Posted in Whathaveyou on October 29th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
Spoiler alert: it’s rad.
Admittedly, that was the case in August, when this year’s Rain City Doom Fest — set for Dec. 12-13 in Seattle, Washington — made its initial announcement, with Acid King and Ragana and Merlock and sundry others confirmed at that time. But more of a good thing is a better thing, and with the complete picture of how those two days will look, it’s not hard to imagine seeing the bill and wanting to make the trip. Wherever you might be traveling from, from Mizmor to Kadabra, Hippie Death Cult, Sorcia, Sun Crow, Serial Hawk, Glasghote, Ragana and the relocated-from-the-desert Red Mesa, you’ll not be likely to find a richer sampling of the Pacific Northwest’s native underground — plus Acid King and Electric Citizen, from CA and Ohio, respectively — and if you wanted to cap the utter awfulness of 2025 with something decidedly less than awful, well, here you go.
To answer the question no one asked, no, I’m not likely to be there, but it still makes for a welcome escapist daydream for my afternoon, and for that I’m grateful. I’m not sure it needs to be said, but the below comes from social media, and I’ve left the atsign profile tags intact in case you’re on your phone and can use them to magically transport yourself to the bands’ pages or whatever. I assure you, I have no clue how any of that works, on the rare occasion it does. Killer bill, regardless.
Check it:
RAIN CITY DOOM FEST 2025 – Full line-up officially announced!
@raincitydoomfest December 12 + 13 at @elcorazonseattle / @funhouseseattle 2 stages | 18 bands | 2 nights of DOOM 2-day passes (limited) and single day tix on sale NOW! 🎟️🔗 in bio
Posted in Whathaveyou on August 11th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
Granted, you had me at Acid King, and that’s pretty much always going to be the case forever and into perpetuity. HOWEVER, even putting aside that singularity-type draw, to have Witch Mountain, the black metallers Ragana, Electric Citizen (who I just saw and were killer), Hippie Death Cult (get well soon, Laura, sidelined for now with an unspecified health issue), Merlock (who I seem to recall seeing had new stuff in the works, including with a cello), Kadabra, Red Mesa (now at least partially relocated to the Pacific Northwest) and Glasghote, well, that’s a really good bill front to back.
This is just the first announcement for the Seattle-based Rain City Doom Fest 2025. I assume Sorcia will be added as they’re affiliated with the fest and are something of a house band, and there are others who’ve been regulars along the way, but yeah. I don’t know how much flights to Seattle are two weeks before Xmas, but this does very much make me want to find out.
Of course, there are no shortage of others in and around the region to fill out the bill, but whoever’s going to be added, I’d call this the proverbial killer start. I doubt I’ll get to see it — ain’t nobody banging down my door to bring me to Seattle for a thing, and that’s reasonable — but maybe you will, and that’s pretty rad.
Info follows as cobbled from social media:
RAIN CITY DOOM FEST 2025!
December 12 + 13 at @elcorazonseattle / @funhouseseattle
Heavy drone duo Droni Eye Omi will make their debut on March 7 with the two-song full-length, Liminal Mass. Carving a place for itself with mountainous tonality and a drumless, often-howling expanse, it’s being released through Desert Records, whose Brad Frye (also Red Mesa) comprises half the lineup alongside flamenco guitarist Ronaldo Baca, and as you’ll see in the release info below, they go so far as to call it a “migration to thyself.”
Anybody remember Inner Space? Go look it up if you’re under 40. Or better, don’t.
“Chromosphere” (29:53) and “Black Flare” (14:13) make up the record, and as a new project, it drones hard. Very definitely self-aware in the Earth 2 nod, and I mean, we’re talking about interwoven layers of guitar noise as a genre, so a given listener might hear all kinds of things in the reaches of the material. I can’t say I’m all the way on board with the band’s decision to keep the release 100-percent free of flamenco guitar (not even a little?), but they’re just getting started and have a clear and expressive purpose as showcased in these initial audio slabs. Both tracks are hypnotic and meditative, but not actually still.
The opener and longer of the two (immediate points) is of course awash in distortion, but it writhes in that, one guitar howling and feeding back as they push toward the 10-minute mark while the other sets a foreboding backing ambience, soon to join a building fray. There are notes, held, distinct, but Baca (who also mixed and mastered) and Frye are exploring here as well, and the sense of improv — a palpable ethic of “let’s try this” overarching the songs — adds to the motion of the listening experience. As destinations go, “thyself” may or may not be a place you want to end up, but terms of being transportive in sound, Liminal Mass is no lightweight.
And this gets us a little closer to understanding what the mission behind the instrumentalist search here actually is. “Black Flare” feels stately and is a little more patient in its unfolding, changing less but still oozing into a resonant wail before letting go to a more subdued ending, but it’s heavy, and that’s a distinguishing feature. Droni Eye Omi are of course not the first to make drone feel oppressive, but Liminal Mass feels like a counterpoint to trends toward floatier sounds. Just because it’s ethereal doesn’t mean it can’t feel like it’s collapsing your sternum.
One more distinguishing feature? No pretense about it. Frye and Baca made the thing in a day, recorded live — they even had a light show to ritualize the mood — and clearly aren’t going for the SunnO)))-style drone metal avant-garde positioning in naming the project like they were a bong metal band. This character is something one doesn’t often encounter with drone: fun. And in the context of the tube-burning noise Droni Eye Omi are making throughout what might be the beginning of a broader journey with heft to spare in terms of style, somehow the admission that they might actually have enjoyed the process of putting the album together feels daring. Drone is weird. So is life. If you’re still reading, so is thyself in all likelihood. Might as well have a good time with it.
“Chromosphere” — duly scorching — premieres on the player below, followed by the PR wire background on the project as mentioned above.
Take a breath, open your mind, and enjoy:
DRONI EYE OMI – Debut album ‘Liminal Mass’ releases via Desert Records on March 7th, 2025.
Two guitars, one from Brad Frye (Red Mesa and Desert Records founder) and a second one from Ronaldo Baca (renowned New Mexican gypsy jazz band Swing Magique and flamenco guitarist) bring you a dense electric guitar drone mixed with psych and space minimalism, and meditative heaviness.
However, desert/stoner rock or gypsy jazz/flamenco this is not!
This is true drone and minimalism inspired by Lamonte Young’s “Composition 1960 No. 7” and Earth’s “Earth 2”.
The band takes these primary influences and sends them straight to the cosmos.
Take a journey to the outer realms of your inner thoughts and sentiments. Droni Eye Omi are the cosmopilots that steer the celestial cruiser of sound into the vast universe of your mind.
Fear not of uncertainty, for nothing is certain with the settling of souls, here and beyond. Hear not the redundant questions of man, but experience the answers known to sound and vibration. Let the high voltage guitars rumble your chest and rattle your ears to an intoxicating sphere of bliss and realization.
You are on a migration to thyself!
CREDITS Recorded by Droni Eye Omi with a Tascam Model 12 on 5/31/2024 at Bingo Studios in Albuquerque, NM. Mixed and Mastered by Ronaldo Baca at Orange Cat Studios Album cover by Diogo Soares
Posted in Whathaveyou on May 28th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
The information you want — i.e., the tour dates — is in the tour posters, but as you can see there, what’s happening is that Desert Records denizens Red Mesa (from Albuquerque) and Sorcia (from Seattle) are both going on tour in August, and for part of each run, the tours will combine.
Got it? So they’re not touring the entire time together, but they’re hooking up for a leg as part of each’s broader stint up and down the West Coast/inland. Lacking a good word for it is how you get to “intertwining” in the headline. I could’ve gone with “conjoined” or “joint,” but I felt like either of those would mean it’d be the two of them the whole time — you can see in the images Sorcia actually have more shows with Tigers on Opium, and both they and Red Mesa will share the stage with a bunch of others in the sphere of Desert Records along the way — whereas “intertwining” at least in my head implies joining with something else from a more solitary state.
And I’m sorry to get sidetracked on language here — I should be dropping review links, right? isn’t that how it goes? like someone’s gonna click that? — but I find words interesting and it’s nice to have an idea what to call a thing when it happens. If you have any other suggestions, hit the comments and please let me know.
Otherwise, the tour(s) announcement(s) follow here, courtesy of the reliably-paradigm-shifting PR wire:
RED MESA / SORCIA TOUR
Two of Desert Record’s power trios RED MESA and SORCIA, have announced their respective Western U.S. tours for August 2024. The bands will support each other on a leg from ALBUQUERQUE-SEATTLE.
A multitude of Desert Records bands will support including Nebula Drag, Dali’s Llama, The Penitent Man, Spliffripper, Grim Earth, Droneroom, Breath, Doors to No Where, and Fuzz Evil.
“We’ve been talking about doing a full Western US tour for years…and it is FINALLY happening! We couldn’t be more stoked to do the Albuquerque to Seattle leg with our dear friends Sorcia. As we support our latest album, ‘Partial Distortions’ we will be bringing the heavy desert rock to your city!” – Red Mesa
“We are very excited to announce that we are getting back on the road for another Western US Tour this August! For the first half we will be hitting the West Coast joined by our dear friends, Portland rippers Tigers On Opium. For the second half we will be linking up with our amazing Desert Records labelmates Red Mesa as we make our way through the desert and up through the Rockies, where we will end the tour by hosting them in Seattle for our tour homecoming. We are looking forward to hitting some new towns on this tour, and we have some killer bands lined up to support these shows, so stay tuned for individual show details. See you on the road!” – Sorcia
Red Mesa tour poster by Joey Rudell of Fuzz Evil / Sorcia tour poster art by Misanthropic-Art (poster layout by Jessica Brasch).
Red Mesa is: Brad Frye – Rhythm and Lead Guitars, Lead and Backing Vocals Roman Barham – Drums, Lead and Backing Vocals Alex Cantwell – Bass Guitar, Lead and Backing Vocals, Additional Rhythm Guitars, Piano
Albuquerque desert metallers Red Mesa will release their fourth album, Partial Distortions, on April 19 through guitarist/vocalist Brad Frye‘s Desert Records with a Euro pressing on Majestic Mountain, and it is nothing less than the point at which they find their sound. The blend of grueling sludge and uptempo earthy groove on opener/longest track (immediate points) “ÓDR” shows a character that both 2020’s The Path to the Deathless (review here) and the follow-up willful-aural-divergence of the single “Forest Cathedral” (review here) hinted toward, but the balance between nod and aggression, the density of the atmosphere emerged from the tones, and the sense of the band having genuinely dug into their own approach are all palpable across an album that I can’t stop thinking of as a point of arrival. As potential realized.
That’s before you get to the Soundgardenery of “The Assertion” or the suitable roll and more forceful chug of “Desert March,” and, sitting back there waiting for you all the while, closer “Witching Hour,” which premieres today. Hints of a blend of doom, rock, metal and maybe even hardcore that reminds of Solace‘s brooding moments is met with a multi-layer vocal and an explosive back and forth in the hook that is worthy of the album it caps. The thing’s not our for two months, so I don’t want to sit here and review it before anyone’s ready. Think of this as me sharing a song I think you might dig in a spirit of friendship and a hope for making your day, week, whatever, better.
There’s a press quote from me floating around with the album. I was asked to give one and did, pretty straightforward. As a rule, I don’t run press quotes, even my own, because I should be having my own opinions instead of cutting and pasting someone else’s, but I’ll just say I stand by what I put there. This is a new level for the band. And there’s a lot to say about consistency in lineup, expanded input from the rhythm section in the writing process, exploring different sides of one’s personal influences, on and on. I’ll hope to have more to come as we get closer to the release.
“Witching Hour” premieres below. Partial Distortions is out April 19.
Enjoy:
Red Mesa on “Witching Hour”:
“This is our foreboding tale inspired by the creepier elements of Stephen King’s “Pet Cemetery”. The closing track is heavy and dark with Alex taking the lead on vocals. Musically, the song consists of two sections that were organically brought together. The first half of the song consists of two riffs that Brad showed Roman and they recorded it into the voice memos of an Iphone in early 2021. The second half showcases a huge riff that Alex had been keeping in his back pocket for 20 years. Once the ending riff was worked out, the song came together quickly. We have been adding this song to our live setlists and is quickly becoming a staple.”
‘Partial Distortions’ shows a powerful return of the Albuquerque, NM heavy desert rock trio Red Mesa with their fourth full-length. The album will be released on April, 19th 2024 via Desert Records (North America) and Majestic Mountain Records (Europe).
This 6-track album features the same lineup from their 2020 release ‘The Path to the Deathless’ and the 2022 single ‘Forest Cathedral’.
The record shows further collaboration between band members as guitarist/vocalist Brad Frye, bassist/vocalist Alex Cantwell, and drummer/vocalist Roman Barham all contributed musically and lyrically throughout the album.
Red Mesa has been leading the new generation of desert rock by proving that the genre is capable of greater expanses. The trio has expanded their signature heavy desert sound on ‘Partial Distortions’ to include more doom and sludge metal moments. “Blackened desert” sound collages and an overall doomier and downright frightening musical path will confront the listener, as the album is darker musically and thematically. All whilst still dwelling within an optimism that instills hope that amongst the loss, the tragic endings, and the suffering that this existence brings, that life is still worth living.
Album cover gouache painting by Marco Blasphemator. Gatefold and back cover photos by Hayley Harper. Graphics and Layout by Dave Walsh.
Recorded by Augustine Ortiz at the Decibel Foundry in Santa Fe, NM in December 2022. Recorded and mixed by Matthew Tobias at Empty House Studio in Albuquerque, NM in April, June, August, & October 2023. Mastered by Brad Boatright at Audiosiege in Portland, OR in October 2023.
Tracklisting: 1. ÓDR 2. The Assertion 3. Dying in the Cold Sun 4. 12 Volt Shaman 5. Desert March 6. Witching Hour
Red Mesa is: Brad Frye – Rhythm and Lead Guitars, Lead and Backing Vocals Roman Barham – Drums, Lead and Backing Vocals Alex Cantwell – Bass Guitar, Lead and Backing Vocals, Additional Rhythm Guitars, Piano
Posted in Whathaveyou on February 1st, 2024 by JJ Koczan
Albuquerque-based trio Red Mesa laid a foundation for themselves in straight-ahead, gruff-but-not-necessarily-aggro desert-style heavy rock, and their 2022 standalone track, “Forest Cathedral” (review here, also streaming below), pivoted toward more of a classically doomed style — think Cathedral the band as well as things grandiose and churchy. Partial Distortions, which is the band’s fourth full-length and was recorded over nearly a year’s span, has been in discussion from Red Mesa for at least a year now, and they seem to hint below that the album continues to expand on where Red Mesa started out, which has kind of been their thing all along. Gradual, organic evolution.
Check out Majestic Mountain getting involved for the Euro release, while of course the North American edition will be handed by guitarist/vocalist Brad Frye‘s Desert Records, which much like the band has seen its definitions of ‘desert’ and ‘heavy’ willfully broadened. I do not think that’s a coincidence, and I do look forward to having more to come on the album before it’s out in April. There’s a premiere in the works for sometime between now and then, anyhow.
From the PR wire:
Red Mesa announce new fourth full-length album ‘Partial Distortions’ to be released on April 19th, 2024.
‘Partial Distortions’ shows a powerful return of the Albuquerque, NM heavy desert rock trio Red Mesa.
Desert Records will release the album on limited edition Vinyl LP, CD, and Cassette in North America and on digital download/streaming platforms worldwide.
“Red Mesa bring their signature heavy desert sound with more doom and sludge metal!” – Desert Records
Majestic Mountain Records will release a limited edition vinyl LP in Europe.
“It is an honor for Majestic to be involved in the release of Red Mesa’s excellent new album!’ – Marco Berg/Majestic Mountain Records
Presale will begin in mid-February.
—
The 6-track album features the same lineup from their 2020 release ‘The Path to the Deathless’ and the 2022 single ‘Forest Cathedral’.
‘Partial Distortions’ shows further collaboration between band members as guitarist/vocalist Brad Frye, bassist/vocalist Alex Cantwell, and drummer/vocalist Roman Barham all contributed musically and lyrically throughout the album. Red Mesa employs a three vocal attack as all band members share vocal duties.
The trio has expanded their signature heavy desert sound on ‘Partial Distortions’ to include more doom and sludge metal moments. “Blackened desert” sound collages and an overall doomier and downright frightening musical path will confront the listener, as the album is darker musically and thematically. All whilst still dwelling within an optimism that instills hope that amongst the loss, the tragic endings, and the suffering that this existence brings, that life is still worth living.
Recorded by Augustine Ortiz at the Decibel Foundry in Santa Fe, NM in December 2022.
Recorded and mixed by Matthew Tobias at Empty House Studio in Albuquerque, NM in April, June, August, & October 2023.
Mastered by Brad Boatright at Audiosiege in Portland, OR in October 2023.
Red Mesa is: Brad Frye – Rhythm and Lead Guitars, Lead and Backing Vocals Roman Barham – Drums, Lead and Backing Vocals Alex Cantwell – Bass Guitar, Lead and Backing Vocals, Additional Rhythm Guitars, Piano
Posted in Whathaveyou on May 18th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
I don’t feel the need to even really say anything here. The lineup speaks for itself. And those who go to this year’s RippleFest Texas will also speak of it, for years, probably in a similar way people now talk about having been at this or that Emissions From the Monolith when that was going on in Ohio. The stuff of legend, in other words. Yeah, you can put on a fest and try to make it cool and fun, or you can do something like this and make it the highlight of everybody who attends’ year.
Kudos to Lick of My Spoon Productions and Ripple Music on a job well done. This will be something special. Bands have been leaked out one at a time at intermittent daily intervals, but the final lineup is out as of today, and it’s stunning. A blend of generations, a reach from on end of the country to the other, and a swath of the heavy underground all rallied in one place for a few days, pre- and after-parties included. Fucking a. If you’re attending, count yourself lucky.
As seen on socials:
Here it is! The full lineup for RippleFest Texas #3! This will be one for the ages with a stacked lineup and lots of special treats in between. Get your tickets now!
Amazing art by @1horsetown
* playing the Pre-Party + playing the Afterparty
King Buffalo, Acid King, Brant Bjork Trio, Sasquatch, Wo-Fat, Fatso Jetson, Mondo Generator, Unida, The Well+, The Atomic Bitchwax, Telekinetic Yeti*, Duel, Forming the Void, Hippie Death Cult, High Desert Queen*, Avon, War Cloud, Rubber Snake Charmers, Spirit Mother+, Kind, Nick Oliveri, Thunder Horse, Royal Sons+, Restless Spirit*, (Big) Pig, Fostermother, Dead Feathers+, Rainbows Are Free, Warlung*, Sun Voyager, Red Mesa, Dunes, Tia Carrera+, Mr. Plow, The Heroine*, Michael Rudolph Cummings, The Absurd+, GoodEye*, Red Beard Wall, God Damn Good Time Band+
Plus a “Legends of the Desert and Friends” jam session to close out Saturday night!
And as always, the visuals by The Mad Alchemist Liquid Light Show
All-Access passes are SOLD OUT! All we have left are 2 Day Passes and Pre/Afterparty tickets available. Many more bands to be announced! Get your tickets now before the full lineup is revealed and the ticket price goes up!
Posted in Whathaveyou on April 27th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Two things to immediately note in this second lineup announcement from Burque Rock City 2023. One, it’s Brant Bjork solo, which means Stöner are still on the backburner as he and Nick Oliveri dip back into their own stuff. Two, this will be the first live performance from Yawning Balch, which is the amalgam of Yawning Man and Bob Balch of Fu Manchu. Yawning Man recently brought in Greg Saenz on drums ahead of their European tour, and presumably he’ll do this gig as well, though I suppose it’s always possible Bill Stinson could sit in for it. One way or the other, jams will be had.
I’m hopeful for a new Year of the Cobra album, if not this year then next. They had some exciting growth pre-pandemic and toured like mad, and have been somewhat quieter since, but hopefully this Fall they’re back at it hard. Tenderizor were — I’m not sure if they still are — affiliated with hometown Albuquerque weirdo heroes Leeches of Lore, so that’s a cool local tie, and Red Mesa features Roman Barham, who is organizing this fest and is a co-founder of Monolith on the Mesa of which Burque Rock City is an offshoot, maybe just for this year. Bringing in Fatso Jetson only enhances the desert vibe, and Electric Citizen will be on hand to lend their particular take on classic heavy. With Ojo Malo and Nomestomper and Street Tombs filling out, it’s a solid announcement for the two-dayer; a kind of conceptual preview for the likes of RippleFest Texas and Desertfest New York in substance if not geography. A lot to like, is the bottom line.
Tickets are on sale now, early-bird style. Dig it, and check out the TubeVision show I stumbled on from Brant Bjork, 2003 in San Francisco. Bros.-era. 20 god damned years ago. Pretty badass:
BURQUE ROCK CITY FEST: Announces MORE BANDS!
Burque Rock City Is Happy To Announce Another Round Of Bands For August 4th & 5th Downtown ABQ At The Historic El Rey Theater & Insideout Bar
Burque Rock City Would Love to Welcome:
Brant Bjork * Yawning Balch * Year Of The Cobra * Fatso Jetson * Electric Citizen * Tenderizor * Street Tombs * Red Mesa * Ojo Malo * Nomestomper
First Wave of Amazing Bands Previously Announced:
Weedeater * Pike Vs The Automaton * Belzebong * Early Moods * High Desert Queen * Thunder Horse * Sorcia * Prism Bitch * Coma Revovery
Get Your Early Bird Tickets NOW!! Once Full Lineup Is Announced, Tickets Will Go Up!
Roman Barham, co-founder of Monolith on the Mesa, has been quietly working on Burque Rock City Fest.
Branching south from the Monolith On The Mesa tree is Burque Rock City Fest in Albuquerque, NM At The Historic El Rey Theater & Insideout Bar On Friday August 4th & Saturday August 5th 2023.
More band announcements & more exciting info soon.
