Posted in Whathaveyou on August 9th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
In a manner not dissimilar from how its California fests took largely the same expansive lineup from San Francisco to Los Angeles and Los Angeles to San Francisco, Heavy Psych Sounds is bringing a circus to Berlin and Dresden on Oct. 21 and 22. In association with Greyzone and ElbSludgeBooking, the label has assembled a lineup that includes HPS bands and others like 1000mods and Gozu, and that sense of community outreach isn’t to be understated. The synergy between booking and releasing is a big part of what has allowed Heavy Psych Sounds to become the underground nexus it is, able to do more for bands than many other outlets. The festivals in cities across Europe and now in the US as well are another extension of that.
That’s not really an insight as to the lineup here or the label’s ethic or taste — also choice — but the fact is this is Heavy Psych Sounds doing what it does. More power to them, and so on.
From the PR wire:
HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST BERLIN & DRESDEN full lineup announcement
Heavy Psych Sounds Records & Booking will smash Berlin and Dresden with their highly acclaimed mini festival-series, the HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST!
In cooperation with Greyzone Concerts and ElbSludgeBooking, Heavy Psych Sounds has revealed the full lineup for the upcoming HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST BERLIN & DRESDEN !!!
The HPS Fest Berlin & Dresden will be taking place 21st and 22nd of October, 2022 at the Festsaal Kreuzberg and Urban Spree in Berlin and Chemiefabrik in Dresden !!!
HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST – BERLIN & DRESDEN @ Festsaal Kreuzberg / Urban Spree, Berlin @ Chemiefabrik, Dresden October 21st and 22nd 2022
feat. 1000 MODS NICK OLIVERI BELZEBONG BLACK RAINBOWS ACID MAMMOTH THE LORDS OF ALTAMONT HIGH REEPER SLEEPWULF TONS HIPPIE DEATH CULT GOZU OREYEON WEDGE MOTHER ENGINE
BERLIN TICKETS PRESALE: https://www.greyzone-tickets.de/produkte/602
BERLIN FB OFFICIAL EVENT: https://www.facebook.com/events/1358860387859773/
Posted in Whathaveyou on May 12th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Why yes, I am ready for the coziest heavy psych outdoor festival in Belgium. Or anywhere, really. But sure, Belgium specifically works, although I have to admit I’m not the most comfortable in the world when it comes to interpersonal contact, so despite the nerve currently pinched in my shoulder and the rampaging plantar fasciitis in my right foot, I’ll probably take a pass on that whole “cosmic masseur” thing. Unless of course that means there’s someone at Down the Hill 2022 performing mystical rites to sooth the very universe itself. In which case, by all means, cosmic massage on. Or it’s a DJ. Which it is.
There’s plenty to dig aside from that, though, between an on-site record store, the requisite merch shopping — I don’t currently own an Elephant Tree shirt, which feels like an error on my part — food trucks if you like eating, a fire in the evening if you like keeping warm, and so on. And that’s before you get to the bands, the list of which is topped by the aforementioned Elephant Tree, though I’d also like to point out Tia Carrera, who are rarely seen outside their native Texas, will play. Bad. Ass. Note Karkara and Djiin making the trip from France, El Perro on tour from the States, Sleepwulf and Second Oracle coming down from Sweden, and a host of Belgian natives, including Wolvennest right out front headlining. A righteous assembly.
Two-dayer tickets are on sale, as the poster and PR wire info below informs:
DOWN THE HILL 2022 – AUGUST 26 & 27
Ready for the most cozy heavy psychedelic outdoor rock festival in Belgium?
With… ELEPHANT TREE (Uk) WOLVENNEST (Be) EL PERRO (Usa) TIA CARRERA (Usa) SLEEPWULF (Swe) KARKARA (Fr) DJIIN (Fr) SECOND ORACLE (Swe) BISMUT (Nl) WHEEL OF SMOKE (Be) ATOMIC VULTURE (Be) BELOMORKANAL (Be)
+ DJ’s between the bands. + Afterparty(‘s)
COZY (BIG) FIRE PLACE in the evening. RECORD STORE during the day FOOD TRUCKS all day long! BAND MERCH FESTIVAL MERCH also online! www.downthehill.be/shop
Posted in Whathaveyou on May 10th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Still weeks away from hosting its two nights in Los Angeles and San Francisco, Heavy Psych Sounds has unveiled a similar strategy to take place this Fall in Berlin and Dresden. Set for Oct. 21-22, these Heavy Psych Sounds Fest 2022 editions are just beginning to take shape with this first announcement, as roughly a third of the acts and a headliner are still to be revealed, but there’s already stuff to note here. To wit, it’s Nick Oliveri touring and not Mondo Generator or Stöner. Will he play acoustic or have a full band behind him?
Also, the inclusion of High Reeper here makes me wonder if that Philly outfit won’t have a new record out by the time they go. Maybe September to get ahead of the busy Fall season? Pure speculation. After 2016’s High Reeper (review here) and 2019’s Higher Reeper, could this be the year of the highest of all reepers? Stay tuned to find out.
Whoever else ends up being included and whatever the answers to the above questions, one can continue to see Heavy Psych Sounds branching out across Europe and beyond as the foremost purveyor of underground heavy in the world. Ain’t nobody else out there putting out NebulaandOreyeon, Dozer reissues and Witchpit. Label owns one of the most crucial moments in the history of heavy music. It is astounding.
From the PR wire:
*** HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST BERLIN & DRESDEN ***
first bands announcement
Heavy Psych Sounds Records & Booking will smash Berlin and Dresden with their highly acclaimed mini festival-series, the HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST! In cooperation with Greyzone Concerts and ElbSludgeBooking, today Heavy Psych Sounds has revealed the first bands for the upcoming HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST BERLIN & DRESDEN !!!
The HPS Fest Berlin & Dresden will be taking place 21st and 22nd of October, 2022 at the Festsaal Kreuzberg and Urban Spree in Berlin and Chemiefabrik in Dresden !!!
HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST – BERLIN & DRESDEN @ Festsaal Kreuzberg / Urban Spree, Berlin @ Chemiefabrik, Dresden October 21st and 22nd 2022
feat. BELZEBONG NICK OLIVERI THE LORDS OF ALTAMONT HIGH REEPER SLEEPWULF + more TBA
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 28th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
In this year of returned-so-far live music, and with the eternal asterisk looming overhead as a reminder to hold such things precious while one can, I’m very much enjoying posting about so many festivals taking place over the last few days/weeks, as well as the inevitable bit of daydreaming that always accompanies. To wit, seeing High on Fire, Geezer and Ecstatic Vision in Switzerland, or watching Duel and Black Rainbows back-to-back in Austria? Yes, that would be just fine.
And attending such a thing would be a great way to sample Heavy Psych Sounds‘ wares when it comes to European bands — Deadsmoke, Ryte, Hazemaze, 1782, Acid Mammoth, Giöbia, Tons, Sleepwulf, Oreyeon, and maybe even a look at something to come in Hellroom Projectors — as well as given headliners Elder.
The arguments in favor are myriad and though I won’t be there, I’m glad these things are happening, because you never know, maybe next time. Or, maybe not, in which case that’s all the more reason for this to happen where and when they can.
From the PR wire:
HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS RECORDS Announces Final Day-Splits For HPS Fests in Switzerland & Austria!
Featuring ELDER, HIGH ON FIRE, MONDO GENERATOR, BLACK RAINBOWS, ACID MAMMOTH & many more high class live acts!
Headquartered in Rome, Italy, Heavy Psych Sounds Records represents some of the best artists in the global heavy psych, doom, fuzz blues, sludge and space rock realms such as Stöner (feat. former Kyuss members Brant Bjork & Nick Oliveri), Nebula, Yawning Man, Black Rainbows, Belzebong, Acid Mammoth, Alunah or The Sonic Dawn to name just a few. The underground cult label is not only THE adress for all heavy rock record collectors, but has also become an essential part of the live scene with a brisk participation from heavy music fans all over the world. Their festival-series shows no exception, spotlighting the ever-growing label’s dedication to its craft. While the first HPS Fests were held in Italy, the label has since extended its live reach into the UK, Belgium, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Austria and even the USA. Now, after more than 2 long years without any live shows, Heavy Psych Sounds Records has revealed the final day-splits for their upcoming HPS Fest editions in Winterthur, Switzerland as well as in Salzburg, Austria!
“We are so stoked to finally get back on the road with our HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FESTs !“ Rajko Dolhar of Heavy Psych Sounds recently commented. “After bringing our heavy psych vibes to many parts of Europe and the USA in recent years, we wanted to take over Switzerland and now Salzburg, too. Last year, the pandemic put a hitch in our giddy up but we are pretty sure that in 2022 we will succeed. The Line-Ups are some of the best we’ve ever put together so far, with HIGH ON FIRE, ELDER, MONDO GENERATOR, DUEL and so many more, grab your tickets and see you soon in front of the stage again!”
Taking place in both cities between June 3 – 5, 2022, with an eclectic line-up of high class bands such as psych rock kings ELDER, heavy masters HIGH ON FIRE, the desert punks of MONDO GENERATOR and many many more, the day-splits of the festival editions will read as follows.
Swedish traditionalist heavy rockers Sleepwulf will release their second album, Sunbeams Curl, on Feb. 18 through Heavy Psych Sounds, along with a reissue of their early-2020 self-titled debut (review here). Basking in the glories of modernized doomly classics, the record lets the listener know immediately where the Kristianstad four-piece stand with “Satan is King” (premiering below), a hard-pounding catchy riff organic in tone rolling out as the backdrop for devilish paean, the standout lyric, “Come to realize life will begin when Satan is king,” serving as the first and top-priority-feeling of the album’s many hooks, soon enough joined by the stirring reminder that humans are terrible in the (comparatively) subtle environmental theme of “Green Man Dead” and the swinging-dangly-bits of “Sex Magic Manifestation,” the latter packing an entire LP’s worth of strut into 3:48 as the shortest inclusion here.
Shades of Pentagram via Witchcraft, Witchcraft via Pentagram, Sabbath via osmosis, Kadavar via Anton LaVey, and so on, should be readily familiar to anyone who carved the self-titled into their own foreheads — or, you know, just listened to it; that’s fine too — but Sleepwulf‘s riffcraft distinguish them even among the next-generation of Scandinavian heavy originalists, acts like Demon Head or Dunbarrow, etc., and that’s more the case as Sunbeams Curl moves into the harsh judgment cast by “Stoned Ape” and the twisting groove of “Man Under the Mountain,” a preface to the fuzzy progressivism of “Tyrant Song” and the delightful proto-doom of “Toad Licker Mushroom Picker” and the bookending apocalyptic vibe of “Bury Me Backwards.” Their naturalism of tone and abiding commitment to a sound rooted in the heavy ’70s shouldn’t be taken as a dogwhistle for a lack of clarity, because Sleepwulf have no such issue. Rather, they’ve found a balance of production and style that lets the nuance behind the shove of “Green Man Dead” come through alongside the immediately familiar hook it brings, or the organ of “Stoned Ape” and the warmth of “Tyrant Song” to stand out from their surroundings.
A 37-minute run through sides A and B brings a succession of these moments, nuances or standout elements. It can be something as simple as the change in speed of delivery of the aforementioned line in “Satan is King” or the jazzy snare work that underlies “Bury Me Backwards,” but Sleepwulf don’t let an opportunity to make an impression on the listener pass them by, and as such, this follow-up to their well-received first offering should have no trouble igniting the same kind of excitement. Sunbeams Curl is not a revolution in style, but neither is it a hackneyed execution to genre. As they were last time out, the band are in the process of finding their place within their aesthetic, of crafting their individuality through their songwriting and delivery. They are further along that path in this material than they were even even last year, and through learning who they are as a group as they do here, they only make themselves a stronger and more commanding presence.
Preorders for Sunbeams Curl are up as of today. Info and link(s) follow the premiere of “Satan is King” below.
From mountain peak to valley deep, SLEEPWULF’s new album SUNBEAMS CURL is a journey that is dripping with the seductive sounds of riff rock psychedelic proto doom.
Conjuring the sounds of bands such as Black Sabbath and Jethro Tull, Sleepwulf have summoned an album that oozes with fuzzy riffs, sordid tales and seductive occultism.
If the first album was about cycles, this one is about breaking them and its consequences. SUNBEAMS CURL delves further into the well of ancient mysticism, alchemy and the occult. The underlying thread connecting it all, is the power of words to manifest reality; in both the individual and the collective consciousness.
This extends to the album artwork, with hidden optics and codes. Deciphering these will reap their own rewards.
The album was recorded live in their own woodland studio outside Kristianstad, Sweden. To capture a live organic sound everything was done live onto an old tape machine.
This new album is both heavier and more dynamic, building upon every aspect of the last. This is an album with hidden secrets which will unravel in the not too distant future.
SLEEPWULF is: Owen Robertson – Vocals Sebastian Ihme – Guitar Carl Lindberg – Drums Viktor Sjöström – Bass
Posted in Whathaveyou on November 8th, 2021 by JJ Koczan
The first Heavy Psych Sounds Fest in Salzburg, Austria, will take place June 4 and 5, 2022 with Elder, Mondo Generator, Black Rainbows, Duel, Ecstatic Vision, Giobia, Acid Mammoth, Geezer, 1782, Hazemaze, Sleepwulf, Tons, Deadsmoke, Ryte and Oreyeon playing. Because shit, I guess if you’re gonna do a thing, make it count.
This tells us a few things about the European touring circuit for next summer, some of which we knew, some not so much. That Geezer would head abroad again was unveiled with their last Heavy Psych Sounds Fest announcement, but to see others pulled not only from the US — Duel, Ecstatic Vision, Mondo Generator — but with a meet-in-the-middle vibe from north and south in Europe as well — Sleepwulf and Acid Mammoth, Tons and Black Rainbows, etc. — is enough to make me think that the Rockhouse Bar in Salzburg that’s set to host the two-dayer will be a significant centerpoint for the label’s summertime activities. Maybe not all of these bands will be doing full European tours, but some of them definitely will. Mix and match your favorite combination. See how many killer shows you can make out of this single, also killer festival.
I don’t even remember what I was gonna post before this came down the PR wire, but I guess whatever it was can wait.
Because here:
*** HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST SALZBURG ***
Heavy Psych Sounds Records & Booking will smash Salzburg with their highly acclaimed mini festival-series, the HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST!
In cooperation with Rockhouse Bar, today Heavy Psych Sounds has announced the dates and full bands line-up of the first HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST – SALZBURG.
The HPS Fest Salzburg will be taking place 4th and 5th of June, 2022 at the Rockhouse Bar in Salzburg !!!
HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST – SALZBURG @ Rockhouse Bar, Salzburg June 4th and 5th 2022
feat. ELDER MONDO GENERATOR BLACK RAINBOWS DUEL ECSTATIC VISION GIÖBIA ACID MAMMOTH 1782 GEEZER HAZEMAZE SLEEPWULF TONS DEADSMOKE RYTE OREYEON
We’ll have 50 early bird tickets online and 50 more early bird that will be sold at the Dome of Rock festival at the Rockhouse from 2nd to 4th December 2021.
Posted in Whathaveyou on November 2nd, 2021 by JJ Koczan
Swedish cult-heavy traditionalists Sleepwulf released their self-titled debut (review here) on March 6, 2020, through Cursed Tongue Records, and even through the unparalleled chaos that followed throughout last year, that record was never quite forgotten thanks to memorable songwriting and a heartfelt vibe that painted the band as more than going through the motion as regards a vintage style. I’m pretty sure there are parts of Sweden where you can walk down the street and for every corner there’s a ’70s-style band frying their tube amps, but even amid that, Sleepwulf stood out well on what was still just their first record.
Cursed Tongue had the vinyl, Stoner Witch had the tape. Both are gone. Heavy Psych Sounds, in picking up the four-piece for their sophomore outing, will also stand behind a reissue of the first record — presumably that also includes a first CD release? — and as is their wont, the Italian label is spacing out the news such that new audio and preorders are coming next week. At least if they make you wait, they tell you.
First words out of my mouth — and yeah, I said it out loud — when the email came in: “Good band.” I stand by that.
More to come. Here’s the announcement from the PR wire:
HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS signed the Swedish stoner rock wizards SLEEPWULF
We are honored to announce that the Swedish stoner rockerz SLEEPWULF are now part of the Heavy Psych Sounds Family !!!
The band has signed a worldwide deal for the new album and the repress of the debut one !!!
PRESALE + first track premiere STARTS: NOVEMBER 9th
SAYS THE BAND: “We are honored to be part of the Heavy Psych Sounds family and to sit at the same table as some of our favorite bands.”
BIOGRAPHY
Sleepwulf are the new wizards on the block of stoner rock. Stemming the forests of Southern Sweden, they have channeled the sultry sounds of old with modern influences to create a heavy sound laden with psychedelic grooves. Fans of bands such as Witchcraft, Black Sabbath, as well as early Pentagram will find plenty to love here. After making waves with their self-released single “Lucifer’s Light” they were quickly signed to Cursed Tongue Records in early 2020. Recently emerging from the studio, their critically acclaimed debut album is a bonfire of riff heavy music that is sure to set alight any crowd.
Fresh off the back of their critically acclaimed debut album, reaching #3 in the global doom charts. The Swedish doom wizards, Sleepwulf have now signed with label giants Heavy Psych Sounds to unleash their highly anticipated second LP.
Written in the dark days of 20-21 this new journey drips with the seductive sounds of riff rock psychedelic ecological doom and conjures the echoes of bands such as Black Sabbath and Jethro Tull.
Out of this fire, Sleepwulf have summoned songs that ooze with fuzzy riffs, sordid tales and seductive occultism.
SLEEPWULF is: Owen Robertson – Vocals Sebastian Ihme – Guitar Carl Lindbuerg – Drums Viktor Sjöström – Bass
[Click play above to hear the premiere of ‘Wizard Slayer’ from Sleepwulf’s self-titled debut, out digitally March 6 with LP preorders up the same day.]
Traditionalist heavy rock has itself become a generation-spanning tradition, most especially in Sweden, where more than 20 years ago, early purveyors of hyper-stylized heavy ’70s analog-worshipers began to coalesce an aesthetic that continues to resonate with bands domestic and international. Though many of the microgenre’s once-lead advocates in acts like Witchcraft and Graveyard and last-decade comers like Blues Pills and Kadavar have moved on to more modern sounds in their particular approaches, there have been plenty of others to pick up the slack in bands like Dunbarrow, Demon Head, MaidaVale or any number of Sverige boogie acts. Newcomers Sleepwulf take a doomier approach to vintage vibes on their self-titled Cursed Tongue Records debut long-player.
Having signed to the label following two well-received singles spread widely through social media word of mouth, the Kristianstad four-piece of vocalist Owen Robertson, guitarist Sebastian Ihme, bassist Viktor Sjöström and drummer Carl Lindberg present nine tracks and 36 minutes of proto-doomed songcraft, willfully familiar as it should be but marked out nonetheless by warmth of tone, catchiness of the songwriting and the band’s clear ability to affect a mindset in their listener. Sleepwulf, which includes the two singles “Lucifer’s Light” and “Misty Mountain” on sides A and B, respectively, is a beginning point of what one hopes will be a longer-term progression, but its fluidity speaks to the band’s commitment to what they’re doing in style as well as the substance of the tracks themselves.
They are not dabbling, not getting their feet wet. They’re schooled in the methods and the modes, and whether it’s the sweeping groove of closer “One Eyed Jailor” or the shuffling jive of pieces like “Beasts of Collision” and “Tumbling Towers,” Sleepwulf effectively convey the tenets of vintage heavy doom without losing sight of bringing something of themselves to the proceedings, whether that’s in Ihme‘s soloing style or the melodies of Robertson‘s vocals, Sjöström‘s bass tone or Lindberg‘s clever snare work.
These are, again, familiar elements, and the spectre that looms over much of Sleepwulf‘s Sleepwulf is that of Pentagram‘s First Days Here, their ultra-seminal collection of early and/or lost recordings which, compiled in 2004, helped ease the path to set a generation of retro heavy in motion. And the dictates of trend have perhaps left vintage doom behind over the last few years, but that suits a band like Sleepwulf just fine as they roll through the immediately nodding riff of “Wizard Slayer” at the outset or tap Witchcraft‘s “Her Sisters They Were Weak”-riffing for their own finale.
The album as a whole is not necessarily slow in terms of pace, but seems to crawl just the same, or perhaps ooze as its tones unfurl themselves in the songs, and that makes its actually-downtempo stretches all the more effective. Cuts like presumed side A capper “Standing Stones” are spacious and emblematic of the patience that might emerge in Sleepwulf‘s sound over time, and even as it picks up pace to stand next to the likes of “Beasts of Collision,” there’s a sense of the return pending that does nothing to undercut appreciation for it when it arrives.
That’s a skill in itself — to telegraph a thing and then pull it off anyway — but it speaks to the quality of the turns Sleepwulf are able to make all throughout the tracks here. They didn’t give much indication of such proclivities in “Lucifer’s Light,” keeping largely to a bouncing rhythm for the abidingly-unpretentious three-minute single, but the more insistent feel that comes to a head in “Misty Mountain” offers some clue as to where they’re coming from overall, though the subsequent “Wicked Man” — the opening line, “You were born a wicked man,” immediately bringing to mind Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats‘ “I’ll Cut You Down” — turns back to a more dead-ahead, hairy-toned style of riffing.
Rather, it’s in moments like the centerpiece interlude/side B opener “God of the Gaps” that Sleepwulf reinforce the atmosphere in which they’re working, and having done so, they’re all the more free to let loose a moment of boogie in “Tumbling Towers” as they do. You can have all the gear in the universe, record live to tape in a cave 5,000 meters below the surface of the earth with microphones made of mammoth bones or in the moldiest of decrepit low-ceiling basements, but the most necessary component to pull off a vintage approach is vibe, and that’s exactly what Sleepwulf have working most in their favor on their debut album.
Of course, the last remaining question about the band and their impressive debut is what will come next. There are a couple newer acts out there — the above-cited among them — who to one degree or another have carried across retro stylizations without losing their edge or creative progression, even if those who helped forge the path have largely let it languish. But it can be a tricky balance, and as ever, even more than the commitment to genre tenets, what’s going to help Sleepwulf most in the longer term is their songwriting, which is readily on display throughout these tracks, if in nascent form. The real trick will be to discover how Sleepwulf grow their doom over time. Will their sound expand to incorporate outside elements? What will that inherently do to the shuffle and roll that serves them so well here? Can they twist the tradition of traditionalism?
Naturally, it’s hard to even guess at this point, but even the simple curiosity should speak to the quality of the work Sleepwulf are doing and the fact that their project, whatever it ends up being, is worth pursuing, wherever it might lead. For what it’s worth, if one reads into the self-titled the idea that the prior singles were written earlier, then some of the material that surrounds, particularly in the longer side-ending tracks, does find a way to balance sonic complexity without giving up the basic sonic foundation underscoring the record as a whole. It’s another angle at which Sleepwulf‘s potential can be seen, but really, through any you might view, the picture is the same.
