Please note: This post is not culled in any way from the Year-End Poll, which is ongoing. If you haven’t yet contributed your favorites of 2016 to that, please do.

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Of all the lists I do to wrap up or start any given year, this is the hardest. As someone obviously more concerned with first impressions than I am and thus probably better-dressed once said, you only get one chance at them. For bands, that can be a vicious bite in the ass on multiple levels.

To wit, you put out a great debut, fine, but there’s a whole segment of your listeners who’re bound to think you’ll never live up to it again. You put out a meh debut, you sell yourself short. Or maybe your debut is awesome but doesn’t really represent where you want to be as a band, so it’s a really good first impression, but a mistaken one. There are so many things that can go wrong or go right with any LP, but with debuts, the stakes are that much higher because it’s the only time you’ll get the chance to engage your audience for the first time. That matters.

And when it comes to putting together a list of the best debuts of the year, how does one begin to judge? True, some of these acts have done EPs and singles and splits and things like that before, and that’s at least something to go on, but can one really be expected to measure an act’s potential based on a single collection of songs? Is that fair to anyone involved? Or on the other side, is it even possible to take a debut entirely on its own merits, without any consideration for where it might lead the band in question going forward? I know that’s not something I’ve ever been able to do, certainly. Or particularly interested in doing. I like context.

Still, one presses on. I guess the point is that, like picking any kind of prospects, some will pan out and some won’t. I’ve done this for enough years now that I’ve seen groups flame or fade out while others have risen to new heights with each subsequent release. It’s always a mix. But at the same time, it’s important to step back and say that, as of today, this is where it’s at.

And so it is:

The Obelisk Presents: The Top 20 Debut Albums of 2016

1. King Buffalo, Orion
2. Elephant Tree, Elephant Tree
3. Heavy Temple, Chassit
4. Holy Grove, Holy Grove
5. Worshipper, Shadow Hymns
6. Vokonis, Olde One Ascending
7. Wretch, Wretch
8. Year of the Cobra, In the Shadows Below
9. BigPig, Grande Puerco
10. Fuzz Evil, Fuzz Evil
11. Bright Curse, Before the Shore
12. Conclave, Sins of the Elders
13. Pale Grey Lore, Pale Grey Lore
14. High Fighter, Scars and Crosses
15. Spirit Adrift, Chained to Oblivion
16. Bellringer, Jettison
17. Church of the Cosmic Skull, Is Satan Real?
18. Merchant, Suzerain
19. Beastmaker, Lusus Naturae
20. King Dead, Woe and Judgment

Honorable Mention

There are many. First, the self-titled from Pooty Owldom, which had so much weirdo charm it made my head want to explode. And Iron Man frontman Dee Calhoun‘s acoustic solo record was technically a debut. And Atala‘s record. And Horehound. And Mother Mooch. And Domkraft. And Spaceslug. And Graves at Sea? Shit. More than a decade after their demo, they finally put out a debut album. And Second Grave‘s full-length would turn out to be their swansong, but that doesn’t take away from the quality of the thing. There were a lot of records to consider in putting this list together. As always, it could’ve been a much longer list.

For example, here are 20 more: Swan Valley Heights, Arctic, Blues Funeral, Teacher, Psychedelic Witchcraft, Nonsun, Duel, Banquet, Floodlore, Mindkult‘s EP, Mountain Dust, Red Lama, Red Wizard, Limestone Whale, Dunbarrow, Comacozer, Sinister Haze, Pants Exploder, Akasava, Katla and No Man’s Valley. That’s not even the end of it. I could go on.

Notes

It was a fight to the finish. There’s always one, and as late as yesterday I could be found kicking back and forth between King Buffalo and Elephant Tree in the top spot. What was it that finally put King Buffalo‘s Orion over Elephant Tree‘s self-titled? I don’t know. Ask me tomorrow and the answer might be completely different.

They had a lot in common. Not necessarily in terms of style — King Buffalo basked in spacious Americana-infused heavy psych jams while Elephant Tree proffered more earthbound riffing and melodies — but each executed memorable songs across its span in a way that would be unfair to ask of a debut. The potential for what both bands can turn into down the line played a part in the picks, but something else they share between them is that the quality of the work they’re doing now warrants the top spots. Orion and Elephant Tree were great albums, not just great first albums.

From there, we see a wide swath of next-generation encouragement for the future of heavy rock, whether it’s coming from Sweden’s Vokonis or Philadelphia’s Heavy Temple, or London’s Bright Curse, or Los Angeles duo BigPig. The latter act’s punkish fuzz definitely benefited from guitarist/vocalist Dino von Lalli‘s experience playing in Fatso Jetson, but one hopes that as the years go on his own multifaceted songwriting style will continue to grow as well.

A few offerings weren’t necessarily unexpected but still lived up to the anticipation. High Fighter‘s EP prefaced their aggro sludgecore well. Ditto that for the grueling death-sludge of Massachusetts natives Conclave. The aforementioned Bright Curse, Merchant, Fuzz Evil, Atala, Bellringer, Holy Grove, Wretch and Worshipper all had offerings of one sort or another prior to their full-length debuts — in the case of Bellringer, it was just a series of videos, while Wretch had the entire The Gates of Slumber catalog to fall back on — but each of those albums offered surprises nonetheless.

It would’ve been hard not to be taken by the songwriting on display from the likes of Holy Grove, Year of the Cobra, Pale Grey Lore and Beastmaker, who between them covered a pretty broad variety of atmosphere but found ways to deliver high-quality crafted material in that. Those albums were a pleasure to hear. Put Boston’s Worshipper in that category as well, though they were just as much a standout from the pack in terms of their performance as what they were performing. Speaking of performance, the lush melodies from Church of the Cosmic Skull and classic progressive flourish were enough to make me a believer. Simply gorgeous. And one-man outfit Spirit Adrift shined, if in that matte-black doom kind of way, on an encouraging collection of modern melancholic heavy that seemed to hint at sprawl to come.

As we get down to the bottom of the list we find Pennsylvania ambient heavy post-rockers King Dead. Their Woe and Judgment was released digitally last year (2015) but the LP came out earlier this year, so I wasn’t quite sure where to place them ultimately. I know they got some mention on the 2015 lists somewhere, but while they’re an act who’ve flown under a lot of people’s radar as yet, I have good feelings about how they might continue to dig into their sound and the balance of bleakness and psychedelic color they bring to their material. They’re slated for a follow-up in 2017, so this won’t be the last list on which they appear in the next few weeks.

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Like I said at the outset, putting out a debut album is a special moment for any band. Not everyone gets to that point and not everyone gets beyond it, so while a list like this is inherently bound to have some element of speculation, it’s still a worthy endeavor to celebrate the accomplishments of those who hit that crucial moment in their creative development. Hopefully these acts continue to grow, flourish, and build on what they’ve thus far been able to realize sonically. That’s the ideal.

And before I go, once again, let me reinforce the notion that I recognize this is just a fraction of the whole. I’d like it to be the start of a conversation. If there was a debut album that kicked your ass this year and you don’t see it here, please drop a note in the comments below. I’m sure I’ll be adding more honorable mentions and whatnot over the next couple days, so if you see glaring omissions, let’s have ’em.

Thanks for reading.

The lumbercrush of Weltesser‘s aptly-titled Demo tape has been sold out since I don’t know how long from its 2015 release, but the news that the cave-echoing Floridian trio have been picked up by Prosthetic Records to release their impending debut album, Crestfallen, in January, wants little for justification. One can imagine the wash of low end from “Rats” or “Hate Worshiper” filling any number of small rooms throughout the unsuspecting Southeast over the last couple years and demolishing what a given audience might’ve thought they were getting from a live set, and as Prosthetic continues to wade into things slow and low — see also Spirit Adrift, past rockin’ experience with The Tower, Castle, and so on — the Saint Petersburg three-piece bring an extremity to the mix in which they’ve not yet basked.

Stream and download that demo below, name-your-price style. Here’s the info from Prosthetic:

PROSTHETIC RECORDS SIGNS METALLIC DOOM TRIO WELTESSER

Band announce Jan. 27 release for debut album “Crestfallen” & upcoming appearances

PROSTHETIC RECORDS are pleased to reveal the signing of metallic doom trio WELTESSER to their ever expanding roster. Fueled by sour diesel and misery, WELTESSER is comprised of Ian Hronek (Rotting Palms, Landbridge) Nate Peterson (Rotting Palms, Sky Burial) and Mike Amador (Landbridge), who formed the band in Saint Petersburg, FL over Sabbath worship and Monolord. Roughly a year after their inaugural demo release – a syrupy four track cassette – WELTESSER are excited to announce the release of their debut full-length album “Crestfallen” with PROSTHETIC RECORDS on January 27, 2017.

The band collectively commented on the signing and what to expect from their debut stating, “We are super humbled, and honestly very excited, to be working with Prosthetic. We’ve all been working very hard on our music for years. Once we all got together and started Weltesser, it was the most fluid we’ve ever played, but I think we were all pretty surprised about anyone taking interest in helping with putting out an album so early in the band’s life. “Crestfallen” is refinement and growth, we wanted to have the same depressive emotions that were in the demo, but branch out and pull some new sounds into it. Our music is very much about redundancy, not so much the repeat, just bringing you back to the same feelings from the beginning to the end. We are happy about how it came out and are excited about writing more music”

Self-produced and engineered by Dan Byers, “Crestfallen” is six tracks clocking in at 30 minutes of sickening, metallic doom. Having shared the stage with bands such as Primitive Man, The Body, Jucifer, Celeste and many more, they quickly became the go-to unsigned band in Florida for nationally touring acts. Their sound is inspired by Dystopia, His Hero is Gone, and Laudanum, lending a humble maturity beyond three years.

UPCOMING TOUR DATES
11/18-19 Saint Petersburg, FL – Destroyer Fest (w/ Cough, set and setting, Shroud Eater)
12/17-18 Orlando, FL – Florida is Loud Fest (w/ Yautja, Knife Hits)

www.facebook.com/weltesser
https://weltesser.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/prostheticrecords
prostheticrecords.com

Weltesser, Demo (2015)

Last day. As ever, I am mentally, physically and spiritually exhausted by this process, but as ever, it’s been worth it. Today I do myself a couple favors in packing out with more familiar acts, but whatever, it’s all stuff I should be covering anyway, so if the order bothers you, go write your own 50 reviews in a week and we can talk about it. Yeah, that’s right. That’s what I said. Today we start with Swans. Everything’s a confrontation.

Once again, I hope you’ve found something somewhere along this bizarre, careening path of music that has resonated with you, something that will stick with you. That’s why we’re here. You and me. If you have, I’d love to know about it. Until then, one more time here we go.

Quarterly Review #41-50:

Swans, The Glowing Man

Oh fucking please. You want me to try to summarize The Glowing Man – the culmination and finale of an era of Swans that Michael Gira began now more than half a decade ago – in a single review? Even putting aside the fact that the record two hours long, the notion is ridiculous. If there ever was a chart, the scope here is well off it. The material unfolds and churns and is primal and lush at once on “Cloud of Forgetting,” genuinely chaotic on the 28-minute title-track, and it ends with a drone lullaby, but seriously, what the fuck? Some shit is just beyond, and if you don’t know that applies to Swans by now, it’s your own fault. You want a review? Fine. I listened to the whole thing. It ate my fucking soul, chewed it with all-canine teeth and then spit it out saying “thanks for the clarity” and left me dazed, bloodied and humbled. There’s your fucking review. Thanks for reading.

Swans on Thee Facebooks

Young God Records website

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Virus, Memento Collider

Oslo trio Virus have long since established that they’re a band working on their own wavelength. Memento Collider (on Karisma Records) is the jazzy post-black metallers’ first album in five years and brings together adventurous rhythms, poetic declarations, dissonant basslines and – in the case of “Rogue Fossil,” the occasional hook – in ways that are unique unto Virus. Look at this site and see how often I use the word “unique.” It doesn’t happen. Virus, however, are one of a kind. Memento Collider makes for a challenging listen front to back on its six-track/45-minute run, but it refuses to dumb itself down or dull its progressive edge, bookending its longest (that’s opener “Afield” at 10:41; immediate points) two tracks around jagged explorations of sound like “Steamer” and “Gravity Seeker,” which engage and intrigue in kind after the melodic push of “Dripping into Orbit” and leading into “Phantom Oil Slick,” a righteous affirmation of the angular thrust at the core of Virus’ approach.

Virus on Thee Facebooks

Karisma Records webstore

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The Re-Stoned, Reptiles Return

In 2010, Moscow troupe The Re-Stoned issued their first EP, Return to the Reptiles, and being obviously concerned with evolution, they’ve now gone back and revisited that debut release with Reptiles Return, a reworking of the four studio tracks that made up the initial version – “Return,” “Run,” “The Mountain Giant” and “Sleeping World.” The opener is a straight re-recording, as is one other, where another is remixed and the other two remastered, and Reptiles Return – which is presented on limited vinyl through Clostridium Records and a CD box set with bonus tracks via Rushus Records – pairs them with more psychedelic-minded soundscape pieces like “Winter Witchcraft,” “Walnut Talks,” the proggy “Flying Clouds” and sweetly acoustic “Roots Patter,” that showcase where founding multi-instrumentalist Ilya Lipkin is taking the band going forward. The result is a satisfying side A/B split on the vinyl that delights in heavy riffing for its own sake in the first half and expands the scope in the second, which should delight newcomers as well as those who’ve followed The Re-Stoned along this evolutionary process.

The Re-Stoned on Thee Facebooks

Clostridium Records website

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Castle, Welcome to the Graveyard

It may well be the fate of San Francisco’s hard-touring, ass-kicking, genre-refusing duo Castle to be terminally underappreciated, but that has yet to stop them from proliferating their righteous blend of thrash, doom and classic, fistpump-worthy metal. Their latest outing, Welcome to the Graveyard, arrives via respected purveyor Ván Records, and entices in atmosphere and execution, cohesively built tracks like “Hammer and the Cross” and the penultimate “Down in the Cauldron Bog” finding a balance of personality and delivery that the band has long since honed on stage. The Dio-esque barnburner riff of “Flash of the Pentagram” makes that cut a highlight, but as they roll out the cultish vibes of “Natural Parallel” to close, there doesn’t seem to be much on the spectrum of heavy metal that doesn’t fit into Castle’s wheelhouse. For some bands, there’s just no justice. Four records deep, Castle have yet to get their due, and Welcome to the Graveyard is further proof of why they deserve it.

Castle website

Ván Records

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Spirit Adrift, Chained to Oblivion

One can hear a new wave of modern doom taking shape in Chained to Oblivion, the Prosthetic Records debut from Arizona one-man outfit Spirit Adrift. The work of Nate Garrett alone in the studio, the full-length offers five mostly-extended tracks as a 48-minute 2LP of soaring, emotional and psychedelic doom à la Pallbearer, but given even further breadth through progressively atmospheric passages and a marked flow in its transitions. To call it personal seems superfluous – it’s a one-man band, of course it’s personal – but Garrett (also formerly of metallers Take Over and Destroy) brings a palpable sense of performance to the songwriting, and by the time he gets to the 11-minutes-apiece finale duo of the title-track and “Hum of Our Existence,” it’s easy to forget you’re not actually listening to a full band, not the least because of the vocal harmonies. Calling Chained to Oblivion a promising first outing would be underselling it – this is a project with serious potential.

Spirit Adrift on Thee Facebooks

Prosthetic Records website

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Robb & Pott, Once upon the Wings

Unpredictable from the start of opener “Flesh ‘n’ Steel,” Once upon the Wings is a first-time multinational collaborative effort from Robbi Robb of California’s 3rd Ear Experience and Paul Pott of Germany’s The Space Invaders. Its five tracks/42 minutes arrive through no less than Nasoni Records, and provide a curious and exploratory blend of the organic and the inorganic in sound, as one finds the 11-minute “Grass” no less defined by its percussion solo, guitar line and ‘60s-style vocal than the electronic drums that underscore the layered wash of noise in its midsection. Further definition hits with the 16-minute centerpiece “Prophecy #1,” which works in a space-rocking vein, but the shorter closing duo of the catchy “Looney Toon” and darkly progressive “Space Ear” show a creative bent that clearly refuses to be tamed. Robb & Pott, as a project, demonstrates remarkable potential throughout this debut, as they seem to have set no limits for where they want their sound to go and they seem to have the command to take it there.

Robb & Pott on Bandcamp

Nasoni Records website

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Family, Future History

Most of the tracks on Brooklyn progressive noise rockers Family’s second album and Prosthetic Records debut, Future History, come paired with interludes. That cuts some of the growling intensity of winding pieces like “Funtime for Bigboy” and “Floodgates,” and emphasizes the generally experimental spirit of the record as a whole, broadening the scope in sound and theme. I’m somewhat torn as to how much this actually works to the 51:50 outing’s benefit, as shorter pieces like “Prison Hymn” and “Transmission,” while adding dynamic to the sound and narrative drama, also cut the immediacy in impact of “The Trial” or closer “Bone on Bone,” but it’s entirely possible that without them Future History would be an overwhelming tumult of raw prog metal. And while the play back and forth can feel cumbersome when one considers how effectively “Night Vision” bridges the gap between sides, I’m not sure that’s not what Family were going for in the first place. It’s not supposed to be an easy record, and it isn’t one.

Family on Thee Facebooks

Family website

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Les Discrets, Virée Nocturne

France’s Les Discrets haven’t had a studio offering since 2012’s Ariettes Oubliées (review here), and while they released Live at Roadburn (review here) last year documenting their 2013 set at that festival, there’s little there that might presage the stylistic turn the Fursy Teyssier-led outfit takes on their new EP, Virée Nocturne (on Prophecy Productions). With four tracks – two new, complete recordings, one demo and the last a remix of the opener by Dälek and Deadverse – Les Discrets attempt to find a stylistic middle ground between post-rock and trip-hop, and for the most part, they get there. “Virée Nocturne” itself leads off and can be jarring on first listen, but successfully blends the lush melodicism for which the band is known with electronic-driven beats, and both “Capricorni. Virginis. Corvi” and even the demo “Le Reproche” continue to build on this bold shift. The finale remix adds over two minutes to “Virée Nocturne,” but uses that time to make it even more spacious and all the more immersive. For anyone who thought they might’ve had Les Discrets figured out, the surprise factor here should be palpable.

Les Discrets on Thee Facebooks

Prophecy Productions website

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Liquido di Morte, II

Presented across four tracks beginning with the 12-minute and longest-of-the-bunch (immediate points) “The Corpse of Dr. Funkenstein” (double points for the reference), II, the aptly-titled second album from Liquido di Morte expands the progressive atmospherics of the Italian four-piece’s 2014 self-titled debut (review here) without losing sight of the performance and spirit of exploration that helped bring it to life. Isaak’s Giacomo H. Boeddu guests on brooding vocals and whispers for “The Saddest of Songs I’ll Sing for You,” which swells in seething intensity as it moves forward, while “Rodents on the Uphill” casts a vision of post-space rock and closer “Schwartz Pit” rounds out with crash and wash that seems only to draw out how different the two halves of II actually are. Not a complaint. Liquido di Morte make their way across this vast span with marked fluidity, and if they prove anything throughout, it’s that they’re able to keep their command wherever they feel like using it to go.

Liquido di Morte on Thee Facebooks

Sstars BigCartel store

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Witchskull, The Vast Electric Dark

Canberra, Australia, trio Witchskull initially released their debut full-length, The Vast Electric Dark, last year, and caught the attention of the cross-coastal US partnership between Ripple Music and STB Records, who now align for a reissue of the eight-tracker. Why is quickly apparent. In addition to having earned a fervent response, The Vast Electric Dark basks in quality songcraft and doomly, heavy vibes, keeping a consistent pace while rolling through the semi-metallic push of “Raise the Dead” or the later rumble/shred of “Cassandra’s Curse.” All the while, guitarist/vocalist Marcus De Pasquale provides a steady presence at the fore alongside bassist Tony McMahon and drummer Joel Green, and what’s ultimately still a straightforward rocker of an album finds a niche for itself between varies underground styles of heavy. Between the balance they strike across their 37 minutes and the energy that courses through their songs, Witchskull’s The Vast Electric Dark proves easily worth the look it’s getting.

Witchskull on Thee Facebooks

STB Records webstore

Ripple Music website

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Portland progressive heavy rockers Zirakzigil will head out on a West Coast tour next month supporting righteous weirdos Wizard Rifle. The three-piece have announced that Prosthetic Records has picked them up and will reissue their 2015 sophomore full-length, Worldbuilder, on June 10, with new artwork and a bonus track for the CD/DL editions. That’s not minor distribution channel to tap into, and at this point Prosthetic has a significant and loyal following in prog metal, so it’ll be interesting to see how Zirakzigil — veterans of Hoverfest as you can see above in the photo by Aaron Sharpsteen — appeal to the label’s built-in audience.

I wouldn’t expect this run with Wizard Rifle will be Zirakzigil‘s last, either. Info on the release and tour follows, courtesy of the PR wire:

PORTLAND PROG TRIO ZIRAKZIGIL SIGN TO PROSTHETIC RECORDS, ANNOUNCE “WORLDBUILDER” REISSUE

Band announce summer tour dates with Wizard Rifle, launch pre-order bundles for reissue

PROSTHETIC RECORDS are excited to announce their latest signing, Portland progressive psych/doom metal trio ZIRAKZIGIL.

Named after the misty mountain peak from Tolkien’s legendary novel Lord of the Rings, ZIRAKZIGIL have been steadily conquering the Pacific Northwest since their formation in early 2013. Described by Revolver Magazine as “70’s prog-rock sliding down King Crimson’s mountain”, the trio are heavily influenced by both classical music and the famed prog-rock heavy weights of the 70’s such as the aforementioned King Crimson along with Yes, Gentle Giant and Rush – to name just a few. Their truly unique sound blends these elements along with touches of sludge and doom to create an onslaught of crushing heavy riffage fused with sporadic flourishes of progressive insanity.

ZIRAKZIGIL have announced they will reissue their sophomore album “Worldbuilder”, featuring updated artwork seen below, across all formats (CD, LP, and Digital) on June 10. A previously unheard bonus track, “Prolegoria”, will also be included only on digital and CD versions of the album. Recorded and mixed with Billy Anderson (Neurosis, High on Fire).

The band commented, “We are screaming in the faces of kittens with excitement about signing with Prosthetic Records, who have agreed to help us in our quest for world domination. The newly upgraded psychedelic Kantian mindfuck edition WORLDBUILDER release is only the beginning as we continue to conquer new realms of heaviness and complexity. Prepare yourselves for an avalanche of sonic wizardry”.

Track Listing
1. Kategoria
2. Prolegomena
3. Will and Presentation
4. Terra Perricolosa
BONUS TRACK
5. Prolegoria *
*Included only on CD & Digital versions

ZIRAKZIGIL will join up with Portland/NYC noise rockers, Wizard Rifle, a week after the album’s release along the West Coast.

Catch them at one of the following dates:
6/17 Seattle, WA – Victory Lounge #
6/18 Portland, OR – Panic Room #
6/20 Sacramento, CA – Starlite #
6/21 San Francisco, CA – The Hemlock #
6/22 Santa Cruz, CA – Blue Lagoon
6/23 Glendale, CA – Complex #
6/24 Los Osos, CA – Sweet Springs
6/25 Pacifica, CA – Winter’s Tavern
# with Wizard Rifle

https://www.facebook.com/zirakzigilpdx
https://twitter.com/ZIRAKZIGILBAND
store.prostheticrecords.com/bands/zirakzigil
https://zirakzigil.bandcamp.com/album/worldbuilder-redux

Zirakzigil, Worldbuilder (2016)

Cheers and clinky-glasses to Arizona metallers Take Over and Destroy, who have newly inked a deal to release their next album — to be recorded early in 2016 — via Prosthetic Records. The five-piece have put in some significant road time since their debut, Rotten Tide (review here), came out in 2011, and that record’s follow-up, Endless Night (review here), found the then-sextet touring the country as genre-spanning aggressors seemingly hell bent on living up to their moniker. Signing to Prosthetic would seem to be another pivotal step in making that happen.

They’ll celebrate the recent victory on the road this month with Lament Cityscape. Tour dates and signing announcement follow from the PR wire:

TAKE OVER AND DESTROY SIGN TO PROSTHETIC RECORDS, ANNOUNCE TOUR

PROSTHETIC RECORDS is proud to announce the singing of Tempe, AZ’s diverse black & roll band, TAKE OVER AND DESTROY. The band is set to enter the studio in early 2016 with a summer release scheduled. Prior to recording their next LP, TAKE OVER AND DESTROY will hit the road to test out new material to their fans. The band comments:

“We’re excited to announce that the take over continues to grow as we join forces with Prosthetic Records. We’ve finished putting the final touches on the new album and will enter the studio first thing next year. Be ready to spin a new Take Over And Destroy record in 2016! Come see us play this material live for the first time ever as we execute our tour with Lament Cityscape across the southern United States.”

Since 2008, TAKE OVER AND DESTROY has been relentlessly pushing the boundaries of heavy music. With an amalgamation of eclectic tastes: death metal, classic rock, doom, death rock, black metal and horror scores, TOAD has established itself as a truly unique entity, both sonically and aesthetically. The five members’ collective obsession with cinema results in their incorporation of the moody undertones of classic film scores into the raw power and energy of heavy metal and rock and roll.

TAKE OVER AND DESTROY 2015 TOUR DATES
11/11 Mesa, AZ – The Nile Underground (w/Twitching Tongues)
11/27 Tempe, AZ – Yucca Room #
11/28 Tucson, AZ – Skybar #
11/29 El Paso, TX – The Sandbox #
11/30 Lubbock, TX – The District #
12/1 Austin, TX – The Lost Well #
12/2 San Antonio, TX – Bottom Bracket #
12/3 Houston, TX – Black Barbie #
12/4 Lafayette, LA – Heffe’s Saloon #
12/5 New Orleans, LA – TBA #
12/6 Ocean Spring, MS – The Juke Joint #
12/7 Jacksonville, FL – The Birdhouse #
12/8 Greenville, SC – TBA #
12/9 Atlanta, GA – 529 #
12/10 Nashville, TN – East Room #
12/11 Little Rock, AR – Vino’s #
12/12 Fayetteville, AR – Ryleigh’s #
12/13 Tulsa, Ok – Soundpony #
12/14 Albuquerque, NM – The Launchpad #
12/15 Flagstaff, AZ – The Green Room #
# with Lament Cityscape

TAKE OVER AND DESTROY is:
Alex Bank Rollins – guitar
Nate Garrett – guitar
Andrew Leemont – vocals/keys
Pete Porter – bass
Jason Tomaszewski – drums

takeoveranddestroy.com
facebook.com/TakeOverAndDestroy
prostheticrecords.com
https://www.facebook.com/prostheticrecords

Take Over and Destroy, Live at the Saint Vitus Bar, 2013

Life is full of surprises. Castle touring is not one of them. The Cali-based outfit have been on the road with admirable regularity since the release of 2014’s Under Siege on Prosthetic, and they’ll continue this very weekend, as it happens, heading up the West Coast and into Canada for a round of gigs that finishes Aug. 25. They’ll be heading to the East Coast come November, but they have plenty of shows booked in the Midwest as well, so on the off-chance you live someplace other than Brooklyn, don’t worry, they’ve got you covered.

Dates and whatnots follow off the PR wire:

CASTLE RETURN TO EAST COAST ON “DOOMED FROM THE WOMB” TOUR

Continuing to support 2014’s “Under Siege” doom infused heavy metal trio CASTLE are excited to announce the “Doomed From the Womb” tour. The headlining tour will kick off in early November and see the band make their way back to the East Coast for the first time in over 12 months. CASTLE will also appear on a short jaunt up the West Coast starting this weekend before returning to begin writing material for a new album. A full listing of dates can be found below or at www.heavycastle.com.

CASTLE have spent the past year on the road aggresively touring in support of “Under Siege”; whether it be a headlining run mapped around iconic cult-related sites, stopping by festivals including Austin,TX’s infamous South By Southwest (SXSW) to rock Boss Tweed Backline’s “Black Smoke Conjuring” showcase and Utah’s Crucial Fest (Royal Thunder, Goatsnake) or venturing across the pond to satisfy crowds across Europe (Acherontic Fest, Heavy Days in Doomtown). Live footage from the band’s mesmerizing set at SXSW was released earlier today and can be seen streaming below.

Described as “hauntingly beautiful” with “crushing riffs” (Examiner), “Under Siege” marks the third overall album for CASTLE since their formation in 2009. Having once again tapped producer Billy Anderson (Eyehategod, Neurosis) — who previously worked on their Juno-nominated Prosthetic debut ”Blacklands” –CASTLE have managed to keep hold of their darkened, classic sound while expanding to haunting and eerie new horizons. Grab a copy of “Under Siege” on CD or LP from store.prostheticrecords.com/bands/castle today.

UPCOMING CASTLE TOUR DATES
8/15 Los Angeles, CA – Loaded
8/16 Los Osos, CA – Sweet Springs Saloon
8/17 San Francisco, CA – Bottom of the Hill
8/18 Eugene, OR – Wandering Goat
8/19 Seattle, WA – Funhouse
8/20 Vancouver, BC – Funky Winker Beans
8/21 Victoria, BC – Logan’s Pub
8/22 Bellingham, WA – Shakedown
8/24 Portland, OR – Ash St. Saloon
8/25 Bend, OR – Third Street Pub
11/5 Denver, CO @ Three Kings
11/6 Madison, WI @ The Wisco
11/7 Chicago, IL @ Reggies
11/8 Minneapolis, MN @ TBA
11/9 Milwaukee, WI @ Franks Power Plant
11/10 Detroit, MI @ Corktown
11/11 Rochester, NY @ Bugjar
11/12 Boston, MA @ O’Briens
11/13 Portland, ME @ Geno’s
11/14 Montpelier, VT @ Charlie O’s
11/15 Providence, RI @ Dusk
11/16 Brooklyn, NY @ Acheron
11/17 Philadelphia, PA @ Millcreek Tavern
11/18 Baltimore, MD @ Sidebar
11/19 Washington, DC @ The Pinch
11/20 Richmond, VA @ Strange Matter
11/21 Raleigh, NC @ The Maywood
11/22 Knoxville, TN @ Open Chord
11/23 Louisville, KY @ Highlands Taproom
11/24 Nashville, TN @ TBD
11/25 Little Rock, AR @ Vino’s
11/26 Oklahoma City, OK @ Blue Note

http://www.heavycastle.com/
https://www.facebook.com/CastleSF
http://heavycastle.bigcartel.com/
https://www.facebook.com/prostheticrecords

Castle, Live at SXSW 2015

After touring the West Coast last month with Lord Dying in support of their 2014 full-length, Under Siege, San Francisco genre-blenders Castle are set to head out again, this time exclusively in California. There aren’t many states in the union where you could do 14 dates reasonably all within their borders — maybe Texas if you want to play some gigs in some crazy-ass places — but looking at Castle‘s itinerary, it looks legit. I wouldn’t mind seeing them in Palm Desert, or in Oakland or L.A. with Borracho. Really anywhere would be fine.

Under Siege came out in May on Prosthetic Records in the US and Ván Records in Europe. Dates for the tour and Castle‘s video for “Evil Ways” follow:

CASTLE announce “California Cult” Tour

Thrash inspired Doom Metallers CASTLE have announced plans for their “California Cult” tour – an all California headlining trek beginning on January 16th, 2015 in Riverside, CA.

Following a month long Canadian headlining tour and a western US tour alongside Lord Dying, the “California Cult” tour will see CASTLE play to 15 cities across their native state in support of their most recent album “Under Siege”, released earlier this year. You can watch their newest music video for the fitting single “Evil Ways” below.

Part of the Castle “California Cult” tour – Jan 29th @ The Golden Bull in Oakland w/ DC’s Borracho and Jan 30th @Five Star Bar in LA w/ Borracho, Behold! The Monolith and The Love Below… heavy/heavy.

1/16 Riverside, CA – Back to the Grind
1/17 Palm Desert, CA – Schmidy’s
1/18 San Diego, CA – Tower Bar
1/19 Anaheim, CA – The Doll Hut
1/20 San Luis Obispo, CA – TBD
1/22 San Francisco, CA – The Eagle
1/23 Sacramento, CA – The Colony
1/24 Dunsmuir, CA – Spirits
1/25 Redding, CA – Bombays
1/27 Santa Cruz, CA – Blue Lagoon
1/28 San Jose, CA – The Rock Shop
1/29 Oakland, CA – Golden Bull
1/30 Los Angeles, CA – Five Star Bar
1/31 Ventura, CA – The Garage

http://www.heavycastle.com/
https://www.facebook.com/CastleSF
http://heavycastle.bigcartel.com/

Castle, “Evil Ways” official video

The Latin title of Swedish classic heavy rockers The Tower‘s full-length debut, Hic Abundant Leones, translates to “here are many lions.” A warning. Likewise, one might take a listen to the three-minute track “Exile” from The Tower‘s first outing for Bad Omen (North American distro via Prosthetic) and take it as a sign of what the record itself has in store. Just as a lion isn’t the only thing that can kill you in the jungle, so too does Hic Abundant Leones have a deceptively multi-pronged attack, and while “Exile” gives a solid demonstration of the Uppsala four-piece’s retro vibes and penchant for lyrical references — you’ll note appearances from The Doormouse and Queen of Hearts, à la both Jefferson Airplane and Alice in Wonderland — it’s by no means a complete overview of the album’s nine-track/48-minute span.

Immediate comparisons to Graveyard will be made for “Exile,” thanks in part to the bluesy vocal cadences of frontman Erik, but The Tower are more push than boogie, ultimately, and as cuts like “Lucy,” “Moonstoned” and the closing eponymous cut “The Tower” range past six minutes each — the latter clocking in at 11:41 to serve as the longest on Hic Abundant Leones and a companion piece to the Beatles-references in “Lucy” — the band seem to be pushing against such convenient assignations. Still, with their warmth of tone and natural, live-sounding spaciousness, the guitars of August, bass of Viktor and drums of Tommie, not to mention the nods in the lyrics to Baby Boomer greats, Hic Abundant Leones puts forth a heavy ’70s loyalism that comes through on just about every level of their presentation.

They not only acknowledge this in the songs themselves, but even unto their bio, which follows a timeline beginning in 1938 and carrying the band through the ’70s and into 2012, when they reportedly emerged following rumors of the end of the world with — what else? — the demo that led to this album. Good times.

Hic Abundant Leones is due out April 15 on Bad Omen Records. Preorders are available now. More info from the aforementioned bio follows the premiere of “Exile” below.

Please enjoy:

The Tower, “Exile”

“It was back in 1938 that the brothers Erik and August and their friend Viktor migrated south. They left the small village in the northern forests where they grew up for the big city and the university, to study the science of harvesting the earth. On the fields beside the burial mounds in old Uppsala they met Tommie, a Soviet refugee. He showed them his sole possession, a blues vinyl from 5300 BC, suspecting that it would fit their melancholy northern souls. The four sat down in a barn and played a blues jam which lasted until 1945, when the war ended and the post-apocalyptic nuclear winter began…”

So begins the extraordinary tale of Swedish ‘bad luck boogie’ combo THETOWER, whose cryptic, swinging timewarp of a debut LP is now released via London’s Bad Omen Records. The offbeat freakbeat and phantasmagorical psych-blues of Hic Abundant Leones exude an ageless charm and resounding singularity, striking eerie, dreamlike atmospheres that seemingly confirm THE TOWER’s eccentric parallel-universe narrative.

Sorting facts from the fantasy of the band’s complex mythology proves onerous; the quartet bonded during “long, all-night rehearsals in an old vicarage outside of Uppsala” and “began as some kind of personal quest for us but once we realised that we had a gospel we started preaching it. It is not something new. It is as ancient as the Sumerian blues records played by the Dionysos cults of the Postapocalyptic Era. Moreover, there have always been prophets of this gospel: wrayed Indians, electric shamans, crazy horses, black skinheads, exhumed singers, diddlying sheriffs, mean lick hookers, third eye girls, many a stooge, all-man brothers, Birmingham attendants of the Sabbath, and many, many more.”

Allegedly splitting in the 70s, they returned to the Tower in 1983, where they remained until 2012 – “when rumours of the end of the world enticed them to leave”. They recorded a demo (soon pressed to 12″ by Dybbuk Records) before cutting this mystical long-player. “The days in the studio were smooth. The loveable Joona Hassinen, who we recorded with, made us feel very comfortable, as if we were rehearsing in our ‘tower room’.”

And what is the significance of that peculiar title? “We saw it written on an ancient map of the (then known) world. It literally means ‘here are lions in abundance’ and was used by the cartographer to designate a uncivilised, wild and dangerous territory. When applied to Northern Scandinavia it becomes very weird, because there are no lions here, but this only furthers the poetry by making the lions mythical. The record is such a territory. So is the place where we rehearse. And stages we play on, and the vistas of our minds, the future and the past; the unknowns we want to explore and yet, paradoxically, also the regions where we feel the most at home.”

The Tower on Thee Facebooks

Bad Omen Records

Prosthetic Records