Last month, amid the merciful waning of humid summer on the northeastern seaboard, German heavy psychedelic rock institution Colour Haze traveled to play their first American shows in 17 years at Desertfest New York. They would perform two sets in Brooklyn as part of the festival, an initially-booked headlining slot at the pre-show at Saint Vitus Bar (review here) leading to the addition of a second set for the first night of the fest-proper at the Knockdown Center (review here).
Perhaps for the band’s fans in Europe it might be difficult to appreciate how much of an event this was. Sure, last weekend in their hometown of Munich they played an annual set at the Keep it Low Festival put on by Sound of Liberation, and they’ve got more tour dates lined up for next month that you can see below. Meanwhile, the last time they were in the US was 2006’s Emissions From the Monolith Festival in Youngstown, Ohio, and while I don’t mind telling you that evening changed my life for the better, The Nyabinghi where it happened, was more of an outpost than a scene for a grand entrance for a generational band on new geographic ground. They were brilliant, either way.
Is an American underground ready for Colour Haze? Desertfest sure was. I spoke to several heads in the crowd on both nights who’d been waiting a decade or longer for the chance to see them, and I get it. While their sound is as immersive onstage as it is on record, seeing them actually making that happen is a bit believing it. In the video interview that follows here, Koglek makes some comparison to a jazz band, and there is definitely that element of the crowd watching Colour Haze — Koglek, bassist Mario Oberpucher, keyboardist Jan Faszbender and drummer Mani Merwald — to try to understand how it’s done. To learn. You hear about that a lot with the bop era of jazz acts and players. When you’re on the presence of masters, it’s worth paying attention.
The conversation covers a pretty broad range of topics, from NY, to remixing old albums before the tapes decay to the potential of their return to the US for more touring — yes, touring — in 2024, and so on. It was not at all the first time we’ve spoken over the years, but a new format for it to happen. It’s not a short chat, and I treat posting unedited interviews as a moral position, so if you’re gonna dig in, take your time. You also get to see the Colour Haze Studio where at least part of their recording process (as well as the mix/mastering, generally) happens, so that’s a bonus as well. Yes, the tape machine is apparently as heavy as it looks.
I could go on here about the importance of the band, their influence, the possibility of their touring in North America in addition to their already-confirmed South American dates and whatever, but you’ve got enough on your plate. If you dig in, please enjoy, and either way, thanks for reading:
Colour Haze Interview with Stefan Koglek, Oct. 10, 2023
Colour Haze‘s Sacred is out now through Elektrohasch Schallplatten. Following their performance at Keep it Low, the remaining dates for their Fall tour are as follows:
21.10. – (DE) Ludwigsburg – Scala Ludwigsburg 04.11. – (DE) Weiden – Burn the Streets Festival Vol. 1 10.11. – (DE) Dortmund – JunkYard • Dortmund 11.11. – (NL) Maastricht – Muziekgieterij 12.11.- (NL) Deventer – Burgerweeshuis 14.11. – (DE) Bielefeld – Forum Bielefeld 15.11. – (BE) Brussels – Le Botanique 16.11. – (FR) Paris – Backstage By The Mill Garmonbozia Inc. 17.11. – (FR) Vallet – WESTILL VIIème édition 18.11. – (DE) Neunkirchen – Gloomaar Festival 2023
Posted in Whathaveyou on July 12th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Colour Haze will be at Stoned From the Underground and Woodstockenboi Musik und Kulturfestival this weekend and have more fest appearances before they come to the US to play twice at Desertfest New York in September, after which they’ll return to Germany to make their regular appearance at Keep it Low in their hometown of Munich. There’s more beyond that as well leading up to this newly-announced November tour, which puts them out for nine shows in nine days across four-so-far countries (one date still TBA). All well and good. I’m just happy I’ll get to watch them play again when they come to New York.
Their late 2022 album, Sacred (review here), continues to resonate, and having seen them in their current incarnation for the first time this past December (review here), it’s all the more encouraging that they’re getting out like this. I don’t know that they’ll ever want to do six weeks of shows or something on that scale, but the more the merrier. Note that there have not been more US dates announced. I don’t think any others are coming. If you’ve been on the fence about Desertfest, I would offer the friendly suggestion to decide in the positive. Seeing Colour Haze will only improve your life.
From socials:
Some new shows added for 2023 – France, Belgium, Germany and Netherlands!
14.07. – (DE) Erfurt – Stoned From The Underground 2023 15.07. – (AT) Stockenboi – Woodstockenboi Musik und Kulturfestival 05.08. – (GR) Los Almiros Rockradio – Festival 18.08. – (FR) Volcano Sessions – Black Owl 08.09. – (DE) Regensburg – Kulturzentrum Alte Mälzerei 09.09. – (AT) Vöcklabruck – OKH Vöcklabruck 14.09. – (USA) New York – Desert Fest PreParty 15.09. – (USA) New York – Desertfest NYC 06.10. – (DE) München, Backstage – Keep It Low 2023 21.10. – (DE) Ludwigsburg – Scala Ludwigsburg 04.11. – (DE) Weiden – Burn the Streets Festival Vol. 1
November Tour: 10.11. – (DE) Dortmund, Junkyard 11.11. – (NL) Maastricht, Muziekgieterij 12.11.- (NL) Deventer, Burgerweeshuis 13.11. – tba 14.11. – (DE) Bielefeld, Forum 15.11. – (BE) Brussels, Botanique 16.11. – (FR) Paris, Backstage By The Mill 17.11. – (FR) Vallet, Westill Fest 18.11. – (DE) Neunkirchen, Gloomaar Festival
Posted in Features on February 15th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
My thinking here was that these are things Colour Haze would never say about themselves, but that should be said at this point about who they are, what they’ve done over a near-30-year span, and their consistent will to move forward. If you read this site on anything remotely resembling a regular basis, you probably already know they’re an act whose work I treasure on a personal level, and right up to late-2022’s Sacred (review here) — and as it says below — they are singular in my mind. A once-in-a-generation kind of band.
With a long-awaited return to the US slated for later this year at Desertfest New York (info here), I was asked to write a kind of general bio, which of course was a big yes. It’s less a comment on the substance of their whole body of work than a look at where they’re at after a few changes over the last several years, but hopefully it gets some of the point across of how special they are.
I’m honestly putting it here more for my own posterity than anything else, but here’s the bio I wrote, put in PR wire blue basically for form’s sake:
Over more than the last 25 years, Munich, Germany’s Colour Haze have made themselves an institution in underground music. They are progenitors of a style of heavy psychedelia that has influenced two generations of players and counting, marked by warm tonality, flowing rhythms, and immersive melody, embodying a jam spirit while remaining rooted in classic progressive rock.
Led by founding guitarist/vocalist Stefan Koglek and longtime drummer Manfred Merwald, the band has revamped its lineup in the last few years to emerge as a four-piece, with Jan Faszbender on organ/synth and the newest addition, Mario Oberpucher on bass. In late 2022, Colour Haze released their 14th album, Sacred, through Koglek’s own Elektrohasch Schallplatten label.
The follow-up to 2019’s We Are, the latest offering not only introduced Oberpucher as a part of the studio process, but furthered the dynamic exchange between guitar and keys that has made Colour Haze’s latest works feel so adventurous. With a lyrical awareness of the world around them and a mindset critical but loving, the songs are fluid in their jammy foundations and convey the on-stage chemistry of Colour Haze as they continue, always, to grow.
Sacred is a salve for troubled years, but consistently finds ways to put the song first, encouraging the audience’s imagination with evocative and expressive instrumentalism and a serenity that holds firm even at the most raucous moments. Full of righteous twists and unexpected divergences, it nonetheless boasts an overarching groove and the depth of approach that fans know the band will always deliver.
Colour Haze are singular. There is only one. And they are one of the most crucial bands Europe’s heavy underground has ever produced. The ultimate impact of their work is unknowable, since their influence has yet to dwindle, but heavy psychedelic rock would not exist as it does today without them. Their discography is a path traced through landmarks, telling a gorgeous story of growth and commitment to ongoing progression that brings the band to the present day and, hopefully, beyond into a future that is inherently better for their being part of it. – JJ Koczan
Posted in Whathaveyou on November 3rd, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Munich-based heavy psych legends and I mean that Colour Haze will head out on a short run of dates next month tying together appearances at Festsaal Kreuzberg and Truckfighters Fuzz Fest #3 with booking headlining shows that have support from Swan Valley Heights.
ColourHaze go forth in herald of their new album, Sacred (review here) — which is enough of a joy that I’m gonna go ahead and put it on now having just typed the title, ah there we go — and follows other similar stints this Fall. I’m set to travel to Sweden for the Truckfighters Fuzz Fest with the dudes from Kings Destroy, and I am very much looking forward to seeing Colour Haze again (it’ll be my first time since they brought in Mario Oberpucher on bass), even if I’ll have knee surgery between now and then. Oh yeah. Hadn’t really thought of that. Well fuck it. If I have to have a cane I’ll have a cane. Maybe people will get out of my way when I’m taking pictures. Ha.
The four-piece haven’t announced any plans for 2023 tour-wise yet (I don’t think), but I wouldn’t be surprised to see their name show up in the Spring fest season either. That’s a good record. Worth pushing it if they can.
Sound of Liberation put it like this:
COLOUR HAZE DECEMBER TOUR
Hey Friends,
Colour Haze is hitting the road again this December for another run!
Support for this tour are the mighty Swan Valley Heights from Munich.
If you have the chance to see this awesome package don’t miss it!
The big runner-up final will be the Fuzz Festival in Stockholm on the 9th of December – hosted by our beloved friends Truckfighters!
Check out their tour dates below and grab your tickets!
[Click play above to stream Colour Haze’s premiere of ‘Goldmine.’ Sacred is out soon digitally on Elektrohasch Schallplatten with vinyl to follow.]
Even before listening to Colour Haze‘s Sacred, let us assume that there are more than a few things a band has figured out by the time they get around to issuing their 14th full-length. And as regards their sound, what makes Colour Haze who they are as a band, they have. But they’ve also never stopped exploring. Since 1995, each of the Munich-based troupe’s albums has offered a personality of its own, and over time, there has grown to be consistency within that. One expects a certain amount of tonal warmth from founding guitarist/vocalist Stefan Koglek and a low-key clinic put on by not-quite-founding-but-it’s-been-almost-25-years-so-close-enough drummer Manfred Merwald, an edge held over in the songwriting from the jams that bore the songs, and so on.
Since 2017’s In Her Garden (review here), longtime collaborator Jan Faszbender has played more of a role on keys and synth — he ‘officially joined’ in 2018 — and that continues in the seven songs and 41 minutes of Sacred, but for the first time since 1998, the band have a new bassist. Mario Oberpucher, who’s also done front-of-house sound and recording for Colour Haze in the past, makes his first studio appearance here in place of Philipp Rasthofer, who left in 2020. That invariably has an effect on the dynamic of the group as a whole, but as noted, every Colour Haze record offers something different. Sacred — basic tracks recorded live by Willi Dammeier at Clouds Hill in Hamburg; overdubbing, mixing, and mastering by Koglek at his Colour HazeStudio — is more of the same in that particular regard.
In some ways, Sacred might be defined by the directness of some of its songs. Following up on 2019’s We Are (review here), the only single track here that tops seven minutes is “Ideologigi” at 8:59, where on the last album, four of seven did. That doesn’t necessarily make the rest of what surrounds that extended side A stretch more straightforward, just relatively concise. Structures vary throughout as the instrumental “Turquoise” (6:09) leads off with a sunrise unfurling over its first two minutes graceful enough to remind you who Colour Haze are, and a smooth, for-a-walk progression that might just have gotten its name in reference to the title-track of 2006’s Tempel (discussed here), the cover art for which was blue. Faszbender‘s keys add a melody to flesh out around the guitar, and shifts into a spacier synth in the second half of the song even as Oberpucher‘s bass comes forward in the two understated payoffs.
“Goldmine” — which follows and actually is more straightforward — works into its verse quickly and leaves the jam for after, surprising almost with a twist back to the verse later on as the bouncing and careening riff works its way toward the end; Colour Haze are no strangers to songwriting, of course, it’s just a balance adjusted in “Goldmine” toward structure carved around the riffs. The aforementioned “Ideologigi” offers ready contrast of purpose, beginning with a dreamy ambient intro in apparent answer to “Turquoise” just a short time ago and the triumph of a lead that emerges in the song’s first half , and moving into the lyrics that answer the heavy-hippie, anti-materialist viewpoint of “Goldmine,” Koglek dipping perhaps into “Lord of This World”-style Sabbathism as he delivers the lines, “Whatever tale you may call your bible/Even enforce by rifles/Life ignores your rules.”
The entire second half of “Ideologigi” is instrumental and wraps side A, but is not to be discounted as Merwald plays it like low-key Buddy Rich, Koglek tears into an improv-sounding solo, Faszbender casts the awe in organ lines and Oberpucher is tasked and succeeds in holding it all together; take that, new guy. They circle around a build at about two minutes in, cut to another, cut to another, then twist and crash and tease falling apart until swapping out realities at four minutes in and locking around a final cycle through the verse riff to let you know they’ve been in control all the while.
Side B leadoff “Avatar,” with its once-again headphone-ready subdued beginning, finds Koglek entering early with quiet and melodic vocal layers before the signature-style shuffling riff — if a guitar lick could also be a whistle, “Avatar” might be one — casually saunters toward a break and return to the not-quite-standalone vocals before its rousing finish. At 3:38, the instrumental “1.5 Degrees” — a climate change policy target/environmental tipping point — is the shortest inclusion, starting out with acoustic guitar, backwards whatnot surrounding, some noise, but gets its point across with what sounds like a metronome in place of an existentialist ticking clock, and the surge of low fuzz that’s maybe the heaviest-sounding tonality Colour Haze have put to tape assures the message of threat isn’t lost.
That part doesn’t last, but it’s clearly meant to grab attention and it does. Where “Avatar” commented on social media lyrically — and that kind of opining on an issue isn’t new for Colour Haze, but the lyrics do seem to be especially pointed this time out — “See the Fools” picks up from “1.5 Degrees” and speaks to divisions between ideologies more generally: “Turn all upside down by lies and made up truths doesn’t cure no pain,” each word almost in a race with the others to be heard first. “See the Fools” (6:54) and “In All You Are” (6:58) are the two longest pieces on Sacred, and both offer fluidity to match the seemingly intended listener immersion. Faszbender weaves synth or mellotron into the crescendo of “See the Fools” around the wistful but somehow hopeful warmth of Koglek‘s guitar, and “In All You Are” brings a joy of a chorus also bolstered by the organ — bolstered by everyone, really; just generally bolstered — and guest vocals by Julia Rutigliano, who brings emphasis to the delivery of the album’s title-line, directed at the listener.
And if that last message, “My dear/You are beloved/You are the love/You are sacred,” is to be the final impression left by the record, it is an in-character sentiment for Colour Haze, but again, distinct in its expression. It has been an eventful few years, and Sacred was obviously not written in a vacuum. It is, however, invariably put through the filter of the group’s and Koglek‘s craft, organically recorded, and presented with love as the believable foundation.
Even as they partially remake their dynamic — I won’t downplay either the change in having Oberpucher on bass or his performance on these tracks — there is much about Sacred that finds Colour Haze playing to their strengths as a rock band, but whether it’s the moments of minimalist ambience leading into or out of songs, the fluidity of their jams, or the apparently willful defiance of where one expects a given song to go, they continue to delight in finding new ways and new ideas to expand the definition of what they do as a unit.
I’m a fan, and I’ve no doubt said as much before, but Colour Haze are a once-in-a-generation band. There is not another out there who does what they do at their level, who has had their influence, or can claim the same kind of commitment to the creativity as an act of searching. It is right that “In All You Are” caps with a sentiment so beautiful since beauty is a thing wholly embraced throughout. As an entirety, is not coincidentally titled.
Posted in Whathaveyou on August 25th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Let’s take a minute and talk about a new Colour Haze record. I feel as certain as ever that this can be acknowledged as a universal good, by which I mean that Colour Haze‘s music — in a way that is very much their own, despite their influence — makes the world a better place in which to live. So ‘the more the merrier’ is the logic I’m following.
Some interesting things to note, though. Sacred, which follows behind the long-running German heavy psych rock forebears’ 2019 long-player, We Are (review here), will be the band’s first with Mario Oberpucher on bass. Oberpucher was confirmed last year as Colour Haze‘s full-time replacement for Philip Rasthofer, who had joined in 1998, and on Sacred, he joins drummer Manfred Merwald, organist/synthesist Jan Faszbender and guitarist/vocalist Stefan Koglek.
I emailed the latter to see if there were details on the release — let alone hearing it for review — to put out, but haven’t heard back yet. Fair enough. The prospect of a new Colour Haze is enticing as there are few if any other acts in the world able to be both so consistent and so forward-reaching. I would imagine that someone unfamiliar might look at their long stretch of years and be intimidated by the question of where to start.
In the past, I’ve suggested 2006’s Tempel (discussed here) before for that role, but the beautiful truth is that from about the turn of the century onward, there’s no wrong way to go. The best suggestion I can make, maybe ever, is for you to listen to Colour Haze. Whether that’s the more stoner rocking stuff circa 1999-2001 or the groundbreaking heavy progressive psychedelic rock they’ve developed since, jammy here, proggier there, still plenty rocking all the while, I’m content to leave those details in your capable hands.
No new music yet, but if we’re lucky that too will be soon along with the Sacred album release, which looks like digital first before vinyl. Fair.
This came from social media instead of an email newsletter, which is a notable change:
The new album “Sacred” is coming out very soon…!
Here is a preview of the wonderful cover art.
(by Sara Koncilja / Yagasara on Instagram)
Some news about the upcoming album:
Stefan is finished with mixing, mastering is happening right now and the songs will be send to the pressing plant next week!
The vinyl release is scheduled for October, CDs are planned as well.
You can preorder in about two to three weeks on Elektrohasch.
HQ digital download will be released sooner (very soon!) and will also be available there – we will keep you posted!
Posted in Whathaveyou on September 17th, 2019 by JJ Koczan
Come on, Norway. You could let Wino in at this point. It’s been five years. Considering it as a punitive measure, I can’t even imagine how much the loss of European touring income would be in terms of paying a fine. Certainly enough for however much drugs it was he got busted with at the border. Shit happens. Dude took the hit, so maybe time to move on?
It’s a bummer that The Obsessed‘s return trip to the Schengen countries and greater Europe has been nixed on account of ongoing fallout from that arrest, but the band, who also toured earlier this year in the States with C.O.C. and Crowbar, will appear this coming weekend at Descendants of Crom III in Pittsburgh, so the news isn’t all bad. They’ll be more than welcome I’m sure as they take the place of ASG on that bill and join the ranks of Solace, Foghound, Valkyrie and hometown heroes Argus, among many others. That’s pretty much a guaranteed good time.
Wino posted the following through the social medias:
Hello to all our fans and friends .
We are saddened to say that all European Obsessed shows in fall have been cancelled .
The facts are: After an arrest in Norway I was banned from Norway and all the Schengen countries for five years. Its been five years . Recently we found out, only by chance, that the Norwegian govt was not only deceptive about the ability to enter other countries by visa but also intentionally delayed filing my appeal that I filed in a timely manner in accordance with Norwegian law. This added an extra year to the ban consequently keeping THE OBSESSED from being able to play in Europe (UK is not included in the ban).
I feel I have been wronged by these events. I have accepted responsibility for my actions initially but now our hands are tied. Knowledge of these actions by the Norwegian govt only came to light when i arrived in Berlin to play acoustic set at Desertfest earlier this year. After being detained 10 hours i was luckily granted a temporary three day visa, but advised by the German border police of the extended ban etc. We are seeking legal recourse now and will be over to play as soon as we can. Our most sincere apologies.
We will be playing in Pittsburgh Saturday September 21st at the Descendants of Crom III festival. Great lineup….. it’s going to be a kick ass night. See you there.
Posted in Features on December 28th, 2017 by JJ Koczan
Please note: This post is not culled in any way from the Year-End Poll, which is ongoing. If you haven’t yet contributed your favorites of 2017 to that, please do.
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We’re almost at the finish line for 2017, and if I’m honest, it’s not a minute too soon. I think if one more record comes out this year my head is going to explode.
A perpetual onslaught of cool music is, of course, nothing to complain about. It just seemed like every time I thought I had a handle on where the year was going, some other announcement came through and knocked me on my ass. What’s that? The Obsessed are putting out their first album in more than two decades? Oh and Monolord have a new one coming? Radio Moscow just signed to Century Media? Arc of Ascent are back? Samsara Blues Experiment are back? Causa Sui are putting out a live album and a studio album? Sasquatch are going to Europe and sneaking a record along with them? All of a sudden I’m out of breath feeling like I just ran a lap.
It’s been madness this year. Between an emergent neo-psych movement in the wake of King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard and others, and the ongoing and constant reshaping of doom and heavy rock from practitioners new and old, I don’t know how anyone could ever claim to keep up with any of it.
You know I do the best I can, so when you look through this list, please keep in mind that these are my picks and the result of applying my own standard, which if you’ve ever seen a list on this site before you probably already know is a combination of things like what I view as being important on a critical level and things like what kept me coming back as a listener. What were the year’s biggest releases and what couldn’t I get enough of? Sometimes those two things come together around one record and it’s beautiful. That’s usually your album of the year, or close to, anyhow.
No sense in delaying further. I hope if you haven’t heard some of this stuff you’ll give it a shot, and if you have something you felt strongly about it, you’ll let me know in the comments. Thanks in advance for keeping it civil, and of course for reading.
Here goes:
30. Geezer, Psychoriffadelia
Released by Kozmik Artifactz and STB Records. Reviewed May 16.
Coming off of what was their strongest album to-date in their 2016 self-titled (review here), New York heavy psych blues trio Geezer decided it was time to take the groove for a walk. And so they did. Psychoriffadelia is the result — a looser collection of jams and willfully unrefined heavy blues, reveling in the politically incorrect on “Dirty Penny” only after basking in the post-Monster Magnet hypnosis of “Red Hook” and the earlier roll of the more straightforward “Hair of the Dog” and “Stressknots.” Everything Geezer has done to this point has pushed their sound to new places. Psychoriffadelia is no exception.
More than a touch of twang on opener “Heartland” sets a tone of Americana-infusion for Orango‘s sixth LP, The Mules of Nana, but the 10-tracker is ultimately much more about harmony-laced classic heavy smoothness than playing to prairie-minded sensibilities, though roots spread wide through a natural, dirty blues just the same. However they get there, “Hazy Chain of Mountains,” the softshoe-ready funk of “Head on Down” and the peacefully progressive finish of “Ghost Rider” bring ’70s-style thrills in songwriting and their precise, gorgeous execution. Underrated record from an underappreciated band.
Cali boogie kingpins and all-around marvelous frenetic bastards Radio Moscow were in top form on their Century Media debut, and if it was a new beginning they were searching for, they met it head on with a sound as classic and organic as ever. Arguably the most powerful power trio in their game, they tore through cuts like “No One Knows Where They’ve Been” and “Deceiver” while offering flourish in the trip-out “Woodrose Morning” and subdued blues-psych on the penultimate “Pick up the Pieces.” Very much to form, but cast of a form that still manages to outclass all challengers.
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27. Spaceslug, Time Travel Dilemma
Released by Southcave Records, BSFD Records and Oak Island Records. Reviewed Feb. 10.
And so here we have the first of what will no doubt be several records about which I’m going to say they should be higher on the list. Poland’s Spaceslug have emerged from the moist ground created by their own tonality and on their sophomore full-length, they proffered warm depth of fuzz and a corresponding melodic and psychedelic reach that was resonant even before they brought in ex-Sungrazer bassist Sander Haagmans for a guest spot on the title-track. It’s been out for 10 months and still delivers every time I put it on, which is often.
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26. Mothership, High Strangeness
Released by Ripple Music and Heavy Psych Sounds. Reviewed March 7.
Three albums into a tenure marked by hard-driving riffs, scorching solos and relentless road work, there’s little Texas trio Mothership need to do at this point to prove themselves to their audience. At the same time, High Strangeness brought considerable expansion to their range overall, whether it was the exploratory “Eternal Trip” or the semi-metallic insistence behind “Midnight Express,” while staying tied together with lyrical and instrumental hooks. High Strangeness set a new standard for Mothership, plain and simple, and easily surpassed the considerable accomplishments of their 2012 self-titled debut (review here) and 2014’s Mothership II (review here).
There was a lot about Eternal Black‘s Bleed the Days that chugged its way into the post-Wino oeuvre of US-style trad doom, but the gruff, lumbering and impeccably riffed outing was nonetheless one of 2017’s best debut full-lengths, and it was the songwriting that got it there. Already sounding sure in the vibe captured, cuts like the plodding brooder “Sea of Graves” and “Stained Eyes on a Setting Sun” showed potential in mood and atmosphere as much as sheer sonic heft — though of course there was plenty of that to go around as well. Doomers missed it at their peril.
It kind of feels like a slight to have Berlin trio Kadavar appear anywhere outside of at least a top 10 on any kind of list whatsoever, ever, but that’s not my intention at all. Rather, their fourth album and third for Nuclear Blast found them at an important stage in their progression — past the novelty of the vintage feel in their early work, after having proven their songwriting could translate to a modern context, and embarking on a process of expanding their sound. Rough Times, which was as current as current could be, met that goal and beat it easily with a barrage of memorable choruses and a dark streak one could only consider suitable for our age.
The biggest surprise about Shroud Eater‘s long-awaited sophomore long-player was also its most encouraging aspect — namely how it found the Miami trio bringing together various impulses shown on a number of shorter releases over the course of the six years since their debut, ThunderNoise (review here), came out in 2011, and still managed to utterly crush when it so chose. With a swath from sludge to drone and back again, this was no minor feat, and that the songs they brought to bear were so memorable at their heart as well makes me hope all the more it’s not 2023 before their third album arrives.
What’s left to say about Norwegian progressive black metal innovators Enslaved 14 records into their career? Plenty as it turns out. The introduction of new keyboardist/vocalist Håkon Vinje in place of Herbrand Larsen brought a new twist on a signature element of Enslaved‘s approach. Vinje utterly owned his role, and his performance alongside guitarist Ivar Bjørnson, bassist/vocalist Grutle Kjellson, guitarist Arve “Ice Dale” Isdal and drummer Cato Bekkevold resulted in a fresh urgency that made the band’s sound even more potent and set their ongoing creative evolution on a new branch of its self-directed path.
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21. Arc of Ascent, Realms of the Metaphysical
Released by Astral Projection and Clostridium Records. Reviewed April 6.
Some five years on from 2012’s The Higher Key (review here) and seven out from their debut, Circle of the Sun (review here), and with bassist/vocalist Craig Williamson firmly entrenched in his always excellent Lamp of the Universe psych-drone-folk solo-project, I wasn’t sure there would be another offering from New Zealand heavy psych-rock trio Arc of Ascent, but Realms of the Metaphysical took shape from an ether of riffs and echoes atop resilient underlying structures and revitalized the group with new drummer Mark McGeady in the lineup with Williamson and guitarist Matt Cole-Baker. Remains to be seen if this marks a priority shift for Williamson or it’s a one-off, but its arrival was welcome either way.
With the various glories already offered in 2017 on the Live in Copenhagen (review here) 3LP, one didn’t necessarily expect a new studio outing from Danish instrumental psych masters Causa Sui, but Vibraciones Doradas found them as vibrant as ever, bringing forth a surprising amount of tonal weight on songs like “El Fuego,” warm fuzz for the basking on opener “The Drop” and spaciousness on the closing title-track. Somewhat more straight-ahead in its rocking groove than 2016’s Return to Sky (review here), the five-track/38-minute long-player showed yet again why Causa Sui are always welcome and that any news of a new release from them, live, studio, whatever, is good news. This was the kind of record that could make your day if you let it.
The Iowa-based duo of guitarist/vocalist Alex Baumann and drummer Anthony Dreyer, operating as Telekinetic Yeti, released what I considered to be the debut of the year, both for the fullness of its tonality and the accomplishment in songcraft it already showed. Powered by cuts like its lumbering title-track and the gloriously fuzzed runner “Stoned and Feathered,” it could’ve been another band’s second or third record for the level of cohesion on display and the obvious awareness on the part of the band of what they wanted to do with their sound and the just-as-obvious result of their bringing it to life.
While I admit I’m still not 100 percent certain on whether to spell “kozmic” in the title with a ‘k’ or with a ‘c’ on the end, that question did nothing ultimately to diminish enjoyment of Denver emergents Cloud Catcher‘s sophomore outing. Topped off by one of the best album covers of the year, the follow-up to their 2015 debut, Enlightened Beyond Existence (discussed here), took the progressive casting of that record to a place entirely more raw and rock-driven, willfully roughing up the edges even as it showed marked creative growth on a relatively quick turnaround. The must-hear bass tone of “Beyond the Electric Sun” and “Super Acid Magick” was icing on a cake of choice riffing and Hendrixian lead swirl, and the shuffle they elicited was enough to make even the most stubborn of asses (i.e. mine) think about moving.
After the neo-garage manifestations of their 2015 sophomore outing, Valley of the Snake (review here), it was clear Philly psych rockers Ruby the Hatchet were a force when it came to songwriting. What was less obvious was what they’d do with that going forward. On Planetary Space Child, at least, the answer is they’ll take it to Freaktown. The melody-happy, organ-laced swirlmasters conjured presence kosmiche enough to justify the album’s title, and around the cast-in-moon-rock structures of the swinging “Pagan Ritual” and the playfully doomed “Symphony of the Night,” Ruby the Hatchet built a multifaceted weirdoist triumph the likes of which simply doesn’t come along every year, establishing themselves as more reliable and less predictable than ever: an absolute win.
It’s been the case more or less all along with UK forest rockers Alunah that their nature-minded material and heavy rolling grooves have had their haunting aspects, but with the production of Conan‘s Chris Fielding behind it, Solennial — their fourth LP and first on Svart — brought this to new levels entirely. The songs, memorable like footprints in the woods, are somewhat bittersweet in context now, since founding guitarist/vocalist Sophie Day announced in September she was leaving the band, but as the group will move forward led by guitarist Dave Day and recently acquired new singer Siân Greenaway, intrigue remains high at what the future might bring and the impact of Solennial is undiminished.
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15. Mindkult, Lucifer’s Dream
Released by Transcending Obscurity Records and Caligari Records.
Virginia-based doomgazing garage cult solo-project Mindkult has thus far managed to keep some of the mystique around its sole inhabitant, Fowst, which is admirable in a way. As the multi-instrmentalist, vocalist and producer this year answered the promise of last year’s Witch’s Oath (review here) debut, he did so around a swath of purposeful miseries, loose devil worship and other dark thematics, casting an atmospheric darkness matched head-on by the tonal murk of his riffs. Through this, however, the songwriting was no less memorable than on the first offering, and as the project moves forward, one can only hope that Fowst will continue to use that as the core aspect buried six feet under his other, formidable stylistic achievements. That certainly was how it worked out on Lucifer’s Dream.
Behold ye perhaps the most underrated band in heavy metal. Regardless of subgenre, style, strata, whatever, it’s hard to listen to From Fields of Fire and think of Pittsburgh’s Argus as anything else. The five-piece’s fourth album continued to owe part of its sound to doom, but was much more encompassing than simply that, touching on aspects of classic metal with a command that left one wondering how they hadn’t yet been tapped to open for Judas Priest on that band’s next tour. Victory abounds on a per-song basis throughout the nine-tracker, and whether it was the emotional crux of “Hour of Longing” or the catchy fistpump righteousness of “Devils of Your Time” or the 11-minute progressive reach of “Infinite Lives/Infinite Doors,” Argus once again crafted a work nigh-unmatched in poise and class.
For the first outing ever to be issued under his real name, Denmark’s Uffe Lorenzen — aka Lorenzo Woodrose of garage-psych pioneers Baby Woodrose — danced between acid folk singer-songwriterisms like “Flippertøs” and more expansive jamming on “På Kanten Af Verden,” all the while retaining his distinct structural and arrangement sensibilities and creating a flowing vibe that was nothing less than a pure joy of classic-form psychedelia. The most serene and pastoral freakout one was likely to witness in 2017, easily, Galmandsværk resounded in the Mellotron-laced “Høj Som Et Højhus” and was no less at home in the acoustic spaciousness of the earlier “Remits Tyranni,” able to wander where it pleased and find steady ground in molten surroundings.
A welcome return from a viciously underappreciated band, The Flying Eyes‘ Burning of the Season marked the Baltimore four-piece’s first offering for Ripple Music and first since 2013’s Lowlands (review here), a four-year stretch during which the band kept busy touring Europe and South America, the latter also being where they recorded these songs with Gabriel Zander at Estudio Superfuzz in Brazil. The tonal depth resulting from that process was enough to make the collection a highlight, but it was the songs themselves that most stood out, benefiting from the band’s expanded reach and legitimate, hard-won maturity. Especially for a group who’ve done so much work on the road over their years — to be fair, the US has been pretty low priority in that regard — they remain a secret kept too well.
Doomed extremity simply unmatched in its scope. The song of the year for 2017. An accomplishment the likes of which is prone to happen maybe once or twice in a generation. None of this seems to really speak to the entirety of the achievement that is Bell Witch‘s Mirror Reaper — the single-song, 83-minute full-length issued by the Seattle duo like a challenge in the face of mortality itself. Beautiful, devastating and weighted like the grave, its sprawl utterly consumed the listener, and I firmly believe it will be years before its depths are fully processed. Some offerings are bigger than the year in which they’re released. Mirror Reaper would seem to function on a scale of its own, and though it could easily be read as a litmus test for audience punishment, the truth of the listening experience is both more emotionally complex and more fulfilling than simple hyperbole can capture.
The story all along with Gothenburg’s Monolord has been tone. Tone tone tone. Crush crush crush. Riffs riffs riffs. Nothing wrong with any of that, but their third album, Rust, proves once and for all that there’s more to the trio than “cool riffs bro” and post-Electric Wizard nod. Catchy cuts like “Dear Lucifer” and rolling opener “Where Death Meets the Sea” brought a sense of space leading to the later sprawl of “Forgotten Lands” and “At Niceae,” and the band settled into an individualized, lumbering psychedelia that moved forward from 2015’s Vænir (review here), not leaving behind the heft that earned them their reputation, but not at all being limited by it either in scope or overall approach. Three records in, Rust brought forth Monolord‘s greatest sonic expansion yet and gave rise to the feeling that their true potential was just starting to come to fruition. Also, crush crush crush. Cool riffs, bro.
The Sunken Djinn is Vokonis‘ second full-length in as many years, and in addition to serving as their Ripple debut where 2016’s Olde One Ascending (review here) landed via Ozium Records, it was a feast for hungry riff hounds. In defiance of its quick turnaround, it showed a firm evolution taking place within the upstart Swedish trio of guitarist/vocalist Simona Ohlsson, bassist/backing vocalist Jonte Johansson and drummer Emil Larsson, whose range overall was greater in tracks like “Rapturous” and the torrential “Blood Vortex” while nonetheless controlled in its delivery. Their Sleep-y origins still a factor sound-wise, Vokonis were able just the same to push themselves ahead into new sonic ground in fittingly lumbering fashion, and the character they brought to “The Sunken Djinn,” “Calling from the Core” and the noise-caked “Maelstroem” seemed to speak to a burgeoning sense of atmospheric focus taking hold as well. Still so much potential here.
Do I even need to remotely justify having Electric Moon‘s first studio album in six years on this list? Was it not just like a love-letter issued by the cosmos itself? What more explanation could possibly be necessary? Not that the German trio haven’t dropped copious, glorious live outings all the while, but to have Dave “Sula Bassana” Schmidt, “Komet Lulu” Neudeck and Marcus Schnitzler follow-up 2011’s The Doomsday Machine (review here) with four cuts culminating in the 22-minute sprawl of “(You Will) Live Forever Now” was high on the list of the year’s most satisfying psychedelic journeys. Constantly exploring, their methods always seem geared toward finding the molten essence of space rock itself, and though the songs on Stardust Rituals were a little more crafted than some of their straight-up improv jams, they nonetheless showed there are many avenues one might take to get to the heart of the sun.
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7. Sun Blood Stories, It Runs Around the Room with Us
This one is personal, and by that I mean I love this fucking band. Similar to my experience with their 2015 sophomore outing, Twilight Midnight Morning (review here), the third record by Boise-based trio of Ben Kirby (vocals, guitar, synth, percussion), Amber Pollard (vocals, guitar, theremin, percussion) and Jon Fust (drums, keys, percussion, noise) was one that I simply could not put down. Even now, seeing the name of the record is all I need to have songs like “The Great Destroyer” and the immersive midsection in “Come Like Rain” and “Time Like Smoke” stuck in my head, let alone the ultra-brazen, searingly-pissed “Burn” noise assault that finished the album and in the span of 90 seconds turned all the psychedelic warmth and serenity on its face with a visceral anger completely unforeseen and jarring, turning it from a depth-laden execution of adventurous neo-psych and indie into a project of conceptual artistry with all the efficiency of the chemical reaction it sought to portray. If you missed it, your loss.
Songs like “Alaskan Thunder Fuck,” “Humble Brag” and “Earth Shaker (Which Doobie U Be?)” assured that the defining character of Force Field, the sixth album from New Jersey’s The Atomic Bitchwax, was pure scorch. That made the 12-cut outing a more than worthy follow-up for 2015’s Gravitron (review here), which introduced this more speed-rock-minded, aggressive delivery from the tight-as-nails trio, and while they proved they could still lock in a slower groove on the organ-topped finisher “Liv a Little,” head-spinners like the instrumental “Fried, Dyed and Layin’ to the Side” and “Houndstooth” came across like the fruit of the band pushing themselves to the limits of their physical ability in terms of tempo, and their ride along the edge of that line brought thrills at every turn. And make no mistake, there were a lot of turns. Fortunately, bassist/vocalist Chris Kosnik, guitarist/vocalist Finn Ryan and drummer Bob Pantella seemingly had a corresponding hook in their pocket for each one of them. This band is a national treasure.
Warm, fuzzy tones, rhythmic shifts right out of classic progressive rock, melodic intricacy and periodic excursions into glorious psychedelic drift: I’m not sure what wasn’t to like about Inerte, Atavismo‘s second full-length behind 2014’s Desintegración (review here). Comprising five tracks of unmistakable flow and jam-laden fluidity, it was immersive with landmarks along the way to keep the listener from getting too lost, and whether or not one spoke Spanish, the three-piece of Jose “Poti” Moreno (ex-Viaje a 800, Mind!), bassist/vocalist Mateo and drummer/vocalist Sandri Pow (also ex-Mind!) made it easy to follow along their purposefully meandering path, offering guidance no less skillful on the 11-minute fuzz-freaker “El Sueño” than the dream-toned linear build of “Belleza Cuatro.” There were very, very few albums I listened to more this year than this one, which is precisely why it is where it is on this list.
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4. Samsara Blues Experiment, One with the Universe
Released by Electric Magic Records and Abraxas Records. Reviewed May 4.
Four years between records isn’t at all an unheard of stretch. It’s not the longest on this list by any means. But with Berlin heavy psych rockers Samsara Blues Experiment, it really seemed like the band was done, so to have them come back with such force on One with the Universe was, as I know I said at several points throughout the last 12 months, one of the year’s total highlights. Tracked by former bassist Richard Behrens, the group’s fourth album answered the extended-track spread of 2013’s Waiting for the Flood (review here) with a deeper sense of sonic variety, and while the 15-minute title-cut and opener “Vispassana” still had plenty of room for jamming out and even six-minute centerpiece “Glorious Daze” found room for some flourish of organ and sitar, guitarist/vocalist Christian Peters, drummer Thomas Vedder and bassist Hans Eiselt rightly featured the chemistry they’ve built as a trio live and brought to the songs a renewed sense of vigor, sounding — and hopefully being — truly inspired. Waiting for the Flood capped a period of marked productivity across several years. Fingers crossed One with the Universe begins that cycle anew.
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3. Elder, Reflections of a Floating World
Released by Armageddon Shop and Stickman Records. Reviewed May 23.
You just can’t consider Elder‘s Reflections of a Floating World outside the context of the progressive achievement that was their prior outing, 2015’s Lore (review here). Where the trio — based now between Massachusetts and Berlin, Germany — took their first two outings, 2008’s self-titled debut (discussed here) and 2011’s Dead Roots Stirring (review here), to find their sound, which they began to showcase on the 2012 Spires Burn/Release EP (review here), it was Lorethat brought to fruition the potential that had always been waiting to be unleashed by the trio of guitarist/vocalist Nick DiSalvo, bassist Jack Donovan and drummer Matt Couto, and Reflections of a Floating Worldhad the daunting task of being the next further step from that landmark moment. To say the band rose to the occasion is perhaps to undersell the cohesion at work in consuming-but-cohesive pieces like opener “Sanctuary” or “Blind” or “Staving off the Truth,” which brought together clear-headed psychedelia around a wash that seemed to stem as much from rhythm as melody. As they’ve matured stylistically and become a major touring presence, Elder have made themselves perhaps the most pivotal American heavy rock act going, and Reflections of a Floating World brings them to the discovery of yet another apex while at the same time giving zero indication it will be the last one they find.
Of course, the bonus of writing about Colour Haze in just about any context is that you get to put Colour Haze on while you’re doing it, and in the case of the 12th LP from these Munich heavy psych forebears, that’s an even more appealing prospect. After stripping down some of the arrangement flourish with 2014’s To the Highest Gods We Know (review here), the 13-track/73-minute 2LP In Her Garden brought a revitalized sonic expansion, but as ever, it wasn’t just the horns or the strings or the blend of keys and acoustics that made In Her Garden the unbridled joy that it was and continues to be — it was the underlying performance from guitarist/vocalist Stefan Koglek, bassist Philipp Rasthofer and drummer Manfred Merwald that gave the album the stem on which its garden grew. That’s not to say Jan Faszbender‘s work on modular synth, Rhodes, and Hammond or the arrangements of strings, tuba, bass-clarinet and trombone throughout hurt anything, just that as Colour Haze have grown into incorporating these elements into their groundbreaking aesthetic, they haven’t left behind the organic chemistry and necessary live feel that has helped them influence a generation of followers over their more than 20-year career. One came through as much as the other on In Her Garden, and that balance gave the overarching warmth of their self-recorded tonality yet another level on which to engage their audience. I’ll be a sucker for Colour Haze for as long as I live, and I have absolutely no problem admitting to and owning that.
It was clear early on that Nashville four-piece All Them Witches were contending hard for Album of the Year with Sleeping Through the War, their fourth long-player and second for New West following the mellow vibes of 2015’s Dying Surfer Meets His Maker (review here). What finally sealed it? The songs. Working with producer Dave Cobb, the each-member-essential lineup of bassist/vocalist Michael Parks, Jr., guitarist Ben McLeod, key-specialist Allan van Cleave (Rhodes, Mellotron, piano, organ, etc.) and drummer/graphic artist Robby Staebler solidified their approach in exciting new ways on early cuts like the grunge-crunching “Don’t Bring Me Coffee” and the shuffling “Bruce Lee,” which hit in succession following the fluid lead-in of opener “Bulls,” an introduction of the organic psychedelia and heavy blues that the loose-swinging of “3-5-7″‘s nigh-on-gospel chorus and subsequent, almost maddeningly catchy “Am I Going Up?” would continue to push outward, thereby setting a linear course into a consciousness-capturing side B with “Alabaster” and the jammier “Cowboy Kirk” and “Internet” playing between melodic nuance and mindful, go-with-it drift. The unflinching strength of the material was matched perhaps only by the understatement of its delivery, which was the more staggering considering how easily the arrangements of background vocals on “Am I Going Up?” or “3-5-7” could have come through as overblown or self-indulgent, and by the time they got down to the light weirdo-bluesy stomp of “Internet” — the key lyric and hook being, “Guess I’ll go live on the internet” — there was no doubting the genuine nature of the realization Sleeping Through the Warrepresented for All Them Witches. Coupling that feeling of achievement with the sheer repeatability of the listening experience itself left no doubt that 2017 belonged to these tracks and the marvelous way the band wove between them, and that whatever other sounds All Them Witches may go on to explore and whatever else they may accomplish as a result, Sleeping Through the War was a truly special moment in their evolution that, as with the best of offerings in any year, will continue to resonate long after the calendar page has turned.
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The Next 20
You know, I used to feel like once you got past a top 20, the numbers were arbitrary. Then I felt that way about the top 30. This year, I think I agonized more about what to include in numbers 31-50 than I did between 30 and the album of the year. Put that in your “go figure” file while you chew on these picks:
31. Cities of Mars, Temporal Rifts
32. The Midnight Ghost Train, Cypress Ave.
33. Snowy Dunes, Atlantis
34. Rozamov, This Mortal Road
35. PH, Eternal Hayden
36. Sasquatch, Maneuvers
37. Young Hunter, Dayhiker
38. The Devil and the Almighty Blues, II
39. Ufomammut, 8
40. John Garcia, The Coyote Who Spoke in Tongues
41. Paradise Lost, Medusa
42. Beastmaker, Inside the Skull
43. Arduini / Balich, Dawn of Ages
44. Primitive Man, Caustic
45. Motorpsycho, The Tower
46. Arbouretum, Song of the Rose
47. Hymn, Perish
48. Youngblood Supercult, The Great American Death Rattle
49. Pallbearer, Heartless
50. Dool, Here Now There Then
There’s so, so much good stuff here. So much. The Cities of Mars debut was a treasure and the only reason it wasn’t on my top debuts list was because I haven’t had the chance to go back in and put it on. The Young Hunter record? Some of their best work yet. Hell, that Arduini / Balich album alone! Then you’ve got huge releases by Pallbearer, Ufomammut, Paradise Lost, Primitive Man, on and on. Like I said at the outset, one more album and my head was gonna explode this year. Way too much to ever hope to keep up with. One thing though I felt like I really wanted to emphasize including was Dool. They’re in the last spot, but make no mistake, in atmosphere and songwriting that album was something really special and loaded with potential. It’s not there because it came in last. It’s there to highlight the point of how much it should be on this list.
What’s that? More records? Okay…
Honorable Mentions
In case you also weren’t completely overwhelmed this year, maybe another batch of records will do the trick. Here’s some presented alphabetically:
Anathema, The Optimist
Blackfinger, When Colors Fade Away
Child, Blueside
Cortez, The Depths Below
Demon Eye, Prophecies and Lies
Elbrus, Elbrus
Electric Wizard, Wizard Bloody Wizard
Ecstatic Vision, Raw Rock Fury
Five Horse Johnson, Jake Leg Boogie
Mirror Queen, Verdigris
The Obsessed, Sacred
T.G. Olson, Foothills Before the Mountain
Outsideinside, Sniff a Hot Rock
Queens of the Stone Age, Villains
Siena Root, A Dream of Lasting Peace
Six Organs of Admittance, Burning the Threshold
Steak, No God to Save
Summoner, Beyond the Realm of Light
Valborg, Endstrand
With the Dead, Love from With the Dead
Plus: Abronia, Lewis and the Strange Magics, Iron Monkey, Band of Spice, Puta Volcano, Galley Beggar, Heavy Traffic, Coltsblood, REZN, Green Meteor, Demon Head, Lord, Grigax, The Raynbow, Carpet, Norska, Les Lekin, Slow, Ixion, and I’m sure more that I’ll add as the names continue to pop into my head.
I did this back in June as well, but I also want to draw attention to a swath of quality live albums that came out this year. The top pick should be no surprise if you’ve been hanging around the site of late:
Live Albums:
1. SubRosa, Subdued Live at Roadburn
2. Causa Sui, Live in Copenhagen
3. Slomatics, Futurians Live at Roadburn
4. My Sleeping Karma, Mela Ananda – Live
5. Wight, Fusion Rock Invasion
5. Death Alley, Live at Roadburn
Thank You
It’s been a hell of a year, obviously. Musically and otherwise. As always, I cannot possibly come close to thanking you enough for your incredible and ongoing support of The Obelisk, of what this site is, what it’s become over its nearly nine-year run, what it will continue to become going forward from here. It is astounding to me and deeply humbling that you would possibly take time out of your busy day and your busy life to check out what’s going on here, and words fail me continually when it comes to feeling like I can properly convey my appreciation for that. Thank you for reading. Thank you for reading. Thank you for reading. Tattoo it on my forehead.
Thank you to The Patient Mrs. for understanding how much I need to be doing this, to Slevin for keeping the site running on the technical end, to Behrang Alavi for taking over hosting earlier this year, to my family for their ongoing support, to The Pecan for sleeping late some mornings and giving me time to write, and to everyone who ever shared a link on social media or made a comment on a post or anything like that. To long-time readers and to newcomers alike — thank you so much. This year has seen a fair share of ups and downs, but the support this site gets sustains me in ways I never expected it could, and that would be impossible without you. Please know how crucial that is to me.
Well, that should do it. I know there are probably disagreements about where things landed on the list, what was included, what was left out, etc., as there always are. All comments are of course welcome — only thing I’d ask is you please keep it civil and respectful of the opinions of others. Otherwise, have at it. Please.
