This list could easily go to 20. Or 30. Or 50. The democratization of media and the flourishing of aesthetic thanks to wide-open digital interaction across national and cultural borders has meant that bands in Texas can get artwork from Spain easily — something we’ve come to take for granted in this age of messages flying through space in indeterminate instants. There’s a lot of art out there. A lot of it is very, very good. Not all, but a lot.

In the particular realm of heavy rock and doom, I’ve spent a lot of time this year being discouraged at the continued and apparently flourishing objectification of women. Cartoon tits. Get out of here with that shit. You’ll notice none of the covers on this list go that route. It’s boring, it’s easy and it’s sexist. If you want to establish your masculine dominance, go pull your dick out at the mall and see how that does for you. Putting other people down to make yourself feel bigger is for kindergarten. As human beings, we should be past it.

Nonetheless — and I’d be a hypocrite if I didn’t also note the lack of women on this list — there is a ton of interesting and forward-moving work being done around the world and I think that’s worth taking a couple minutes to celebrate even just a fraction of it. Hopefully you agree, and if you have some favorite art you’d like to add to the list, please hit up the comments.

Ordered alphabetically by artist

Sourvein, Aquatic Occult

Cover by Jordan Barlow. Artist website.

Sourvein‘s Aquatic Occult (review here) was a dense, multi-faceted work, and one imagines that for Jordan Barlow of New Orleans’ Abracadabra Tattoo, part of the challenge was in either finding or creating a design that coincided with that without coming across as confused or off-theme. This bevvy of undersea elements gives us a central figure in a frustrated Neptune with a shark-teeth crown, a human presence in the two diver helmets (is anyone in there?) and highlights the dangers of the ocean with its hammerheads and threatening-looking seahorse, as well as what seems to be a whirlpool and another swirl in opposite top corners. All told, the deep blue and green tones complement the morass of Sourvein‘s sound, raw and natural as it is, and provide moody intrigue to coincide with the wide variety of songwriting on display. Like the album, it is defined in no small part by its haze.

—

Holy Grove, Holy Grove

Cover by Adam Burke. Artist website.

Portland-based Adam Burke is something of a repeat offender when it comes to badass artwork. He regularly posts works in progress on social media and the lushness of his technique astounds me nearly every time out. Holy Grove‘s self-titled debut (review here) was far from the only piece of his a band used this year, but what stood it out most was the balance between nighttime — as seen in the stars and the darkness of the sky and trees — and the aurora borealis that offered such a rich, otherworldly feel. Beautiful, immediately recognizable as Burke‘s, and it pays subtle homage to his and the band’s Cascadian home region with the shapes of the tall evergreens in the foreground, speaking all the more to the beauty of the Pacific Northwest and the classic soul fused into the record itself.

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Duel, Fears of the Dead

Cover by Pol Abran Cantador. Artist website.

How could one not look at the cover of Duel‘s debut album, Fears of the Dead (review here), and not immediately think of the Misfits? And yet, Barcelona-based Pol Abran Cantador, operating under the banner of Branca Studio, brings a freshness to the striking, landmark skull design. The face is off-center, the eyes looking outward. While there’s little doubt as to the visual reference being made, it’s just that — a reference, not an emulation. Treading that balance would be admirable enough for inclusion here, but impact of the piece becomes greater with the distressed look and the deep blood red surrounding, giving dimension as a backdrop, reinforcing the perspective of the figure, and providing Duel with a horror-cinema vibe that begs the question of just what those eyes are staring at.

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Brutus, Wandering Blind

Cover by Maarten Donders. Artist website.

Sometimes something just stays with you. On the surface, Dutch artist Maarten Donders brings forward a pretty simple idea for Norwegian boogie rockers Brutus‘ third album, Wandering Blind (review here). Images from ’60s-style psychedelic pulp horror come to mind — the bat, the spiderwebs, the blank stare on the face, the flowing hair through the open mouth of the skull, the monster eyeballs, the purposefully hand-drawn logo — but at the same time, the execution of these things is so intricate. Look at the bags under those eyes, the black holes where the teeth of that skull should be, the weird bubbles by the eyeballs, and the comic-style lettering of the album title itself, which switches back and forth between capitalized and lowercase letters. Look at the shadowed impression of a vinyl record that encircles the design but lets the chin of the skull and the band’s logo protrude. It’s so immediate but so deceptive, hiding its devils in its details.

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Seedy Jeezus with Isaiah Mitchell, Tranquonauts

Cover by Mr. Frumpy. Artist website.

While it’s true that for this collaboration between Earthless guitarist Isaiah Mitchell and Melbourne heavy psych rockers Seedy Jeezus, the front cover only tells half the story of the full Tranquonauts (review here) gatefold, even 50 percent is enough to justify inclusion here. Put together by Mr. Frumpy Frumpedia, aka Seedy Jeezus guitarist Lex Waterreus, it was one of several artworks this year to feature smaller figures against a grand backdrop — Geezer‘s self-titled and Sunnata‘s Zorya, featured below, come to mind immediately, as well as the last Fu Manchu — but it was the openness of the space itself that Waterreus captured, both on the ground and in the sky, and the atmosphere that brought to the instrumental, jammed-put proceedings on the LP’s two sides, that made it work so well. The humanoid figures — maybe the total four-piece of the lineup? — are so utterly overwhelmed by their surroundings, and yet they seem more than ready to make their journey through them, finding life along what seems to be a barren path.

—

Greenleaf, Rise Above the Meadow

Cover by Sebastian Jerke. Artist website.

Sebastian Jerke has kind of become Napalm Records‘ go-to artist over the last couple years, as his past and upcoming work for the likes of My Sleeping Karma, monkey3, Ahab, The Answer and others can attest, but the strangeness of the natural world, the three-dimensional protrusion of the trees, the layered depths, and the commanding presence of the bear, owl, snake and winged insects standing above it all made his work for Greenleaf‘s Rise Above the Meadow (review here) my favorite album cover of the year. It’s very much in his painterly, somewhat classical style, but the way the light seems to come from the band’s logo and behind the planet, the use of shadow and shading on the trees, and the monstrously blank eyes of the bear and owl give it a depth and narrative that remains nothing short of breathtaking. Clearly a labor of love.

—

Beastwars, The Death of all Things

Cover by Nick Keller. Artist website.

My only question was whether it was the cover for The Death of all Things (review here) I’d include or Keller‘s piece that was used for Child‘s new album, Blueside (review here), but with the context of this very likely being the final offering from New Zealand sludgecrushers Beastwars, the answer was plain. Either way, Keller‘s sense of scale and scope remains immense and he continues to bring a feel of the epic to his work here as he did to his two prior covers for Beastwars, on 2013’s Blood Becomes Fire (review here) and the band’s 2011 self-titled debut (review here), resulting in a more than suitable pairing of visual representation and impact of sound. Rarely does one find an artist and a band so much on the same page.

—

Goatess, II: Purgatory Under New Management

Cover by Göran Nilsson. Artist website.

Charm goes a long way in my book, always, and Göran Nilsson‘s cover for the second outing by Swedish doomers Goatess, II: Purgatory Under New Management (review here), has it in bulk supply. The underlying mischief of depicting the four-piece as medieval-esque saints painted on wood like something out of the Middle Ages — their faces grim with a seriousness of purpose not at all letting on to the tongue-in-cheek nature of the record’s title — with halos behind their heads and scripture in tow, well, it’s got a humor that most doom wouldn’t dare go near for fear of losing the edge of its miseries. For Goatess, however, it works perfectly in conveying an essential piece of where the band is coming from, in that their output in the first place seems to be as much about getting together and celebrating the act of writing songs as a unit as it is worshiping the traditions of the style.

—

Droids Attack, Sci-Fi or Die

Cover by Eli Quinn. Artist website.

While a jpeg of the cover alone doesn’t quite do justice to the full presentation of Eli Quinn‘s artwork for Droids Attacks‘ Sci-Fi or Die (review here), which went so far as to print the title of the record in gold ink on the CD case, feature even more detailed work inside and even go so far as to create an entirely separate artwork scheme for a bonus track hidden on a mini-CD under the back tray under the disc for the album (detailed here), I still find the image of the launching South American-style pyramid as a full diamond taking off — especially with the lights beaming out the bottom — among the most striking of 2016. Reminiscent of Arik Roper‘s detailed style, Quinn‘s cover added depth and purpose to the band’s never-tighter songcraft while also speaking to the love of science-fiction storytelling that drove them to use the title in the first place. Hard not to win with ancient aliens.

—

Sunnata, Zorya

Cover by Jeffrey Smith. Artist website.

Derived it would seem at least in part from a piece called “Erosion of Self,” or at very least of a kin to it, like a lot of Smith‘s work, his art for Zorya (review here) by Polish heavy rockers Sunnata treats light with a religious reverence. Like a Kubrick shot, the sun is dead-center of the painting itself, framed and encircled by gaseous-looking clouds, and as the dawn seems to break over this landscape (or is it sunset?), it becomes difficult to tell where the robed monks end and the rocky protrusions begin. Our eyes are drawn immediately toward the light, and it’s the light that ultimately defines the story here, the way the beams of light shoot outward and turn the desert floor white so that it almost reminds of a body of water as much as a place where nothing seems to grow. Stark but consuming.

—

High Fighter, Scars and Crosses

Cover by Dominic Sohor. Artist website.

This one was so dark, so malevolent, with such a violent bend in its prominent central figure, that it seemed to encapsulate the underlying threat that always seemed to loom over High Fighter‘s Svart Records debut album, Scars and Crosses (review here). Because the faceless blue skin and hanging, stringy hair are so reminiscent of Japanese horror films, and because the heart  in the right hand stands out so much in its silvery tone and because the pattern on the dress/cowl is so intricate, you almost don’t notice at first that it’s blood shooting out of that figure’s left wrist filled with upside-down and rightside-up crosses or that it seems to be veins in the top left corner acting as puppet strings, propping up the entire play. But it definitely is, and that only furthers the horrific, nightmarish imagery surrounding, where even the shaded background seems to want to lure you in with no hope of escape.

—

Bridesmaid, International House of Mancakes

Cover by W. Ralph Walters. Artist website.

Come on. So you mean to tell me you went ahead an reinvented KISS‘ cover for Destroyer with Ohio heavy rockers Bridesmaid dressed as the Village People? Be still my beating heart. The art for International House of Mancakes (review here) offers subversive humor without judgment, winking at the homoeroticism that has always been and likely will always be a part of rock and roll, and ultimately mocks the ridiculousness of the denial of that same homoeroticism. From the hands raised in triumph on either side (an element pulled right from the original KISS cover) to the stacks of pancakes the instrumental outfit is standing on, it functioned as artwork to say so much about the band and was perhaps all the more effective in conveying its message and their message since there were no lyrics to pull in other directions. It’s all right there in your face; bright and brilliant.

—

Because I can’t seem to get out of one of these lists without a series of honorable mentions, I’ll say too that 2016 offerings from Borracho, SubRosa, Inter Arma, Mars Red Sky, Vokonis, Elephant Tree, EYE, Slomatics, Gozu and Black Moon Circle managed to strike on one level or another.

Thanks for reading. Like I said at the outset, this is barely a fraction of the amazing art that came down the line this year. If you’ve got something to add, please hit up the comments.

I guess my only question as regards a new Seedy Jeezus album is when the hell they had time to write it. The Melbourne three-piece have hardly stopped since their self-titled debut came out last year, offering up singles, a 12″ EP, a live record and a newly-issued collaboration with Earthless‘ Isaiah Mitchell (review here), for whose Australian tour they also served as backing band in addition to traveling to Europe to tour on their own, so, what? Not big on sleep, I guess? Maybe they can catch a nap before tracking on what’s been tentatively dubbed Seedy Jeezus II begins in January, but somehow it seems doubtful.

Once again the trio will bring Mos Generator guitarist/vocalist Tony Reed to Australia to handle production duties. Reed worked with the band on the first full-length and has done various mixing and mastering for their subsequent releases along the way.

The band sent the following down the PR wire:

Seedy Jeezus announce recording of the follow up to the debut Seedy Jeezus album will happen in January 2017. Tony Reed (Mos Generator) again will be the man behind the dials capturing Seedy Jeezus.

Since the debut album was released in 2015 Seedy Jeezus have released two 7″ singles, a single-sided etched 12″, a LIVE album from their performance at Freak Valley 2015, and collaborative full-length album ‘Tranquonauts’ with Isaiah Mitchell (Earthless), and had the debut release reissued on Kozmik Artifactz in Germany.

“Seedy Jeezus are absolutely stoked to have Tony Reed on board for the recording of the second album,” said guitarist/vocalist Lex Waterreus. “Tony has great ears which you need when recording, a wealth of experience and an approach that suits us as a band. Tony gets exactly where we are coming from with our music and knows how to translate that to vinyl.”

The current working title for the album is Seedy Jeezus II, but that will no doubt change once the album is finished.

The album will be out mid 2017. Stay tuned!!

http://www.seedyjeezus.com
https://www.facebook.com/seedyjeezuspage/

Seedy Jeezus, “Chasing the Dragon’s Tail” Live at Freak Valley 2015

Plucked from out of the cosmic ether and joining forces for Tranquonauts — maybe the name of the band, definitely the name of the album, possibly also the name of the sleepiest ’80s Saturday morning cartoon ever ported from Japan in order to sell action figures — the pairing of Melbourne heavy psych rockers Seedy Jeezus and Isaiah Mitchell isn’t overbearingly obvious. It’s not like the Earthless/Golden Void guitarist and the Aussie trio of guitarist/noisemaker/graphic artist Lex Waterreus, bassist Paul Crick and drummer Mark Sibson hang out on weekends, what with living on different continents at all.

Together with keyboardist Matt Murphy, the collaborative unit Seedy Jeezus with Isaiah Mitchell execute two 20-minute instrumental vinyl sides, flowing and jammy-feeling, with a story told in seven words across the two titles “The Vanishing Earth” and “Escape Through the Rift.” Hard to be more concise than that, and for two tracks — which check in at 19:57 (opening with the longest song; immediate points) and 19:17, respectively — given to such open-feeling flow and which show no concern with getting anywhere other than as far out as they can go, presumably through that rift, that efficiency speaks to some underlying purpose.

When the release of Tranquonauts through Blown Music and Lay Bare Recordings was announced here, the B-side had a different title, “King of the Lepers,” so it’s not as if these things have been thrown together haphazardly, and the same goes for the sonic makeup of the tracks themselves. While the prevailing vibe drips from being so coated in lysergic ooze, there always remains a sense of intention behind the interstellar exploration in these pieces.

That’s impressive on its own, but becomes even more so when one factors in that Tranquonauts was recorded on two separate continents as well, with Waterreus, Crick, Sibson and Murphy working in Melbourne and Mitchell in California. The two groups have some history together, having shared a stage at Freak Valley in Germany on separate Earthless and Seedy Jeezus European tours and met there, but for not having actually gotten in a room to play, “The Vanishing Earth” and “Escape Through the Rift” are remarkably cohesive, with Murphy‘s keys adding Woo-esque flourish beneath washes of lead guitar early in the opener, bass and drums ensuring the structural integrity of the material remains intact even as it seems most likely to come flying apart later on.

Sibson and Crick turn in showcase performances on both “The Vanishing Earth” and “Escape Through the Rift,” the latter of which begins with a description of a peyote trip sampled by Waterreus. Not so much for the flash in their playing, but for the class of it, how they balance pushing the jams forward with giving the guitars room to ride out the extended solos as the keys bring an added sense of dynamics and melody.

Likewise, the mix — Waterreus edited, Jason Fuller mixed and mastered — is gorgeous. “The Vanishing Earth” consumes with its depth, emphasizing the hypnotic repetitions at play, but it never gets boring or seems to lose its direction. The guitars step back late in the opener to some degree, and keys and effects come forward in a building wash that seems to signal the approaching end, and they ultimately finish quietly, setting up the drift to come on side B as the patient beginning of “Escape Through the Rift” gets underway following and coinciding with the aforementioned sample.

Here again, Murphy‘s keys shine, but the jazzy bass and guitar interplay accompanying isn’t to be undervalued. As one might expect, the two inclusions on Tranquonauts flow together pretty well — there’s no way they couldn’t given their makeup, frankly, unless the record was a complete failure — but there are distinctions in personality between them nonetheless. The opener takes a more active approach, has more push, particularly in its second half, while the closer holds to its subdued swirl into its organ-laced midsection and beyond, feeling even more psychedelic for it.

Granted, as they move through minute 14 and beyond, the freakout emerges until finally layers of what sounds like jet engines overhead bring the song to its conclusion, but even that is a gradual process — you’ll note a kick in the pace of Sibson‘s drums at 15:39 — and in the context of the prior jam, it feels like a natural progression from one to the other. Guitars and keys get fairly maddened by the end of “Escape Through the Rift,” but one assumes our heroes the Tranquonauts make it just in the nick of time and live to battle the forces of, what, squares?, for another day on some other planet, as amp noise rounds out the ending of the LP bearing the same name.

From Waterreus‘ holy-crap-inducing gatefold artwork, to the deluxe edition of the LP including a heavy rock-themed board game, to of course the songs that comprise it, Tranquonauts is a record that’s so clearly driven by the love of its creation that, if one can get down at all on the most basic level, it’s hard not to be won over by it. Will this be the first and only adventure of Seedy Jeezus with Isaiah Mitchell under the Tranquonauts banner? Seedy Jeezus served as the backing band for Mitchell‘s recent solo tour of Australia, so it would seem the plot only continues to thicken. If this is a one-off, though, it’s one bound to be treasured by those fortunate enough to snag it while the snagging’s good.

Tranquonauts, “The Vanishing Earth Pt. III

Seedy Jeezus website

Seedy Jeezus on Thee Facebooks

Isaiah Mitchell on Thee Facebooks

Isaiah Mitchell website

Earthless on Thee Facebooks

Seedy Jeezus webstore

Burning World Records webstore

Blown Music on Thee Facebooks

This week, guitarist Isaiah Mitchell of Earthless and Golden Void heads out on an Australian tour that teams him with Melbourne heavy psych rockers Seedy Jeezus. Today, it’s announced that not only will the two be working together on stage, but they’ve also recorded a full-length album under the banner of Seedy Jeezus & Isaiah Mitchell. Dubbed Tranquonauts, it’s a limited to 500 LP from Blown Music with 100 copies going to Europe to be sold through Burning World Records and a special deluxe edition that includes a board game exclusive to the LP release.

I don’t feel like I’m giving away state secrets when I tell you that I’ve heard Tranquonauts in its entirety and you should do everything in your power to purchase it in whatever version you feel you should. It will be one you would regret missing.

Order pages are up now at Burning World and through Seedy Jeezus‘ store, both of which are linked under the info and tour dates below. You’ll also find a teaser for one of the two 20-minute tracks included that demonstrates my point pretty clearly:

TRANQUONAUTS is Seedy Jeezus with Isaiah Mitchell

Transported straight from Australia, “a journey into prog psych space jams, altered mind states and intergalactic space rock”. Only 100 copies headed to Europe!

To coincide with their tour together, Isaiah Mitchell and Seedy Jeezus: Under the Influence, Isaiah Mitchell (Earthless, Golden Void, Howlin Rain) and Seedy Jeezus are releasing a collaborative album displaying the intergalactic riffage that all have come to expect from a guitar soloing juggernaut and an emerging bright light in the psych-jam genre.

TRANQUONAUTS (both the album title and the name of the collaboration) is an album containing 2 -20 minute tracks. The contents are a journey into prog psych space jams, altered mind states and intergalactic space rock.

Recorded on two continents, mixed and mastered by Jason Fuller at Goatsound in Melbourne. Cover Design by Mr Frumpy.

This will be a limited Edition of 500 ( Worldwide) . At this time there is no intention to reissue this album once it has sold out.

There will be a Deluxe version which is the album in a carry bag with the Board game – Tranquonauts Escape from the Rift, a spage age futristic snakes n ladders with bad trips and wins… a Sew on Tranquonauts patch and a Future SOnic Wars medal in presentation box. All Deluxe album also have the embossed silver Tranquonauts seal.

TRANQUONAUTS are:
Isaiah Mitchell – Guitar, Vibraphone, Toy Piano
Lex Waterreus – Guitar, samples
Mark Sibson – Drums
Paul Crick – Bass
Matt Murphy – Keyboards

Tracklist:
Side A.) The Vanishing Earth
Side B.) King of the Lepers

ISAIAH MITCHELL /SEEDY JEEZUS TOUR DATES
Sept 23 – Melbourne @ The Tote, Collingwood
Sept 24 – Wagga Wagga@ Beer Deluxe
Sept 25 – Canberra @ Phoenix Bar
Sept 26 – Brisbane @ Beetle Bar
Sept 27 – Brisbane @ Tyms ( instore)
Sept 29 – Newcastle @ Small Ballroom
Sept 30 – Sydney @ Newtown Social Club Doomsday Fest w/ Acid King
Oct 1 – Geelong @ the Barwon Club

Order:
http://www.seedyjeezus.com/?post_type=product
http://burningworldrecords.com/item/tranquonauts-lp

http://www.seedyjeezus.com
https://www.facebook.com/seedyjeezuspage/
https://www.facebook.com/blownmusicpresents/
https://www.facebook.com/isaiah.mitchell.96
http://www.isaiahmitchell.net/
https://www.facebook.com/earthlessrips/

Tranquonauts, “Vanishing Earth Pt. III” teaser

Seems to me like time’s kind of short on this one, so I won’t waste a lot of yours. Melbourne heavy psych rockers Seedy Jeezus have issued a one-time-pressing, limited-to-300-copies vinyl edition of their set from the 2015 Freak Valley festival. Titled Live at Netphen, Freak Valley 2015, the LP is a crisp 40-minutes that found the Aussie trio making friends and making waves across Europe that was clearly a landmark moment for them — shit, just look at that pic on the cover; you’re gonna tell me they’re not into it? — and worthy of the deluxe treatment they’re giving it for this for-fans release, tapestry and all.

Yeah, that’s right, tapestry. Dig it:

Seedy Jezeus – Live at Freak Valley 2015 ( x300 Limited Edition Vinyl)

Available on Rock Freaks Green Vinyl.

Hidden in a forested valley in Netphen, Germany, The Freak Valley Festival is a well-loved event that celebrates at its heart: good bands, good people and definitely good times!

In 2015, sharing the bill with the likes of Blues Pills, Orchid, Electric Moon and Earthless, Seedy Jeezus took to the stage on a gloriously sunny afternoon in June with a large curious crowd, interested to see the first Australian band to fly the flag at Freak Valley. It was Seedy’s second show on their first tour of Europe.

Seedy Jeezus were supporting their acclaimed self-titled debut album and they showed everyone that they can pull off their own form of crushing heavy psych rock live, just as well as they can in the studio.

Their Freak Valley Festival performance was recorded and is now presented on vinyl as Seedy Jeezus: Live at Netphen, Freak Valley 2015. The full 40 minute set captures a mixture of their most popular tracks from their debut self-titled album plus the captivating instrumental opus Three Million Light Years. The tracks are a manifestation of the studio versions but have been stretched, jammed and reinterpreted to highlight the frenetic pace of a Seedy Jeezus live set containing mammoth riffage, psych freak outs and sci-fi soundscapes.

Seedy Jeezus during their 40 min set won the crowd over and made alot of new friends and fans who have continued to support and follow the bands progress with each release. Part of the bands performance was also shown on the local German news that night.

Seedy Jeezus, Live at Netphen, Freak Valley was mixed and mastered by Jason Fuller at Goatsound in Melbourne, Australia from multitrack recordings, this album sounds as rocking and brutal as can be expected of any live Seedy set.

Track List:
Chasing the Dragon’s Tail
Wormhole
Three Million Light Years
Pick Up
How Ya Doin
Sun in my Car

Seedy Jeezus Live at Freak Valley will be limited to only 300 copies worldwide on vinyl with no intention of being repressed once it is sold out.

Blown Music in Australia will be releasing as part of the 300 pressings, 50 Deluxe Editions. The deluxe edition will contain the album on Rock Freaks green vinyl with the embossed Deluxe edition seal, a large 80s style fabric wall hanging, 5 promo photos of Seedy Jeezus all contained in a very cool limited edition Freak Valley Festival tote bag…. available from Seedy Jeezus website. Check the links below.

Front cover photo by Laurent Remazeilles / desert-rock.com. All other photos by Ange Strangis , Clemens Mitscher and Lex Waterreus.

http://shop.rockfreaks.de/de/
http://www.seedyjeezus.com

Seedy Jeezus, “Chasing the Dragon’s Tail”

Guitarist Isaiah Mitchell will team up with Melbourne’s Seedy Jeezus for an Australian tour this September. In addition to playing the support slot on the run, Seedy Jeezus will also double as the backing band for Mitchell — known of course for his work in Earthless, Golden Void, Howlin’ Rain, Black Elk Medicine Band and so on — as he performs what’s been dubbed an “Under the Influence” set, featuring decades-spanning covers and some original material as well. Hardly the California-based Mitchell‘s first trip to Australia — Earthless have been more than once, he’s been with Black Elk Medicine Band, etc. — but though he’s sat in with other acts before, to the best of my knowledge this will be the first time he’s toured solo with a backing band. Hard to argue with his choice of accompaniment.

If you’re in that part of the world, note the Doomsday Fest date Sept. 30 with Acid King. That’s an easy bill to get behind.

The tour announcement, courtesy of the PR wire:

Blown Music and Tone Deaf present ISAIAH MITCHELL / SEEDY JEEZUS AUSTRALIAN TOUR SEPT 2016

Isaiah Mitchell (Earthless, Golden Void and Howlin Rain) on tour with Melbourne’s Seedy Jeezus; blazing a psychedelic trail across the east coast of Australia!

Isaiah Mitchell is known for creating and turning on crazy psychedelic jams into journeys that take you beyond the confines of a typical guitar solo. He has gained a reputation as one of the finest psych blues guitarists in the world from his work with Earthless, Golden Void and Howlin Rain. He has previously toured Australia numerous times with his band Earthless and also solo with the Black Elk Medicine Band. Isaiah Mitchell returns to Australia this September playing a string of shows on the east coast with buddies Seedy Jeezus.

Seedy Jeezus are a Melbourne power trio. The description of Pink Floyd meets Black Sabbath at a Jimi Hendrix Experience gig is a close description of Seedy Jeezus. The band is known for breaking off into jams that will extend and evolve the songs into new directions. The adage that no two gigs are the same applies when these guys are onstage. Seedy Jeezus have spent the last five years tearing up stages in Australia and Europe building a strong following both locally and internationally. Their debut album on Lay Bare Recordings ( Netherlands) quickly sold out and has recently been reissued on Kozmik Artifactz in Germany. They head back into the studio to record the follow up album in January 2017.

Sept 2016 Seedy Jeezus will be joining Isaiah Mitchell for his ‘ Under the Influence ‘ tour. This will give fans of Isaiah a chance to see him play songs that have influenced him as a musician since he first picked up a guitar at the age of 8. After performing their own set of blistering psych freakout, Seedy Jeezus will be Isaiah’s backing band as he works through songs from ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s. He will play original material that has been rarely heard here in Australia on any of his previous tours. If you’re a fan of heavy guitar jams and great tunes then this is the gig you wont want to miss. All the shows will be up close and personal.

ISAIAH MITCHELL /SEEDY JEEZUS TOUR DATES
September 22 – Oct 1 2016
Sept 23 – Melbourne @ The Tote, Collingwood
Sept 24 – Wagga Wagga@ Beer Deluxe
Sept 25 – Canberra @ Phoenix Bar
Sept 26 – Brisbane @ Beetle Bar
Sept 27 – Brisbane @ Tyms ( instore)
Sept 29 – Newcastle @ Small Ballroom
Sept 30 – Sydney @ Newtown Social Club Doomsday Fest w/ Acid King
Oct 1 – Geelong @ the Barwon Club.

Tickets from www.blownmusic.com and www.oztix.com.au.

Isaiah Mitchell, Live at Milhões de Festa, Barcelos, Portugal, July 2014

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I put up a podcast last year on the day before Thanksgiving as well. At least I’m consistent. In the US, today is the biggest travel day of the year, and I continue to feel like there are few things better in this universe than hitting the road accompanied by good music. Whether you’re driving alone on your way to see family for the holiday, commuting to work (that one doesn’t necessarily have to be by car, I suppose), going to stand on line for some silly discount item or whatever it might be, I hope you find something here you consider worth bringing along for the trip.

The holidays are always a pretty stressful time — when isn’t? — so once it gets past the initial burst of heft from Tombstones, this one stays pretty mellow for the most part. Deville and Kind rock pretty hard, but once it moves into the Dirty Streets and Old Man Lizard and so on, it’s more nod than headbang, which is accurate to where my brain is at. Looking for something chill in the face of miles to cover and meals to consume. If you’re in the US, a very Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours, and if not, I hope you enjoy just the same.

Track details follow:

First Hour:
0:00:00 Isaak, “Fountainhead” from Sermonize
0:03:58 Tombstones, “Pyre of the Cloth” from Vargariis
0:13:30 Hound, “Over the Edge,” from Out of Space
0:17:44 Deville, “Mind on Hold” from Make it Belong to Us
0:21:17 Kind, “German for Lucy” from Rocket Science
0:28:26 Dirty Streets, “Save Me” from White Horse
0:31:55 Old Man Lizard, “Craniopagus Paraciticus” from Old Man Lizard
0:40:43 Across Tundras, “No Roads in any Direction” from Home Free
0:46:52 Niche, “On Down the Line” from Heading East
0:52:11 Wired Mind, “Road” from Mindstate: Dreamscape

Second Hour:
1:03:07 Seedy Jeezus, “Echoes in the Sky” from Echoes in the Sky
1:19:03 Dorre, “One Collapsed at the Altar” from One Collapsed at the Altar

Total running time: 1:49:21

 

Thank you for listening.

Download audiObelisk Transmission 054

 

Melbourne heavy rockers Seedy Jeezus, whose earlier-2015 European tour included a stop at the Freak Valley festival — for which guitarist Lex Waterreus has also contributed poster artwork — will release a new single this month. Already posted for streaming, the 16-minute offering is titled Echoes in the Sky and features a single song, long-form jam that’s being pressed to one-time-only vinyl as an A-side accompanied by an etched B-side. The band will celebrate its arrival on Nov. 20 in their hometown at Yah Yah’s with Wicked City, Hotel Wrecking City Traders and A Basket of Mammoths.

All the info is below, including the note that the single/EP was mastered by Tony Reed, who also worked with the band on their 2015 self-titled debut long-player. Dig it:

After a successful tour of Europe, unrestrained, fervid, blazing, psychedelic rockers, Seedy Jeezus finally return to their hometown of Melbourne to play the Australian launch of their 12″ etched vinyl, “Echoes In The Sky.” This 12″, with a beautiful etched design by Seedy guitarist Lex, is a must have for any avid vinyl collector! Only a limited supply, this rare piece of vinyl art will NEVER TO BE PRESSED AGAIN!!

Get your very own copy at Yah Yah’s Fitzroy, NOV 20!
99 Smith Street, Melbourne, Australia 3065

To make the night even better, joining Seedy Jeezus for the launch will be: Rock Punk Heavy Riff legends Wicked City, Experimental Psychedelic Rock masters Hotel Wrecking City Traders and Psychedelic Stoner freaks A Basket Of Mammoths. (anyone getting a theme here?)

Side A of the etched vinyl release of Echoes in The Sky. A 16 minute studio jam that evolved into the A side of the band’s European tour vinyl. Available to purchase / download via https://seedyjeezus.bandcamp.com/track/echoes-in-the-sky or http://www.seedyjeezus.com

Released through Blown Music BM11, Recorded at Studio OneB – Melbourne. Engineered and Mixed by Andrew Day. Edited by Lex Waterreus. Mastered by Tony Reed (Mos Generator, who also co-produced, mixed and mastered our debut album). Written by Seedy Jeezus.

Band photo by Barry C. Douglas.

https://seedyjeezus.bandcamp.com/track/echoes-in-the-sky
http://www.seedyjeezus.com
https://www.facebook.com/Barry-Takes-Photos-233393793532797/

Seedy Jeezus, “Echoes in the Sky”