https://www.high-endrolex.com/18

Notes From Freak Valley 2022 – Day 1

Posted in Features, Reviews on June 16th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

Freak Valley Festival stage

Freak Valley Festival 2022 – Day 1

Wed. – 2:59PM – Front of house aka on the lawn

There is a wonderfulness to being in a place where you don’t speak the language. People around you conversing, sorting things out, all this and that, where stuff needs to go and so on. I’m sitting in a smoker’s tent off to the side of the grass in front of the stage, Purple Dawn or somebody doing a soundcheck. It’s probably techs for Baroness, now that I think of it. But around me, between the riffs, I can hear the conversations, laughter floating in the air, peole who haven’t seen each other in a year or two and a half years. It’s beautiful.

And the setting is beautiful. It really is a valley. The little industrial-ish-feeling area where the fest takes place is surrounded on all sides by wooded hills, some of the trees eaten by a bug that apparently likes that kind of tree — I heard about it on the way in — and the warm air, blue sky dotted with some passing clouds, and green vegetation add to the idyllic feel. I got to go back to my hotel a bit ago, find out I didn’t then did have a room — magic! — change my clothes, do a quick cold water hobo bath, eat a thankfully not melted protein bar and abandon my adiletten in favor of actual socks and shoes, such as those shoes are at this point.

Doors are open. People are taking their picture with the Welcome to Freak Valley sign — I hope to do the same; a ritual with preserving — and I think the first band is on at 5PM. That works for me. At some point I’m going to crash from the travel, adrenaline, etc., but maybe I can find some coffee around here and stave that off for a while.

Lo-Fi Merchandise is here selling stuff and I want to buy all of it just to save on shipping to the US. Ditto the hippie pants place next door. The actual band area isn’t up yet. I’ve been back and forth, in and out of shade, finding a spot to be, etc. Saw the Duel guys when I got here, and Geezer have shown up at this point as well. The lineup for today has changed with Witchcraft dropping off. K bye. Purple Dawn will open and everybody else is pushed later accordingly from where they were. I’m bummed I won’t see My Sleeping Karma like I thought I might when I got here, but I’ll be alright.

First band in about 40 minutes. I’m here. It’s real. I made it. And I have a place to crash when the night is over. Mark that a win.

Here’s notes on the day:

Purple Dawn

Purple Dawn (Photo by JJ Koczan)

A significant rumble from Cologne’s Purple Dawn, who did precisely what you’re supposed to do when you’re opening a festival and you bust a bass head on the first song. They covered it with a jam. That is how to do it, and they were back up and running soon enough. Their stuff was pretty fresh in my head from writing about the Peace & Doom Session Vol. II (review here) and the highlight “Old Fashioned Black Madness” seemed to be the moment where the crowd woke up. The quiet start of “The Moon Song” after led to some post-High on Fire gallip mixed in with the nod that would seem to be the trio’s stock and trade. I got my photos and went out front to watch them on the grass. I’m also falling asleep sitting up. I need to find some coffee like now.

Duel

Duel (Photo by JJ Koczan)

Duel play like headliners. They’re in their songs, moving, professional, playing dynamic, heavy material that has yet to really get its due. They’re a band win people over, though as they hit into “Children of the Fire” after “Strike and Disappear,” it seemed like the crowd was well enough familiar with their wares. Either way, they destroy. This is my first time seeing them with this drummer and even the Rockpalast film crew had their work cut out for them in keeping up. But the thing is, they’re not sloppy at all. Even the three-part-vocal hook of “Children of the Fire,” they absolutely nailed it every time and didn’t look back. I’m very, very curious to hear the kind of band they are like seven or eight years from now, what their next few records might bring. A 50-minute set gave them some time to dig into their songs and get a flow going, and fucking a, of course that’s what they did. This cements them as reliable in my mind. I also downed three cups of coffee between the bands and that helped too. Fears of the fucking dead. Children of the fucking fire.

Geezer

Geezer (Photo by JJ Koczan)

I’ve got sentimental attachment here, but so good to see this band own such a large stage in front of this crowd. The NY-based three-piece did well by their new album, Stoned Blues Machine (review here), with the title-track, “Cold Black Heart,” and if I’m not mistaken the rest of side A represented. They’ve been over here for a couple weeks at this point, this is near the end of their tour, and sure enough they sounded like a band who’ve been playing every night for the last 14 — whether or not they have is beside the point and you’ll pardon me if I spare myself looking up the amount of days off they have or haven’t had — but they’re an absolute joy and I know from looking around that I was by no means the only one with a big smile on my face as they hit it. The lawn was grooving on “Atomic Moronic.” Pat introduced a mini-set of songs from 2020’s Groovy (review here) — he also introduced Steve and Richie — then hit inti the title-track with a finger plucked solo. “Dig” followed and shifted into a finale of “Awake,” ending on a hopeful note every bit worthy of the occasion, and Geezer got the biggest response of the day so far.

Villagers of Ioannina City

Villagers of Ioannina City (Photo by JJ Koczan)

A whole bunch of people just showed up and I can’t say I blame them. I’ve never seen Greece’s Villagers of Ioannina City, but many of Freak Valley denizens plainly have — they were here six years ago — but between the meditative heavy psych vibe and the folk touch brought by their use of tsabouna and what might just be a clarinet alongside keys and the weighted roll of their riffs. They’re pushing atmosphere to the forefront in a way that no one has yet — you could probably call it post-something-or-other if you worked hard at it — but then they break out a bluesy organ solo and you realize Age of Aquarius is a story they’re telling in chapters, and its complexity goes beyond trading between loud and quiet parts. Their songs and style are thoughtful, melodic, rich in tone and purposeful in their delivery. I don’t know how it would go over in the States — they’d have to be supporting someone on tour their first time out and a lot would depend on who — but there’s a full on audience engagement happening here, and they have the audience to show for it. And I suspect once they make up the two years of road time they lost supporting that album, that audience will only continue to grow.

Black Mountain

Black Mountain (Photo by JJ Koczan)

Vibe in a can. Or at least a deep-running blend of classic, psychedelic, progressive and space rocks. It’s all the same when Black Mountain take the stage. I’ll admit to being more than a little distracted during their set as one of my camera lenses broke, leaving me with the wide angle option that will probably do really well for me all day tomorrow taking pictures of the stage monitors, but one way or the other, Black Mountain’s synthy brew will lift the spirit and soothe the soul if apparently not the contact sensor on that lens. Even before I inevitably have to shell out some stupid amount of cash to have that fixed, I’m going to be bummed out if I can’t get that thing to work. Black Mountain’s mellower vibe, despite being heavy and loud and the many, many other things they are as a band, seemed to be expanding on the more immersive end of Villagers of Ioannina City’s set, but this band is their own thing. The assembled heads are ready for it. The Freaks. As for me, I’m distracted by even in such a tizzy I’ve still got room in my heart for Mellotron. Nothing else sounds like that. And I guess that’s true of Black Mountain too, but individual as they are, but their sound still has an immediate familiarity to it, whether you know the songs or they know you. Also it’s nighttime now. Apparently that happened recently.

Baroness

Baroness (Photo by JJ Koczan)

Seems to me that if I really was dead set on becoming a real Baroness fan, the thing to do would be to see them play live every couple of weeks between now and whenever I eventually get on board. They deliver live. The set was similar to when I saw them a few weeks ago at Desertfest New York (review here), but there wasn’t even a question as to whether or not they were going to nail it, because yes, they were. And so it went. It had been a long day, and it was only with the help of respected-photog Falk-Hagen Bernshausen that I managed to make that seemingly-busted lens work for long enough to shoot a couple songs of the Baroness set, but the band’s energy was infectious, their rhythm a physical urging, like they’re trying to tell you it’s time to go for a run, except I guess without the running on the audience’s part. I honestly don’t know Baroness’ songs well enough to say whether the performance was flawless, and if it was, I suppose that’s nice in the way of such things, but from my silly little spot in the grass I was just happy to appreciate the headliner headlining (again) and a performance by a band who have so clearly mastered their craft.

06.16.22 – Thursday – 10:56AM – Hotel

A little after I get back last night someone knocks on my door. I open it and a dude is there, absolutely smashed, wearing some death metal shirt. I don’t remember who it was now, but it was someone decent. He starts talking and even though I don’t speak German I could tell his words were slurred. I slowed him down, apologized for not speaking his beautiful language in his beautiful country, and eventually he seemed to recall that he spoke perfect English.

He needed stairs, which seemed like a terrible idea to me given his state. Dude could hardly stand. I showed him where the stairs were but then he said he wanted his room and kept walking. It was the one with the stuff on the floor outside in the hallway. Room 29. Fair enough. Turned out he’d lost his room key. He told me to find it. In his pockets. No dice, bro, sorry. He empties his own pockets and discovers various stuff but no key. He is grumbling, agitated. For one brief second, he looks like he’s about to give up. He’s speaking syllables, in and out of German and English — the human brain is amazing, even addled — and kind of says “bwuh?” and shrugs his shoulders.

I ask if he has back pockets, and a few seconds later, tucked into a respectable wad of Euros emerges his room key. His eyes light up. I open his door for him and usher him inside. His relief is palpable. I tell him to sleep and he nods. Freak Valley is small enough that I could probably run into Mr. Roomtwentynine 100 times today. I don’t think I’d recognize him if I did. Festival life.

More pics after the jump.

Read more »

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Purple Dawn Premiere Peace & Doom Session Vol. II in Full; Album Out Friday

Posted in audiObelisk, Reviews on March 10th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

PURPLE DAWN

This Friday, Cologne, Germany, three-piece Purple Dawn release their second album, Peace & Doom Session Vol. II, through Electric Valley Records. There is no substitute for efficiency, and the trio of bassist/vocalist Patrick Rose, guitarist Timo Fritz (who also produced/mixed) and drummer Florian Geiling make their point quickly as the intro “Bonganchamun” establishes the method of tone and rhythm that the rest of the 40-minute/seven-track offering will follow, serving as the answer back to late-2020’s Peace & Doom Session Vol. I (review here) while maintaining that LP’s abiding ethic of pretense-free riffage, doomed burl and groove so deep you gotta say it three times: groove, groove, groove.

It is an old and correct adage that Heavy-with-a-capital-‘h’ comes from the rhythm section, and listening to Rose‘s bass rumbling and Geiling‘s drums pushing forward in “100 Years in a Day” and adding swing to the Sabbathian stomp of “Old Fashioned Black Madness” only reproves it, but neither Fritz‘s riffs in the lead role nor the gruff — yes, I did almost type “frugg” there and somehow that feels right too — vocals that meet their patterning is to be denied. True to the Session in Peace & Doom Session, the sound is more raw than elaborate in terms of production and the overarching feel is live across side A, with its shorter, punchier pieces like “100 Years in a Day” or “Power to the People,” or side B, which starts off with the “Forever My Queen”-style riffing of the nine-minute “The Moon Song” and broadens the atmospheric scope.

And I won’t take away from the sonic expansion of those later cuts — “The Moon Song” giving way to the classic metal shove of “Death to a Dying World” before the closing “Bonganchamun Part II” builds on the mostly instrumental opener — but perhaps the message here is that Purple Dawn‘s intention is to give their listeners a sampling of the various facets of their persona as a group. The first Peace & Doom Session worked similarly, with five livestream tracks up front and an accompanying three studio onespurple dawn peace and doom session vol ii in the back, so it shouldn’t necessarily be a surprise, even if it might seem odd outside of the band’s own context. Somehow I doubt they mind doing something different from the crowd.

That said, whether it’s “Death to a Dying World” or “Power to the People” earlier — the latter a heavy-hippie-perspective centerpiece that speaks readily to the band’s ideology corresponding to the LP’s title; the two songs might be ‘doom’ and ‘peace,’ in other words — what unites the material is the heft that comes in accordance with the atmosphere unfolding later. As they did last time out, Purple Dawn maintain a sense of weight even in their most floating sections of the two longer inclusions — that’s “The Moon Song” and “Death to a Dying World” here — and that makes Peace & Doom Session Vol. II flow all the more like, well, an album. Again, this can only be intentional, especially the second time around.

And listening to the longer tracks, I’d take a non-session record from Purple Dawn, even if it’s recorded live like this. Maybe they’ve found their thing and this is how they’ll work going forward — if it’s fun, more power to them — and it’s much to their credit that neither Peace & Doom Session Vol. II nor its predecessor feels uneven for being tracked live with varying intentions. Bottom line is they’re playing to style(s), but clearly coming from a place of love for things heavy and riffed. Nothing here hurts and even in the turn to longer tracks, it should be easy to follow for experienced heads. And did I mention groove? Three times? Good, because groove, groove, groove.

So groove:

Purple Dawn presents their second record, Peace & Doom Session Vol. II, comes 11 March 2022 digitally and on multiple variations of vinyl via Electric Valley Records.

Cologne-based Purple Dawn has always been the balance between things: hard riffing energy and heart-hitting melody, good and bad, high and low, future and past, and sometimes far and beyond. And that’s why the three-piece calls their music “Peace & Doom.” Heavily rooted in the psychedelic hard rock saturated doom metal, Purple Dawn offers an enthralling blend of both classic and modern sounding bands. While their devotion towards Sabbath, Pentagram, and Zeppelin is conspicuous, their love for bands like Mastodon, Rezn, Windhand, or Orange Goblin should not be overlooked. In contrast to the majority of bands in the genre, Purple Dawn is not shy away from having a variety of styles in their songs: it’s like putting on a Led Zeppelin record where no track sounds like the other.

The power trio emerged in early-2020, and a few months after their formation, they offered the Peace & Doom Session Vol. I. The A-Side of the album contains the complete Peace & Doom Session, recorded live in the band’s rehearsal room in Cologne, whereas the B-Side comprises three studio tracks.

The first Peace & Doom Session was well received by the community, and Purple Dawn kept the torch lit and continued writing songs, even though there was no chance for a live show due to the lockdown. “..So as we couldn’t get our music out to the people and public stages, there really was no other way than playing a gig to the cameras again. So we did…” The doom-power-trio hit a great studio in Oberhausen and recorded the second chapter of their live sessions: Peace & Doom Session Vol. II. Every song aims for a non-identical direction, but all have some elements in common: massive riffs, powerful vocals, and a very own atmosphere. PDS Vol. II starts and ends with an instrumental (almost) piece called “Bonganchamun.” The five songs in between are tales from nomad rituals in the desert to the oppressiveness of the depths of the sea — revolution, misguided minds, and the intrinsic evil of human beings. The record captures an unfaltering high-energy set of Purple Dawn’s doom rock and brings upon PEACE & DOOM.

Track Listing:
1. Bonganchamun
2. 100 Years a Day
3. Old Fashioned Black Madness
4. Power to the People
5. The Moon Song
6. Death to a Dying World
7. Bonganchamun Part II

Credits:
Timo Fritz: Guitars
Patrick Rose: Bass & Vocals
Florian Geiling: Drums

Purple Dawn on Facebook

Purple Dawn on Bandcamp

Electric Valley Records on Bandcamp

Electric Valley Records on Facebook

Electric Valley Records on Twitter

Electric Valley Records on Instagram

Electric Valley Records website

Tags: , , , , ,

The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal Playlist: Episode 77

Posted in Radio on February 4th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

the obelisk show banner

There’s a lot going on here. A lot to unpack, in the parlance of our times, but I’m gonna keep it short because I always feel like I screw these posts up by making it more than the list of bands and encouragement and thanks for listening that it should be. Hey, guess what? I think the songs I picked for the show I made don’t suck. If that wasn’t going to be the case, why would I pick them?

As for the voice breaks here, I barely remember what I said other than I was awkward. My wife was giving our son a bath at the time and I was worried he tub sounds would show up in the recording. That’s my rock and roll lifestyle. I’ve been considering a cocaine addiction so I can convince myself I’m fun again. Maybe go to a show.

Thanks for listening. Or reading. Whatever, really. Just thanks.

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

Full playlist:

The Obelisk Show – 02.04.22

Author & Punisher Maiden Star Kruller
Purple Dawn Death to a Dying World Peace & Doom Session Vol. II
Eric Wagner Maybe Tomorrow In the Lonely Light of Mourning
VT
Madmess Stargazer Rebirth
Stone House on Fire Waterfall Time is a Razor
Hazemaze Ceremonial Aspersion Blinded by the Wicked
Spaceslug Spring of the Abyss Memorial
Mt. Echo These Concrete Lungs Electric Empire
VT
Slugg Yonder Yonder
KYOTY Ventilate Isolation
JIRM You Fly The Tunnel, the Well, Holy Bedlam
Carcaňo I Don’t Belong Here By Order of the Green Goddess
Ascia Eternal Glory Volume II
VT
MWWB The Harvest The Harvest
All Them Witches Blacksnake Blues Baker’s Dozen

The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal airs every Friday 5PM Eastern, with replays Sunday at 7PM Eastern. Next new episode is Feb. 18 (subject to change). Thanks for listening if you do.

Gimme Metal website

The Obelisk on Facebook

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Purple Dawn Premiere “Into the Shadowland”; Peace & Doom Session Vol. 1 out Dec. 18

Posted in audiObelisk on December 10th, 2020 by JJ Koczan

PURPLE DAWN

Cologne, Germany, trio Purple Dawn will release their debut full-length, Peace & Doom Session Vol. 1, on Dec. 18 through Ogorekords. The album pushes the limits of manageability at 58 minutes, but its time is put to varied use, with the record essentially breaking into two sections between its first five tracks and the final three. These are listed as A/B sides in the tracklisting, but I’m not sure how you might fit the 34-minute stretch between “Intro/Goatthrower I” and “Goatthrower II” onto a single 12″ side, but it’s a tape, so there’s no science-magic involved — oh, they’ve shunted the excess time through the tertiary plasma conduits and fed the bleed out through reversed-flow bussard collectors, ejecting it harmlessly into space! — unless you count the whole tiny-magnetic-strip-that-reproduces-sounds thing. Which I kind of do.

Either way, the first words one hears on the release, indeed, are the shouted “Goat-thrower!,” which may or may not be a play on Conan‘s “Bolt Thrower.” While we’re making assumptions, let’s figure that no goats were actually harmed during the writing or recording process of Peace & Doom Session — throwing goats would hardly be peaceful — and that instead the band are just having fun with dopey stoner tropes. More importantly, the three-piece of bassist/vocalist Patrick Rose, guitarist Timo Fritz and drummer Florian Geiling over prime, hard-hitting doom rock on the subsequent “Utopia/Dystopia,” the extra-raw vibe of a rehearsal recording sounding like it’d have fit perfectly in Maryland circa ’96 with backing from Hellhound Records. “Utopia/Dystopia” breaks into a spoken introduction saying hello to the world and thanks for watching what must’ve been the live stream from their rehearsal room from which these tracks are culled, and following another verse, an extended solo leads the way past the 10-minute track’s halfway mark, slowing down as presumably u- turns to dys- as regards -topias, but picking up speed once again near the finish to bring it all together.

It’s a lot to dig through, but beneath the rudimentary feel is solid songwriting and performance, and that continues throughout “The Greed” and the nine-plus-minute “Atlantis,” which is the only cut to appear on both ‘sides’ of the outing. That gives an even better comparison point for how Purple Dawn come across in a raw vs. sharper studio context, as the last three tracks — “Into the Shadowland,” “Verwunschen” and “Atlantis” — are more proper, traditional album-style recordings. One could make the argument that the band might’ve been better served by swapping the A/B of Peace & Doom Session and leading off with what here follows the rehearsal-room gig, but the way “Goatthrower II” and “Atlantis” and “Utopia/Dystopia” hit is hard and engaging on its own bootleg-ish level. And backed up by the cleaner-sounding material, the early going brings to mind what it might be like to see the band live; something both encouraging in the actual listening experience and poignant in concept. Plus, consider “demo tape.” There you go.

They are, on both sides, an engaging newcomer group obviously looking to show listeners what they’re all about. As you stream “Into the Shadowland” below ahead of the arrival of Peace & Doom Session Vol. 1, the vocals come through pretty prominently through my speakers, but that’s less the case on the studio version of “Atlantis,” so it might just be me. The band also offer more breadth in the instrumental “Verwunschen” between the two more straightforward cuts, so there’s very clearly even more to the story than this substantial initial offering is letting on.

All the same, enjoy the track. More background follows:

Purple Dawn
Peace & Doom Session Vol. 1
Ogorekords, 2020 (OR01)

Purple Dawn is a three-piece heavy rock/doom band from Cologne/Germany. The band was formed in 2019 by Timo Fritz (guitar), Patrick Rose (bass & vocals) and Florian Geiling (Drums).

The Peace & Doom Session is their first physical release and is split in two parts. The A-Side contains the complete Peace & Doom Session that was recorded live in the band’s rehearsal room in Cologne. These five tracks show a band that seems to play together for years already, delivering a fine modern blend of everything we love about heavy rock music. Their songs are mostly around the 6 minute mark (some shorter, some longer) and even though it’s all about the riff in this kind of music they don’t feel long at all due to their approach to keep things interesting with interludes and little lead-licks.

Patrick’s rough, yet melodic vocals fit in perfectly. The music itself gets enough room to unfold in every song creating the mood for the vocals when they come in. The B-Side contains three studio tracks and opens up with ‘Into the Shadowland’. After a slow and crushing start the song gets a bit faster with great melodic vocals and some really well-played guitar solos before it falls back into slower speed and the guitar-work leads us deep into the shadowlands. ‘Verwunschen’ is the only instrumental track on this release and also the only track without distorted guitars. The absence of vocals and (most of the time) drums is filled by psychedelic guitar layers. A surprisingly calm yet very well-fitting song between all the heaviness.

The closing track ‘Atlantis’ is also featured on the A-Side as a live track, the studio-version is just slightly longer and of course a little less rough.

Tracklist A-Side:
01. Intro / GOATTHROWER
02. Utopia / Dystopia
03. The Greed
04. Atlantis
05. GOATTHROWER Pt. II

Tracklist B-Side:
01. Into the Shadowland
02. Verwunschen
03. Atlantis

The tape will be released on December 18th via Ogorekords.

Purple Dawn on Thee Facebooks

Purple Dawn on Bandcamp

Ogorekords on Thee Facebooks

Ogorekords website

Tags: , , , , ,