This post isn’t the first and, unless I get hit by a bus or something, it won’t be the last you hear from me on The Machine‘s Another Sun. The upcoming eighth full-length from the Rotterdam trio led by guitarist/vocalist David Eering is out Oct. 2 through Blues Funeral (US), Stickman (EU) and their own Awe Records (NL), so there’s plenty of time to throw hyperbole at the record and I plan on doing exactly that. Review and video premiere currently slated for Aug. 28, so yeah, check back.
But “Drop/See” is the first single and the opening track from Another Sun, and from its sitar intro through the riff-riding jam on which they embark in the song’s second half, it embodies a lot of what the record is about. Void of pretense, it speaks to the history of heavy psychedelia and the band’s own place in it — they’ve been around for 20 years — and is active in its groove even as the tonal warmth offers comfort and the vocals keep a low-key feel. Band chemistry is on lock, and the song feels purposeful in what it’s doing in a way that very much extends to the four cuts that follow it.
I’ve heard a lot of very-hyped records this year, and I know there are more coming. I’m not trying to inundate you, and I have no motive to sell you The Machine albums. Understand? My only intention here is to, hopefully, help you find music that speaks to you, and if I’m super-excited about Another Sun — which, if it’s not clear, I am — it’s because it speaks to me more than any of those ‘bigger’ releases that have come down the line thus far in 2026. This is the sound of a band stepping up to get their due, and I very much hope they get it.
Preorders for Another Sun are up now (link below), and the video for the song — which one assumes is named after its tuning — follows here. I genuinely encourage you to give it a shot whether or not you’re familiar with the band’s past work. I know you might read “eighth album” and think you’re late to the party. Hit play on the video and you’ll see the party is just getting started.
Please enjoy:
The Machine, “Drop/See” official video
Our new album Another Sun is on presale now! We’re also excited to share the first single Drop/See with you, the music video is up on YouTube and your favorite platform has it ready for streaming too.
This first song is a supple introduction to the album and gives a good impression of what Another Sun has to offer: psych jams, thick riffs and melodic vocals. Loud quiet loud.
Check this linkhttps://linktr.ee/themachinenlfor all relevant places to preorder and listen to Drop/See. Please enjoy and thanks for sticking around.
Share and spread the word! We will have more details to give to you during the upcoming weeks.
Another Sun is out October 02, 2026: In Europe via Awe Records w/ Stickman Records In North America & UK via Blues Funeral Recordings
Album recorded at Evolver Studio Album art by @_davidlebowski
Another Sun Tracklist: 1. Drop/See 2. Evolver 3. In Search of Yellow 4. Swallow the Sun 5. Echo Through
THE MACHINE is: David Eering: Guitars, vocals, sitar, synthesizers, theremin, percussion Chris Both: Bass guitar Klaas Dijkstra: Drums, Percussion
Posted in Whathaveyou on July 8th, 2026 by JJ Koczan
Just telling you now so you’re not surprised when this shows up in my top 10 for 2026 come December. Every album has its storylines, but rarely does a band reckon with the totality of their sound, with everything they’ve done, while still moving forward, in the way The Machine accomplish across Another Sun. The Netherlands-based trio led by founding guitarist/vocalist David Eering offer a collection of songs that are both memorable in their structure and willing to leave it all behind in fluid and expansive jams, resulting in material is immediately familiar without giving up its progressive bent. They’re a band heavy psychedelia has been lucky to have since 2007, and perhaps never more so than now.
The title Another Sun references their 2009 sophomore album, Solar Corona (discussed here), which was a landmark for them, and it’s not the first time they’ve called back to prior work — their last album, 2023’s Wave Cannon (review here), started them on this path — but the way they manifest rote concepts like hooks and jams gives fresh perspective to familiar ideology. The songs are killer. The performances are organic. The mind is expanded. I’m telling you now so you know, don’t miss this record. It is the sound of a band stepping up to get their well-deserved due respect.
Lo, cometh the PR wire with the release date and more info:
THE MACHINE Announce New Studio Album Another Sun, Out October 2 via Blues Funeral Recordings and Awe Records
Dutch heavy psych and stoner rock trailblazers THE MACHINE have announced the release of their long-awaited eighth studio album, Another Sun, arriving October 2, 2026. The album will be released through Blues Funeral Recordings and the band’s own label imprint Awe Records, with Blues Funeral handling North American and UK territories, while Awe Records will oversee the European release in partnership with Stickman Records. A first single from the album is expected to arrive in late July, offering a first taste of the band’s next chapter.
For the better part of two decades, THE MACHINE have carved out a reputation as one of the most genre-defying acts to emerge from the European underground. Doused in space and soaked in riffs, the power trio of David Eering (guitar/vocals), Chris Both (bass) and Klaas Dijkstra (drums) has continually redefined its sound, balancing a deep-rooted love for stoner rock with excursions into heavy psych, progressive rock, doom, ’90s alternative and expansive space rock. As one of the frontrunners of Europe’s second wave of stoner and heavy psych, the band established an early landmark with the now cult-classic Solar Corona before continuing to evolve with every release that followed.
“Another Sun is an important milestone to me personally, after a couple of years with (apparent) reduced activity of the band – it‘s the first record with this great lineup and the first one that I recorded at my own place Evolver Studio,“ David Eering comments. “Without the intention to do so, I think we managed to honor a more old school The Machine vibe while also stepping into the future. Can’t wait for this one to be released and to play shows in support of it.”
Recorded in the fall of 2025 at Evolver Studio, Eering’s newly built recording facility in Dordrecht, Another Sun captures what is arguably the strongest incarnation of THE MACHINE to date. Intricate in groove and rich in dynamic songwriting, the album digs deeper into classic heavy-toned songcraft while leaving ample room for the free-flowing jams that have always been central to the band’s identity. Rather than reinventing themselves, THE MACHINE sharpen their unmistakable sonic fingerprint, reconnecting with the freeform spirit of their early work through a modern lens. They took their time to mature, only to return stronger, heavier and more inspired than ever.
Already announced with a surprise full-album performance at this year’s Roadburn Festival, Another Sun signals the beginning of a new chapter for THE MACHINE. After nearly two decades as one of Europe’s most consistently adventurous heavy rock bands, the trio now steps onto a broader international stage, reaffirming their place alongside legendary Dutch acts like 35007, Beaver and 7Zuma7, while finally bringing their expansive blend of stoner rock, heavy psych and space-driven grooves to a much wider audience.
Another Sun Tracklist: 1. Drop/See 2. Evolver 3. In Search of Yellow 4. Swallow the Sun 5. Echo Through
THE MACHINE is: David Eering: Guitars, vocals, sitar, synthesizers, theremin, percussion Chris Both: Bass guitar Klaas Dijkstra: Drums, Percussion
Posted in Reviews on March 19th, 2026 by JJ Koczan
Feeling dug in, which I take as a good sign. There’s been a decent portion of this QR that’s catching up from last Fall onward, and I would’ve liked to cover some of that sooner, but honestly I struggled to find a week-plus to do this and lost an additional month by the time I did. So if you’re like ‘duh this is old’ to some of it — there are also releases that aren’t out yet — I apologize. In 10 years it won’t matter that whatever it was came out last October.
On that happy note, back to it.
Quarterly Review #31-40:
Witchcraft, A Sinner’s Child
Sweden’s Witchcraft follow their 2025 full-length, Idag (review here), with the five-song EP A Sinner’s Child, which runs a similar, if condensed, gamut, from founding frontman Magnus Pelander‘s solo acoustic folk to lumbering, heavy doom and points between. Pelander plays all the instruments on rolling opener “Drömmen Om Död Och Förruttnelse,” the minimal guy-and-guitar “Even Darker Days,” and the morosely weighted “Själen Reser Sig,” while the full-band title-track “A Sinner’s Child” and its closing alternate-lyrics companion-piece “Sinner’s Clear Confusion” are defined as much by the emotive blues of the vocals as by the wistfully strummed electric guitar that accompanies. “A Sinner’s Child” is between the two sides of “Själen Reser Sig” and “Even Darker Days,” sound-wise (it’s before them in the tracklisting) and underscores that it’s not just the extremes that Pelander/Witchcraft inhabit, but the intricate places between as well. I don’t know if it’s leftovers from the record or filler or what, and I don’t care. Just happy it exists and the band are making music, thanks.
Well, Portland and post-punk, so yes, Dead Moon are a factor, but PDX trio Perfect Buzz keep the songwriting tight and headed in their own, vividly rocking direction. The punk roots come out in “Here Come the Cowgirls,” with a shimmer in the guitar that’s unexpected, particularly after “You’re Wrong” was so sure of itself pounding its titular chorus into your head, but the heavier opener “Mess Around” sets a heavy-alternative expectation, and even the proto-grunge riffing of “Gonna Make U Sweat” is drawn under that umbrella. If you see them compared to Mudhoney, that’s probably why. But “Gonna Make U Sweat” is also the longest song at 3:28, and nothing else tops three minutes, so it’s not like Happy Trails is wasting anyone’s time. Instead, Perfect Buzz‘s debut EP showcases varied intent brought together by sharp, clearly-nobody’s-first-time-at-the-dance craft. Each of the four tracks sets out to do, and does, something different, while adding depth to the persona of the band, still being shaped but already a good time.
Raw sludge metallers Smoke Rites offer visceral and disaffected doom on their second full-length, Eager Eyes of Talion, marked by the forward-in-the-mix gritty vocals of Tomasz Mielnik, whose harsh-throated shouts, growls and divergences into clearer singing top the weighted, rolling processions of guitarist Łukasz Borawski, bassist Adam Ziółkowski and drummer Michał Kamiński, resulting in a suitably filthy sound. It’s dark-themes-for-dark-times in “Golden Road,” the title-track and the chugging “Nothing Never,” and certainly “Death is a Five Letter Word” and “Wind of Most Cruel Kind” aren’t offering much in terms of comfort. Even the interlude “Charas Drift” is brought to a harsh place, but Eager Eyes of Talion stays grounded in the muddy shove of “10ft. Dread” and the comparative loll of “Devil’s Advocate,” and doesn’t feel like it’s hading out any more punishment than is due. In a mad world, madness feels reasonable. Here we are.
Chained to the Bottom of the Ocean, Let Us Not Speak of Them But Look and Pass On
Chained to the Bottom of the Ocean uphold a long Massachusetts legacy of extreme sludge, and the four-song EP, Let Us Not Speak of Them But Look and Pass On, is duly facepeeling. Obviously “An Abundance of Mercy,” the nine-minute opener, is ironically titled. Mercy doesn’t really apply in the post-deity gnashing void the band portray, abrasive and churning. The lead cut is a slower assault where “Upheaval” is faster and more outwardly violent. “An Adornment of Light” might take home the prize for the lyric “I can show you/Just how broken/A wing can be,” if not for its seven-minute succession of massive lumber and throatripping screams or the ping ride in the last minute, like it’s marking the steps to where you jump in the volcano. Speaking of, “Execution” closes with a summary made more volatile for smashing elements together, but across the board, it’s a litmus test for how much noise you can take, which, since you’re alive today, is obviously more than any people at any other time in history could, so yes, have at it.
This might be genius. Hurst, Texas, solo experimentalist Mark Kitchens (also Stone Machine Electric) offers 11 sub-minute-long — the longest track is Hugging Curbs at 41 seconds — snippets, song ideas, root melodies, and tossoffs on Is it Death Metal or Sadness. Most are voice-based, but like opener “Big Dipper Little Dipper,” “Lynda and Her Celery,” “Almonds and Pistachios” and “Steven Lee Hall Junior” and “In the Pharmacy,” most have some synth or percussive accompaniment, and for most the lyrics are basically the titles. Maybe the most telling of all, centerpiece “Banana Time” — the lyric, “It’s banana time in the kitchen” — sounds like it was probably thought up while Kitchens was getting a banana. Five-second closer “Season My Eggs” — “I forgot to season my eggs, yeah-heah,” in a rocker voice — is likewise true to life. The reason this might be genius is because it reflects the ways music interacts with your daily life. Maybe you do sing a little song while you’re getting a banana, or get a hook in your head like the multi-layered “3 and 7” out of nowhere. It’s the sense of spontaneity captured. It turns out neither to be death metal nor sadness, and that could hardly be more fitting for the project.
Once they start rolling out that fuzz, there’s little stopping (and why would you?) German heavy rockers Capacopter who, working under influence from early Queens of the Stone Age via modern forerunners Slomosa, present their self-titled first LP with all due electricity and grooving intent. Hooks abound as in opener “600 Years” and the desert-airy “Caravan,” and they keep structures pretty straightforward for the eight-song duration — has Noisolution heard this? — but there’s some branching out in “Half’n Inch” at the start of side B, and “JP’s Horse” and closer “Wandering Stones” take time for atmospherics as well, while “Kings and Crowds” and “Temple Son” are, on balance, more direct, though songwriting is a factor front-to-back. The album ends up being a mix, and there are highlight stretches in the quieter moments as well, but as a statement of intent, Capacopter posits them as rockers, and fair enough. An encouraging and promising debut album. There’s growing into themselves to do, but there’s also time to do it.
Dense to a point of opaqueness at its heaviest, but able as well to shift into and through ambient passages, Monovoth‘s To Live in the Breath of Worship feels emotive without words and finds the despondent post-metallic Buenos Aires solo-project exploring tense and grimly progressive reaches. The third LP in five years from multi-instrumentalist Lucas Wyssbrod, it doesn’t shy from extremity in “Crimson Red Wound” or the blastbeaten-until-it-drones-in-apology 16-minute closer “To Drown in the Tears of God” (there is a human voice there), but is no more defined by that than the subdued bleakness of its stillest moments, nor is it overly predictable in the movements between those two sides, or unipolar in how it executes one or the other. This variability, flexibility, allows “Cosmically Orphaned” and earlier opener “From a Dying Star” to tell a similar story in different ways, and makes the album as a whole a more complete, immersive experience. It’s also noisy as hell, and that helps too.
Opening cut “Kronologia” (8:32) is the shortest of the three inclusions on Pimeyden Harha‘s severe-cast, wholly-doomed full-length debut, Aika, by about half. The subsequent “Rauha” (16:01) and “Entisöijä” (19:27) render the opener as lead-single fare, but rest assured, the solo outfit has plenty of doom to go around, whether it’s longform or, you know, sorta-longform. Lyrics, and somehow also the instruments, are in Finnish, and most of what keeps Aika from being death-doom is the melodic chant of sole-denizen/multi-instrumentalist J. LaCoin‘s vocals. Tempos are mostly a crawl, but “Rauha” lets you know up front it’s going to thrash out at the finish, and yes, it does, and there’s a bit of pickup in the later reaches of “Entisöijä” as well, but the bulk of the record is willed as a morose plod, and the atmosphere is accordingly grey. To its credit, however, Aika holds firm to its intent and doesn’t veer from its path as the songs play out; the most divergence happens in “Koronologia,” and it’s brief. That’s not to say Pimeyden Harha comes across as unipolar, just that it’s a sound crafted with a goal in mind. As a debut, one might call it foreboding.
The only real question going into this debut album by Spain’s Wild Fuzz Trip is whether or not the five tracks on Fuzz Transmissions live up to the billing. Are they, in fact, a wild fuzz trip? Well, yes. Whether you’re dug into the mellow midsection of “Big Grey” or the more uptempo boogie into meatier riffing that happens over the course of centerpiece “Galactican Twilight,” the double-guitar troupe — here guitarists Miguel A. Marañón and Diego López (also keys), bassist Andy Shardlow (Josiah) and drummer Suso Valcárcel and Martin Ludl on the sax in closer “Nebula Groove” — are right there with you, and though they’ve been a band for eight years and this is apparently their first LP, the surety of their going speaks to the slew of EPs and single releases leading up to it. They neither wasted their time nor waste yours as the listener, bringing their ambition to life in an expansive sound one hopes will continue to flesh out.
Breadth and crush, expressive human intimacy and instrumental expanse, post-metallic chiaroscuro, etc., however you want to frame Gavran‘s The One Who Propels, the Rotterdam four-piece find their niche in style with a sound that basks in its multifaceted nature across five longer-form cuts, each of which plays out with a balance between two-plus sides, melodically sung here and abrasively screamed there, conveying emotion in the lulls of “Brod” as much as the next-level-obliteration that kicks in for (about) the final minute of “Okreni.” “Zora” and “Pogon” both start very, very heavy, but even there, a change in the vocals provides distinction amid tonal consistency, and Gavran are served across the 59-minute span by their attention to detail in terms of arrangement as well as the depth of mix which sometimes they seem to occupy to a point of spilling out, only to recede again and let the next melodic contemplation hold sway. The resulting entirety is viciously affirming as it leads to 16-minute capper “Plutaju,” which methodically encapsulates the course of the album while continuing to carve its own place.
Posted in Whathaveyou on February 14th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
I was fortunate enough last Spring to be on hand for Dool‘s set on the Main Stage at Roadburn 2024 (review here), and it was among the more powerful moments of that weekend, which should tell you something. The Netherlands-based dark-proggers are set to continue to support their Prophecy-delivered 2024 LP, The Shape of Fluidity (review here), which showed up duly armed to the ongoing culture wars, likewise righteous in craft and message.
That wasn’t my first time seeing Dool, and I don’t note that as a brag — though I’m glad it’s the case — but instead to emphasize where the band are in their growth. Whatever their ultimate trajectory might be, The Shape of Fluidity was a crucial record for this band, and if you’ve seen them, you don’t need me to tell you how that translates to the intensity of their on-stage performance, but just in case, I’ll note the heart and drive and purpose behind Dool more than a decade on from the band’s founding has resulted in a special sound, in keeping with Dutch darkrock and open-minded songwriting, but distinct among the heavy underground for just how much it’s their own.
In other words, if you can make it to a show, consider it advisable. They’ll be out with Taraban in Europe this April. No Roadburn this year — can’t be every year, though there’s something to be said for a house band and Dool would make a decent candidate — but there are plenty of other festivals besides here. The band posted the dates on socials. Shows are presented by Doomstar Bookings:
DOOL – TOUR UPDATE!
Polish rock outfit Taraban will join us on our European rampage this April, so best buckle up and go secure your tickets for your local event!
A show in Marseille’s Le Molotov has been added to the tour on May 2nd, as well as Logo Hamburg and A Colossal Weekend Copenhagen on May 7th and 8th respectively.
Furthermore, the dates for the Barcelona and Madrid shows have been swapped, so make sure you have the right date marked in your agenda!
18/04/2025 NL Schijndel Paaspop* 20/04/2025 DE Munich Dark Easter Metal Meeting * 21/04/2025 CZ Prague Eternia 22/04/2025 PL Warsaw Hydrozagadka 23/04/2025 PL Wroclaw Klub Liverpool 24/04/2025 HU Budapest A38 25/04/2025 AT Graz PPC 26/04/2025 IT Prosecco Kulturni Dom 27/04/2025 IT Milano Legend Club 29/04/2025 ES Madrid Nazca 30/04/2025 ES Barcelona Razzmatazz 3 2/5/2025 FR Marseille Le Molotov 3/5/2025 CH Bulle Ebullition 4/5/2025 DE Lünen Lükaz 05/05/2025 NL Rotterdam Bevrijdingsfestival * 7/5/2025 DE Hamburg Logo * 8/5/2025 DK Copenhagen A Colossal Weekend *
(* = DOOL ONLY)
Line-up: Raven van Dorst – vocals, guitar Nick Polak – guitar Omar Iskandr – guitar Vincent Kreyder – drums JB van der Wal – bass guitar
Today is Wednesday, the day we hit and pass the halfway mark for this week, which is a quarter of the way through the entirety of this 100-release Quarterly Review. Do you need to know that? Not really, but it’s useful for me to keep track of how much I’m doing sometimes, which is why I count in the first place. 100 records isn’t nothing, you know. Or 10 for that matter. Or one. I don’t know.
A little more variety here, which is always good, but I’ve got momentum behind me after yesterday and I don’t want to delay diving in, so off we go.
Quarterly Review #21-30:
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Saturnalia Temple, Paradigm Call
For the band’s fourth album, Paradigm Call, founding Saturnalia Temple guitarist/vocalist Tommie Eriksson leads the newcomer rhythm section of drummer Pelle Åhman and bassist Gottfrid Åhman through eight abyss-plundering tracks across 48 minutes of roiling tonal mud distinguished by its aural stickiness and Eriksson‘s readily identifiable vocal gurgle. The methodology hasn’t changed much since 2020’s Gravity (review here) in terms of downward pull, but the title-track’s solo is sharp enough to cut through the mire, and while it’s no less harsh for doing so, “Among the Ruins” explores a faster tempo while staying in line with the all-brown psychedelic swirl around it, brought to fruition in the backwards-sounding loops of closer “Kaivalya” after the declarative thud of side B standout “Empty Chalice.” They just keep finding new depths. It’s impressive. Also a little horrifying.
It’s easy to respect a band so unwilling to be boxed by genre, and Rotterdam’s Dool put the righteous aural outsiderness that’s typified their sound since 2017’s Here Now There Then (review here) to meta-level use on their third long-player for Prophecy Productions, The Shape of Fluidity. Darkly progressive, rich in atmosphere, broad in range and mix, heavy-but-not-beholden-to-tone in presentation, encompassing but sneaky-catchy in pieces like opener “Venus in Flames,” the flowing title-track, and the in-fact-quite-heavy “Hermagorgon,” the record harnesses declarations and triumphs around guitarist/vocalist Raven van Dorst‘s stated lyrical thematic around gender-nonbinaryism, turning struggle and confusion into clarity of expressive purpose in the breakout “Self-Dissect” and resolving with furious culmination in “The Hand of Creation” with due boldness. Given some of the hateful, violent rhetoric around gender-everything in the modern age, the bravery of Dool — Van Dorst alongside guitarists Nick Polak and Omar Iskandr, bassist JB van der Wal and drummer Vincent Kreyder — in confronting that head-on with these narratives is admirable, but it’s still the songs themselves that make The Shape of Fluidity one of 2024’s best albums.
After releasing 2022’s In the Dark (review here) on Small Stone, Denver heavy rockers Abrams align to Blues Funeral Recordings for their fifth album in a productive, also-touring nine years, the 10-track/42-minute Blue City. Production by Kurt Ballou (High on Fire, Converge, etc.) at GodCity Studio assures no lack of impact as “Fire Waltz” reaffirms the tonal density of the riffs that the Zach Amster-led four-piece nonetheless made dance in opener “Tomorrow,” while the rolling “Death Om” and the momentary skyward ascent in “Etherol” — a shimmering preface to the chug-underscored mellowness of “Narc” later — lay out some of the dynamic that’s emerged in their sound along with the rampant post-hardcore melodies that come through in Amster and Graham Zander‘s guitars, capable either of meting out hard-landing riffs to coincide with the bass of Taylor Iversen (also vocals) and Ryan DeWitt‘s drumming, or unfurling sections of float like those noted above en route to tying it all together with the closing “Blue City.” Relatively short runtimes and straightforward-feeling structures mask the stylistic nuance of the actual material — nothing new there for Abrams; they’re largely undervalued — and the band continue to reside in between-microgenre spaces as they await the coming of history which will inevitably prove they were right all along.
Superlynx bassist/vocalist Pia Isaksen made her solo debut under the Pia Isa moniker with 2022’s Distorted Chants (review here), and in addition to announcing the SoftSun collaboration she’ll undertake alongside Yawning Man‘s Gary Arce (who also appeared on her record), in 2024, she offers the three-song Burning Time EP, with a cover of Radiohead‘s “Burn the Witch” backed by two originals, “Treasure” and “Nothing Can Turn it Back.” With drumming by her Superlynx bandmate Ole Teigen (who also recorded), “Burn the Witch” becomes a lumbering forward march, ethereal in melody but not necessarily cultish, while “Treasure” digs into repetitive plod led by the low end and “Nothing Can Turn it Black” brings the guitar forward but is most striking in the break that brings the dual-layered vocals forward near the midpoint. The songs are leftovers from the LP, but if you liked the LP, that shouldn’t be a problem.
A late-2023 initial public offering from Houston’s Wretched Kingdom, their self-titled EP presents a somewhat less outwardly joyous take on the notion of “Texas desert rock” than that offered by, as an example, Austin’s High Desert Queen, but the metallic riffing that underscores “Dreamcrusher” goes farther back in its foundations than whatever similarity to Kyuss one might find in the vocals or speedier riffy shove of “Smoke and Mirrors.” Sharp-cornered in tone, opener “Torn and Frayed” gets underway with metered purpose as well, and while the more open-feeling “Too Close to the Sun” begins similar to “You Can’t Save Me” — the strut that ensues in the latter distinguishes — the push in its second half comes after riding a steady groove into a duly bluesy solo. There’s nothing in the material to take you out of the flow between the six component cuts, and even closer “Deviation” tells you it’s about to do something different as it works from its mellower outset into a rigorous payoff. With the understanding that most first-EPs of this nature are demos by another name and (as here) more professional sound, Wretched Kingdom‘s Wretched Kingdom asks little in terms of indulgence and rewards generously when encountered at higher volumes. Asking more would be ridiculous.
Like earlier Clutch born out of shenanigans-prone punk, Youngstown, Ohio’s Lake Lake are tight within the swinging context of a song like “The Boy Who Bit Me,” which is the second of the self-released Proxy Joy‘s six inclusions. Brash in tone and the gutted-out shouty vocals, offsetting its harder shoving moments with groovy back-throttles in songs that could still largely be called straightforward, the quirk and throaty delivery of “Blue Jerk” and the bluesier-minded “Viking Vietnam” paying off the tension in the verses of “Comfort Keepers” and the build toward that leadoff’s chorus want nothing for personality or chemistry, and as casual as the style is on paper, the arrangements are coordinated and as “Heavy Lord” finds a more melodic vocal and “Coyote” — the longest song here at 5:01 — leaves on a brash highlight note, the party they’re having is by no means unconsidered. But it is a party, and those who have dancing shoes would be well advised to keep them on hand, just in case.
Modern in the angularity of its riffing, spacious in the echoes of its tones and vocals, and encompassing enough in sound to be called progressive within a heavy context, Altered States follows Canadian four-piece Gnarwhal‘s 2023 self-titled debut full-length with four songs that effectively bring together atmosphere and impact in the six-minute “The War Nothing More” — big build in the second half leading to more immediate, on-beat finish serving as a ready instance of same — with twists that feel derived of the MastoBaroness school rhythmically and up-front vocal melodies that give cohesion to the darker vibe of “From Her Hands” after displaying a grungier blowout in “Tides.” The terrain through which they ebb and flow, amass and release tension, soar and crash, etc., is familiar if somewhat intangible, and that becomes an asset as the concluding “Altered States” channels the energy coursing through its verses in the first half into the airy payoff solo that ends. I didn’t hear the full-length last year. Listening to what Gnarwhal are doing in these tracks in terms of breadth and crunch, I feel like I missed out. You might also consider being prepared to want to hear more upon engaging.
Help the humans? No. Help! The Humans…, and here as in so many of life’s contexts, punctuation matters. Digging into a heavy, character-filled and charging punkish sound they call “Appalachian thrash,” Boone, North Carolina, three-piece Bongfoot are suitably over-the-top as they explore what it means to be American in the current age, couching discussions of wealth inequality, climate crisis, corporatocracy, capitalist exploitation, the insecurity at root in toxic masculinity and more besides. With clever, hooky lyrics that are a total blast despite being tragic in the subject matter and a pace of execution well outside what one might think is bong metal going in because of the band’s name, Bongfoot vigorously kick ass from opener “End Times” through the galloping end of “Amazon Death Factory/Spacefoot” and the untitled mountain ramble that follows as an outro. Along the way, they intermittently toy with country twang, doom, and hardcore punk, and offer a prayer to the titular volcano of “Krakatoa” to save at least the rest of the world if not humanity. It’s quite a time to be alive. Listening, that is. As for the real-world version of the real world, it’s less fun and more existentially and financially draining, which makes Help! The Humans… all the more a win for its defiance and charm. Even with the bonus tracks, I’ll take more of this anytime they’re ready with it.
It’s interesting, because you can’t really say that Thomas Greenwood and the Talismans‘ second LP, Ateşisn’t neo-psychedelia, but the eight tracks and 38 minutes of the record itself warrant enunciating what that means. Where much of 2020s-era neo-psych is actually space rock with thicker tones (shh! it’s a secret!), what Greenwood — AKA Thomas Mascheroni, also of Bergamo, Italy’s Humulus) brings to sounds like the swaying, organ-laced “Sleepwalker” and the resonant spaciousness in the soloing of “Mystic Sunday Morning” is more kin to the neo-psych movement that began in the 1990s, which itself was a reinterpretation of the genre’s pop-rock origins in the 1960s. Is this nitpicking? Not when you hear the title-track infusing its Middle Eastern-leaning groove with a heroic dose of wah or the friendly shimmer of “I Do Not” that feels extrapolated from garage rock but is most definitely not that thing and the post-Beatles bop of “Sunhouse.” It’s an individual (if inherently familiar) take that unifies the varied arrangements of the acidic “When We Die” and the cosmic vibe of “All the Lines” (okay, so there’s a little bit of space boogie too), resolving in the Doors-y lumber of “Crack” to broaden the scope even further and blur past timelines into an optimistic future.
As direct as some of its push is and as immediate as “Fish” is opening the album right into the first verse, the course that harp-laced French heavy progressive rockers Djiin take on their third album, Mirrors, ultimately more varied, winding and satisfying as its five-track run gives over to the nine-minute “Mirrors” and uses its time to explore more pointedly atmospheric reaches before a weighted crescendo that precedes the somehow-fluidity in the off-time early stretch of centerpiece “In the Aura of My Own Sadness,” its verses topped with spoken word and offset by note-for-note melodic conversation between the vocals and guitar. Rest assured, they build “In the Aura of My Own Sadness” to its own crushing end, while taking a more decisively psychedelic approach to get there, and thereby set up “Blind” with its trades from open-spaces held to pattern by the drums and a pair of nigh-on-caustic noise rock onslaughts before 13-minute capstone “Iron Monsters” unfolds a full instrumental linear movement before getting even heavier, as if to underscore the notion that Djiin can go wherever the hell they want and make it work as a song. Point taken.
Posted in Whathaveyou on January 26th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
As one would, I expected the new Dool single to be heavy, but it’s nonetheless heavier than I expected it to be, and I’m not complaining. The darkly-progressive Netherlands outfit fronted by Raven van Dorst had a live record out last year that I completely whiffed on because I suck at this, and their last studio LP was 2020’s Summerland (review here). If you heard that at all, you know that one song doesn’t necessarily tell the tale of a whole offering, and no doubt that’s true of “Hermagorgon” as relates to the impending The Shape of Fluidity too, but at least the new track lets you know the spaces the band are working in, and it opens the discussion of the breaking-out-of-gender-binaries-as-a-concept theme, as laid out by the PR wire below.
Dool‘s sound is so dug in, and given the weight of tone here I’m not sure mass appeal would be possible, but there’s definitely a conversation happening with pop and broader culture in sound as well as with modern atmospheric heavy and the Dutch tradition of innovation in same.
One way or the other, I’ll hope to review this one when the time comes. For now:
DOOL announce new album “The Shape of Fluidity” and release lyric video single ‘Hermagorgon’
DOOL are now unveiling the lyric video ‘Hermagorgon’ as the first single taken from their forthcoming third full-length “The Shape of Fluidity”. The new album is scheduled for release on April 19, 2024.
DOOL comment: “As one of the first songs that we had woven together for ‘The Shape of Fluidity’, ‘Hermagorgon’ gave us a very clear direction on where we wanted to go musically”, singer Raven van Dorst explains. “The track is about reclaiming space, breaking out of binary constraints, and facing the world head on. This is something that everyone can relate to one way or another. However, this is one of the most personal songs on the album. It describes the internal journey that I’ve gone through over the past few years. The song also displays the birth of the collective songwriting spirit on which this whole album is based, as well as producer Magnus Lindberg’s unique craftsmanship. We’ve been waiting a long time to share this with you.”
Tracklist 1. Venus in Flames 2. Self-Dissect 3. The Shape of Fluidity 4. Currents 5. Evil in You 6. House of a Thousand Dreams 7. Hermagorgon 8. Hymn for a Memory Lost 9. The Hand of Creation
Everything flows, nothing ever stays the same. This notion of the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus applies to all of us as life itself is in a constant state of change. The same can be said about the third studio album of the fast-rising Dutch rock band DOOL.
Aptly entitled “The Shape of Fluidity” there is not just musical innovation but the full-length revolves around themes of personal change, physical change, psychological change, and the ever-changing world around us. DOOL and particularly singer and guitarist Raven van Dorst ask questions: How does change affect us? How do we keep being ourselves in a world that is so incredibly demanding and aggressive towards the individual? We must be as fluid as water to navigate ourselves through this ocean of possibilities and uncertainties – and make peace with chaos and impermanence.
Musically, DOOL continue on the path laid out on the two previous studio recordings of heartfelt rock music with added metal elements, while displaying a maturity and focus in songwriting that has grown out of experience. “The Shape of Fluidity” exhibits an eclectic yet seamless amalgamation of progressive and post-rock as well as doom and heavy metal in combination with an inherent catchiness and a dynamic backdrop.
What sets this album apart from its predecessors is the collective endeavour that went into it with the combined forces of songwriting trio Raven, and guitarists Nick Polak and Omar Iskandr. In the rhythm section, bass player JB van der Wal has been joined by the abundant creativity of new drummer Vincent Kreyder. On the technical side of the production, the outstanding engineering and mixing skills of Magnus Lindberg (CULT OF LUNA, RUSSIAN CIRCLES, TRIBULATION) and the excellent mastering by Ted Jensen (AC/DC, TALKING HEADS, MUSE, GHOST) have created the perfect crisp and transparent as well powerful sound for “The Shape of Fluidity”.
It is hardly surprising that the theme of the album that pitches the concept of identity against the backdrop of a world in constant flux connects the album’s lyrics to the biography of lead vocalist Raven. Born intersex, doctors at the time assumed that they could surgically determine which kind of life the infant should lead and decided that the child should be a girl. This has led to a life full of soul searching, fighting taboos and breaking boundaries, until recently Raven decided to reclaim that which others have tried so hard to take away from them, and finally embrace their hermaphroditic nature.
This much more personal approach than before does by no means become self-centred. The lyrics of “The Shape of Fluidity” can easily be read as universal stories about finding oneself, swimming against the stream, and facing the world head on. We are all affected by questions of change and identity, but it is only legitimate and natural that art also reflects the artists as well as the world around them.
The band derived the name DOOL from the Dutch word for ‘wandering’. When their debut album “Here Now, There Then” was released in 2017, it became an instant success. Their fresh and wild rock and metal sound received “Album of the Month” titles in the renowned German magazines Metal Hammer and Rock Hard as well as the “Best Debut Album 2017” award from the former, while Vice (US), Aardschok (NL), and De Volkskrant (NL) happily chimed in with heaping praise on the young Dutch band.
DOOL also established a reputation as an excellent live act that loves to rock stages around the world. They have meanwhile played several tours and often in sold-out venues and performed at all the main festivals such as Wacken Open Air (DE), Graspop (BE), Hellfest (FR), Metal Days (SL), Lowlands (NL), Fortarock (NL), Wave Gotik Treffen (DE), Rock Hard Festival (DE), Stoned from the Underground (DE), Metalitalia Festival (IT), and North of the Wall (UK) among many others.
With their sophomore full-length “Summerland” released in 2020, DOOL successfully exceeded the already sky-high expectations and scored even more “Album of the Month” awards in German Rock Hard (10/10) and Sonic Seducer magazines as well as #2 soundcheck positions in Metal.de, Metal Hammer (DE) and another #1 in the Polish edition – with a pile glowing reviews on both sides of the Atlantic. Having been barred from extensive touring due to the global pandemic, DOOL were finally able to play shows again in front of sold out houses and decided to release the live album “Visions of Summerland” as a gift for their huge following that had patiently waited for the band’s return to the stages.
Last but not least, it is well worth to note the cover art, which completes the Gesamtkunstwerk (synthesis of all arts) of “The Shape of Fluidity”, by physically embodying the concept. Renowned French artist Valnoir (Metastazis) has created a semi-transparent flag through hardening a liquid in a metamorphosis by reducing temperature, which is shown on the cover. Imagery, lyrics, and music all flow together and pose questions about identity, freedom, life, and the will to change things that hold more than just one finger straight at the pulse of the Zeitgeist – but without ever pointing or raising it.
With “The Shape of Fluidity”, DOOL offer so much more than just damn cool music. These extra dimensions of depth and meaning are all part of their unique appeal and come out clearly on the new album. May all those who wander gather under the fluid flag of DOOL!
Release date: April 19, 2024 Style: Dark Rock Label: Prophecy Productions Review impact date: March 25, 2024
“The Shape of Fluidity” is available as a 36-page hardcover CD artbook, Gatefold ltd. crystal clear vinyl LP, Gatefold black vinyl LP, and as a Digipak CD.
Recording by Magnus Lindberg & JB van der Wal at DAFT Studios, Malmedy (BE) Mixed by Magnus Lindberg at Redmount Studios, Stockholm (SE) Mastering by Ted Jensen at Sterling Sound, Nashville (US) Artwork & Layout by Valnoir (Metastazis)
Line-up: Raven van Dorst – vocals, guitar Nick Polak – guitar Omar Iskandr – guitar Vincent Kreyder – drums JB van der Wal – bass guitar
Posted in audiObelisk on May 11th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Rotterdam heavy psych fuzz rockers The Machine will release their seventh album, Wave Cannon (review here), tomorrow, May 12, as their first offering through Sweden’s Majestic Mountain Records. The record, which you can stream in its entirety below if you’d like to skip the blah blah — I’m not offended, go on — offers a couple crucial lessons to be observed.
For me personally, one of those lessons is that mid-Feb. is too early to review a release that’s not coming out until May. Not the only time I’ve been taught this. For everyone else, primarily, Wave Cannon presents The Machine as a veteran outfit, and fair enough for guitarist, vocalist and remaining founder David Eering starting the band in 2007 and this being their first LP without the original lineup — new-ish bassist Chris Both appears for the first time, now-former drummer Davy Boogaard for the last — and it also demonstrates how a band can move back toward their core sound after progressing in other directions without sounding like they’re doing an impression of themselves.
That’s not a minor line to walk, but the highlight of Wave Cannon is the songs as the band hones a matured vision of the organic jamming and structured craft they’ve harnessed all along, including in 2018’s Faceshift (review here), where the balance tipped toward more noise rocking fare and even the desert rocker felt more intense. Five years later, Wave Cannon hasn’t forgotten and doesn’t neglect the pivot that record accomplished, but it does orient The Machine toward flow rather than thrust, though to be perfectly honest with you, this narrative — that they were jammers who went noise rock and now they’re jamming again — is flawed at best.
Not only does it ignore the ongoing forward progression at work in the material, but it’s not like the band stopped being themselves at any point. At most, it was a shift in balance, and it’s a less radical one in hindsight and in the context of Wave Cannon than it seemed at the time.
As regards the band in general and their standing in the European heavy underground, I prefer to think of Wave Cannon as The Machine claiming their place as having spearheaded the post-Colour Haze generation of heavy psych. And most of all, I take it as a signal that The Machine know who they are and who they want to be as a band, and Wave Cannon feels sustainable in the sense that one can hear signature elements that they can continue to evolve for however long they want to keep going. The band’s already hit the 15-year mark. They’re damn-near statesmen at this point, and I don’t think you could objectively call them old. Listening to these tracks, it’s still more about the future than the past.
Since the review happened dumbass-early, Eering was kind enough to give some track-by-track perspective on the material for your perusal while you listen. Once again, the record is out tomorrow on Majestic Mountain.
Please enjoy.
David Eering – ‘Wave Cannon’ Track-by-Track
Reversion
noisreveR. This is a good example of the overall approach on Wave Cannon. It has thick riffs, a nice melody and a more mellow (positive?) vibe without losing an edge. We more or less abandoned (unintentionally) that with the majority of the previous record Faceshift. The last part of the song probably has the most mellow minutes of the entire album. Ha I said (typed) mellow twice now. Wollem. Anyway, not saying we can even come close to the level of brilliance of The Beatles, but I was inspired by some of their melodies while writing the vocal lines for Reversion. I added a 12-string Danelectro, playing along to the verse melody but a bit low in the mix. This gives it a bit of an eastern feel without being overly out there. Didn’t feel like getting my sitar out of its case.
Genau or Never
The instrumental piece on Wave Cannon. It starts with me picking the strings behind the bridge on my Jazzmaster, with a couple of delay pedals engaged and some other guitar technicalities. The push of the rhythm section is something we’d never really done before; the driving bassline offers me the chance to opt for a more minimalistic approach. This will most likely become a regular in our future live sets. Oh and you can dance to it.
Glider
Chords gliding over the guitar neck! Also slightly referencing the guitar technique of Kevin Shields (My Bloody Valentine) here, called glide guitar. The lyrics are very personal and tell a story of the impact of the pandemic; we were in the middle of yet another lockdown while working on this. Our usual rehearsal space had to close because of COVID-regulations, but we found another shared place where we could temporarily do our thing. The lyrics describe our different routine at the time for making coffee. I decided to sing “Grinder” instead of Glider just for the hell of it.
Ride On Crash Kick
I think this is the last song we finished. We’ve been struggling with it for a while, it just wouldn’t work somehow. Changing the tuning eventually proved to be the solution. I started to incorporate another alternate tuning on this record and applying that same open tuning to R.O.C.K. made it click.
Return to Sphere (Kneiter II)
By far the longest track on this one. I’m looking forward to play it live every once in a while. Although obviously different, in my head the vibe and structure of the track has a similarity to Sphere (… or Kneiter) of 2012’s Calmer Than You Are. The ambient middle section is me putting a ballpoint pen underneath my strings, plucking strings and basically engage the majority of the pedals I have on my board. Chris comes in at one point with some ambient rumbling bass swells. There’s definitely some Thurston Moore inspired playing later in this track. Getting the vocals right and fitting was a bit of challenge and I went through like 6 different options but I guess I more or less got it to work eventually.
Wave Cannon
My personal favorite on the album, at least to play. Same alternate tuning as Reversion and R.O.C.K. which instantly gives it an uplifting feel, at least to my ears. You can really lean into this groove and its “hang” as we like to call it. I like the vocal melody in conjunction with the guitar part, they go very well together and are quite complementary while doing different things at the same time. The noisey mayhem at the end is just plain fun. Which should be the main reason for this band thing right?
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Produced, mixed & engineered by David Eering Digital & vinyl mastering by Pieter Kloos Written & performed by David Eering, Chris Both and Davy Boogaard
The Machine on ‘Wave Cannon’: David Eering – guitar/vocals Chris Both – bass Davy Boogaard – drums
The Machine: David Eering – guitar/vocals Chris Both – bass Klaas Dijkstra – drums
Holy crap, this record’s not out yet? Serves me right for reviewing it in February. Look, sometimes you get excited about a thing, and The Machine‘s Wave Cannon is legitimately an exciting offering from the Netherlands-based trio, captured in the midst of a lineup transition while reaffirming their foundation in heavy psychedelic rock after years of tipping the balance into noisier fare. The three-piece now comprised of founding guitarist/vocalist David Eering, bassist Chris Both and drummer Klaas Dijkstra have a new video up for the title-track of Wave Cannon, and with the better part of a month to go before the record’s out, if you want an example of what it’s all about, “Wave Cannon” delivers without question.
The clip itself is also a fitting representation, sort of low-key tongue-in-cheek in sending up performance videos of bands in their rehearsal space surrounded by massive amps by not having any, putting a bit of silly dancing in there after three-someodd minutes (and again a couple minutes after that), a thoroughly Dutch dry humor complemented by the black and white presentation as faces are seen mostly in silhouette and the band finish — how else? — with their arms folded in what for heavy rock and roll is somehow a sign of approval. Right on.
Lightly delving into the absurd is nothing new for The Machine, even if it’s new personnel doing so, and whether you’ve followed the band or not, it’s worth keeping in mind that they’re speaking to themselves in terms of influence more than any other act, which isn’t something a band can do without a certain amount of maturity, let alone the actual years and releases behind them. The languid groove, resonant vocal melody, interplay of bass and guitar on “Wave Cannon” all come together to demonstrate strengths that the band has always had in ways that seem as much about their appreciating them as the listener’s, and in that way, the entire album is something of a celebration on both sides. At very least, the video is very likely eight of the best minutes you’ll spend today.
It’s been up since last week, so I’m not claiming timeliness — does my being late with this balance with being so early on the album review? does anyone else ever think of this shit besides me? — but the video follows here and you’ll find the preorder link for Wave Cannon beneath that. It’s out May 14 on Majestic Mountain Records.
Enjoy:
The Machine, “Wave Cannon” official video
“Wave Cannon” by The Machine from their album Wave Cannon (Release date: May 12, 2023)
VIDEO CREDITS Shot, directed & edited by David Eering Featuring Chris Both, Klaas Dijkstra and David Eering
MUSIC CREDITS Produced, mixed & engineered by David Eering Digital & vinyl mastering by Pieter Kloos Written & performed by David Eering, Chris Both and Davy Boogaard
The Machine on ‘Wave Cannon’: David Eering – guitar/vocals Chris Both – bass Davy Boogaard – drums
The Machine: David Eering – guitar/vocals Chris Both – bass Klaas Dijkstra – drums
