelic doom bringers, YOB, will bring their sonic enormity to stages this Fall on a lengthy North American headlining trek. Slated to commence on October 22nd in Boise, Idaho and conclude on November 21st in Oakland, California, the trio will quake the stages of over two dozen venues including a special performance at this year’s edition of Philip H. Anselmo’s Housecore Horror Fest in San Antonio, Texas. Support will come from San Francisco volume dealers, Black Cobra. Tickets go on sale this Friday, August 14th.

10/22 – Boise, ID – Neurolux
10/23 – Salt Lake City, UT – Area 51
10/24 – Denver, CO – Hi-Dive
10/25 – Lincoln, NE – Bourbon Theater
10/26 – off
10/27 – St Paul, MN – Turf Club
10/28 – Madison, WI – High Noon w/Jex Thoth
10/29 – Chicago, IL – Reggies w/Acid King
10/30 – Newport, KY – Southgate House w/Ethicist
10/31 – Cleveland, OH – Beachland Ballroom
11/01 – Toronto, ON – Mod Club
11/02 – Montreal, QC – Foufounes w/Dopethrone
11/03 – Boston, MA – Brighton
11/04 – off
11/05 – Brooklyn, NY – Bell House
11/06 – Philadelphia, PA – Underground Arts
11/07 – New York, NY – Webster Hall (Marlin Room)
11/08 – Baltimore, MD – Metro Gallery
11/09 – Richmond, VA – Strange Matter
11/10 – off
11/11 – Asheville, NC – Tiger Mountain
11/13 – New Orleans, LA – Siberia w/Author & Punisher, Muscle & Marrow
11/14 – Houston, TX – Rudyard’s
11/15 – San Antonio, TX – Housecore Horror Film Festival*
11/16 – off
11/17 – Albuquerque, NM – Sister w/Deafheaven, Tribulation*
11/18 – Tucson, AZ – Club Congress
11/19 – San Diego, CA – Brick by Brick
11/20 – Los Angeles, CA – Echo
11/21 – Oakland, CA – Metro
* = no Black Cobra

https://www.facebook.com/events/1439941099649475/
https://www.facebook.com/quantumyob
http://www.yobislove.com/
http://www.neurotrecordings.com/
https://www.facebook.com/neurotrecordings
http://blackcobra.net
http://www.facebook.com/blackcobramusic
http://www.twitter.com/blackcobramusic
http://www.southernlord.com
http://southernlord.bandcamp.com

YOB, “Unmask the Spectre”

Black Cobra, Invernal (2011)

Somehow I doubt Vhöl would be into being tagged as a supergroup, but with a pedigree between them that includes YOB, Ludicra, Hammers of Misfortune, Worm Ouroboros, Agalloch and Amber Asylum, it just seems more efficient than saying “band with people who’ve played in other good bands.” Anyway you put it, the idea is much the same. By way of a confession, I still haven’t heard Vhöl‘s self-titled 2013 debut — was never sent one, even digitally, to review, and that kind of bummed me out — which as I understand it was something I genuinely missed out on, but I’ll see if I can’t correct that in time for the arrival of Deeper than Sky, their second album, on Oct. 23 through Profound Lore. Better late than never and all that.

No audio yet, but expect teasers and advance tracks and art and details and all that stuff, as Deeper than Sky is sure to be one of late-2015’s bigger releases. The PR wire brings initial preliminaries:

VHÖL: West Coast Psychedelic Thrash Collective To Release Sophomore Full-Length Via Profound Lore This Fall

West Coast psychedelic thrash collective, VHÖL, which features vocalist Mike Scheidt (YOB), guitarist John Cobbett (Hammers Of Misfortune, ex-Ludicra), bassist Sigrid Sheie (Hammers Of Misfortune, ex-Amber Asylum) and drummer Aesop Dekker (Agalloch, Worm Ouroboros, ex-Ludicra) — will unleash its sophomore full-length this Fall via Profound Lore.

Titled Deeper Than Sky, the follow up to 2013’s self-titled debut, was recorded at Light Rail Studios in San Francisco and mastered at Trakworx Studio (also in San Francisco).

Issues the band of the forthcoming release, “VHÖL continues to explore unbridled, high energy metal with very little digital processing, and lots of sounds, riffs and ideas flying around. This music is all about the ascending side of the manic curve.”

VHÖL’s Deeper Than Sky will be released via Profound Lore on October 23rd, 2015 with artwork, track listing and teasers to be revealed in the coming weeks.

http://www.profoundlorerecords.com
http://www.facebook.com/profoundlorerecords

Vhöl, Live in Oakland, CA, Aug. 8, 2013

Click Here to Download

[mp3player width=480 height=180 config=fmp_jw_widget_config.xml playlist=aot47.xml]

If you listen to these podcasts on the regular, you might notice this one is a little different than other recent editions have been. I was all set to start it off at a raging clip as per usual and then that Bison Machine track stood out to me with that warm bassline and I just decided that was the way to go, start off languid with that and My Sleeping Karma and ease into the rawer and meaner stuff from there. There are a couple jarring moments here and there, but that’s kind of the idea too, and I think overall across the board it flows well across the two hours, the second of which builds across All Them Witches’ jams and Ichabod’s sludge rock right into the atmospheric doom extremity of Bell Witch. Three songs in about 55 minutes. Awesome.

You might also notice the tracklist below has time stamps. Listed is the start time for each song, so if you get lost along the way, that should hopefully provide some point of reference. In case there was any doubt I pay attention to the stuff people say in comments to these podcast posts.

As always, hope you enjoy:

First Hour:
0:00:00 Bison Machine, “Gamekeeper’s Thumb” from Hoarfrost
0:07:12 My Sleeping Karma, “Prithvi” from Moksha
0:13:39 Weedeater, “Claw of the South” from Goliathan
0:19:00 Sinister Haze, “Betrayed by Time” from Betrayed by Time EP
0:24:15 Sun and Sail Club, “Dresden Fireball Freakout Flight” from The Great White Dope
0:26:11 Lasers from Atlantis, “Protectress” from Lasers from Atlantis
0:33:29 Arenna, “Drums for Sitting Bull” from Given to Emptiness
0:39:40 Mirror Queen, “Scaffolds of the Sky” from Scaffolds of the Sky
0:45:47 Les Discrets, “La Nuit Muette” from Live at Roadburn
0:51:02 Cigale, “Harvest Begun” from Cigale
0:54:49 Black Mare, “A Low Crimes” from Black Mare/Lycia Split

Second Hour:
1:00:03 All Them Witches, “It Moved We Moved/Almost There/A Spider’s Gift” from A Sweet Release
1:24:09 Ichabod, “Squall” from Merrimack
1:33:39 Bell Witch, “Suffocation, a Burial I – Awoken (Breathing Teeth)” from Four Phantoms

Total running time: 1:55:50

Thank you for listening.

Download audiObelisk Transmission 047

Driving the four-plus hours from Massachusetts to NYC to see Enslaved, YOB, Witch Mountain and Ecstatic Vision on Saturday wasn’t the practical choice, but it was the only choice. True, three of the four would be much, much closer to me this week, but to catch them in a bigger room and with Witch Mountain wasn’t an opportunity I wanted to miss. I left much earlier than I needed to, leaving as little as humanly possible to chance in terms of sitting in traffic, stressing out, etc. Turned out to be one of the easier rides south that I’ve had.

A positive omen? Maybe. I had time to hit Academy Records before the the show, which was a rare pleasure, and plenty of opportunity to catch my breath before doors to Gramercy Theatre opened. Last time I was there was for Pentagram, Kings Destroy, Bang and Blood Ceremony, and as ambivalent as I was at being back in Manhattan itself, it would prove to be a night surrounded by old friends, laughs and good vibes. More than anything, that made trip worthwhile.

But there was a show on as well, and a killer one at that. An early start for a packed night had Witch Mountain on at 7:30, and here’s how it went from there:

Witch Mountain

A couple new faces in Portland’s scene-preceding four-piece, Witch Mountain. Very new, as it happened. As in, this was their second show. Led by founding guitarist Rob Wrong and drummer Nate Carson, the band had played Pittsburgh the evening prior, and that was the first gig with newcomer vocalist Kayla Dixon and bassist Justin Brown (also of Lamprey). Night two of the band’s Mk. III lineup was a short set, but they made the most of it and showcased the potential for continued growth. Dixon had a distinctly metallic presence as frontwoman, and the entire band, Brown included, seemed to relish the opportunity to have a bigger stage on which to unfurl their doom. Again, their time was brief, but “Psycho Animundi” from last year’s Mobile of Angels (review here) more than ably demonstrated Dixon‘s vocal range, while “Veil of the Forgotten” and particularly the end of “Shelter” from 2012’s Cauldron of the Wild (review here) thrust into an almost power metal presentation, already edging up to the boundaries of a shifting personality for the band. Especially for it being night two, it was an encouraging sight. I’d expect over time Witch Mountain will loosen up further in presence as they continue to tighten sonically, but I felt fortunate to see that process at its beginning.

Ecstatic Vision

Of the four bands on the bill, I wondered most about how Ecstatic Vision‘s sound would translate to the spaciousness of Gramercy Theatre. The Philly three-piece would hardly be the first act in history to play space rock in a high-ceiling room, but for their being a newer band despite the experience of guitarist/vocalist Doug Sabolik and drummer Jordan Crouse in A Life Once Lost, it was a point of curiosity. Some of Sabolik‘s flourish, the chimes on his mic stand and melodica, weren’t as prevalent as they had been when I saw the band open for YOB at the Saint Vitus Bar in December (review here), but they did well all the same, and bassist Michael Connor‘s tone came through the house clear and warm in kind. Their custom lighting, the rope lights around the drums, strobe, and so on, left Connor more or less out of the equation, and that seemed to create some imbalance on stage, but unless you happened to be the black metal purists positioned in front of me as I watched Estatic Vision space out on encompassing, fluid psychedelic jams, there was little to argue with as they warmed up and settled into their engaging vibe. They still don’t have much recorded but are expected to make a debut sometime later this year on Relapse. Still worth keeping an eye on.

YOB

Would YOB do “Marrow” in that room? Yes, they would. Three of the four cuts from last year’s Clearing the Path to Ascend (review here) — also my pick for the best album of 2014 — were aired, with opening duo “In Our Blood” and the scorching “Nothing to Win” leading to the aforementioned 19-minute record-closer, which was followed in turn by the title-track of their 2011 sixth album, Atma (review here), the Eugene, Oregon, three-piece of guitarist/vocalist Mike Scheidt, bassist Aaron Rieseberg and drummer Travis Foster crisp in their delivery but not at all dead-eyed in the here’s-another-show way one might expect after their having spent the better part of the last three weeks on the road. The run with Enslaved ends this week, but YOB will continue to tour their way back west before returning in May to the East Coast for Maryland Deathfest in Baltimore. In New York, their response showed a considerable crossover response from the clearly-there-for-Enslaved contingent, particularly as the culmination of “Marrow” hit and they followed it by the gallop-laden “Atma,” which seemed all the more furious in comparison. I’ve seen YOB at least five times in the last 12 months and have yet to come out of a set without any regrets. Foster‘s snare was loud in the house mix, but so was everything else, so, you know, it kind of worked itself out. Every accolade YOB gets, they earn. I know they did that European stint last year with Pallbearer, and that was a month-plus on the road, but it’s still a change to think of YOB as a touring band after their years of keeping shows limited. While I wonder what the rest of 2015 will hold for them, I also couldn’t help but notice how sustainable and decidedly un-worn they looked on stage, like they could just keep going. I doubt they’d have met any complaints if they had.

Enslaved

Last time I saw Enslaved in New York was early 2013. They played the Bowery Ballroom (review here), which is a not-insignificant space in itself, but not as sizable as the Gramercy, and I think it says something about the long-running Norwegian outfit’s growing US fanbase that their return to Manhattan would be in a larger venue. They’re supporting the release of their 13th full-length, In Times (review forthcoming) on Nuclear Blast, but new material or old, they had the room on their side from the word go. Bassist/vocalist Grutle Kjellson joked with the crowd between songs, and by the time they got down to playing the title-track from In Times laughingly promised the crowd that it would be the last new song they played. For what it’s worth, I didn’t notice much of a change in reception for recent or older material. Sure, a song like “The Watcher” from 2008’s Vertebrae, with its mega-chorus, or a by-now staple like “Ruun” from the 2006 LP of the same name is bound to get a response, but “Thurisaz Dreaming” and “Building with Fire” sat well alongside those and “Death in the Eyes of Dawn” from 2012’s RIITIIR (review here), and wherever the band headed, the crowd went along. Of course, their stage presentation was air-tight, Kjellson holding down a frontman role flanked on either side by guitarists Ivar Bjørnson and Arve “Ice Dale” Isdal, while keyboardist/vocalist Herbrand Larsen made a case for up-front featuring of his own with stellar command of the clean-sung parts — I saw Enslaved for the first time eight years ago at SXSW, and I’d mark Larsen‘s growth as a vocalist among the foremost catalysts enabling their musical progression in that time; that growth was, I’ll note, already underway for several years by then — and drummer Cato Bekkevold sat swallowed up by his expansive kit surrounding. They came out one at a time to start their set and for the encore, and each time Bekkevold sat down, he disappeared. Good for a laugh, but he also used that whole drumset, and flawlessly. Their encore was “As Fire Swept Clean the Earth” from 2003’s Below the Lights, “Fenris” from 1994’s sophomore outing, Frost, and the title-cut from 2004’s landmark Isa, and when it was over, there was nothing left for the audience to do but leave, having so thoroughly been handed its ass on a platter by the five-piece, whose reach seems only to continue growing with time.

—

If you want the short version, the show was a win, but what made it even better was seeing old friends throughout the night and catching up, and that was something that continued even as security started shuffling people out of the downstairs lounge. On my way back north on Sunday, it was the memories of good times and good music that seemed to make the trip shorter, both thoroughly appreciated.

Speaking of old friends, this review is dedicated to Loana dP Valencia of Nuclear Blast, alongside whom it has been my complete and utter pleasure to work for the last decade.

More pics after the jump. Thanks for reading.

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