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Psycho Las Vegas 2022 – Day 3 Notes

Posted in Features on August 22nd, 2022 by JJ Koczan

Witch Mountain (Photo by JJ Koczan)

Early

Ah, the last day. If last night had been the end, I wouldn’t have been able to complain, but if you’re going to do a thing, do it, so Psycho ends on Sunday. And tonight is Mercyful Fate after High on Fire and Paradise Lost, then Monolord closing out the proceedings. And Witch Mountain with Uta Plotkin and Billy Anderson before that. That would be enough, but that’s not it either. Mothership play Famous Foods later. And I can’t help but imagine them leading the entire room in an Animal House-style food fight. Not saying I think it will happen — they’re a smarter band than that — but it would make sense.

This fest is social-ready in a way that things weren’t a few years ago. There’s stuff just strewn about to take your picture next for TikTok or Instagramming, and from the pool mosh to the black metal up in that airplane hangar of an Event Center,  the crowd participation in hype before and during and after is very much factored in. Various algorithms will bring up these pictures in ‘memories’ for years to come. I know this because all my old memories are band photos. Kid stuff too now, which I’ll admit gets me sometimes.

But it goes to show the depth of consideration put into something like this. Someone had to design, render and manufacture that big playing card cartoon character by the Poker Tournament, and it’s not a cheap cardboard cutout, either. Shit lights up. Where’s it gonna go until next year? Would they even reuse it, or is it one and done because next year will need a new design?

A video chat with the kid proves restorative. His grandmother brought him home from Connecticut and he looked pretty wiped out from his weekend. I get that. I won’t see him tomorrow, but will be there Tuesday when he wakes up at some maddeningly early time. My flight leaves Vegas at noon tomorrow, gets into Newark at 8:30. Remember I said I’d get through half the day today without fretting about getting to the airport? Seems that was a bit of wishful thinking. So it goes.

Mike and Buddy playing chess

Head upstairs as I finish coffee, just to sit in quiet for a minute. I could go back to bed. Don’t. Instead go back downstairs to where Famous Foods is doing Chessboxing with the Gza. No sign of the Genius, but it’s Mike from Elder and Buddy from Greenbeard right now and it seems like a good game, at least going by the overhead camera on the side. This is one of those things that makes sense because it’s Psycho.

I’m sorry, I think that picture is the funniest shit I’ve seen since I got here. Crazy rock and roll bacchanal, right? And I find the chess tournament. Welcome to the story of me at a party.

Not so terribly later

Man, Psychlona know how to ride a groove. This was the last show of their West Coast tour. Gotta be an interesting thing, coming over to play this fest for multiple sets in the heels of your best album yet. Tomorrow they fly back to the UK. That’s gotta feel like an accomplishment, right?

Psychlona (Photo by JJ Koczan)-2000

They finished their set with “Warped” from that new album, one more all-lined-up-and-go outbound groove, not just tight but all even in a way that makes it that much easier to get on board whenever. Like they took off a long time ago and you just walked in but it’s still cool and no worries on catching up, they’re still ready for you. I feel like I saw that happen a couple times during their set, folks wandering in and whatnot, though Psychlona, first band of the day in here, noon start, pulled a good crowd. They’re heavy rock for heavy rockers but I feel like there’s more identity starting to come out in their sound over the last two albums. I’ve seen them twice this summer now, here and Germany, so I’m a total fucking expert, mind you. Totally have every clue what I’m talking about.

Does it count as a confession or complaint that I’m exhausted? Either way, I know it’s not rock and roll. But I got chased off the floor spot I was sitting at in Dawg House, and that felt like a spiritual wound I didn’t need, so I apologize.

I saw the tail end of Mint Field’s set, kind of mellow atmospheric indie but they had a little space-kraut psych thing going at the end, a little bit of fuzz worked in with the programmed backbeat and fluid instrumentation between the duo. Lots of melody, kind of breezy but not checked out mentally. Vibe, in other words. Lord Buffalo are also a vibe band, spacious, heavy Americana, brooding rock and an underlying swell of blues doom — not doom the genre, but more like the apocalypse. I’d never seen them before, and I hope to again. Heavy Western is a hard sell at a Vegas sports bar, but the sound in Dawg House has been really good, and that goes for Lord Buffalo as well.

Lord Buffalo (Photo by JJ Koczan)

Today isn’t quite the same crunch for me as yesterday.

This is a good thing, however you want to look at it. More time to appreciate a set, offset by that last-day restlessness, knowing that each show is another step back toward real life. Tonight’s sleep is going to be the worst, because in my heart of hearts I’m ready to be home. That’s nothing against Psycho Las Vegas or any of the bands I’ve seen or will see before my night is up, I’m just good to go. I was tired when I came here. So yeah, give me a relaxed Psycho adventure. In a bit I’ll watch Witch Mountain and then head to the Event Center for Paradise Lost. Won’t be iced tea on the patio, but it’s not three bands in an hour either.

Not that I would expect any of them to ever see it, but shout to the door crew at Dawg House anyway, who’ve been nothing but kind and welcoming in a way that has been appreciated. I told them as much before I came in for what I think will be this last time.

Later. Who cares?

Witch Mountain (Photo by JJ Koczan)

We have perhaps arrived at a moment of spiritual rejuvenation sought. I find myself low stress, sitting in back, not in VIP but around there, having just watched Witch Mountain and Katatonia in succession, a one-two brought on more by happenstance than anything. Witch Mountain finished on time, but Katatonia had started late and went late, so for leaving Dawg House on the quick after Witch Mountain were done, I got to catch at least a decent enough portion of Katatonia’s set to make me feel like I saw them.

That’s a win, damnit.

Not the least because Witch Mountain were incredible. I took pictures, very grateful to have the little barricade there for a photo pit, then moved to a good spot in the middle and just kind of dug in. I have fond memories of seeing Witch Mountain live. Having Uta Plotkin on vocals, who shouted out current singer Kayla Dixon, and Billy Anderson on bass didn’t hurt — it was a 25th bandiversary special celebration; and it indeed was pretty fucking special. Save perhaps for the universal exception that is Stinking Lizaveta, I’d say it was my set of the trip at least to this point. Kings Destroy doing “Smokey Robinson” belongs on that list too, if we’re making a list. But Rob Wrong is an unsung hero of doom riffs, and Nate Carson revels in the plod of his drums with an enjoyment that’s infectious. This was clearly something that meant more to the band than just being on stage in front of people at a cool festival, though sometimes that works too, I guess.

Alas, my magic email’s magic would seem to have worn out; I was denied access to the photo pit for the main stage. Said to the guy I wasn’t trying to make his day harder, I was just there to do what the fest brought me here to do, dude went back and checked and that was that. Okay. I took some pictures from the crowd then went up to sit on a real chair in the VIP section and soothe my unduly battered ego.

Paradise Lost (Photo by JJ Koczan)-2000

For what it’s worth, and I know it’s not much, I’ve shot Paradise Lost before. And High on Fire twice this summer on soil foreign and domestic, not to mention last time I was at this fest and shot them. Mercyful Fate I’ll probably never get the chance to shoot again, but I’ve lived this long without I’m sure I can keep going. The world has enough mediocre photos of King Diamond that I do not worry about mine being missed. I know I’m not like a pro photographer out there taking pictures of bands for the festival and I’m not trying to tell anyone otherwise. But I thought this was what I was brought here to do.

The fleeing nature of joy is what makes it worth trying to hold onto. That’s my last word on it. I’ll try again for Monolord at Rose Ballroom.

Earth spins.

It’s 8:34PM. Bet you thought I was going to say “later.”

High on Fire (Photo by JJ Koczan)

Paradise Lost got cut short, maybe, but they played a Paradise Lost show before that, so fair enough. I spent most of their set up and in the back and that was fine if for some weird vocal echoey stuff, but if I’d wanted perfect sound I’d have stood by the soundboard. Most of all I wanted a chair.

I have consistently dug Paradise Lost’s work over the last 15 years solid, minimum, and had an appreciation for their early stuff before that, so I am not about to complain about watching them play. They and Katatonia both put in what seemed like a festival set by practitioners of the form. It’s engaging the room for its size, meeting the whole crowd and not just the people 10 feet in front of the stage. Pro shop, in other words.

High on Fire, on the other hand, do not care where you stand. They are happy to run you over regardless. Kind of surprised they’ve never done a live album here, since they’re pretty much the house band. And they’re playing right before Mercyful Fate, so clearly there’s love there in both sides. High on Fire Live at Psycho Las Vegas would make sense. I mean, it does, pretty much every year.

This was my third time seeing them this summer. Coady Willis wasn’t even a question in drums. Completely took for granted that all parts were going to be well and thoroughly nailed, and they were. I know High on Fire has had a few thinkpieces written about them because, whoa-oa, Nutty Matt Pike is nutty!, but this band dominates heavy like no one else I’ve ever seen. And that’s nothing against the thinkpieces, either. Those are conversations that need to be happening if heavy music is ever going to grow outside its very white, very dude optics. I’m sure Matt Pike reads some fucked up shit. Fine. I’m not cold-calling voters for a senate campaign. I’m trying to enjoy being pummeled by riffs. If I thought dude was a nazi I’d say so.

Later

Mercyful Fate (Photo by JJ Koczan)

High on Fire delivered what was promised, and there was an hour break before Mercyful Fate at the Event Center. I didn’t move. I had a chair, a little table, up in back. I put my head down, didn’t quite sleep, but rested my eyes for a while. When I looked back up, the room was fuller than I’ve seen it, though admittedly I haven’t spent a ton of time in there. And the King held court, first wearing a kind of ram’s horns headress to climb up the stairs to his own riser on the bi-level stage, topped as it was by a neon upside down cross. You would not call it subtle. Classic, yes. They played a new song too.

I knew I wanted the closing chapter of my adventure to be Monolord at the Rose Ballroom. I left myself enough time en route for a pitstop upstairs — bathroom, drink water, eat bar, shoes back on, go — on the way, and it occurred to me that I was actually sure of where I was going for perhaps the first time in the last four days. I finally got it. I turned left coming out of the hotel hallway into the casino, then hung a right into the not-mall, and made my way down to the end then up the elevator to the third floor. Monolord were pretty much set up by the time I got there.

And you know, in the end, I’m a simple creature. I’ve never been a huge Mercyful Fate fan — nothing against them; that’s an important band I’m lucky to have seen — but I sure was happy to hear Monolord break into “I’ll Be Damned.” The crowd got a big boost I guess as Mercyful Fate wrapped up, but I was largely oblivious, completely exhausted, taking lousy pictures with the wrong ISO and getting ready to call it a night. No, I didn’t stay the whole time. I’m only one person. But I was glad to have gone, and as I look around the hotel room at all the shit I need to throw in my suitcase upon waking up in about six hours, showering and getting the hell out of town (hopefully; I feel like you never know with flying these days), I’m glad I came. Psycho very obviously didn’t need to let me be here, but I appreciate that they did anyway.

Monolord (Photo by JJ Koczan)

And again, thank you for reading. I’m going to bed.

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The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal Playlist: Episode 90

Posted in Radio on August 5th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

the obelisk show banner

I don’t remember the last time I did three voice breaks on a show, and while I’m of the general opinion that the less the universe hears my voice the better off said universe will likely be for not having heard me invariably say something stupid, I did turn in three VTs for this episode. Truth is I’ve been pretty dug in as regards this show — music, music, music — and I think that’s a winning philosophy for life in general, if one that doesn’t necessarily take advantage of the full potentialities of radio as a format. Gimme Metal have been kind enough to let me do 90 episodes (so far!) of this show. Making some effort to meet that audience halfway seems like the least my contrarian ass can do.

Maybe that’s just me getting old. Whatever. I sucked at being young anyway.

Further to that “making an effort thing,” I’ve tried last episode and this one specifically to include a few staples of stoner/heavy/doom/psych/whatever that even if people don’t know hopefully they can latch onto. Last ep started with Acid King, this one leads with Goatsnake. There’s Black Sabbath, Stoned Jesus, Sungrazer along the way before the playlist really digs into new stuff. And even some of that — My Sleeping Karma, Abrams, Elephant Tree — is from known parties. I don’t know. I’m trying my best here. I was happy to include the Guhts song that premiered, and CB3 finally putting out “To Space and Away” from their new record is a gift. This won’t be the last time I play that song, I’m sure.

Thanks if you listen and thanks for reading.

The Obelisk Show airs 5PM Eastern today on the Gimme app or at: http://gimmemetal.com.

Full playlist:

The Obelisk Show – 08.05.22 (VT = voice track)

Goatsnake What Love Remains I
Foehammer Recurring Grave Second Sight
VT
Elephant Tree Sails Track-by-Track
Abrams Like Hell In the Dark
Stoned Jesus I’m the Mountain Seven Thunders Roar
My Sleeping Karma Avatara Atma
Guhts Burn My Body Burn My Body
VT
Black Sabbath Into the Void Master of Reality
Sungrazer Goldstrike Mirador
Sons of Arrakis The Black Mirror Volume 1
All Souls I Dream Ghosts Among Us
Sleestak Northwoods Harbinger
Deadly Vipers Big Empty Low City Drone
CB3 To Space and Away Exploration
VT
Obscure Supersession Collective Auroral Purposes I Obscure Supersession Collective
(If needed) Psychlona El Tolvanera Palo Verde

The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal airs every Friday 5PM Eastern, with replays Sunday at 7PM Eastern. Next new episode is Aug. 19 (subject to change). Thanks for listening if you do.

Gmme Metal website

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Psychlona Premiere “La Tolvanera”; Palo Verde Out Aug. 19

Posted in audiObelisk, Reviews on August 2nd, 2022 by JJ Koczan

psychlona

UK heavy rockers Psychlona release their third album, Palo Verde, on Aug. 19 through Psycho Waxx. That’s just in time for their appearance at Psycho Las Vegas 2022, from which the label is an offshoot. And Palo Verde is perhaps trivia-question-fodder as Psycho Waxx‘s first non-compilation release, but the eight fuzzed-out trippers, rockers and vibers that the Bradford four-piece led by guitarist/vocalist Phil Hey answer the promise of 2018’s Mojo Rising (discussed here) and 2020’s Venus Skytrip (review here) with a more expansive take overall across its 48 minutes.

To some that might mean psychedelia, that the record’s more bliss than shove, and I don’t know that that’s necessarily the case; there’s plenty of both. And in some cases it’s about how the balance is tipped to one side or the other. The side A shift from “Rainbird,” which has some push by the time its six minutes are through but starts out all languid, open-spaced tell-your-friends-to-come-to-this-party, hypnotic mellow bliss, to the clearly-Monolord-influenced “Meet Your Devil,” for example, allows the band — Hey, guitarist/vocalist Dave Wainfor, bassist Martyn “Turns Out it Was Food Poisoning” Birchall and drummer Scott Frankling — to mold and reshape the impression they leave behind while working roughly with the same basic sonic ideology: go big, go far out. But go.

And they do, with a clear intent at the outset for “Gasoline” to rev itself, the band and the listener up as its careening riff is joined by tense keyboard strikes in post-“Go With the Flow”-style, but its swelling and receding layers of guitar drop hints of some of the more lysergic fluidity to come later on with side B’s counterpoint leadoff “Purple River,” which has a build but is so much more about the drift than the payoff, or even the finale “Warped,” which tops seven minutes and lands one more solid hook through an ether of tonal swirl, sounding likewise jammy and structured. Again, that balance.

Palo Verde‘s first single, “1975,” takes hold after the opener’s feedback fades out and is led by Frankling‘s drums into a likewise-SongsfortheDeaf-ian burst to life and a riff that’s worth digging as deeply into as Psychlona does. psychlona palo verdeThe first two songs both have a long instrumental break that gives way back to the verse as clue to the underlying structure of songwriting from which the we-came-a-long-way-to-get-lost-in-this-desert-so-we’re-gonna-do-that spirit of the songs alights. In that context and in shifting from the opening salvo to the next stage of the record with a greater sense of breadth, “Rainbird” is right on time, with “Meet Your Devil” waiting right behind to bring it crashing down on your head.

There’s a kind of narrative there, in the classic nature of how Palo Verde presents itself, and it speaks to the band’s will to engage their audience. The rockers up front pull the listener in, the jammy flow entrances and then the big riff swings down. It’s a method that is both tried and true and Psychlona‘s own here as they contort their style to serve these varied purposes, and the plotline continues on the second half of the album, with “Purple River” leading into the fuzzy start-stop urgency of “Jetplane,” which brings Hey‘s vocals more forward from where they are on the song prior and resets with its outright catchiness the procession ahead of the penultimate “La Tolvanera” (premiering below) and “Warped” at the finish.

As the last of the chapters in the musical story, “La Tolvanera” and “Warped” are particularly intriguing, the former for its relatively concise 5:40 execution of a heavy psychedelic rock, which echoes like some of Elephant Tree‘s work but remains loyal to desert ideals, the riff surrounded by a wash that includes Hey‘s vocals but still very much at the core. “Warped” builds on this while summarizing the multifaceted sides of the tracks before it and directing its solo-laced payoff jam toward what I’ll assume is the heart of a hot, beating-down sun and letting it be all the way gone. No coming back and all that.

And not that the above isn’t relevant to how Palo Verde works, but what I haven’t mentioned yet is that the record is a blast. Psychlona have known all along where they wanted to head as a band, and even as these cuts provide outlet for that, they also cover some new ground for them, as both manifestation of craft and a look at what might come next. Psych suits them. Heavy suits them. Riffs suit them. Desert, crunch, shove — there isn’t any element being wasted here, and for an album that sounds as laid back as it does, that is not a minor accomplishment. If Palo Verde is what Psychlona have been moving toward all this time, the acclaim they’ve reaped as a result is well earned.

Enjoy “La Tolvanera” on the player below, followed by a few words from Hey and live dates, album info, etc., from the PR wire:

Psychlona, “La Tolvanera” premiere

Phil Hey on “La Tolvanera”:

“‘La Tolvanera’ was a tune I was messing around with for a while. I wanted it to be kind of spacey, spooky, and chilled out, but with some heavy as hell breaks in there too. Lyrically it’s loosely a sort of ‘big brother is watching’ covert mission to get across the desert, avoiding sinister beings and doing as you’re told if you want to eventually meet St. Peter. Bit tongue in cheek really. La Tolvanera is Spanish for dust cloud which adds to the secrecy of the mission.”

Preorder link: https://psychowaxx.com/

Formed in Bradford in the summer of 2016, Psychlona have fast become one of the UK’s most coveted heavy psych rock bands. Stealing influence from punk; the Palm Desert scene and 60s/70s psychedelia, two chapters deep into their cosmic journey (following 2018’s Mojo Rising and 2020’s Venus Skytrip), their highly anticipated third is on the horizon and could well be their most electrifying yet.

Teaming up with Psycho Waxx, the in-house label of Psycho Las Vegas Festival – America’s leading and legendary weekend of rock ‘n’ roll debauchery; matchless curation and aural attitude – Psychlona have well and truly found their spiritual home.

Arriving next month, Palo Verde is their third studio album of original material and Psycho Waxx’s first, following on from their inaugural release, Löve Me Förever: A Tribute to Motörhead; a compilation that featured contributions from the likes of Phil Anselmo, Nick Oliveri, High on Fire, Eyehategod, and many more.

Psychlona’s Palo Verde is released 19th August with vinyl pre-orders for the “GALAXY” variant – limited to 700 copies – available exclusively here at Psycho Waxx: https://psychowaxx.com/

PSYCHLONA Tour Dates:
13/8 – Sonic Blast Festival – Viana Do Castelo, Portugal
15/8 – Starline Social Club, Oakland, CA
16/8 – The Roxy Theatre – West Hollywood, CA
17/8 – The Wayfarer – Costa Mesa, CA
18/8 – The Rebel Lounge – Phoenix, AZ
19/8 – Brick by Brick – San Diego, CA
20+21/8 – Psycho Las Vegas – Las Vegas, NV
17/9 – Riffolution Festival – Sheffield, UK

Psychlona:
Phil Hey – Guitar, Lead Vocals
Martyn Birchall – Bass
Dave Wainfor – Guitar, Vocals
Scott Frankling – Drums

Psychlona, “1975” official video

Psychlona on Bandcamp

Psychlona on Facebook

Psychlona on Instagram

Psycho Waxx on Facebook

Psycho Waxx on Instagram

Psycho Waxx on Bandcamp

Psycho Waxx website

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Psychlona Post “1975” Video; Palo Verde Preorder Available

Posted in Bootleg Theater on June 28th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

psychlona

I wasn’t born in the 1970s, and neither I suspect was the majority of UK heavy rockers Psychlona, but I don’t necessarily believe that lessens the ideal they’re speaking to. Led by vocalist/guitarist Phil Hey, the four-piece will release their new album, Palo Verde, through the Psycho Las Vegas-affiliated Psycho Waxx imprint, and though I’ve yet to hear it — maybe a Fall release? — I was fortunate enough to see them live at Freak Valley Festival in Germany a couple weekends ago, and the single “1975” well represents their desert-style intentions fluidly, the accompanying video set in a kind of caricature of the era, a rock club at which even the boredest-looking attendees end up playing Twister by the middle of the song.

And I’m pretty sure that counted as sex in 1975, so yeah. Life is short. Go get some.

The thing about ’75 in particular though is that it’s easy to think of as a point of transition. The heavy rock boom of 1969-’72 had abated, and yeah, KISS were out doing the thing, but the NWOBHM that would emerge in the wake of Judas Priest and Black Sabbath (etc.) had yet to take shape. Punk was on the way up first, at least how historical pop culture narrative has it — things are never actually so black and white — and disco was about to do to funk what glam would do for heavy metal in the ’80s in stripping back its edge in favor of a more accessible and in this case danceable product.

It’s a subcultural peculiarity of heavy rock that it references the ’70s even as the sound is primarily derived from the ’90s, but if you know, then you know, and that’s enough. Psychlona‘s preach to the converted is righteous here and if you’d listen and observe that “hey derp derp there’s no desert in Bradford,” you’ve missed the point. I offer a friendly recommendation to go back and start again.

And please, enjoy:

Psychlona, “1975” official video

The 1970’s were a trip. The end of the 60’s was a cold, hard slap in the face by reality for psychonauts everywhere but the era’s psychedelic drip still trickled down to inspire some of the greatest rock and roll mankind has ever produced. Strapping you into their sonic time machine, Psychlona reproduces the sound and vibration of rock’s most decadent, mystical and formative decade with “1975”, the first single off their third album “Palo Verde”.

As the second track off their highly anticipated first release with Psycho Waxx, the band shares with you the music video for “1975” which, under the masterful direction of Sam Drake, brings us all back to a time when distraction was never devoid of human connection. When rockers were good to each other and music reigned supreme. Desert groove and peaking guitars were the universe’s song, guiding humanity into uncharted artistic direction and now in 2022, Psychlona brings these desert rock essential elements to new heights of cosmic psychosis with “1975”.

Check out “1975” on all streaming platforms. Grab a Digital Download of “1975” for every psycho in your circle to enjoy. And if all that doesn’t launch you deep enough into outer space, vinyl preorders for the “GALAXY” variant are now live at PsychoWaxx.com with only 700 copies available to our most devoted psychonauts.

Psychlona, “Blast Off” official video

Psychlona on Bandcamp

Psychlona on Facebook

Psychlona on Instagram

Psycho Waxx on Facebook

Psycho Waxx on Instagram

Psycho Waxx on Bandcamp

Psycho Waxx website

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Notes From Freak Valley 2022 – Day 4

Posted in Features, Reviews on June 19th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

Madmess soundcheck

Freak Valley Festival 2022 – Day 4

06.18.22 – Sat. – 12:59PM – Under a shady tree sitting on a chair

Is the sprinkler on yet? Somebody is playing music somewhere, maybe over by the entrance, but I’ve got prime real estate in the shade and it’s a big day ahead.

You go into a kind of fog with this kind of thing. At least I do. I can’t memorize lineups and I’m not sure I would if I could, so in addition to finding new-to-me or just plain new bands to dig, there’s also an element of “oh shit yeah” remembering when you look at the day-by-day breakdown and the schedule of who is on stage when.

And to answer my own question, yes, the sprinkler is on.

Inevitably for the last day, my head is already thinking about tomorrow, logistics for going to the airport — I’m told I’ll share a ride to Frankfurt with Slomatics, so that’s wonderful — and the trip home to follow. Some anxiousness going back, but the thing to do is enjoy today. If there’s a mission, that’s it. Also buy merch.

But there is no letup today. It is all go, nine bands, front to back. Unmissable. I’m glad I’m not missing it.

If you’ve been keeping up with this at all, please know how much I appreciate that. I’ll have a wrap up/travel post up at some point between now and Tuesday, but for the moment, here’s notes and pics on the final day of Freak Valley Festival 2022, taken as it happened:

Madmess

Madmess (Photo by JJ Koczan)

Madmess should come with a prescription. I met two of the three members of the Portuguese trio last night and they seemed like really nice guys, and their music follows suit with a gentle spirit even in its most active stretches. Mellow psych, jam-based but not entirely jams. I dug last year’s Rebirth (review here) even more after I wrote about it, and they’re an excellent choice to open the day, starting out mellow enough to seem like they’re barely awake but building enough energy to make their way into an organic sounding boogie. No pretense, no bullshit attitude, just players sharing what they do with a crowd growing by the minute and they pick up the tempo heading into “Stargazer,” which as I said in my LP review, is not the Rainbow song, but an engrossing original featuring some of their intermittent vocals. Morning music is not always easy to find amongst the heavy genres, but I feel like I may have to put Madmess in the rotation after this. Funny though, you’ve been able to see the earlier bands the last couple days kind of hanging back on stage to stay out of the sun. I very much get can relate to that. Already missing that chair under the tree. Whatever.

IAH

IAH (Photo by JJ Koczan)

They’ve got the crowd sway-dancing and handbanging in equal measure. Often the same people — it’s entertaining to watch. IAH stay out all drifty and psych and then click into harder-landing chug and distortion. They’re a bit apart in sound from some of the heavy psych/prog that’s been around this weekend as a result, but that they stand out in the lineup is hardly a detriment. I was so stoked when they got announced for the bill — each of their records has been a step forward from the one before it, up to and including 2021’s Omines (review here), which I’ve kept on my phone since I got it and don’t think I’ll be removing anytime soon. I didn’t think I’d ever see this band, and they’re in Europe just for a few shows, but it’s easy to think of them as moving into a forerunner status of Argentine heavy over the next couple years. Sometimes gorgeous, sometimes crushing, they’re the stuff of life put into sound. And they saved their heaviest stuff for last. All they need to do is keep doing what they’re doing. They’ve been on the right track since their first record.

Slomatics

Slomatics (Photo by JJ Koczan)

Look. I fucking love this band. I’m not going to attempt to hide it or say play it like the fucking critic out here to coldly assess — incidentally, it would be physically impossible to do anything “coldly” right now — but between “And Yet it Moves” and “Tunnel Dragger” and “Canyons,” what a feast of righteousness Slomatics presented to Freak Valley. They were supposed to be here in 2019, Lufthansa lost their guitars. Last two years, obviously not. They bought their instruments a seat on the plane, so took no chances, and got here just before it was time to go on stage, but hell’s bells, even in the open air they managed to sound huge. I went out front in the sun, took off my hat and sunglasses for a bit and let roll absorb me. Nearby, someone was juggling, so to each their own, but for me there is precious little in terms of “very, very heavy” that stands up to Slomatics. I’ve made the “And Yet it Moves” joke before, but the truth is even just the movement isn’t it. The synth and the atmosphere of the two guitars, the leads coming and going, drummer Marty Harvey’s voice — which sounded the best I’ve ever heard as he held out notes before the inevitable concrete collapse followed. I needed this. This whole thing, but this specifically. An offering of slow catharsis made with devastating impact. Of a band could be this, they would never need to be anything else.

Psychlona

Psychlona (Photo by JJ Koczan)

Dudes got riffs. “Down in the Valley,” which guitarist/vocalist Phil Hey introduced by saying it was about this very festival, was a languid highlight, and their songs have that primal, when-stoner-rock-was-stoner-rock — so I guess the ’90s era — but even the most rocking stuff comes across thicker. They’re tight with the Psycho Las Vegas crew — their next album, from which they aired a few songs; no I don’t know the titles because I haven’t heard the record and the stage being so high makes setlist peaking impossible. So it goes. Their last album, Venus Skytrip (review here), hit a nerve, and I can’t argue with a band who knows exactly what they want to be doing and then does it. They closed with a faster song off the first record, 2018’s Mojo Rising and had a crowd who’s seen a lot of rock and roll over the last few days still on their side and rocking out. And Hey owns that stage. Not much thrashing around or whatever, but the band’s got chemistry and it’s his stage presence at the center of it. Palo Verde is the name of their new album. I don’t know when it’s out, but I know I’m going to look for it.

Temple Fang

Temple Fang (Photo by JJ Koczan)

It’s hit 32 degrees, which is 90 in Fahrenheit. I actually don’t know if that’s hotter than yesterday or not. I blame Temple Fang. I mean, it’s not every band on the bill who get on stage and start conducting experiments fusing atoms. So it goes. The Amsterdam four-piece let loose on a patient cosmic flow from the moment they started, and with resonance at their core, they nonetheless conveyed a sense of motion, both in the songs and in themselves. Dennis Duijnhouwer, Jevin de Groot and Ivy van der Veer all contributed vocals, sometimes at once, and while because they work in a longer-form context, and because they’re so fucking good at what they do, one tends to focus on the instrumental side of their approach, but 2021’s Fang Temple (review here) was gorgeous and exploratory in kind and they’ve apparently put out two already-gone live cassettes to follow-up 2020’s Live at Merleyn (review here), so good on them. I hope they’re recording this, or they can get the audio from Rockpalast or whatever. It should all be preserved for posterity. They took a bow when they were done, and I think someone was yelling for “one more song,” but I guess without the 20 minutes to spare it was a no-dice.

The Midnight Ghost Train

They raised The Midnight Ghost Train’s banner before they went on, and even that got some applause. I wonder where that’s been since the band broke up. The garage? In one of those bins from Costco? I didn’t ask and I regret it a bit. The trio, from Topeka, Kansas, are doing nine more shows after this for their European run and then supposedly that’s it, but I’ll be honest, that’s not the story they’re telling from the stage. That story is about a band who’ve barely been in a room together in four years — longer than that since the last time with this lineup and who have lost none of the fire or the propulsive vitality that defined them. They’ve got album reissues on Majestic Mountain, and maybe they take it slow, do it right, decide only to tour Europe, etc., but if they’re not leaving themselves open to the possibility of keeping this going, it’s a loss, just like it was a loss when they played their final show in 2018. This band is pure heart, pure shove, pure go. They broke out some old material, with Steve Moss telling the crowd about the riff that started the band, how glad they were to be here, and so on, in his gruff delivery with feedback surrounding. Brandon Burghart remains a beast on drums, and Mike Boyne on bass still stands up to everything Moss delivers, meeting him head-on figuratively and literally at the center of the stage. I’ve been looking forward to this since it was announced, I think maybe The Midnight Ghost Train have been missed more than they realize. They closed with “Ain’t it a Shame,” which is no less relevant now than when they were playing it 10 years ago.

Elder

Elder (Photo by JJ Koczan)

I’m a sucker, but I’m glad that as far as Elder have come sonically in the last decade, they still play “Dead Roots Stirring” live. And I love it with two guitars, too. They opened with “Compendium,” as they will, and proceeded to hand the festival its ass with their level of craft, play and style. This was my first time seeing them with drummer Georg Edert, who joined in time to make his recorded debut with the band on 2020’s Omens (review here), and while I’ll always have a soft spot for Matt Couto’s swinging style, Edert has been in the band long enough now that the dynamic isn’t even a question. They just got on and nailed it. “Compendium” into “Blind,” “Dead Roots Stirring” into “Halcyon” and all the sweep you could ask. And as it’s been some years since I last saw them and even longer since the last time in Europe, this was a thrill. They’ve had a new record done for a while, and I hope it’s proggy and unexpected and that they continue to move in whatever direction they want regardless of any expectation placed on them by the fact that they’re one of the best heavy bands in the world, because doing so is what got them there in the first place. It feels like I’ve been unconsciously saving the word “epic” for them, and I’m glad I did. I’m pretty sure new bands form every time they play. Because I’m greedy, I was hoping for a new song in the set, something from their upcoming album murmurings of which have been made pretty much since Omens, but there’s only so much time in a situation like this. Soon enough, I’m sure.

High on Fire

High on Fire (Photo by JJ Koczan)

I would be lying if I said I wasn’t feeling worn out, out of words, etc., from the last few days, but the intensity of High on Fire is just too overwhelming to not let it affect you. Standing in front of the stage while they tore open the set, the festival and perhaps reality it — I’ll get back on that one — my head was immediately swimming, and when I was done taking pictures, it was all I could do to stand up straight. “Rumors of War.” The nod of “Madness of an Architect.” “Fertile Green.” “Baghdad.” “Fury Whip” gets me every time. Between songs, Matt Pike thanked the crowd profusely, noted that it was the band’s first time back in Europe since the pandemic and said “this is our love and we can’t do it without you.” That’s a far fucking cry from “thank you, Germany,” and on the right direction. I’m still a little astonished that they’re not the last band playing — they sure were a few weeks back when I saw them in NYC (review here) — but one way or the other it’s not like anyone’s going to match their level of destruction. Who the hell could? I stood up front near the end of the set, watched the finish. They were some idealized vision of High on Fire. More than 20 years after the fact, the whole band is incredible. I know Pike has been catching flack for his reading choices, but between him, Jeff Matz and Coady Willis, there’s no weak link. You could pick a player to watch the entire time and be completely bowled over, never mind the three of them together.

Fu Manchu

Come on, man. It’s Fu Manchu! And they did “Godzilla” and everything. What more could you possibly ask? Scott Hill, striped shirt, baggy pants, clear guitar. Brad Davis, putting the “fu” in fuzz and giving a little punk rock to the backing vocals. Bob Balch, who probably shreds in his fucking sleep. Scott Reeder, who in a band whose foundation is riffs still bashes his kit heavy enough that other drummers should be blushing. Not everybody could follow Coady Willis. Not many could follow High on Fire, but Fu Manchu being such a different vibe, their being Fu Manchu, and the crowd being so on board made the shift that much smoother. They opened with “Hell on Wheels,” which was indeed a big deal, despite Hill’s professing the contrary, and I don’t think there was one person standing still in the field. I took pictures on the quick because I knew that I still had to do this and I found out that I have to leave earlier than expected tomorrow — plus travel always takes longer because the king of the road says I move too slow — but it’s Fu Manchu digging into “Reagal Beagle.” The primo-est of tone, the primo-est of groove, and a band who have been around for well longer at this point than the 30 years they’re celebrating doing the thing they’ve long since mastered but have never let get dull. If Freak Valley was looking to make it a blowout, they picked the right band to do it. What a party. There’s a reason heavy rock bands have been ripping off Fu Manchu for the better part of those last 30-plus years, and it’s because they’re one of the best to ever do the thing. Classic stoner rock. Dependable to the utmost. They sounded ready to roll all night, and if you would expect any less, you’ve probably never seen Fu Manchu. Recommend you rectify that at the next available opportunity.

06.19.22 – Sun. – 7:32AM – Hotel

Thank you first and foremost to The Patient Mrs., through whom all things are possible. I have the not-at-all-vague feeling that when I get home The Pecan is going to rip my arm off and beat me to death with it because I left in the first place — he’s not one for expressing emotions like, “I missed you,” so the arm thing is what you get — but I’ve missed them both tremendously. All the more as there were families at the fest the whole weekend. I can’t imagine trying to wrangle him and cover the fest at the same time, but I’ll be happy to see them both.

The thanks(es) are a long list. Jens Heide, for bringing me here and making this happen. It’s been years in the making even before covid, and it’s truly something special. A festival with heart, made with love for those who will love it. I did.

Thank you to Désirée Hanssen and Rolf Gustavus for making me feel so welcome, for the rides back to the hotel and for the company and conversation. Here’s to no small talk. I almost cried last night telling them how much they made me feel at home. Thanks to Bill from Bushfire for existing. Rare dude. He wasn’t there yesterday and I shit you not the atmosphere was different without him walking around.

Thank you to Kirsten Seubert and Falk-Hagen Bernshausen for the company in the photo pit, and specifically to the former for her antihistamines, which just about saved my life on Friday as my allergies were doing to my mucus membranes what High on Fire did to riffs last night. That kind of generosity means more than I can say.

I met so many wonderful people. Thanks to Alexander Fuchs — who is THE GUY — to Ellen and Nadine backstage, to Jamey, Felli, Jules, to Volker and everyone else helping out behind the scenes for dealing with my dumbass questions and for letting me use that shower in the AWO building to cool off and being generally incredible and kind. The only person who yelled at me all weekend was one of the Rockpalast guys who thought I was stepping on his cable. I was not and told him so in no uncertain terms.

Thanks to Christian from Who Can You Trust? Records. Thanks to Geezer, Elder, The Midnight Ghost Train, Temple Fang, Slomatics, Psychlona, Bob from Fu Manchu, Duel, the guys from IAH, Madmess, Supersonic Blues, The Atomic Bitchwax, Green Lung, Purple Dawn, all the other bands and folks from bands I met and got to hang out with or say hi or chat for a little bit, whatever it was.

Thanks to everyone who came up and said hi who knew the site. Every day, people said the nicest, most validating stuff. Humbling. I know how much The Obelisk means to me, and it feels silly and awkward but I do very much appreciate knowing that I’m not the only one. Thank you. Nick and Hazel, Tim from Noorvik, Arthur Starmonger, Uwe, Tanguy, Max Rebel, Dries from Down the Hill, a ton of others. What a delight as always to see Sister Rainbow and to meet Johan, and if the UK doesn’t name Pete Holland ambassador-at-large soon, I fear for the state of global diplomacy.

No doubt I’ll add more names throughout today as I begin to process what the last 96 hours have wrought, but thank you most of all. The only reason I’m here in the first place, the only reason I can feign relevance to the minimal extent that I can, is because of you. Thank you. Thank you for reading. Thank you if you’ve followed along with any of this. Thank you.

Today I go home.

More pics after the jump.

Read more »

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The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal Playlist: Episode 86

Posted in Radio on June 10th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

the obelisk show banner

Today’s episode of The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal is a tribute to and a look at the lineup for this year’s Freak Valley Festival, taking place next week in Siegen, Germany. Freak Valley has been hosting bands for over a decade and I’m proud to say that this will be my first year attending after many, many more wanting to do so, doing writing for the festival, etc.

Should probably point out even if I d don’t necessarily need to that this isn’t the full lineup of the festival, just as much as I could effectively pack into two hours while also managing to play a 20-minute Endless Boogie track. Could I have hunted out shorter cuts and maybe been able to fit another band or two? Probably, but it doesn’t feel like The Obelisk Show in my brain if it doesn’t end with a jam, so it is what it needs to be.

I should be in the chat this time if you want to say hi. I was doing live factoids about the bands for a while because the Gimme Bot doesn’t always know this stuff if it’s new, or weird, or not at all metal, and so on, but it just kind of got sad after a while so I stopped. Lesson learned.

Thanks if you listen, thanks if you’re reading. Thanks in general.

The Obelisk Show airs 5PM Eastern today on the Gimme app or at: http://gimmemetal.com.

Full playlist:

The Obelisk Show – 06.10.22

Psychlona Blast Off Venus Skytrip
Fu Manchu Strange Plan Fu30 Pt. 2
Duel Wave of Your Hand In Carne Persona
Green Lung Leaders of the Blind Black Harvest
VT1
Red Fang Wires Murder the Mountains
The Midnight Ghost Train Foxhole Buffalo
Villagers of Ioannina City Part V Age of Aquarius
Pelican Arteries of Blacktop Nighttime Stories
Djiin Warmth of Death Meandering Soul
Toundra Danubio II
Geezer Atomic Moronic Stoned Blues Machine
Slomatics Cosmic Guilt Canyons
IAH Naga Omines
Kosmodome Hypersonic Kosmodome
Madmess Rebirth Rebirth
VT2
Endless Boogie Jim Tully Admonitions

The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal airs every Friday 5PM Eastern, with replays Sunday at 7PM Eastern. Next new episode is June 25 (subject to change). Thanks for listening if you do.

Gimme Metal website

The Obelisk on Facebook

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Psychlona Sign to Psycho Waxx; Palo Verde Coming Soon

Posted in Whathaveyou on May 18th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

The name of the new Psychlona album is Palo Verde and it will be their first release through Psycho Waxx, the label wing of the venerable Psycho Las Vegas festival, which had previously announced a Motörhead tribute — in which Psychlona also took part — and intentions toward picking up bands. Well, here we are.

Having two prior LPs — the last one was 2020’s Venus Skytrip (review here) — and a slew of Euro and UK fest appearances both behind them and currently slated, the band will perform a handful of West Coast US shows before they ultimately land at Psycho itself, and if that was going to be a to-do before, no doubt that’s moved on, perhaps even to hootenany level. Should be a good time. They’re the hometown team now.

Their announcement follows:

Psychlona Psycho Waxx

*MASSIVE ANNOUNCEMENT* We’ve kept schtum long enough – we are hugely, hugely proud to announce we have signed with Psycho Waxx !

Not only is #PsychoWaxx Psycho Las Vegas ‘s in-house label, but as you’d expect, they are music fans through and through. We can’t thank them enough, especially when you get a rousing review like this:

“Psycho Waxx and Psycho Las Vegas sometimes find a band’s sound so magnetic and expressive of all things Psycho, that we bless them as a pure extension of our vision. Britain’s Psychlona are Made Men now, their desert rock is the feel good anthemic rock of the Psycho summer. They may be from across the pond, but in their sound, we’ve found new psychedelic directions to the heart of the American dream. Just before they play Psycho Las Vegas 2022, they’re releasing their 3rd album, Palo Verde. In addition to seeing them at the festival, the band is going on a North American tour packed with Psycho alumnists. Lose yourself in Psychlona’s epic, technical trip, where psych, desert rock, and stoner/doom fill the airwaves with fresh new noise, flying the Psycho flag loud and proud. So hear this signal now, Psychos worldwide, this is your clarion call, Psychlona will be rocking and rolling on these dates in a city near you.” Cheers guys.

And, on top of that, our first order of business is to hit the West Coast with Church of the Cosmic Skull , Black Box Revelation and Lord Buffalo , ending our stint at our new label’s home in #vegas, at #psycholasvegas . You should pop by.

8/15 Monday – Oakland, CA
Starline Social Club

8/16 Tuesday – West Hollywood, CA
The Roxy
https://www.axs.com/events/432712/church-of-the-cosmic-skull-tickets

8/17 Wednesday – Costa Mesa, CA
The Wayfarer
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/332057120787

8/18 Thursday – Phoenix, AZ
The Rebel Lounge
https://wl.seetickets.us/event/CHURCH-OFTHECOSMICSKULL/481589?afflky=TheRebelLounge

8/19 Friday – San Diego, CA
Brick By Brick
https://bit.ly/COTCS-SD

+ Psycho Las Vegas 2022
https://vivapsycho.com/

psychlona.bandcamp.com
http://www.facebook.com/Psychlona/
http://instagram.com/psychlona

https://facebook.com/107086615012567/
https://instagram.com/psychowaxx
https://psychowaxx.bandcamp.com/releases
https://psychowaxx.com/

Psychlona, “Blast Off” official video

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Riffolution Festival 2022: Full Lineup Announced

Posted in Whathaveyou on March 23rd, 2022 by JJ Koczan

Wit a lineup that brooks no argument, Riffolution Festival 2022 is set for mid-September in Sheffield, UK. Note the likes of Truckfighters (whose Spring tour dates are waiting on rescheduling) and Godflesh up at the top, and a broad spectrum of subsequent heavies, from Spaceslug, Slomatics and Boss Keloid the first day to Raging SpeedhornSlabdragger and Mastiff the second. All told it’s 37 bands on three stages — which says to me the schedule is going to be tight, but doable — over the two days, and jeez, if you happen to find yourself in South Yorkshire early this Fall, one is hard-pressed to think of heavier way to spend that time. Hell, Stubb are playing. And King Witch. Right on

This is a lineup where bands will know each other, be familiar, be friendly, be drinking. You should go, join the party. And by you I mean me. Get out into the world again. It’s time, right?

As seen on the internet:

riffolution festival 2022

Riffolution Festival 2022 Lineup

Riffolution Festival 2022 full line-up is here, feast your eyes on our biggest event to date!

37 bands over 3 stages, at our new venue Network in Sheffield.

Big thanks to Scarlet Dagger Design for the amazing work on the poster.

Weekend + day tickets, as well as t-shirt bundles are available through the Riffolution Promotions website, and they’re already flying out.

If you wish to play next years show, we’re happy to listen to suggestions. Submit your details on the website or even show your support by grabbing a ticket and attending.

See you in September! https://www.riffolutionpromotions.com/festival

SATURDAY:
Truckfighters / Naxatras / Spaceslug / Witchrider / Ten Foot Wizard / Swedish Death Candy / AWOOGA / Slomatics / Boss Keloid / KING WITCH / Dystopian Future Movies / Hair of the Dog / Mountain Caller / Trippy Wicked and the Cosmic Children of the Knight / Stubb / Psychlona / Suns of Thunder / The Lunar Effect / Elder Druid / Regulus

SUNDAY:
GODFLESH / Raging Speedhorn / God Damn / Palm Reader / Svalbard / blanket / Slabdragger / Mastiff / Dog Tired / PIST / GURT / VIDEO NASTIES / Grave Lines / BEGGAR / Battalions / Gozer / Gandalf the Green

https://www.facebook.com/events/648287296240427
https://www.facebook.com/Riffolution/
https://riffolutionpromotions.bigcartel.com/

Godflesh, Post Self (2017)

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