The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.

Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.

Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.

The Obelisk Questionnaire: Nick Davies from Serpent Venom

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How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?

I play bass and write music for Serpent Venom. I suppose my main musical job is to keep the groove, such as it is, going whilst the others keep it more interesting. It came about originally as Paul and Garry (drums and vocals, respectively) were looking for a bass player for a new band and a mutual friend put my name forward.

Describe your first musical memory.

It was really just from my very early childhood. I have an unusually long memory and recall being in a cot and certainly being a toddler. My mother had a record player and would put on a bunch of singles and albums that she had, whilst I stumbled about the place or sat on the sofa with my teddy bear babbling nonsense. Usually I’d hear a mixture of the Beatles/Lennon, the Carpenters and singers like Nat King Cole. Lots of Top of the Pops albums from the ’60s and ’70s too. My older brother used to blast out Iron Maiden growing up, so I was exposed to Heavy Metal and Hard Rock at a fairly young age. It stuck with me along with all the stuff my friends were listening to throughout those formative years.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

I have so many, it’s hard to pin point. I’ve definitely had the best memories playing in bands over the years and more so with Serpent Venom. We didn’t have any expectations, yet managed to play lots of shows at home and abroad with our peers, established bands and heroes. From the smallest local shows, to big deals like Roadburn. It’s an incredible honour to share the stage with everyone as I can say that I generally haven’t met that many idiots on the road. The friendships that have formed over the years keeps me smiling to this day and I am truly grateful to have that. Even having two physical records out there blows my mind and makes me feel proud.

There’s also been many years of the good stuff as a punter, like just being caught in a moment at a show where the riff is so good, looking over to someone and pulling that ‘oof’ face and them responding the same. I’ve shared some truly moving moments watching live music with mates, along with some balls to the wall mosh pit chaos and all of it has given me an incredible feeling. I cut my gig teeth locally and my friend Ben was in a band we shared gigs with. We reconvened years later at Damnation Festival where we played a set and then I was watching him up on the main stage with Carcass. We both reflected on how far we had both come and it was really good to see that this daft hobby we started as young adults has really surpassed anything we may have thought possible. We were laughing about how we are in ‘grown up’ bands now whatever that meant. But a lot of ale had been consumed. I take great pleasure seeing my friends do well and getting out there with music. He’s done really well. The git. Haha.

When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?

Everyone has an opinion, so I suppose it is fair to say that my beliefs are challenged on a daily basis. Whether social issues, politics etc. I work in the building trade, so there’s a lot of people traffic in my professional life and everyone has something to say.

The most life changing of all (apologies in advance, it’s a long one) was that I thought I was invincible when I was younger and lived a very excessive/careless lifestyle. When I hit 30, I managed to push myself too far and ended up nearly dying. One binge too many on top of a chest infection and constant heartburn tore my oesophagus, leaked air into my chest cavity which could have touched my heart and ended it there and then. I woke up with a brutal hangover one Monday, after disappearing for three days on the piss, and threw up a tonne of blood.

Took some pain killers and went to work and was promptly sent home. I thought I’d recover, but ended up taking myself to hospital on the second day (that’s how firmly I felt about my own fortitude, stupidly) where I was rushed to another hospital which specialised in illness relating to the gastric system. They discovered the horror story above and put me into intensive care. I had endured 48 hours of puking black dead blood filled sludge, which continued for a little while until the anti nausea medicine kicked in.

My body was literally eating itself from the inside out. The consultants said that my chance of survival was slim and they would poke a camera down my throat and if they found the tear, cut me open and stitch it up and see what happens. I woke up from a general anesthetic, but my throat had closed up as it was a melting mess so they hooked me up to saline drips, antibiotics and painkillers intravenously. I had a tube feeding me through my intestines and a tube up my nose that went into my stomach and sucked the contents out all day into a bag.

It was putrid. On top of a soundtrack of a heart monitor and oxygen being pumped up my nose. I was there for a few months whilst they monitored everything, tested me, treated me. I would trip balls on morphine and hallucinate in fever dreams where I’d see a lot of dark faces mocking me. It was pretty messed up. I had to face up to the fact that any moment could have been my last so decided to make the best of it and have a laugh and joke with my fellow patients. Myself and George, an 80-something-year-old man who’d just had his ninth cancer operation tried to plan an escape for the hell of it.

So George and I grabbed our drip trolleys and made a break for the front door during the nurse shift changeover, in our backless gowns (no underwear for maximum impact) and got from the fourth floor to the entrance before a bemused and annoyed security team caught us. I must say on record that I didn’t coerce him into it either. He was 70 percent instigator.

The severity of the damage means I have to take medication for life and cannot be operated on to fix the Hiatal Hernia that the brutal vomiting caused, due to excess scar tissue. I frequently have to massage my stomach back into place as it likes to pop up into the throat. If I don’t, there’s a risk of bad acid attacks which will lead to oesophageal cancer, so I’m essentially a ticking time bomb. I could be sad about it I guess, but worrying doesn’t stop bad things happening, just wastes headspace. I decided to live better and try my best to be better. That’ll do me.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

I feel that it leads to steady change overall. It’s a journey that moves in tandem with our lives. If you keep an open mind to new ideas, you can incorporate them into whatever you are creating. If it works and helps, great! If not, never mind, keep exploring your own goals and progression and see where you end up. Just like life, it will have it’s moments of frustration, anger, apathy. But it will also have some moments of inspiration, genius, joy and gradual improvement. I’m not the same person I was yesterday and when I write music, it will have it’s differences to past stuff. It’s still me, so there will be elements of familiarity. Whether for better or worse is up to others to decide.

How do you define success?

Success for me is just living as happily as possible and doing things that bring me joy. It took a catastrophe to teach me that annoyingly. I used to judge my own achievements based on the apparent success of others. It could be a bit of a headache. However, I tend to walk to the beat of my own drum these days, and focus on building the life I want. It’s not easy, but it makes sense to me.

Some people get so bogged down with using others as a benchmark for their own sense of self worth and it really isn’t healthy. I think people are generally taught to be competitive and bombarded with marketing that makes you feel inadequate (unless of course you buy whatever shit the advert is peddling, because of course it works! /sarcasm).

What’s the point of worrying if I cannot match someone’s standard at anything in life, when I can focus on things that are important to me? That’s not to say I am so stubborn or dismissive that I wont want to learn new things or strive to be a better human being. I want to keep my own corner of the world as tidy as possible and make sure I’m on good terms with people. At the end of the day I can’t swim faster than a shark, but I can run faster than one. So the comparison with someone else’s excellence in a field is only going to stifle my own progress if I worry about them and not try things for me. And if I find myself in a triathlon with a shark, I’m pretty sure I can cycle faster than one, so I’ll beat him easy. Unless he gets a bit bitey.

All jokes aside, I would encourage everyone to list down their own achievements, from learning to walk and talk, learning languages or whatever it is, and tell them to be proud of themselves for it. Go find some stuff that keeps you going and stick with it. If it isn’t going to plan, just have a day and make it to tomorrow. Then give it another try. You’ve already achieved so much to still be here.

What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?

The dark side of the music business where coked up self-congratulatory tossers pat each other on the back whilst simultaneously fucking each other over. It’s a bit sad really. That or the amount of sexual abuse cases that are prevalent in certain corners. Do better lads. That could be your partner, sister, mother or daughter. Don’t be a cunt.

Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.

I’d love to have to the finances to open a music venue, rehearsal/recording studios and work with underground bands to realise their aims. I’d love to work with the community and get more young people into music as schools, colleges and arts councils have had their budgets slashed constantly for years. Aside from that if I ever won a big fortune on the lottery I would purchase property and set up a foundation that allows people to move in, pay the deposit back in low rent (non profit, which then goes to more acquisition or repairs) and hand them the keys so that they can have their own home.

The property market in the UK is a criminal racket and less people can afford to own their own place. I grew up with little and to be able to do something to help others would be an incredible thing to achieve. It would also be a large middle finger to the land barons getting rich off people’s desperation.

Or a green energy powered rocket trebuchet that fires the small percentage of psychopaths that are ruining the world straight into the sun.

What do you believe is the most essential function of art?

To me at least, connection with others. A picture can say a thousand words, there’s a song for every emotion or circumstance. Look at us with our musical community. We are all drawn to it. We feel that we relate to the people making the music, have shared experiences and commonalities with each other and build this greater good out of it. Friendships, camaraderie and celebrating for the sake of it.

Having an outlet away from the drudgery of working life is crucial to retaining sanity. Art by it’s definition is a method for expression and the artist is showing us a part of themselves. Art bringing us together is establishing another form of connection in an ever increasingly disconnected world.

Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?

I’m looking forward to the day that we can go out into the world without fears of the current pandemic and hold those we appreciate and have missed. And a big holiday somewhere. Preferably with a beach. Or a big snowy mountain as I’ve started learning snowboarding. Probably a stupid idea in your forties, but there you go.

https://www.facebook.com/serpentvenomdoom
https://twitter.com/venom_serpent
https://serpentvenom.bandcamp.com/
https://serpentvenom.bigcartel.com/

Serpent Venom, Of Things Seen and Unseen (2014)

It’s been tradition around these parts for I don’t even know how long to post the annual audio streams as they come out from each Roadburn, and I hope the case will be no different as we move further away from Roadburn 2017 this past April in Tilburg, the Netherlands, and inexorably toward the first announcements for Roadburn 2018 to come. This process — the posting — used to require a slew of links and media players, which I actually kind of liked because it allowed for emphasis on just how much material there was emerging from the festival, how much work Marcel van de Vondervoort and his team put into the recording and mixing of these sets for all the bands, and so on.

Well, it’s the future now — or I guess it was the future like five years ago? I may have missed when it actually became the future; whatever — and we apparently don’t even need to have 22 different media players to post 22 different streams from Roadburn 2017. We need one. Netherlands-based media company 3voor12, which has always hosted the sets, brings forth a mega-batch today featuring the likes of (alphabetically) Atala, Author and Punisher, Bongzilla, Carpenter Brut, Casual Nun, Cobalt, Disfear, Forn, GNOD, Inter Arma, Joy, Les Discrets, Nadra, Pontiak, Serpent Venom, Slomatics, Temple ov BBV, Trans Am, Ultha, Valborg, Warning and Wolvennest.

Not inconsiderable. It’s been mere hours since Slomatics‘ Futurians: Live at Roadburn was reviewed here, but I also had occasion to see Warning (pictured above), Joy, Les Discrets, Atala, Valborg and others on that list, and I can attest to their being a joy to behold. Part of the fun of these streams is also getting some sense of what you missed at Roadburn due to making the inevitable hard choice of a schedule conflict, so I guess this is my shot at hearing what Bongzilla got up to during their time on stage. If you need me I’ll be doing that.

Hope you enjoy as well:

Thanks as always to Walter for sending the embed my way. For all this site’s Roadburn 2017 coverage, click here.

Roadburn’s website

Marcel Van De Vondervoort on Thee Facebooks

As one has come to expect by now, there’s an awful lot of badassery in this latest announcement from Roadburn 2017. The Tilburg-based festival doesn’t seem to do anything small at this point — though it boasts not one, but two delightfully intimate venues, so take that assertion with a grain of reality’s salt — and that certainly includes this round of 24 lineup additions. For me, particularly notable is the West Coast heavy psych invasion underway with the likes of Joy and Harsh Toke added — Tee Pee labelmates Ruby the Hatchet are no slouches themselves in that regard — and UK doomers Serpent Venom, who, as noted in the expansive update below, are overdue for an appearance at this showcase of showcases. I’ve included the stream of their last album as a refresher of its righteousness, in case you need one.

Also dig Bongzilla added to perform Gateway in its entirety. They’ll be part of a killer Main Stage lineup that day that’s basically untouchable and bound to engender much whining when the schedule is released and is packed as ever in all the other rooms. See also Big Business, Pontiak, Radar Men from the Moon, The Devil and the Almighty Blues, Lycus and so on. In the immortal words of pre-cold-dead-hands Charlton Heston, “it’s a madhouse.”

Check it out:

Twenty-four new additions to Roadburn’s 2017 line up

• John Dyer Baizley adds four new bands to his curated event, plus confirms a live interview at Roadburn 2017.
• Bongzilla confirm their first trip to Roadburn
• Big Business return to Roadburn ten years after their last performance at the festival.
….and more

JOHN DYER BAIZLEY

John Dyer Baizley has confirmed four more bands for his curated event, with the line up now almost complete. In addition, he will also take part in a live interview at Roadburn 2017 as part of the festival’s side programme.

Few others, if any, hardcore bands carry so much weight and impose so much respect outside their own scene as INTEGRITY do, perhaps because they have always transcended their “root” genre, both stylistically and conceptually. Baizley comments: “I hope to see you all there, while Integrity proves to all present that the ferocity has neither dulled nor become disingenuous throughout their career. Reality is bleak, but through darkness we are able to find connectivity and community.”

DISFEAR have been one of the leading lights of the Swedish d-beat scene in the almost three decades they have existed. They might not record of perform often, but when they do, you know it’s going to be something extraordinary, as John says: “I don’t know exactly what to expect from this re-emergence, but I’m sure it won’t be a gentle one. This should be a no-hold-barred, fists-in-the-air, mandatory-circle-pit set, and you better believe I’m not missing a minute of it.”

OATHBREAKER have wowed audiences around the world with the release of their latest album, Rheia. John counts himself among the devoted, commenting of the album: “Therein exists a healthy reverence and understanding of the genres it references; yet it’s a record that is beholden to no style, genre or convention. There are layers upon layers of sound that recall black metal, pop, indie, hardcore, shoe-gaze, you-name-it; yet as I listen, I am aware of none of this – it has been presented so artfully and with such earnest and unpretentious conviction.”

If you trace the history of post-rock, you’ll go all the way down the family tree to find Nathan Means, Philip Manley and Sebastian Thomson, the three members of TRANS AM, at the very root of it all. “I have always been a massive Trans Am fan, and I think their performance at Roadburn will be an incredible moment during next year’s festival,” John says, “I’m sure Sebastian will have his work cut out for him, playing two very intense and completely different sets, with both Baroness and Trans Am (Friday and Saturday, respectively). Do not miss this show, it will be a truly incomparable experience during Roadburn 2017.”

John Dyer Baizley will also be participating in Roadburn’s popular side programme, having confirmed that he will take part in a live interview hosted by Ula Gehret. John will talk through his personal and professional highs and lows before taking questions from the audience.

BONGZILLA

In an unparalleled stoner celebration, reformed Wisconsin riffmasters BONGZILLA have been confirmed to perform their classic album Gateway in its entirety at Roadburn Festival 2017. Next year marks 15 years since BONGZILLA originally released Gateway in 2002. Their third album, it indeed was for many listeners a doorway into a new world – a dimension of crust-laden sludge that, in the years since, has gone on to put an entire generation of bands under its influence. Unmatched in its dankness, coated in purple and green tonal wash, Gateway’s weedian righteousness is no less potent today than a decade and a half ago.

BIG BUSINESS

The last time this dynamic duo set foot at Roadburn was way back in 2007, in the company of their Melvins bros, but now, fully grown up and with a bunch more records, experience and exactly the same amount of boundless creativity, they will return on their own, as the singular, unique musical force they are.

WHORES.

Their live shows have a reputation for being way beyond the norm in terms on intensity, so we are super stoked to bring this power trio, WHORES.to Roadburn for the first time. We have the feeling it just might be one of those shows that everyone will talk about for years afterwards, so make sure you don’t miss WHORES. when they play Roadburn 2017 – they have a curious knack for melody that’ll ensure these tunes stay with you long after the bruises have healed up.

ALSO CONFIRMED:

Alaric will deliver a hybrid of post-punk’s tense, angular structures with the size and spread of extreme metal’s most dynamic sonic components.
Author & Punisher heralds the rise of the machines with a unique take on industrial doom.
Cobalt offer atypical excursions through black metal via apocalyptic tribalism, old Americana, and a doom-laden, ritualistic atmosphere.
Fórn bring both soul-crushing lows and groovy assaults at higher moments.
Gnaw Their Tongues have promised “something special” for their Roadburn set. Prepare for aural torture.
Harsh Toke will perform a set comprised entirely of Roky Ericsson covers.
Hedvig Mollestad Trio touch on genre-blurring hardrock and metal riffery as well as the noisier realms of jazz improvisation.
Joy are a San Diego heavy psych power trio, inviting you to ride along with them at Roadburn.
King Woman heavy, dark, emotional, beguiling, confrontational.
Lycus – monolithic, mournful, and massive sounding doom.
Pinkish Black will be making waves and breaking hearts with their chilling synthesiser dirges.
Pontiak are primal and fiery and often fuzzy and psyched out; ready to give a lesson in rock.
Radar Men From The Moon will team up with Roadburn 2017 artist in residence GNOD for a collaborative performance known as Temple Ov BBV, as well as playing their own show.
Ruby The Hatchet invite you to follow them on their kosmiche trip.
Serpent Venom – they’re trippy, they’re heavy, they are long overdue a Roadburn appearance.
The Devil & The Almighty Blues are heavily inspired by Delta blues, and standing at the crossroads of both American and British blues-based rock.
True Widow return with more sultry yet syrupy fuzzed out trips.

Artists already announced for Roadburn 2017 include Coven, Warning (playing Watching from a Distance in full), Artists in Residence – GNOD, My Dying Bride (performing Turn Loose The Swans in its entirety), Ulver and Hypnopaz?zu (David Tibet & Youth) and Zeal & Ardor, Mysticum, Deafheaven, Chelsea Wolfe, and our 2017 curator, John Baizley who will perform with Baroness, plus many more. Roadburn Festival will take place 20-23 April, 2017 at the 013 venue, Tilburg, The Netherlands.

Tickets (and campsite tickets) are on sale for Roadburn 2017 and can be purchased from this link.

4 day – 195 Euro
3 day (Thu, Fri, Sat) – 172 Euro
Single day ticket, Sunday only – 54 Euro

Thursday, Friday and Saturday single day tickets will be on sale on January 12 priced at 59 Euro.

http://www.roadburn.com/
https://www.facebook.com/roadburnfestival
https://twitter.com/roadburnfest

Serpent Venom, Of Things Seen and Unseen (2014)

Not every band in the lineup really applies around here, but I seem to care way less about that kind of thing these days than in the past, and if I need an excuse to post the first lineup announcement from April’s Ritual Festival 2017 in the UK, I’ve got it in taking it as a reminder of how righteously doomed London’s Serpent Venom are. If you didn’t hear it, their 2014 album, Of Things Seen and Unseen (review here), is streaming at the bottom of this post and so worth your time it’s ridiculous to think you’re still reading this sentence and not already listening. I mean, really. Get on it.

As for the rest? Well, I’ve seen Misery Index before, believe it or not (might’ve been 2003?), and as regards Ihsahn, I’m as much of an Emperor fan as the next guy, unless the next guy is one of those super-pretentious Emperor megafans — which, let’s face it, he probably is — so yeah, seems like Ritual Festival 2017’s mission to blend extremes in death, doom and beyond is well underway in the stylistic mix they’re presenting thus far. I’ll keep an eye out for how it continues to come together.

From the PR wire:

Ritual Festival announces Ihsahn, Misery Index, Afternoon Gentlemen, Crepitation, Corrupt Moral Altar, Conjurer, Serpent Venom and Groak

Ritual Festival, which aims to be bring the best in doom and death metal to Leeds will return on 8th April 2017. Following the success of this year’s festival which boasted the likes of 40 Watt Sun, The Body, Conan, Venom Prison and Full of Hell, Ritual have announced that Norweigan black metal pioneer Ihsahn will headline next year. He states:

‘I am honoured to headline Ritual Festival next year, and I´m looking forward to bringing you a set of Ihsahn past, present and maybe a dash of future as well. See you all there!’

Best known for his work with Emperor, he released his latest solo album ‘Arktis’ back in April. Alongside Ihsahn the festival have also announced Misery Index, The Afternoon Gentlemen, Crepitation, Corrupt Moral Altar, Conjurer, Serpent Venom and Groak with more additions to follow in the coming months. The organisers comment:

‘Firstly thanks to all of you that supported Ritual this year. I’m happy to say the festival will be returning to Canal Mills, Leeds in April 2017 with a diverse and unique line-up. We have taken the time to combine some of the UK’s newest, as well as established talented acts along with some special and exclusive favourites just for you. We are honoured to have Ihsahn headline the festival but we also can’t wait to reveal many more incredible bands for you over the coming months.’

The first 100 early bird tickets are on sale now priced at just £25 rising to £30 – http://ritualfestival.bigcartel.com/

Alongside 2 rooms of live music the festival will also feature art exhibitions, a wealth of merchandise, as well as local food vendors.

Line-up so far:
Ihsahn
Misery Index
The Afternoon Gentlemen
Crepitation
Corrupt Moral Altar
Conjurer
Serpent Venom
Groak

www.ritualfest.co.uk/
www.facebook.com/RitualFestivalUK
http://ritualfestival.bigcartel.com/
www.canalmills.com/

Serpent Venom, Of Things Seen and Unseen (2014)

This is it. New Year’s is this week and by Friday we’ll be into 2015. A new year always brings new hopes, concerns, records and so on, but to be completely honest, I’m just not quite done with 2014 yet. So here we are. I’ve had stacks of CDs on my desk and folders on my computer from the last couple months of stuff I have been trying to fit in, and it doesn’t seem right to me to let the year go without cramming in as much music as I possibly can.

Gotta call it something, so I went with “Last Licks,” since that’s basically what it will be. The plan is that between today and Friday, each day I’ll have another batch of 10 reviews. I’m not going to promise they’ll be the most comprehensive ever, but the idea is to do as much as I can and this seems to me the best way to turn my brains into goo. When that ball drops in Times Square, there’s a good chance I’ll be typing.

No sense in delaying. You get the idea, so let’s jump in:

Sigiriya, Darkness Died Today

Recorded live as their debut on Candlelight Records and the follow-up to 2011’s debut, Return to Earth (review here), the sophomore outing from Welsh heavy rockers Sigiriya, Darkness Died Today, is distinguished by a vocalist swap bringing in Matt Williams of Suns of Thunder. Williams has a tough job in replacing Dorian Walters, who like guitarist Stuart O’Hara, bassist Paul Bidmead and drummer Darren Ivey, is a former member of Acrimony. There are times when it works and times when it doesn’t. Along with a more barebones tonality in the guitar than appeared on the debut, Williams brings a more straightforward style in his voice, and it changes the personality of the band on songs like “Freedom Engines” and the first-album-title-track “Return to Earth.” “Tribe of the Old Oak” is a catchy highlight and I’ll almost never argue with a song called “Obelisk,” but it seems like they’re still searching for the footing here that seemed so firmly planted their last time out.

Sigiriya on Thee Facebooks

Candlelight Records

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Handsome Jack, Do What Comes Naturally

Upstate New York blues rockers Handsome Jack waste little time living up to the title Do What Comes Naturally. The name of their third album, released by Alive Naturalsound, is both mission-statement aand suggestion, and on songs like the soul-inflected “Creepin’” and the rolling “You and Me,” they make it sound like a good idea. Blues and classic soul meet garage rock across cuts like the relatively brief “Leave it all Behind,” but the tones are warm throughout the record, and guest spots on harmonica and Hammond help keep a sense of variety in the material, well-constructed but still loose in its vibe. The twang might recall The Brought Low for heavy rock heads, but one doubts Handsome Jack groove on much that came out after Psychedelic Mud. Even the CD splits into sides, and as easy as it would be for something like this to sound like a put-on, Handsome Jack prevail with closer “Wasted Time” in making an outing that’s anything but.

Handsome Jack on Thee Facebooks

Alive Naturalsound

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Serpent Venom, Of Things Seen and Unseen

London doomers Serpent Venom sound like experts in the form on Of Things Seen and Unseen, their second album for The Church Within following 2011’s Carnal Altar and their initial 2010 demo (review here), a righteous 48-minute lumbering slab of heavy riffs, downerism and nod. It’s not every band who could put “Death Throes at Dawn” and “Lord of Life” next to each other, but the four-piece of vocalist Garry Ricketts, guitarist Roland Scriver, bassist Nick Davies and drummer Paul Sutherland keep their focus so utterly doomed that even the quiet, minimalist acoustic interlude “I Awake” – ostensibly a breather — comes across as trodden as the earlier “Sorrow’s Bastard,” or the Reverend Bizarre-worthy “Let Them Starve,” which follows. For those who long for trad doom that has an identity outside its Vitus and Sabbath influences, Serpent Venom prove more than ready to enter that conversation on the wah-soaked soloing in the second half of “Pilgrims of the Sun.” Right fucking on.

Serpent Venom on Thee Facebooks

The Church Within Records

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Owl Glitters, Alchemical Tones

The artwork tells the story. Owl Glitters’ Alchemical Tones (on Heart and Crossbone Records) is a wash of color. Taking tribal rhythms and repetitions and pairing them with organic low-end, chanted vocals and periodic excursions of psych rock guitar, Arkia Jahani (who seems to be the lone creative force behind the project, though Mell Dettmer mastered) brings a ritualistic sensibility to the eight included pieces, and the flow is molten from the start of “Dervishes.” Less purposefully weird than Master Musicians of Bukkake, but farther into the cosmos than Om, there’s a folkish identity at the heart of Alchemical Tones that keeps the proceedings human even on the near-throat-singing of “Hakim Sanai” or “Poets of Shiras” and “Khalifa’s Visions” an immersive pair preceding the droning closer “By the Candlelight Our Eyes Welcome Glimmers of Eternity.” Beautifully experimental – and in the case of “Mindful of Gems,” fuzzed to the gills – Owl Glitters’ second outing engages sonic spiritualism with dogmatic command and stares back at you from the space within yourself.

Owl Glitters on Thee Facebooks

Heart and Crossbone Records

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Sandveiss, Scream Queen

Sandveiss released Scream Queen, their first full-length, late in 2013, reveling in a modern sound crisply produced and more than ably executed to feature the vocals of guitarist Luc Bourgeois, who provides frontman presence even on disc alongside guitarist Shawn Rice, bassist Daniel Girard and drummer Dzemal Trtak. Cohesiveness isn’t in question as opener and longest cut (immediate points) “Blindsided” rounds out its 6:26, leading the way into “Do You Really Know” and setting the tone for big-riffed Euro-style heavy from the Quebecois foursome, who slow down on “Bottomless Lies,” on which Trtak backs Bourgeois in you-guys-should-do-this-more fashion, and ultimately hold firm to the focus on songwriting that establishes itself early. They fuzz out on closer “Green or Gold,” but by then it’s another element of variety among the organ, guest vocals on “Scar” and tempo shifts on Sandveiss’ ambitious debut, distinguished even unto the six-panel gatefold digi-sleeve in which it arrives, the art and design by Alexandre Goulet one more standout factor on an album demanding attention.

Sandveiss on Thee Facebooks

Sandveiss on Bandcamp

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Octopus Syng, Reverberating Garden Number 7

Probably the most clearly Beatlesian moment on Octopus Syng’s Reverberating Garden Number 7 is a slight “Hey Bulldog”-style cadence on side A’s “Very Strange Trip,” and that in itself is an accomplishment (one I’m apparently not the first to observe). The Helsinki four-piece in their 15th year are led by guitarist/vocalist Jaire Pätäri and emit an oozing, serene psychedelia, peaceful and lysergic in late ‘60s exploratory fashion. Reverberating Garden Number 7 (on Mega Dodo Records) echoes out vibe to spare and is deceptively lush while keeping a humble vibe thanks in no small part to Pätäri’s restrained vocal approach and curios like “Cuckoo Clock Mystery,” which boasts an actual cuckoo clock to add bounce to its arrangement. Nine-minute closer “Listen to the Moths” is the single biggest surprise, and an album unto itself, but its unfolding is only the capstone on a collection of psychedelic wonder sincere in its stylistic intent and execution. It fills the ears like warm air in the lungs.

Octopus Syng on Thee Facebooks

Mega Dodo Records

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Sun Shepherd, Procession of Trampling Hoof

Destructive Australian trio Sun Shepherd put the bulk of Procession of Trampling Hoof to tape in 2011. Closing bonus track “Exploding Sun” is a demo from 2006, but it fits with their extended tracks and big riffs piled onto each other in densely-weighted fashion, if rougher in presentation. More Ramesses than High on Fire, who prove otherwise to be a key influence tonally for guitarist/vocalist Anson Antriasian, must-hear bassist Leigh Fischer and drummer Michael Barson, though their approach is decidedly less thrash-based. The first five of the six songs find Sun Shepherd’s first full-length a pummel-minded blend of sludge and doom. Antriasian’s vocals are semi-spoken, but fitting theatrically on “Goat-Head Awakening” with the grueling riff-led nod, the tension released as they pass the halfway point of the 10-minute run, a raw atmosphere bolstering the chaos of their slower-motion marauding. With the welcome flourish of stonerly soloing on “Engulfed by Ocean of Time,” one can’t help but wonder what the Melbourne natives are up to three years later.

Sun Shepherd on Thee Facebooks

Sun Shepherd on Bandcamp

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Purple Hill Witch, Purple Hill Witch

Fuzz-toned elements of Sleep and Sabbath pervade the stoner-doomy self-titled The Church Within debut from Oslo three-piece Purple Hill Witch, who carry the bounce well in immediately familiar riffs and groove. Swinging drums from Øyvind and the inventive basslines of Andreas underscore Kristian’s purely Iommic riffage and blown-out vocals, somewhere between Witchcraft’s earliest going and Witch’s self-titled. If that gives Purple Hill Witch an even witchier feel, “Final Procession” sounds just fine with that, as do shorter tracks like the later “Aldebaranian Voyage (Into the Sun)” and centerpiece “Karmanjaka” on which the stoner side comes out in force. They finish by using all 11 minutes of the eponymous “Purple Hill Witch”’s runtime, breaking in the midsection for a murky exploration that’s creepily atmospheric without veering into cult rock cliché. They bounce resumes and slows to a crawl to close out, but the jam serves Purple Hill Witch well in expanding the band’s sonic reach and the album’s weedian sensibility. Not that they were keeping it a secret.

Purple Hill Witch on Thee Facebooks

The Church Within Records

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Giant Sleep, Giant Sleep

A burly dual-guitar five-piece with roots in Germany and Switzerland, Giant Sleep start out their self-titled, self-released first LP with a brief intro titled “Argos” before getting to the question, “Why am I angry all the time?” as the central, recurring line of “Angry Man.” That song, like “Henu” and “Reproduce,” gets its point across quick in heavy rock fashion and develops its argument from there, a progressive metal vibe pervading especially the latter, which is penultimate in the 10-song/52-minute effort, and underscores the high-grade craftsmanship accomplished throughout. “Dreamless Sleep” is probably my pick of the bunch for its airier tone and resonant minor-key hook in the guitars of Markus Ruf and Patrick Hagmann, vocalist Thomas Rosenmerkel belting out the chorus before making way for plotted solos atop Radek Stecki’s bass and Manuel Spänhauer’s drums, but it’s not so far removed from its surroundings. As a whole, the album could be more efficient, but it wants nothing for songwriting, and especially as a debut, Giant Sleep hits its marks readily.

Giant Sleep on Thee Facebooks

Giant Sleep on Bandcamp

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Acid Elephant, Star Collider

Opener “Las Noches del Desierto” is the only one of Star Collider’s five tracks under 10 minutes. Flux seems to be the norm for Finnish post-stoners Acid Elephant, who recently brought in vocalist Martin Ahlö but here revolve around the core of bassist/guitarist/vocalist Miksa Väliverho, guitarist/vocalist Ilpo Kauppinen and drummer Roope Vähä-Aho, employing a host of others on obscure vocals, percussion and djembe throughout the 64-minute sophomore outing, recorded in 2012 and released late in 2013. Whoever they are now, Acid Elephant on Star Collider call out heavy psych, drone/jam and riff-based impulses in their extended cuts, gradually getting longer from “Red Carpet Lane” (10:46) until closer “Bog” hits 18:29. To their credit, their songs leave impressions to match their length, and even as it’s finishing its instrumental run, “Godmason” (15:58) is highlighting its resonant central riff, having emerged from a wash of feedback and amp noise at its beginning, preceded by the droning centerpiece “7th Stone.” Satisfying and unpredictable, Star Collider balances experimentation and engagement smoothly without losing its focus on individualism.

Acid Elephant on Thee Facebooks

Acid Elephant on Bandcamp

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Click Here to Download

 

[mp3player width=480 height=150 config=fmp_jw_widget_config.xml playlist=aot38.xml]

As I’ve tried not to do since I started making podcasts again, I kept away from a consistent theme this time around, but I wanted to at least get a blend of bands you’ve probably heard and bands maybe you haven’t. Of course the new Sleep was a given, and new cuts from Electric Wizard and Karma to Burn felt like they needed to be there as well, so they are. But there are a few corresponding inclusions of stuff I’ve been digging that I haven’t had the chance to write about yet — looking at you, USA out of Vietnam, Lewis and the Strange Magics and Deamon’s Child — and while I’ve no doubt you’re already down with those and the rest of what’s included here because you’re on it like that, putting them in here seemed a good way to feature them for anyone not yet exposed who might be interested in checking them out.

If that’s you, please enjoy. The second hour, as usual, is consumed by longer songs, but there are a few in the first hour as well (that Electric Wizard track is over 10 minutes, and the Sleep is close to it), but of the podcasts I’ve put together in the last few months, this one easily flows the best. It was pretty late as I was putting it together last night, so I had the headphones on and was working totally without distraction. I know it’s an unrealistic expectation to think anyone will be able to listen in that manner, but if you get the chance or if you don’t, I hope you have a good time.

First Hour:
Sleep, “The Clarity” from Adult Swim Singles Series (2014)
Electric Wizard, “I am Nothing” from Time to Die (2014)
Lewis and the Strange Magics, “Cloudy Grey Cube” from Demo (2014)
USA Out of Vietnam, “You are a Comet, You are on Fire” from Crashing Diseases and Incurable Airplanes (2014)
Serpent Venom, “Lord of Life” from Of Things Seen and Unseen (2014)
Deamon’s Child, “Lutscher!” from Deamon’s Child (2014)
Rabbits, “Reek and Ye Shall Find” from Untoward (2014)
Karma to Burn, “Fifty Seven” from Arch Stanton (2014)
The Heavy Co., “One Big Drag” from Uno Dose (2014)

Second Hour:
Wolf Blood, “Dancing on Your Grave” from Wolf Blood (2014)
Frown, “Harpocrates Unborn” from The Greatest Gift to Give (2014)
Merlin, “Lucifer’s Revenge” from Christ Killer (2014)
Causa Sui, “Incipiency Suite” from Pewt’r Sessions 3 (2014)

Total running time: 1:57:27

 

Thank you for listening.

Download audiObelisk Transmission 038

 

I saw Serpent Venom in London in April. They were very, very fucking heavy and very, very fucking doomed. As I recall there had been some screwup with their equipment or something and they still demolished The Black Heart in Camden Town with a barrage of what was then new material. Good news today that that material will surface in the form of the second Serpent Venom LP, Of Things Seen and Unseen on The Church Within early next year, which the band recorded with Chris Fielding at Skyhammer Studios.

The Sleeping Shaman have a track streaming from the record now that you can link to below as well. Behold:

SERPENT VENOM Stream New Track ‘Sorrow’s Bastard’; Second Album ‘Of Things Seen And Unseen’ To Be Unleashed In Early 2014

After playing out ‘Carnal Altar‘ for a couple of years, SERPENT VENOM thought it was about time they got stuck into writing a new record. They had some dramas to deal with in real life and shows to fulfill, so they worked through and then found themselves in a position to get cracking with new ideas. Having Roland join the band has brought a fresh outlook and as a result, the whole writing process came together very quickly.

And so in the first week of October 2013, SERPENT VENOM ventured to Skyhammer Studios to once again work with their mate and engineer extraordinaire Chris Fielding. The band walked out 7 days later with a new record in their hands and this is set to be unleashed through Church Within Records in early 2014.

SERPENT VENOM have progressed naturally, the songs are a lot darker, but they have retained the band’s identity and what they are about. The album is titled ‘Of Things Seen And Unseen‘ which has 8 tracks that they can’t wait for everyone to hear, but as a teaser of the heavy riffs to come, you can now stream the new track ‘Sorrow’s Bastard’ below:

Stream “Sorrow’s Bastard” here!

More news to follow soon about ‘Of Things Seen And Unseen‘ so stay tuned!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Serpent-Venom/109942092371705
http://www.doom-dealer.de

The Black Heart is nestled into an alleyway that runs off a street behind The Underworld in Camden Town, London. I knew the place when I got there Monday night because it was one of the venues where Desertfest was held in 2012 and will be again this year, which made this kind of an unofficial pre-pre-show. Obviously I’ve only been a few times, but it seems to me like a hub of the London scene. I was early to the show and watching the people around me, it wasn’t long before so-and-so said hi to someone else, hey to this or that person, etc. There is a larger bar downstairs and the venue room upstairs (with another, smaller bar), so there’s plenty of room to mingle and shoot the shit if you’re so inclined.

I was introduced almost immediately to the cats from Serpent Venom, whose last album, Carnal Altar, I actually bought but didn’t open because I didn’t want to rough up the packaging; a CD housed in what looked like an old occult paperback. Still failed in that preservation, but I’d heard some stuff online in the interim and knew they were heavy trad doom of the sort in which England specializes, and that their singer, Gaz, was a madman on stage. That turned out to be true, but it was up in the air whether or not the show would even happen for a while, since Elder and Copenhagen heavy rock trio Pet the Preacher had been delayed at their ferry and forced to wait for the next one.

Ultimately, they arrived and the show started late, but it started. Having come from the Netherlands myself during the day, I knew it was a hell of a trip to make, and they were doing it by van and ferry while I rode on comfortable trains. In any case, a backline was secured and Serpent Venom played a five-song set comprised almost entirely of new material from an album that they’ll begin to record sometime over the next few months. Gaz was, as expected, feeling the riffs deep, headbanging, raising his arms, foot up on the monitor block at the front of the stage, but what I hadn’t realized was how much the rest of the band would follow suit. Guitarist Roland cut a few classic moves of his own, bassist Nick seemed to be in charge of thanking the crowd — which was considerable even for the first act — and even drummer Paul got in on the action with some great faces from behind the kit and a readiness at a moment’s notice to stand up and engage the audience.

They were a lot of fun to watch, and not that I anticipated they’d be boring, but I liked them more than I thought I would like them. They closed out with a cut from Carnal Altar (I want to say it was “Four Walls of Solitude,” but because of the feedback and rumble it was hard to hear Gaz between songs and I’m not 100 percent), and that was met with a duly riotous response — headbanging, fist-pumping, that thing doom dudes do where they put their hands over their heads to clap and sort of sway side to side in a stepping half-circle. Well earned on Serpent Venom‘s part. They were easily the doomliest band on the bill, but in their element nonetheless, and with the complex rhythms of some of their new riffs, starts and stops and off-time interplay between the drums and guitar, their next album will for sure capture some attention.

Camden was the 12th stop on Elder and Pet the Preacher‘s 15-date European tour, so getting to the venue aside, things were locked in for both bands. Pet the Preacher had played a set down the street from the 013 at Roadburn, but as I was committed elsewhere, I didn’t get to see it. All the more reason to get to The Black Heart and see the Danish threesome bust out their Euro bottom-end heavy stoner riffs. It was an immediate turn sonically from Serpent Venom, but the consistent factor was an underlying appreciation for the heavy, and Pet the Preacher had me asking at the end of the set if I could buy a CD. They too played some new stuff — three out of the four on their setlist (which was scribbled on a torn off piece of a Red Stripe box) don’t appear either on 2012’s The Banjo debut full-length or the preceding Meet the Creature EP — and only “Into a Darken Night” appears on the first release.

Unquestionably, the highlight of the rest was set finale “What Now,” which featured the simple-but-speaking-volumes Q&A chorus, “What now/Fuck it,” atop a lumbering stoner riff that seemed out of the Euro heavy playbook but was still well placed and put to more than solid use. I could feel myself starting to pre-second-wind drag before they were done, but a shot of adrenaline from Elder was just the thing to revitalize.

Now, it had only been two days since I saw them tear a hole through a packed-out Het Patronaat at Roadburn, so yeah, I knew what was coming, but how awesome to watch Elder deliver the same kind of energy to 200 people in Camden as to 1,000 in Tilburg. The setlist was mostly the same — “Gemini,” “Release,” “Spires Burn,” “Dead Roots Stirring,” “Riddle of Steel,” and “The End” — but the real highlight was seeing how tight the band had become after 11 days on the road. They were in good spirits throughout, and their insistent, circular grooves were met with vigorous enthusiasm, bassist Jack Donovan‘s volume shaking the wooden floor of the place while guitarist/vocalist Nick DiSalvo‘s lead notes cut through the tonal assault and drummer Matt Couto provided both sonic punctuation and the addition of his cymbals to the already consuming wash of glorious heavy psychedelic volume.

“The End,” which is a later track from 2011’s Dead Roots Stirring (review here), made for an especially righteous ending. I don’t think I’d pick it over “Dead Roots Stirring” or “Spires Burn” as the best thing they played, but DiSalvo’s leads and the Colour Haze-inspired apex of it was striking all the same, and when they kicked into the final progression, the rush of that riff, it clearly earned its place as the sendoff. Because they were late, their set had to be cut short to meet an 11PM curfew, and that was a bummer, but The Black Heart has neighbors and it was a Monday night, so it’s certainly understandable. When it came to seeing Elder, I think the audience was happy to get what they got. I know I certainly was.

Extra pics after the jump. Thanks to you for reading and to Reece Tee for making me feel at home a long way from it.

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