Posted in Whathaveyou on March 14th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
I wanna say this will be Early Moods‘ first time embarking on a European tour, but I’m not actually sure that’s true, as they played Desertfest London in 2023. In any case, as the Los Angeles doom metallers continue to support their 2024 album A Sinner’s Past (review here), they’ll be out with Zig Zags and making stops at Freak Valley and Rock in Bourlon. As previously posted, Early Moods also have a Spring tour coming up on the US West Coast, where they’ll be joined by Marylander vintage heavy rockers Magick Potion.
That’s the basics, and whether or not it’s the band’s initial incursion to the continent itself, their going to Europe is good news. I look forward to seeing them at Freak Valley, as it’s been a few years.
From socials, plus that prior-announced Spring tour:
We’re excited to be heading to Europe this June with our labelmates @zigzagsmusic ! This tour will be starting in Denmark and ending in France, we can’t wait to see you all out there and have a good time. Which country will we be seeing you at?
Early Moods European Tour w/ Zig Zags 11/06 COPENHAGEN, DENMARK- STENGADE 12/06 STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN- GERONIMO’S FGT 13/06 GOTHENBURG, SWEDEN- MONUMENT 14/06 AALBORG, DENMARK- STUDENTERHUSET 15/06 OLDENBURG, GERMANY- MTS 17/06 BOCHUM, GERMANY – DIE TROMPETE 18/06 NIJMEGEN, NETHERLANDS – MERLEYN 19/06 GRONINGEN, NETHERLANDS – VERA 20/06 NETPHEN, GERMANY- FREAK VALLEY FESTIVAL 21/06 BERLIN, GERMANY- NEUE ZUKUNFT 22/06 SLAVONICE, CZECH REPUBLIC – BARÁK 23/06 BRATISLAVA, SLOVAKIA – ZALÁR 24/06 LINZ, AUSTRIA- KAPU 25/06 BASEL, SWITZERLAND – QUARTERDECK 26/06 AARAU, SWITZERLAND – KIFF 27/06 MANIGOD, FRANCE- NAMASS PAMOUSS 28/06 KARLSRUHE, GERMANY – ALTE HACKEREI 29/06 BOURLON, FRANCE- ROCK IN BOURLON
Early Moods West Coast Spring 2025 w/ Magick Potion 4/06 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Aces High 4/08 – Seattle, WA @ Clockout Lounge 4/09 – Vancouver BC @ Wise Hall 4/10 – Bellingham, WA @ Shakedown 4/11 – Portland, OR @ Twilight Cafe 4/12 – Eugene, OR @ John Henry’s 4/15 – Sacramento, CA @ Cafe Colonial 4/16 – Reno, NV @ LoBar Social 4/17 – Oakland, CA @ Stork Club 4/18 – Palmdale, CA @ Transplants Brewing
Posted in Whathaveyou on January 14th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
It hasn’t been that long since Early Moods were last out on the Pacific Coast supporting their 2024 album, A Sinner’s Past (review here), but by the time April comes around, November will have been an eternity ago. The doomly upstarts have begun the shift from opening to headlining, and if their trajectory holds, it would make sense to see them in the years to come with more tours like this one, a quick 10-date regional jaunt supported by an upstart band on their label, RidingEasy Records. The Fall tour, I’ll note, was co-headlining with Castle Rat, and it’s Maryland’s boogie-prone heavy classic rockers Magick Potion playing first on this run, so Early Moods continue to keep good company and find ways to hold onto the momentum they’ve been riding for at least the last three years since they started touring.
Europe in 2025? Almost certainly, as Early Moods have already been confirmed for Freak Valley Festival in Germany this June and will likely have dates around that. Their sound, familiar in its doomly pastiche but energetic and modern in presentation, speaks directly to the doomly converted but has the power to reach across metallic subgenres as well. This has let them become one of the underground’s most hopeful prospects, and if they keep going the way they are, they might elbow their way to the forefront of an up and coming generation of doom that’s barely starting to take shape in their wake. I’d love to find this post again in five years and see what I think. I’ll set a reminder in my phone.
Dates came from Nanotear‘s social media:
West coast we have not forsaken you! Early Moods + Magick Potion are coming…
4/06 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Aces High 4/08 – Seattle, WA @ Clockout Lounge 4/09 – Vancouver BC @ Wise Hall 4/10 – Bellingham, WA @ Shakedown 4/11 – Portland, OR @ Twilight Cafe 4/12 – Eugene, OR @ John Henry’s 4/15 – Sacramento, CA @ Cafe Colonial 4/16 – Reno, NV @ LoBar Social 4/17 – Oakland, CA @ Stork Club 4/18 – Palmdale, CA @ Transplants Brewing
Posted in Reviews on December 11th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
Wow. This is a pretty good day. I mean, I knew that coming into it — I’m the one slating the reviews — but looking up there at the names in the header, that’s a pretty killer assemblage. Maybe I’m making it easy for myself and loading up the QR with stuff I like and want to write about. Fine. Sometimes I need to remind myself that’s the point of this project in the first place.
Hope you’re having an awesome week. I am.
Quarterly Review #21-30
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Thou, Umbilical
Even knowing that the creation of a sense of overwhelm is on purpose and is part of the artistry of what Thou do, Thou are overwhelming. The stated purpose behind Umbilical is an embrace of their collective inner hardcore kid. Fine. Slow down hardcore and you pretty much get sludge metal one way or the other and Thou‘s take on it is undeniably vicious and has a character that is its own. Songs like “I Feel Nothing When You Cry” and “The Promise” envision dark futures from a bleak present, and the poetry from which the lyrics get their shape is as despondent and cynical as one could ever ask, waiting to be dug into and interpreted by the listener. Let’s be honest. I have always had a hard time buying into the hype on Thou. I’ve seen them live and enjoyed it and you can’t hear them on record and say they aren’t good at what they do, but their kind of extremity isn’t what I’m reaching for most days when I’m trying to not be in the exact hopeless mindset the band are aiming for. Umbilical isn’t the record to change my mind and it doesn’t need to be. It’s precisely what it’s going for. Caustic.
The fourth full-length from Boston’s Cortez sets a tone with opener “Gimme Danger (On My Stereo)” (premiered here) for straight-ahead, tightly-composed, uptempo heavy rock, and sure enough that would put Thieves and Charlatans — recorded by Benny Grotto at Mad Oak Studios — in line with Cortez‘s work to-date. What unfolds from the seven-minute “Leaders of Nobody” onward is a statement of expanded boundaries in what Cortez‘s sound can encompass. The organ-laced jamitude of “Levels” or the doom rock largesse of “Liminal Spaces” that doesn’t clash with the prior swing of “Stove Up” mostly because the band know how to write songs; across eight songs and 51 minutes, the five-piece of vocalist Matt Harrington, guitarists Scott O’Dowd and Alasdair Swan, bassist Jay Furlo and sitting-in drummer Alexei Rodriguez (plus a couple other guests from Boston’s heavy underground) reaffirm their level of craft, unite disparate material through performance and present a more varied and progressive take than they’ve ever had. They’re past 25 years at this point and still growing in sound. They may be underrated forever, but that’s a special band.
Writing a catchy song is not easy. Writing a song so catchy it’s still catchy even though you don’t speak the language is the provenance of the likes of Uffe Lorenzen. The founding frontman of in-the-ether-for-now Copenhagen heavy/garage psych pioneers Baby Woodrose digs into more straightforward fare on the second full-length from his new trio Lydsyn, putting a long-established Stooges influence to good use in “Hejremanden” after establishing at the outset that “Musik Er Nummer 1” (‘music is number one’) and before the subsequent slowdown into harmony blues with “UFO.” “Nørrebro” has what would seem to be intentional cool-neighborhood strut, and those seeking more of a garage-type energy might find it in “Du Vil Have Mere” or “Opråb” earlier on, and closer “Den Døde By” has a scorch that feels loyal to Baby Woodrose‘s style of psych, but whatever ties there are to Lorenzen‘s contributions over the last 20-plus years, Lydsyn stand out for the resultant quality of songwriting and for having their own dynamic building on Lorenzen‘s solo work and post-Baby Woodrose arc.
The popular wisdom has had it for a few years now that retroism is out. Hearing Baltimorean power trio Magick Potion vibe their way into swaying ’70s-style heavy blues on “Empress,” smoothly avoiding the trap of sounding like Graveyard and spacing out more over the dramatic first two minutes of “Wizard” and the proto-doomly rhythmic jabs that follow. Guitarist/vocalist/organist Dresden Boulden, bassist/vocalist Triston Grove and drummer Jason Geezus Kendall capture a sound that’s as fresh as it is familiar, and while there’s no question that the aesthetic behind the big-swing “Never Change” and the drawling, sunshine-stoned “Pagan” is rooted in the ’68-’74 “comedown era” — as their label, RidingEasy Records has put it in the past — classic heavy rock has become a genre unto itself over the last 25-plus years, and Magick Potion present a strong, next-generation take on the style that’s brash without being willfully ridiculous and that has the chops to back up its sonic callouts. The potential for growth is significant, as it would be with any band starting out with as much chemistry as they have, but don’t take that as a backhanded way of saying the self-titled is somehow lacking. To be sure, they nail it.
Oase is the second full-length from Berlin’s Weite behind 2023’s Assemblage (review here), also on Stickman, and it’s their first with keyboardist Fabien deMenou in the lineup with bassist Ingwer Boysen (Delving), guitarists Michael Risberg (Delving, Elder) and Ben Lubin (Lawns), and drummer Nick DiSalvo (Delving, Elder), and it unfurls across as pointedly atmospheric 53 minutes, honed from classic progressive rock but by the time they get to “(einschlafphase)” expanded into a cosmic, almost new age drone. Longer pieces like “Roter Traum” (10:55), “Eigengrau” (12:41) or even the opening “Versteinert” (9:36) offer impact as well as mood, maybe even a little boogie, “Woodbury Hollow” is more pastoral but no less affecting. The same goes for “Time Will Paint Another Picture,” which seems to emphasize modernity in the clarity of its production even amid vintage influences. Capping with the journey-to-freakout “The Slow Wave,” Oase pushes the scope of Weite‘s sound farther out while hitting harder than their first record, adding to the arrangements, and embracing new ideas. Unless you have a moral aversion to prog for some reason, there’s no angle from which this one doesn’t make itself a must-hear.
Big on tone and melody in a way that feels inspired by the modern sphere of heavy — thinking that Hum record, Elephant Tree, Magnetic Eye-type stuff — Florida’s Orbiter set forth across vast reaches in Distorted Folklore, a song like “Lightning Miles” growing more expansive even as it follows a stoner-bouncing drum pattern. Layering is a big factor, but it doesn’t feel like trickery or the band trying to sound like anything or anyone in particular so much as they’re trying to serve their songs — Jonathan Nunez (ex-Torche, etc.) produced; plenty of room in the mix for however big Orbiter want to get — as they shift from the rush that typified stretches of their 2019 debut, Southern Failures, to a generally more lumbering approach. The slowdown suits them here, though fast or slow, the procession of their work is as much about breadth as impact. Whatever direction they take as they move into their second decade, that foundation is crucial.
As regards genre: “dark arts?” Taking into account the 44 minutes of Vlimmer‘s fourth LP, which is post-industrial as much as it’s post-punk, with plenty of goth, some metal, some doom, some dance music, and so on factored in, there’s not a lot else that might encompass the divergent intentions of “Endpuzzle” or “Überrennen” as the Berlin solo-project of Alexander Donat harnesses ethereal urbanity in the brooding-till-it-bursts “Sinkopf” or the manic pulses under the vocal longing of closer “Fadenverlust.” To Donat‘s credit, from the depth of the setup given by longest/opening track (immediate points) “2025” to the goth-coated keyboard throb in “Mondläufer,” Bodenhex never goes anywhere it isn’t meant to go, and unto the finest details of its mix and arrangements, Vlimmer‘s work exudes expressive purpose. It is a record that has been hammered out over a period of time to be what it is, and that has lost none of the immediacy that likely birthed it in that process.
Indianapolis four-piece Moon Goons cut an immediately individual impression on their third album, Lady of Many Faces. The album, which often presents itself as a chaotic mash of ideas, is in fact not that thing. The band is well in control, just able and/or wanting to do more with their sound than most. They are also mindfully, pointedly weird. If you ever believed space rock could have been invented in an alternate reality 1990s and run through filters of lysergism and Devin Townsend-style progressive metal, you might take the time now to book the tattoo of the cover of Lady of Many Faces you’re about to want. Shenanigans abound in the eight songs, if I haven’t made that clear, and even the nod of “Doom Tomb Giant” feels like a freakout given the treatment put on by Moon Goons, but the thing about the album is that as frenetic as the four-piece of lead vocalist/guitarist Corey Standifer, keyboardist/vocalist Brooke Rice, bassist Devin Kearns and drummer Jacob Kozlowski get on their way to the doped epic finisher title-track, the danger of it coming apart is a well constructed, skillfully executed illusion. And what a show it is.
Although it opens up with some element of foreboding by transposing the progression of AC/DC‘s “Hells Bells” onto its own purposes in heavy Canadiana rock, and it gets a bit shouty/sludgy in the lyrical crescendo of “What a Dummy,” which seems to be about getting pulled over on a DUI, or the later “The Castle of White Lake,” much of Familiars‘ Easy Does It lives up to its name. Far from inactive, the band are never in any particular rush, and while a piece like “Golden Season,” with its singer-songwriter vocal, acoustic guitar and backing string sounds, carries a sense of melancholy — certainly more than the mellow groover swing and highlight bass lumber of “Gustin Grove,” say — the band never lay it on so thick as to disrupt their own momentum more than they want to. Working as a five-piece with pedal steel, piano and other keys alongside the core guitar, bass and drums, Easy Does It finds a balance of accessibility and deeper-engaging fare combined with twists of the unexpected.
Progressive stoner psych rockers The Fërtility Cült unveil their fifth album, A Song of Anger, awash in otherworldly soul music vibes, sax and fuzz and roll in conjunction with carefully arranged harmonies and melodic and rhythmic turns. There’s a lot of heavy prog around — I don’t even know how many times I’ve used the word today and frankly I’m scared to check — and admittedly part of that is how open that designation can feel, but The Fërtility Cült seem to take an especially fervent delight in their slow, molten, flowing chicanery on “The Duel” and elsewhere, and the abiding sense is that part of it is a joke, but part of everything is a joke and also the universe is out there and we should go are you ready? A Song of Anger is billed as a prequel, and perhaps “The Curse of the Atreides” gives some thematic hint as well, but whether you’ve been with them all along or this is the first you’ve heard, the 12-minute closing title-track is its own world. If you think you’re ready — and good on you for that — the dive is waiting for your immersion.
Posted in Whathaveyou on August 9th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
The name of the tour, ‘Realm of Sinners,’ comes from the titles of Early Moods‘ and Castle Rat‘s 2024 albums — A Sinner’s Past (review here) and Enter the Realm (review here), respectively — and the pairing brings together two of next-gen doom metal’s most to-date emergent outfits, each with their own take on classic genre tropes and noted divergences therefrom. Castle Rat aren’t on every show listed below, and it’s not the longest run either band will have to their credit, but screw it, cool bands getting together and playing cool shows. I don’t need to justify posting about that, and if you believe otherwise, listen to the record and be ready to disagree with yourself.
Also note the Nov. 15 show with Acid King, because Acid King. The Early Moods/Castle Rat tour runs into San Francisco for one of two hometown headlining nights Acid King are doing, and both evenings look like bangers. Just saying, should you happen to be in the area or have the resources at your disposal to get there. The tour will start in Vegas on Nov. 5 and go as far north as Seattle before looping back down to finish in Early Moods‘ own homebase, Los Angeles, on Nov. 17. To fill in the spaces between, you’ll find the routing below as booked by Nanotear:
🦇𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐋𝐌 𝐎𝐅 𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐍𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐓𝐎𝐔𝐑🦇
We’ll be hitting the West Coast this November w/ @castle.rat ! Which show will we see you at ?
Tue 11/5 – Las Vegas, NV @ Sinwave * Wed 11/6 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Aces High * Thu 11/7 – Boise, ID @ Shrine Basement * Fri 11/8 – Portland, OR @ Star Theater Sat 11/9 – Seattle, WA @ Clock-Out Lounge * Sun 11/10 – Eugene, OR @ John Henry’s Tue 11/12 – Sacramento, CA @ Café Colonial Wed 11/13 – Reno, NV @ Lo Bar Social (free show) Fri 11/15 – San Francisco, CA @ The Chapel w/ Acid King Sat 11/16 – Oceanside, CA @ Pour House Sun 11/17 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo
Posted in Whathaveyou on May 1st, 2024 by JJ Koczan
So here’s what happened. All of a sudden, toward the end of last week or whenever it was, a bunch of cool bands started to announce they were touring with other cool bands. Package tours are a long-held tradition, especially for times when money’s tight in various spots around the world, and a decent way for acts to sometimes share road expenses as well as give club crowds more reason to leave the house. Whether it’s Greenleaf and Slomosa or Dopelord and Red Sun Atacama in Europe, Mars Red Sky and Howling Giant or — the subject at hand — Austin, Texas, trio The Well and Seattle duo Year of the Cobra; none of these sounds like anything other than a killer night in the making.
But for The Well and Year of the Cobra, there are a bunch of other shows both bands are playing in addition to those they’ll do together, with the former heading to Tennessee later in August for Muddy Roots and the latter with a few dates in the Pacific Northwest in early June, and so on. There wasn’t one general announcement for the tour that I found on socials, so I took the dates that were posted by each band, the Branca Studio art that accompanied, and I decided rather than try to parse out who’s where for one broader list, to just have them as they are.
The Well‘s dates are under the band’s name, and ditto that for Year of the Cobra, whose new album I think is recorded — another announcement to wait for — and will hopefully be out in the coming months. Both their latest LP and The Well‘s were in 2019, so if you said they’re due, fair enough. Do I honestly believe I needed to tell you about organizing two posts into this single one? No. But I did anyway, because that’s how it is when you’re neurotic. Now you know.
From social media as noted:
THE WELL
YOU KNOW WE CANT STAY AWAY FOR LONG! STOKED TO HIT THE ROAD WITH @yearofthecobra THIS SUMMER!
More dates to come; here’s a teaser with some killer artwork by the goat @branca_studio
7.19 – Tulsa, OK – Mercury Lounge 7.20 – OKC, OK – Blue Note Lounge 7.21 – KC, MO – recordBar 7.22 – Minneapolis, MN – 7th St. Entry (18+) 7.23 – Chicago, IL – The Empty Bottle* 7.24 – Youngstown, OH – Westside Bowl* (all ages) 7.25 – Albany, NY – Fuze Box* 7.26 – Providence, RI – Alchemy (all ages) 7.27 – Manchester, NH – Jewel Music Venue* 7.28 – NY, NY – The Bowery Electric* 7.29 – Philadelphia, PA – Kung Fu Necktie* 7.30 – Chapel Hill, NC – Local 506* (all ages) 8.4 – Dallas, TX – Ruins* 8.6 – Scottsdale, AZ – Pub Rock* 8.7 – LA, CA – Permanent Records* 8.8 – Long Beach, CA – Alex’s Bar* 8.9 – Sacramento, CA – Cafe Colonial* 8.10 – SF, CA – Kilowatt Bar* 8.31 – Cookeville, TN – Muddy Roots Festival * – w/ Year of the Cobra
YEAR OF THE COBRA
Yo! Excited to announce our US tour with @thewellband. More dates coming soon, but for now…we feast!!!
6.1 – Bellingham, WA – The Shakedown 6.2 – Vancouver, BC – The Cobalt Cabaret 6.9 – Portland, OR – Polaris Hall 7.20 – Libby, MT – Montvana Festival 7.23 – Chicago, IL – The Empty Bottle* 7.24 – Youngstown, OH – Westside Bowl* (all ages) 7.25 – Albany, NY – Fuze Box* 7.27 – Manchester, NH – Jewel Music Venue* 7.28 – NY, NY – The Bowery Electric* 7.29 – Philadelphia, PA – Kung Fu Necktie* 7.30 – Chapel Hill, NC – Local 506* (all ages) 8.2 – Lafayette, LA – Freetown Boom Boom Room* 8.4 – Dallas, TX – Ruins* 8.6 – Scottsdale, AZ – Pub Rock* 8.7 – LA, CA – Permanent Records* 8.8 – Long Beach, CA – Alex’s Bar* 8.9 – Sacramento, CA – Cafe Colonial* 8.10 – SF, CA – Kilowatt Bar* 8.11 – Santa Cruz – Moe’s Alley* *w/The Well
Posted in Reviews on March 29th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
Part of what has been exciting about L.A. County classic doom metallers Early Moods over the last few years is the potential for how they might develop as a new generation’s spearhead in engaging the style. A Sinner’s Past is their second LP through RidingEasy Records behind 2022’s self-titled debut (review here) and their 2020 debut EP, Spellbound (review here), and it follows suit with their prior work in being in immediate conversation with the doom of yore. Somewhere, swimming a vault of Black Sabbath bootlegs like some doom-riffing Scrooge McDuck, Leif Edling is smiling. Candlemass have been a guiding presence for Early Moods since their outset, but as the five-piece of vocalist Alberto Alcaraz (also keys), guitarists Eddie Andrade and Oscar Hernandez (lead), bassist Elix Feliciano and drummer Chris Flores specifically tap “Samarithan” for the verses of “The Apparition,” even the command and confidence with which they’re doing so comes across as continued progression.
But across its CD-era-vibing 49-minute runtime and eight component tracks, A Sinner’s Past is about more than saluting genre heroes. Early Moods had already begun the process of internalizing root influences like the aforementioned Candlemass and various eras of Sabbath, and in the way the punchy bass and steady nod that begins opening cut “Last Hour” gives over right about halfway into its 5:41 to gallop, swing and shred, they not only foreshadow tempo shifts to come like that in the reaches of the eight-minute “Hell’s Odyssey,” penultimate to closer “Soul Sorcery” on side B, but offer a first look at the grim recesses in which their tones will dwell throughout and the expanded scope and intentions heard throughout in “Unhinged Spirit,” with its acoustic intro leading to a procession that lumbers until it careens, or the harsher vocal moments in “Blood Offerings” and “Walpurguise” calling out to the metal of the 1980s without ignoring the 40 years since.
Relative youth as compared to much of the current sphere of doom is still an advantage Early Moods enjoy, and A Sinner’s Past is still rife with the energy of a young band exploring their sound and style, but they also have a better idea of what they want in both of those than they did two years ago, and that comes through as well as “Blood Offerings” trades the Candlemassian poise for a more dug-in, Pentagram-style shove — at least until the screams come (get it? anybody? no? moving on.) — with all due grit and groove, and the title-track makes even the entry of Flores‘ speedy hi-hat at 4:09 as they transition from the initial plod and dudes-running-in-a-circle mosh through the circa-’75 Iommic solo section and into the chugging build-up to the faster culmination, another solo thrown in for good measure before they cap with the riff. That they would cover that kind of ground on their second album isn’t a huge surprise — they’ve proven at this point able to keep their collective head as songwriters through various changes of mood, tempo and melody within their doomly trajectory; they’re a good band and that’s a thing good bands can do when they want to — but that they’d do it with such clear purpose and still convey an overarching atmosphere through those changes is an aspect of A Sinner’s Past that’s demonstrative of their growth as a unit, and it’s not at all the only one.
The production, helmed by Allen Falcon at Birdcage Studios in Pico Rivera, finds the more cavernous veneer of the first album traded for an in-your-face aural crunch that’s modern in the separation of the instruments but allows a sense of live performance to come through, whether it’s at the dirge pace of “The Apparition,” the midtempo nods of “Unhinged Spirit” and “Walpurguise” or the plod-into-swing of “Soul Sorcery.” While still resonant in their homage to the doom of eld, Early Moods are beginning to cast genre in their image, and the most vital moments of A Sinner’s Past are in the weight of a drag, the coursing tension of their faster movements, and how each plays off the other. They are becoming more dynamic — no doubt the not-minor amount of touring they’ve done in the last year-plus is a piece of this and will continue to be — and stronger for that.
That’s worth appreciating, to be sure, but if your experience of “Hell’s Odyssey” is more about the journey being undertaken and less about how skillfully it retains its impact amid the faster delivery early on — the answer for that, if you’re curious, is the same as nearly always: the bass — and moves into NWOBHM harmonized leads from Andrade and Hernandez before the latter launches into the solo in earnest, I don’t think you’re wrong. Part of the appeal of Early Moods as an emergent revamp of traditionalist doom is the familiar that’s to be found within the new, in aesthetic terms. I don’t think they’ve done their best work as a band yet, but A Sinner’s Past gives more than a few hints of where they’re headed, and the forward potential in their work is no less prevalent for what they’ve achieved in these songs.
You can overthink it if you want — clearly I’m a fan of that approach in any number of contexts — but the material is composed and executed in such a way that, if you want to nod out and let the groove carry you from “Last Hour” to “Soul Sorcery,” there’s nothing in that span that’s going to pull you out of the moment, and for that alone, A Sinner’s Past is a substantial offering. They’ve been on their way to headlining pretty much since the word go, and seem to be motivated toward those ends, toward making an impact on doom and influencing those who inevitably will follow in their wake, but whatever their future might or might not bring, the sense of an idea conceived and realized across A Sinner’s Past is palpable and so is the artistic growth within and around that. If it does turn out to be their most significant contribution to doom — if the band ended tomorrow and cut short all that potential and blah blah blah — you wouldn’t be able to listen to this record and say they didn’t give everything they had to it.
Posted in Whathaveyou on January 31st, 2024 by JJ Koczan
In addition to announcing this tour, Los Angeles doom metallers Early Moods have also specifically named the hometown date at Permanent Records Roadhouse as the release show for their impending sophomore full-length following-up their 2022 self-titled debut (review here), which was also on RidingEasy. An April 20-ish release, then? They wouldn’t be the only ones out there laying claim to Friday, April 19, but I’m more concerned with the what rather than the when of their next offering, since that’s invariably the part one would be hearing.
I’m not sure what I want from a second Early Moods full-length. I’d be cool if they had some radical jump in sound, like they did the first album, toured, and figured out what they wanted to be, or a continuation of the thread from the first. They were nothing if not purposeful there; I’m not sure what might lead them to some kind of redirect, let alone how they might actually pull that off. That is, I’ll take it as it comes, when it comes, and be glad I got the chance to hear it.
This won’t be the last tour they announce. I’m hoping they do Europe in the Fall and knock everyone on their ass:
[NOTE: I had the album release as April in the header and RidingEasy corrected me to say it would be March, so now it’s March. The release show is still April 20 as per the band. Fair enough.]
EARLY MOODS – Tour Announcement!
We’ll be hitting the road this March/April in support of our new album! Select dates with our friends in @morbikon Tickets are on sale now:https://linktr.ee/earlymoods
Sat 3/16 – Ojai, CA @ Deer Lodge Sun 3/17 – Phoenix, AZ @ Yucca Tap Mon 3/18 – Albuquerque, NM @ Sister Bar Tue 3/19 – El Paso, TX @ Rosewood Fri 3/22 – Houston, TX @ Hell’s Heroes Tue 3/26 – Savannah, GA @ Wormhole* Wed 3/27 – Wilmington, NC @ Reggies* Thu 3/28 – Baltimore, MD @ Metro* Fri 3/29 – Philadelphia, PA @ Kung Fu Necktie (early) Sat 3/30 – Brooklyn, NY @ Saint Vitus* Sun 3/31 – Boston, MA @ Middle East* Tue 4/1 – Albany, NY @ Fuze Box* Wed 4/03 – Youngstown, OH @ West Side Bowl*# Thu 4/04 – Columbus, OH @ Ace Of Cups* Fri 4/05 – Detroit, MI @ Sanctuary* Sat 4/06 – Grand Rapids, MI @ Pyramid* Sun 4/07 – Indianapolis, IN @ Black Circle (matinee)* Mon 4/08 – Chicago, IL @ Live Wire* Tue 4/09 – Cudahy, WI @ X-Ray Arcade* Thu 4/11 – Lawrence, KS @ Bottleneck Fri 4/12 – Denver, CO @ Hi-Dive Sat 4/13 – Salt Lake City @ Aces High Sat 4/20 – Los Angeles, CA @ Permanent Records Fri 4/26 – Oxnard, CA @ Mrs. Olson’s
Posted in Reviews on October 19th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Founding Mondo Drag keyboardist and vocalist John Gamiño titled the progressive heavy psych rockers’ fourth album, Through the Hourglass, in reference to the opening line of the theme for the long-running US soap opera Days of Our Lives. It is in honor of his mother, who reportedly passed away sometime in the tumultuous years since the San Francisco-based band released their last full-length, 2016’s The Occultation of Light (review here). In addition to being demographically relatable — I also watched that show with my mother as a kid; it was the ’80s and moms got to pick shows, especially when you were home sick from school (or just faking it) — it tells you something about Through the Hourglass in relation both to Mondo Drag‘s preceding work and to the style as a whole. It is built from a place of emotional sincerity.
It is also built nearly from the ground up. In addition to Gamiño and guitarists Nolan Girard and Jake Sheley, both also founding members making a return, the crisply-produced, organic-vibing six-song/39-minute RidingEasy Records long-player is the first Mondo Drag release since Conor Riley (current Birth, ex-Astra) joined on bass in 2018, and the first to feature drummer Jimmy Perez, who joined last year. Working with engineer Phil Becker (Pins of Light), who also mixed, they conjure graceful emanations of cosmic rock, set against a wistful backdrop from the outset of “Burning Daylight Pt. I,” which both introduces the album and moves in patient procession into a roll of heavy, organ-laced fuzz without losing the fluidity of when the riff first entered, a stately control of swing and tempo that sounds like nothing so much as a honed mastery of craft.
The ending of that lead track — which hums into the drum start of the more upbeat “Burning Daylight Pt. II” — emerges from a quieter and spacious midsection, playing out as a not entirely separate song and not quite a direct connection either, but there’s no arguing with the flow there or in “Burning Daylight Pt. II.” A soft-swinging boogie finds its lightness in taps of ride cymbal in the floating keys before the vocals enter, a subtle twist to the rhythm revealing itself in a stop at 2:35 before the keyboard and guitar line up for synchronized soloing, playing with and around the same notes in an engaging weave, then taking turns, keys first, in solos before the instrumental culmination brings down “Burning Daylight Pt. II” to the silence from which the 11-minute “Passages” will rise, doing so gradually with a new age drone and space rock effects shimmer before its low-end buzz begins its cycles and the whole thing opens up after two minutes or so with stately Hammond holding the melody complemented by ascending steps of guitar.
Of course, that’s just the beginning, and even within Through the Hourglass, “Passages” is unto itself. It’s not quite a full album-style flow, but it’s not far off, and it is the resonant emotional core of the entire span. Acoustic and electric guitars, the latter maybe with eBow or some such, craft a realized melancholia, like Mondo Drag were the only ones to remember how much longing was poured into In the Court of the Crimson King, and has its heavier takeoff after five hypnotic minutes of build, drums shifting after a few measures to half-time with tom fills and a last crash as the scene is set: quiet guitar, lightest cymbal taps, piano.
A chugging guitar and pickup in the drums signals the shift that’s already taken place and a classic space rock push seems to be taking shape. Instead of a sprint, though, “Passages” sort of overflows into its apex, frothing with organ-topped slow, heavy roll, bluesy guitar soloing, hints of proto-doom in the rumble, hints of “Hotel California” in the keyboard solo. At eight and a half minutes, they’re jamming, but it’s a plotted course, with keys and guitars calling and responding until a touch of shred from the latter signals the end; acoustic guitar and keyboard sounds wrap the last minute-plus in quiet contemplation.
As an 11-minute song on a 39-minute album, “Passages” would be a focal point one way or the other, but it’s all the more crucial for being instrumental. On side B, “Through the Hourglass” (6:21), “Death in Spring” (6:10) and “Run” (6:55) seem to find a middle-ground approach that neither “Burning Daylight I” and “Burning Daylight II” nor “Passages” fostered, and with the structural clarity particularly of “Through the Hourglass” and “Death in Spring” — the latter is downright catchy, also sad — they might’ve ended up on side A for a lot of albums. But Mondo Drag clearly aren’t interested in holding back in terms of expanse, and the trilogy of six-minute cuts that comprises the second half of Through the Hourglass offers a richness of detail that meets the high standard they’ve established, here and elsewhere.
At the end of the first verse in “Through the Hourglass,” in the lyric about not recognizing himself in the mirror, there’s a second vocal layer that joins Gamiño, speaking as someone else speaking back to him, and it’s a single example among many of the consideration and depth of detail Mondo Drag bring to their fourth LP. The balance of the mix as “Through the Hourglass” unfolds its second half — keys and guitar not competing but working together through their own means; grandiosity without pomposity — is further argument in this regard, but who the hell wants to argue anyway? Departing the Hammond, “Death in Spring” has a Graveyard-ish stretch of guitar for its first 10 or so seconds but goes on to emphasize keyboard amid the memorable delivery of the title line in the chorus. “Death in Spring” carries its grief with more motion than one might think of for a dirge, but it might be one anyhow. After a Hypnos 69-ian sway into psych, keys reach out into quiet to finish and keys start again in that silence — with chimes — to begin “Run.”
Somewhere in the infinity of infinite universes, it’s an alternate 1975 and “Run” is a radio hit. Subsequent generations will wonder what about the horses running through the night as described, but it won’t really matter because sometimes old songs just have weird words and you go with it. There’s a big ending of keyboard-wash to come, and fair enough, but “Run” is even more about its vibe than its chorus. Trading off from a quiet verse, the melody in “Run” feels well placed at the end of the album; it is resilient as well as resonant, and not unhopeful, and they even work in a quick bit of strut before the closer resolves with long-held notes of choral keyboard, which is as fitting a way as any in its not-overblown, classy but still evocative. Through the Hourglass is a whole work, and though they don’t put out a record every year, one can trace across their catalog the trajectory Mondo Drag have taken to get to the accomplished and expressive position in which they find themselves.
