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

Quarterly Review: Melody Fields, La Chinga, Massive Hassle, Sherpa, Acid Throne, The Holy Nothing, Runway, Wet Cactus, MC MYASNOI, Cinder Well

Posted in Reviews on November 29th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

The-Obelisk-Quarterly-Review

Day three of the Quarterly Review is always a good time. Passing the halfway point for the week isn’t nothing, and I take comfort in knowing there’s another 25 to come after the first 25 are down. Sometimes it’s the little things.

But let’s not waste the few moments we have. I hope you find something you dig.

Quarterly Review #21-30:

Melody Fields, 1901

Melody Fields 1901

Though it starts out firmly entrenched in ’60s psychedelia in “Going Back,” Melody Fields1901 is less genre-adherent and/or retroist than one might expect. “Jesus” borrows from ’70s soul, but is languid in its rollout with horn-esque sounds for a Morricone-ish vibe, while “Rave On” makes a hook of its folkish and noodly bridge. Keyboards bring a krautrock spirit to “Mellanväsen,” which is fair as “Transatlantic” blisses out ’90s electro-rock, and “Home at Last” prog-shuffles in its own swirl — a masterclass in whatever kind of psych you want to call it — as “Indian MC” has an acoustic strum that reminds of some of Lamp of the Universe‘s recent urgings, and “Void” offers 53 seconds of drone before the stomp of the catchy “In Love” and the keyboard-dreamy “Mayday” ends side B with a departure to match “Transatlantic” capping side A. Unexpectedly, 1901, which is the Swedish outfit’s second LP behind their 2018 self-titled debut (review here), is one of two albums they have for Fall 2023, with 1991 a seeming companion piece. Here’s looking forward.

Melody Fields on Facebook

Melody Fields on Bandcamp

La Chinga, Primal Forces

la chinga primal forces

La Chinga don’t have time for bullshit. They’re going right to the source. Black Sabbath. Motörhead. Enough Judas Priest in “Electric Eliminator” for the whole class and a riffy swagger, loosely Southern in “Stars Fall From the Sky,” and elsewhere, that reminds of Dixie Witch or Halfway to Gone, and that aughts era of heavy generally. “Backs to the Wall” careens with such a love of ’80s metal it reminds of Bible of the Devil — while cuts like “Bolt of Lightning,” “Rings of Power” and smash-then-run opener “Light it Up” immediately positions the trio between ’70s heavy rock and the more aggressive fare it helped produce. Throughout, La Chinga are poised but not so much so as to take away from the energy of their songs, which are impeccably written, varied in energy, and drawn together through the vitality of their delivery. Here’s a kickass rock band, kicking ass. It might be a little too over-the-top for some listeners, but over-the-top is a target unto itself. La Chinga hit it like oldschool masters.

La Chinga on Facebook

Ripple Music website

Massive Hassle, Number One

MASSIVE HASSLE - NUMBER ONE

Best known for their work together in Mammothwing and now also both members of Church of the Cosmic Skull as well, brothers Bill Fisher and Marty Fisher make a point of stripping back as much as possible with Massive Hassle, scaling down the complex arrangements of what’s now their main outfit but leaving room for harmonies, on-sleeve Thin Lizzy love and massive fuzz in cuts like “Lane,” “Drifter,” the speedier penultimate “Drink” and the slow-nod payoff of “Fibber,” which closes. That attitude — which one might see developing in response to years spend plugging away in a group with seven people and everyone wears matching suits — assures a song like “Kneel” fits, with its restless twists feeling born organically out of teenage frustrations, but many of Number One‘s strongest moments are in its quieter, bluesy explorations. The guitar holds a note, just long enough that it feels like it might miss the beat on the turnaround, then there’s the snare. With soul in the vocals to spare and a tension you go for every time, if Massive Hassle keep this up they’re going to have to be a real band, and ugh, what a pain in the ass that is.

Massive Hassle on Facebook

Massive Hassle website

Sherpa, Land of Corals

sherpa land of corals

One of the best albums of 2023, and not near the bottom of the list. Italy’s Sherpa demonstrated their adventurous side with 2018’s Tigris & Euphrates (review here), but the six-song/39-minute Land of Corals is in a class of its own as regards their work. Breaking down genre barriers between industrial/dance, psychedelia, doom, and prog, Sherpa keep a special level of tonal heft in reserve that’s revealed near the end of opener “Silt” and is worthy — yes I mean this — of countrymen Ufomammut in its cosmic impact. “High Walls” is more of a techno throb with a languid melodic vocal, but the two-part, eight-minute “Priest of Corals” begins a thread of Ulverian atmospherics that continues not so much in the second half of the song itself, which brings back the heavy from “Silt” and rolls back and forth over the skull, but in the subsequent “Arousal,” which has an experimental edge in its later reaches and backs its beat with a resonant sprawl of drone. This is so much setup for the apex in “Coward/Pilgrimage to the Sun,” which is the kind of wash that will make you wonder if we’re all just chemicals, and closer “Path/Mud/Barn,” which feels well within its rights to take its central piano line for a walk. I haven’t seen a ton of hype for it, which tracks, but this feels like a record that’s getting to know you while you’re getting to know it.

Sherpa on Facebook

Subsound Records store

Acid Throne, Kingdom’s Death

acid throne kingdom's death

A sludge metal of marked ferocity and brand-name largesse, Acid Throne‘s debut album, Kingdom’s Death sets out with destructive and atmospheric purpose alike, and while it’s vocals are largely grunts in “River (Bare My Bones)” and the straight-up deathly “Hallowed Ground,” if there’s primitivism at work in the 43-minute six-songer, it’s neither in the character of their tones or what they’re playing. Like a rockslide in a cavern, “Death is Not the End” is the beginning, with melodic flourish in the lead guitar as it passes the halfway point and enough crush generally to force your blood through your pores. It moves slower than “River (Bare My Bones),” but the Norwich, UK, trio are dug in regardless of tempo, with “King Slayer” unfolding like Entombed before revealing itself as more in line with a doomed take on Nile or Morbid Angel. Both it and “War Torn” grow huge by their finish, and the same is true of “Hallowed Ground,” though if you go from after the intro it also started out that way, and the 11-minute closer “Last Will & Testament” is engrossing enough that its last drones give seamlessly over to falling rain almost before you know it. There are days like this. Believe it.

Acid Throne on Facebook

Acid Throne on Bandcamp

The Holy Nothing, Vol. 1: A Profound and Nameless Fear

the holy nothing vol 1 a profound and nameless fear

With an intensity thrust forth from decades of Midwestern post-hardcore disaffection, Indiana trio The Holy Nothing make their presence felt with Vol. 1: A Profound and Nameless Fear, a five-song/17-minute EP that’s weighted and barking in its onslaught and pivots almost frenetically from part to part, but that nonetheless has an overarching groove that’s pure Sabbath boogie in centerpiece “Unending Death,” and opener “Bathe Me” sets the pummeling course with noise rock and nu metal chicanery, while “Bliss Trench” raw-throats its punkish first half en route to a slowdown that knows it’s hot shit. Bass leads the way into “Mondegreen,” with a threatening chug and post-hardcore boogie, just an edge of grunge to its later hook to go with the last screams, and feedback as it inevitably would, leads the way into “Doom Church,” with a more melodic and spacious echoing vocal and a riff that seems to kind of eat the rest of the song surrounding. I’ll be curious how the quirk extrapolates over a full-length’s runtime, but they sound like they’re ready to get weird and they’re from Fort Wayne, which is where Charlton Heston was from in Planet of the Apes, and I’m sorry, but that’s just too on-the-nose to be a coincidence.

The Holy Nothing on Facebook

The Holy Nothing on Bandcamp

Runway, Runway

RUNWAY RUNWAY

Runway may be making their self-titled debut with this eight-song/31-minute blowout LP delivered through Cardinal Fuzz, Echodelick and We, Here & Now as a triumvirate of lysergic righteousness, but the band is made up of five former members of Saskatoon instrumentalists Shooting Guns so it’s not exactly their first time at the dance of wavy lines and chambered echo that make even the two-minute “No Witnesses” feel broad, and the crunch-fuzz of “Attempted Mordor,” the double-time hi-hat on “Franchy Cordero” that vibes with all the casual saunter of Endless Boogie but in a shorter package as the song’s only four minutes long. “Banderas” follows a chugging tack and doesn’t seem to release its tension even in the payoff, but “Crosshairs” is all freedom-rock, baby, with a riff like they put the good version of America in can, and the seven-minute capper “Mailman” reminds that our destination was the cosmos all along. Jam on, you glorious Canadian freaks. By this moniker or any other, your repetitive excavations are always welcome on these shores.

Runway on Facebook

Echodelick Records website

Cardinal Fuzz store

https://wehereandnow.bandcamp.com/music

Wet Cactus, Magma Tres

wet cactus magma tres

Spanish heavy rockers Wet Cactus look to position themselves at the forefront of a regional blossoming with their third album, the 12-track Magma Tres. Issued through Electric Valley Records, the 45-minute long-player follows 2018’s Dust, Hunger and Gloom (review here) and sees the band tying together straightforward, desert-style heavy rock with a bit of grunge sway in “Profound Dream” before it twists around to heavy-footed QOTSA start-stops ahead of the fuzzy trash-boogie of “Mirage” and the duly headspinning guitar work of “My Gaze is Fixed Ahead.” The second half of the LP has interludes between sets of two tracks — the album begins with “I. The Long Escape…” as the first of them — but the careening “Self Bitten Snake” and the tense toms under the psych guitar before that big last hook in “Solar Prominence” want nothing for immediacy, and even “IV. …Of His Musical Ashes!,” which closes, becomes a charge with the band’s collective force behind it. There’s more to what they do than people know, but you could easily say the same thing about the entire Iberian Peninsula’s heavy underground.

Wet Cactus on Facebook

Electric Valley Records website

MC MYASNOI, Falling Lower Than You Expected

MC MYASNOI Falling Lower Than You Expected

All-caps Icelandic troupe MC MYASNOI telegraph their experimentalism early in the drone of “Liquid Lung [Nucomp]” and let some of the noise around the electronic nod in “Antenula [OEBT]” grow caustic in the first half before first bliss then horror build around a progression of drums, ending with sax and feedback and noise and where were the lines between them anyway. The delve into the unknown threads more feedback through “Slug Paradox,” which has a vocal line somewhere not terribly far off from shoegaze, but is itself nothing so pedestrian, while “Kuroki” sounds like it could’ve been recorded at rehearsal, possibly on the other side of the wall. The go-wherever-you-end-up penchant holds in “Bleach in Eye,” and when “Xcomputer must dieX” clicks on, it brings about the rumble MC MYASNOI seem to have been threatening all along without giving up the abidingly oddball stance, what with the keyboard and sax and noise, noise, noise, plus whispers at the end. I’m sure that in the vast multiverse there’s a plenet that’s ready for the kind of off-kilter-everythingism wrought by MC MYASNOI, but you can bet your ass this ain’t it. And if you’re too weird for earth, you’re alright by me.

MC MYASNOI on Facebook

MC MYASNOI on Bandcamp

Cinder Well, Cadence

cinder well cadence

The 2020 album from transient folk singer-songwriter Cinder Well, No Summer (review here), landed with palpable empathy in a troubled July, and Cadence has a similar minimalist place to dwell in “Overgrown” or finale “I Will Close in the Moonlight,” but by and large the arrangements are more lush throughout the nine songs of Cadence. Naturally, Amelia Baker‘s voice remains a focal point for the material, but organ, viola and fiddle, drums and bass, etc., bring variety to the gentle delivery of “Gone the Holding,” the later reaches of “Crow” and allow for the build of elements in “A Scorched Lament” that make that song’s swaying crescendo such a high point. And having high points is somewhat striking, in context, but Cinder Well‘s range as shown throughout Cadence is beholden to no single emotional or even stylistic expression. If you’d read this and gripe that the record isn’t heavy — shit. Listen again.

Cinder Well on Facebook

Free Dirt Records on Bandcamp

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ReykjaDoom Fest 2024 Completes Lineup

Posted in Whathaveyou on November 3rd, 2023 by JJ Koczan

reykjadoom festival 2024 banner

Here’s how I wound up with four records embedded at the bottom of this post: First, I got an email from ReykjaDoom with a much more polite take on, “Hey goober we finished our lineup this week don’t miss it.” Then I wrote back and was like, “Thanks, sorry, cool,” and searched out the finished lineup and poster that, owing to the age of wonders in which we live, is both above (horizontally) and below (vertically) this text. One likes to be thorough.

Next, I scrolled through ReykjaDoom‘s social media posts to see if I could find which bands were announced, and here’s where it happened. Reading backwards from last to first, I was like, “Oh sweet, Moonstone rule. I should include Growth (review here) with the post” — and yes, my inner monologue does include review links at this point. Then I saw MC NYASNOI, and I’d never heard them before, so I checked that out.

Five bucks later, I had a download from Bandcamp and at that point, grabbing an embed code is practically instinct for me. Record is wild. Super-weird. Will be in my next Quarterly Review. Next was Nornahetta and though I’m not a huge black metal guy, I was curious to hear a maybe-improv version thereof, so I hit their Bandcamp too, found an older release that represented some of the harshness of Iceland’s dried-lava-char take on the style. Easy choice to put that in too, and though I already knew at that point I’d have to have everybody, seeing that the last band was resonant cavernous doomers Morpholith would have made the choice easy anyhow.

That’s one, two, three, four, in order as I encountered them and presented that way below. I’m posting about a lot of Spring fests in the next few weeks, probably. Because this is the last announcement from ReykjaDoom 2024 — which used to be Doomcember, but switched months — and because it’s happening earlier than much of the Spring fest season in Europe (and separated geographically from the mainland), I don’t want it to get lost in the shuffle, not the least because of the blend of different styles on the bill and the fact that, only knowing half the bands in a given lineup reveal, each one turned out to be consuming in its own way.

Glad I got that email. Here’s word from the fest:

reykjadoom festival 2024 poster

The last bands of ReykjaDoom Fest 2024 are coming.

First we welcome Morpholith.

Their debut LP is expected to come next year, utilising many sub-genres of doom metal to create variant kinds of absolute wall of sound.

The second announcement of the day are the improvisational black metal band Nornahetta.

Known for sporadic live performances with no pre-written material, the mysterious force will do a uniquely slow and gloomy performance at ReykjaDoom Fest 2024.

The third band announcement of the day, is the electronic doom metal band MC MYASNOI.

The band released an EP “falling lower than you expected” earlier in October. Their sound still has their signature synth elements from previous releases but combines it with spooky, experimental doom metal.

The final band of ReykjaDoom Fest 2024 is the Polish band Moonstone.

Atmospheric stoner doom with powerful riffs, gloomy vocals and sensational moments.

Their recent performance at our comrade’s fest, Høstsabbat, only reassured us that they are the perfect fit for our next festival.

Unmissable addition to an already tight line-up.

Doom lives!

ReykjaDoom Fest 2024

8-9. March
Gaukurinn – Reykjavík

Konvent (DK)
Kælan Mikla
Dread Sovereign (IE)
Moonstone (PL)
Altari
CXVIII
Kvelja
MC MYASNOI
Morpholith
Múr
Nornahetta
Sleeping Giant
Slor
Volcanova

Tickets: https://www.midix.is/en//eid/89

Let there be doom!

https://www.facebook.com/doomcember/
https://www.instagram.com/reykjadoom/
https://www.reykjadoom.com/

Moonstone, Growth (2023)

MC MYASNOI, Falling Lower Than You Expected (2023)

Nornahetta, Synesthetic Pareidolia (2017)

Morpholith, Null Dimensions (2020)

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The Vintage Caravan to Release The Monuments Tour (Live) Oct. 13

Posted in Whathaveyou on September 8th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

Who’s gonna argue? Icelandic trio The Vintage Caravan will begin a European tour at Desertfest Belgium 2023 in Antwerp on Oct. 21. They’ll spend nearly a month on the road on a run scheduled largely after the wind-down of the Fall festival season, but accordingly at a less saturated time, as opposed to, say, mid-October, when even on the continental scale of Europe as a whole things are packed. Plus, taking off later allows them to get the release of their new live album, The Monuments Tour (Live), out of the way and pack the inevitable boxes of vinyl for lugging from show to show. At least until they sell through.

What’s funny is that the tour for 2021’s Monuments (review here) studio album will be continuing on this impending stint even as they memorialize it on the live 2LP. Leave it to The Vintage Caravan to exist in multiple timeframes. Suitable for a band who do so much to modernize classic heavy methods.

A sampling of their bona fides and info on the live record are available to check out below, as is the live video for “Can’t Get You Off My Mind,” which has been posted as the first single. Dig it:

the vintage caravan the monuments tour live

THE VINTAGE CARAVAN to Release Live Album, ‘The Monuments Tour (Live)’, on October 13, 2023 via Napalm Records

Pre-Order NOW: https://www.napalmrecordsamerica.com/thevintagecaravan

Icelandic retro rock trio THE VINTAGE CARAVAN announce their first live album, ‘The Monuments Tour (Live)’, to be released on October 13, 2023 via Napalm Records!

Bringing back vintage rock with progressive influences, THE VINTAGE CARAVAN has proven more than capable of creating their own trademark sound, presenting guitar driven classics merged with blues and rock. Today, the band unveil the live single “Can’t Get You Off My Mind” – taking the listener on a blistering ride through pounding drums, intense guitar solos and an undeniably catchy chorus.

Known as an energetic live band, THE VINTAGE CARAVAN has convinced thousands of fans after countless high-voltage live performances at festivals such as Roadburn, Wacken and Hellfest, touring with Opeth, and most recently on their latest Latin American headline tour. THE VINTAGE CARAVAN create nostalgic nuances to get lost in, and with their upcoming first live album, they’ve finally captured the magic of their live performances on record.

Watch the live video for “Can’t Get You Off My Mind” below and catch THE VINTAGE CARAVAN live on the second leg of The Monuments Tour!

‘The Monuments Tour (Live)’ Track List:
1. Whispers (Live)
2. Crystallized (Live)
3. Reflections (Live)
4. Innerverse (Live)
5. Forgotten (Live)
6. Can’t Get You Off My Mind (Live)
7. Psychedelic Mushroom Man (Live)
8. Cocaine Sally (Live)
9. Hell (Live)
10. Babylon (Live)
11. On The Run (Live)
12. Expand Your Mind (Live)
13. Clarity (Live)

‘The Monuments Tour (Live)’ will be available in the following formats:
=> 2LP Gatefold marbled vinyl Red
=> 2LP Gatefold marbled vinyl Yellow
=> Digital Album

THE VINTAGE CARAVAN Fall 2023 European Tour

21/10 BE – Antwerp, Desertfest
23/10 CH – Aarau, KIFF
25/10 NL – Alkmaar, Victorie
26/10 DE – Bremen, Tower
27/10 NL – Helmond, De Cacaofabriek
28/10 NL – Drachten – Iduna
29/10 DE – Hannover, Béi Chéz Heinz
31/10 DE – Dresden, Club Puschkin
02/11 PL – Gdansk, Drizzly Grizzly
03/11 PL – Warsaw, Hydrozagadka
04/11 SK – Kosice, Colosseum
05/11 HU – Budapest, Analog Music Hall
07/11 HR – Zagreb, Vintage Industrial Bar
08/11 AT – Vienna, Arena
09/11 DE – Augsburg, Kantine
10/11 AT – Lustenau, Carini Saal
11/11 DE – Frankfurt, Nachtleben
13/11 DE – Stuttgart, Im Wizemann Club
14/11 DE – Dortmund, FZW Club
15/11 FR – Strasbourg, La Laiterie
17/11 FR – Marseille, Molotov
18/11 FR – Vallet, Westill Fest

THE VINTAGE CARAVAN is:
Óskar Logi Ágústsson – lead vocals, electric guitar
Alexander Örn Númason – bass guitar, backing vocals
Stefán Ari Stefánsson – drums, percussion

https://www.facebook.com/vintagecaravan
https://www.instagram.com/thevintagecaravan/
http://www.thevintagecaravan.eu/

www.facebook.com/napalmrecords
https://www.instagram.com/napalmrecordsofficial/
www.napalmrecords.com

The Vintage Caravan, “Can’t Get You Off My Mind” official video

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ReykjaDoom Festival 2024 Makes Second Lineup Announcements

Posted in Whathaveyou on August 15th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

The second round of lineup announcements for ReykjaDoom Festival 2024 — set for next March in Reykjavík, Iceland, as the name might hint — brings Dread Sovereign, Kælan Mikla, a reunion from Sleeping Giant (not the Aussie band, who so far as I know are still together), as well as Slor with whom I’m not familiar at all but am anxious enough to learn that I put a 15-minute demo track at the bottom of this post, and upstart heavy rockers Volcanova, who released their Cosmic Bullshit EP (review here) early in 2022.

With one announcement to go, apparently, ReykjaDoom puts focus this time more on capital-‘h’ Heavy, and fair enough, but what Kælan Mikla will bring to this bill in terms of melody and atmosphere shouldn’t be discounted, and they’re by no means the only not-stonerdoomsludgewhatever act on the bill. Very curious who’s gonna end up in that last round, but it might be October before we get there, and given the teeny-tiny sliver of a brain in my skull, well, let’s just say that sometime between now and then I’ll put it in my notes to check in. Otherwise — oh look a squirrel! You see where this is going.

The fest posted these additions one at a time in hourly increments. I’ve compiled and edited those posts a bit to make it all one thing. If anyone notices/minds/etc., I’m glad to talk through whatever’s on your mind.

Right on. Here’s the latest:

ReykjaDoom 2024 Band Announcment

The first announcement of the day for ReykjaDoom Fest 2024 is Kælan Mikla!

The goth witches will honour us with cold dark synth pop.

Come dance with us through the night.

Please welcome the Irish trio Dread Sovereign!

Doom metal so old school there is still black metal influence in it. Couple of the members are no strangers to Iceland, as they have performed here with Primordial, Malthusian and Conan.

Dread Sovereign will start the occult at ReykjaDoom Fest 2024.

Please welcome Slor to ReykjaDoom Fest 2024!

Never leaving no one with healthy ears after a performance, the stonerdoom trio are in the process of releasing music to the world.

Sleeping Giant will reunite at ReykjaDoom Fest 2024!

This will be the first performance in more than ten years. Expect great mix of doom, stoner and death.

Please welcome Volcanova to ReykjaDoom Fest 2024!

The friendliest stoner band you will witness packed with catchy hooks and tight showmanship.

ReykjaDoom Fest 2024

Konvent (DK)
Dread Sovereign (IE)
Kælan Mikla
Altari
CXVIII
Kvelja
Múr
Sleeping Giant
Slor
Volcanova

Tickets: https://www.midix.is/en//eid/89

The last bands will be announced in the fall!

We are not done with announcements.

We got one more coming up.

https://www.facebook.com/doomcember/
https://www.instagram.com/reykjadoom/
https://www.reykjadoom.com/

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ReykjaDoom Festival 2024: First Bands Announced

Posted in Whathaveyou on August 1st, 2023 by JJ Koczan

The Icelandic underground has a well-earned reputation for tight-knit variety. You might see different kinds of metal bands hanging out, sharing members and doing gigs in an inherently compact scene. ReykjaDoom Festival, the March 2024 inheritor of the annual Doomcember, looks this far like it will shape up to represent this stylistic diversity well and offer a heavy barrage in the process, with Denmark’s Konvent headlining and a slew of sludge, artsy black metal and so on accompanying in the thus-far-revealed lineup.

It’s worth noting (at least to me) that this is the first festival announcement I’m posting for 2024. Usually one thinks of September as the time the Spring season begins to reveal itself, but being slightly ahead of the April/May curve makes sense in light of the March 8 and 9 event dates. I’m going to do my best to keep up with the lineup for this one, as I’m interested to see how it turns out and the scope they end up with. Won’t be the last time you see me post about it, in other words. Maybe not even this week, as they note below more names are coming soon.

So then, to get caught up:

ReykjaDoom Festival 2024 first names

REYKJADOOM FESTIVAL 2024 – March 8 & 9

After four events under the name Doomcember, the organizers took the next step and announced ReykjaDoom, which specialises in bringing Doom metal acts to Iceland. The group consists of members of the Icelandic metal scene, with every member being involved with multiple acts over the years.

As Icelandic metal festivals started to appear, there was a need for a doom oriented one with appropriate outsiders given a chance to enhance the attendees. The emphasis was on bringing great doom metal bands to Iceland alongside the best of the local bands.

After four successful events which brought bands such as Conan, Slomatics, Saturnalia Temple and Mars Red Sky, it was time to make the events with even more ambitious expectations and overall aesthetics. Their first event under the new name is the instrumental doom metal band Bongripper, which will make their way to Iceland on the 26th of October.

Their next festival will be held on the 8th and 9th of march in Gaukurinn, downtown Reykjavík under the new name: ReykjaDoom Festival.

The bands so far announced represent Iceland achievements of mastering different genres. The post doom metal act of CXVIII, the synth infused progressive metal of Múr (which were recently signed with Doomstar Bookings), the psychedelic black metal band Altari, debut LP out earlier this year through Svart Records and the filthy sludgers of Kvelja. The first headliner is the Danish death doom metal band Konvent. Their reputation has been building greatly ever since their first album came out in 2020.

Tickets to each event:
www.tix.is/is/event/15762/bongripper-live-at-gaukurinn

https://www.midix.is/web/event/event_id/89

More will be announced in early August.

https://www.facebook.com/doomcember/
https://www.instagram.com/reykjadoom/
https://www.reykjadoom.com/

Konvent, Call Down the Sun (2022)

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The Vintage Caravan to Tour Europe This Fall

Posted in Whathaveyou on June 20th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

Add Icelandic heavy rockers The Vintage Caravan to your list of who’s on the road in Europe this Fall, and if you’re noticing that last growing increasingly crowded, I don’t think that’s wrong. The rightly venerated Reykjavik trio toured last year in support of their Spring 2021 album, Monuments (review here), and they’ll head out again in the coming months, keeping company on part of the run with countrymen Volcanova. That too is consistent with their 2022 tour, hence the sequelish nomenclature around the upcoming run, the still-mostly-young band having established themselves as ambassadors of Iceland’s surprisingly crowded and varied underground scene.

Tour starts at Desertfest Belgium in Antwerp on Oct. 21, ends at Westill Fest in France on Nov 18, and has plenty of stops in between. Here’s the rundown:

The Vintage Caravan tour

(#128293#)Europe! (#128293#) We’re super excited to announce that we’ll be hitting the road again in October and November! Check out the dates below carefully as in some of these cities we’ll be headlining for the very time ever! You can expect a long The Vintage Caravan show and who knows we might bring something special, so stay tuned for more news! ⚠️ Get your tickets here (#128073#) www.thevintagecaravan.eu

Very happy to have our dear friends of Volcanova again with us at some of the shows!

21/10 BE – Antwerp, Desertfest
23/10 CH – Aarau, KIFF
25/10 NL – Alkmaar, Victorie
26/10 DE – Bremen, Tower
27/10 NL – Helmond, De Cacaofabriek
28/10 NL – Drachten – Iduna
29/10 DE – Hannover, Béi Chéz Heinz
31/10 DE – Dresden, Club Puschkin
02/11 PL – Gdansk, Drizzly Grizzly
03/11 PL – Warsaw, Hydrozagadka
04/11 SK – Kosice, Colosseum
05/11 HU – Budapest, Analog Music Hall
07/11 HR – Zagreb, Vintage Industrial Bar
08/11 AT – Vienna, Arena
09/11 DE – Augsburg, Kantine
10/11 AT – Lustenau, Carini Saal
11/11 DE – Frankfurt, Nachtleben
13/11 DE – Stuttgart, Im Wizemann Club
14/11 DE – Dortmund, FZW Club
15/11 FR – Strasbourg, La Laiterie
17/11 FR – Marseille, Molotov
18/11 FR – Vallet, Westill Fest

THE VINTAGE CARAVAN is:
Óskar Logi Ágústsson – lead vocals, electric guitar
Alexander Örn Númason – bass guitar, backing vocals
Stefán Ari Stefánsson – drums, percussion

https://www.facebook.com/vintagecaravan
https://www.instagram.com/thevintagecaravan/
https://twitter.com/_vintagecaravan
http://www.thevintagecaravan.eu/
www.napalmrecords.com
www.facebook.com/napalmrecords

The Vintage Caravan, “Whispers” official video

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Album Review: Black Desert Sun, Black Desert Sun

Posted in Reviews on November 8th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

Black Desert Sun Black Desert Sun

Somewhere between and EP, an LP, and who-cares-lighten-up is the 29-minute self-titled debut from Icelandic fuzz riffers Black Desert Sun, as the Reykjavik four-piece offer clues to their sound right in the name. The intention of the seven-songer, which was originally released by the band in 2016 and sees its first vinyl issue in 2022 through Sweden’s Ozium Records, can be derived from ‘black desert sun’ itself, the first two words possibly a reference to Iceland’s abundance of igneous, volcanic rock, much of it dried lava that has turned black. And yes, there are black sand dunes and beaches, and yes, the sun shines on them, so a ‘black desert sun’ — if it wasn’t actually their intention, it at least is easy to read that way — is the band’s way of conveying their goal of bringing California-style desert rock into their own place, time and songwriting.

The use of ‘sun’ in particular brings to mind Blues for the Red Sun by Kyuss, which is a strong reference point for Black Desert Sun‘s Black Desert Sun from second track “Spliff Sucker” (as opposed, one assumes, to bong ripper or hookah huffer, etc.) onward through “Pharoas Serpents” (sic) and the lumbering centerpiece “Psycho Wizard.” Comprised of vocalist Björg Amalía Hraunfjörð Ívarsdóttir, currently of Chernobyl Jazz Club, drummer Brynjar Ólafsson, and guitarist Víðir Örn Gunnarsson and bassist Stefán Gestur Stefánsson, both of whom were already getting their next band, the more crush-minded Morpholith, going by the time this record first came out, Black Desert Sun would only release this one collection during their tenure, and six years after the fact — which isn’t that long in the context of the expanding universe — it sounds more like a stoner relic from Europe circa 1995 than something that came along more than 20 years later. That, of course, is no accident.

It’s been a few years now, and these things are cyclical as new listeners come, go, stay or don’t in a given microgenre’s aesthetic terrain, but the whole Kyuss-worship thing has kind of receded. Black Desert Sun having come out in 2016 tracks with the four-piece’s origins circa 2013, which is just about in line with a generational shift (see also right now) happening in heavy music listenership as the heavy underground community took to social networks, found each other, and flourished for a time in its revelry for, among other things, the aforementioned Californian desert rock progenitors. I don’t know how Black Desert Sun came together, but the willing-to-be-silly careening groove of “Sparkle Juice” and the instrumental opener “Echobrain” (anyone remember that band Jason Newsted was in when he left Metallica?), the sense of revival they bring, speak to that particular moment in time, younger players adopting the influence and tenets of a particular style and invariably bringing something of themselves to it.

Black Desert Sun

Ívarsdóttir, who seems to nod more directly at Unida in “Pharoas Serpents” and sits out the closer “Psychedelic Soundscape Part III” — is malleable as a singer and she brings a throatier edge to “Spliff Sucker” as a first impression following on from the intended hypnosis of “Echobrain” at the outset, which is the second longest track at 4:57 and obviously something with more depth than just an intro riff or some such. “Pharoas Serpents” opens up a bit in the hook, is more swinging and less tense, but still ultimately in the same vein as the song before it, and the penultimate “Sparkle Juice” operates similarly in its sub-four-minute hook-based thrust, the band relying on tone and groove to bring out the atmosphere of the pieces and succeeding in making them do precisely that. Slower in its unfolding, “Psycho Wizard” is a highlight in no small part because of the layering Ívarsdóttir does with her lines, but if one is looking for a point on Black Desert Sun at which a nascent hint of Morpholith‘s cosmic-doom largesse can be found, there’s no question that’s it as Gunnarsson and Stefánsson unfurl a nod topped with a spacious echoing solo in the back half of the track, leaving room for a sample to answer back to the beginning of the song as well.

“Psycho Wizard” is the longest inclusion, and might be the broadest reaching, but the album’s starting with “Echobrain” and finishing with “Psychedelic Soundscape Part III” — which at 3:35 is more of a rocker than one might expect given the title — gives a firm sense of structure at the same time it opens the audience’s mind from outset for whatever’s coming. Mostly that’s riffs, and that’s just fine. Sometimes straight-up, go-to-ground, desert-style heavy roll is just the thing, and whatever else “Echobrain” tells you at the beginning, it tells you you’re certainly in for some of that. And while the core of the album is what the band themselves bring to it, guest vocals from Jens Ólafsson of Icelandic heavy rock royalty Brain Police on “Monster in Haze” and guest guitar from Gunnar Örn Sigurðsson of Orn Custom Guitars on “Monster in Haze” and “Psychedelic Soundscape Part III” speak immediately to the band’s desire to position themselves among their country’s vibrant heavy underground.

In 2016, supporting this album, Black Desert Sun played the renowned Eisnaflug Festival — they covered Kyuss‘ “Molten Universe” live regularly at the time, had a new song called “White Widow” in that set — and while it’s been Morpholith who have become the priority on something of a different stylistic track in the years since, there’s no real question that Black Desert Sun had potential of their own. As to what happened to end the band, or if they might not show up tomorrow with a new album announcement, I don’t know, but Ozium‘s reissue is a chance for a listener like me who missed it the first time to get on board while also giving some context to where Morpholith — who have two EPs out and whose debut full-length is eagerly anticipated — come from beyond their own influences. If that makes it a footnote, fine, but it’s one that rocks. Not changing the world or reinventing heavy rock, but a celebration of genre, by genre, for genre. If you can’t dig that, pick a different genre.

Black Desert Sun, Black Desert Sun (2016/2022)

Black Desert Sun on Facebook

Black Desert Sun on Bandcamp

Ozium Records on Instagram

Ozium Records on Facebook

Ozium Records on Bandcamp

Ozium Records store

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The Vintage Caravan Announce Rescheduled European Tour

Posted in Whathaveyou on March 21st, 2022 by JJ Koczan

the vintage caravan

So it goes. To be perfectly honest with you, I can’t really keep up anymore — if doing so was ever possible — with what tours are actually happening, what tours aren’t, what’s been canceled, postponed, and so on. But I posted these dates the first time around, so it seems only fair to do so for the second go. I’m not sure the plague status or attitude in Europe at this point — sadly, I haven’t been abroad at all in well over two years — but I know where I’m at people are dropping masks like covid never happened and that usually precedes some stupid outbreak of some stupid variant. When it comes to this and the countless other runs bands have planned, fests and whatnot, I suppose I just hope stuff can actually happen and that people on stage and off can feel and actually be safe. It seems like much less to ask than it apparently is.

There are a couple unfilled dates in this list that I wouldn’t be surprised to see result in festival slots, but of course everything is contingent still on that big dumb viral elephant in the room. Go, The Vintage Caravan and Volcanova, go.

In a spirit of hope, then:

The Vintage Caravan new tour

THE VINTAGE CARAVAN – NEW TOUR DATES!

We are absolutely stoked to announce the new tour dates in Europe and the UK together with our friends of Volcanova in September and October! Where will we see you???

Tickets: www.thevintagecaravan.eu/shows/

September

30 ES – Barcelona, Sala Boveda

October

01 ES – Madrid, Story Live
02 PT – Lisbon, LAV
04 FR – Toulouse, Connexion Live
05 FR – Lyon, CCO Villeurbanne
06 FR – Paris, Backstage O’Sullivan
07 FR – Nantes, Le Ferrailleur
08 FR – Chalons en Champagne, Espace Solana
09 FR – Tourcoing, Grand Mix
11 DE – Berlin, Cassiopeia
12 DE – Hamburg, Bahnhof Pauli
13 NL – Amsterdam, Q-Factory
14 NL – Sneek, Het Bolwerk
15 NL – Tilburg, Little Devil
16 DE – Essen, Turock
18 CH – Solothurn, Kofmehl
19 DE – Munich, Strom
20 AT – Innsbruck, PMK
21 AT – Vöcklabruck, OKH
22 DE – Cologne, Artheater
23 BE – Brussels, AB
25 UK – London, O2 Academy 2 Islington
26 UK – Chester, Live Rooms
27 UK – Leeds, The Warehouse
30 UK – Manchester, A3
31 UK – Cardiff, The Globe

THE VINTAGE CARAVAN is:
Óskar Logi Ágústsson – lead vocals, electric guitar
Alexander Örn Númason – bass guitar, backing vocals
Stefán Ari Stefánsson – drums, percussion

https://www.facebook.com/vintagecaravan
https://www.instagram.com/thevintagecaravan/
https://twitter.com/_vintagecaravan
http://www.thevintagecaravan.eu/
www.napalmrecords.com
www.facebook.com/napalmrecords

The Vintage Caravan, “Whispers” official video

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