Posted in Whathaveyou on October 13th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
People, dogs, a river, plenty of rock and roll. If you have a minute, take a gander at the slow-motion-prone aftermovie from Bear Stone Festival in Croatia earlier this summer. It’ll make you nostalgic for the event whether you were there or not. A frog even shows up. That’s always fun. And they’ve got the same bear back on the poster art for consistency’s sake. I vote we name him ‘Beartholomew.’
Perhaps bear and frog alike will put in an appearance next July for Bear Stone Festival 2023, the first lineup announcement for which has just been made. Orange Goblin stand among headliners, as they will, and Mother’s Cake, Croatia’s own Seven That Spells and Hungary’s Woodstock Barbie are the initial confirmations, and you can see with handy visual aid of the poster below that there’s plenty more to come for the vibe-heavy two-dayer set for July 7 and 8. I’ve never been much good at things like camping, enjoying sunshine, being around humans, etc., but I’ll be damned if they don’t make it seem enticing here, and what looks like an intimate vibe balanced with the outdoors in a kind nestled-in spot? Yeah. I think there’s something cool happening with this one. Like, let’s watch over the next couple years and see what happens.
The fest sent the following down the PR wire. I love that they call them ‘early bear’ tickets instead of ‘early bird’:
Bear Stone Festival 2023 – First bands and ticket presale info announcement
It’s with great pleasure that we are announcing the first bands that are set to perform at Bear Stone Festival 2023 as well as the presale date for a limited number of Early Bear tickets!
We are very eagerly expecting the next edition of Bear Stone Festival after this year’s “Year Zero Edition” which created quite a buzz and very quickly established the festival as a fresh new concept that has been recognized both by its domestic and international audience. The symbiosis of Rock music with all of its (sub)genres and untouched nature has never been more beautiful.
See you again on July 07&08, 2023 on the banks of the magical Mrežnica river (Donje Primišlje, Slunj).
Our first headliners are a world famous UK institution for over 25 years, the legendary Stoner Rock/Blues Metal band Orange Goblin. They are followed by Croatia’s very own Psychedelic Rock magicians Seven That Spells for whom this will be their first public appearance since the pandemic. Mother’s Cake are a band that tenaciously expands their Alternative Space Rock gospel across the European stages for a number of years proving themselves to be the backbone of the Austrian alternative scene. Coming from Hungary are Woodstock Barbie led by the charismatic vocalist Alexandra Pádár with an arsenal of material that guarantees a wild ride.
We are also announcing the presale date of limited and discounted Early Bear tickets that will be available from Wednesday, 19.10. from 10 a.m. Follow us on social media below for important links that will be posted soon.
Posted in Features, Reviews on April 12th, 2019 by JJ Koczan
04.12.19 – 02.26 CET – Friday night – Hotel
You get back to the hotel, kick off your shoes like you’re breaking shackles, realize your earplugs have been in since you walked out of the 013 and you’ve been walking to the rhythm of your own breath. Also why you feel so isolated. It’s Friday at Roadburn, which in the yearly cycle of the festival is always the hardest day. Good music makes it better. Always. Even the shinsplints. You pull the plugs out of your ear and put on a record. Start typing. Radical perspective shift.
It’s Tomas Lindberg from At the Gates‘ curated day. So is some of tomorrow. Dubbed ‘The Burning Darkness’ — as in, “with fear I kiss…” — it has featured a strikingly broad range of styles and acts native to his hometown of Gothenburg, Sweden, and tonight, At the Gates headlined with a special set that, among others, featured guest vocals from Anna Von Hausswolff, who had already earlier absolutely decimated the Main Stage, and Rob Miller of Amebix, who also appears of the band’s latest EP, With the Pantheons Blind. Not the kind of thing you see every day, and that was pretty much the running theme from the early afternoon onward.
In the Green Room, Zagreb’s Seven That Spells held court for three complete sets, playing their entire The Death and Resurrection of Krautrock trilogy. Those three albums, Om, Io and Omega, were released over a period of seven years between 2011 and 2018, so to say it was an effort of considerable scope would be underselling it, but the four-piece approached the task with enviable vitality. I would be in and out for at least a little while of all three sets — the second one I watched through the open doorway; an essential Roadburn experience dating back years for those who show up late to see, well, anyone — and though they had breaks between them, it’s still basically one band playing three gigs in the span of about four and a half hours. Admirable.
During their first set, however, in the Main Stage hall next door, Tripkyton played the second of Roadburn 2019’s three commissioned works, completing the “Requiem” triptych with a previously unheard second part to go with the first, which appeared on Celtic Frost‘s Into the Pandemonium in 1988 and the third, which was on that band’s reunion/swansong offering, 2006’s Monotheist. Oh yeah, and they did so in the company of the Metropole Orkest, because obviously. It was nearly overwhelming on a basic sensory level, never mind the breadth of the arrangements involved to the performance aspect. It was not without its sense of space or dynamic, but there was so much to take in that you almost couldn’t do it just by watching. Fortunately, there were video cameras on hand documenting the entire affair, so I very much doubt this will be the last this performance of the complete “Requiem” is heard from.
Still, hard to think of it as anything other than a landmark, much as when Tom G. Warrior and Triptykon made either their first live appearance at Roadburn 2010 (review here), or when they presented their second album, Melana Chasmata, in 2014 (review here). The audience certainly treated it as such, packing into the venue to the point that there was nowhere to move. I tried to go over to Het Patronaat for Mythic Sunship, but the line was out the door as well, and I know how that goes, so I ran up to the merch area to pick up the Molasses two-songer that went on sale today and then back for more of Seven That Spells and, after a spell of just sitting and letting my mind numb out for a minute, Anna Von Hausswolff‘s set. I suppose I was at a disadvantage as regards the Swedish Von Hausswolff, as I went into seeing her having never heard her before, but from where I stood, that only seemed to make me happier to be blindsided both by her operatic vocal prowess and experimentalist songcraft.
With a full band supporting, she crushed. Bowed bass assured that massive waves of low end vibrated the floor of the big hall, and Von Hausswolff‘s keys and voice cut through in a fashion both melodic and weighted by more than just emotion. Late in the set, the group resolved itself in manic pulsations and strobe flashes; I wanted to look away but was mesmerized. Up in the back of the lowest level of the hall, I just kind of sat there with my mouth open — “catching flies,” as The Patient Mrs. might say. They had started about 10 minutes late and finished much the same, but I couldn’t possibly call it anything other than time well spent. It occurred to me at some point that I hadn’t eaten a proper meal in a while, so hit up a salad and some fish, and then was back in the Main Stage room for Grails.
I guess there are probably a bunch of varying opinions on Grails at this point, but I count myself as continually fascinated by the Portland, Oregon-based outfit, whose work has ranged from instrumentalist heavy rock to cinematic soundscaping, dark jazz and seemingly whatever else their creative whims might conjure for a given album. Their last one, incidentally, was 2017’s Chalice Hymnal (review here), and between this, the East Coast US dates they did earlier this year and the West Coast touring they’ll do this summer, I can’t help but wonder if they might not have something new in the works. Of course, the band shares Emil Amos with Om, and that band will be playing dates as well, but it doesn’t seem outside the realm of possibility. In the meantime, they turned out to be just what was needed at just that moment, so once again, I felt fortunate to be there to see them.
Soon enough, At the Gates would conquer Roadburn 2019. Let’s go back 20-21 years to high school me screaming along to “Blinded by Fear” blasting into my eardrums from this or that mixtape, and yes, safe to say I was fucking thrilled when Lindberg was announced as curator for this year, and all the more because I haven’t seen At the Gates since their reunion began in 2011 and, before tonight, I’d never seen them at all. So, a band for whom I’ve had affection for more than two decades — and I’ll gladly argue that Slaughter of the Soul has aged best of any melodic metal album from its era — playing a unique set at a festival curated by its frontman. Couldn’t have been any better if I got to interview Lindberg for the Weirdo Canyon Dispatch. Oh wait, I did.
The first half of that interview ran in today’s ‘zine, and the second is in tomorrow’s — if you’re not here, they’re all archived — but even that interview didn’t prepare me for everything At the Gates had in store for their set. Yes, they brought Rob Miller (also Tau Cross) over from the Isle of Skye to guest on vocals, and yes, they had a string quartet, and yes, the visuals were by Costin Chioreanu, but if you gave me a thousand lifetimes, I’m not sure I ever would’ve guessed they’d bring Matt Pike — Sleep play tomorrow night and Sunday both — onto the stage to sit in for a cover of Trouble‘s “The Tempter.” Or that they’d start off with a take on King Crimson‘s “Red.” Or that Anna Von Hausswolff would come back out as well to cover Philip Glass. Or I guess generally that the whole thing would be so fucking shit god damn shit fucking god damn it fuck god shit glorious front-to-back.
Yeah, I’m more than willing to admit that part of the appeal for me of seeing At the Gates was the nostalgia of “Cold,” or “Suicide Nation” or “Slaughter of the Soul.” I know At the Gates have been doing shows again for eight years, and I know there have been lineup changes, and they’re not the people they were 20 years ago and I’m not the person I was 20 years ago. I know all of that, but there was so much else going on, and it all worked. And all that, on top of the fact that those songs were one of my earliest exposures to extreme metal of any stripe, and frankly, it’s not an enjoyment I feel like I need to justify. They fucking ruled, and even the band was smiling by the time they were finishing up. At the end, the whole crew came out when they were done to take a well-deserved bow. It had been something truly special.
Messa were playing Het Patronaat, and they were a band I really wanted to see, but even when I went out during At the Gates to head over there, about half an hour before Messa were supposed to go on, the line was out the door and down the block. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for another set added at the skate park near Hall of Fame or something, but yeah. I drowned my sorrows in churning, resin-coated psychedelia with LOOP, who also headlined Roadburn 2014 (review here). Seeing Robert Hampson on guitar with Hugo Morgan on bass and Wayne Maskell on drums — both also of The Heads — and guitarist Dan Boyd was the kind of thing I took last time around as a probably-once-in-a-lifetime chance, so now that I’ve seen them twice, I’ll consider this round like a life-bonus. Like someone took my life and they were like, “You know, let’s give this dope another LOOP set” because they were being nice to me personally or whatever. I guess that’d be Walter and Tomas Lindberg curating. So hey, big thanks, guys.
The strobe warning they put out before going on would be well enough earned, but LOOP were a fantastic ending to the day. Do I dare hope to see them again at some point? Roadburn 2024, maybe? I’ll keep my fingers crossed.
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I still have pictures to sort through and a ‘zine to edit tomorrow, so I’m going to leave it there. Temple Fang are playing a special early set, and yeah, I wouldn’t mind seeing that again if I can get up to Hall of Fame. We’ll see. Either way, halfway through Roadburn 2019 and starting to get that refreshed-soul feeling that only Roadburn can provide. Thanks as always for reading.
Posted in Whathaveyou on August 16th, 2018 by JJ Koczan
I mean, who’s gonna argue? Roadburn 2019’s first real lineup announcement — Heilung and Gore and Louise Lemón were announced at this year’s festival, so technically that’s the first announcement — already paints an unreal picture of what’s to come. Sleep playing two sets spanning their 27-year career. Tomas Lindberg of At the Gates curating in what would seem to be Roadburn specifically doing High School Me a personal favor — I bet that’s gonna be crusty as hell — as well as the likes of Seven That Spells, Midnight, Birds in Row and more. Seriously.
You know what the thing about this is, too? It’s just the beginning. Roadburn 2019 just started out with what would otherwise be a grand finale of an announcement. Get ready, because the next few months are only going to get more unbelievable. That’s pretty much what Roadburn specializes in at this point.
Till then, this from the PR wire:
Headliner, curator and more announced for Roadburn Festival 2019
– SLEEP will headline with two career-spanning sets – TOMAS LINDBERG to create The Burning Darkness curated event – HAVE A NICE LIFE to perform two rare sets – Plus more…
TWENTY-SEVEN YEARS OF SLEEP
Roadburn is thrilled to welcome SLEEP back to the festival as our main headliners for 2019. In two career-spanning sets, SLEEP will shine the spotlight first on their iconic album, Holy Mountain, and then the following night focus on their latest – crushing – release, The Sciences. There will be enough time for some bonus tracks and surprises, adding to the once-in-a-lifetime feel of this pair of sets.
For almost 30 years, SLEEP have been penning anthems for stoners, dropouts and appreciators of thee riff. It’s something of an understatement to say that Sleep have been an influential band in the world of heavy music – and directly on us at Roadburn too.
Whilst our relationship with the individuals in Sleep pre-dates their 2012 Roadburn performance (Om, High on Fire and Neurosis being no stranger to the Roadburn stages), that show, six years ago cemented the bond between band and festival; our histories forever entwined. It feels appropriate to celebrate together – another chapter in this incredible band’s tale.
SLEEP will perform on Saturday, April 13 and Sunday, April 14. Read more here.
CURATOR: TOMAS LINDBERG Roadburn has a diverse history of curators. Each year, one creative is selected to put their stamp on a corner of the festival, imprinting a little bit of themselves on the Roadburn map. Carrying the torch for the curator tradition in 2019 is Tomas Lindberg who will present bands under the banner The Burning Darkness.
Having performed at Roadburn in 2016 with Disfear, Lindberg will be a familiar face to Roadburners. Although best known for his work with At The Gates and Disfear, stints in Skitsystem and Lock Up plus his output with The Great Deceiver likely mean that he’s gotten a look in on many a Roadburner’s record collection.
Tomas says: “Roadburn for me has always been about eclecticism, and underground music of all styles that desperately demand your attention. Walter and I have already started talking about possibilities, and I am super excited about the direction of these talks. See you there!”
Tomas Lindberg’s The Burning Darkness curated event will take place across multiple stages on Friday, April 12 and Saturday, April 13.
HAVE A NICE LIFE HAVE A NICE LIFE released Deathconsciousness ten years ago, and the slow, quiet ripples have been making an impact ever since. With only a select few shows under their belts, we’re thrilled that HAVE A NICE LIFE will be playing not one, but two shows at Roadburn 2019. With one show dedicated to Deathconsciouness and another “regular” show (as regular as such a rare treat can be!), HAVE A NICE LIFE will truly celebrate the big gloom at Roadburn.
HAVE A NICE LIFE will perform on Saturday, April 13 and Sunday, April 14.
BIRDS IN ROW BIRDS IN ROW’s much-anticipated second album, We Already Lost The World, is a solid, varied and tremendously mature record that can be filed under the very inclusive banner of post-hardcore, but also a record which nevertheless maintains that anguished, raw intensity that has always been their trademark. We didn’t need much convincing, but it sealed the deal – we couldn’t resist having them at Roadburn 2019.
BIRDS IN ROW will play on Sunday, April 14.
VILE CREATURE A heady mix of droning doom and sludgy bang-your-head-slowly moments, VILE CREATURE wear their collective hearts on their sleeve and don’t hold back. Whilst their latest album, Cast of Static and Smoke may have its roots in a sci-fi-influenced short story that the duo concocted together, a immovable streak of socio-political commentary and compassion run through the very core of the band. Self-described “weird queer kids with lofty ambitions”, we’re hopeful that at least one of their ambitions will be fulfilled come April.
VILE CREATURE will play on Thursday, April 11.
MIDNIGHT Pack your leather jackets, bullet belts and face masks, because you’ll surely need them when Midnight ride to Roadburn…On The Wings Of Satan! We have a Melting Brain just thinking about it, but 2019 is finally the year when we will be Crushed By Demons, as MIDNIGHT will finally rip our stages apart and Take You To Hell with their unholy Black Rock ‘n’ Roll!
MIDNIGHT play Roadburn on Thursday, April 11.
SEVEN THAT SPELLS Ten years have passed since the last visitation of SEVEN THAT SPELLS to Roadburn Festival. In that time, the Croatian progressives have embarked on and completed the wildly ambitious trilogy The Death and Resurrection of Krautrock, offering its three different parts – Aum, Io and Omega, in 2011, 2014 and 2018, respectively.
Here at Roadburn HQ, we pride ourselves on bringing you the very best and most forward-thinking acts from all around the world, and we can’t wait to welcome back SEVEN THAT SPELLS to the 013 venue with their cross-genre epic in tow. Krautrock will be reborn at Roadburn 2019!
SEVEN THAT SPELLS will play on Friday, April 12.
ALREADY ANNOUNCED Before Roadburn 2018 was even complete, a trio of acts for 2019 were announced. Headed up by HEILUNG who are making monumental waves at the moment, the blueprint for Roadburn 2019 started to come into focus. Describing their ethos as “amplified history” from early Medieval Northern Europe, their daring and thought-provoking attitude will fit in perfectly at Roadburn.
Elsewhere, LOUISE LEMÓN’s “death gospel” will lend an ethereal, otherworldly vibe to proceedings, whilst Dutch hardcore legends GORE will signal their return with an intense reunion show.
The artists performing at Roadburn 2019 are: Birds In Row Curator: Tomas Lindberg Gore Have A Nice Life Heilung Louise Lemón Midnight Seven That Spells Sleep Vile Creature
Ticket information for Roadburn 2019 will follow in the coming weeks.
Posted in Whathaveyou on September 10th, 2015 by JJ Koczan
Dutch heavy rockers The Machine and Croatian krautrock specialists Seven that Spells are teaming up to hit the road in November. The shows are only in Germany and Switzerland, so it’s not exactly full-coverage even as regards Western Europe, but it’s a week of dates anyway and better than nothing. Jeez, what’s the worst that happens, you fly to Germany and see a show? Live with it.
The Machine will be out supporting earlier-2015’s Offblast! (review here), their fifth outing and most accomplished work to-date, while Seven that Spells hit the road on the heels of a Sulatron Records reissue of their 2012 album, Superautobahn, their most recent studio release being last year’s The Death and Resurrection of Krautrock: IO (review here), the second installment of a to-be-concluded trilogy.
Tour is presented by Sound of Liberation and info is as follows:
When We Switch Our Amps On The Cities Go Dark Tour (THE MACHINE & SEVEN THAT SPELLS)
The Machine & Seven That Spells will be touring Germany (ok and Switzerland) for one week in November 2015.
ROCK AND ROLL 13.11 : Kulturbahnhof Jena // Jena GER 14.11 : Feierwerk // München GER 15.11 : Sedel Garage Luzern // Luzern CH 16.11 : Immerhin Würzburg // Würzburg GER 17.11 : Bassy Club // Berlin GER 18.11 : Kulturzentrum Faust // Hannover GER
SEVEN THAT SPELLS: Beyond. We are the dogs of the western Jazz society looking for dope. Modern, aggressive psychedelic wall of sound incorporating polymetrics and occasional Viking funeral rites; hailing from the 23rd century where rock is dead, Seven That Spells returned in time where its still possible to change the tragic course of the boring history.
THE MACHINE: THE MACHINE is a rock band from the Rotterdam area (NL). Through the years the band has been crafting its own (loud) brand of both hard-hitting tracks and instrumental takeoffs. Rooted in heavy rock, THE MACHINE refuses to be pigeonholed and prefers a modern experimental approach to the well known concepts of yesteryear.
Posted in Reviews on January 1st, 2015 by JJ Koczan
I thought last night about changing the name of this feature to “First Licks 2015,” but on further reflection, that’s just too much licking. It’s bad enough as it is. All the same, Happy New Year to you and yours, wherever you and they may be. I hope in 2015, your reviews pile never gets so backed up that you think about doing something so absolutely insane as tackling them all at once to wipe the slate clean. Then again, being completely inundated with music has its upsides. The music, for one.
We press on today with the fourth installment in the “Last Licks 2014” series. These are reviews 31-40. I passed the halfway point yesterday with barely so much as an inward breath to appreciate the moment, and I can only hope the pile of discs before me goes so smoothly. I’ll let you know when I get there. Until then, no need to dally, let’s get underway with the first reviews of 2015.
Thanks for reading:
Seven that Spells, The Death and Resurrection of Krautrock: Io
Reportedly second in a series of three albums from Croatian heavy psych rockers Seven that Spells, The Death and Resurrection of Krautrock: Io follows a first installment subtitled Aum released in 2011 and brings forth heady, mostly instrumental progressions of extended runtimes and a satisfying blend of weighted tones and stylistic clarity. The three-piece who released their first album in 2003 alternate between three shorter pieces and two longer ones across the 47-minute Sulatron Records outing’s five tracks, and while I’m not entirely sure what is the narrative that’s taking place across them, there’s definitely a plotted course and concept at work behind the material – it does not come across as haphazard in any way. When they arrive, vocals do so as chants coinciding with sweeping passages, as on “Burning Blood,” the culmination of which is worthy of being the apex of a trilogy in progress. Io takes the off-the-cuff authenticity in heavy psych and gives it direction and purpose beyond simply being. No small feat, no small results.
Some metal isn’t doom, some doom isn’t metal, but Texas trio Elliott’s Keep play doom metal, and make no mistake. Their third long-player, Nascentes Morimur, comes after 2008’s In Medias Res (review here) and 2010’s Sine Qua Non (review here), and like them, it was produced and mixed by J.T. Longoria, so that their darkened, metallic chugging is presented with a crisp bite. The three-piece of Kenneth Greene (bass/vocals), Jonathan Bates (guitar) and Joel Bates (drums) toy with the balance between death and doom effectively across Nascentes Morimur’s nine tracks, making highlights of early moments like the double-kick-laden “Now Taken” and the chorus of the proceeding “Days of Hell.” Later cuts like “Tale of Grief” and “Omen” follow suit, with Jonathan riffing out classic metal vibes while Greene switches between clean singing and a rasping, almost black metal in places, scream. Their command never wavers, though, and while there have never been many frills about their approach, Elliott’s Keep have come to offer a fist-pumpingly heavy, sharp-edged push.
Bluesy Minneapolis double-guitar four-piece The Lone Crows show an affinity for classic rock stylization on their World in Sound second full-length, Dark Clouds. Produced modern, with lead guitar front and center, there’s more rock to Dark Clouds than heavy rock, but the vocal style of guitarist Tim Barbeau – joined in the band by guitarist Julian Manzara, bassist Andy Battcher and drummer Joe Goff – has some ‘90s inflection to it, and every now and then they get into a bit of bounce, as on the title-track and “The Dragon.” The penultimate “Midnight Show” would seem like the peak of the album, and sure enough it has one of its best hooks, but the recording doesn’t allow for the same push one imagines the material would carry live, and the quiet ending of “On that Day” feels flat compared to some of The Lone Crows’ bluesy peers. I chalk it up to the difference between blues rock and heavy rock and my own expectations, rather than some fault in the band.
I’m not sure if it would be appropriate to call Krautzone an offshoot of Zone Six, of which all four members – guitarist Rainer Neeff, synth-providers Modulfix and Sula Bassana, and percussionist Komet Lulu (the latter two also of Electric Moon) – take part, plus bassist Onkel Kaktus, but either way, the sound is nebulous, brilliantly textured for a meditative, slow-motion churn, and utterly engrossing. Their Sulatron debut, Kosmiche Rituale, is comprised of three lengthy explorations, tones washing in and out of each, smoothly offset by Neeff’s flight-taken guitar, minimal but earthy percussion and an improvised sensibility. “Liebe” (12:46) and “Kosmiche Rituale” (9:09) comprise side A and “Only Fools Rush In” (20:41) consumes side B entirely, a wash of synth and cymbals announcing its arrival as it sets about unfolding its long course, every bit living up to the album’s title in the process. Krautzone also released a split with Lamp of the Universe in 2014 (review here), but on their own, they shine with the chance to really stretch out.
Italian instrumentalists L’Ira del Baccano offer their second full-length with the lushly conceived Terra 42, a six-track, 57-minute outing that works in three overarching “phases.” The first of them includes tracks one through three and is dubbed “The Infinite Improbability Drive,” and it makes up more than half the album’s runtime, the first, 13-minute part standing alone while the two subsequent nine-minute stretches feed one directly into the next in a psychedelic wash of open guitar building to a raucous heavy rock finish. Phase II, “Sussurri… Nel Bosco di Diana” is the next two cuts, and moves smoothly from a Yawning Man-style jam to more riff-based thickness. The longest individual part, Phase III, is the 14-minute “Volcano X13,” track six, on which the band move fluidly through their heavy psych and rock impulses, synth and guitar intertwining well as L’Ira del Baccano affirm their more-than-burgeoning stylistic breadth. It’s an interesting, somewhat familiar blend, but they put it to good use on Terra 42 and engage with the spaciousness created.
Reactivated Montreal noisemakers Lae enlisted the help of their producer, Today is the Day’s Steve Austin, in handling lead vocals for their debut, Break the Clasp, which is a move fitting for their anti-genre approach to noise, drone, doom, post-everything, and so on. A Battleground Records/The Compound release, Break the Clasp reworks unheard material from Lae’s original run in the mid-‘90s – an album that never came out, essentially – but the vitality in the 13 tracks (yes, even the crushingly slow ones) is fresh to the point of its newness, and even the parts meant to be abrasive, opener “Sexy Sadie” or pieces of “17 Queen,” for example, hold onto a wonderful depth the mix and a feeling of texture that feeds Break the Clasp’s otherworldly spirit and brings you along its path of consuming strangeness. Austin is a presence, but by no means the star, and the whole band Lae shines across Break the Clasp’s fascinating span. A debut no one knew they were awaiting, but they were.
Psychedelia implying such a colorful sound, and black metal implying essentially the absence of that color, the two have rarely been paired well, but Finnish four-piece Atomikylä display a resounding space on their five-song debut full-length, Erkale (released by Future Lunch), and they’re not through the 13-minute opener, “Aluaineet,” before I think they might have mastered the balance between effects wash, unmitigated thrust and far-back screaming that most others have left too far to one side or the other. The four-piece with a lineup half from Oranssi Pazuzu and half from Dark Buddha Rising don’t stay in one place stylistically – the title-track has an almost krautrock feel, while the subsequent “Ihmiskallo” is more resolved to doom – but they keep a consistency of blinding bleakness to Erkale that results in a decidedly individualized feel throughout the 48 minutes. Droning and jazzy guitar experimentalism prevails in “Who Goes There,” and 10-minute closer “Musta Kulta” both broadens the atmosphere and underscores Atomikylä’s vicious stylistic triumph, capping Erkale with a mash of squibblies and screams, effects and distortion that’s so filthy it can’t help but be beautiful.
Freiburg, Germany, trio Deaf Proof – guitarist/vocalist J. Fredo, bassist JP and drummer Pedro – released their first demo in 2013, but the three-song/34-minute EP (it’s more like an album, but I won’t argue) Death Sounds Angry is a decidedly more assured, professional affair. The vibe is loose and, in the reaches of 18-minute middle cut “Origin of Pain,” jammy, but the three-piece still seem to have some idea of where they want their material to go, even as they feel their way toward those ends. A Colour Haze influence? Maybe, but less than one might think given the current climate of European heavy psych. JP’s bass has a tendency toward darker undertones, and when they hit the payoffs for “Death Sounds Angry and Hungry for More,” “Origin of Pain” and “The Sense,” they reveal themselves to be in search of something heavier and less peaceful. J. Fredo’s vocals are a little forward in the mix, but Death Sounds Angry still offers plenty to chew on for the converted.
Progressive, mostly instrumental and hypnotic, Zagreb, Croatia, trio Jastreb released their self-titled debut as a single 36-minute song in 2012, and the follow-up, Mother Europe (on HauRucK), is no less ambitious. Vocals appear here and there, both from the core three-piece and a guest spot, but the heart of what Jastreb do is rooted in their ability to craft movements that pull listeners in without falling into lulls of unconsciousness – to wit, the repetitions of “The Black Mountain” seem still but are constantly building and moving forward – as well as in arrangement flourishes like synth, Hammond, sitar and violin among the shades of post-metal in “Haemmer” or the bleary, drone-backed opener “North,” which comes companioned by the subtle churn of “South” to end the album. Not necessarily psychedelic in a loose or jammy sense, but immersive, and purposeful in its variety; the sitar and guest vocals on “The Silver Spire” arrive just at the moment when one thinks they might have heard it all. Could say the same of the record itself, I suppose.
Passage of Gaia is the sixth album from progressive melo-doomers Arctic Sleep. A four-piece from Milwaukee including bassist/drummer/cellist/vocalist Keith D, guitarist Mike Gussis and vocalist Emily Jancetic (John Gleisner plays drums live), one is reminded both of the Floydian consciousness of mid-period Anathema (my go-to comparison point for this kind of stuff, admittedly) and the drama in Katatonia and some of Novembers Doom’s clean sections, but ultimately, Arctic Sleep emerge from the eight-track/54-minute DIY long-player with their own personality, measured out in the careful vocal collaboration between Keith D and Jancetic, songs like “Terra Vindicta,” “Green Dragon” and “Passage of Gaia,” and the varied structures between the more rocking “Terra Vindicta” and the build of “Solar Lament.” Through it all, nothing’s out of balance, and Arctic Sleep execute Passage of Gaia with the poise demanded by the style and the fact that it’s their sixth album, accomplishment suiting them as well as the melancholy of closer “Destroy the Urn,” which almost loses its restraint at the end. Almost.
Posted in Bootleg Theater on January 11th, 2013 by JJ Koczan
Strange to check out without any other posts on a Friday, I know. There’s actually a lot of news that needs to go up — Witchcraft were announced as headlining Desertfest in Berlin, Trippy Wicked were added to the London fest and I’ve got a new song from Endless Boogie and a new single from Radio Moscow that I’d like to post — as well as a review of sludge madmen Fire to Fields that I said I’d post this week, but this morning a dog my sister got me in high school — that’s me trying to distance myself from it and not say “my dog” — had to be put down at 15 and to be honest, my head’s just not in the right space for reviewing anyone’s anything. I’m gonna go home, get in bed, and watch Futurama in the dark. The other stuff I’ll post tomorrow.
Not telling you this in some internet bitching plea for sympathy, just trying to explain why there are no other posts today. In the meantime, when it comes to my own particular vision of escapism, nothing quite does it like Duna Jam. The above clip of Zagreb heavy psych rockers Seven that Spells was filmed in 2010 and I guess the best thing you could say about it (or anything else, ever), is that the band stands up tonally to the gorgeousness and lushness of their surroundings on the beach in Sardinia. Maybe one of these years I’ll get there. I think I’d probably have to win the lottery, lose 100 pounds and buy $20,000 worth of photo equipment first, but hey, could happen.
Thanks to all for reading as always, and even though I’ll be posting tomorrow and I’m not really signing off, I hope you have a great weekend. A quick last-minute kudos to Clamfight, who’ve been added to Stoner Hands ofDoom XIII along with Lo-Pan, Freedom Hawk, It’s Not Night: It’s Space, Order of the Owl and others. More news on that to come as well next week, and though I’m loathe to promise something and then not have time to deliver on it, my plan is also to post the 20 albums I’m looking forward to in 2013. I started just with 10 and then it turned out there was too much good stuff in the works for this year to leave it at that, so yeah, keep an eye open.
Okay, I split. Back at it tomorrow, and if you were waiting on something in particular to go up, your patience is appreciated.
Posted in Whathaveyou on August 2nd, 2011 by JJ Koczan
Not that I needed an excuse, but it’s hard not to be jealous of the entire European continent when stuff like Rotor tours happens there. As it happens, those German instruproggers have teamed up with Croatian outfit Seven That Spells and fellow Berliners Neume for a run of dates that’s been dubbed TheBrainbangers’ Ball Tour.
Good fun. Here are the dates and some info from Prog Sphere, who seem to be sponsoring or promoting the tour — or, at very least, was who emailed me about it:
This October is going to see a real stoner/psychedelic rock explosion when on Oct. 14 in Jena, Germany, Rotor, together with Seven That Spells and Neume will start the Brainbangers’ Ball 2011 tour. With motorik grooves and instrumental soul food served by Rotor, with Seven That Spells’ psychedelic rock from the 23rd century and Neume’s two headed noise hydra, Germany, Austria, Croatia and The Netherlands will be echoing for a while led by the waves of three most unique psychedelic/stoner/noise rock bands at the moment. Check the official tour poster and tour dates below.
There will be given free tickets away (three per city, to be precise) for those who are willing to help in spreading the word out about this tour and the gigs in particular. So if you are fast enough, if you are enthusiastic enough, feel free to drop an email to info@prog-sphere.com and we will discuss further.
be so fucking shit god damn shit fucking god damn it fuck god shit glorious front-to-back.
