Posted in Whathaveyou on October 13th, 2026 by JJ Koczan
Montreal-based melodic progressive heavy rockers Sons of Arrakis have set a Jan. 22, 2027, release date for their third album, Volume III. Set to issue through Black Throne Productions, the record follows behind 2024’s Volume II (review here), which continued their forward growth and momentum and saw them tour Europe for the first and probably not the last time. The growth across their first two records, not really all that surprisingly, is evident in the first single from the new one, “Rise of Disaster,” which features guest vocals from Sandveiss‘ Luc Bourgeois.
You can hear that at the bottom of this post, and I’m sure there weill be more news ahead of the January release, further singles and such. Certainly the cover art is on-brand for the band’s stated Dune thematic, but note they cite Naomi Klein specifically as inspiring the lyrics. The PR wire brings more details on that and the record as a whole:
SONS OF ARRAKIS Releases “Rise of Disaster,” Announces New Album ‘Volume III’
Using the cinematic universe of Frank Herbert’s Dune as a creative foundation, Canada’s SONS OF ARRAKIS define their sound as melange rock / cinematic Sci-Fi rock. Blending raw, riff-driven rock with storytelling, atmosphere and evolving sonic landscapes, SONS OF ARRAKIS is preparing to release the full length Volume III on January 22, 2027, via Black Throne Productions. The new single “Rise of Disaster,” featuring guest vocals by Luc Bourgeois (SANDVEISS), provides a first glimpse of the forthcoming album.
“‘Rise of Disaster’ deals with war, manipulation and the way fear, suffering and collective trauma can be exploited by political and economic powers.” The band explain. “One of the major influences behind the lyrics was Naomi Klein’s The Shock Doctrine and its examination of how moments of crisis can be used to impose new forms of control.
The recurring question ‘Whose side are you on?’ deliberately has no simple answer. It reflects the pressure to choose between competing narratives while the same cycle of violence, destruction and retaliation continues underneath them.”
Musically, “Rise of Disaster” evokes a dark soundscape. Urgent, heavy rhythms inject movement and momentum into the track’s verses while the melodic choruses provide a contrasting and uplifting quality. Returning to the gloom, “Rise of Disaster” ends with a chaotic instrumental finale.
Produced by SONS OF ARRAKIS, Volume III was recorded at Red Tube Studio & Home studios with Luc Boivin, Frederic Couture & Francis Duchesne. The album was mixed and mastered by Karl Daniel Liden. Album artwork and single covers are by artist Alexandre Goulet at Goulet Design.
Volume III will be available on vinyl, CD, cassette, and digital formats.
Volume III Track List: 1. Shaïtan – Tale of a Divided God (Part I) (2:00) 2. Rise of Disaster (4:27) 3. Throne of the Faithful (3:56) 4. Shaïtan – Tale of a Divided God (Part II) (2:02) 5. Rider of the Coriolis Stom (4:01) 6. Crimson Night (5:07) 7. The Disease (4:45) 8. Geminae Lunae ad Perigeum (6:33)
SONS OF ARRAKIS Is: Frederic Couture – Lead singer and rhythm guitar Francis Duchesne – Lead guitar, keyboards and percussions Vick Trigger – Bass Guitar Mathieu Racine – Drum
Posted in Reviews on August 13th, 2026 by JJ Koczan
Some off-laptop bumps and unpleasantness yesterday, but nothing to actually derail this process, just to make it both less efficient and less pleasant. I’m grateful for that. Life happens, and what I’ve learned is that there are two ways to be a “lifer” in music or any kind of anything, and the easier and often more celebrated one is to not have a life. “Oh so and so is such a lifer they’ve toured for 30 years and never got famous.” Cool bro. Go coregulate an hour-long throw-furniture tantrum, still manage to handle your business on your own terms, and then call me. The harder-core lifer has a life beyond the work they’re doing, whatever that may be and whatever Gen-X ‘punk legends’ might tell you otherwise.
Today is the penultimate day of the Quarterly Review, bringing us — you, cool, serene, the picture of grace, and me, a sweaty cavetroll of middle age — closer to the stated goal of 50 releases covered by tomorrow. At this point, I like our chances, but you never know what’s coming until you get there. So let’s get there before declaring victory.
Quarterly Review #31-40:
Child, Rebirth
I’m not sure there’s anybody out there right now who does heavy blues as bluesy as Melbourne, Australia’s Child, and even as their fourth full-length, Rebirth, shifts the balance the ‘rock’ end of blues rock, the emphasis on soul remains strong and central in their work. The album runs 35 minutes and six songs, and with no small task in following up 2023’s Soul Murder (review here), the three-piece of guitarist/vocalist Mathias Northway, bassist Rhys Kelly and drummer Michael Lowe bring clarity of purpose to material like “Forgot How to Love,” which takes a desert rock riff to the mud, or the catchy four-minute “Heavy Load.” Working in slow tempos isn’t new for Child — they cook, and good cooking takes time — but they’re still able to make “I Tried (Newy)” move under its fuzzy-as-hell solo, while opener/longest track (immediate points) “Woman Like You” sets the stage for tales of heartbreak, boozehounding and other vaguely self-destructive whathaveyou. Northway is an ace on guitar and carries the vocals well, but I’ll put this rhythm section up against just about anybody out there when it comes to sleek, gradual groove. Not a ton of surprises, but still satisfying.
Regular collaborator Martin Weaver (Wicked Lady, etc.) handles bass while Tom Ashurst (ex-Hawklords) steps in on guitar and Darren Butler takes up drum duties — all of a sudden, opening track “Shouldn’t You Do It?” (18:24) makes it seem like synthmaster and Øresund Space Collective bandleader/producer Scott “Dr. Space” Heller has a whole band together for Dr. Space’s Wicked Sonic Bulls, the four-song/70-miinute outing that isn’t even his latest at this point but is an immersive joy just the same. The drums bring flow to the float, and Heller‘s e’er-molten synthery is sit-and-take-it-all-in hypnotic, weaving drones behind the dream-tone of Ashurst‘s guitar as the band dynamic takes shape. Of course, the fades-in, goes-everywhere, comes-apart-at-the-end closer “The Underside of Your Tongue” (29:56) is a focal point, and feels daring in terms of tempo even with “Splasing, Lashing, Flashing” (10:43) as preface, but the mood across the almost-certainly-entirely-improvisational outing is, duh, exploratory, and nothing in the resultant material takes away from that. Comforting and rad in kind. Put headphones on and get yourself lost.
The largesse in “Bones” and the dudely swagger of “Rumblestrip” puts Bones squarely in the realm of modern capital-‘h’ Heavy, and Chicagoan four-piece Shadow of Jupiter revel in it accordingly. “Riot Dogs” is cavernous and crushing, while “Whatever God You Fear” moves faster like a beefed-up High Desert Queen but holds to the thickness overarching the seven-song entirety here as the band play to multiple sides here, and while I’m not sure what role faith actually plays in their craft, closer “For Heaven Above” feels duly downtrodden and tired of humanity and is Sabbath-rooted beneath all its tonal hugeness, through which the melodic vocals cut smoothly as they have all along. Burl is a factor, but the songwriting is there beneath the well-produced bluster, and though the prevailing impression is in its sheer heft, Shadow of Jupiter hone a sense of dynamic as they plunge into their own distortion and gravitational nod. Bones is their first album for Ripple Music and second overall, and it sure feels like they nailed it in terms of stepping up to the moment.
Three jams, each hovering on either side of 20 minutes, contemplative and following the stated narrative of casting off mundane woes — busted cars, jobs, etc. — to escape for a bit into the ether. Pseudopredestinated is day-in-the-life psychedelic improvisation, featuring familiar players from the Psychedelic Source Records stable in Bence Ambrus on guitar, Gergely Szabó and David Strausz splitting bass duties and Máte Varga on drums, coming together to headfirst-dive into the aural unknown and see where they end up. In “Protoplanetarian,” that’s a noisier and more active space to answer the graceful build of opener “Precambriality,” and closer “Postpurposes” builds on the low-key shred and pushes further into the far-out. It’s emblematic fare for the Psychedelic Source Records collective, thematically and musically — yes, that is a compliment — and if you find yourself looking also to indulge a bit of escapism from your own mind, immersion awaits. Part of the joy here is never knowing quite where you’ll end up but going, going, going.
Well, you’re a ’70s-sounding heavy rock band with a strong emphasis on Hammond organ, so yes, people are going to say you sound like Deep Purple. The good news is that swinging Montreal five-piece Fangus are too busy dug into their own might-pivot-to-the-next-boogie-at-any-moment, vibe-dense sound to show they care much at all, and a ripper like “Pyre of Love” stands as evidence of this. Keys are a big part of what they do — that Mellotron on the title-track, the organ taking the fore on “Psychoid Telepath,” and so on — but the crunching tone of the guitar and the gutted-out vocals are no less vintage in their mindset, and while I don’t know that it was all recorded live, the band-in-the-room feel is palpable, ditto the chemistry, and that suits them both in the shove of “Time Gambler” and the burgeoning progressivism of “Quest for Fire,” the album as a whole rarely diverting from its sense of movement. Once “Howling Hammer” picks up from establishing its riff, they’re on their way and show little interest in looking back, refusing to be beholden even to the reverence in their sound as they convey freedom and breakout.
With two full-lengths and numerous singles/two-songers to their credit since 2019, Amsterdam psychedelic progressive rockers Hollow Drifter sound duly comfortable dwelling somewhere between the two on Colours in Time, on which the first and last tracks — “Morning Fog” (2:27) and “Cradlesong” (1:48) — complement and enhance the atmosphere of the 14-minute centerpiece, “Seasons, Ages, Legends…,” which tinges toward alt rock momentarily but feels warm and organic in its acoustic-guitar foundations even as it grows more lush with the introduction of electrics. The extended piece ebbs and flows but remains purposeful for the duration, and after the first, willfully gorgeous build ends after six minutes, they remain in control in terms of the direction they’re headed, subtly building again toward repetitions of the EP’s title-lyric over nuanced noodling and steady, tense drums that give hints of the unfolding about to take place as they move into the solo. The harmonized folk of “Morning Fog” and acoustic strum/keys of “Cradlesong” fit and flesh out the atmosphere, and as this is my first experience with the band, the message of homework to do is almost as clear as the evocations of the music itself. Get pastoral.
Keyed for onslaught, Hellward is the fourth full-length from Indianapolis veteran heavymakers Veilcaste, who bring together doom, sludge and post-metallic atmospheres to create a style that’s almost universally oppressive, even in its moments of foreboding quiet, and able to harness an intensity that extends to the “You don’t belong here” lyrical reptitions of the title-track. How they transposed my inner monologue to fit the song, I don’t know, but kudos. The bellowing “Chains” and worldcrumbling “Worn in Stone” show some influence from ’90s metal, whether that’s Sepultura‘s slowdowns or Godflesh, but at this point Veilcaste have found their niche in consuming aggression, and from the outset-descent of “Embedded” to the oblivion-march into the subdued acoustic finish of “I Am the Guillotine,” they punish aurally and conjure depths of mix in which there’s still intricacy and humanity to be found. I’ve had days that sound exactly like “Anchored.” Maybe you have too, if you’re reading this.
Onto the Afterlife makes itself a journey, and maybe that’s not such a deep insight since the title itself does more than hint at it, but the way Sydney heavy rockers Robot God take their fifth album from its relatively straight-ahead beginnings to a gradually broader-reaching mindset across the longer final three tracks — the penultimate “I Am the Night” becoming both a celebration of Sabbathianism and an expansive psychedelic jaunt in its 11 minutes — feels purposeful on the part of the prolific trio, and the procession is all the more a joy to follow after the wakeup crashes of “Soldier of Love” and the semiprog chug of the title-track at the outset, atmosphere being the key to tying it all together. Centerpiece “Cerebral Annihilation” marks the turn, instrumental save for its sample, and the builds of “Long Goodbye” are suited to round out, but it’s the fluidity of the changes within and between the songs and the obvious care put into their craft that lets Onto the Afterlife carry the listener across its 41-minute duration. Without sounding morbid, it’s a trip very much worth taking.
The debut full-length from North Michigan atmospheric doom four-piece Mothertomb, Dying to Live, brims with purpose from the three-minute mood-setting intro “The Summoning” onward. And indeed, mood becomes integral throughout the five-track/39-minute stretch as “Cythraul” picks up from the intro with a 10-minute croon-doom build, unshy in its metal but not anymore beholden to the double-kick than it needs to be to get the point across. The four-piece of vocalist/cover artist Alice Gawlinski, guitarist Chance Gawlinski, bassist Alton Minor and drummer Mike Benitez remind atmospherically of dark-arts practicioners like Second Grave in their ambient take on doom metal — emphasis on both the doom and the metal — in “Beware,” but “Mountain Hag” is more stoned in its first-half roll before the operatics and screams and crush, so I’m not prepared to say the book is closed on what they’re going for sound-wise. Nonetheless, as they end with the also-hard-hitting title-track’s apex screams, the potential for forward growth is easy to hear. Won’t be for everyone, but will land hard with those who can get to its level.
With two members of Alabama Thunderpussy in the lineup — guitarist Ryan Lake and drummer Bryan Cox — and Fire Faithful‘s Jon Bone on bass, it shouldn’t really come as a surprise that Richmond, Virginia’s Producer have more than a tinge of Southern heavy to their sound, but the band completed by guitarist Mike Jarvis and vocalist Kenny Ball run that through a thread of classic heavy metal and find clarity in the slowdown of “The Climb” and the harder push of “The Upper East Side Sadists,” with the two-minute “A Natural Death” fostering swing to follow the AC/DC-ism of opening cut “Nailed to the Cross” before closer/still-under-five-minute longest track “Vengeful God Complex” seems to pull the various sides together. Three takes its title from the fact that it’s the band’s third EP, which I chalk up to a conscious choice because there’s no way they’re not ready for an album if they don’t want to be. I’ll take 18 minutes in the swamp though, to be sure.
Montreal sludge rockers Seum release their third full-length, Parking Life, on April 23. Preorders are up through Black Throne Productions (LP) and Falling Apart Records (K7) now, and this week marks the arrival of the second single from the album, “Labrador,” for which a video featuring vocalist Gaspard, bassist Piotr and drummer Fred is premiering today below.
Parking Life has been billed, tongue firmly in cheek, as Seum ‘going pop.’ I have to think that humans who actually listen to pop music would be terrified by the opening title-track, or “Employee of the Month” or any of the quit-your-job-and-fuck-your-life fare on offer, be it “Labrador” or “666 Problems,” which brings in Vince Houde of Dopethrone for a pointedly nasty guest spot. But if you’ve followed the bass/drum trio at all over the last five or six years, you’ll likely notice Parking Life is their first outing to employ clean-sung vocals at all, and that only one of the eight tracks on the 26-minute album (yes, it’s short, but yes, it’s an album) is over four minutes long. On 2023’s Double Double (review here), just to compare, that number was four.
What you need to understand about it — this is true of the album across the board and certainly goes for the rousingly, encouragingly anticorporate “Labrador” too — is that Seum still don’t want for intensity. They brought plenty. The difference between Parking Life and Double Double or their 2021 debut, Winterized (review here), is that they let the listener in on more of the fun they’ve surely been having the whole time, while also taking advantage of a chance to become more dynamic in how thye present their material. The fuzzy strut after the initial verses of “Parking Life,” the bassy sway and the swagger after the cough at 1:40 signals the switch to screams, is a telling moment for the record as a whole, and sure enough, “Parking Life” not only lays out the theme of middle-age descent into mediocrity, but also the character the band bring to the songs, which is that much richer for being multifaceted.
A litany of samples — jingling keys at the start, Steve Buscemi shows up later, etc. — join the band for what’s still on balance something of an onslaught but nonetheless refined in context. “Employee of the Month” is a full-weight shove at first and rounds off with a nod that feels like something Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol might roll out, leaving room for Houde‘s vocal in “666 Problems” (which is like “99 Problems,” but with more problems) to meet any quota for viciousness that might’ve been had going in. It is duly punishing. “Labrador” follows, and as the video and the single art above portray, the chorus, “Cut your tie/Bite your master/Break your leash like a bad labrador,” is a defining hook for the record as a whole. A phone call to the ‘Midlife Crisis Solutions Hotline,’ and thereby being put on hold, in the interlude “Solutions” leads into “Right Swipe Blues,” which is kind of tucked away but might be the most directly vocally melodic inclusion on balance.
I’d have to break out the charts to be sure, but the way the penultimate “Sad Labbath” backs it with the most aggressive uptempo force Parking Life has on offer tells me the assertion is correct, and as such, “Right Swipe Blues” comes across as the furthest delve Seum make here, though the closing “Always on My Mind” follows a not-dissimilar-if-more-brooding course, introducing the screams to top a slowdown/riffout. One might think of a band like California’s -(16)-, who in recent years have also made the jump to incorporating a cleaner singing style not previously employed. It doesn’t change the personality of what Seum do entirely, and it’s not trying to, but it does suit and serve these songs and it gives the band another tool at their disposal generally, which only makes them more deadly. Also, they’re right. Fuck work. Quit your job.
For a tutorial on breaking your leash, “Labrador” follows here. Please enjoy:
2nd single of SEUM’s 3rd album “Parking Life” out on April 23rd 2026. Be there.
Directed by Florian Nermont in March 2026.
From the band:
“As we are reaching the middle of our lives, the temptation to settle down, forget our dreams and ambitions is high, this would be the safer choice!
Instead we decided ‘not to park here and doubled down on music by picking the Parking Life, travelling, playing shows for a hundred or one and exploring what doom’n bass music has to offer.
We also decided ‘not to park here’ musically by getting as far from our comfort zone as we could, adding clean vocals, melodies and treating each song of the album as a pop track.
We sing about loneliness, boredom, unfulfilling careers, addiction and broken hearts, topics all too common when you grow older, but we do it in a fun – no fucks given – way.”
Tracklisting: 1. Parking Life 2. Employee of the Month 3. 666 Problems (Feat. Vince Houde) 4. Labrador 5. Solutions 6. Right Swipe Blues 7. Sad Labbath 8. Always On My Mind
Posted in Whathaveyou on February 11th, 2026 by JJ Koczan
Montreal-based crust sludge metallers Dopethrone will make their return to US soil this Spring as the trio take on the task of a West Coast tour headed to Lawrence, Kansas, for what I’m pretty sure is a headlining set at Midwest Doom Fest, and fair enough. Joining them is Year of the Cobra, who were on the road last Fall with Fu Manchu and who spent much of 2025 supporting their most righteous and declarative self-titled album (review here), released early in the year, while also sharing bassist/vocalist Amy Tung Barrysmith with Amenra, who are always up to something or other in some country or other. Everybody’s keeping busy, is the point I’m making.
They’ll be hitting spots on the circuit in addition to the festival, and if you happen to be in Chicago, I can think of far worse celebrations for your high holidays than that gig at Reggies, plus there are two shows in South Dakota, which rules on principle. I don’t know if it’ll be anybody’s last tour of the year, but it looks like a good one just the same.
From socials:
BREAKING NEWS!!!
Dopethrone is back in the USA in April!!!
With the direct support from the infamous YEAR OF THE COBRA and our friends from R.I.P. opening a couple shows!!!
ALL KILLER / NO FILLER!!!
04.10 Seattle WA El Corazon* 04.11 Portland OR Star Theater 04.12 Boise ID Neurolux 04.14 Salt Lake City UT Metro Music Hall 04.15 Frisco CO 10 Mile Music Hall 04.16 Denver CO HQ 04.17 Omaha NE Reverb Lounge 04.18 Lawrence KS Midwest Doom Fest 04.20 Chicago IL Reggies 04.21 Milwaukee WI X-Ray Arcade 04.22 Minneapolis MN 7th Street Entry 04.23 Fargo ND The Aquarium 04.24 Sioux Falls SD Icon 04.25 Rapid City SD Aby’s *w/ R.I.P.
Posted in Whathaveyou on August 13th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
Already this year, Montreal Dune-themed progressive melodic heavy rockers Sons of Arrakis have hit the West and East Coasts of the US, playing Planet Desert Rock Weekend and (the last) Maryland Doom Fest both, and been to the UK for an appearance at StoomFest. They’ve got festivals as part of this upcoming on-the-continent European run as well, as they’ll hit Into the Void Leeuwarden in the Netherlands and Up in Smoke in Switzerland, both at the behest of Sound of Liberation, which booked the tour.
The ascendant Canucks have been and will be out in support of their 2024 sophomore LP, Volume II (review here), which was released by Black Throne Productions and which, if you’d like a refresher, is streaming in full at the bottom of this post. Yup, under the links. You got the idea.
Interesting to note: it probably isn’t the first time they’ve used it, but this is the first I’ve seen the band self-apply the tag “melange rock.” The word, suitably rooted in French, means a mixture or a somewhat slapdash assortment. As the comments point out, it’s also of course a Dune reference. It’s an okay bit of branding, if not necessarily encompassing or descriptive. It’s a thing they can call themselves, which I imagine answers a fair number of the “what do you call this sound” questions they’ve been receiving. The first two things I think of when I think of them “progressive” and “melodic,” so I went with that. Admittedly, way less catchy.
Dates came from this or that social media:
🌌 UPDATES! SHAI-HÜLÜD ODYSSEY 2025 – EUROPE 🌌
We’re beyond stoked to bring the Melange Rock to Europe this fall! Massive thanks to Sound of Liberation and our label at Black Throne Productions for making this run possible. 🙏🔥
From the Netherlands to Switzerland, with stops in Belgium and Germany, we’re bringing the spice to some of our favorite venues and festivals — see you on the road!
Posted in Whathaveyou on June 9th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
Out one week from today timed to a show June 16 in Paris ahead of Seum‘s June 18 appearance at Hellfest Open Air — which I’m assuming is a warm-up of some sort since the fest lists its dates as June 19-22 — the new track “Sad Labatt” is also the first audio the band has unveiled from the follow-up to 2023’s Double Double (review here), which doesn’t seem to have a release date as yet but will surely be along sooner or later. Not like they’re lacking in goings-on besides, what with Hellfest and all.
Seum earlier this year also released a split with rising Detroit conjurors Temple of the Fuzz Witch (review here) that was a good time in that nasty slash-with-audio kind of way. That and the album both stream below, in lieu of audio for the song not out yet.
Have at it:
SEUM (bass-only sludge from Montreal): “Sad Labatt” New single out on June 16th
After releasing two albums, Winterized in June 2021, DOUBLE DOUBLE in February 2023 and multiple EPs among which Conjuring, a split EP with Temple of the Fuzz Witch in February 2025, Seum is about to release Sad Labatt on June 16th, the first single of their upcoming third album, supporting their upcoming show at the Hellfest Open Air Festival on June 18th.
Sad Labatt will be out and available on all streaming platforms on June 16th just in time for their two shows in Europe this summer:
June 16th: Paris – Le Klub June 18th: Hellfest Open Air Festival
From the band:
“Sad is the mood, Labatt is the drink, this one is for all the broken hearts looking too deep in their glass, still finding solace in music. We love to try new stuff and Sad Labatt is our first song with clean vocals. It is also the first single of our upcoming third album… We hope you will love us when we are smooth as much as when we are rough.”
SEUM is a bass-only sludge band from Montreal (Canada) formed by 3 doom veterans formerly in Lord Humungus (Gaspard – vocals), Mlah! (Piotr – bass), and Uluun (Fred – drums). Adding a ferocious punk energy to their New Orleans inspired sludge, the band is known for its intense live performances, workaholic attitude and nihilistic, tongue-in-cheek lyrics.
SEUM means Venom in Arabic and is French slang for disappointment and frustration: No guitars.
Seum is: Fred – Drums Gaspard – Vocals Piotr – Bass
Posted in Whathaveyou on June 2nd, 2025 by JJ Koczan
Little did I know that by the time I posted about Alexander Julien ending his solo drone project, Vision Eternel, on May 16, he had already passed away. The email, apparently something of a final act, had come in on May 14, and as per Julien’s wife, Rain Frances, the Montreal-based Julien died the same day. He was 37 years old. Six years younger than me.
I liked Julien, and that was basically why I wrote about his music. He was a sensitive, poetic, old-soul nerd. Someone who might just get that reference to The Donna Reed Show. Vision Eternel never caught on, and that’s fine. It was in the project’s nature to not. Expressive drone was never going to be for everybody. I always knew a post about Vision Eternel would largely get crickets in terms of response, but I could hear the heart in what Julien was doing, and I thought he had something to offer atmospherically and emotionally that a lot of drone didn’t. In that post on the 16th, I was trying to push optimism in saying I hoped he had something new in the works. Now, in context, it’s just sad.
Frances, who also did graphic work for Vision Eternel, sent the following brief obituary and link to her reflection down the PR wire. I’ll miss hearing from Julien next Valentine’s Day with some exclusive to offer listeners in honor of romance itself, or a new video or whatnot. He was always very kind to me and said nice things about this site and even tried to make a Wikipedia page for it but it turns out I’m not relevant enough. But he tried and he didn’t need to do that. He was like that.
I will remember him fondly, and I hope he found the peace he felt was missing from his life. Thanks for reading.
Vision Eternel’s Alexander Julien passed away on May 14, 2025. Those who are familiar with Vision Eternel, know that Alex’s music is based on nostalgia, emotion and heartbreak. He experienced a lot of anguish in his short 37 years and was often overcome by it. He translated this pain beautifully into his music. His idea of making concept albums showed his talent as well as his dedication to leaving a legacy of music that told the story of love and heartache. He will be missed by all those who loved him.
His other bands were Vision Lunar and Soufferance.
Posted in Whathaveyou on May 21st, 2025 by JJ Koczan
The real kicker here is that even as The Hazytones guitarist/vocalist Mick Martel announces the band are done, people are still just discovering them. Based in Montreal, The Hazytones released their gruff third long-player, Wild Fever (review here), last Spring and were just this month on the road in Europe to support it.
That tour seems to have been their undoing. Specifically Desertfest London — there’s a joke in there about how good the fest was; so good it broke bands, etc. — is noted as the catalyst, as it seems here was some disconnect between Martel, bassist Caleb Sanders, drummer Gabriel Prieur and guitarist John Choffel, with substance use, hard-drinking, and lack of sleep sure to make any situation easier to deal with and/or work out in a positive manner for everyone.
Sad to say, not so much. The wheels came off for The Hazytones in London and they’ve called it quits on the rest of the tour and the band in general, at least for the time being. I’d be surprised if Martel is actually done musically — ending the band seems somewhat impulsive, but sometimes you need to walk away from a thing and say that’s it you’re done forever whether or not that’s how it pans out over time — but the tour seems to be finished at the very least.
As someone who dug their records and didn’t get to see them, I hope The Hazytones keep going in some form or other, but if not, at least they got to live through the blowout. The following is from socials and was posted as one big paragraph that I’ve broken into smaller sections for readability, which feels hypocritical considering some of the reviews around here:
During the UK tour I, Mick Martel, had an epiphany, it’s hard to believe but my third eye opened! In the myst of the most rock n roll tour you can possibly imagine, the demons got to us. Between our daily fist fights with each other, we were drinking alcohol like water. At the height of it all we played Desertfest London.
Our performance was hailed as the highlight of the festival by many. Personally I was 100% possessed that night and I hope everyone who came to witness got chills down their spine! It all came crashing down Monday night when our bass player, Caleb, went missing for 8 hours and ended in the Lyon river. I finished my night locked in a bathroom with my drummer Gabriel with about 50 hours without sleep.
It was time to call it quit someone was going to die. I went through a separation with my misses yesterday and I’m gonna focus on my daughter. I told her just before Desertfest (Yes we had a 6 years old with us) Nina you will finally have a Daddy! The Hazytones are done and buried in Camden. I’m slowing down my drinking and I will now focus on my daughter.
I want to apologize to all the promoters who trusted me in booking an Hazytones show, I was just trying to avoid death and destruction. Maybe we start the band again when everyone is clean. I’m on my way to Montreal and I’ll see you all at the church! This is Mick your captain speaking, we are approaching final destination, sunny skies ahead, logging off.
