Posted in Questionnaire on July 14th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.
Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.
Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.
The Obelisk Questionnaire: Lorenzo Stecconi of Lento, Zu, Producer for Ufomammut, Tons, The Wisdoom and more
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How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?
In a very simple way to explain, it is to transcribe intuitions and thoughts into music. That meticulous process to distill the core of the spark and to throw away the bad parts. I like to define what I do as a soundtrack for taking a walk inside your inner self, and to think that I’m accompanying someone across that path with my music.
Describe your first musical memory.
My grandfather with a violin in the old family house after some holiday lunch when I was a little kid. I still remember that diffused light coming through the window in the room while he was playing.
Describe your best musical memory to date.
Seeing Current 93 live for my first time around 15 years ago. During the set I was slowly transported in a sort of ecstatic trance, it was some kind of epiphany for me, opening hundreds of musical possibilities in my mind.
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
I guess it happens very often if not every day to everyone searching for any kind of answers, in a way or another. You can move really close to the truth, but not that much to touch it. Is it enough to do your best and only navigate close to it?
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
Personally, to a higher state of self consciousness. Idealistically, to transcend matter and to embrace the spiritual world. In a more earthly way, to lead the end-user of art in a land where he dares to enter.
How do you define success?
During this era of narcissism, success is probably one of the most powerful enemies you can encounter, be prepared to be surrounded by the demons of fame and lust. It is scary how mankind have been completely subjugated by the idea of it. I believe the only success one must be proud of is when he’s capable of helping someone, in any best way you can imagine.
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
List is long, unfortunately. But each one little test, as we talked before, is a reminder from the universe to tell you something you should work on: as Jung said, you must embrace your shadow in order to understand your demons. So when I’ll stop wishing to not see something, I’ll probably be a better man.
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.
I dream of a very big ensemble of musicians playing together on a highland, at dawn.
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
I believe that the most important factor in art is a strong message. When there’s a lack of it, it’s just basic entertainment.
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
Connection with people, nature and to be surprised from what my unconscious wants to tell me.
[Click play above to stream Superskull by Black Rainbows in its entirety. Album is out Friday on Heavy Psych Sounds.]
Collaborating with producer Fabio Sforza for the third time after 2020’s Cosmic Ritual Supertrip (review here) and 2018’s Pandaemonium (review here), Italian fuzzbringers Black Rainbows offer Superskull as their ninth full-length in 15 years, a remarkable stretch marked by growth in terms of the band’s own sonic progression and the development of their all-in, no-irony, we-do-this-for-love persona. Led by founding guitarist/vocalist Gabriele Fiori, who doubles as the head of the label and booking concern Heavy Psych Sounds — they probably have a two-day festival booked in your hometown; you should check to be sure — and triples in outfits like Killer Boogie and The Pilgrim, the band feel somewhat more settled in this third-of-three-so-far likely thanks in part to drummer Filippo Ragazzoni and bassist Edoardo “Mancio” Mancini being more settled into the lineup; Ragazzoni made his first appearance on Pandaemonium, Mancini was new for Cosmic Ritual Supertrip. On the 12 songs/59 minutes of Superskull, no one in the band is new for the first time in half a decade.
That’s not nothing in terms of dynamic, and part of the effect of that time-born familiarity between the players has resulted in a more dug-in batch of songs. Consistent with the gradual forward steps Black Rainbows have taken all along, Superskull leans into heft in songs like “Desert Sun” and the earlier “Children of Fire and Sacrifices,” the latter with a shuffle like C.O.C.‘s “The Door” in its verse and a sense of push that’s emblematic of the vitality that’s always been part of the band’s take on heavy rock. Superskull is less psychedelic than some of their output, speaking generally, but before the eight-minute “The Pilgrim Son” gets to its big-riff-screaming-solo nod in its second half, it floats through a sunny semi-acoustic ether, and the even-more-unplugged “King Snake” is backed by effects and swirls in the spirit of some of The Pilgrim‘s output, so a lysergic box is ticked in mellow fashion. But “Cosmic Ride of the Crystal Skull” hits hard on purpose with dense chug-and-mute in its intro and a return in its midsection and even the boogie that emerges in the verse, bolstered by Ragazzoni‘s fills and cymbal work, feels affected by that weight, contrasted as it is by the sample of the moon landing and other such spacey whathaveyou.
Black Rainbows are now and have ever been song-based, and from the catchy, echoing tone-establishing leadoff offered in “Apocalypse March,” that remains the case on Superskull. The difference in this collection comes in the clarity of its mission. Heavier guitar and bass ground the proceedings, and the material, which still builds momentum through “Superhero Dopeproof” and “Children of Fire and Sacrifices,” holds up to that foundation, even as the later “All the Chaos in Mine” presents a moodier atmospheric vision ahead of the last push through the Kyuss-referencing “Megalomania” and three-minute closer “Fire in the Sky” — which also appeared on last year’s Live at Desertfest Belgium (review here) — a mini space epic that seems to emphasize through its breadth the terrestrial crunch of “Till the Outerspace” or the swing-happy “Lone Wolf” in the album’s midsection, the latter with a twisting riff turned into a rolling groove that becomes a righteous wash of fuzz in its apex.
Even in its meatier sound, most of Superskull is territory the band has explored before, but never this band and never quite in this way. While playing to their strengths in craft and aesthetic, Black Rainbows distinguish their efforts with what feels like marked intent. They are the masters of their own cosmos.
Putting “Apocalypse March” first is part of that as well. Either “Fire in the Sky” or “Till the Outerspace” — which seem to be positioned as closers for the first and second halves of the record — probably could’ve opened. They’re faster, both under four minutes, etc., but in addition to the main riff of “Apocalypse March”‘s demand to be placed at the forefront, it’s a means through which the band communicate the focus on groove so prevalent throughout what follows. Swagger, swing, nod, roll, fuzz, hooks; it’s all right there in an efficient but organic summary of who Black Rainbows want to be circa 2023.
The turns and shifts in approach they present from there on, whether it’s the build-up and takeoff of “The Pilgrim Son” at 4:15 into its 8:43 and the impact thereafter — a corresponding mellow strum bookends — or “King Snake” with its stoned-pastoralia meander, or the blast of noise that pays off “All the Chaos in Mine,” not out of control and more emotionally resonant in its final chorus than Black Rainbows have ever been, work around the core of songwriting to expand the context of Superskull, the dynamic of which is revealed all the more on repeat listens.
It will, then, be superficially familiar to experienced heads, but even that familiarity stands as an analog for how much Black Rainbows have evolved over time. Whatever parallels might come up during listening — for example there’s less Nebula in Superskull than I’ve ever encountered from them before — in part because their influences have become internalized and grown as part of the band itself. They are more even more distinct for that, and Superskull is a mature work that belongs to them alone, and one they took their time in making what it is, having recorded a year ago and spent months in the mixing process.
Perhaps some of the stress on impact comes from the time in which it was made — Black Rainbows would not be the only ones to manifest some shift in approach for having lived through 2020-2022, certainly — but even if so, the direction Superskull takes is not so radically removed from where the band were three years ago as to be jarring, and if you think of them as reliable, then they remain so. Most importantly, they — this maybe-settled-into-themselves lineup incarnation — are in full control of the proceedings here, and the songs are expansive. Not without the raucousness for which they’ve become known, but assured in that and all the more able to get where they’re going with fluidity and confidence.
It’s a rocker. It rocks. Does that mean the next one won’t be a tripped-out interstellar blastwerk dripping in acid and fuzzed to the gills because yes of course it has gills? I have no idea. Wherever they end up, Black Rainbows always seem to make it a party, though, and that’s definitely the case here.
Black Rainbows, “Superhero Dopeproof” official video
Here we go day four of the Quarterly Review. I would love to tell you it’s been easy-breezy this week. That is not the case. My kid is sick, my wife is tired of my bullshit, and neither of them is as fed up with me as I am. Nonetheless, we persist. Some day, maybe, we’ll sit down and talk about why. Today let’s keep it light, hmm?
And of course by “light” I mean very, very heavy. There’s some of that in the batch of 10 releases for today, and a lot of rock to go along, so yes, another day in the QR. I hope you find something you dig. I snuck in a surprise or two.
Quarterly Review #31-40:
Dorthia Cottrell, Death Folk Country
Crafted for texture, Death Folk Country finds Windhand vocalist Dorthia Cottrell exploring sounds that would be minimal if not for the lushness of the melodies placed over them. Her first solo offering since 2015 runs 11 tracks and feels substantial at a manageable 42 minutes as delivered through Relapse Records. The death comes slow and soft, the folk is brooding and almost resistant in its Americana traditionalism, and the country is vast and atmospheric, and all three are present in a release that’s probably going to be called ethereal because of layering or vocal reverb but in fact is terrestrial like dry dirt. The seven-minute “Family Annihilator” is nigh on choral, and e-bow or some such droner element fills out the reaches of “Hell in My Water,” expanding on the expectation of arrangement depth set up by the chimes and swells that back “Harvester” after the album’s intro. That impulse makes Death Folk Country kin to some of earlier Wovenhand — thinking Blush Music or Consider the Birds; yes, I acknowledge the moniker similarity between Windhand and Wovenhand and stand by the point as regards ambience — and a more immersive listen than it would otherwise be, imagining future breadth to be captured as part of the claims made in the now. Do I need to say that I hope it’s not 2031 before she does a third record?
It’s been a quick — read: not quick — five years since Italian heavy rockers Fvzz Popvli released their second album, Magna Fvzz (review here), through Heavy Psych Sounds. Aptly titled, III is the third installment, and it’s got all the burner soloing, garage looseness and, yes, the fvzz one would hope, digging into a bit of pop-grunge on “The Last Piece of Shame,” setting a jammy expectation in the “Intro” mirrored in “Outro” with percussion, and cool-kid grooving on “Monnoratzo,” laced with hand-percussion and a bassline so thick it got made fun of in school and never lived down the trauma (a tragedy, but it rules just the same). “Post Shit” throws elbows of noise all through your favorite glassware, “20 Cent Blues” slogs out its march true to the name and “Tied” is brash even compared to what’s around it. Only hiccup so far as I can tell is “Kvng Fvzz,” which starts with a Charlie Chan-kind of guitar line and sees the vocals adopt a faux Chinese accent that’s well beyond the bounds of what one might consider ‘ill-advised.’ Cool record otherwise, but that is a significant misstep to make on a third LP.
San Diegan riffslingers Formula 400 come roaring back with their sophomore long-player, Divination, following three (long) years behind 2020’s Heathens (review here), bringing in new drummer Lou Voutiritsas for a first appearance alongside guitarist/vocalists Dan Frick and Ian Holloway and bassist Kip Page. With a clearer, fuller recording, the solos shine through, the gruff vocals are well-positioned in the mix (not buried, not overbearing), and even as they make plays for the anthemic in “Kickstands Up,” “Rise From the Fallen” and closer “In Memoriam,” the lack of pretense is one of the elements most fortunately carried over from the debut. “Rise From the Fallen” is the only cut among the nine to top five minutes, and it fills its time with largesse-minded riffing and a hook born out of ’90s burl that’s a good distance from the shenanigans of opener “Whiskey Bent” or the righteous shove of the title-track. They’re among the best of the Ripple Music bands not yet actually signed to the label, with an underscored C.O.C. influence in “Divination” and the calmer “Bottomfeeder,” while “In Memoriam” filters ’80s metal epics through ’70s heavy and ’20s tonal weight and makes the math add up. Pretty dudely, but so it goes with dudes, and dudes are gonna be pretty excited about it, dude.
Each of the two intended sides of Abanamat‘s self-titled debut saves its longest song for its respective ending, with “Voidgazer” (8:25) capping side A and “Night Walk” (9:07) working a linear build from silence all the way up to round out side B and the album as a whole. Mostly instrumental save for those two longer pieces, the German four-piece recorded live with Richard Behrens at Big Snuff and in addition to diving back into the beginnings of the band in opener “Djinn,” they offer coherent but exploratory, almost-Uncle–Acidic-in-its-languidity fuzz on “Thunderbolt of Flaming Wisdom,” growing near-prog in their urgency with it on the penultimate “Amdest” but never losing the abiding mellow spirit that manifests out of the ether as “Night Walk” rounds out the album with synth and keys and guitar in a jazzy for-a-walk meander as the band make their way into a fuller realization of classic prog elements, enhanced by a return of the vocals after five minutes in. They’re there just about through the end, and fit well, but it demonstrates that Abanamat even on their debut have multiple avenues in which they might work and makes their potential that much greater, since it’s a conscious choice to include singing on a song or not rather than just a matter of no one being able to sing. The way they set it up here would get stale after a couple more records, but one hopes they continue to develop both aspects of their sonic persona, as any need to choose between them is imaginary.
Led by nine-string bassist Frédérick “ChaotH” Filiatrault (ex-Unexpect), Montreal four-piece Vvon Dogma I are a progressive metal whirlwind, melodic in the spirit of post-return Cynic but no less informed by death metal, djent, rock, electronic music and beyond, the 10-song/45-minute self-released debut, The Kvlt of Glitch confidently establishes its methodology in “The Void” at the outset and proceeds through a succession marked by hairpin turns, stretches of heavy groove like the chorus of “Triangles and Crosses” contrasted by furious runs, dance techno on “One Eye,” melody not at all forgotten in the face of all the changes in rhythm, meter, the intermittently massive tones, and so on. Yes, the bass features as it inevitably would, but with the precision drumming of Kevin Alexander, Yoan MP‘s backflipping guitar and the synth and strings (at the end) of Blaise Borboën (also credited with production), a sound takes shape that feels like it could have been years in the making. Mind you I don’t know that it was or wasn’t, but Vvon Dogma I lead the listener through the lumbering mathematics of “Lithium Blue,” a cover of Radiohead‘s “2+2=5” and the grand finale “The Great Maze” with a sense of mastery that’s almost unheard of on what’s a first record even from experienced players. I don’t know where it fits and I like that about it, and in those moments where I’m so overwhelmed that I feel like my brain is on fire, this seems to answer that.
Two sprawling slow-burners populate the self-titled debut from UK three-piece Orme. Delivered through Trepanation Recordings as a two-song 2LP, Orme deep-dives into ambient psych, doom, drone and more besides in “Nazarene” (41:58) and “Onward to Sarnath” (53:47), and obviously each one is an album unto itself. Guitarist/vocalist Tom Clements, bassist Jimmy Long (also didgeridoo) and drummer Luke Thelin — who’s also listed as contributing ‘silence,’ which is probably a joke, but open space actually plays a pretty large role in the impression Orme make — make their way into a distortion-drone-backed roller jam on “Nazarene,” some spoken vocals from Clements along the way that come earlier and more proclamatory in “Onward to Sarnath” to preface the instrumental already-gone out-there-ness as well as throat singing and other vocalizations that mark the rest of the first half-hour-plus, a heavy psych jam taking hold to close out around 46 minutes with a return of distortion and narrative after, like an old-style hidden track. It’s fairly raw, but the gravitational singularity of Orme‘s two forays into the dark are ritualistic without being cartoonishly cult, and feel as much about their experience playing as the listener’s hearing. In that way, it is a thing to be shared.
The UK-based experimentalist psych collaboration between Fred Laird (Earthling Society) and Mike Vest (Bong, et al) yields a third long-player as The Gateless Gate finds the duo branching out in the spirit of their 2021 self-titled and last year’s Pancosmology (review here) with instrumentalist flow and a three-dimensional sound bolstered by the various delays, organ, synth, and so on. Atop an emergent backbeat from Laird, “Twilight Chorus” (16:13) runs a linear trajectory bound toward the interstellar in an organic jam that comes apart before 12 minutes in and gives over to church organ and sampled chants soon to be countermanded by howls of guitar and distortion. Takest thou that. The B-side, “Sound of Desolation” (19:55), sets forth with a synthy wash that gives over to viol drone courtesy of Martin Ash, a gong hit marking the shift into a longform psych jam with a highlight bassline and an extended journey into hypnotics with choral keys (maybe?) arriving in the second half as the guitar begins to space out, fuzz soloing floating over a drone layer, the harder-hit drums having departed save for some residual backward/forward cymbal hits in the slow comedown. The world’s never going to be on their level, but Laird and Vest are warriors of the cosmos, and as their work to-date has shown, they have bigger fish to fry than are found on planet earth.
What a show to preserve. Heavy Petal Music, while frustrating in that it’s new Rainbows Are Free and not a follow-up to 2019’s Head Pains, but as the Norman, Oklahoma, six-piece’s first outing through Ripple Music, the eight-song/43-minute live LP captures their first public performance in the post-pandemic era, and the catharsis is palpable in “Come” and “Electricity on Wax” early on and holds even as they delve into the proggier “Shapeshifter” later on, the force of their delivery consistent as they draw on material from across their three studio LPs unremitting even as their dynamic ranges between a piano-peppered bluesy swing and push-boogie like “Cadillac” and the weighted nod of “Sonic Demon” later on. The performance was at the 2021 Summer Breeze Music Festival in their hometown (not to be confused with the metal fest in Germany) and by the time they get down to the kickdrum surge backing the fuzzy twists of “Crystal Ball” — which doesn’t appear on any of their regular albums — the allegiance to Monster Magnet is unavoidable despite the fact that Rainbows Are Free have their own modus in terms of arrangements and the balance between space, psych, garage and heavy rock in their sound. Given Ripple‘s distribution, Heavy Petal Music will probably be some listeners’ first excursion with Rainbows Are Free. Somehow I have to imagine the band would be cool with that.
It’s the marriage of complexity and heft, of melody and nod, that make Slowenya‘s “Angel Raised Wolves” so effective. Moving at a comfortable tempo on the drums of Timo Niskala, the song marks out a presence with tonal depth as well as a sense of space in the vocals of guitarist/synthesist Jan Trygg. They break near the midpoint of the 6:39 piece and reemerge with a harder run through the chorus, bassist Tapani Levanto stepping in with backing vocals before a roar at 4:55 precedes the turn back to the original hook, reinforcing the notion that there’s been a plan at work the whole time. An early glimpse at the Finnish psych-doom trio’s next long-player, “Angel Raised Wolves” comes paired with the shorter “Horizontal Loops,” which drops its chugging riff at the start as though well aware of the resultant thud. A tense verse opens to a chorus pretty and reverbed enough to remind of Fear Factory‘s earlier work before diving into shouts and somehow-heavier density. Growls, or some other kind of noise — I’m honestly not sure — surfaces and departs as the nod builds to an an aggressive head, but again, they turn back to where they came from, ending with the initial riff the crater from which you can still see right over there. The message is plain: keep an ear out for that record. So yes, do that.
Let’s start with what’s obvious and say that Elkhorn‘s four-song On the Whole Universe in All Directions, which is executed entirely on vibraphone, acoustic 12-string guitar, and drums and other percussion, is not going to be for everybody. The New York duo of Drew Gardner (said vibraphone and drums) and Jesse Sheppard (said 12-string) bring a particularly jazzy flavor to “North,” “South,” “East” and “West,” but there are shades of exploratory Americana in “South” that follow the bouncing notes of the opener, and “East” dares to hint at sitar with cymbal wash behind and rhythmic contrast in the vibraphone, a meditative feel resulting that “West” continues over its 12 minutes, somewhat ironically more of a raga than “East” despite being where the sun sets. Cymbal taps and rhythmic strums and that strike of the vibraphone — Elkhorn seem to give each note a chance to stand before following it with the next, but the 39-minute offering is never actually still or unipolar, instead proving evocative as it trades between shorter and longer songs to a duly gentle finish. Gardner formerly handled guitar, and I don’t know if this is a one-off, but as an experiment, it succeeds in bridging stylistic divides in a way that almost feels like showing off. Admirably so.
Posted in Reviews on April 13th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Oh hi, I’m pretending I didn’t see you there. Today the Spring 2023 Quarterly Review hits and — if Apollo is willing — passes the halfway point en route to 70 total records to be covered by the end of next Tuesday. Then there’s another 50 at least to come next month, so I don’t know what ‘quarter’ that’s gonna be but I don’t really have another name for this kind of roundup just sitting in my back pocket, so if we have to fudge one or expand Spring in such a way, I sincerely doubt anyone but me actually cares that it’s a little weird this time through. And I’m not even sure I care, to be honest. Surely “notice” would be a better word.
Either way, thanks for reading. Hope you’ve found something cool thus far and hope you find more today. Let’s roll.
Quarterly Review #31-40:
Rotor, Sieben
Seven full-lengths and a quarter-century later, it’s nigh on impossible to argue with Berlin instrumentalists Rotor. Sieben — or simply 7, depending on where you look — is their latest offering, and in addition to embracing heavy psychedelia with enough tonal warmth on “Aller Tage Abend” to remind that they’re contemporaries to Colour Haze, the seven-song/38-minute LP has room for the jazzy classic prog flashes of “Mäander” later on and the more straight-ahead fuzzy crunch of “Reibach,” which opens, and the contrast offered by the acoustic guitar and friendly roll that emerges on the closing title-track. Dug into the groove and Euro-size XXL (that’s XL to Americans) riffing of “Kahlschlag,” there’s never a doubt that it’s Rotor you’re hearing, and the same is true of “Aller Tage Abend,” the easy-nodding second half and desert-style chop of “Schabracke,” and everything else; the simple fact is that Rotor these 25 years on can be and in fact are all of these things and more besides while also being a band who have absolutely nothing to prove. Sieben celebrates their progression, the riffs at their roots, the old and new in their makeup and the mastery with which they’ve made the notion of ‘instrumental heavy rock’ so much their own. It’s a lesson gladly learned again, and 2023 is a better year with Sieben in it.
Athens-based sludge-and-then-some rockers Seer of the Void follow their successful 2020 debut, Revenant, with the more expansive Mantra Monolith, enacting growth on multiple levels, be it the production and general largesse of their sound, the songs becoming a bit longer (on average) or the ability to shift tempos smoothly between “Electric Father” and “Death is My Name” without giving up either momentum or the attitude as emphasized in the gritty vocals of bassist Greg “Maddog” Konstantaras. Side B’s “Demon’s Hand” offers a standout moment of greater intensity, but Seer of the Void are hardly staid elsewhere, whether it’s the swinging verse of “Hex” that emerges from the massive intro, or the punkish vibe underscoring the nonetheless-metal head-down chug in the eponymous “Seer of the Void.” They cap with a clearheaded fuzzy solo in “Necromancer,” seeming to answer the earlier “Seventh Son,” and thereby highlight the diversity manifest from their evolution in progress, but if one enjoyed the rougher shoves of Revenant (or didn’t; prior experience isn’t a barrier to entry), there remains plenty of that kind of tonal and rhythmic physicality in Mantra Monolith.
Organic roots doom from the trio Moodoom — guitarist/vocalist Cristian Marchesi, bassist/vocalist Jonathan Callejas and drummer Javier Cervetti — captured en vivo in the band’s native Buenos Aires, Desde el Bosque is the trio’s second LP and is comprised of five gorgeous tracks of Sabbath-worshiping heavy blues boogie, marked by standout performances from Marchesi and Callejas often together on vocals, and the sleek Iommic riffing that accounts as well for the solos layered across channels in the penultimate “Nadie Bajará,” which is just three minutes long but speaks volumes on what the band are all about, which is keep-it-casual mellow-mover heavy, the six-minute titular opening/longest track (immediate points) swaggering to its own swing as meted out by Cervetti with a proto-doomly slowdown right in the middle before the lightly-funked solo comes in, and the finale “Las Maravillas de Estar Loco” (‘the wonders of being crazy,’ in English) rides the line between heavy rock and doom with no less grace, introducing a line of organ or maybe guitar effects along with the flawless groove proffered by Callejas and Cervetti. It’s only 23 minutes long, but definitely an album, and exactly the way a classic-style power trio is supposed to work. Gorgeously done, and near-infinite in its listenability.
The second release and debut full-length from New Jersey-based trio Altered States runs seven tracks and 34 minutes and finds individualism in running a thread through influences from doom and heavy rock, elder hardcore and metal, resulting in the synth-laced stylistic intangibility of “A Murder of Crows” on side A and the smoothly-delivered proportion of riff in the eponymous “Altered States” later on, bassist Zack Kurland (Green Dragon, ex-Sweet Diesel, etc.) taking over lead vocals in the verse to let guitarist/synthesist Ryan Lipynsky (Unearthly Trance, Serpentine Path, The Howling Wind, etc.) take the chorus, while drummer Chris Daly (Texas is the Reason, Resurrection, 108, etc.) punctuates the urgency in opener “The Crossing” and reinforces the nod of “Cerberus.” There’s an exploration of dynamic underway on multiple levels throughout, whether it’s the guitar and keys each feeling out their space in the mix, or the guitar and bass, vocal arrangements, and so on, but with the atmospheric centerpiece “Hurt” — plus that fuzz right around the 2:30 mark before the build around the album’s title line — just two songs past the Motörheaded “Mycelium,” it’s clear that however in-development their sound may be, Altered States already want for nothing as regards reaching out from their doom rocking center, which is that much richer with multiple songwriters behind it.
Opener and longest track (immediate points) “Queen of Wands” is so hypnotic you almost don’t expect its seven minutes to end, but of course they do, and Italian strange-psych whatevernauts Giöbia proceed from there to float guitar over and vocals over the crunched-down “The Sweetest Nightmare” before the breadth of “Consciousness Equals Energy” and “Screaming Souls” melds outer-rim-of-the-galaxy space prog with persistently-tripped Europsych lushness, heavy in its underpinnings but largely unrestrained by gravity or concerns for genre. Acid Disorder is the maybe-fifth long-player from the Italian cosmic rocking aural outsiders, and their willingness to dive into the unknown is writ large through the synth and organ layers and prominent strum of “Blood is Gone,” the mix itself becoming no less an instrument in the band’s collective hand than the guitar, bass, drums, vocals, etc. Ultra-fluid throughout (duh), the eight-songer tops out around 44 minutes and is an adventure for the duration, the drift of side B’s instrumental “Circo Galattico” reveling in experimentalism over a somehow-solidified rhythm while “In Line” complements in answer to “The Sweetest Nightmare” picking up from “Queen of Wands” at the outset, leaving the closing title-track on its own, which seems to fit its synth-and-sitar-laced serenity just fine. Band sounds like everything and nobody but themselves, reliably.
Like everything, Milwaukee heavy psychedelia purveyors Astral Hand were born out of destruction. In this case, it’s the four-piece’s former outfit Calliope that went nova, resulting in the recycling of cosmic gasses and gravitational ignition wrought in the debut album Lords of Data‘s eight songs, the re-ish-born new band benefitting from the experience of the old as evidenced by the patient unfolding of side A capper “Psychedelicide,” the defining hook in “Universe Machine” and the shove-then-drone-then-shove in “End of Man” and the immersive heft in opener “Not Alone” that brings the listener deep into the nod from the very start of the first organ notes so that by the time they’ve gone as far out as the open spaces of “Navigator” and the concluding “God Emperor,” their emergent command of the ethereal is unquestionable. They work a little shuffle into that finale, which is an engaging touch, but Lords of Data — a thoroughly modern idea — isn’t limited to that any more than it is the atmospheric grandiosity and lumber of “Crystal Gate” that launches side B. One way or the other, these dudes have been at it for more than a decade going back to the start of Calliope, but Astral Hand is a stirring refresh of purpose on their part and one hopes their lordship continues to flourish. I don’t know that they’re interested in such terrestrial concerns, but they’d be a great pickup for some discerning label.
Slow-churning intensity is the order of the day on Scatter Yr Darkness, the eight-song sophomore LP from now-Italy-based solo-outfit Golden Bats, aka Geordie Stafford, who sure enough sprinkles death, rot and no shortage of darkness across the album’s 41-minute span, telling tales through metaphor in poetic lyrics of pandemic-era miseries; civic unrest and disaffection running like a needle through split skin to join the various pieces together. Echoing shouts give emphasis to the rawness of the sludge in “Holographic Stench” and “Erbgrind,” but in that eight-minute cut there’s a drop to cinematic, not-actually-minimalist-but-low-volume string sounds, and “Breathe Misery” begins with Mellotron-ish melancholy that hints toward the synth at the culmination of “A Savage Dod” and in the middle of “Malingering,” so nothing is actually so simple as the caustic surface makes it appear. Drums are programmed and the organ in “Bravo Sinkhole” and other keys may be as well, I don’t know, but as Stafford digs into Golden Bats sonically and conceptually — be it the bareknuckle “Riding in the Captain’s Skull” at the start or the raw-throated vocal echo spread over “The Gold Standard of Suffering,” which closes — the harshness of expression goes beyond the aural. It’s been a difficult few years, admittedly.
Straightforward in a way that feels oldschool in speaking to turn-of-the-century era heavy rock influences — big Karma to Burn vibe in the riffs of “Hollow,” and not by any means only there — the debut album Mammals from Danish trio Zeup benefits from decades of history in metal and rock on the part of drummer Morten Barth (ex-Wasted) and bassist/producer Morten Rold (ex-Beyond Serenity), and with non-Morten guitarist Jakob Bach Kristensen (also production) sharing vocals with Rold, they bring a down-to-business sensibility to their eight component tracks that can’t be faked. That’s consistent with 2020’s Blind EP (review here) and a fitting demonstration for any who’d take it on that sometimes you don’t need anything more than the basic guitar, bass, drums, vocals when the songs are there. Sure, they take some time to explore in the seven-minute instrumental “Escape” before hitting ground again in the aptly-titled slow post-hardcore-informed closer “In Real Life,” but even that is executed with clear intention and purpose beyond jamming. I’ll go with “Rising” as a highlight, but it’s a pick-your-poison kind of record, and there’s an awful lot that’s going to sound needlessly complicated in comparison.
Grounded to the Sky is the third LP from Germany’s Giant Sleep, and with it the band hones a deceptively complex scope drawn together in part by vocalist Thomas Rosenmerkel, who earns the showcase position with rousing blues-informed performances on the otherwise Tool-ish prog metal title-track and the later-Soundgardening leadoff before it, “Silent Field.” On CD and digital, the record sprawls across nearly an hour, but the vinyl edition is somewhat tighter, leaving off “Shadow Walker” and “The Elixir” in favor of a 43-minute run that puts the 4:43 rocker “Sour Milk” in the closer position, not insubstantially changing the personality of the record. Founded by guitarist Patrick Hagmann, with Rosenmerkel in the lineup as well as guitarist/backing vocalist Tobias Glanzmann (presumably that’ll be him in the under-layer of “Siren Song”), bassist Radek Stecki and drummer Manuel Spänhauer, they sound full as a five-piece and are crisp in their production and delivery even in the atmospherically minded “Davos,” which dares some float and drift along with a political commentary and feels like it’s taking no fewer chances in doing so, and generally come across as knowing who they are as a band and what they want to do with their sound, then doing it. In fact, they sound so sure, I’m not even certain why they sent the record out for review. They very obviously know they nailed what they were going for, and yes, they did.
It’s telling that even the CD version of Green Yeti‘s Necropolitan breaks its seven tracks down across two sides. The Athens trio of guitarist/vocalist Michael Andresakis, bassist Dani Avramidis and drummer Giannis Koutroumpis touch on psychedelic groove in the album-intro “Syracuse” before turning over to the pure post-Kyuss rocker “Witch Dive,” which Andresakis doing an admirable John Garcia in the process, before the instrumental “Jupiter 362” builds tension for five minutes without ever exploding, instead giving out to the quiet start of side A’s finish in “Golgotha,” which likewise builds but turns to harsher sludge rock topped by shouts and screams in the midsection en route to an outright cacophonous second half. That unexpected turn — really, the series of them — makes it such that as the bass-swinging “Dirty Lung” starts its rollout on side B, you don’t know what’s coming. The answer is half-Sleepy ultra-burl, but still. “Kerosene” stretches out the desert vibe somewhat, but holds a nasty edge to it, and the nine-minute “One More Bite,” which closes the record, has a central nod but feels at any moment like it might swap it for further assault. Does it? It’s worth listening to the record front to back to find out. Hail Greek heavy, and Green Yeti‘s willingness to pluck from microgenre at will is a good reason why.
Posted in Whathaveyou on April 7th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Having recently posted the first single from their upcoming full-length, Superskull, Italian heavy cosmic fuzz rockers Black Rainbows have shored up a succession of fest appearances to support it, as well as a gig with Earthless and a mystery TBA that will take them to the UK in early 2024. Later this month, they’ll be at Heavy Psych Sounds Fest in Italy — naturally — and summer includes slots at Stoned From the Underground in Germany and SonicBlast in Portugal ahead of their hitting Oslo in October for Höstsabbat, and I imagine there’s more to come as the rest of 2023 plays out and the Fall fest season continues to take shape.
Interesting to see them hone in on fest appearances specifically though from this outset of the album cycle. Superskull will be Black Rainbows‘ ninth album, and in addition to handling guitar and vocals in the band, frontman Gabriele Fiori has full hands certainly running Heavy Psych Sounds as a label, booking agency and festival brand, so yeah, maybe they don’t hit the road for three or four or seven weeks at a time and instead cover that ground at a span of months in a centralized format with an opportunity to win over an audience that’s not already inherently, directly, completely theirs. Makes sense when you think about it that way, even if it puts a different kind of spin on the concept of touring than one expects in band-in-van slogs from town to town.
They posted the following on social media:
Heavy Psych Sounds Records&Booking to announce BLACK RAINBOWS Superskull European tour
Our heavymotherfuzzers BLACK RAINBOWS will smash Europe in the next months..
Check the shows here below !!!
*** BLACK RAINBOWS – Superskull Euro Tour 2023 ***
29.04.2023 IT TORINO-HPS FEST 30.04.2023 IT BOLOGNA-HPS FEST 12.05.2023 FR BORDEAUX-SIDERAL FEST 23.06.2023 IT CAGLIARI-CAMPIDARTE (+EARTHLESS) 24.06.2023 UK LONDON-STOOMFEST 13.07.2023 DE ERFURT-STONED FROM THE UNDERGROUND 12.08.2023 PT PORTO-SONIC BLAST 23.09.2023 DE CHEMNITZ-MUSHROOM GARDEN FEST 27.10.2023 NO OSLO-HOSTSABBATH FEST 20.01.2024 UK LEICESTER-TBA
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 21st, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Pardon the indulgence, but it happens so infrequently that I feel the need to point out I was right about two things last week when I posted the first announcement from Heavy Psych Sounds about the new Black Rainbows LP. Two things! Correct! If you read this site on anything close to a regular basis, I’m sure you already know how rare that is.
First, the release date is June 9. Called it. I used context clues.
Second, the album is called Superskull, which means I was also right to look forward to finding out what the title would be, because that’s a killer one and for sure in keeping with the Italian trio’s penchant for such things. Just what is a ‘superskull?’ I don’t know, but it sounds cool. I assume it’d keep your brain really safe?
If you want to stretch it, maybe I was even right another time too because I got to hear it and the album rules. It’s a 2LP, which is a first for the band, and feels well enough earned for an act putting out their ninth album in 16 years. Heralded by the party that is “Superhero Dopeproof” — video at the bottom of the post — you get a sense of some (not all) of the surprises in store with a bit of the tonal crunch and stripping down the band has done across some but not all of the material, pulling back on some (not all) of the effects wash of 2020’s Cosmic Ritual Supertrip (review here) for a relatively straight-ahead shove with a characteristically catchy chorus and sounds-good-roll-with-it vibe. If it isn’t, it sounds very much like a song that came together the first or second time they played it in rehearsal; all its parts are where they need to be, everything works, set, killer.
This won’t be the last single revealed ahead of Superskull‘s June 9 arrival, but it’s a burner and that’s obviously what they’re shooting for in a first impression, so right on.
It came from the PR wire:
SUPERHERO DOPEPROOF is the first single taken from BLACK RAINBOWS upcoming new album SUPERSKULL !!!
Italian stoner rock heroes BLACK RAINBOWS return with their ninth studio album “Superskull” on Heavy Psych Sounds this June, and present their brand new “Superhero Dopeproof” video exclusively on Metal Injection. Fasten your seatbelts!
Three years after their latest sonic bomb “Cosmic Ritual Supertrip”, mighty Italian stoner rockers BLACK RAINBOWS are ready to kick the dust with their trademark fire and twelve exciting new tracks: be ready to embrace the full power of their new album “Superskull”! With increased attention paid to details and guitars during the recording, the trio seems to have found the perfect balance and tone for their fuzz-fueled stoner sound, offering a few tasty surprises along the way!
SAYS THE BAND: “Superhero dopeproof” it’s the twisted story of a loser superhero: He’s using drugs, dealing at the corner, he can’t even defend himself by bad luck of life… it’s the opposite version of a real superhero!”
Video shot by Mr Bureca, the photographer and director the band is working with since the last years. The band just loaded all the backline possible and went into a colorful studio for the shooting!
Guitarist and frontman Gabriele Fiori comments: “This album gives you not only incredible heavy stoner rock gems but it also contains one space acoustic song, one super psychedelic suite, and one trippy melodic ballad that all make a perfect mixture for what is sure to be our best album so far!”
“Superskull” was recorded, mixed and engineered by Fabio Sforza at Forward Studio and mastered by Claudio Pisi Gruer at Pisistudio in Rome, Italy. The cover was designed by Brazilian artist Pedro Correa. It will be issued in a limited double gatefold vinyl edition, colored and black vinyl editions CD and digital, with preorders available now from Heavy Psych Sounds.
TRACKLIST: 1. Apocalipse March 2. Superhero Dopeproof 3. Children Of Fire And Sacrifices 4. Cosmic Ride Of The Cristal Skull 5. The Pilgrim Son 6. Till The Outerspace 7. Lone Wolf 8. King Snake 9. Desert Sun 10. All The Chaos In Mine 11. Megalomania 12. Fire In The Sky
BLACK RAINBOWS is Gabriele Fiori — Guitars & Vocals Edoardo “Mancio” Mancini — Bass Filippo Ragazzoni — Drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 14th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Among the reasons I’m looking forward to a new full-length from Black Rainbows is because at some point as we get closer to the release date — presumably next week on March 21 with the opening of preorders and the first track reveal — we’re gonna find out what it’s called. Remember, this is the band who released Cosmic Ritual Supertrip (review here) in 2020 and have a history of righteous titles including 2018’s Pandaemonium (review here), 2015’s Hawkdope (review here), and so on. Last year, the three-piece offered Live at Desertfest Belgium (review here) as their first live album and that was a hoot in addition to serving the function of keeping release momentum on their side heading into this next release. Wins all around.
They’ll be back on the road throughout this year, as confirmations that they’ll appear at Heavy Psych Sounds Fest in Italy, Stoned From the Underground in Germany and SonicBlast in Portugal have already come through for Spring and Summer, and they’re also set for Høstsabbat this October in Oslo. One expects more to come (and probably more already announced in terms of fests; who can keep up?) in the next few months. Let’s see, Bongzilla was announced yesterday from Heavy Psych Sounds and that’s a June 2 release. Maybe June 9 for Black Rainbows? We’ll find out next week, I guess. All they’re saying at this point is “Spring,” which seems far away as I watch the snow fall outside my window, even though I know it isn’t actually.
Here’s looking forward:
Heavy Psych Sounds Records&Booking is really proud to present a new band signing *** BLACK RAINBOWS ***
NEW ALBUM PRESALE + FIRST TRACK PREMIERE MARCH 21st
HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS RECORDS is stoked to announce that the stoner fuzz riffers BLACK RAINBOWS are coming back with a brand new studio album since 2020 !!!
SAYS THE BAND:
“We’re so excited to announce we are finally back with a new album after 3 years, again on Heavy Psych Sounds Records… two entities which cooperated in the last decade to bring the band’s name and sound all over the world !!”
BIOGRAPHY
Black Rainbows are now established among the best Heavy Psych Stoner Space bands hailing from Europe, spreading the word of Fuzz since 2007!
Their sound has morphed between classic ‘90s-style stoner fuzz and deep-cosmos psychedelia, drawing on the best of hard-driving space rock to conjure a vibe that is totally tripped-out.
The band is a solid stone on the Heavy Psych-Stoner-Doom scene these days, constantly touring and playing festivals in Europe and US.
The trio is ready to release their 9th album in spring 2023 !!
Posted in Questionnaire on March 14th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.
Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.
Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.
The Obelisk Questionnaire: Giorgio Natangeli of Fvzz Popvli
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How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?
We do what elevates us the most, possibly the best thing we are able to do after breathing. Music is the life we have chosen. There is a moment when you are a kid, Music speaks to you in a certain way, and at some point you feel like your paths connect and bond strongly. Once it has happened, there’s no going back, it’s a life-long relationship.
Describe your first musical memory.
When I was a young kid, well before learning to play any instrument, on weekend mornings, my parents would put up some CDs on the stereo with their favorite music (classical, Italian songwriters, classic rock). It was such a joy to wake up listening to that kind of music, and to this day, those are the sounds of my childhood, and the foundation of my music culture.
Describe your best musical memory to date.
My first European tour with FVZZ POPVLI, back in 2017. It has been my first experience playing outside my country and was unbelievable. The amount of joy bringing your music to other people from different countries is a life changing experience. Coming back to Rome felt like the end of a beautiful dream.
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
Being a musician, I’ve learnt that you should never hold a belief so firmly it incapacitates you to enjoy what’s around. Music, to me, is about being surprised, amazed by something you could never have expected. Being open and ready to be caught “off-guard” makes music and other artistic experiences so enjoyable and cathartic.
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
To us, Art is both a language, and a craft. For an artist, making a living out of his/her ability to communicate with others is a primary need to fulfill. Over time, every experience lived by an artist will help him/her refine his/her craft, giving a powerful tool to achieve this goal.
How do you define success?
Success is being able to convey your message to the highest number of people. Art is a statement, so do not expect everyone to agree with you, but be honest to yourself and be the first to believe in what you do. It has nothing to do with money.
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
Hate, Racism, Xenophobia, Homophobia, short-minded people seeing others as enemies and not as brothers or sisters.
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.
Maybe our next record hehe.
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
Conveying a message. It is a powerful ability and can be (and definitely has been in the past) misused or abused. Art by itself isn’t good, nor evil, but the context in which it is used is critical. Using Art just to control people, to produce violence, to anesthetize minds, to make money, all of this is a crime. Art is a product of the artist and his/her will to communicate with the world, and cannot be turned against humanity itself.
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
Friendship, seen as true relations between people, of all countries, all ethnicities. The way a human being is able to connect to others, is what makes us what we are, unique, wise, free.
