It’s all over now, I’ve got momentum on my side. This is day four of the Quarterly Review. The first three days have been nothing but a pleasure on my end, putting them together, and with just today and tomorrow left, I’m feeling pretty good about the entire endeavor. I’m not sure yet if this will be the end of the year as regards QRs, but if it is, it’s a good one to go out on.

And basically to make that determination, I need to look at next month’s schedule and see what’s coming when, when I’ll do things like the year-end poll and my own big end-of-year post. No idea on any of that yet, but I’ll get there. Getting this done in relatively smooth fashion is a help. Thanks for reading and I hope it’s been a good one for you as well.

Quarterly Review #31-40:

Psychedelic Source Records, The Initiation Outlaws

Set to release through Echodelick in the US and Weird Beard Records in the UK, in addition to Psychedelic Source Records‘ own distribution, The Initiation Outlaws brings eight pieces and a full 98-minute double-LP’s worth of cosmic improvised jamming, with a cast of regulars from the Hungarian collective — Bence Ambrus, Máté Varga, Róbert Kránitz, Krisztina Benus, Gergely Szabó — taking part in collaborative exploration with Go Kurosawa of Kikagaku Moyo, who goes from drums to bass to guitar as the release progresses, sliding right into the amorphous methodology of Psychedelic Source Records while distinguishing the heavier push in “Three Golds Reward II” or the snare work on “The King of Magic Colts and Wands I” earlier. Trance-inducing as ever, these captured moments are gorgeously fluid and immersive, active enough in parts like “The King of Magic Colts and Wands II” to defy mellowpsych-improv expectation, but abiding just the same. If you’re not there yet, it’s time to start thinking of Psychedelic Source among Europe’s finest purveyors of heavy psychedelia.

Psychedelic Source Records on Bandcamp

Echodelick Records store

Weird Beard Records store

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Bell Witch & Aerial Ruin, Stygian Bough Vol. II

The forlorn folkishness in the midsection of “Waves Become the Sky” bring to mind an extrapolation of emotive doom from the likes of Warning, but that’s understandable with Aerial Ruin and Bell Witch renewing their collaboration for Stygian Bough Vol. II, following on from a first volume (review here) in 2020. The album takes place over four extended tracks from the rolling density of the aforementioned opener through the minimalist-till-it-isn’t “King of the Wood” and the longform folk-death-doom of “From Dominion Let Them Bleed” and the melancholy triumph of heft wrought in 19-minute finale “The Told and the Leadened,” which dwells in spaces empty and full and remains conscious enough to end with tense noise and drumming. This is artistry on its own wavelength, working in its own time, and patient to a point of extremity. But they do it to offer comfort, make no mistake. There’s consolation in these songs, in addition to all the mourning.

Bell Witch website

Aerial Ruin website

Profound Lore Records website

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Giöbia, X-ÆON

Unrepentantly cosmic Italian outfit Giöbia are like a fresh coat of antimatter for space rock. The four-piece obviously hunkered down in their secret lab after 2023’s Acid Disorder (review here) and worked hard to refine their chemical compositions, such that “Voodoo Experience” nods grounded even as its synth and guitars surge beyond the thermosphere. The results show everywhere throughout X-ÆON in their outsider cohesion of classic and neo-space rocks, heavy psychedelia and oddball synthscaping, whether you’re doing the sensory thing with the dream-jam “1976” or embroiled in the four-part side B concept piece, “La Mort de la Terre,” which draws a cinematic curtain for life as we know it in “Dans la Nuit Éternelle,” a wordless epilogue that feels half a world removed from the stomp-and-verse of “The Death of the Crows,” but of course, that’s the whole idea.

Giöbia website

Heavy Psych Sounds website

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Bone Church, Deliverance

The included acoustic guitar, organ and FM-radio classic rock vibes in the eight-and-a-half-minute closing title-track aren’t a coincidence. They’re part of a stated intention the band had in taking on more of a traditional sound, coming down from some of the harder-hitting doom of 2020’s Acid Communion and working in more of a ’70s-inspired style. That manifests to varying degrees throughout, as leadoff “Electric Execution” feels like it’s working in the vein of “Neon Knights” or “Turn Up the Night” in Dio Sabbathian raucousness (I know that was 1980-81, don’t @ me), and while “Lucifer Rising” has a weighted march, it’s more Scorpions than Sleep, and “Goin’ to Texas” brings in the organ to emphasize the Southern geography of the album’s centerpiece. It’s a striking turn but they pull it off for sure. “Muchachos Muchachin'” has mid-’70s charm to spare, and “Bone Boys Ride Out” seems to bridge the more modern attack of Bone Church-prior with who they are today. Not every progression plays out like you think it will, and if this is the band Bone Church have wanted to be all along, they sound accordingly right to have made the redirect.

Bone Church on Bandcamp

Ripple Music website

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Js Donny, Death Folk

The ‘soft scream’ vocals give Js Donny‘s Death Folk an immediate sense of extremity, but it’s a quiet extremity. The French solo artist — who also plays bass in adventurous Marseilles sludgers Donna Candy — released an EP with a full lineup in 2023, but this six-song/33-minute offering is more intimate. Js Donny dwells in the quiet, creepy spaces the songs create, the vocal gurgle giving shades of otherworldliness and malevolence alike. It’s called Death Folk, but especially with the electrified/distorted wash that takes hold in “Not Like That” and again at the outset of closer “Black Heart” — a biting tone, like harsher blackgaze — I can’t help but wonder if Js Donny isn’t working in a kind of post-death-metallic framing. There are no drums, which is a fair trade for what’s gained in grim ambience, but even without, the album is clear in manifesting both sides of its title, and while Js Donny isn’t the only one laying claim to death-folk as a style, how it happens here sure feels like an act of genre creation.

Js Donny on Bandcamp

Bamboo Shoes on Bandcamp

29Speedway on Bandcamp

Chrüsimüsi Records on Bandcamp

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Nuclear Dudes, Skeletal Blasphemy

In some distant future, when the history is written of our idiotic, persistently awful time, no one will ever say, “and the right-thinking people of the day had no choice but to seek refuge in avant garde cybergrind,” and that’s why history is bullshit. Skeletal Blasphemy is the third album from Nuclear Dudes and second of 2025 behind September’s Truth Paste (review here) — keep ’em coming — and is the solo-project’s most vicious and realized offering to-date. Spearhead Jon Weisnewski (Sandrider, ex-Akimbo) brings powerviolent catharsis on “Victory Pants,” the title-track and assorted others, working in collaboration with guest drummer Coady Willis (High on Fire, Big Business, Melvins), and whether it’s the punker push in “Bad Body” or the slow, undulations of the closing “The Octopus” and the burgeoning thread of progressive melody throughout these songs, it’s exactly the sort of self-bludgeoning that being alive right now requires. Album of the year? Fuck you, fuck the year, and fuck capitalism.

Nuclear Dudes on Bandcamp

The Ghost is Clear Records website

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Kronstad 23, Sommermørket

With an instrumentalist foot in progressive, horn-inclusive jazz, heavy psychedelic fluidity and a resonant warmth of tone alongside a will to meander, Kronstad 23 feel tailor-made for El Paraiso Records, run by members of Denmark’s Causa Sui. Sommermørket is the Norwegian outfit’s debut album and without sounding consumed by its own ambition to do so, it organically nestles the band in a stylistic niche that allows for the explorations in “Caesar” and “Astralreiser,” the latter of which will seem barely there in its early going at low volumes, to exist along the daring-toward-dancey opener “Dølgsmål” and building a kind of dreamy tension between the guitar and drums on “Trosten,” with none of it feeling out of place. They’ll invariably get comparisons to Kanaan, but the foundation is different and the delivery gentler, with “Helgen” finding its way on drum rolls and key/guitar drift into a classic-prog horn section in a payoff that’s somewhat understated until you look back across the five and a half minutes and see how far you’ve come. I can’t wait to hear how they grow.

Kronstad 23 on Instagram

El Paraiso Records website

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Rolls the River, Love of Driving

“Love of Driving” is the debut single from newcomer New Jersey-based krautrock-minded two-piece Rolls the River. The band brings together Dan Kirwan of Pyre Fyre on bass, guitar and vocals, and Victor Marinelli on guitar, synth, drums and vocals for a sub-five-minute cosmic reachout, obviously schooled in where it’s coming from — that is to say, one doesn’t krautrock by accident; it is a form to adopt and refine — but still feeling like an initial exploration of both style and composition. Fading in on an initial keyboardy drone, the guitar and drums come in together and the neospace shuffle is mellow as layers are added, guitar, keys, but the sense of movement brought to “Love of Driving” is enough to explain the title, whatever you might think of the Garden State’s highway system. Rather than get caught up in jughandles, though, Rolls the River harness tonal presence and linear development and still find room to include voice as part of the atmosphere. Formative, and an encouraging start.

Rolls the River on Bandcamp

Rolls the River on Instagram

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Psychonaut, World Maker

Belgium’s Psychonaut may yet teach progressive metal a lesson or two. The post-metal three-piece reach what sure feels in “Endless Currents” like a new level of expression and craft, and while at 11 songs and 60 minutes, World Maker isn’t a minor undertaking — one could easily argue making a world takes time — the utter consumption achieved in “All in Time,” which I won’t spoil any further, the blissful wash of “…Everything Else is Just the Weather” are not to be missed, and worth whatever minor investment of attention span might be required. Exciting as the intermittent metallic surges are, “Endless Erosion” caps in a quiet place, and the atmospherics across the first two and a half minutes of “Origins,” just as one example, help to bring a feeling of place (of ‘world’) to the procession. It is a vivid place Psychonaut have made, and there are listeners for whom the melodies of World Maker will be transcendental.

Psychonaut on Bandcamp

Pelagic Records website

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Cabfighter, The Sea Between Stars

Following an apparent 2024 EP called Anachronist that is below because this debut album isn’t streaming yet that I can find, The Sea Between Stars — a suitably romantic framing of what you might otherwise call ‘the void’ — brings a progressive take to classic-style doom rock. The Oregonian five-piece roll out a genuine feeling of dynamic across the album’s 10 tracks, from the proto-metal shove of “Knightrider” at the outset to the later rush and wail of “Sky Sized Heart,” to the doom-epic ballad reach of “Bridge of Irreconcilable Sorrow” to the acoustic turn in the last movement of “The Words We Don’t Speak” and variable but unifyingly soulful vocal arrangements throughout, up to the minimal voice-and-piano closer “Ghost Notes” or the duet in the crescendo of “Still Breathing.” Ambition set in balance with organic production and songwriting. I don’t know when The Sea Between Stars is coming out, if it’s now-ish, early 2026 or what, but if you want to take this as an early heads up, do.

Cabfighter on Bandcamp

Cabfighter on Instagram

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Four and a half minutes is plenty of time for Belgium’s Psychonaut to give listeners a sense of the emotive crux behind their new record, World Maker, to showcase an atmosphere derived in part from the likes of Katatonia‘s melancholy and Russian Circles‘ tonal richness. There’s sprawl and reach, and then they turn and it’s absolute scream-topped atmosludge pummel for a payoff that hits on progressive metal with pointed intensity. It’s kind of a bait-and-switch, but I’m not mad about it. You might recall the trio’s 2022 full-length, Violate Consensus Reality (review here) or their 2021 split with SÂVER, Emerald (review here) (the latter of which was my first exposure). Clearly there’s willful growth happening in their sound. A band pushing themselves, in other wor(l)ds.

World Maker is out Oct. 24, which should give you almost enough time to read the press release below. I love long press releases. 10 years from now I’ll be looking for some snippet of information and here it will be, barring disaster:

Belgian Psychedelic Post-Metallers Psychonaut Announce New Album “World Maker” + Share “Endless Currents” Video

To Be Released on October 24 via Pelagic Records

A record born of insurmountable joy and simultaneous profound loss; World Maker marks a time of great change for Psychonaut, both personally and musically, as the band burn away the philosophical narrative complexities of previous offerings with a searing, panoramic clarity that implores us to savor the beauty of the now as a means of leaving a legacy for the future.

The album arrives October 24 via Pelagic. Pre-order it here: https://orcd.co/psychonaut-worldmaker

The traditional, three-piece line up of Belgian, psychedelic post-metal collective Psychonaut has long belied the compositional prowess, captivating narrative depth and crushing live presence of a band now operating at the forefront of forward-thinking, contemporary heavy music.

Having sent a shockwave through the post-metal and prog scenes with their three times repressed Pelagic Records debut Unfold The God Man in 2020 before following it up with the transformative metaphysical complexities of 2022’s Violate Consensus Reality, Psychonaut have played prestigious Belgian open-air festivals like Alcatraz, Rock Herk and Boomtown Festival as well as boutique events such as Soulcrusher, Roadburn Redux and A Colossal Weekend whilst sharing stages across Europe with the likes of Amenra, Brutus and Pelagic labelmates The Ocean and PG.Lost.

The seed of World Maker took shape just as the campaign for Violate Consensus Reality came to a close, with the news that guitarist/vocalist Stefan De Graef was to become a father. This tilting of life’s axis led De Graef, like most fathers-to-be, to re-assess what was really important. As such, the music he was inspired to write felt free of the band’s previous philosophical and spiritual foundations and instead took the form of life lessons for his unborn son, a legacy of love in case something were ever to happen.

This hopeful euphoria shines keenly throughout World Maker as an uncharacteristically optimistic warmth; from the reverberating Rhodes organ on the titular opening track and the meandering, free-jazz inspired guitar solo that introduces “Everything Else is Just The Weather” to elements of world music, electronica and the otherworldly voice of Dutch multi-instrumentalist and old friend Anthe Huybrechts (Anthe/Helion Creek) most notably on tracks like “Origins” which also features tabla, a pair of indian hand drums, as its propulsive heartbeat.

Whilst Psychonaut’s giant riffs, punishing polyrhythms and guttural vocal rage are more resplendent than ever, there is a wider dynamic spectrum to World Maker that sees the band proudly exploring their more delicate, intimate extremes as well as their most aggressive and abrasive. Not long after the
birth of De Graef’s son came the devastating news that both his own father and Psychonaut bassist/vocalist Thomas Michiels’ father had been diagnosed with advanced cancers. Living day-to-day and torn between joy and grief, the band found themselves shedding the grand scope and world-shattering agenda of Violate Consensus Reality to focus on the here and now.

Lead single “Endless Currents,” the first full track on the album, explodes in a barrage of staccato guitar tapping but mellows to let the powerful, newly pared back lyrics ring out as a call to embrace the flow and follow joy. The song’s final few words “Lead the way. / Soar. / Everlong.” double as both a greeting and a goodbye as the trio build their formidable post-metal might to a thunderous breaking point. Similarly, the pulsing, propellant “Stargazer,” named so for De Graef’s son being born in stargazer position, pairs delicate guitar motifs and folk-infected optimism with huge and sprawling breakdowns as some of the band’s most genre-pushing work to date; asking difficult but important questions of what happens next.

It is “And You Came With Searing Light” though that most immediately exemplifies Psychonaut’s re-directed ambition on World Maker, as euphoria collides with blinding fury. The first track written for the album, “…Searing Light” is easily the most complex and initially wouldn’t sound out of place on Violate Consensus Reality. Originally meant to be the new album’s opening track; the decision to defer its impact, not to mention its compositional and dynamic gravity, speaks of a fundamental change to the band’s very core. The words “Discover the world with wide eyes” recurring throughout speak as much to those having lost a part of their world as they do to those seeing it for the first time.

Amidst such turbulent times, the band found strength and support within their Post-Metal community. The album was recorded and produced by the band alongside their longtime collaborator and close friend Chiaran Verheyden (Hippotraktor) with help and advice from Psychonaut’s live engineer Victor,
who will no doubt make this album sound just as awesome on stage. Even the artwork for World Maker was a family affair, being designed by close friend Sam Coussens of Belgian cosmic sludge metallers Pothamus.

In the face of life’s soaring highs and desolate lows, World Maker is direct and brave without sacrificing any of Psychonaut’s raw power, creative innovation or inimitable musical depth. Where their previous full-length offerings have charted grand introspective courses through time and space, World

World Maker is breathtaking in its uncompromising clarity: a father singing to his newborn son as a son bids his own father farewell.

WORLD MAKER TRACK LISTING:
SIDE A:
“World Maker”
“Endless Currents”
“You Are The Sky”
“Everything Else Is Just The Weather”
“And You Came With Searing Light”

SIDE B:
“Origins”
“All In Time”
“Stargazer”
“All Was Quiet”
“Endless Erosion”

PSYCHONAUT ARE:
Stefan de Graef — Guitars/Vocals
Thomas Michiels — Bass/Vocals
Harm Peters — Drums

https://psychonautband.bandcamp.com/
http://www.instagram.com/psychonautband
http://www.facebook.com/psychonautband

http://www.pelagic-records.com/
http://www.instagram.com/pelagic_records
http://www.facebook.com/pelagicrecords

Psychonaut, “Endless Currents” official video

Heads up on a sick bill, though don’t take that to mean I’m claiming to break any news here, as Into the Void posted this lineup announcement for 2025 last week. I’m just always beihnd. In any case, it’s rad. It’s awesome to see Dutch-native bands like DOOL and Temple Fang ascending to headliner positions, most especially because it’s earned by the music/performance, and The Vintage Caravan are always, always, always a good time. Killer top three. In light of Molassesss announcing their ending, to see the Farida Lemouchi-fronted Gott taking part here would seem to signal a renewed focus on that project following their 2022 EP, To Hell to Zion. Curious of course what might be in the works there to be revealed hopefully by September. Hell a new record’s out and I probably missed it, for all I know. I’m doing my best folks. I never said I was good at this.

Cheers and happy travels to Sons of Arrakis, who’ll apparently be making their debut on the Europpean circuit this Fall. I saw them a couple weeks ago and they were great and are at a stage in their progression where every moment they can spend performing will help them grow. These plus Earthship, MR.BISON, Lowen, Haunted, Ggu:ll, Motorowl, Psychonaut, Hippotraktor and An Evening With Knives makes for one hell of a 14-band all-dayer.

From socials:

On September 27, Neushoorn will once again open the gates for Into The Void, where heavy riffs and dark spheres meet. This year, fourteen bands are set to take the audience on a journey through the universe of Doom, Stoner and Sludge.

🔸 DOOL returns to Leeuwarden after a sold out club tour. With their melancholic, layered sound and immersive performances, they manage to leave a deep impression time and time again.

🔸 The Vintage Caravan brings their signature mix of classic rock and heavy psych back to Into The Void. The energy of this Icelandic band always causes a party.

🔸 Temple Fang presents new work. Known for their hypnotizing compositions, the band will take you on an intense musical trip.

🔸 Psychonaut and Hippotraktor prove that Belgium is a breeding ground for heavy, progressive music. Both bands combine powerful riffs with deep dynamics and atmospheric elements.

🔸 Gott the reincarnation of The Devil’s Blood, mixing occult rock and intense, bewitching melodies.

🔸 Lowen a name to watch out for, hails from the UK and brings a combination of doom and atmospheric sounds.

In addition, HAUNTED , An Evening With Knives , Ggu:ll, Sons of Arrakis, Earth Ship, Mr. Bison and Motorowl complete the lineup.

Tickets are now on sale: https://intothevoid.nl/tickets/

https://www.facebook.com/gointothevoid/
https://www.instagram.com/intothevoidfestival/
https://www.intothevoid.nl/

DOOL, The Shape of Fluidity (2024)

Gott, To Hell to Zion (2022)

Pretty rad bill out of the gate for Rock Im Wald, which tops its thus-far bill with Danko Jones, who should be made an ambassador for Canada by now, as well as Sweden’s Graveyard, might-have-a-new-record-out-by-July UK stompers Orange Goblin, and the Brant Bjork Trio with its namesake on guitar and Mario Lalli on bass. Then you get into Planet of Zeus coming from Greece — maybe touring with Godsleep? — an appearance from The Devil and the Almighty Blues, which doesn’t happen all the time and you want to be there when it does, and the implied confirmation of summer European activity for High Desert Queen out of Texas, and it’s a win even before you get down to The Great Machine‘s madcap performance penchant, the upstarts Margarita Witch Cult, El Caco who released their first album in seven years in 2023, a partially-revamped Asomvel and Psychonaut‘s post-metallic texturing. It’s 13 bands. They’ve all got something going on.

The fest is set for July 25-27. Both SonicBlast and Hoflärm (in Portugal and Germany, respectively) are two weeks later, Aug. 8-10. Among the shared confirmations there are Brant Bjork Trio (who also announced a Spring run around the Desertfests and Sonic Whip) and Graveyard (for SonicBlast), so fair enough to expect tour announcements to come from them, and I’ll add Planet of Zeus and Margarita Witch Cult to that with an asterisk for ‘likely’ since of course I never actually know anything about anything.

There will be more to come, of course — it’s a three-dayer — and I’ll do my best to keep an eye out, but already there’s a lot to dig here. From socials:

We are delighted to present the first 13 bands for our Rock im Wald Festival 2024, taking place from July 25th to 27th. As always, we have once again given our best to offer you Rock’n Roll in its most beautiful facets. And there is more to come soon, of course. Finally, we aim to provide you with three festival days filled with musical surprises and highlights this year.

For those of you who are already convinced, you can now secure your tickets in our ticket shop, which can be found at the following link.
https://rockimwald.de/ticket-shop/
Cheers & Peace
Eure #RIW Crew

Line-Up so far:
DANKO JONES | GRAVEYARD | ORANGE GOBLIN | BRANT BJORK TRIO | PLANET OF ZEUS | THE DEVIL & THE ALMIGHTY BLUES | THE GREAT MACHINE | PSYCHONAUT | EL CACO | ASOMVEL | GODSLEEP | HIGH DESERT QUEEN | MARGARITA WITCH CULT

https://www.facebook.com/rockimwald.festival
https://rockimwald.de/

The Devil & the Almighty Blues, “The Ghosts of Charlie Barracuda” live at Soulstone Gathering 2023

In many ways, this is my favorite kind of Quarterly Review day. I always place things more or less as I get them, and let the days fill up randomly, but there are different types that come out of that. Some are heavier on riffs, some (looking at you, Monday) are more about atmosphere, and some are all over the place. That’s this. There’s no getting in a word rut — “what’s another way to say ‘loud and fuzzy?'” — when the releases in question don’t sound like each other.

As we move past the halfway point of the first week of this double-wide Quarterly Review, 100 total acts/offerings to be covered, that kind of thing is much appreciated on my end. Keeps the mind limber, as it were. Let’s roll.

Winter 2023 Quarterly Review #21-30:

White Hills, The Revenge of Heads on Fire

The narrative — blessings and peace upon it — goes that White Hills stumbled on an old hard drive with 2007’s Heads on Fire‘s recording files on it, recovered them, and decided it was time to flesh out the original album some 15 years after the fact, releasing The Revenge of Heads on Fire through their own Heads on Fire Records imprint in fashion truer to the record’s original concept. Who would argue? Long-established freaks as they are, can’t White Hills basically do whatever the hell they want and it’ll be at the very least interesting? Sure enough, the 11-song starburster they’ve summoned out of the ether of memory is lysergic and druggy and sprawling through Dave W. and Ego Sensation‘s particular corner of heavy psychedelia and space rocks, “Visions of the Past, Present and Future” sounding no less vital for the passing of years as they’re still on a high temporal shift, riding a cosmic ribbon that puts “Speed Toilet” where “Revenge of Speed Toilet” once was in reverse sequeling and is satisfyingly head-spinning whether or not you ever heard the original. That is to say, context is nifty, but having your brain melted is better, and White Hills might screw around an awful lot, but they’re definitely not screwing around. You heard me.

White Hills on Facebook

White Hills on Bandcamp

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Dystopian Future Movies, War of the Ether

Weaving into and out of spoken word storytelling and lumbering riffy largesse, nine-minute opener and longest track (immediate points) “She Up From the Drombán Hill” has a richly atmospheric impact on what follows throughout Dystopian Future Movies‘ self-issued third album, War of the Ether, the residual feedback cutting to silence ahead of a soft beginning for “Critical Mass” as guitarist/vocalist Caroline Cawley pairs foreboding ambience with noise rocking payoffs, joined by her Church of the Cosmic Skull bandmate Bill Fisher on bass/drums and Rafe Dunn on guitar for eight songs that owe some of their root to ’90s-era alt heavy but have grown into something of their own, as demonstrated in the willfully overwhelming apex of “The Walls of Filth and Toil” or the dare-a-hook ending of the probably-about-social-media “The Veneer” just prior. The LP runs deeper as it unfurls, each song setting forth on its own quiet start save for the more direct “License of Their Lies” and offering grim but thoughtful craft for a vision of dark heavy rock true both to the band’s mission and the album’s troubled spirit. Closer “A Decent Class of Girl” rolls through volume swells in what feels like a complement to “She Up From the Drombán Hill,” but its bookending wash only highlights the distance the audience has traveled alongside Cawley and company. Engrossing.

Dystopian Future Movies on Facebook

Dystopian Future Movies store

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Basalt Shrine, From Fiery Tongues

Though in part defined by the tectonic megasludge of “In the Dirt’s Embrace,” Filipino four-piece Basalt Shrine are no more beholden to that on From Fiery Tongues than they are the prior opening drone “Thawed Slag Blood,” the post-metallic soundscaping of the title-track, the open-spaced minimalism of closer “The Barren Aftermath” or the angular chug at the finish of centerpiece “Adorned for Loathing Pigs.” Through these five songs, the Manila-based outfit plunge into the darker, denser and more extreme regions of sludgy stylizations, and as they’ve apparently drawn the notice of US-based Electric Talon Records and sundry Euro imprints, safe to say the secret is out. Fair enough. The band guide “From Fiery Tongues,” song and album, with an entrancing churn that is as much about expression as impact, and the care they take in doing so — even at their heaviest and nastiest — isn’t to be understated, and especially as their debut, their ambition manifests itself in varied ways nearly all of which bode well for coming together as the crux of an innovative style. Not predicting anything, but while From Fiery Tongues doesn’t necessarily ring out with a hopeful viewpoint for the world at large, one can only listen to it and be optimistic about the prospects for the band themselves.

Basalt Shrine on Facebook

Electric Talon Records store

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Psychonaut, Violate Consensus Reality

Post-metallic in its atmosphere, there’s no discounting the intensity Belgium trio Psychonaut radiate on their second album, Violate Consensus Reality (on Pelagic). The prog-metal noodling of “All Your Gods Have Gone” and the singing-turns-to-screaming methodology on the prior opener “A Storm Approaching” begin the 52-minute eight-tracker with a fervency that affects everything that comes after, and as “Age of Separation” builds into its full push ahead of the title-track, which holds tension in its first half and shows why in its second, a halfway-there culmination before the ambient and melodic “Hope” turns momentarily from some of the harsher insistence before it, a summary/epilogue for the first platter of the 2LP release. The subsequent “Interbeing” is black metal reimagined as modern prog — flashes of Enslaved or Amorphis more than The Ocean or Mastodon, and no complaints — and the procession from “Hope” through “Interbeing” means that the onslaught of “A Pacifist’s Guide to Violence,” all slam and controlled plunder, is an apex of its own before the more sprawling, 12-minute capper “Towards the Edge,” which brings guest appearances from Brutus‘ Stefanie Mannaerts and the most esteemed frontman in European post-metal, Colin H. van Eeckhout of Amenra, whose band Psychonaut admirably avoid sounding just like. That’s not often the case these days.

Psychonaut on Facebook

Pelagic Records on Bandcamp

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Robot God, Worlds Collide

If you’re making your way through this post, skimming for something that looks interesting, don’t discount Sydney, Australia’s Robot God on account of their kinda-generic moniker. After solidifying — moltenifying? — their approach to longform-fuzz on their 2020 debut, Silver Buddha Dreaming, the three-piece of guitarist/vocalist Raff Iacurto, bassist/vocalist Matt Allen and drummer Tim Pritchard offer the four tracks of their sophomore LP, Worlds Collide, through Kozmik Artifactz in an apparent spirit of resonance, drawing familiar aspects of desert-style heavy rock out over songs that feel exploratory even as they’re born of recognizable elements. “Sleepwalking” (11:25) sets a broad landscape and the melody over the chugger riff in the second half of “Ready to Launch” (the shortest inclusion at 7:03) floats above it smoothly, while “Boogie Man” (11:24) pushes over the edge of the world and proceeds to (purposefully) tumble loosely downward in tempo from there, and the closing title-track (11:00) departs from its early verses along a jammier course, still plotted, but clearly open to the odd bit of happy-accidentalism. It’s a niche that seems difficult to occupy, and a difficult balance to strike between hooking the listener with a riff and spacing out, but Robot God mostly avoid the one-or-the-other trap and create something of their own from both sides; reminiscent of… wait for it… worlds colliding. Don’t skip it.

Robot God on Facebook

Kozmik Artifactz store

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AAWKS, Heavy on the Cosmic

Released in June 2022 and given a late-in-the-year vinyl issue seemingly on the strength of popular demand alone, AAWKS‘ debut full-length, Heavy on the Cosmic sets itself forth with the immersive, densely-fuzzed nodder riff and stoned vocal of longest track (immediate points) “Beyond the Sun,” which finds start-with-longest-song complement on side B’s “Electric Traveller” (rare double points). Indeed there’s plenty to dig about the eight-song outing, from the boogie in “Sunshine Apparitions,” the abiding vibe of languid grunge and effects-laced chicanery that pervade the crashouts of “The Woods” to the memorable, slow hook-craft of “All is Fine.” Over on side B, the momentum early in “Electric Traveller” rams headfirst into its own slowdown, while “Space City” reinforces the no-joke tonality and Elephant Tree-style heavy/melodic blend before the penultimate mostly-instrumental “Star Collider” resolves itself like Floor at half-speed and closer “Peeling Away” lives up to its title with a departure of psychedelic soloing and final off-we-go loops. The word-of-mouth hype around AAWKS was and is significant, and the Ontario-based four-piece tender three-dimensional sound to justify it, the record too brief at 39 minutes to actually let the listener get lost while providing multiple opportunities for headphone escapism. A significant first LP.

AAWKS on Facebook

AAWKS on Bandcamp

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Smokes of Krakatau, Smokes of Krakatau

The core methodology of Polish trio Smokes of Krakatau across their self-titled debut seems to be to entrance their audience and then blindside them with a riffy punch upside the head. Can’t argue if it works, which it does, right from the gradual unfurling of 10-minute instrumental opener “Absence of Light” before the chunky-style riff of “GrassHopper” lumbers into the album’s first vocals, delivered with a burl that reminds of earlier Clutch. There are two more extended tracks tucked away at the end — “Septic” (10:07) and “Kombajn Bizon” (11:37) — but before they get there, “GrassHopper” begins a movement across four songs that brings the band to arguably their most straightforward piece of all, the four-minute “Carousel,” as though the ambient side of their persona was being drained out only to return amid the monolithic lumber that pays off the build in “Septic.” It’s a fascinating whole-album progression, but it works and it flows right unto the bluesy reach of “Kombajn Bizon,” which coalesces around a duly massive lurch in its last minutes. It’s a simplification to call them ‘stoner doom,’ but that’s what they are nonetheless, though the manner in which they present their material is as distinguishing a factor as that material itself in the listening experience. The band are not done growing, but if you let their songs carry you, you won’t regret going where they lead.

Smokes of Krakatau on Facebook

Smokes of Krakatau on Bandcamp

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Carrier Wave, Carrier Wave

Is it the riff-filled land that awaits, or the outer arms of the galaxy itself? Maybe a bit of both on Bellingham, Washington-based trio Carrier Wave‘s four-song self-titled debut, which operates with a reverence for the heft of its own making that reminds of early YOB without trying to ape either Mike Scheidt‘s vocal or riffing style. That works greatly to the benefit of three-piece — guitarist/vocalist James Myers, bassist/vocalist Taber Wilmot, drummer Joe Rude — who allow some raucousness to transfuse in “Skyhammer” (shortest song at 6:53) while surrounding that still-consuming breadth with opener “Cosmic Man” (14:01), “Monolithic Memories” (11:19) and the subsequent finale “Evening Star” (10:38), a quiet guitar start to the lead-and-longest track (immediate points) barely hinting at the deep tonal dive about to take place. Tempo? Mostly slow. Space? Mostly dark and vast. Ritual? Vital, loud and awaiting your attendance. There’s crush and presence and open space, surges, ebbs, flows and ties between earth and ether that not every band can or would be willing to make, and much to Carrier Wave‘s credit, at 42 minutes, they engage a kind of worldmaking through sound that’s psychedelic even as it builds solid walls of repetitive riffing. Not nasty. Welcoming, and welcome in itself accordingly.

Carrier Wave on Facebook

Carrier Wave on Bandcamp

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Stash, Through Rose Coloured Glasses

With mixing/mastering by Chris Fielding (Conan, etc.), the self-released first full-length from Tel Aviv’s Stash wants nothing for a hard-landing thud of a sound across its nine songs/45 minutes. Through Rose Coloured Glasses has a kind of inherent cynicism about it, thanks to the title and corresponding David Paul Seymour cover art, and its burl — which goes over the top in centerpiece “No Real” — is palpable to a defining degree. There’s a sense of what might’ve happened if C.O.C. had come from metal instead of punk rock, but one way or the other, Stash‘s grooves remain mostly throttled save for the early going of the penultimate “Rebirth.” The shove is marked and physical, and the tonal purpose isn’t so much to engulf the listener with weight as to act as the force pushing through from one song to the next, each one — “Suits and Ties,” “Lie” and certainly the opener “Invite the Devil for a Drink” — inciting a sense of movement, speaking to American Southern heavy without becoming entirely adherent to it, finding its own expression through roiling, chugging brashness. But there’s little happenstance in it — another byproduct of a metallic foundation — and Stash stay almost wholly clearheaded while they crash through your wall and proceed to break all the shit in your house, sonically speaking.

Stash on Facebook

Stash on Bandcamp

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Lightsucker, Stonemoon

Though it opens serene enough with birdsong and acoustic guitar on “Intro(vert,” the bulk of Lightsucker‘s second LP, Stonemoon is more given to a tumult of heavy motion, drawing together elements of atmospheric sludge and doom with shifts between heavy rock groove and harder-landing heft. And in “Pick Your God,” a little bit of death metal. An amalgam, then. So be it. The current that unites the Finnish four-piece’s material across Stonemoon is unhinged sludge rock that, in “Lie,” “Land of the Dead” and the swinging “Mob Psychosis” reminds of some of Church of Misery‘s shotgun-blues chaos, but as the careening “Guayota” and the deceptively steady push of “Justify” behind the madman vocals demonstrate, Lightsucker‘s ambitions aren’t so simply encapsulated. So much the better for the listening experience of the 35-minute/eight-song entirety, as from “Intro(vert)” through the suitably pointy snare hits of instrumental closer “Stalagmites,” Lightsucker remain notably unpredictable as they throw elbows and wreak havoc from one song to the next, the ruined debris of genre strewn about behind as if to leave a trail for you to follow after, which, if you can actually keep up with their changes, you might just do.

Lightsucker on Facebook

Lightsucker on Bandcamp

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Belgian psychonauts Psychonaut (wait. what?) will issue their new full-length, Violate Consensus Reality, on Oct. 28 through Pelagic Records, and with that, I’ll turn you over to the new streaming track, “Interbeing.”

What, no wax poetry about the band’s psychedelic progressive metal? No comparisons to other acts that either aren’t relevant or just make no sense to anyone other than myself? No hyperbole about the potential for what the first single means for the rest of the album?

No. Fuck it. Sometimes the song is enough.

From the PR wire:

PSYCHONAUT To Release Violate Consensus Reality Full-Length Via Pelagic Records October 28th; “Interbeing” Video Now Playing

Belgium-based progressive post-metal trio PSYCHONAUT will release their Violate Consensus Reality full-length on October 28th via Pelagic Records. In advance of the record’s release, today the band unveils first single “Interbeing,” out now on all streaming platforms.

“Interbeing” is a perfect example of how PSYCHONAUT can embody their subject matter through sound and dynamics. Rather than hiding a mediocre melody behind a big climax, the trio from Mechelen first embodies the moment, before blowing it up to larger-than-life proportions. Similar to classic hard rock tracks like “Achilles Last Stand” or “Immigrant Song,” every note feels devoted to the revelation of a new civilization rooted in mindful co-existence — an enlightening addition to progressive metal.

View PSYCHONAUT’s “Interbeing” video HERE. Stream/download the track HERE.

Stay tuned for more info on Violate Consensus Reality including track listing, additional singles, and preorders to be unveiled in the coming weeks.

http://www.facebook.com/psychonautband
http://www.instagram.com/psychonautband
https://psychonautband.bandcamp.com/

http://www.pelagic-records.com/
http://www.facebook.com/pelagicrecords
http://www.instagram.com/pelagic_records

Psychonaut, “Interbeing”

An outdoor all-dayer fest in Belgium? Boy that takes me back. Remember when stuff like that used to happen on the planet where we lived, and you almost kind of took it for granted because, hell, it was Europe, and surely the next weekend there would also be a killer festival happening somewhere, pretty much year-round, in and out of “festival season,” which was well on its way to becoming a four-season phenomenon.

What’s that you say? This isn’t an announcement from two years ago, but something actually happening in the future? The near future? And it might actually be happening? And Monomyth are playing? Well hell’s bells, I’m not even sure how to feel about that. Good, I guess.

Wonder who the mystery act is here. They’re Dutch. Splinter maybe? Temple Fang? Someone who can’t say their name for fear of being stopped at the border, maybe — mind you I have no idea if such travel restrictions are in place. Would be nice to see the guys from Supersonic Blues getting out. I have no idea, but it’s fun to guess. Name a Dutch band. Maybe it’s them.

Down the Hill‘s announcement is so long it’s like it’s trying to make up for lost time. Have at it:

Hi Psych, fuzz and riff lovers! Are you ready?

We are! But first…

For the moment there are still no clear government regulations about festivals our size for the end of August.

We believe Down The Hill can only take place when there are no bubbles, no 1,5m regulations, a big fireplace to hang in the evening or night, big hugs now and then, well you get the idea. So, let’s wait and see. Things will get clear soon!

But for now we organize the festival as it would be a normal year!

If it seems to become not possible this way in the coming months, we will postpone it again till next year. All tickets will be fully refunded in this case, so don’t hesitate to get your ticket(s)! We believe in it!
And now… something you’re all been waiting for…

Here it is, Down The Hill 2021 Line-up!

We open the day with the Bad Slaves, this 4 piece rock band from Bekkevoort inspired by the great rockbands from the 60’s and 70’s. Never the less, they remain children of their time. They have a passion for tube amps, wide open drums and passionate vocals. Their songs blend heavy riffs with gentle and sometimes psychedelic wandering. It ain’t stoner, heavy blues, loudrock, garage or hardrock, it’s a bit of all of that.

Next in line is Grotto, they are a young three-piece instrumental band from Belgium whose music draws from all corners of the rock universe, weaving a fabric of sound both familiar and otherworldly. Founded by friends Marvin Dinneweth, Jeroen Moerman and Arno Tucker Cottyn in the 2010s, the group released two LPs in quick succession before landing at Stickman for their upcoming third record.

The building blocks of Grotto’s sound could be described as riffs, as they are heavy, groovy and dense; yet the band relies on open chords, spacious sounds and jangly tones that give their music a unique voice in the heavy rock world. Working in long song formats usually exceeding 10 minutes, their songs bloom and evolve in non-traditional form, leaning more towards progressive and post rock than stoner and doom.

Grotto joined Stickman in 2019 with their third LP Lantern of Gius, an ambitious 2-track album that propelled them to new standing in the heavy psychedelic music scene.

Then it’s time for a surprise act, for now, all we can tell you is: They are from the Netherlands.

Next on stage: HEISA, rarely has a band had a more fitting name, three grounded blokes from Limburg with musical gold in their hands.

Possessed yet measured. Uneasy yet mesmerising. Disorienting yet catchy. HEISA is all of these things and preferably at the same time. In the best tradition of unconventional bands ranging from Tool across Battles to Warpaint, Jacques Nomdefamille (also Peuk), Koen Castermans and Jonathan Frederix have forged ten songs that run the gamut from surprise and enchantment to castigation.

On their maiden full-length ‘joni’, HEISA plays around with rhythms, atmospheres and keyboards while choosing their moments to break the painstakingly constructed tension with punishing guitars and waves of distortion. The vocals do not monopolise the listener’s attention but instead complement the other instruments. The result is an entirely unique sound.

On the road HEISA leaves a trail of destruction in its wake. Their live shows are exciting, surprising, slightly theatrical and explore the boundaries of the humanly bearable. Those who have had the privilege of seeing HEISA live become a fan once the experience has had the chance to sink in.

‘Let Go’, the first single off ‘joni’, met with rave reviews and was picked up by radio station Studio Brussel/Eigen Kweek and by indie station Pinguin Radio (NL).

Pothamus will guide us into the evening with heavy walls of sound. They consists of three gentlemen from Mechelen who managed to impress with their energetic live performances over the years. In keeping with their big brother Amenra’s style, they opt for minimal interaction with the audience and let the music speak for itself. Let yourself be carried away in a dark universe of thin drones supported by Spartan drum rolls, ferocious bass sounds and repetitive guitar parts with conjuring, psalm-like vocals in the background. It sounds like a whole sandwich, but one that is smeared with the right ingredients for the added value seeker and lover of mood setting in music.

At the end of 2019, the gentlemen went to the Ardennes forests to work on the first full-fledged record called Raya. For fifty minutes we get monolithic walls of sound interspersed with the atmosphere of desolate landscapes and esoteric moods. In terms of production, the drum is at the forefront to hit the tribal tones on songs like Orath and Raya. They are the strongest and longest songs of the album, where ample time was taken to allow the aforementioned elements to interact with each other. In the mix, the ethereal vocals were just echoed in the background, which makes it seem that the band was singing psalms in a church. Concepts that are regularly performed live at Consouling Sounds and that often turn concerts into unique experiences. In addition to the drums, the bass guitar also gets its prominent place in the mix to emphasize the drum lines and the threatening atmospheres.

The song Viso scored a very nice 62nd place in Studio Brussel’s heaviest list. Ow, and Orath at number 462 and Raya at place 553! Not bad at ALL guys!

Let’s keep it in the neighbourhood with PSYCHONAUT! Also a psychedelic post-metal collective from Mechelen, Belgium. Their signature sound is heavily influenced by 70’s bands like Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd, but also draws inspiration from more modern sources like Tool and Amenra.

Even though the band only consists of a traditional three-piece line-up, they are known to deliver a constantly compelling live show that grabs you by the throat from the first second to the last. Contrast and variation are the two main anchors on which they base their musical ideas.

Raw, convincing and designed to create a perpetually fascinating experience, often combining their wall of sound with intense visual landscapes and light shows by like-minded artists.

Since 2013, they have released 2 physical EP’s – ’24 Trips Around the Sun’ (2014) and ‘Ferocious Fellowman’ (2016) – which they have performed live throughout Belgium and The Netherlands. Desertfest, Rock Herk and Putrock are only a few of the stages they have conquered in the past.

Psychonaut has released their debut full album – ‘Unfold The God Man’ – on September 1st, 2018. Recorded by Chiaran Verheyden at the honourable Daft Studios in Malmedy, Unfold The God Man is an intricate concept album dealing with strong philosophical and existential themes, ultimately describing mankind’s re-ascension to a higher level of consciousness. The nearly 70-minute-long album contains material from over 3 years of incessant writing, arranging and recording. In 2019, the band has presented the album live on festivals such as Alcatraz Festival, Rock Herk, Roadkill Festival, Maanrock, Retie Rockt and many more.

‘Unfold The God Man’ has been re-released on Pelagic records to spread this awesome music over the entire world!

Also in 2020 these guys haven’t been sitting still, many live streams, an split EP with Säver on the Pelagic record label, The fall of the consciousness reached a great 26th spot on Studio Brussels, heaviest list.

We end the day with five flying Dutchmen who make the most thrilling instrumental soundscapes. Formed in The Hague in 2011, Monomyth (official) are not afraid to push the boundaries of space / stoner rock. After playing festivals like Roadburn and Desertfest, 2019 sees the band starting a new chapter with their fourth album. On Orbis Quadrantis the band delves into unexplored waters, yet their meticulous open-ended psychedelics remain in-between Ariel Pink and Pink Floyd.

“The road we take always remains undefined. We seek out adventures in new sounds and a new approach. In that respect, this album is very different from our previous work, as it’s much more complete sonically. Consider Orbis Quadrantis to be a shell: hold it up to your ear, and you’ll hear the rustling of the sea.” – Monomyth

Monomyth was founded by drummer Sander Evers and (now ex) bassist Selwyn Slop. In addition, the band consists of Peter van der Meer (keys, guitar), Tjerk Stoop (digital instruments, guitar), guitarist Boudewijn Bonebakker (Gorefest / Gingerpig) and bassist Jason van den Bergh who replaced Selwyn Slop in early 2020.

In September 2013 Monomyth released their untitled first album on Burning World Records. The band switched to Suburban Records where they completed their trilogy with the release of Further (2014) and Exo (2016). Monomyth has toured all over Europe, with festival appearances including Roadburn, Desertfest, Paaspop, Noorderslag and Reeperbahn. At 2016’s Imagine Filmfestival, the band performed a live rescoring during 2014’s 4K restored version of the silent movie and cult-classic Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari.
All this mixed together by three of the best DJ’s around,

COSMIC MASSEUR, you maybe know him from Roadburn or an afterparty at Desertfest?
7 INCHES OF RIFFS AKA MOOS also present at Roadburn, Desertfest, SXSW, Dunajam,…almost everywhere!
And SHAZZULAH, who doesn’t knows her, this is the moment! All three of them will blend these band together each in their unique ways and will take care of the afterparty!

Tickets will be on sale on ONLY on our downthehill.be website. Tickets are provided by event-tickets.

An entrance ticket for Down The Hill 2021 will be €40 pre-sale. If there are still tickets left, €45 at the door.

If you would like to stay at our campingground, please select also a FREE camping ticket.

Tokens can be bought as well, soda or normal beer will be 2 Tokens, heavy beers or wine will be 4 tokens. Also food has to be bought with these tokens.

This year there is also a possibility to support future concerts and the ongoing of the festival by buying an EXTRA support ticket. You will receive our eternal gratitude and love! (However, This will not grant you access to the festival ground, don’t print this ticket at home, it’s useless, unless you like to put it on your wall)

See you all on August 28, 2021!

https://www.facebook.com/DownTheHillFestival/
http://www.downthehill.be/

Monomyth, Orbis Quadrantis (2019)

Psychonaut and SÂVER‘s Emerald split LP (review here) is out now on Pelagic Records. Both bands last month took part in their label’s showcase for Roadburn Redux, each one with a prior-filmed performance of their respective piece from the split. For Belgium’s Psychonaut, “The Great Realisation” broadened their reach in terms of sound, and “Dimensions Lost, Obscured by Aeons” did much the same for Norway’s SÂVER, the two bands alike in a forward-thinking mindset if not directly sharing a ton of elements sound-wise beyond perhaps falling under the catchall of “heavy.”

So be it. Various Roadburn Redux streams have started to surface and be made public — Tau‘s was posted here not so long ago — and the arrival of these two clips is another chance to revisit what was for me a highlight of the weekend’s viewing. So I’m doing that. If you’ve not yet caught wind of Emerald, consider this an opportunity to be engaged in a fully multimedia fashion, and if you’ve heard the two extended pieces that make up the LP and not yet seen these videos, well, the argument for watching makes itself. If you caught this during Roadburn Redux, same applies. You don’t need me to tell you this is worth hitting up.

The bands offer stories behind their works below. I hoisted it from the Pelagic YouTube posts just because I thought it makes interesting reading and six years from now I’ll probably want to refer back to it or something. I’m like that sometimes.

Enjoy:

SA?VER, “Dimensions Lost, Obscured by Aeons” studio playthrough

Psychonaut, “The Great Realisation” studio playthrough

PSYCHONAUT – The Great Realisation

The Great Realisation represents the start of both an individual and a collective awakening. As we slowly watch our world change to the point where it may actually become uninhabitable for our species, we start to question the story of the world and realise that it may be time for a new story. It continues where the concept of Unfold the God Man left off, which was mostly centered around the recognition of our higher potential as individuals. The Great Realisation is the next step in the transition towards a new collective experience. It functions as a bridge between UTGM and our next album.

The story is narrated in 5 chapters which are based on a psychedelic experience. The protagonist encounters an entity that feels like Mother Earth who reveals the secrets of the universe to him. He enters a euphoric state in which he deconstructs his notion of self, leading him into an unknown yet blissful state of consciousness. However, not knowing what to do with this experience and this information, he loses all connection and is sent into the void. With all his might, he tries to retrieve his anchor to reality, condemning the entity that gave him this experience.

This release is by far the most elaborate production we have ever done. We recorded tons of extra percussion overdubs in Motormusic studio, added additional layers using a Morin Khuur, a 12-string acoustic, violins, didgeridoos, timpani, throat singing, choir vocals etc. To us, this feels like the most creative piece of songwriting we’ve ever done. We knew this would be released as a single track but we still wanted to make it sound like it was a short album or an EP, creating the experience of a bigger story by using different chapters. Doing all of this during a global pandemic was definitely challenging but we are very happy that we managed to find a safe way to record this massive composition without any compromises.

SÂVER – Dimensions Lost, Obscured By Aeons

Needless to say, this piece of music is a result of the weird and uncertain condition we’ve all been living in for the last year. Following a sudden and chaotic journey back home from Hungary after everything got cancelled mid-tour in March 2020, we found ourselves back in our rehearsal space with clean sheets and a society on hold. This allowed us to dive deeper into the sonic landscapes we ?d been wanting to explore, with a strange and somewhat greater sense of calm.

As a natural continuation of «They Came With Sunlight», we were intrigued by cinematic and electronic soundscapes, leaning heavy on atmosphere and mood as much as our heartfelt desire for the more extreme. To always challenge ourselves as musicians, and push the boundaries for what we are capable of as a unit, is a direct consequence of trying to capture what resonates within ourselves.

The pandemic caused harm, but it also granted time.

Ole Rokseth took this time and translated it to magic, giving birth to the first half «Dimensions Lost» with his arsenal of synthesizers recorded in different studios around Oslo. The contrast to the latter half «Obscured by Aeons», the dissonance between the soft and eerie and the furious anger, is a reflection of the key element we want to incorporate in our sound. The void between darkness and light. Ole Rokseth’s extended use of clean vocals gives SÂVER the power to emphasize this even more on «Emerald».

Psychonaut on Facebook

Psychonaut on Instagram

Psychonaut on Bandcamp

SÂVER on Facebook

SÂVER on Instagram

SÂVER on Bandcamp

Pelagic Records website

Pelagic Records on Facebook

Pelagic Records on Instagram

Pelagic Records on Bandcamp