Friday Full-Length: Spacedrifter, Spacedrifter EP

Posted in Bootleg Theater on February 14th, 2025 by JJ Koczan

Last year, Swedish heavy rockers Spacedrifter released their debut album, When the Colors Fade (review here), speaking to genre with influences spanning generations. I’ll admit I don’t know much about their origin story at this point — I suppose I could ask, but we’ve never spoken and that’s a hell of a way to open a cold call: “Hi, I dig your record. Tell me everything about how you made it.” — but the only other outing presently on their Bandcamp page is the five-song/23-minute 2021 self-titled EP that was the precursor to the full-length. None of the five songs was held over from one release to the next, as sometimes happens, so it’s a chance to get to know the band as they were a few years back and inherently closer to when they first got together; the timing there would hint at coming together during the pandemic 2020-2021, but again, I have no confirmation of that.

More important, ultimately, are the songs themselves. Spacedrifter‘s LP stood out for how fluidly it seemed to capture that moment when grunge split, sound-wise, onto multiple paths. To simplify, going one way went commercial alternative rock, and underground went the riffs. In songs like “The Room That I Cursed” or “Maroon,” Spacedrifter balance ’90s-informed heavy rock and grunge with a modern production style. This is perhaps taking a lesson from a generation prior — the bands of the aughts who, in honing a vintage presentation, dug themselves into a hole chasing down expensive analog recording equipment and making their lives harder in the name of authenticity; not that the results weren’t often killer, but there’s a reason most of those bands drop the veneer after a couple records, and it’s not just because Nuclear Blast might have told them to — but it results in an immediately refreshing take.

Scandinavia as a whole is undergoing something of a generational surge in underground heavy right now. From weed-worshiping bong metal to psychedelic prog and an increasing amount of ‘tundra rock’ besides, Spacedrifter are by no means alone in their outset, but it’s a special moment worth appreciating while you’re in it, and for being under 25 minutes long, Spacedrifter encapsulates a decent amount of why. Opener “Artificial Ignorance” gives an immediately modern cast and kicks in with an uptempo swing that’s part Uncle Acid-style garage and part scorching desert hook. It is the first of the three rockers included, with “The Room That I Cursed” following and “Maroon” after the quieter semi-surf-toned instrumental “Perpetuum Mobile” before the largely-acoustic “Farewell” closes, and begins the dynamic course set by a band who right out of the gate show themselves to be thoughtful not only in craft, in the writing of their material, but also in how they guide the listener through it.

If you heard When the Colors Fade, you probably already know that thread continued onto the LP, but here,Spacedrifter Spacedrifter guitarist/vocalist Adam Hante (also percussion), drummer/vocalist Isac Löfgren (also some guitar, mandolin), guitarist/noisemaker John Söderberg and bassist/vocalist Olle Söderberg (also some guitar and drums, plus engineering and mixing) read as more nascent, claiming territory in sound for themselves rather than fleshing out their sound as the full-length let them do. Regardless of a given track’s direction, the band are able to create both an atmosphere and a sense of movement, and while the sum total of their scope may not be earth-shattering in terms of originality, it’s a band’s first self-released EP — classifiable as a demo in most situations — so maybe ease up and let the kids grow into themselves a bit.

But I’ll emphasize that I don’t say that because the EP is somehow lacking. If Spacedrifter were shooting for individualism as their prime directive, they would use something other than guitars to get there. Spacedrifter, as an offering, manages to give a heads up on a band setting forth on what one hopes will be a longer-term progression — something they’ve already continued with the long-player — while finding a sound that’s organic but clear and that groves with heart and a welcome aural perspective. The melodies of “Farewell” vibe like MTV Unplugged or that acoustic track on all your favorite grunge records, and “Perpetuum Mobile” is enough of a diversion to give an impression of breadth and to let the listener know this is a band who neiher take themselves too seriously nor neglect to bring a sense of flow and variety to a short release. That would already be a lot to ask of a first drop, and when put in combination with the surety of their performances throughout, they’re for sure giving more than they’re taking from their audience.

Is this Swedish heavy like they used to make? Well, it doesn’t have quite the same desert-worship bent as the likes of Dozer or Lowrider circa 1999-2000, but there for sure is an element that looks back on ‘what was’ in the heavy underground of that time. But Spacedrifter aren’t singly sourced in their points of inspiration, and the blend they concoct is accordingly complex. To put it on paper, the songs mostly speak to vague ideas like “the ’90s” or “melodic grunge” or “fuzz riffing,” but none of that gives you a sense of who they are as songwriters. While they’re able to hit you with a catchy chorus whether the song is loud or quiet — by that I mean that “Farewell” stays in the head right alongside the much heavier, more voluminous “Maroon” just before — Spacedrifter show themselves as dug into the creative process on an exploratory level but well aware of what they want the songs to be and do.

That will change over time, as both the ideal and the actual course of the last few years have shown. I hear a fair amount of new music — it’s my favorite kind — and I’m not always inspired by an album to go back to what came before it, but Spacedrifter sparked that curiosity, and in addition to young bands in-genre being a cause worth supporting broadly, these songs hit a sweet spot that can’t be denied. As always, I hope you enjoy. THanks for reading.

Also, thanks for reading.

I’m writing from the car, so pardon me if I keep it brief. I should take over driving in a bit, and thanks to The Patient Mrs. for picking up first shift.

We’re heading to Rhode Island for birth certificate paperwork on behalf of our daughter. It’s complex politically. I don’t particularly want to talk about it until it’s done. Even then at this point, in this weird, stupid world.

Next week is full, and so is the weekend, as it happens. I never caught up to news stories this week. I wanted to get posts up for Fomies (album), Windhand (tour), Rezn (tour) and the Up in Smoke Fest (lineup), also Electric Highway, Vision Eternel, Ikitan, The Answer Lies in the Black Void, and I just got a press release about a new single from The Discussion, which is Laura Pleasants from Kylesa’s post-punk jaunt. Oh, to be made of time.

Or money, for that matter.

Mostly I’m made of squishy goo contained in a thin plasticky coating. Culture teaches this as a precious thing. I’m not sure anymore.

Have a great and safe weekend. Hydrate, hunker down if it’s cold. Today’s gonna be a long day and tomorrow we’re back on the road home, but I’ll be around as much as ever if you need anything.

Oh, and new shirts coming next month, I’m told. That’ll be sweet.

FRM.

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Lorquin’s Admiral Premiere “Inexplicable Things” Video; Self-Titled Debut Coming Soon

Posted in Bootleg Theater on February 11th, 2025 by JJ Koczan

lorquin's admiral

Lorquin’s Admiral make their self-titled full-length debut later this year through Argonauta Records. The band is comprised of vocalists Dawn Brown (The Fizz Fuzz) and Dandy Brown (The Fizz Fuzz, Hermano, solo), whose marriage becomes a character in itself as the album’s sides open with “My Blue Wife” and My Blue Husband,” respectively, as well as Nick Hannon and Marlon King, both of UK heavy progressives Sons of Alpha Centauri, who’d previously collaborated with Dandy Brown for the second album from Yawning Sons, the Yawning Man / Sons of Alpha Centauri offshoot first established late in the aughts.

As to why the moniker didn’t become ‘Centauri Fuzz’ or ‘Fizzy Sons,’ your guess is as good as mine. Lorquin’s Admiral take their name from a kind of butterfly, though, and one finds suitable bouncy float in the verses of a song like “Could Have Been Forever” early on or the later mellow swing of “These Lovely Things.” Songwriting is a big part of what they do. Cuts like the Dawn-led “Inexplicable Things” or side B’s “Burn and Heal” feel more specifically keyed in on desert rock; the winding lead line of “Inexplicable Things” comes across as speaking to a thread that began over 30 years ago, but that remains just a piece of what both song and album — which totals nine tracks/34 minutes — have on offer.

To wit, the start-stop blues of “Black Water” brings one of the seven total Dave Angstrom (Luna Sol, Hermano, Supafuzz) guest appearances on guitar, a duty shared with Mark Engel (Orquesta del Desierto), who has two. With Dandy on vocals, “Black Water” takes on a thoughtful strut, subdued even in its layered hook with tension in the shred looking to break out, which eventually it does, with class. The airy grunge in the lumbering back half of “Aren’t We” and the grounded Nirvana-ism of closer “To Temptation” are further ’90s ties, but there’s more than one kind of sentiment on display throughout Lorquin’s Admiral, and while it’s still definitely speaking to genre in desert rock, it’s also comfortable looking outside for inspiration. So, a bit of blues, a bit of punk attitude here and there. Not to the sacrifice of a welcoming sound, by any means.

Those who know Dandy BrownAngstrom or ties-it-all-together drummer Steve Earle (also Afghan Whigs) from their work together in Hermano will find Lorquin’s Admiral dug into Lorquin's Admiral inexplicable thingsa natural tonality that feels as organic in the thicker “Burn and Heal” as in “My Blue Wife” or “Inexplicable Things.” It’s all pretty comfortable. As a contingent, they are not strangers to each other, and of course the same could be said of Hannon and King, so although they’re a ‘new band,’ the chemistry is explicable through context. Also songwriting. Also the warmth, be it of vocal melody in the varied arrangements shared between Dawn and Dandy — they swap lead spots and back each other; it’s never quite just one or the other, though balance Dandy wins out on songs fronted — or in the guitar(s) and bass tones backing them. The harmonized croon of “These Lovely Things,” for example, makes that song a late album highlight, but the abiding character that coincides with those harmonies comes from the nonetheless-crunching guitars.

Balance is the word. Also songwriting. Lorquin’s Admiral‘s Lorquin’s Admiral isn’t trying to catch the listener off guard or shock anyone with reinvention, but on a collaborative level, the record still excites by virtue of what this remote-working lineup of the Browns, EarleHannon, and King — plus Earle and Angstrom, who acquit themselves as essential personnel — have come up with being aligned to nobody more than anyone else. That is, Dawn and Dandy are singing, but the material belongs to Hannon and King no less, and while it’s not Sons of Alpha Centauri musically, neither is it The Fizz Fuzz or one of Dandy‘s other projects. Most of all, Lorquin’s Admiral sound like a band who could keep going, keep chasing down the path they set out here, and while there’s no guarantee that’ll happen since everyone involved here has other things happening, one hopes they manage to come ‘together’ in this fashion again. There are ideas laid out here begging to be explored.

I keep track throughout the year on stuff like this, so when I tell you I’ve put Lorquin’s Admiral in my notes among 2025’s best debuts — surely a category the entire field of which has yet to be revealed in February — understand I’m not speaking in hyperbole. I don’t know when it’s actually out, but keep an eye. In the meantime, it’s Valentine’s this week, so here’s a thing that was obviously made with love.

Please enjoy:

Lorquin’s Admiral, “Inexplicable Things” video premiere

Argonauta Records proudly announces the debut album from Lorquin’s Admiral, a groundbreaking heavy-psychedelic collaboration that promises to captivate audiences across the globe. Featuring a stellar lineup of current and former members of Afghan Whigs, the Fizz Fuzz, Hermano, Luna Sol, Orquesta del Desierto, Sons of Alpha Centauri, and Yawning Sons, the band delivers a unique blend of soul-stirring harmonies, mesmerizing riffs, and unforgettable hooks.

Building on the critically acclaimed writing partnership between Marlon King, Nick Hannon, and Dandy Brown (first established on the widely celebrated Yawning Sons album Sky Island), Lorquin’s Admiral encapsulates the essence of psychedelic rock while pushing the genre into exciting new territories. The band’s debut album highlights the stunning vocal interplay of husband-and-wife duo Dawn and Dandy Brown, and the commanding rhythms of celebrated drummer Steve Earle, creating an immersive sonic experience that is both heavy and hypnotic.

Adding to the album’s allure, guitar virtuosos David Angstrom (Hermano, Luna Sol) and Country Mark Engel lend their distinctive touch, enriching the record with lush, textured guitar landscapes. Angstrom’s contributions span seven tracks, while Engel’s masterful work graces two.

Drawing inspiration from desert rock pioneers while seamlessly incorporating elements of blues, psychedelic, and alternative music, Lorquin’s Admiral appeals to fans of Kyuss, Fu Manchu and Fatso Jetson, as well as admirers of the Cranberries, Screaming Trees and Garbage. The band carves out a unique space in the heavy-psychedelic scene, proving that rock music remains a powerful and evolving force.

Tracklisting:
1. My Blue Wife
2. Inexplicable Things
3. Could Have Been Forever
4. Black Water
5. My Blue Husband
6. Aren’t We
7. Burn and Heal
8. These Lovely Things
9. To Temptation

Produced by Dandy Brown & Sons of Alpha Centauri
Engineered & Mixed by Dan Lucas
Mastered by John McBain

Recorded at The Joplin House, Kent, UK
Additional Recording at:
Sierra Sounds, Arvada, Colorado
Brown’s Barn, Santa Rosa, California
MK Studios, Maidstone, Kent

Argonauta Records on Facebook

Argonauta Records on Instagram

Argonauta Records on Bandcamp

Argonauta Records store

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Icarus Burns Stream Self-Titled Debut in Full; Out Wednesday

Posted in audiObelisk on February 10th, 2025 by JJ Koczan

icarus burns icarus burns

On Wednesday, Feb. 12, Berlin-based-but-multinationally-sourced four-piece Icarus Burns will release their self-titled debut album through their own label, Feather and Wax Records. It’s not the band’s first outing overall, as they had an initial three-song EP out in 2021 in a different configuration. The most notable difference is that the album has no vocals and the EP did, with Eva Bandke having contributed to the short release as standalone singer. Icarus Burns arrive at the declarations of this self-titled after having pared back to an instrumental outfit in 2024, reportedly changed tunings, and refined the focus of their songwriting. Accordingly, Icarus Burns feels fresh and benefits from the added crunch possible with two guitars in the lineup, as the underlying chug in the second half of “Die Werft” or the more metalized, double-kick-backed crescendo of side B opener “A Distant Light… in the Darkness” readily demonstrate. While it feels inherently like a more straightforward, stripped-down take, the album is by no means without flourish.

Much of that is heard in the interplay between Jens Gehrke and Tim Corden on guitar, but as opener “Minotaur” (which has a flash of creepy sampled speech that sounds homemade, as regards vocals), there’s rhythmic intricacy from bassist Axel Kalteiß and drummer Cristobal Cuadra Bravo (who’s come aboard since the EP) as well. In its midsection, “Minotaur” becomes a more brash, almost noise rocking crunch, even if it ends dreamy, and the prog-metal elements of “Die Werft,” indeed lower in tone than the band were a few years ago, grounds the exploratory-feeling leads. Each side ends with its longest track, because symmetry, with “Melancholia” (9:04) and album-capper “100 Days” (11:47) taking their time to reach further into the ether. Their doing is suitably otherworldly,icarus burns to be sure, but the crux of Icarus Burns leans more toward prog than psych, so there’s a foot on the ground, however much a given part might seem to float, or, in the case of the soloing before the big-chugga breakdown ending in the finale, soar.

They may be relatively new to the modus outwardly, but the recording makes a few purposeful statements about who they are and what their intentions are going forward. That is to say, Icarus Burns tells the listener a lot about the band in terms of sound and what they’re exploring. They’ve set themselves on a path of instrumentalism, and already one can hear these tracks feeling their way toward aural progression or creative growth. The more aggressive punch of “A Distant Light… in the Darkness” is an easy example, but the subsequent “Tränen der Sonne” gives Kalteiß the foreground of the mix on bass while as the guitars offer more languid atmospherics — the title, translated as “‘tears of the sun,’ fits well — and thereby lends the record a less insistent cast. I wouldn’t say it’s languid with the thud-fervency of Bravo‘s tom work, but it’s purposefully less metal than Icarus Burns want to be elsewhere and in itself that speaks to a dynamic taking shape in their sound that one hopes will develop over the next however many years and outings from these beginnings.

That said, Icarus Burns are hardly tentative here. Sure, they’re perhaps feeling their way into being a different band than they set out to be five years ago, but there’s something to be said for that process of discovery itself and for a band who can realize they’re not making the music they want to make, adjust their trajectory and (hopefully) end up in a place they feel is more honest to what they want to express as a group. I can’t speak to where Icarus Burns might go from here — they might get a singer for all I know — but the timing on their first record shouldn’t be ignored. That is, they’ve been a band for half a decade, became instrumental in 2024 and turned around Icarus Burns less than a year thereafter. However long ago they were starting to be written, there’s urgency in these songs precisely because it’s new to everybody. They won’t have that advantage next time out, of inner/outer novelty, but for a foursome of such obvious and clearly directed creative will, something tells me they’ll be just fine without.

The album streams in its entirety below. Again, it’s out Wednesday.

 

Preorder link: https://icarusburns.bandcamp.com/album/icarus-burns

When the riffs hit, they burn. When the melodies soar, they sear. This is Icarus Burns.

Consisting of individuals from Germany, UK, Chile, the band is a rich blend of cultural and musical influences which combine to deliver an exciting and visceral live experience at their shows.

While the band has a wholly unique sound, Icarus Burns will appeal to fans across genres – reference bands include: Elder, Rotor, Karsk, Rezn, Monkey3, Mr Bison, Kosmodome, My Sleeping Karma, Robot God..

With their S/T debut album due to drop in early 2025, this next phase of the band promises to be their most exciting; with live gigs across various stages across Germany and Europe in the works – this will be the year IB take it to the next level.

Recorded at Wave Studios, Berlin
Engineered, mixed, mastered by Florian Schack (Wave Studios)
Produced by Florian Schack & Icarus Burns
All songs written by Icarus Burns

Icarus Burns is:
Tim Corden – Guitar
Jens Gehrke – Guitar
Axel Kalteiß – Bass
Cristobal Cuadra Bravo – Drums

Icarus Burns on Facebook

Icarus Burns website

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Clamfight Post New Single “The Oar”

Posted in Whathaveyou on January 28th, 2025 by JJ Koczan

11 minutes of new Clams is a big ‘yes please’ this morning as the Philly-ish riff-crunchers unveil “The Oar” as the first single from their impending self-titled follow-up to 2018’s III (review here). The four-piece who are a veteran presence both on stages up and down the Eastern Seaboard and in my heart have been working on Clamfight for years now — I know because I sing guest vocals on it (different song) and I recorded like two years ago — and as drummer/vocalist Andy Martin notes below, it will be their last collaboration with Steve Poponi, who passed away last year.

Bittersweet, then, certainly for the band. “The Oar” is big and lumbering, not without a reach in its melody and linear in its trajectory, build and flow. When it hits the comedown, you’ll be surprised the 11 minutes hare gone. If you’ve seen them live since the pandemic, I’m pretty sure they’ve been doing this one live for the last however long, epic solos and all. Plus gang vocals. Little something for everyone here.

I don’t have any idea on the release plan for Clamfight‘s Clamfight because, uh, I don’t, but I’ll keep an eye/ear for more, and there’s plenty here to dig into in the meantime. Enjoy:

clamfight the oar

In Andy’s words:

It’s very hard to sum up what this record means to us, or what the process of making it was like. The drum tracks were laid down as Lock Down was beginning and now we’re releasing it during another very dark and uncertain time. In the intervening years we lost close friends and family and gained new ones.

In making this record we leaned on each other and our collaborators more than ever before. I never write lyrics until we’re in the studio and as recording happened I found myself writing about where we were in our lives, the people we loved, the mistakes we made, and about how much I love these guys. So when it came time to name the record, the choice was obvious.

Submitted for your listening pleasure, this is “The Oar” the first song off the record “Clamfight” by the band Clamfight.

This is the last record we were privileged to make with our brother Steve Poponi. You’ll hear him on the end of the track. Words fall short when it comes out to expressing how much we miss him, so for and now always, we’ll just say Poponi Forever.

Take care of yourselves gang.

https://www.facebook.com/Clamfight
https://www.instagram.com/clamfight
https://clamfight.bandcamp.com/

Clamfight, “The Oar”

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Doomsday Profit Post “Doomsday Profit”; Self-Titled Album Coming Soon

Posted in Whathaveyou on January 22nd, 2025 by JJ Koczan

doomsday profit

Heralding bruiser sludge in follow-up to their 2024 split with Smoke, North Carolinian four-piece Doomsday Profit unveil the eponymous first single from their upcoming self-titled sophomore LP. I don’t see a release date yet for the album, but the record’s done and they posted a song from it, so, you know, the promotional cycle has begun. April? June? You never really know, of course.

There’s some outward harshness — nothing untoward if you heard the split — but a hook is a hook and that’s working in Doomsday Profit‘s favor. The affect isn’t quite the next-gen sludge party Leather Lung are calling for, but there’s a strong learning-from-the-past-and-moving-forward current in “Doomsday Profit,” and for sure that’s a thing to dig.

Info and the lyric video follow, as per the PR wire:

doomsday profit doomsday profit

New Single and Lyric Video from NC sludge/doom outfit DOOMSDAY PROFIT

Doomsday Profit (Durham, N.C.) is pleased to announce the release of “Doomsday Profit,” the first single pulled from a new full-length album of the same name, due out later this year.

Barely letting the dust settle on last year’s split with Virginia psych-doom titans Smoke (Olde Magick Records), Doomsday Profit is ready to showcase the next era in the band’s sound. Recorded in summer 2024, “Doomsday Profit” is a long-gestating thesis statement, with pointed lyrics giving life to the band’s moniker, and a monolithic, minimalist arrangement mining the purest ores of sludge and doom.

Regarding the song, the band offers the following statement:

“Doomsday Profit” was one of the first songs we wrote, and we always pictured it as a sort of thesis statement. Lyrically, at least, we were trying to marry the political vitriol of our favorite hardcore punk with the senses of dread and inevitability that course through the best doom metal. How else are you supposed to feel when you can watch, in-real time, as the string-pullers of global policy, the heads of major business and government, continue to casually ignore every warning of catastrophe, just so they can squeeze a little more blood and money out of the third stone from the sun? We’re all doomed, and they’re the reason.

Musically, it took us a while to find the right way to deliver “Doomsday Profit.” It just didn’t feel complete, so we shelved it. When David Ruiz joined the band, we revisited it, and ended up paring down the arrangement. In keeping it a little simpler, it felt like it hit harder, and the lyrics could stand out a bit more. Another lesson from punk rock, it seems.

This is the version of “Doomsday Profit” we’re glad to present to you today, Inauguration Day in the USA. And as we send this, things are still looking pretty bleak. But one thing this band has proven to us, over and over again, is we’re not alone in our fear, or our anger, or our resolve to live the best lives we can while we can. This one’s for all of us.

Love,
Doomsday Profit

There’s no time to waste. At least that’s how Doomsday Profit seems to be operating. After making their debut with the gritty stoner-sludge of 2021’s In Idle Orbit, the Durham, N.C.-based band issued 2024’s psych-leaning split with Virginia-based Smoke, and has kept the momentum going ever since. With their forthcoming self-titled album, Doomsday profit now has embedded an even wider array of influences into their acerbic, dystopian sludge. Particles of monolithic doom, grisly death ‘n’ roll grooves, driving punk rock and scathing black metal all flash in the band’s raw self-titled LP.

As ever, Doomsday Profit has a finger pointed squarely at the powers that be, but they’ve also learned to turn their ire inward, and balance their vitriol with melancholic nuance. This broader approach has turned their already dynamic performances into a must-see, with a live resume that includes Hopscotch Music Festival and Seismic Summer, as well as supporting slots with established acts like Thou, The Obsessed, Black Tusk, REZN, and Restless Spirit.

On this recording, Doomsday Profit is: Bryan Reed (rhythm guitar/vocals), Kevin See (lead guitar/vocals), Ryan Sweeney (bass/vocals), and David Ruiz (drums).

https://www.facebook.com/doomsdayprofit
https://www.instagram.com/doomsday_profit
https://doomsdayprofit.bandcamp.com/

Doomsday Profit, “Doomsday Profit” lyric video

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Earl of Hell to Release Self-Titled Debut April 25; Tour Starts This Week

Posted in Whathaveyou on January 20th, 2025 by JJ Koczan

earl of hell

Ahead of starting their tour this week with Brant Bjork Trio — which indeed prefaces runs this Spring alongside Masters of Reality and Alain Johannes himself, with whom I believe they’ve already toured as both opener and backing band; yup, that happened — Edinburgh heavy rockers Earl of Hell have announced an April 25 release date for their self-titled debut LP. Copper Feast Records will handle the release, and I’ll admit I’m curious to find out what the band are about in terms of songwriting a bit after their early singles and the newly-unveiled video for “The Infernal Dream” that you can see at the bottom of this post. Their accomplishments on stage at this point aren’t insignificant.

All of those tour dates and the album details follow here, courtesy of the PR wire:

earl of hell earl of hell

UK heavy rock’n’roll merchants EARL OF HELL share first track and video off upcoming self-titled debut album; full UK tour announced!

Scottish rock’n’roll purveyors EARL OF HELL announce the release of their self-titled debut album on April 25th and an extensive series of winter and spring UK shows supporting Brant Bjork Trio, Masters Of Reality and Alain Johannes. Blast their intoxicating new single “The Infernal Dream” now!

Watch Earl Of Hell’s new video “The Infernal Dream” + listen to the single on all streaming services: https://lnkfi.re/earlofhelldream

Earl of Hell’s self-titled debut album bestows a juggernaut of raucous dive-bar rock ‘n’ roll delivered with a relentless, raw punk energy. Comprising nine tracks recorded at Deep Storm Productions and mixed and mastered by Alain Johannes, this unapologetic high-octane follow-up to 2022’s “Get Smoked” EP unveils a more refined sound that is both thoughtfully embellished yet unapologetically gritty.

Embodying the spirit of bands like Alice In Chains, Killing Joke and Black Sabbath, this album pays homage to its stoner rock roots while exploring historical and futuristic concepts from Edinburgh’s infamous grave robbers to Planet Earth’s impending doom. It will be available on April 25th via Bandcamp and on all digital streaming platforms.

TRACKLIST:
1. Satan Is Real
2. The Infernal Dream
3. Impaler
4. Brave New Age
5. Calling, Is The Crow
6. My Twisted Mind
7. Macabra Cadabra
8. Waiting To Die
9. Bloodlines

Earl Of Hell UK tour dates 2025:
° with Brant Bjork Trio / ✢ with Masters of Reality / ▴ with Alain Johannes
Jan 24 – The Craufurd Arms, Milton Keynes °
Jan 25 – Rebellion, Manchester °
Jan 26 – The Cluny, Newcastle °
Jan 27 – Audio, Glasgow °
Jan 31 – Sin City, Swansea °
Feb 1 – Mama Roux’s, Birmingham °
Feb 2 – Strange Brew, Bristol °
Feb 3 – Brudenell Social Club, Leeds °
Feb 4 – Waterfront Studio, Norwich °
Feb 5 – The Forum, Tunbridge Wells °
Feb 6 – The 1865, Southampton °
Feb 7 – The Arch, Brighton °
Feb 8 – Oslo, London °
April 6 – The 1865, Southampton ✢
April 7 – Rebellion, Manchester ✢
April 8 – The Classic Grand, Glasgow ✢
April 9 – 229, London ✢
May 1 – The Cluny, Newcastle ▴
May 2 – Voodoo, Belfast ▴
May 3 – Grand Social, Dublin ▴
May 8 – The Craufurd Arms, Milton Keynes ▴
May 9 – The Underworld, London ▴
May 10 – The Bunkhouse, Swansea ▴
May 11 – The Hairy Dog, Derby ▴
May 15 – Lending Room, Leeds ▴
May 16 – Future Yard, Birkenhead ▴
May 17 – The Cathouse, Glasgow ▴

EARL OF HELL is
Eric Brock – Lead Vocals
Lewis Inglis – Guitar & Vocals
Dan Mitchell – Guitar
Dean Gordon – Bass
Ryan Wilson – Drums

https://www.facebook.com/earlofhell/
https://www.instagram.com/earl_of_hell/
https://earlofhell.bandcamp.com/

http://facebook.com/copperfeastrecords
http://instagram.com/copperfeastrecords
https://copperfeastrecords.bandcamp.com/
http://www.copperfeastrecords.com/

Earl of Hell, “The Infernal Dream” official video

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Friday Full-Length: Acid Rooster, Acid Rooster

Posted in Bootleg Theater on January 17th, 2025 by JJ Koczan

Friends, a moment of your time to hear the good word of lysergy. Based out of the terrestrial common dimension in Leipzig, Germany, the instrumental trio Acid Rooster might actually on some other plane still be recording Sebastian Väth‘s guitar for “Moon Loop.” And on into perpetuity drifts the 2019 self-titled debut from the mellow space rocking outfit comprised of Väth, bassist/synthesist/sitarist Max Leicht and drummer Steffen Schmidt — whose kick drum circa four minutes into said 11-minute instrumental loopy-do takes on a life of its own and seems very much to enjoy the sunshine that outward shimmer of guitar is providing, thanks. The band are more active at the start of the record with the cooool swirl running down in “Oculatus Abyss” only to come back up with the initial twisting solo. This was a pandemic album for a lot of people, I know. I was there, at home, but didn’t hear Acid Rooster until later. Remember, I never said I was good at any of this.

“Oculatus Abyss” screams in two layers as it moves through the second half of its five minutes, one fierce on the wah, the other differently fierce on the wah. It’s like that. There are threads of synth and effects and it all kind of blurs together, but Leicht and Schmidt are committed to the groove, and they keep it together all throughout the record. In that way, Acid Rooster function not unlike a classic heavy rock power trio — the rhythm section is that, though I’ll point out that neither the basslines nor the character of the percussion want for melodiousness — with the guitarist all the more able to range with the bass and drums locked into the central procession beneath. They put it to wondrous use, and production by Frank Oberländer and Jan Werner, who also mixed and plays 12-string on “Moon Loop” and closer “Äther,” at Zentralantiquariat Leipzig lets that flourish come through with a balance between organic performance-capture and sonic clarity. Following “Oculatus Abyss,” “Moon Loop” does get raucous for a time — it also features the album’s only vocals in guest throat-singing by is Patrick Schönfeld — but the core of the song is the flow in the guitar, bass and drums, the subtle play happening in the background of the mix, and the way everything seems always to be in order even as the order changes measure by measure. A malleable mix. Notable. Bernhard Götz mastered.

The inevitable motorik stretch happens at the beginning of “Sulfur,” and the riff laid on it at first is duly jet-engine, offset by more of a bounce but sure enough headed back around. “Sulfur” burns but does not stink, and for the full breeze-through-predator-feathers effect, a tenor sax guest spot by Christopher Kunz does just fine. My wife doesn’t like sax in psych. To each their own. I’m with her if it gets to wankery, but that’s not the case here. Acid Rooster‘s Acid Rooster might be melted and drippy and drink-it-with-a-straw-to-see-stars, but it’s still class.

All that scorch feels like it’s bound to leave blisters when the fuzz hits later in “Sulfur,” but fair enough for the jazz in the low end as they wind it down. Side A wraps like acid rooster self titled“Sulfur” is being dragged down a tunnel — which it is; so are you; guest synth by Bodo Hansen (see also “Focus”) — but it blasts back and ends clean to let the post-rock float of “Time Lapse” take hold as smoothly as a digital listen warrants aside from the concerns of a 12″-flip. The proceedings are hypnotic enough to make me wonder if that’s what the band named the song after, but either way, you might lose time. I did. If you find it, just throw it away. Echoing guitar becomes a kind of resonant hum, wobbling, but the bass and drums are there and offer comfort and warmth while the light dances. They threaten to lose it for a minute in “Time Lapse,” but the sax comes back and I don’t know if Schmidt ever actually broke a sweat. They realign and finish, letting the drone be the last to go.

That’s where “Focus” picks up, with birdsong-via-effects and a resulting pastoralia that feels like something of a shift from “Time Lapse,” which was more ethereal. Likewise true to its name, “Focus” is arguably the most straightforward piece on the six-song LP, but it’s nonetheless an eight-minute tripfest with a slow unfurling bliss and a scope that feels open, like really, genuinely open, to the possibilities of its own instrumentation. But Väth provides a standout twisting lead line that becomes a kind of hook unto itself, playful and able to take flight when so directed. There is a build in “Focus,” and it brings about a more active thrust in the spirit if not the exact modus of “Sulfur,” honing a kind of urgency at the same time as the guitar taps into a broader melody. That combination, and Väth riding the groove as he comes to do, gives the album a sweet crescendo that’s almost wistful in its own aftermath, a sentimentality shown as that guitar-twist flickers in again before it all goes away.

At five minutes, “Äther” brings a darker feel earlier on. Its drone is lower, the bass is more forward, maybe. The drums hitting harder definitely becomes a factor, and that might be part of it, but something in the mood has shifted after “Focus,” and the backdrop isn’t empty but feels starker. Schmidt plays a significant role in the apex of the finale, as noted, but Väth and Leicht are dead on in following. Willful repetition doesn’t always work to evoke a sense of place or time or allow for other elements of a piece to develop and/or dissipate, but Acid Rooster add gracefully to “Äther” as they bring it to a head, and close as a live set might with a wash of cymbal, a few last wisps of guitar, and the residual hum of synth.

Like I said earlier, I was late to the party on this one, so if you were too, don’t feel bad. Good music doesn’t get stale. If you’re new to it, through this and dying for more, Acid Rooster put out the full-length Hall of Mirrors (review here) in October. Bliss abounds. As always, thanks for reading.

Coming to you live from Queens, New York, where in a couple of hours I’ll go inside TV Eye and see King Buffalo and Sun Voyager, and that’ll be good. I got here crazy early because I didn’t want to stress out sitting in traffic and never find a parking spot and just be a dick at home anyway because show-anxiety and so on and so forth so I just left early and I can sit and write in the car and that’s fucking fine with me. I wouldn’t say the Chevy Malibu is the most comfortable car I’ve ever sat in — my wife’s first car was a 1988 Ford Taurus and it was like driving a couch — but I could do certainly do worse.

Also it’s Thursday. So I’m breaking my own routine a bit and writing the Friday Full-Length a day early. Tomorrow, it won’t make a difference. To me, sitting stoned in the car on the laptop, yeah.

You get the point.

I’m looking forward to the show, and to hopefully sleeping until whatever time The Pecan gets up tomorrow. Though sleep has been pretty rough the last couple weeks. Either Tuesday or Wednesday, I was up at like 3:45 and never got back to sleep, and last night, I was tossing and turning from like 11-3 and finally conked out at 4:30 to get up two hours later. This isn’t ideal. The kid hasn’t been going to bed well this week, and that’s part of it — nothing like yelling at your kid to go to bed to make everyone end the day feeling like garbage, every day — but The Patient Mrs. has been up too. Her semester starts in a week, which means all of our semester starts in a week. It’s been nice having her around the house. She is a joy. She takes good care of me.

Next week, huh? The notes have We Are Impala premiering a track Monday, plus there’ll be the King Buffalo review from tonight. No, I’m not doing both shows. It’s too long a drive and two nights out of the house in a row is a lot to ask when I’m going to a four-day festival in Vegas at the end of this very cold month. Also a release announcement for Earl of Hell and a tour post for Inter Arma, who I thought were headlining over River of Nihil because I have no idea who River of Nihil are. Never too old to learn a thing. Fortunately I found that out before I wrote the post. Not always so lucky.

TO THAT END — thank you, from the depths of my wretched middle-aged heart for everything everyone does to keep this site clean. By that of course I mean not being assholes in comments, that’s a big one. I had one prickish social post to contend with in the 2024 year-end coverage, and I feel like that’s getting off light. Thank you for correcting my mistakes when they happen, which they absolutely do. Thank you for being a part of this with me. It would lonely otherwise, and if I’m honest, probably wouldn’t be here anymore.

Wow, sidetracked.

So, Monday, We Are Impala and King Buffalo review. Tuesday, Wednesday, I don’t know yet. I wanna review a thing, so probably that. Thursday is double-booked with video premieres for All Are to Return and Peacebone, but the vibes are different enough that it should be fun, and next Friday I guess I’ll have the roundup of Ripplefest Texas adds for the week, an announcement from Esbjerg Fuzztival in Denmark, and who knows what else. I was thinking I might close the week with Yajaira, but if you have any requests, I’m all ears.

Otherwise, have a great and safe weekend. If you’re at the show tonight, hi. If not, this is the internet, hi anyway. Have fun, don’t forget to hydrate, and I don’t know, maybe drop a text to your mom just to say hi? That’s it. I’m all out of good advice.

FRM.

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Dirtmother Post “Plinko”; Self-Titled Debut Out March 8

Posted in Whathaveyou on January 16th, 2025 by JJ Koczan

The roots of Arkansas sludge metallers Dirtmother trace back to 2006, as will happen, but it’s still their debut album that’s set to release on March 8. Release show is the same night. To be issued by the band, Dirtmother‘s Dirtmother follows a 2023 regrouping and brings together players known for their work in Deadbird, Mud Lung and others. Their first audio showcase from the album — a four-minute teaser single obviously named “Plinko” in honor of the coolest game on The Price is Right — is a vicious reminder of the nasty turn Southern heavy took right around the turn of the century, when the lessons of Eyehategod, or Buzzov*enGrief and so on, seemed to be taken up by screamy riffers with harsh intent and more aggressive underpinnings of metal emerged alongside the punker roots of the genre.

It’s something of an oldschool sound, is what I’m saying, but the truth is that even when there was a lot of it happening — and right around 2005/2006 that kind of waned and post-metal picked up a more atmospheric slack, for better or worse — sludge metal has never been the cool thing. There are microtrends within the correspondingly micro genre, but even in the days when Emissions From the Monolith was nestled into the Midwest teaching a generation of listeners how to make and embrace heavy music, sludge was an outsider thing. It remains one now, and “Plinko” revels in that. I look forward to hearing the rest of the album.

Info is minimal, but you get the audio below and that’s the thing. Have at it:

dirtmother (Photo by Austin.g123)

The song Plinko, from Dirtmother’s self-titled album debut, available March 8th 2025. Sludge, Blues Doom, from Fayetteville, Arkansas. Birthed in 2006, Reformed in 2023. Featuring current members of Mud Lung, and Liquid Courage. Former members of Deadbird, Deadeyejack, Sinking South.

Album mixed and Mastered by Sabin Hice.
Recorded by Mason Gills at Huntsville Road Studios.

DIRTMOTHER Album Release Show
Saturday March 8th
w/ Grand Inquisitor & Ghost Hollow

Waystone Pizza Co.
1200 Garland Ave Fayetteville AR
8pm $10 All Ages
Event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1544499859463756

Band photo by Austin.g123.

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100090574166760
https://www.instagram.com/dirtmother_doom

Dirtmother, “Plinko”

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