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: Cory McCallum of OLDE

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

I’d like to think that I’m a creator. Of course, that implies a lot of things (musician, artist, writer, etc.), however it is the combination or culmination of those various things (along with drive, perseverance, the willful ignorance of “the way things are”) that allow for the creation of something new. Calling myself an entertainer wouldn’t be wrong; I like to think that the target audience, no matter how small or niche, is actually entertained by the things I’m involved with, but that part is subsequent to the creation aspect anyway.

I came about being a creator through punk rock. A handful of skate kids in a nowheresville town in semi-rural Ontario, Canada, deciding that we wanted to make music that no one in town was making. Start playing shows, start making albums. Get down to Toronto and start opening up for the touring bands that we loved (and were going to see anyway).

For Olde, specifically, guitarist/producer Greg Dawson tapped me in by announcing his vision of writing and recording some doom, some slow and low metal, after being inspired by a recording session with Sons of Otis (and eventual Olde) drummer Ryan Aubin. Greg wanted the band to be made up of people he enjoyed hanging out with, so that, regardless of content or output, the time would be well-spent and enjoyable (and so it has been).

Describe your first musical memory.

My first memory of music would be listening to Charley Pride records in my living room with my mom. My first exposure to live music (aside from church choirs) would be my dad playing harmonica around the house.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

There’s been a lot of different highlights with different bands over the years.

A fun one was when OLDE was invited to play a studio session at the National Post (a Canadian national newspaper that was developing online content at the time; it’s on YouTube). We played a few songs, at typical OLDE volume, and were pleased to hear that the producers got noise complaints from four floors in each direction AND there were rumours that the sonic onslaught was some sort of terrorist attack on the newspaper’s offices. That was pretty unique.

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

I’ve had to quit bands before that were populated with people I dearly love because my life (both “real” life and my artistic life) was moving in a different direction at the time. I can’t even say now whether those decisions were the right ones, but they felt necessary at the time. I feel, as a creator, if you aren’t 100% “into” what you are doing, you need to take a step back and assess whether your time and efforts are being used most effectively. And if it ends up they are not, maybe you need to move on, even if it hurts.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

Well, I suppose it could and SHOULD lead to the place that the artist is hoping to reach. However, that place itself isn’t a static destination, or, in my opinion, it shouldn’t be. The album I dreamed of making when I started at the age of 17….well, I’d like to think that I’ve well-surpassed what I thought then were unsurpassable goals. However, my targets simultaneously have become more specific and more vague, which might confuse the audience. Heaven knows it confuses me at times. On a project to project basis, I have a new goal each and every time I set out, a new sound I want to capture or a new story I want to tell or a new area I want to explore. At the same time, in the grand scheme of my entire artistic story arc, that’s where things get kind of vague. I feel that every new creation for me should be a challenge, an unveiling of something unknown about myself as a creator, a gift to the audience or a listener that should hold some sort of new and revelatory element and there isn’t any guarantee that they will actually understand it or even enjoy it. I’m not a contrarian; I truly hope that the intended audience DOES enjoy the art. That does not mean I don’t want to challenge them (and their perception of that band or group and the accepted parameters of that “scene”) at the same time.

How do you define success?

Being able to look back at a song, an album, a band’s tenure or a career in music (to speak specifically of music, but this speaks to my opinion of all artistic endeavours) and being able to comfortably and thoroughly say “THAT captured the moment. THAT said and did what I wanted it to.” To be able to make something and feel that no one else could have made it that way at that time. To have offered the world something that would literally NOT EXIST had it not been for you and your friends making it yourselves.

People “liking” it; that never sucks, and some good reviews and a bit of walking-around-money never hurt, but those things are gravy to me. The self-satisfaction aspect is much more essential.

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

I’ve watched incredible artists (and good friends) literally ruin themselves trying to figure it all out. I’ve had friends eventually (and literally) die in squalor never having gotten to a place where they could balance their dreams with the world. I’ve watched as friends have made themselves miserable and sick not being able to embrace the fact that shitty art can make a lot of money and great art can make you poor. It’s a tough lesson to learn, but if you don’t learn it, the road, then, is even more horrendous than it is is when can just forget all the lies and trappings of success or money or fame and simply serve the art.

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

As an artist, I’m constantly obsessed with making something that doesn’t exist yet…I mean, literally, like the style ITSELF doesn’t even exist yet. I’d love to create something that literally stops people in their tracks and has them saying “What the fuck IS this?”. I’ve had moments, certain albums, certain songs, certain comic books or performances, where I feel I’ve TOUCHED the hem of that, where I’ve challenged myself and my audience and briefly gotten to a new place….but I’ve only visited. It’s a somewhat scary place; I’m not even sure I WANT to live there.

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

That answer is so personal to each creator and to each member of every artistic audience. But for me, it’s engagement. Were you ENGAGED by the song/the record? Did it draw you in? Were you able to be IN the moment and the ONLY thing happening in the world were those sounds, those words, those pictures on the cover. The world is moving at breakneck speed; the fact that people have to PRACTICE mindfulness (myself included) is regrettable. For me, that is where the arts are essential as an escape from all of that relentless hullabaloo. A great book or story or song or painting should be able to blur out everything on the periphery and allow you to be able to access a series of feelings within yourself that are inaccessible without the art. As a creator, if you can give the world some of THOSE keys to unlock those spaces within people, you are performing an invaluable service (value definable here by so many different metrics).

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

I’ve recently co-released a fictional podcast that I had a blast creating (The Boringville Chronicles) and that I truly believe has few peers (that may not be such a good thing!). It is wild and wacky and crazy and challenging and deep and shallow and, really, it’s going to have a hard time finding a home. However, Friendly Rich (one of the art-world’s hardest-working weirdos) and I sincerely believe that there is a weirdo out there looking for this one exact thing. If we have created ONE WEIRDO’s favourite podcast, we will be happy. So, I’m excited to see if Boringville finds some friends in that way.

I’m also looking forward to watching my kids (13 and almost 11) become themselves. It has been fascinating to watch them develop into real people with beliefs and loves and dislikes and styles and personalities not simply based on what is in or around the house. I don’t love it all (gah…some of the music….and the kids’ movies….), but studying how they like it, why they like it, seeing what it does for them and to them, and then reflecting on MY life and my formative years and thinking about my parents….it’s quite a fucking trip.

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https://oldedoom.bandcamp.com/
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Olde, Pilgrimage (2021)

Toronto noisebringers Olde will issue their new album, Pilgrimage, on March 19 through Sludgelord Records in Europe and Seeing Red Records everywhere else. One does not have to wonder long where they might’ve found inspiration for the theme of the album’s second single, “Medico Della Peste,” with its story of plague doctors of old. The band, quoted below talking about the track, are right when they talk about things like blending hard rock and heavy metal influences, newschool and old, and so on, but in making it strictly binary they undersell some of the variety of influence in that track and the surrounding seven on the eight-song/42-minute long-player. Sure, there’s a definite foundation in noise rock and sludge, but the opening title-track has lumber enough to remind immediately that drummer Ryan Aubin also features in Sons of Otis, and on the subsequent “A New King,” vocalist Doug McLarty manages to channel modern metal gutturalism in a pattern that most reminds of mid-period Neurosis. Does it make sense? Not on paper, but definitely in the songs.

So there’s more reach going on here than just hard rock and heavy metal, but kudos to Olde on the humility. The guitar tones of Greg Dawson and Chris Hughes and Cory McCallum‘s bass go a decidedly different route, backing McLarty‘s hard-wrought assertions with a duly fervent chug. Humble it ain’t, but who honestly has time for such things by their third album? Olde have developed their sound across 2014’s I (review here) and 2017’s Temple (review here), and even as they bring in Nichol S. Robertson and Daniel “Chewy” Mongrain — the latter of whom is in Voivod and is one of the happiest headbangers you’ll ever see on stage; he is a joy to watch — for guest guitar solos and branch outward with a bit of sax in side B opener “The Dead Hand,” Olde sound like a band come into their own. As “In Defiance” picks up from “Medico Della Peste,” and really across all of Pilgrimage, the progression feels utterly natural. To wit, the rumbling, righteously nodding “In Defiance,” the aggression and heft of which is seamlessly offset by a post-rock-style airy guitar lead line that courses throughout. A break makes the heavy return all the heavier, and the wash conjured at the finish underscores how much more depth there is to Olde circa 2019/2020 — when the album was recorded — than they’re necessarily letting on.

All the better. “The Dead Hand” picks up after the consuming end of “In Defiance,” and has a back-to-bruiser-business vibe… until the sax shows up. It’s a slow roller, but bordering on catchy, and the brass solo in the second half leads directly into the likewise brash finish. It’s from there that the shortest inclusion, “Depth Charge” (3:47), picks up and pushes further into the reaches of lurching riffs, bringing echoing vocals into the chasm of its own making and casting a hypnosis through repetition. Another solo — I’m sorry, I’m not sure by whom — rips into the low end torrent, and the six-minute “Under Threatening Skies” starts quiet in emerging from all that rumble, but soon enough is underway with a Goatsnaker of a riff and somehow even more aggro vocals. A current of melody comes in near the finish, I think from the guitar, but the vibe is suitably dark in a way that gives the impression the title came in response to the music itself, and much as “Depth Charge” pushed further from “The Dead Hand,” so too does closer “Wastelands” seem to answer “Under Threatening Skies,” sonically if not through direct narrative.

Part of this flow is tempo-based, part of it comes from consistent tonality, etc., but Olde make it feel purposeful just the same, and they carry the record to its finish with a sureness and an ending of brief residual hum that leaves nothing left unsaid. And so they do. To their credit, Olde never come out and note directly the pandemic that may have driven them toward some of themes for their third full-length, including “Medico Della Peste,” but that specter isn’t far off from the listener’s consciousness just the same, and even if the recording was begun in the grand before-times — when shows happened and hugs were exchanged willy-nilly between individuals hardly more than casually acquainted — Pilgrimage is suited to the post-apocalyptic context in which it arrives. “Wasteland” might as well be a story about venues closing. It may be a dark future, but there’s some bash-head-against-wall catharsis happening here.

But hey, looking for an outlet that won’t leave bruises? Shout along with McLarty to “Medico Della Peste” on the player premiering the track below.

And enjoy:

Olde on “Medico Della Peste”:

“Medico Della Peste tells the tale of the plague doctors of centuries long past. The Bubonic Plague ravaged Europe, killing millions, and it was the ill-equipped and under-funded Medico Della Peste who were charged with trying to stem the tide of the Black Death. A story as old as time; a race between science and nature to save humanity. Musically, we wanted to marry our sludge influences with the hard rock riffs we grew up with i.e. Judas Priest, Kiss, etc. Science vs. Nature. New School vs. The Old Guard. Medico Della Peste is a toe-tapping neck-snapper, crafted to appeal to fans of hard rock and heavy metal alike.”

Pre-Order Links:
Seeing Red Records (N. America / Rest of World): https://seeingredrecords.limitedrun.com/products/690900?preview=true
Sludgelord (Europe): https://sludgelordrecords.bandcamp.com/album/pilgrimage

Recorded, Produced, Mixed & Mastered in ‘19/20 @ BWC Studios by: Greg Dawson

Olde is:
Greg Dawson | Guitars
Chris Hughes | Guitars
Doug McLarty | Vocals
Ryan Aubin | Drums (and two fiery guitar solos)
Cory McCallum | Bass

Guest musicians:
Daniel “Chewy” Mongrain (Voivod) | Guitar
Nichol S. Robertson | Guitar
Nick Teehan | Saxophone

Olde on Thee Facebooks

Olde on Instagram

Olde on Bandcamp

Seeing Red Records on Thee Facebooks

Seeing Red Records on Bandcamp

Seeing Red Records website

Sludgelord Records on Bandcamp

Sludgelord Records on Thee Facebooks

Sludgelord Records on Instagram

Day III of the Inexplicably Roman Numeralized Winter 2020 Quarterly Review, commence! I may never go back to actual numbers, you should know. There’s something very validating about doing Day I, Day II, Day III — and tomorrow I get to add a V for Day IV! Stoked on that, let me tell you.

You have to make your own entertainment these days, lest your brain melt like wax and drip from your nostrils.

Plurp.

Quarterly Review #21-30:

Fuzz, III

Plenty of heavy rockers can come across sounding fresh. Most of the time all it takes is being young. In the case of III, the third long-player from Fuzz — Charles Moothart, Ty Segall and Chad Ubovich — they sound like they just invented it. Dig the hard-Bowie of “Time Collapse” or the made-for-the-stage opener “Returning,” or the surf-cacophony of “Mirror.” Or hell, any of it. The combination of this band and producer Steve Albini — aka the guy you go to when you want your album to sound like your live show — is correct. That’s all you can say about it. From the ’70s snarl in “Nothing People” to the triumphant melody in the second half of “Blind to Vines” and the back and forth between gritty roll and fragile prog of “End Returning,” it’s an energy that simply won’t be denied. If Fuzz wanted to go ahead and do three or four more albums with Albini at the helm in the next five years, that’d be just fine.

In the Red Records on Facebook

In the Red Records on Bandcamp

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Crippled Black Phoenix, Ellengæst

The narrative (blessings and peace upon it) goes that when after lineup shifts left Crippled Black Phoenix without any singers, founder Justin Greaves (ex-Iron Monkey, Earthtone9, Electric Wizard, etc.) decided to call old mates. Look. I don’t care how it happened, but Ellengæst, which is the likewise-brilliant follow-up to the band’s widely-lauded 2018 outing, Great Escape, leads off with Anathema‘s Vincent Cavanagh singing lead on “House of Fools,” and, well, there’s your new lead singer. Anathema‘s on hiatus and a more natural fit would be hard to come by. Ryan Patterson (The National Acrobat, a dozen others), Gaahl (Gaahls Wyrd, ex-Gorgoroth), solo artist Suzie Stapleton and Jonathan Hultén (Tribulation) would also seem to audition — Patterson and Stapleton pair well on the heavy-Cure-style “Cry of Love” — and there are songs without any guests at all, but there’s a reason “House of Fools” starts the record. Make it happen, Crippled Black Phoenix. For the good of us all.

Crippled Black Phoenix on Facebook

Season of Mist website

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Bethmoora, Thresholds

Copenhagen’s Bethmoora served notice in a 2016 split with Dorre (review here) and their debut full-length, Thresholds hone destructive lumber across four low-toned tracks that begin with “And for Eternity They Will Devour His Flesh” and only get nastier from there. One imagines being in a room with this kind of rumbling, maddeningly repetitive, slow-motion-violence noise wash and being put into a flight-or-fight panic by it, deer in doomed headlights, and all that, but even on record, Bethmoora manage to cull, and when their songs explode in tempo, as the opener does late in its run, or “Painted Man” does, that spirit is maintained. Each side of the LP is two tracks, and all four are beastly, pile-driver-to-the-core-of-the-earth heavy. “Keeper”‘s wash of noise has willful-turnoff appeal all its own, but the empty space in the middle of “Lamentation” is where they go in for ultimate consumption. And yeah. Yeah.

Bethmoora on Facebook

Sludgelord Records on Bandcamp

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Khan, Monsoons

Khan‘s second album, Monsoons is a departure in form from 2018’s Vale, if not necessarily in substance. Heavy, psychedelic-infused post-rock is the order of business for the Melbourne trio either way, but as guitarist Josh Bills gives up playing synth and doing vocals to embark on an instrumental approach with bassist Mitchell Kerr (also KVLL) and drummer Beau Heffernan on this four-track/31-minute offering, the spirit is inescapably different. Probably easier to play live, if that’s a thing that might happen. Monsoons still has the benefit, however, of learning from the debut in terms of the dynamic among the three players, and Bills‘ guitar reaches for atmospheric float in “Orb” and attains it easily, as the midsection rhythm of the closing title-track nods at My Sleeping Karma and the back end of the prior “Harbinger” manages to shine and not sound like Earthless in the process, and quite simply, Khan make it work. The vocals/synth might be worth missing — and they may or may not be back — but to ignore the breadth Khan harness in little over half an hour would be a mistake.

Khan on Facebook

Khan on Bandcamp

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The Acid Guide Service, Denim Vipers

Jammy, psychedelic in parts, Sabbathian in “Peavey Marshall (and the Legendary Acoustic Sunn Band)” and good fun from the doomly rollout of 11-minute opener and longest cut (immediate points) “In the Cemetery” onward, the second full-length from Idaho’s The Acid Guide Service, Denim Vipers, brings considerable rumble and nod, but these guys don’t want to hurt nobody. They’ve come here to chew bubblegum and follow the riff, and they’re all out of bubblegum. Comprised on average of longer songs than 2017’s debut, Vol. 11 (review here), the four-tracker gives the trio room to branch out their sound a bit, highlighting the bass in the long middle stretch of the title-track while the subsequent “Electro-Galactic Discharge” puts its guitar solo front and center before sludge-rocking into oblivion, letting “Peavey Marshall (and the Legendary Acoustic Sunn Band)” pick up from there, which is as fine a place as any to begin a gallop to the end. Genre-based shenanigans ensue. One would hope for no less.

The Acid Guide Service on Facebook

The Acid Guide Service on Bandcamp

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Vexing Hex, Haunt

Based in Illinois, Vexing Hex make their debut on Wise Blood Records with Haunt, and yes, playing catchy, semi-doomed, organ-laced cult rock with creative and melodic vocal arrangements, you’re going to inevitably run into some Ghost comparisons. The newcomer three-piece are distinguished by a harder edge to their impact, a theremin on “Planet Horror” and a rawer production sensibility, and that serves them well in “Build Your Wall” and the buildup of “Living Room,” both of which play off the fun-with-dogma mood cast by “Revenant” following the intro “Hymn” at the outset of Haunt. Not quite as progressive as, say, Old Man Wizard, there’s nonetheless some melodic similarity happening as bell sounds ensue on “Rise From Your Grave,” the title of which which may or may not be purposefully cribbed from the Sega Genesis classic Altered Beast. There’s a big part of me that hopes it is, and if Vexing Hex are writing songs about retro videogames, they sound ready to embark on a Castlevania concept album.

Vexing Hex on Facebook

Wise Blood Records on Bandcamp

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KVLL, Death//Sacrifice

Proffering grueling deathsludge as though it were going out of style — it isn’t — the Melbourne duo KVLL is comprised of bassist/vocalist/guitarist Mitchell Kerr (also Khan) and drummer Braydon Becher. It’s not without ambient stretches, as the centerpiece “Sacrifice” shows, but the primary impression KVLL‘s debut album, Death//Sacrifice makes is in the extremity of crash and heavy landing of “The Death of All That is Crushing” and “Slow Death,” such that by the time “Sacrifice” ‘mellows out,’ as it were, the listener is punchdrunk from what’s taken place on the prior two and a half songs. There’s little doubt that’s precisely KVLL‘s intention here, as the cavernous screams, mega-lurch and tense undercurrent are more than ably wielded. If “Sacrifice” is the moment at which Death//Sacrifice swaps out one theme for another, the subsequent “Blood to the Altar” and nine-minute closer “Beneath the Throne” hammer the point home, the latter with an abrasive noise-caked finale worthy of standard-bearers Primitive Man.

KVLL on Facebook

KVLL on Bandcamp

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Mugstar, GRAFT

Not that the initial droning wash of “Deep is the Air” or the off-blasted “Zeta Potential” and warp-drive freneticism in “Cato” don’t have their appeal — oh, they do — but when it comes to UK lords-o’-space Mugstar‘s latest holodeck-worthy full-length, GRAFT, it’s the mellow drift-jazz of the 12-minute “Ghost of a Ghost” that feels most like matter dematerialization to me. Side B’s “Low, Slow Horizon” answers back later on ahead of the motorik linear build in the finale “Star Cage,” but the 12-minute vibe-fest that is “Ghost of a Ghost” gives GRAFT a vastness to match its thrust, which becomes essential to the space-borne feel. It’s 41 minutes, still ripe for an LP, but the kind of album that has a genuine affect on mood and mindset, breaking down on a molecular level both and remolding them into something hopefully more evolved on some level through cosmic meditation. Fast or slow, up or down, in or out, it doesn’t ultimately matter. Nothing does. But there’s a moment in GRAFT where the one-skin-on-another thing becomes apparent and all the masks drop away. What’s left after that?

Mugstar on Facebook

Centripetal Force Records website

Cardinal Fuzz Records BigCartel store

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Wolftooth, Valhalla

Hooks abound in power-stoner fashion throughout Indiana four-piece Wolftooth‘s second album, Valhalla, which roughs up NWOBHM clarity in early-Ozzy fashion without going overboard to one side or the other, riffs winding and rhythms charging in a way not entirely unlike some of Freedom Hawk‘s more recent fare, but with a melodic reach of its own and a dynamism of purpose that comes through in the songwriting. Grand Magus‘ metallic traditionalism might be an influence on a song like “Fear for Eternity,” but “Crying of the Wolfs” has a more rocking swagger, and likewise post-intro opener “Possession.” With tightly constructed songs in the four-to-five-minute range, Valhalla never feels stretched out more than it wants to, but “Molon Labe” pushes the vocals deeper into the mix for a bigger, more atmospheric sound, and subtle shifts like that become effective in distinguishing the songs and making them all the more memorable. Recently signed to Napalm after working with Ripple, Ice Fall, Cursed Tongue and Blackseed, they seem to be poised to pay off the potential here and in their 2018 self-titled debut (review here). So be it.

Wolftooth on Facebook

Ripple Music on Bandcamp

Cursed Tongue Records BigCartel store

Ice Fall Records BigCartel store

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Starmonger, Revelations

Parisian riff-blaster trio Starmonger have been piecemealing tracks out for the last five years as a series of EPs titled Revelation, and the full-length debut, Revelations, brings these nine songs together for a 49-minute long-player that even in re-recorded versions of the earliest cuts like “Tell Me” and “Wanderer” show how far the band has come. It’s telling that those two close the record out while “Rise of the Fishlords” and “Léthé” from 2019’s Revelation IV open sides A and B, respectively, but older or newer, the band end up with a swath of stylistic ground covered from the more straightforward and uptempo kick of the elder tracks to the more progressive take of the newer, with plenty of ground in between. Uniting the various sides are strong performances and strong choruses, the latter of which would seem to be the thread that draws everything together. Whether or not it takes Starmonger half a decade to put out their next LP, one can hardly call their time misspent while listening to Revelations.

Starmonger on Facebook

Starmonger on Bandcamp

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Icelandic cosmic crushers Morpholith recently issued their debut full-length, Null Dimensions, through Ozium Records and Sludgelord Records. Guess what? The “We Hate You” cover isn’t on it. It happens. The album is made up of two gargantuan psych-doom rituals, with “Orb” (20:20) and “Monocarp” (13:31) unfolding like hidden messages waiting for those whose ears are tuned to the right frequency to hear them. A dogwhistle calling the doomed to prayer before some massive idol or maybe one of those shiny monoliths that keeps showing up hither and yon. I don’t know if there have been any in Iceland yet, but only a place with black volcanic sand could possibly hope to produce minor-key meditations like those swirling in the fog of “Orb,” which transcends circa 13:20 into a sludge that’s harsher and meaner and betrays Morpholith‘s connections to more extreme metallurgies, though I’m reasonably certain Iceland’s heavy underground is the same 20 or so dudes and they’re just all in five different bands, most of them awesome.

Either way, “Orb” and “Monocarp,” the latter of which picks up directly from the first track and slams its point home with no less impact for the spaciousness that accompanies, shifting eventually into a kind of pummeling post-sludge odd-time chaos before becoming engulfed in its own finish, are a rare fix to the problem ‘nothing sounds heavy enough.’ As for their take on “We Hate You,” it’s as suitable an homage to 2020 as anything I could come up with unless there were actually some way to set the year’s lungs on fire, and that it coincides with Dopethrone‘s 20th anniversary is a fitting touch as well. You get a sense of the tonal density Morpholith have on offer throughout Null Dimensions in “We Hate You” as well, though vocalist Snæbjörn Þór Árnasson adjusts his delivery to play more directly off of Jus Oborn, and of course it’s a shorter sampling of their wares than either of the two cuts on the album-proper, but if you’re looking for a way to proceed here, I’ve got you covered. Do both.

The album stream is down near the bottom of this post, the video is premiering below, and any suggestion that you have to pick one or the other to dig into is pure fiction. Watch the video and then dive into the record. Dive into the record and then check out the video. It doesn’t matter. The point is Morpholith kick ass on both. I can’t say it any plainer than that.

And if I can add my own spin on it, I fucking hate the holidays, so misanthropic bludgeoning sludge suits me just fine right now. If that’s where you land too, so be it.

Enjoy the clip (and album):

Morpholith, “We Hate You” official video premiere

The video we have made is our tribute to Electric Wizard’s Dopethrone, which was released 20 years ago now and the year of 2020. The song is one we know well and we planned to play it live at some point this year, but that of course did not work out. So to celebrate one of the greatest doom metal records of all time and this exceptionally gloomy year, we decided to record the song and make a video for it instead. Our tribute to Electric Wizard and their masterpiece, Dopethrone on the 20th anniversary of the album.

Dedicated, with all our hate, to the year of 2020.

Our new EP Null Dimensions is out on Ozium and Sludgelord Records!

We got help from two legends of our black metal scene to help us with making the track. D.G from Misþyrming (also Drottinn, Naðra and Núll to name a few) recorded, mixed and mastered the audio for us and Andri Björn Birgisson from Auðn shot, directed and edited the video.

Morpholith are:
Snæbjörn Þór Árnasson | vocals
Víðir Örn Gunnarsson | Guitars
Hörður Jónsson | Guitars, synths
Stefán Gestur Stefansson | Bass
Jónas Hauksson | Drums

Morpholith, Null Dimensions (2020)

Morpholith on Thee Facebooks

Morpholith on Instagram

Morpholith on Bandcamp

Ozium Records on Thee Facebooks

Ozium Records on Instagram

Ozium Records on Bandcamp

Ozium Records webstore

Sludgelord Records on Bandcamp

Sludgelord Records on Thee Facebooks

Sludgelord Records on Instagram

While I haven’t yet dug into the totality of Unruly‘s Unruly, the debut full-length that the Wellington, New Zealand, sludge ‘n’ scorch trio are set to release next month through Sludgelord Records, I can tell you one thing about it: It has a song called “Catfish Hemorrhoid” on it. What the hell does that mean? I’m not even sure I want to ask that question for fear of what the answer might be.

The song, which is streaming now, crushes. And watch out for when it gets to right around the 2:50 mark, since it’s right about there that this biting feedback kicks in and it’s positively — and purposefully — wince-inducing. Shit is nasty, nasty, nasty, which is only befitting the title. Will I be brave enough to take on the likes of “Bleach Jesus” or “Unruly Family,” the latter of which is apparently from whence the band take their name? I don’t know, but it’s sitting on my desktop now, so I’ll get to work girding my loins and see where I end up.

The PR wire offers the following:

UNRULY, “UNRULY” DD//LP 31/07/2020

Preorder link: https://thesludgelord.bandcamp.com/album/unruly

Unruly are a 3 piece sludge band from Te Whanganui a Tara, New Zealand. Named after an infamous family of British travellers whose beach littering escalated into becoming a rolling media spectacle during the summer of 2018.

Long time members of the incestuous Wellington punk scene, previous bands include TVX, Bonecruncher, Freak Magnet, DAHTM, Meth Drinker, Drug Problem, Influence and too many more to name.

The LP was recorded and mixed & mastered by Vanya of Scumbag College between November 2019 and April 2020.

Their debut self-titled album consists of 9 tracks and will be issued digitally and on vinyl via Sludgelord Records on Friday 31st July

“Unruly” track listing:
1). Floorboards
2). Bleach Jesus
3). Absence
4). Problem
5). Stare into the Fire
6). Unruly Family
7). Catfish Hemorrhoid
8). Primordial Hash
9). Blood of Satan

Unruly are :
V.V. guitar and vocals,
S.L.D. bass
T.R.A.P. drums and vocals

https://unruly666.bandcamp.com/releases
https://www.facebook.com/sludgelordrecords/
https://www.instagram.com/sludgelordrecords/
https://thesludgelord.bandcamp.com/

Unruly, Unruly (2020)

Took me a second to do the mental recall on the source of Bible Basher‘s moniker; I’ll readily admit it’s been a long time since I put on Deicide. But that track, with Glenn Benton‘s high screams/low growls belting out with speed so silly, is one bound to leave an impression anyhow, so yes, that’s where it comes from. Loud Wailing is the Sheffield, UK-based band’s debut release — the first EP — and holy shit it’s heavy. Sludgelord Records is pretty reliable when it comes to putting this stuff out on tape, and I have no doubt they’re up to the task here, but in apparently bringing together members of Kurokuma, Archelon, Temple of Coke and Spaztik Munkey, the new outfit are a vision of extreme sludge metal that pushes beyond the pill-popping pestilence that is Fistula and into more deathly, rot-infused grime.

Their slogan would seem to be “words from the bible, riffs from hell,” and if you can understand the lyrics of “So Samson Sang” well enough to discern if that’s true, kudos. The band are streaming that EP opener right now at the bottom of this post ahead of the tape coming out on June 26, so by all means, give it a shot, but know that you’ve been warned what’s coming.

Let the self-flagellation begin:

Bible Basher – Loud Wailing

Words from the Bible, riffs from hell. Slamming doom/death metal featuring members of Temple of Coke, Kurokuma, Archelon and Spaztik Munkey. A Sheffield, UK supergroup if you will, with each track featuring a different vocalist. Tape pre-orders already all sold out in just three days.

Official release date is 26th June via Sludgelord Records, digital and tape: https://thesludgelord.bandcamp.com/album/loud-wailing

Any reviews, mentions, plays, interviews would be much appreciated.

First track, So Samson Sang is up on the Bandcamp now.

https://www.facebook.com/sludgelordrecords/
https://www.instagram.com/sludgelordrecords/
https://thesludgelord.bandcamp.com/

Bible Basher, Loud Wailing (2020)

The statistics of COVID-19 change with every news cycle, and with growing numbers, stay-at-home isolation and a near-universal disruption to society on a global scale, it is ever more important to consider the human aspect of this coronavirus. Amid the sad surrealism of living through social distancing, quarantines and bans on gatherings of groups of any size, creative professionals — artists, musicians, promoters, club owners, techs, producers, and more — are seeing an effect like nothing witnessed in the last century, and as humanity as a whole deals with this calamity, some perspective on who, what, where, when and how we’re all getting through is a needed reminder of why we’re doing so in the first place.

Thus, Days of Rona, in some attempt to help document the state of things as they are now, both so help can be asked for and given where needed, and so that when this is over it can be remembered.

Thanks to all who participate. To read all the Days of Rona coverage, click here. — JJ Koczan

Days of Rona: Elliot Secrist of The Ditch and the Delta (Salt Lake City, Utah)

—

How are you dealing with this crisis as a band?

We haven’t really been practicing due to the crisis. We have the means to record ideas and send them to keep the ball rolling.

Have you had to rework plans at all?

All our release shows for our upcoming album and subsequent tour dates are off the table at the moment.

How is everyone’s health so far?

So far everybody in the band seems like they are doing well. Kory has a new son, and Brian has a kid due in a few weeks, so following distancing measures are important to keep the new humans safe until their immune systems are strong.

What are the quarantine/isolation rules where you are?

Most businesses in the service industry are shut down. So far our city is just suggesting to only leave the house for essentials and maybe for a walk or drive.

How have you seen the virus affecting the community around you and in music?

Unless the band is really well known, shows in Salt Lake are pretty small. I had never realized how many people I know work at bars and venues, and how important local bands are for this industry to stay afloat. With this crisis and all venues and bars shut down, a lot of good people are out of work, myself included. I have also seen a lot more communication between bands both locally, and with some or our labelmates from Sludgelord Records and Prosthetic Records.

What is the one thing you want people to know about your situation, either as a band, or personally, or anything?

Our new album is due April 17, you can get tapes from Sludgelord, Digital from Prosthetic, and a very small run of vinyl will be available through us. We’ll hopefully be to a town near you when all this chaos chills out.

The Ditch and the Delta, The Ditch and the Delta (2020) exclusive premiere

https://www.facebook.com/theditchandthedeltaslc/
https://theditchandthedelta.bandcamp.com/
http://facebook.com/prostheticrecords
http://prostheticrecords.bandcamp.com/
https://shop.prostheticrecords.com/
https://www.facebook.com/SludgelordRecords/
http://instagram.com/sludgelordrecords
https://thesludgelord.bandcamp.com/

The statistics of COVID-19 change with every news cycle, and with growing numbers, stay-at-home isolation and a near-universal disruption to society on a global scale, it is ever more important to consider the human aspect of this coronavirus. Amid the sad surrealism of living through social distancing, quarantines and bans on gatherings of groups of any size, creative professionals — artists, musicians, promoters, club owners, techs, producers, and more — are seeing an effect like nothing witnessed in the last century, and as humanity as a whole deals with this calamity, some perspective on who, what, where, when and how we’re all getting through is a needed reminder of why we’re doing so in the first place.

Thus, Days of Rona, in some attempt to help document the state of things as they are now, both so help can be asked for and given where needed, and so that when this is over it can be remembered.

Thanks to all who participate. To read all the Days of Rona coverage, click here. — JJ Koczan

Days of Rona: Eric Zann of Plague of Carcosa (Chicago, Illinois)

—

How are you dealing with this crisis as a band? Have you had to rework plans at all? How is everyone’s health so far?

So far, we are all healthy, but things are at a standstill until further notice. Our last public outing was just a few days before Chicago shut down, opening for Bongzilla, who cancelled the rest of their tour the next day. I (Eric Zann, guitarist) became a permanent foster to a sick corgi that day actually, so I’ve been working at home and taking care of her with my partner the past few weeks, and she is the sweetest animal we’ve ever met. Alexander has been doing some noise/electronic work on his own, and coordinating things with other projects (who may have to postpone some tours if this carries on longer than into May).

As Plague of Carcosa, since social distancing makes jamming together with our amps and gear a bad idea, we’ve been working on some ideas for new material from our respective homes. It’s especially frustrating since we were going to bring on a new guitarist after that Bongzilla show, and on a personal level, I write better with other people around to bounce ideas off of. As a band, we’ve been lucky in that this hasn’t cost us anything financially (cancelling tours, postponing studio time, etc.).

What are the quarantine/isolation rules where you are?

In Chicago, things are pretty tight, and getting tighter. All bars and venues have been shut down for close to three weeks now. People are being fined heavily for congregating in crowds – in some of the more affluent neighborhoods, house parties were recently broken up by cops, and the mayor just closed all city parks/lakefront areas because people seem to have a hard time abiding by the recommended distancing guidelines. Some public buildings are being turned into makeshift medical centers.

How have you seen the virus affecting the community around you and in music?

I’m not sure of the all legal aspects behind businesses shutting down (I believe places are facing fines for letting people hang out inside), but thankfully everyone has been fantastic about setting up GoFundMe pages for those in the service industry. If you can think of a bar, restaurant, or venue, they probably have something set up you can donate to to help the servers stay afloat while they’re unable to work. Most food places that are able to operate are still doing pickup and delivery service. Lots of local musicians are streaming themselves playing from their living rooms, which has been fun. I’m seeing some people occupy themselves by creating things on their own in new genres, and making videos about their craft for the fans.

Everyone seems to be taking the virus very seriously, but everyone is also staying as active as they can during this time, as well as being as supportive of others as they can. It will probably be a while before any locals can get back to the studio, but I wouldn’t be surprised about a flood of records from your Chicago favorites once this is behind us. Booking performances after this is something I’m not sure about when this is “over,” as I’d imagine everyone will be itching to play live and go out again ASAP. Venues will probably be getting tons of emails daily. We’ll just have to see how things go on the performance front.

What is the one thing you want people to know about your situation, either as a band, or personally, or anything?

As a band, we are fine, and lucky to not be terribly impacted by this. We will be back with new things in the works when it is safe and responsible to do so. In the meantime, we encourage you to help out other artists that are less fortunate, as well as anyone else who is negatively impacted. Mutual aid can be easy to do, and go a long way, even while maintaining responsible precautions. Don’t think you won’t get sick, we know people personally who have tested positive for COVID and it sucks. Be safe, if not for your own sake, for those you care about.
https://www.facebook.com/plagueofcarcosa/
https://plagueofcarcosa.bandcamp.com/
https://thesludgelord.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/SludgelordRecords/
https://www.facebook.com/GipsyHouseRecordings/
https://gipsyhouserecordings.bandcamp.com/