Posted in Whathaveyou on January 3rd, 2024 by JJ Koczan
After celebrating the fifth anniversary edition in 2023, German festival Hoflärm has made known the first round of acts confirmed for its three-day stretch from Aug. 8-10. If you’re paying attention — and I know you are — that’s the same weekend that SonicBlast Fest is happening in Portugal, and Brant Bjork Trio, Wine Lips, Sacri Monti, Home Front and Poison Ruin are confirmed for that as well, so there’s going to be some driving happening that weekend across Western Europe, to be sure. Nonetheless, the initial lineup reveal for Hoflärm finds the German fest welcoming Slomatics and Siena Root in addition to the above, and from this we can glean that Brooklyn’s Castle Rat will be taking their theatrical show abroad supporting their to-be-released debut LP, and Bikini Beach, Thronehammer and Tornet round out. If this was it — and as the poster tells you, it isn’t — you’d call it three days well spent. Or I would, anyhow.
From social media:
HOFLÄRM – First Band Announcement – THE RIDE IS ALWAYS LOW
Join us 2024 for the 6th stony ride to Hoflärm! We are very happy to announce the first bands of the line-up today! We also announce the start of the presale by 01.01.2024 at 6 pm (link in bio)!
Get ready for our first Headliner @winelipsband !
Coming all the way from Canada, Wine Lips will tear down the stage with a big Mushroom Death Sex Bummer Party of their current album! If you know, you know!
Needles to say, @brant_bjork is a legend. Therefore we felt very honoured to welcome Brant, @mariolalli and Ryan Gut for the second time to the unholy woods of mary valley! Back at Hoflärm 2022 these guys visited with Stöner, in 2024 they will hit Hoflärm with a special Brant Björk set!
You wanted something new, you get something new! @poisonruin and @arewenothomefront will test you apart with their fresh sound! Poison ruin will deliver you some Infest the Rats‘Nest Vibes, while Home Front brings you the energy with their influences by Joy Division, High Vis and late 80s Post Punk.
We welcome @siena root, @slomatics and @sacri_monti_band ! These three bands are the holy trio of stoner, psych and doom!
What would be a Hoflärm Fest without our dearest Friends Sabine, Jan and Andre ? This year they will come to perform with @earthship_official
Castle Rat will be for the first time in Europe! They just played Desertfest New York with their Electric Wizard inspired Doom!
To complete this announcement we welcome @thronehammer.official , @bikini_beach_fuzz & @tornet_xvi !
Posted in Whathaveyou on November 3rd, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Behold as DesertfestBerlin launches its 2024 season with 15 bands like hey getting 15 bands in a place is no big deal. Of course, maybe it isn’t for the now-long-running German event with close ties to the Sound of Liberation booking concern, but for the rest of the planet. You’ll note Belgian post-metallers Amenra and always-hip weirdos Osees at the top of the thus-far bill followed immediately by Acid King and The Brant Bjork Trio, both of whom will also take part in Desertfest Oslo 2024 as announced yesterday. Norway’s Full Earth, an offshoot of Kanaan with a debut album coming next year on Stickman, will also be at both events, and they’re likely not the last.
So, context tells us to expect at least two weeks of touring in Europe from those three outfits. Monkey3 are on the road now, Siena Root, Dÿse and Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs — new live LP out — were recently confirmed for Bear Stone Festival 2024 in July, and it’s not unthinkable they’d be doing shows from one to the other. They’re confirmed here alongside Tuareg rockers Tamikrest, Earth Tongue from New Zealand, Thronehammer, Dirty Sound Magnet, Praise the Plague and Neànder. Sounds like a festival to me. I’m ashamed at this point to say I’ve never been.
Info came down the PR wire, courtesy of Sound of Liberation:
DESERTFEST BERLIN Announces First Bands For 2024! Tickets On Sale Now!
Desertfest Berlin friends (#129304#)
We’re delighted to finally share with you the first names of the bands that are going to play on our stage in 2024❤️(#128293#) AMENRA from Belgium are going to be one of our headliners along with the LA’s psych-punk warrior OSEES ⚡️ We’re happy to see again the great ACID KING and BRANT BJORK TRIO and welcome TAMIKREST for the first time with their mix of traditional African music and Western rock (#128165#) The Newcastle’s doom rockers PIGS x7 will play for us their new album ‘Land of Sleeper’ while MONKEY3 and SIENA ROOT will bring their instrumental psychedelic rock and bluesy hard rock to our stage. Get ready for the emotional as well as decal-laden music of DŸSE and the psychedelic rock by the trio Dirty Sound Magnet (#127786#)️ You’re going to experience the heavy psychedelic / fuzz music of EARTH TONGUE directly from New Zealand, and the epic doom of THRONEHAMMER (#128588#) The experimental Oslo based rock-quintet Full Earth will play along the black metallers PRAISE THE PLAGUE and NEÀNDER both from Berlin ⚡️
Get ready for more names very soon. We’re stoked!!
AMENRA | OSEES ACID KING | BRANT BJORK TRIO | TAMIKREST PIGSPIGSPIGSPIGSPIGSPIGSPIGS | MONKEY3 | SIENA ROOT DŸSE | DIRTY SOUND MAGNET | EARTH TONGUE | THRONEHAMMER FULL EARTH | PRAISE THE PLAGUE | NEÀNDER & MANY MORE TO BE ANNOUNCED
Desertfest Berlin May 24th – 26th 2024 Columbia Venues
Posted in Questionnaire on May 23rd, 2023 by JJ Koczan
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: Love Forsberg, Zubaida Solid and Sam Riffer of Siena Root
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How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?
Love Forsberg – We make root rock music. Siena Root is a dynamic root rock experience.
Zubaida Solid – I’ve been with band since 2018 and my role has expanded since joining. For me Siena Root is a band that puts great emphasis on great live shows, high quality analog recordings with roots and inspiration from different genres, from blues, dragged, Indian ragas, classic rock, psychedelic influences. All this melt in to a honey pot that has something to offer everyone.
Sam Riffer – It’s the sum of our influences, personalities and creativity in a blender haha.
Describe your first musical memory.
LF – I think this was a ’70s production that my dad played, an album called “Kåldolmar och kalsipper”, by a swedish group Nationalteatern. It was an album somewhat produced for kids, but I still enjoy it today.
ZS – My first contact with music comes from my dad, listening to old Bollywood music from ’70s on cassette tape in the car. Listening and singing along while on road trips with my family, has special place in my heart.
SR – I was 7 years old and an older kid in school played a a cassette with Kiss’ Heaven’s on Fire really loud! I was stunned :) To this day I remember that kick drum beat and the shouts, somehow it came across as something dangerous… yet appealing.
Describe your best musical memory to date.
SR – When I saw Page & Plant, 1995 in Colorado, I was 18 years old and had recently discovered Led Zep. You could easily say I was on a Stairway to… It was a magical night with lots of hippies, friends and all the rest :)
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
LF – Last year when my pacifism was set under pressure by a war in Europe that I thought was unpredicted.
ZS – I learned whilst being sick in covid how fragile life is. It was quite a jarring experience.
SR – Definitely the war here in Europe, so many things I believed in went out the window. I had always thought that the so called threat from the east was exaggerated here in Sweden. That said, I never believed that our generation would walk through life with only peace around us, yet it was something I wished for of course. Still a chock when war approaches for real and we’ve taken peace for granted somehow.
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
ZS – That’s hard to answer but I always feel that different experiences and trails in life propels me forward musically.
SR – I guess it’s rather individual, for some people it can lead to less desirable things I think but to me it’s about learning, growing and moving forward but also about spiritual calmness and maturity.
How do you define success?
LF – Success is when you are understood by others.
ZS – Success for me is a combination of things. Having music out that you can stand for and be enjoyed by others and of course is substantial enough to make an impression and last.
SR – It’s not about commercial success to me it’s only about creative and musical fulfilment or whatever you live to achieve, doesn’t have to be music of course.
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
SR – Tough one, I have seen things that makes me sad and/or angry and of course lots of things I wish never happened or didn’t exist like violence, oppression and poverty but I shouldn’t say I wish I hadn’t seen it as much as I wish those terrible things didn’t happen or exist. If it’s part of reality I am somehow obliged to face it rather than to close my eyes.
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.
ZS – A big dream of mine is writing a musical. If we could ever write something like works of Webber/Rice through a “Siena Root-lens” that would be super cool.
SR – I really would like to time-travel but I guess I won’t be able to create such a machine…
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
ZS – I think we’ve seen different examples though out history as to why art Is so important. I think that arts biggest importance lies in the emotional outlet people need, not only for the creator but the viewer/listener as well. Seeing and hearing yourself being represented or recognising something within one self.
SR – Perspectives and interpretation, it’s all in the eyes and ears of the beholder and that’s the beauty of it, in most arts there is no correct answer or prevailing conclusion.
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
SR – Besides our dream of lasting world peace I really look forward to summertime.
Posted in Reviews on April 11th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
If you missed yesterday, be advised, it’s not too late. If you miss today, be advised as well that tomorrow’s not too late. One of the things I enjoy most about the Quarterly Review is that it puts the lie to the idea that everything on the internet has to be so fucking immediate. Like if you didn’t hear some release two days before it actually came out, somehow a week, a month, a year later, you’ve irreparably missed it.
That isn’t true in the slightest, and if you want proof, I’m behind on shit ALL. THE. TIME. and nine times out of 10, it just doesn’t matter. I’ll grant that plenty of music is urgent and being in that moment when something really cool is released can be super-exciting — not taking away from that — but hell’s bells, you can sit for the rest of your life and still find cool shit you’ve never heard that was released half a century ago, let alone in January. My advice is calm down and enjoy the tunes; and yes, I’m absolutely speaking to myself as much as to you.
Quarterly Review #11-20:
Siena Root, Revelation
What might be their eighth LP, depending on what counts as what, Revelation is the second from Siena Root to feature vocalist/organist Zubaida Solid up front alongside seemingly-now-lone guitarist Johan Borgström (also vocals) and the consistent foundation provided by the rhythm section of bassist Sam Riffer (also some vocals) and drummer Love “Billy” Forsberg. Speaking a bit to their own history, the long-running Swedish classic heavy rockers inject a bit of sitar (by Stian Grimstad) and hand-percussion into “Leaving the City,” but the 11-song/46-minute offering is defined in no small part by a bluesy feel, and Solid‘s vocal performance brings that aspect to “Leaving the City” as well, even if the sonic focus for Siena Root is more about classic prog and blues rock of hooky inclusions like the organ-and-guitar grooving opener “Coincidence and Fate” and the gently funky “Fighting Gravity,” or even the touch of folkish jazz in “Winter Solstice,” though the sitar does return on side B’s “Madukhauns” ahead of the organ/vocal showcase closer “Keeper of the Flame,” which calls back to the earlier “Dalecarlia Stroll” with a melancholy Deep Purple could never quite master and a swinging payoff that serves as just one final way in which Siena Root once more demonstrate they are pure class in terms of execution.
The latest and (again) maybe-eighth full-length to arrive within the last 10 years from Monterrey, Mexico’s Los Mundos, Eco del Universo is an immersive dreamboat of mellow psychedelia, with just enough rock to not be pure drift on a song like “Hanna,” but still an element of shoegaze to bring the cool kids on board. Effects gracefully channel-swap alongside languid vocals (in Spanish, duh) with a melodicism that feels casual but is not unconsidered either in that song or the later “Rocas,” which meets Western-tinged fuzz with a combination of voices from bassist/keyboardist Luis Ángel Martínez, guitarist/synthesist/sitarist Alejandro Elizondo and/or drummer Ricardo Antúnez as the band is completed by guitarist/keyboardist/sitarist Raúl González. Yes, they have two sitarists; they need both, as well as all the keyboards, and the modular synth, and the rest of it. All of it. Because no matter what arrangement elements are put to use in the material, the songs on Eco del Universo just seem to absorb it all into one fluid approach, and if by the time the hum-drone and maybe-gong in the first minute of opener “Las Venas del Cielo” unfolds into the gently moody and gorgeous ’60s-psych pop that follows you don’t agree, go back and try again. Space temples, music engines in the quirky pop bounce of “Gente del Espacio,” the shape of air defined amid semi-krautrock experimentalism in “La Forma del Aire”; esta es la música para los lugares más allá. Vamos todos.
Well, you see, sometimes there’s a global pandemic and even the most thoroughly-banded of artists starts thinking about a solo record. Not to make light of either the plague or the decision or the result experience from “Minnesota” Pete Campbell (drummer of Pentagram, Place of Skulls, In~Graved, Vulgarri, Gygax, Sixty Watt Shaman for a hot minute, guitarist of The Mighty Nimbus, etc.), but he kind of left himself open to it with putting “Lockdown Blues” and the generally personal nature of the songs on, Me, Myself and I, his first solo album in a career of more than two decades. The nine-song/46-minute riffy splurge is filled with love songs seemingly directed at family in pieces like “Lightbringer,” “You’re My Angel,” the eight-minute “Swimming in Layla’s Hair,” the two-minute “Uryah vs. Elmo,” so humanity and humility are part of the general vibe along with the semi-Southern grooves, easy-rolling heavy blues swing, acoustic/electric blend in the four-minute purposeful sans-singing meander of “Midnight Dreamin’,” and so on. Five of the nine inclusions feature Campbell on vocals, and are mixed for atmosphere in such a way as to make me believe he doesn’t think much of himself as a singer — there’s some yarl, but he’s better than he gives himself credit for on both the more uptempo and brash “Starlight” and the mellow-Dimebag-style “Whispers of Autumn,” which closes — but there’s a feeling-it-out sensibility to the tracks that only makes the gratitude being expressed (either lyrically or not) come through as more sincere. Heck man, do another.
Based in the Netherlands, North Sea Noise Collective — sometimes also written as Northsea Noise Collective — includes vocals for the first time amid the experimental ambient drones of the four pieces on the self-released Roudons, which are reinterpretations of Frisian rockers Reboelje, weirdo-everythingist Arnold de Boer and doom legends Saint Vitus. The latter, a take on the signature piece “Born Too Late” re-titled “Dit Doarp” (‘this village’ in English), is loosely recognizable in its progression, but North Sea Noise Collective deep-dives into the elasticity of music, stretching limits of where a song begins and ends conceptually. Modular synth hums, ebbs and flows throughout “Wat moatte wy dwaan as wy gjin jild hawwe,” which follows opener “Skepper fan de skepper” and immerses further in open spaces crafted through minimalist sonic architecture, the vocals chanting like paeans to the songs themselves. It should probably go without saying that Roudons isn’t going to resonate with all listeners in the same way, but universal accessibility is pretty clearly low on the album’s priority list, and for as dug-in as Roudons is, that’s right where it should be.
Philly merchants Sins of Magnus offer their fourth album in the 12 songs/48 minutes of Secrets of the Cosmos, and while said secrets may or may not actually be included in the record’s not-insignificant span, I’ll say that I’ve yet to find the level of volume that’s too loud for the record to take. And maybe that’s the big secret after all. In any case, the three-piece of bassist/vocalist Eric Early, guitarist/vocalist Rich Sutcliffe and drummer Sean Young tap classic heavy rock vibes and aim them on a straight-line road to riffy push. There’s room for some atmosphere and guest vocal spots on the punkier closing pair “Mother Knows Best” and “Is Anybody There?” but the grooves up front are more laid back and chunkier-style, where “Not as Advertised,” “Workhorse,” “Let’s Play a Game” and “No Sanctuary” likewise get punkier, contrasting that metal stretch in “Stoking the Flames” earlier on In any case, they’re more unpretentious than they are anything else, and that suits just fine since there’s more than enough ‘changing it up’ happening around the core heavy riffs and mean-muggin’ vibes. It’s not the most elaborate production ever put to tape, but the punker back half of the record is more effective for that, and they get their point across anyhow.
Steeped in the arcane traditions of classic doom metal, Nine Altars emerge from the UK with their three-song/33-minute debut full-length, The Eternal Penance, leading with the title-track’s 13-minute metal-of-eld rollout as drummer/vocalist Kat Gillham (also Thronehammer, Lucifer’s Chalice, Enshroudment, etc.), guitarists Charlie Wesley (also also Enshroudment, Lucifer’s Chalice) and Nicolete Burbach and bassist Jamie Thomas roll with distinction into “The Fragility of Existence” (11:58), which starts reasonably slow and then makes that seem fast by comparison before picking up the pace again in the final third ahead of the more trad-NWOBHM idolatry of “Salvation Lost” (8:27). Any way they go, they’re speaking to metal born no later than 1984, and somehow for a band on their first record with two songs north of 11 minutes, they don’t come across as overly indulgent, instead borrowing what elements they want from what came before them and applying them to their longform works with fluidity of purpose and confident melodicism, Gillham‘s vocal command vital to the execution despite largely following the guitar, which of course is also straight out of the classic metal playbook. Horns, fists, whatever. Raise ’em high in the name of howling all-doom.
Fuzzblasting their way out of Salem, Massachusetts, with an initial public offering of six cuts that one might legitimately call “high octane” and not feel like a complete tool, The Freqs are a relatively new presence in the Boston/adjacent heavy underground, but they keep kicking ass like this and someone’s gonna notice. Hell, I’m sure someone has. They’re in and out in 27 minutes, so Poachers is an EP, but if it was a debut album, it’d be one of the best I’ve heard in this busy first half of 2023. Fine. So it goes on a different list. The get-off-your-ass-and-move effect of “Powetrippin'” remains the same, and even in the quiet outset of the subsequent “Asphalt Rivers,” it’s plain the breakout is coming, which, satisfyingly, it does. “Sludge Rats” decelerates some, certainly compared to opener “Poacher Gets the Tusk,” but is proportionately huge-sounding in making that tradeoff, especially near the end, and “Chase Fire, Caught Smoke” rips itself open ahead of the more aggressive punches thrown in the finale “Witch,” all swagger and impact and frenetic energy as it is. Fucking a. They end noisy and crowd-chanting, leaving one wanting both a first-LP and to see this band live, which as far as debut EPs go is most likely mission accomplished. It’s a burner. Don’t skip out on it because they didn’t name the band something more generic-stoner.
Doomer nod, proto-metallic duggery and post-NWOBHM flourish come together with heavy rock tonality and groove throughout Lord Mountain‘s bullshit-free recorded-in-2020/2021 debut album, issued through King Volume as the follow-up to a likewise-righteous-but-there-was-less-of-it 2016 self-titled EP (review here) and other odds and ends. Like a West Coast Magic Circle, they’ve got their pagan altars built and their generals out witchfinding, but the production is bright in Pat Moore‘s snare cutting through the guitars of Jesse Swanson (also vocals and primary songwriting) and Sean Serrano, and Andy Chism‘s bass, working against trad-metal cliché, is very much in the mix figuratively, literally, and thankfully. The chugs and winding of “The Last Crossing” flow smoothly into the mourning solo in the song’s second half, and the doom they proffer in “Serpent Temple” and the ultra-Dio Sabbath concluding title-track just might make you a believer if you weren’t one. It’s a record you probably didn’t know you were waiting for, and all the more so when you realize “The Oath” is “Four Horsemen”/”Mechanix” played slower. Awesome.
Opener “The Air at Night Smells Different” digs into HEX-era Earth‘s melancholic Americana instrumentalism and threat-underscored grayscale, but “Fog Works,” which follows, turns that around as guitarist Florian Karg moves to keys and dares to add both progressivism and melody to coincide with that existential downtrodding. Fellow guitarist Philipp Seiler, standup-bassist Stephan Leeb and drummer Marian Waibl complete the four-piece, and Impending Bloom is their first long-player as Black Air. They ultimately keep that post-Earth spirit in the seven-minute title-track, but sneak in a more active stretch after four minutes in, not so much paying off a build — that’s still to come in “A New-Found Calm” — = as reminding there’s life in the wide spaces being conjured. The penultimate “The Language of Rocks and Roots” emphasizes soul in the guitar’s swelling and receding volume, while closer “Array of Lights,” even in its heaviest part, seems to rest more comfortably on its bassline. In establishing a style, the Vienna-based outfit come through as familiar at least on a superficial listen, but there’s budding individuality in these songs, and so their debut might just be a herald of blossoming to come.
Oh yeah, you over it? You tired of the bongslaught of six or seven dozen megasludge bands out there with ‘bong’ in their name trying to outdo each other in cannabinoid content on Bandcamp every week? Fine. I don’t care. You go be too cool. I’ll pop on “Ganjalf” and follow the smoke to oh wait what was I saying again? Fuck it. With some Dune worked in for good measure, Adelaide, Australia’s Bong Coffin build a sludge for the blacklands on “Worthy of Mordor” and shy away not a bit from the more caustic end their genre to slash through their largesse of riff like the raw blade of an uruk-hai shredding some unsuspecting villager who doesn’t even realize the evil overtaking the land. They move a bit on “Messiah” and “Shaitan” and threaten a similar shove in “Nightmare,” but it’s the gonna-read-Lovecraft-when-done-with-Tolkien screams and crow-call rasp of “Träskkungen” that gets the prize on Bong Coffin‘s debut for me, so radly wretched and sunless as it is. Extreme stoner? Caustic sludge? The doom of mellows harshed? You call it whatever fucking genre you want — or better, don’t, with your too-cool ass — and I’ll march to the obsidian temple (that riff is about my pace these days) to break my skull open and bleed out the remnants of my brain on that ancient stone.
Posted in Whathaveyou on April 7th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Some expected names in this first announcement from Desertfest Belgium 2023 in Antwerp — Yawning Man, King Buffalo, Truckfighters who seem to be making the rounds all year, etc. — but plenty of unexpected too, with aCarlton Melton returning to Europe, Philadelphia’s Heavy Temple apparently traveling abroad for the first time (new album?), Sourvein returning to road work, REZN heading over to support their killer new record, BlackWater HolyLight, Howling Giant — maybe also their first time in Europe? — Duel getting back over and so on.
As ever, I’m curious to see which of these acts will be on tour, and which with each other, but for now Desertfest Antwerp 2023 looks like a banger in the making. Early-bird tickets sold out in like hours when they were put on sale in February — two months before this first unveiling of band names, mind you — and one expects the sale on weekend tickets to follow suit. I’m not much for the big name on the poster personally, but I recognize I’m in a minority pretty much of myself in that, and from there on I don’t see a clunker in the bunch. Call it a win.
Of course, Desertfest Belgium also helms the Ghent edition. I’m not sure if that will be earlier or later — my guess would be earlier, but maybe the Fall fests spill over to November this year; could happen, wouldn’t be terrible if it did — but for today there’s plenty to dig here as posted by the festival:
The moment we’ve all been waiting for has finally arrived! We’re beyond stoked to announce the first round of names for Desertfest Antwerp!
Confirmed for Desertfest Antwerp 2023 are Cult of Luna, Truckfighters, MANTAR, King Buffalo, The Vintage Caravan, Year of no light, Nebula, Yawning Man, Dopelord, The Atomic Bitchwax, DUEL, Siena Root, Blackwater Holylight, Howling Giant, SOURVEIN, Carlton Melton, Heavy Temple, REZN, Margarita Witch Cult.
No doubt, it is going to be another epic version of Desertfest Anywerp!
Posted in Bootleg Theater on December 16th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
This past week, I traveled to Sweden for the first and hopefully not the last time, and accordingly, I put forth the question in the Obelisk Facebook group wondering what were people’s picks for the best Swedish heavy rock album ever. Siena Root‘s 2004 debut, A New Day Dawning, was floated among many, many others, and as it had been a while, it seemed like a prime opportunity for a revisit.
Issued through Rage of Achilles and Nasoni Records, the 13-track/68-minute A New Day Dawning followed about half a decade’s worth of demos and EPs, and very much benefits from the time the four-piece at that point put into building their sound. It is not a minor undertaking now — and somehow putting out a debut 2LP in 2004, well before the resurgence of vinyl as the predominant format for heavy rock, seems especially bold — but it is resoundingly cohesive across its span, and each of its four sides presents something of a different look from Siena Root stylistically. At the time, the band was comprised of vocalist/organist Oskar Lundström, guitarist/vocalist KG West, and the rhythm section of bassist/vocalist Sam Riffer and drummer/vocalist Love H. Forsberg, the latter two of whom remain the founding principals of the group today.
Like much of what was happening in Sweden at the time, Siena Root were informed by the classic heavy rock of the 1970s, and A New Day Dawning bears that out at various points, whether it’s the Mk. II Deep Purple-style groove-hump of “What Can I Do” or the flute-laced jam so gracefully emphasizing the pastoral and telling of future arrangement adventures to come in closer “Into the Woods.” The beginning of Sweden’s retro movement is commonly credited to the band Norrsken, whose members went on to form bands like Witchcraft — who also debuted in 2004 — and Graveyard, but Siena Root were concurrent at least to the wave that took hold and continues to flourish as its own vintage-minded niche. To Siena Root‘s credit, however, A New Day Dawning does not sacrifice audio fidelity for aesthetic. The production on these songs is organic, to be sure, and I don’t know whether it was done live, to tape, etc., or any of those other things that dogwhistle a retro mindset — Per Ängkvist engineered, Christofer Stannow mastered — but the tones they conjure are full as well as warm, and from the fade-in of opener “Coming Home” onward, they make it clear to the listener that it’s okay to trust where the band are leading. You’re in good hands from the outset, and for the duration.
“Coming Home” is an energetic, classic-vibing and subtly complex roller with boogie intentions and a bluesy spirit that comes to be what Siena Root most lean toward on side A. Followed by the hooky shuffle “Just Another Day,” the quick-but-funky “Shine” and the all-in blues rocker “Fever,” it’s a fluid and welcoming start to the record, immediately dynamic, immediately engaging on a level of songwriting and performance. Their sound would grow more expansive with this lineup in time — and as noted, A New Day Dawning provides hints of that later on — but the leadoff stretch is all about bringing the audience in, and as side B launches with “Above the Trees” and the aforementioned, organ-emphasized “What Can I Do,” the record cleverly shifts from the blues to a more definitively ’70s-inspired take, with the catchy start-stops of “Little Man” and the mostly mellow “Roots” underlining the point. To this day, Siena Root call themselves ‘roots rock.’ Listening again to the actual roots of the band, it’s hard to argue.
As A New Day Dawning works toward side D’s more extended closing duo — “Rasayana” (9:06) and “Into the Woods” (8:19) — the loosely proggy jammer “Trippin'” and the suitably molten follow-up “Until Time Leaves Us Again,” with its drum solo and all, begin that process of expansion. The organ in the latter makes it a highlight if the guitar already didn’t, and as they transition into the shorter, touch-ground-early-then-take-off “Words,” the depth of consideration on the part of the band in structuring the record becomes clearer. Each side has not only its own personality, but its own progression as well, and after casting more ethereal vibes in “Trippin'” and “Until Time Leaves Us Again,” “Words” gives an on-stage-circa-1974 culmination to that linear voyage, allowing “Rasayana” and “Into the Woods” to flourish almost as an entity unto themselves.
The former, “Rasayana,” finds West beginning what would become a lifetime’s exploration of South Asian classical music on veena and Greek tzouras, while Riffer adds percussion to his double-bass and sintir. They resolve ultimately in a combination of rock and folk styles, trading back and forth and bringing the ideas together throughout before ending with a quick da-dum that almost has one’s ears hearing “War Pigs” hi-hat in the fadeout. “Into the Woods,” with the already-noted flute, a guest appearance by Anna Sandström, as well as hurdy-gurdy credited to Tängman starts at a slower nod and works into a vital shuffle by its halfway point, but mellows out again for a grand and abidingly natural-sounding finish. It’s not overdone, it’s not underdone, and its sweep at the end — in hindsight — feels like it’s carrying you into what was then the band’s own bright future.
Just yesterday, I posted news of the Feb. 24 release date of Siena Root‘s upcoming eighth album, Revelation (info here), through Atomic Fire Records. The lineup is different, as noted, with Forsberg and Riffer now joined by vocalist/keyboardist Zubaida Solid and guitarist Johan Borgström as veterans of the scene they helped to create, but much of the soul that one finds so resonant in A New Day Dawning — never mind the boogie — remains in the band to this day. From this first (2)LP, they went on to offer a stretch of classics in their own right in 2006’s Kaleidoscope (discussed here), 2008’s Far From the Sun and 2009’s Different Realities (discussed here), and their sound has continued to grow despite personnel shifts and a generation’s worth of acts digging into retroism as a stylistic movement. One only looks forward to what’s to come, and looking back across this initial offering, it’s been a hell of a day up to now.
As always, I hope you enjoy. Thanks for reading.
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Got back on Monday from the aforementioned Sweden trip, have been sick since Tuesday. Wednesday I had a follow-up with my neurologist to discuss what I’ve come to playfully call my abby-normal brain, and she put me on Adderall in addition to Wellbutrin and told me to take a small fortune’s worth of vitamins and go swimming if I want to, well, get old, I guess. Fair enough. Gonna wait for the snot to stop leaking out of my face before I hit the pool. Might be a few more days.
Tough week with/for the kid, who’s ready in his bones for the holiday break. I can’t even argue.
I’m going to see Sunn O))) on Saturday in Brooklyn with a friend I haven’t seen in a long time. Should be interesting, and I managed to get a photo pass, so will review as well. Beyond that, next week is clear to give me time to work in the Best of 2022 post, which I hope to have done either Wednesday or Thursday. To give you some hint of where I’m at with it, my list isn’t actually done yet. So let’s say probably Thursday it’ll go up.
Also need to do a Gimme Metal playlist for next Friday, so that’s where I’m headed for the rest of today, then grocery shopping and hopefully a bit of fuckoff time, which I could very much use after a busy few weeks. I tend to catch my breath when I can. That’s of course harder to do when you can’t breathe through your nose, but one endeavors just the same.
I hope you have a great and safe weekend. I have a follow-up with my orthopedic surgeon about my knee this morning, but I don’t expect much exciting to come out of it. I’m still healing, still sore at the end of the day from various bendings and so on, but I think I’m getting to where I need to be. It might just hurt now. Like, until I eventually get my knees replaced — which I fully expect I’ll have to do at some point; my mother is headed that way now — and then probably for the rest of my life after that. Which I hear won’t be that long if I don’t get like $200 worth of vitamins in my body stat. Life is strange and mostly stupid. Periodically glorious.
Which I suppose is what makes the rest worth it.
Agaun, great and safe weekend. Stay warm and hydrated, and I’ll have that year-end stuff up as soon as possible, to be followed in short order by a Quarterly Review with 100 more records covered. So there.
Posted in Whathaveyou on December 15th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
A solid release date for the new Siena Root album, Revelation, is good news, as it will be fascinating to hear what the long-running Swedish outfit have conjured to coincide with the classic vibes of the single “Coincidence and Fate” below. My guess? More classic vibes. My hope, anyhow. This will be their second record with Zubaida Solid on lead vocals, and she brings a marked charisma to the lead track from the album, which feels like a long time coming despite the fact that the band’s prior LP, The Secret of Our Time, was released in 2020.
If you can keep a secret, I’ve already decided to close out this week with the first Siena Root record, 2004’s A New Day Dawning, so this won’t be the last you hear of them before Friday afternoon, but I wanted to get this posted anyhow because (1:) I’m already late on it and (2:) this band has seen two entire bands’ worth of personnel come and go over the course of their time and still managed to be pretty consistent as regards awesome. Can’t help but admire such a thing.
From the PR wire:
SIENA ROOT Presents Video For New Digital Single, “Coincidence & Fate;” Revelation Album Details Unveiled + Preorders Available
Sweden’s root rock figureheads SIENA ROOT will release their eighth studio album on February 24th via their new label home, Atomic Fire Records!
Fittingly titled Revelation, the recording serves as the group’s most versatile offering of their long-spanning career, guiding listeners through a true journey rather than simply stringing together song after song. The eleven-track offering was recorded analogously at Silence Studio in Koppom, Sweden and Root Rock Studios in Stockholm, Sweden where it was also mixed. Mastering was handled at Stockholm’s Cutting Room.
In advance of the record’s release, today SIENA ROOT unveils their video for “Coincidence & Fate.”
The band comments, “This is the trailer for our movie, Wheels Of Revelation, as well as the first track of the album Revelation and tells a story of fear one experiences when coming close to death and realizing the fickleness of life. Musically, ‘Coincidence & Fate’ is an all-analogue recording featuring dirty organ riffs and fat drums. That’s where heavy rock tunes with female front vocals — seemingly inspired by classic acts such as Uriah Heep and Jethro Tull — meet SIENA ROOT’s remarkable root rock sound. Enjoy!”
Preorder Revelation on CD, LP, pre-save it on your favorite DSP or preorder it digitally to receive “Coincidence & Fate” immediately at THIS LOCATION:https://sienaroot.afr.link/RevelationPR
Revelation Track Listing: 1. Coincidence & Fate 2. Professional Procrastinator 3. No Peace 4. Fighting Gravity 5. Dusty Roads 6. Winter Solstice 7. Dalecarlia Stroll 8. Leaving The City 9. Little Burden 10. Madukhauns 11. Keeper Of The Flame
SIENA ROOT have announced a show to celebrate Revelation on release day at Pipeline in Sundsvall, Sweden with support coming from Drivet.
SIENA ROOT Live: 2/24/2023 Pipeline – Sundsvall, SE
SIENA ROOT: Zubaida Solid – vocals, keys Johan Borgström – guitars Sam Riffer – bass Love Forsberg – drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on November 4th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Well, at least I didn’t miss it. When last discussed, Siena Root‘s Revelation LP was set to arrive in Aug. 2022 through Metalville Records. They posted the single “Little Burden” earlier this year and now there’s word that the album will be released this coming Spring through Atomic Fire Records, who’ve picked them up for the release. Hey, good for the band I guess. Given the folks who run it, Atomic Fire is no minor endorsement for a band even with an established track record — which, even before their eighth LP lands, they have, across multiple lineups — to get, and they’ve already been out on tour this year. How could more possibly not follow in 2023 if that’s when Revelation is actually going to happen?
I’ll be interested to see what those plans include, actually. But we’ve probably got a bit to go before we get there. The PR wire brought background and the signing announcement:
SIENA ROOT Unveils New Digital Single/Video, “Little Burden;” Forthcoming Full-Length, Revelation, To Be Released In Spring 2023 Via Atomic Fire Records
With seven studio albums in nearly two decades of band history, Sweden’s root rock figureheads SIENA ROOT are constantly working on something new. They’ve continually changed their approach and experimented with their sound — not only to keep their music fresh but to challenge themselves which is one of the main reasons why the group’s relevance remains after all these years.
Besides touring with acts such as Deep Purple and Dewolff, the quartet — founding members drummer Love Forsberg and bassist Sam Riffer with guitarist Johan Borgström and vocalist/keyboardist Zubaida Solid — have always brought an infectious performance to stages globally. Those lucky enough to attend one of SIENA ROOT’s post-pandemic tours earlier this year may already know how the band spent the Corona years recording a brand-new album that is finally set to be released next year via their new label home of Atomic Fire Records!
Comments the band, “The ‘Dynamic Root Rock Experience’ called SIENA ROOT caught fire a long time ago. As we all know, you need to catch a fire to be burnin’ and this time SIENA ROOT caught an Atomic Fire: we are very proud and honored to announce that we are a part of the Atomic Fire Records family now. The new album, Revelation, will be released in early 2023, stay tuned!”
Atomic Fire Records CEO Markus Wosgien adds, “We’re very happy to enrich our roster with SIENA ROOT’s innovative mixture of classic, folk, and psychedelic rock. Their musical path as well as their everchanging sound charmed us enormously, leading to their new opus Revelation, which is nothing short of amazing. It’s an album that surely won’t only fascinate rockers but also fans beyond the genre. What an outstanding group. They truly know how to perform this music the right way!”
The record title definitely keeps its word: it’s a sonic Revelation and has become the most versatile offering in SIENA ROOT’s long-spanning career, guiding listeners through a true journey rather than simply stringing together song after song. But that’s not all: the first appetizer, new single “Little Burden” which premiered live in 2022, can be enjoyed alongside a music video, edited by Linus Grane, via YouTube.
Elaborates the band, “This is a first taste of SIENA ROOT’s journey when introducing the more acoustic side of the ‘Dynamic Root Rock Experience.’ The song deals with leaving the city and the experience that comes with that. ‘Little Burden’ is a song that describes the feeling of melancholy and battle one experiences when faced with the arbitrary issues of man and when burdens, however small and inconsequential, make you weary and sometimes even poison you.”
More info on SIENA ROOT’s eagerly awaited eighth studio album as well as preorder details will be unveiled before the end of the year.
SIENA ROOT: Zubaida Solid – vocals, keys Johan Borgström – guitars Sam Riffer – bass Love Forsberg – drums
