More than any other single release, Saviours‘ Warship to me epitomizes the generational changeover that began to take place around the mid-2000s in heavy music. Released in 2005 through Level Plane Records, it ran only three songs — “Circle of Servants’ Bodies,” “Christ Hunt” and “Satanic Scriptures” — and was raw to a point of scathing, and yet clearly had its underpinning in heavy rock and doom. More than anything else, it was brash. This was not a humble arrival of a band looking to make their mark. “Circle of Servants’ Bodies” thuds and crashes in with drums, and lumbers its start into the sort of riff that would become the staple diet of a next league of heavy rock and rollers. Saviours had all the swagger of punks who didn’t know what they were doing and an inimitable ferocity born of youth. It’s not that Saviours were the only band out there coming up — it was, as noted, a generational changeover — but Warship was singular in its arrogance.

Who were these kids from Oakland? What right did they have to come out nowhere and play metal like that? Was it even metal? How could it not be?

The gatekeeping at the time was rampant: “Hipster metal.” I dug Saviours but there were plenty of their ilk that seemed to sell it too hard, to posture as though to carry forth a lack of cred, the style over substance. Intervening years would inevitably weed many out, but even by then the rise of other acts to prominence was largely unstoppable. If you’re reading this, you likely don’t need me to narrate the history for you, but the era of heavy rock in which we now exist — the Age of Bandcamp? what else to call it? — set itself forth in the wake of bands like Saviours as its leading ambassadors, eventually rising to take the place of many of the soon-to-be-aged-out statesmen that accused the hipsters of not knowing how to riff because their hair was parted differently or they drank PBR knowing they could afford better.

None of that ever mattered and it certainly doesn’t now. History is written by the victors and the hipsters were right. Just listen to the screams on “Circle of Servants’ Bodies,” the way they seem to gurgle up from the cleaner shouts. You can almost hear the band gnashing its collective teeth. And “Circle of Servants’ Bodies” is the longest and most complex track on Warship. At just over four minutes. Neither “Christ Hunt” nor “Satanic Scriptures” hits three, thrashing and bashing their way through their brief run like the EP is in a hurry to end so the band can get on with the next round of slaughter. Comprised then (I think) of guitarist/vocalist Austin Barber, guitarist Tyler Morris, bassist Cyrus Comiskey — who had also done time in Man’s Ruin Records veterans Drunk Horse a few years earlier — and drummer Scott Batiste (now also in Ides of Gemini), Saviours proved that the genre distinctions of the past weren’t going to cut it and that the lines between metal and rock, thrash and punk and heavy and not were just more stuff to be stomped on their way by.

The first time I recall seeing Saviours was at a record store in Austin, Texas, that was a converted house off the beaten path of Sixth Street and its various celebrations during SXSW. I’m pretty sure it was 2005 because I wound up walking away with a poster of the Warship artwork and they didn’t play for all that long. It was daytime, and they were essentially in a living room, filled with wood bins of CDs, and they were so fucking loud. Stupid loud. Painful volume. I don’t remember what songs they played — I’d assume EP tracks and maybe something that wound up on their 2006 debut LP, Crucifire — but holy crap did the floor shake. Vicious intent, and true to the EP’s title, they seemed to bring the pun on “worship” and a ship of war to life. Unless you were a well-adjusted individual who somehow happened into the room on your way to work or wherever it is well-adjusted people are en route to, I cannot see a way you would’ve left that show not being a fan of the band.

Looking back at the archive, it’s apparently been five years since I last wrote about the band, reviewing (late) their 2015 album, Palace of Vision (review here). They toured to support that record alongside Corrosion of Conformity, Brant Bjork and Mothership, but haven’t been heard from much in the years since. Palace of Vision was their fourth LP, behind 2011’s Death’s Procession, 2009’s Into Abaddon and the aforementioned Crucifire. The last time I saw them was with Clutch in 2012 (review here), and I remember them favorably. In the pantheon of shows I didn’t see for various reasons over the years, I’m sure there are plenty of Saviours gigs I can feel punk rock guilt for not attending.

Righteous as it was and remains, Warship didn’t necessarily represent the band that Saviours wanted to be or became. Even by the time they got the first record out, still on Level Plane, before signing to Kemado and eventually Listenable, their sound was evolving in a cleaner direction that allowed for the refinement that would take place over the better part of the next decade. Their affinity for heavy metal never dissipated, however, and by the time they got around to Palace of Vision, their command of their songwriting and sonic intent. Production from Billy Anderson never hurts either.

I don’t know what’s up with Saviours now, if they’re still “active” in terms of putting new stuff together or if they’ll return after the pandemic wanes or what. Maybe they ran their course. That happens, and with so much of everything in flux, you won’t find me speculating. They could announce a new record tomorrow, or never. Either way, Warship still stands as a testament to the moment of its arrival, and its urgency continues to ring true in understated accomplishment.

As always, I hope you enjoy.

—

Most of the week was spent in a daze, to be honest. Last weekend was recovery from the hospital stay with The Pecan and his fractured skull. He was off from (pre-)school on Monday and back on Tuesday. We got a note from one of the aides in his class that he refused to hold the railing on his way off the bus and didn’t want to hold hands either. “Could you please do something about this?” was the gist of the thing. Yeah, let me get right on that. Maybe if I could do something about it, my three year old wouldn’t have fractured his fucking skull.

We did not hear anything else about it, but from what I saw putting him on the bus, he continued to flat out refuse the railing. Dude comes by stubborn as honestly as he possibly could.

He’s got his follow-up with the neurosurgeon today. We kept him out of school basically so I could give him a bath beforehand and not put him in a panic when I went to pick him up early for the appointment. He gets so set in routines, and sometimes it’s good to mess with that — you need to, otherwise you’ve got this kid running your house with toddler logic and fascist intensity — but for something like this, where he’s clearly trying all week to process what happened to him, I’d rather just have him miss the day of tracing letters, which he does at home anyway, than upset him by showing up where I don’t belong. Just trust me when I say that it makes sense for him and would be a big deal, even though it seems like nothing.

I’m writing this as he’s in the bath, playing with himself in the carefree manner of a human without inhibitions. I got up at six and worked on the above, took a break for breakfast with him and then went back to it for a little bit before throwing him in the tub. Minus the throwing. He’s in good spirits today, which is a relief. Most of yesterday was rough, and the day before, as he’s been working back and forth between rounds of Tylenol.

It’s hard to remember he was in the pediatric ICU last weekend until I look at his chest and still see the outlines of the stickies they put on to monitor his vitals. Those will come off eventually. And the bruise from his IV. That’ll go away too.

Today I get my second shot of the COVID-19 vaccine. That’s at 4:33. I need to photocopy my insurance and drivers license and fill out some form. Whatever.

I’m already looking forward to next week, a couple good records I’ll be reviewing: specifically Genghis Tron and Greenleaf. Mars Red Sky are doing a stream today and there’s the Stoner one tomorrow and I’m looking forward to both, despite the drama surrounding the latter.

New Gimme show today 5PM Eastern. It’s a good one.

Between that, the Weirdo Canyon Dispatch for Roadburn Redux and impending PostWax liner note projects, I’m feeling suitably overwhelmed. I’ve also uploaded vocals for a third song with the new project that seems to be taking shape. The second one came back and turned out way, way better than I thought I’d would given the poorly recorded raw tracks I sent over. Might be a band? Might need a name? Something organic. I don’t know.

I wish you a great and safe weekend. Hydrate. Watch your head. All that fun stuff. Back on Monday, and thanks for reading.

The Obelisk Forum

The Obelisk Radio

The Obelisk merch

This, I suppose, is where things get interesting. As I normally would’ve been putting these reviews together, my laptop decided it had apparently had too much of riffs and decided to unceremoniously shit the bed. Naturally, this is a bummer of considerable proportion. As to what it means to the rest of this Quarterly Review, I guess we’ll find out over the next two days. For now I’m using an old machine of The Patient Mrs.‘ which, among other charms, has no battery in it and can only run when plugged in. Hope that cable doesn’t come loose. A goodly portion of the music I was going to review in this and tomorrow’s batch, of course, is on my busted, hopefully-soon-to-be-repaired laptop, but with Bandcamps and the fact that it’s not my first time hearing any of these records, I should be able to get by. Still, an element of adventure. Unexpected and shitty. Whether it’s repair or replace, I do not anticipate it will be a cheap fix, so I’ll relieve stress the best way I know how, which is by reviewing 10 albums in a row.

Quarterly Review #31-40:

Saviours, Palace of Vision

Strange to think of the decade that has passed since Oakland dual-guitar four-piece Saviours offered up their first EP, Warship, and yet it’s difficult to imagine the sphere of underground heavy rock without them. Particularly on the West Coast, their skate-thrash-meets-thick-grooves has had a marked influence, and their fifth full-length, 2015’s Palace of Vision (also their debut on Listenable Records), affirms their hard-driving take on classic metal even as “Flesh of Fire” and “Cursed Night” show an acute melodic awareness, the latter in doom-caked guitars and a rolling groove that, for many bands, would be enough to base their entire sound. For Saviours, it answers the gallop of the prior “The Beast Remains” and precedes 6:38 closer “The Seeker,” a vast departure from how raw they once were, but another example of the righteousness that has held steady throughout their growth. They’re an easy band to take for granted, mostly because they’re so damn reliable.

Saviours on Thee Facebooks

Listenable Records

—

Dave Heumann, Here in the Deep

The solo debut from underrated vocalist/guitarist Dave Heumann from likewise underrated Baltimore fuzz-folkers Arbouretum, Here in the Deep (on Thrill Jockey) basks in a glow of ’70s singer-songwriter intent, but tends to surprise with just how much is going on at any given moment. A solo album in name, it’s by no means minimal, even though it sometimes veers into guy-and-guitar methods, as on the sweet instrumental “Leaves Underfoot.” Elsewhere, arrangements of strings, drums, acoustic and electric guitars create a rich variety of mood and depth of mix, wistful on “Ides of Summer” and “Here in the Deep,” joyous on “Greenwood Side” and the pointedly psych-folk “Holly King on a Hill.” The seven-minute penultimate “Ends of the Earth” is as close as Heumann – who’s joined by a swath of players throughout, including the rest of Arbouretum on this track – comes to his main outfit stylistically, but by then the context is so much Here in the Deep‘s own and between that and the sonic clarity permeated all the while, it just becomes one more turn on an album that makes difficult ones seem effortless. Heumann remains a more accomplished songwriter than people know.

Dave Heumann on Thee Facebooks

Thrill Jockey Records

—

The Dead Nobodies, The Wake

Between their underlying currents of grunge in the guitar, metal in the drums and an air of Foo Fighters in the vocals (“Blues in You”), Massachusetts trio The Dead Nobodies are up front about their ’90s influence. The 10-track, Tad Doyle-mixed/mastered The Wake is their third album behind 2014’s Return of the Tide and 2012’s Ride in with Death, and some of the material has been released by the band before on demos and other short offerings. Still, there’s an air of cohesion to the melodies that surface in “Somatic Complaints,” “Pancakes” and the later “Joel Returns.” Self-released on CD, the album eschews the trappings of genre – or at least of subgenre – for the most part and takes a more overarching approach to not-quite-metal, but what they’re doing seems to work for them, so I’m not inclined to argue. More hard rock than heavy rock for those inclined to split hairs, but accessible enough anyway.

The Dead Nobodies on Thee Facebooks

The Dead Nobodies on Bandcamp

—

Old Man Lizard, Old Man Lizard

Making their debut on Heavy Psych Sounds, UK-based Old Man Lizard revisit a 2012 EP with what’s become their self-titled sophomore full-length. All the tracks from that five-song outing are included here, the order adjusted, and two more are added on in the closing duo “Craniopagus Parasiticus” and “A Gruesome Mess,” and what I don’t know is if the entire album was re-recorded, or it’s the old recording with two new songs tacked on, or all of it was recorded prior to the release of Old Man Lizard‘s 2014 debut LP, Lone Wolf vs. Brown Bear. It matters mostly because Old Man Lizard is good, and it’s a question of which came first to see how their progression is playing out, whether the techishred of “El Doctor” is the latest step or a first. Either way, the band skillfully brings together twanging riffs, neo-prog post-Mastodon crush and a swing that brings to mind the scope of Elder circa Dead Roots Stirring, sounding even more patient on the aforementioned “Craniopagus Parasiticus” than anything before it. If I continue to have questions about the release, the quality isn’t one of them.

Old Man Lizard on Thee Facebooks

Heavy Psych Sounds

—

Kalamata, You

An instrumental three-piece based in Hildesheim, Germany, Kalamata make their message pretty plain in the seven tracks of their debut album, You (originally released in 2014, with vinyl new from Pink Tank Records), which line up to form the sentence, “You have to die soon mother fucker.” The music is somewhat less aggressive, Peter Jaun leading the trio with open-spaced riffs as Maik Blümke fills those spaces — see “Have” — with an engaging rumble and drummer Olly Opitz holds tension until the gradual payoff hits. Never an easy thing for a band whose sound is by necessity based on dynamic to make a debut, but Kalamata pull off You without a second thought, making the centerpiece, “Die,” a highlight of classic semi-desert heavy rock that unfolds a patient linear build that leaves closer “Fucker” the task of rolling out the record’s largest nod. No doubt this material would make more of an impact live, but particularly on repeat listens, the depth of tone comes across well and the trio match their aggression to a crisp delivery.

Kalamata on Thee Facebooks

Pink Tank Records

—

Unimother 27, Frozen Information

Italy’s futuristically named Unimother 27 – which sounds like the futurebot that raised some dystopian antihero protagonist of a novel/film franchise; I’m sure it’s a reference I’m too ignorant to know – is populated only by multi-instrumentalist and sometimes-vocalist Piero Ranalli. Ranalli, who also plays bass in Insider with his brother, Marco, progs out hard on the solo-project’s fourth full-length and first in eight years, Frozen Information (on Pineal Gland Lab). One expects a certain amount of indulgence on an album of keyboard-laden krautrock explorations, and “Clear Light Healing” certainly delivers on that, but from the opening “Moksha (to Huxley)” through the closing pair of “Hymn to the Hidden God” and “Brief Moments of Eternity,” which features an extended if vague spoken word from Ranalli, Frozen Information remains immersive and, with its quiet, maybe-programmed drums, hypnotic across its span. It is enduringly and endearingly weird, and experimental in a genuine way that most could only hope to be.

Unimother 27 on Thee Facebooks

Pineal Gland Lab

—

Electric Magma, Silverball

The wah that shows up in the second half of “Tad” on Toronto instrumental trio Electric Magma‘s seventh full-length, Silverball, has a distinct mark of Clutchitude to it, but the band owe more to the Fu Manchu pastiche of trad heavy fuzz. Karma to Burn are a name that comes to mind out of necessity more than direct comparison, but the three-piece of guitarist Tim Reesor, drummer Neil Lukewich-Pheaton and bassist Tryg Smith aren’t quite so straightforward, “The Oscillator” tossing a Sleep-style riff into its middle and the later “Sidebar” finding itself on funkier ground altogether. The eight-track/32-minute release seems to set pinball as its central theme, starting with the intro “Silverball” and ending with the harmonica’d “Multiball,” but more than that, they’re preaching a riff-led gospel that the converted should have no trouble getting on board with, the band putting up no pretenses as to doing anything more than having a good time.

Electric Magma on Thee Facebooks

Electric Magma website

—

Mane of the Cur, Three of Cups

Portland, Oregon’s Mane of the Cur would seem to be making a reboot with the three-song Three of Cups EP, some shuffling of lineup establishing them as vocalist Melynda Amann, guitarist Shawn Mentzer, bassist Cory DeCaire, keyboardist “Nasty” Nate Baisch and drummer Blaine Burnham (ex-Lamprey). The five-piece outfit are quick to establish themselves somewhere between classic doom and cult rock, but while Three of Cups doesn’t have the most elaborate production I’ve heard this week, it seems to avoid a lot of the ’70s traditionalism that much of the style embraces so wholeheartedly. That’s not to say the gradually-deconstructed “Kiss of Neptune,” the lightly progressive “Prehistoric Bitch” and the noddingly ethereal “Foolish are Magic” don’t sound natural, just that they don’t sound like it’s 1972. This is to their credit, ultimately, since it only helps Three of Cups give a more individual impression overall, which can’t hurt leading to whatever the band decides to do next.

Mane of the Cur on Thee Facebooks

Mane of the Cur on Bandcamp

—

Major Kong, Galactic Cannibalism

Polish instrumentalists Major Kong oversaw a vinyl release of their 2012 debut, Doom for the Black Sun (review here), in 2014 on Transubstans, but they’re once again working under their own banner for the four-song Galactic Cannibalism, a 24-minute (or thereabouts) riffpusher that’s set its controls for the heart of oblivion and is happy to tone-crush anything in its path. Guitarist Misiek, bassist Domel and drummer Bolek also released a split with Dopelord in 2015 on which the EP’s closer, “Magnetar,” also appeared, but Galactic Cannibalism has them all on their own, and unsurprisingly they nail it. They’re not doing anything outlandish stylistically, but they effectively conjure and capture big riffs and big nod, varying pace between “Supercluster,” “Diabolic Mind Control” and the mega-chugging “Morlock” to give a sense of flow, but keeping in mind the next plus-sized groove, which seems always to be right around the corner. With two full-lengths out, I’m a little surprised they went for a shorter release rather than a third album, but they make it hard to argue.

Major Kong on Thee Facebooks

Major Kong on Bandcamp

—

Hellhookah, Endless Serpents

Lithuanian two-piece Hellhookah make their debut with the full-length Endless Serpents, a seven-track/35-minute collection of tracks that’s shy neither about showcasing its influences — it caps with a cover of Saint Vitus’ “Born too Late,” for example — nor about rolling molasses-thick grooves one into the next. Recording as guitarist/bassist/vocalist Arnas and drummer Gintare, they meter out dense tonality and traditional formulations in the mission-setting title-track, which follows the somewhat quicker opener “A Storm in the Hidden World.” Rhythmically, they add some shuffle to “No Brakes,” “The Overman’s Eye” and even the midsection of “The Way,” which is the longest cut here at 6:34 and presumably the end of what would be a vinyl side A, but the core sensibility and atmosphere of doom is maintained throughout, and as the instrumental “Free Fall” leads into that aforementioned take on “Born too Late,” there’s no doubt as to where Hellhookah’s heart lies. Formative and raw it may be, but Endless Serpents hits its marks as the beginning of the band’s progression.

Hellhookah on Thee Facebooks

Hellhookah on Bandcamp

—

I said at some point after all this madness began that I would probably be posting the same tour dates from the four different perspectives of the four bands involved, and as of this post, I’ve done just that. First was Corrosion of Conformity (posted here), then came Brant Bjork (posted here), the Mothership (posted here), and now Saviours. Think maybe I’m trying to get the point across that this tour is fucking awesome? Yeah, maybe.

As fate would have it, the run is underway now. Saviours are on it supporting their new album, Palace of Vision (review forthcoming), which is out on Listenable Records. They have a couple off-night headlining gigs booked as well, and more dates after the Monsters of Riff is done, so as you peruse the PR wire info below, don’t expect just the same old list.

Dig it:

SAVIOURS: North American Tour With Corrosion Of Conformity Underway

Still building upon the foundation that Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Thin Lizzy and Motörhead laid decades prior, California volume abusers, SAVIOURS, enters their second decade in a new partnership with Listenable Records and their long anticipated new full-length, Palace Of Vision.

Rooted in hardcore punk but preferring to cruise in outer space, SAVIOURS have always brought an infectious swing and swagger to their forward-charging heavy metal. The band melds the prime tenets of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal, progressive rock, and proto-doom, and delivers it all with a snarling, West Coast hardcore edge. The result is a rugged beast of a sound that is singularly SAVIOURS.

Palace Of Vision is the band’s first proper full-length in four years and picks up where the molten manifestations of 2011’s Death’s Procession left off, spewing forth nine fiery tracks of towering riffs, monolithic rhythms, infectious guitar harmonies and an obsession with the end of times, the occult, psychedelics and the arcane. From fast-paced road ragers to lumbering doom pounders, SAVIOURS’ Palace Of Vision is perpetually hell-bent on taking listeners away to an entirely new dimension of volume abuse.

Following the release of Palace Of Vision, SAVIOURS will kick off a North American Fall tour supporting Corrosion Of Conformity and Brant Bjork And The Low Desert Punk Band. The trek will commence on November 16th and run through December 10th with additional support provided by Mothership. From there the band will level ten more stages from December 11th to December 20th to close out the year.

SAVIOURS w/ Corrosion Of Conformity, Brant Bjork And The Low Desert Punk Band, Mothership:
11/18/2015 Slim’s – San Francisco, CA
11/19/2015 High Water Marl – Portland, OR * SAVIOURS only
11/20/2015 Venue Nightclub – Vancouver, BC
11/21/2015 Neumo’s – Seattle, WA
11/23/2015 The Summit Music Hall – Denver, CO
11/24/2015 The Riot Room – Kansas City, MO
11/25/2015 Mill City Nights – Minneapolis, MN
11/27/2015 Rtr 20 – Racine, WI
11/28/2015 The Odeon – Cleveland, OH
11/29/2015 Underground Arts – Philadelphia, PA
11/30/2015 Firehouse Saloon – Rochester, NY * SAVIOURS only
12/01/2015 Opera House – Toronto, ON
12/02/2015 Machine Shop – Flint, MI
12/03/2015 Altar Bar – Pittsburgh, PA
12/04/2015 Gramercy Theater – New York, NY
12/05/2015 Brighton Music Hall – Allston, MA
12/07/2015 9:30 Club – Washington, DC
12/08/2015 Orange Peel – Asheville, NC
12/09/2015 Shaka’s Live – Virginia Beach, VA
12/10/2015 Lincoln Theatre – Raleigh, NC

SAVIOURS Headlining Dates:
12/11/2015 The 529 – Atlanta, GA
12/12/2015 The Nick – Birmingham, AL
12/13/2015 Siberia – New Orleans, OR
12/14/2015 Boondocks – Houston, TX
12/15/2015 611 E. 7th – Austin, TX
12/16/2015 Three Links – Dallas, TX
12/18/2015 Launchpad – Albuquerque, NM
12/19/2015 Flycatcher – Tucson, AZ
12/20/2015 All Star Lanes – Los Angeles, CA

Since the 2005 release of their debut EP, Warship, SAVIOURS has worked relentlessly, touring North America, Europe, and Japan with the likes of Mastodon, Corrosion Of Conformity, The Sword, High On Fire, Saint Vitus and Clutch. In just a few short years, SAVIOURS had risen to become stalwarts of the world’s metal scene, ambassadors of an aggressive-yet-stoned West Coast vibe, inspired by the ‘70s but totally real and relevant in 2015.

Palace Of Vision was captured at Type Foundry in Portland, Oregon with Billy Anderson (Neurosis, Brothers Of The Sonic Cloth, Eyehategod, Taurus, Ommadon etc.) and comes sheathed in the fittingly dark, intricately transfixing cover renderings of Derrick Snodgrass (Obliterations, Lecherous Gaze).

http://www.facebook.com/Saviours
http://www.killforsaviours.blogspot.com
http://www.saviours.bandcamp.com
http://www.facebook.com/listenablerecs
http://www.listenable.net

Saviours, “Palace of Vision”

Click Here to Download

 

[mp3player width=480 height=200 config=fmp_jw_widget_config.xml playlist=aot53.xml]

Yeah, it hasn’t been that long since the last podcast, I know, but my thinking on it was like this: Doesn’t matter. First off, not like anybody’s keeping tabs to see how long it’s been between one and the next. Second, I had the time to do it and I never really know these days when that’s going to happen, so I figured better to take advantage while I could. Third, screw it, it’s music. Who’s gonna complain?

I won’t say I never know what to expect when I put a podcast together like this, but sometimes these things take unexpected turns, and that definitely happened this time. Things got pretty heavy, pretty quickly, and while there are a couple sharp cuts between sounds, I kind of wanted to make that happen to offset how far things got. Noisy, thrashy, doomy, and that’s really all in the first hour, because in the second, it’s pretty much all space. I very much enjoy the second-hour-is-psych-as-hell thing, and I gotta say, this might be the best one I’ve arranged. I’m willing to wager that as you make your way through you won’t be able to tell where one song ends and the next one starts without looking at the time stamps below. Obviously, that’s the whole idea.

Enjoy:

First Hour:
0:00:00 Gentlemans Pistols, “Time Wasters” from Hustler’s Row
0:05:46 Irata, “March by Tens” from Sweet Loris
0:10:25 Skraeckoedlan, “Gigantos” from Sagor
0:17:47 Tombstones, “Barren Fields” from Vargariis
0:27:05 With the Dead, “Crown of Burning Stars” from With the Dead
0:33:23 All Them Witches, “Open Passageways” from Dying Surfer Meets His Maker
0:36:35 Vhöl, “Red Chaos” from Deeper than Sky
0:41:37 Saviours, “Hell’s Floor” from Palace of Vision
0:45:49 Jess and the Ancient Ones, “In Levitating Secret Dreams” from Second Psychedelic Coming: The Aquarius Tapes
0:49:01 King Dead, “The Firmament of Heaven Opened, and the Flood Waters Were upon Them,” from Woe and Judgment
0:57:35 Dave Heumann, “Switchback” from Here in the Deep

Second Hour:
1:01:26 Mammatus, “Sparkling Waters Pt. One” from Sparkling Waters
1:23:19 Valley, “Picture Puzzle Pattern Door” from Sunburst
1:33:16 Humulus, “Red Star, Winter Orbit” from Electric Walrus
1:44:29 Shabda, “Pharmakos” from Pharmakon/Pharmakos

Total running time: 2:04:54

 

Thank you for listening.

Download audiObelisk Transmission 053

 

Already on tour this Fall with Clutch, the semi-reunited four-piece incarnation of Corrosion of Conformity have announced a run of headlining dates to follow that as they continue to mark 20 years since the release of their 1995 classic, Deliverance. At this point, aside from wanting very, very badly to see them play again, I’m curious to find out if C.O.C. will do another record with Pepper Keenan on guitar/vocals alongside bassist/vocalist Mike Dean, guitarist Woody Weatherman and drummer Reed Mullin, or if it’s just going to be live shows from here on out. Rumblings and rumors have been heard, pull quotes from interviews and so on, but that’s a far cry from a release date, and when and if it does happen, new C.O.C. is going to be a landmark.

Already it’s been a decade since the underrated In the Arms of God, which was their last album with Keenan as frontman, the band releasing a self-titled in 2012 and IX in 2014 as a trio on Candlelight Records, so you’d have to say they’re due. Support on this tour comes from Brant Bjork and the Low Desert Punk Band, Saviours and Mothership, all of which only makes it more badass.

Dates follow:

UPDATE 9/16: I’m not sure what’s going on with this tour as some of the dates have disappeared from what’s on the poster below. The most recently-posted list of tour dates appears in blue:

UPDATE ON THE UPDATE: Okay, so it looks like the shows will go down as seen in the flyer below. Something about contracts and what was supposed to be announced and what wasn’t. I’m gonna keep the list of dates in blue as it is, and if your town’s not on there, check the flyer and maybe it’s there and the rest will work out as it will. Fun afternoon though:

C.O.C. US TOUR DATES 2015:
Mon/Sep-28th Motörhead’s MotörBoat
CLUTCH AND C.O.C.
Sat/Oct-03 Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ Revolution
Sun/Oct-04 St Petersburg, FL @ Jannus Live
Tue/Oct-06 Nashville, TN @ Marathon Music Works
Wed/Oct-07 Charlotte, NC @ Amos’ Southend
Fri/Oct-09 Hampton Beach, NH @ Hampton Beach Casino
Sat/Oct-10 Clifton Park, NY @ Upstate Concert Hall
Sun/Oct-11 New Haven, CT @ Toad’s Place
Tue/Oct-13 Indianapolis, IN @ The Vogue
Wed/Oct-14 Chicago, IL @ House Of Blues
Thu/Oct-15 Grand Rapids, MI @ Orbit Room
Fri/Oct-16 Sauget, IL @ Pop’s Nightclub
Sat/Oct-17 Lincoln, NE @ Bourbon Theatre
Sun/Oct-18 Fargo, ND @ Scheels Arena
Tue/Oct-20 Billings, MT @ Shrine Auditorium
Thu/Oct-22 Spokane, WA @ Knitting Factory Concert House
Fri/Oct-23 Boise, ID @ Knitting Factory Concert House
SatOct-24 KNOTFEST
Sun/Oct-25 COC Headline show Las Vegas @ Vinyl Hard Rock
CLUTCH, MASTODON, CORROSION OF CONFORMITY:
Mon/Oct-26 Tucson, AZ @ Rialto Theatre
Wed/Oct-28 Austin, TX @ Austin Music Hall
Thu/Oct-29 Dallas, TX @ Gas Monkey Live
Fri/Oct-30 Houston, TX @ Bayou Music Center
MASTODON, CORROSION OF CONFORMITY:
Sat/Oct-31 New Orleans, LA @ Civic Theatre
Sun/Nov-01 Birmingham @Iron City
HEADLINE DATES
Thu/Nov-12 Atlanta, GA @ The Loft
Fri/Nov-13 Shreveport, LA @ Riverside Warehouse
Mon/Nov-16 Scottsdale, AZ @ Pub Rock
Tue/Nov-17 Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom
Wed/Nov-18 San Francisco, CA @ Slim’s
Fri/Nov-20 Vancouver, BC @ Venue Nightclub
Sat/Nov-21 Seattle, WA @ Neumo’s
Mon/Nov-23 Denver, CO @ The Summit Music Hall
Tue/Nov-24 Kansas City, MO @ The Riot Room
Wed/Nov-25 Minneapolis, MN @ Mill City Nights
Sat/Nov-28 Cleveland, OH @ The Odeon
Sun/Nov-29 Philadelphia, PA @ Underground Arts
Tue/Dec-01 Toronto, ON @ Opera House
Thu/Dec-03 Pittsburgh, PA @ Altar Bar
Mon/Dec-07 Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
Wed/Dec-09 Virginia Beach, VA @ Shaka’s Live
Thu/Dec-10 Raleigh, NC @ Lincoln Theatre

https://www.facebook.com/corrosionofconformity/
http://www.coc.com/

C.O.C., “Seven Days” Live at Roskilde 2015

Here’s one to fry your friggin’ brains: Saviours released their Warship EP a decade ago. 2005. In fact, the upcoming Palace of Vision, which also serves as their debut on Listenable Records after a long stint on Kemado, will be their fifth full-length album. Also their first in four years, but five records in a decade — actually nine years, as their debut LP, Crucifire, arrived in 2006 — is still a more than solid track record, and while I think the Oakland, CA, heavy thrash rockers remain a somewhat underrated entity on the East Coast, their material has remained consistent in its level of impact over that span, growing more complex without giving up its hard-hitting feel.

Their newly-unveiled “Burning Shrine” is the centerpiece of the Billy Anderson-recorded Palace of Vision, so presumably it will give a decent sense of where Saviours are a decade later. Release date for the album is Oct. 30.

From the PR wire:

SAVIOURS To Release Palace Of Vision Full-Length This October Via Listenable Records

This Fall, California metallers, SAVIOURS, will drop the molten fruits of their new full-length this Fall via a new partnership with France’s Listenable Records. Titled Palace Of Vision, their first full-length in four years was captured at Type Foundry in Portland, Oregon with the inimitable Billy Anderson (Neurosis, Brothers Of The Sonic Cloth, Eyehategod, Taurus, Ommadon etc.) and boasts nine tracks of SAVIOURS’ signature brand of towering riffs, colossal rhythms, infectious guitar harmonies and an obsession with the end of times, the occult, psychedelics and the arcane. “It’s a natural and logical continuation of where we left off with [2011’s] Death’s Procession,” said drummer Scott Batiste of the offering. “There are some doomy crushers and faster ragers.” As an added bonus, the record comes sheathed in the fittingly dark, intricately transfixing cover renderings of Derrick Snodgrass (Obliterations, Lecherous Gaze).

Palace Of Vision Track Listing:
1. The Mountain
2. Flesh Of Fire
3. Devil’s Crown
4. Palace Of Vision
5. Burning Shrine
6. Hell’s Floor
7. The Beast Remains
8. Cursed Night
9. The Seeker

In related news, SAVIOURS will bring their riffs to the stage with a pair of east coast/west coast fest performances with additional live incursions to be announced in the coming weeks.

SAVIOURS:
9/05/2015 Cosmic Sonic Rendezvous Festival @ The Wick – Brooklyn, NY
11/1/3015 Day Of The Shred Festival @ The Observatory – Santa Ana, CA

Still building upon the foundation that Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Thin Lizzy and Motörhead laid, SAVIOURS enters their second decade in a new partnership with French label Listenable Records. Rooted in hardcore punk but preferring to cruise in outer space, the lysergic of SAVIOURS hessians have always brought a ton of swing and swagger to their forward-charging heavy metal. The band melds sounds from the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal, progressive rock, and proto-doom, and delivers it all with a snarling West Coast hardcore edge. The result is an absolute beast of a sound that is all SAVIOURS’ own.

Since the 2005 release of SAVIOURS’ debut EP, Warship, the band has worked relentlessly, touring North America, Europe, and Japan with the likes of Mastodon, Corrosion Of Conformity, The Sword, High On Fire, Saint Vitus and Clutch. In a few short years, SAVIOURS have risen to become stalwarts of the world’s metal scene, ambassadors of an aggressive-yet-stoned West Coast vibe, inspired by the ’70s but totally real and relevant in 2015.

SAVIOURS:
Austin Barber – guitar, vocals
Sonny Reinhardt – guitar, vocals
Scott Batiste – drums
Andy Anderson – bass

Palace Of Vision will be released via Listenable Records on October 30th, 2015. Preorders to be unveiled in the coming weeks.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Saviours/142771603462
http://www.killforsaviours.blogspot.com
http://www.saviours.bandcamp.com
http://www.facebook.com/listenablerecs
http://www.listenable.net

Saviours, “Burning Shrine”

Respected purveyor Tee Pee Records will host what they’ve dubbed the Cosmic Sonic Rendezvous on Sept. 5 and 6 at The Wick in Brooklyn. The two-day fest is headlined by Witch and Saviours, and will feature a pair of sets from The Bevis Frond as well as Tee Pee label-denizens Carousel, Mirror Queen and The Skull, as well as Brooklyn natives The Golden Grass and Boston’s Worshipper. Pretty badass to get The Bevis Frond over at all, so yeah, two sets makes sense, and it’s not like Witch play out every day, so mark it down as a win for brand extension and rock and roll in general.

This one doesn’t really need me to sell it. The PR wire brings details:

TEE PEE RECORDS & THE WICK PRESENT: COSMIC SONIC RENDEZVOUS!

September 5th & 6th at The Wick in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Day 1: doors 6pm, show at 7pm. featuring SAVIOURS, THE SKULL, MIRROR QUEEN, THE BEVIS FROND
tickets: http://bit.ly/1KjuqRK

Day 2: doors 6pm, show at 7pm. featuring WITCH, CAROUSEL, THE BEVIS FROND, THE GOLDEN GRASS, WORSHIPPER
tickets: http://bit.ly/1Kjuv82

Welcome to the inaugural edition of Cosmic Sonic Rendezvous! Tee Pee Records has always been proud to offer a lovingly loud collection of the finest rock bands to the world, and it seemed only natural to create a unique event and annually bring together many of our favorites to New York City.

While most of the bands on the Tee Pee roster have a definite guitar-based sensibility, there is quite a range therein that we and the bands are constantly exploring. Fans of underground rock know that they are witnessing a contemporary explosion of creative bands purveying in everything from joyous riff-rock to full-on psych; from the heaviest doom to neo-thrash; from bands who nod to the occult to a new wave of space-rock to bands who hearken to the blues; etc, etc.

We hope you enjoy these two fantastic nights of music, comprised of bands both rising and those that are stalwarts. Some have albums out on Tee Pee, while others we gleefully listen across what is not a great divide. We feel they all represent what is at least one part of the underground rock ethos: you do it because you simply have to, and you love it loud.

See you there!

THE WICK
260 Meserole Street
Brooklyn, NY 11206

http://teepeerecords.com/
https://www.facebook.com/teepeerecords

Saviours, “Final Live” at the DNA Lounge, San Francisco, CA

There has been a lot of quality video from this tour, which Wino undertook with Oakland, CA’s Saviours and Nick Oliveri after the three parties — Oliveri with his band Mondo Generator — opened for Clutch on their annual holiday run leading up to New Year’s 2013. It would also seem to have been the root of Wino‘s recent studio collaboration with Saviours (give me another week or two; we’ll get there) and for the advent of the yet-to-be-realized Royale Daemons collaboration with Oliveri, assuming that’s still a thing in the offing for somewhere down the line. Vague enough? Good.

Point is the tour-as-nexus also yielded much documentation, be it in full-set videos or clips of other on-stage jams between the various players. It must have been a good one, since nobody’s quite let it completely go. Fair enough to revisit, then, as we continue to wind down the Wino Wednesday feature on the march to number 200 in a few more weeks (this is #194, if you’re counting). This time around, it’s Wino and Saviours delivering a killer take on Motörhead‘s “Limb from Limb.”

The clip comes from Los Angeles, was filmed Jan. 11, 2013, at The Satellite, and even this wasn’t the first time Wino and Saviours had jamemd out — the band having brought the legendary frontman on stage at Scion Rock Fest in 2010 as well — but clearly by the time they got out to L.A., they were comfortable sharing a stage together. Of course, the song is the closing track from Motörhead‘s 1979 sophomore outing, Overkill, and it’s no less of a classic than that album as a whole, but Wino and Saviours give it its due, the former hanging onto the microphone in a manner that anyone who saw him with Saint Vitus over the last six years will likely recognize.

Hope you enjoy and have a great Wino Wednesday:

Saviours & Wino, “Overkill” Live in Los Angeles, Jan. 11, 2013