Snail Announce Thou Art There Live Album Out March 15

Posted in Whathaveyou on February 28th, 2024 by JJ Koczan

This will be a thing I’ll enjoy owning. The Obelisk All-Dayer was an event I put together starting in 2015 for Aug. 20, 2016. It was held at the Saint Vitus Bar in Brooklyn. Heavy Temple and King Buffalo opened. Mars Red Sky headlined. Death Alley (now defunct), Kings Destroy and also-disbanded Ohio proggers EYE featured, and it was with a particular personal joy that Snail agreed to make the trek from their respective homes in Washington and Southern California to make their first East Coast appearance(s), playing Boston and Rhode Island as they made their way south to NYC.

I had been lucky enough to see Snail previously, on a 2010 trip to San Francisco (review here), where I also met the then-four-piece-now-trio for the first time, and I could gladly go on about how rad that was, but the bottom line is that even asking Snail to play was something I was doing as a fan of the band, and as they had released their stunning Feral (review here) LP in 2015, the timing couldn’t have been better.

It’s humbling to think it was special for them too. Most of all, I’m glad it happened and I’ll be glad to have this as a document of it. It’s digital-only for now, but I bet you could convince them to make some tapes if the downloads do well enough. We’ll see. Either way, I’m grateful it exists and for the kind thoughts the band express below.

Maybe 2026? I’ll think about it. For now, two tracks from Thou Art There are streaming below to mark the launch of preorders and the band’s 2021 LP, Fractal Altar (review here), is down there too in order to facilitate further digging.

So by all means, dig:

snail thou art there

It was early Spring of 2016, and Snail had just come off the long-awaited release of Feral, when they got an email from JJ Koczan of the heavy psych blog The Obelisk. JJ was putting together a festival called ‘The Obelisk All-Dayer’ and wanted to know if they would be into playing. Without a second thought they were on board; this was destined to be a gathering of the tribes that no one wanted to miss!

Fans and bands came from all over – as far away as France – to play and be a part of it. This was Snail’s first tour on the East Coast, and the welcome couldn’t have been warmer. After playing shows in Boston and Rhode Island, Snail arrived at the club, devoured the catered veggie tacos and began meeting fans that they had only interacted with online. Everyone was so genuinely nice and positive, the music was HEAVY, and the energy in the club and city was electric.

Snail was exhilarated being on stage and playing for what felt like their “people.” Having loosened up with previous shows, they was now firing on all cylinders and vibing off the crowd. Seeing JJ head-banging in the front when the riff dropped for set closer ‘Thou Art That’ was like attaining heavy-music realization and the entire room resonated together.

So if you were there, we hope this recording puts you right back to that day and lives up to the memory. And if you weren’t, this is a chance to check out what all the fuss was about.
Thou Art There.

1. Blood (Live) 06:49
2. Cleanliness (Live)
3. Smoke the Deathless (Live)
4. Confessions (Live) 03:06
5. Mustard Seed (Live)
6. Hippy Crack (Live)
7. Mental Models (Live)
8. Thou Art That (Live)

Front of house engineer – Jeff Filmer
Mixing and mastering – Matt Lynch

Cover photo – Adam Donnelly
Additional cover image – Jennifer Hendrix-Johnson
Cover design – Matt Lynch

Snail are:
Marty Dodson – drums
Mark Johnson – guitar, vocals
Matt Lynch – bass, organ, vocals

www.snailhq.com
www.facebook.com/snailhq
https://www.instagram.com/snail_hq/
https://snailhq.bandcamp.com/

Snail, Thou Art There: Live at The Obelisk All-Dayer (2024)

Snail, Fractal Altar (2021)

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Snail Announce Live at The Obelisk All-Dayer Coming Soon

Posted in Whathaveyou on December 4th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

snail

I don’t know about a ‘moment’ in heavy music, but it was certainly a moment in my life. It was Aug. 20, 2016, at the Saint Vitus Bar in Brooklyn and I planned it over the course of about two years. Heavy Temple and King Buffalo opened, which is funny now. Mars Red Sky headlined. They were over from France to play Psycho Las Vegas. Death Alley too. They’re not even a band anymore. Same goes for EYE, from Ohio, who progged out in the middle of the day in a contrast to Kings Destroy‘s confrontational riffing. Steve from KD got a couple trays of tacos. Funeral Horse weirded everyone out. Snail came east. It was one of the best times I’ve ever had at a show.

I’m coming up on 15 years of doing this site and was hoping to put together another show to celebrate. I won’t have that together in time, but at some point I’ll try to get something happening again, if only for fun. I’m not a promoter and I don’t like being on the hook to anyone for money — which a promoter inherently is — but there’s definitely something to be said for curating the experience you want to have. The Obelisk All-Dayer was a chance for me to do that, and having Snail there was ridiculously special for me. The last decade has seen a lot of pulling together of airy melody and weighted tone. Snail were there 14 years ago and about 16 years before that, too. They remain an undervalued band, but even 2021’s Fractal Altar (review here) was a thrill of lysergic energies and nasty-face riffs. They roll, and roll, and roll.

All of the above, I suppose, is my way of justifying or, more kindly, giving context to, posting the announcement that Snail are releasing their set from the Vitus Bar sometime in the coming months. I remember vividly headbanging during “Thou Art That.” Would love to have the chance to do so again some day. In the meantime, I’ll be glad to have the proof after the fact that the All-Dayer happened. More proof anyway than the posters I have leftover upstairs at home.

From the band on social media:

Been to Saint Vitus Bar lately?

Argonauta Records will release our first live album – Live at The Obelisk All-Dayer (Brooklyn NYC 8-20-2016)! The All-Dayer was a ‘moment’ in heavy music and we were honored to play. More details to come…

Snail is:
Matt Lynch (Bass/Vocals)
Marty Dodson (Drums)
Mark Johnson (Lead Vocals/Guitar)

www.snailhq.com
www.facebook.com/snailhq
https://www.instagram.com/snail_hq/
https://snailhq.bandcamp.com/

www.argonautarecords.com/shop
www.facebook.com/argonuatarecords
www.instagram.com/argonautarecords

Snail, Fractal Altar (2021)

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Friday Full-Length: Snail, Terminus

Posted in Bootleg Theater on January 6th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

It seems strange to feel nostalgic about this, but then you remember that 2012 was now more than a decade ago and that strangeness goes away some. Snail released what was their second post-reunion album and third overall full-length, Terminus (review here), in May of that year, and while they’ve done two more albums since, it’s important to note that at the time, it wasn’t a sure thing they’d do another one at all. After an initial run amid the earlier after-grunge blowouts that became stoner metal that led them to their 1993 debut, Snail (review here), and the next year’s All Channels Are Open EP (discussed here), it would be 15 years before they returned with 2009’s Meteorcity-issued Blood (review here, discussed here), which was mostly based on demos from their original era.

That detail is crucial, especially since it meant that Terminus would be the first batch of newer material they’d worked on since the early 1990s. I remember being surprised at how metal some of the riffing was across the 10 tracks/46 minutes of the release, and in the guitar squealies in the verse of hooky opener “Recursion,” that impression remains all this time later, the inhale/exhale of their verses and choruses flowing as they build and let go of tension. The work of then-lead guitarist Eric Clausen should also be noted here. His slow-Slayer creeper solo in “Recursion,” a bit of ZZ Top swagger in the subsequent “Galaxies’ Lament” and the bluesier take alongside the piano transitions in “Matchbook” set a varied approach that continues to expand in the wah of “Burn the Flesh,” the classic-heavy style of “Terminus,” etc., as his play and that of guitarist/vocalist Mark Johnson coalesce and bring arrangement nuance to set alongside Johnson‘s sneakily intricate vocals — listen to the layering in “Matchbook” or how the watery effect in “Circles” adds to that song’s ’60s-psych atmosphere, which is not to mention the Alice in Chains-style self-harmonies of “Ritual” or the subtle Queens of the Stone Age-ism of the verses in the closing title-track, complete with whispers and all — and give the original trio of Johnson, bassist/backing vocalist/producer Matt Lynch and drummer Marty Dodson a way to expressively jam and grow the context of their songs on the whole. This would be Clausen‘s last record with Snail, as he left in 2013 and started a new band called Division Process, but his contributions here aren’t to be discounted just because he may have been on his way out at the time.

And it should be noted that the ‘metal’ vibe that comes through in some of the songs — certainly in the aggro surge of “Hippy Crack,” which moves from its Tool-ish buildup into a speedier sorta-noise rocker that feels like it was of a kin with their ’90s work, barks and growls and all — is filtered through Snail‘s own signature rolling groove. Listening through “Circles,” the willfully grandiose crashes of “Love Theme” or the definitive march in “Ritual,” the argument for Dodson (and the band as a whole) as underrated makes itself, and for much more than just the cowbell coinciding with the Sabbathian turn late in “Burn the Flesh.” His play universally enhances the material — that is, there is no song underserved by what he brings to it — even in absent stretches like the verses of “Try to Make It” that make the chorus land that much heavier, and in company Lynch‘s warm, weighted bass tone, the rhythm section captures a largesse in a cutSnail Terminus like “Burn the Flesh” that not only gives Clausen room to rip out lead lines even as the march is barely underway, but sounds big enough to warrant the Pink Floyd lyrical references and the meditative-realization narrative of the chorus, slow but not staid, deeply arranged in the vocals, gorgeous in its consuming totality.

“Love Theme” seems to reference the title-track of Blood if only for its single-word repetition of “love” before “peace and happiness” fill out its only lyrics — what more do you really need? — and its setting up the more actively-psych second half of the record is essential coming out of “Burn the Flesh” and “Hippy Crack” before it and leading into the druggy “Ritual” — its second/third chug-marching verse starting with the line “Pills untils we are fills” — after, the progression there allowing Johnson a moment in a standalone layer that prefaces the vocals-only ending on the line “So gone away” ahead of the drifting start of “Circles.” That song taps a spirit like Monster Magnet at their psychedelic best, and is all the more flowing with keys playing more of a role as the organ in “Try to Make It” seems to push deeper into the direction laid out by the vague Easternism in the winding lead guitar lines prior, but the play with silence and the languid, jammier finish of “Circles” — all sustained by Lynch‘s steady bassline — is a highlight nonetheless as the band carries the listener forward toward the sun, maybe realizing a bit of what “Burn the Flesh” was talking about lyrically in its willingness to feel like it’s losing cohesion without actually doing so (again, it’s that bass holding it together).

Terminus makes both its variety and its core heavy modus apparent early, as “Galaxies’ Lament” picks up with a more melodic verse than “Recursion,” before shifting into its own more energetic chorus, but Snail never seem to give it all away at once in terms of songwriting, and each of the 10 tracks throughout offers something of its own that adds to the impression of the whole. The metal-shred in “Try to Make It” — the lyrics of which open themselves to multiple interpretations, some of which seem like a direct contrast to the open groove of the verses and maybe that’s the point as the chorus explodes to enter — is perhaps prefaced in “Galaxies’ Lament,” but in the later piece, it adds purpose to the chaos as a swell of feedback rises to consume the song by its finish, which thuds out and leaves residual echo as a transition to “Terminus,” which it should be said, starts as though nothing just happened and Snail didn’t just pull apart a solar system.

The line “She fears change” in “Terminus” marks the ascent to louder volume, hard-hitting, bell-tolling chugging riffery, lyrics reaffirming the mortality of all things, and that indeed is where Snail bring Terminus to its end, by riding out that part on a well-earned slow fade. Whispers come and go, voices in and out, and the last vocal line is a child’s voice saying, “Okay it’s time to wake up now,” before the album gives way to silence. Fair enough.

I will not discount the work Snail did either on 2015’s Feral (review here) or 2021’s Fractal Altar (review here) as they returned to their original trio lineup and continued to expand their sound, but Terminus set in motion a lot of what they’d become on those two records while having a personality of its own that stands out from the rest of their discography. As their third long-player (and one that would seem to be desperate for a reissue, perhaps on vinyl), its manifestation of who Snail was as a band at the time felt duly landmark, triumphant, and while I dug Blood a lot — and I mean a lot —  this was the record that cemented me as a fan of the band, and I’m glad to say I’ve remained one ever since.

As always, I hope you enjoy. Thank you for reading.

I had kind of a beautiful time yesterday listening to that record. I’d gone swimming in the morning at the gym — me and the other old men doing laps for the early AM — for the first time since just after I hurt my knee in October and was pleased to find my leg didn’t fall off, and I sat on the couch in my usual spot, lightly stoned while The Pecan was at school, and just listened and took some notes and enjoyed it. After doing the Quarterly Review all week — not painful, but hardly relaxing in terms of how one experiences a release — it was refreshing. I’d finished the QR post that went up today, set up the back end for stuff on Monday, and could actually relax for a few minutes. I needed that.

It had been a week. Wednesday was my mother’s birthday and my family came over for dinner. The weather has been unseasonably warm, which is both pleasant and apocalyptic, so we managed to get out at least for a few short walks — went to the Turtle Back Zoo on Monday — and The Pecan went back to school on Tuesday, which I think all three of us were ready for. That, however, caused him to feel emotions, which he generally expresses by wrecking shit. See also when he’s excited about a thing, tired, arguing about food, etc. It’s pretty much been one thing into the next all week and I don’t mind telling you that’s fucking exhausting. No, kid, I can’t play Bluey games with you for seven hours. Believe me when I say I’m sorry. Maybe if I was 31 instead of 41 and we’d been able to make a baby happen when we first explored the idea, I’d be as much fun as Bandit. I suspect not.

But we’ll never know. I’m trying to remember to enjoy this time while I have it, to be grateful for what I have. I do not always succeed at this. Looking back at that writeup for All Channels Are Open 10 years ago, linked above, was a trip. I was losing jobs all over the place. I am fortunate now to not be in the labor market, or surely I’d be back in retail by now, being treated like subhuman garbage and taking way too seriously shit that matters not in the slightest. Work like that gets in your head; it’s hard to step out of it mentally, to keep your perspective. I have a hard time doing this generally, and in parenting, at which I more often than not feel like an utter failure. Every day, for example.

Next week, five more days of Quarterly Review. Today at 5PM Eastern, new Gimme show: http://gimmemetal.com

Thanks if you listen and thanks for reading.

I hope you have a great and safe weekend. Have fun, hydrate, watch your head, all that stuff. It’s a new year, so… I don’t know. Just keep going. You can do that.

FRM.

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The Obelisk Questionnaire: Matt Lynch of Snail & Mysterious Mammal Recording

Posted in Questionnaire on August 9th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

Matt Lynch of Snail & Mysterious Mammal Recording

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: Matt Lynch of Snail & Mysterious Mammal Recording

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

I’d say I’m an artistic enabler. I’m not the rock star in the band, but I help the rock stars create their vision and make it sound as best it can be in the process. I play bass, keys, program drums, engineer, mix, and master. Along the way I end up producing if I’m tracking the band, being a sounding board and decision maker. I’ve always liked working with more underground music so I suppose I’m a producer by default since the bands I work with never have a budget for a separate producer and engineer, and being in LA for so long now I can put a band together for people in the studio if needed. I’m also a graphic designer and photographer so I’ve done a lot of album art and layouts for clients as well as shooting and editing videos and doing band photos. So yeah, creative enabler.

I started playing bass back in 1990 or so and quickly hooked up with local musicians Mark Johnson and Marty Dodson, eventually forming Snail. I moved to San Francisco and after Snail broke up, I started recording my band Plugusher in our practice space with an ADAT and a Mackie board. Word got out to other bands in our circle and that started my recording career. Fast forward to 2008 or so, and Snail got back together and recorded Blood at my spot after I had moved to L.A. I had already been recording a lot of bands and artists at that point, but the Snail reunion connected me with Eddie Glass and Nebula, and through him Ed Mundell of Monster Magnet and the Ultra Electric Mega Galactic and Ruben Romano of Nebula, Fu Manchu and The Freeks. Snail and moving to LA gave me a chance to work with some great people that I never imagined I’d be friends with. From that scene and really the scene around the Obelisk, I’ve gotten to work with other folks like Bevar Sea all the way in India, Circle of Sighs, and most recently Somnus Throne.

Describe your first musical memory.

Wow, that’s a tough one. I’m an old guy now so the memory is not what it used to be. Also, music was just always part of my life so it’s tough to pick out one thing. My parents were young and I grew up listening to my dad’s records. A few things that come to mind are listening to Purple Haze and Jimi Hendrix Smash Hits a lot, since my dad was a bass player and he and his buddy Ben would play that tune at our house and it was a favorite in general along with Cream’s Sunshine of Your Love. I also remember putting on Abbey Road quite a bit and loving Oh Darling! and Octopus’s Garden. ELO’s Face the Music and that opening backmasked intro to Fire on High freaked me right out. That kind of informed that Snail tune “Thou Art That” a bit.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

Oh man, so many, but I think all of mine are as a fan and not a performer. Probably seeing Elliot Smith do Between the Bars at The Fillmore, just him and his guitar, so intimate. That song is just crushingly heavy to me, and I feel privileged now to have been able to witness it now that he’s gone. So many of the greats are gone now and I’m so happy to have been able to see some of them. John Lee Hooker, Aretha, Ray Charles, Tom Petty, Ellliot Smith. I’m hoping to finally see Tom Waits before it’s too late, as he’s a hero of mine.

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

I’m basically a non-violent person. I feel that putting violence out into the world invites it to come back, karma-style. But recent events here in the U.S. have me contemplating what I will do if a civil war comes to my door. I’ve even had a very disturbing conversation with a dear friend recently, spawned by Covid response difference of opinion, that brought up the old “brother against brother” sentiment. It’s very disheartening.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

A broader palette means the artist can make more specific work. Sometimes it’s overwhelming though, and it can lead to more bland work. It’s a delicate balance. Some people are good at self editing, while others need a collaborator. Some people self edit way too much! I see and hear that often while making records, where an artist will ask if this feels “like a (Band) song”. I usually site the Beatles’ white album as a remedy against this. It’s all over the place, but it still sounds like The Beatles because it’s them. All you can do is be honest with your art. If you’re honest, the progression will be a positive thing.

How do you define success?

Being able to do what you love the way you want to do it.

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

The last time I saw Elliot Smith play, he was a mess. His voice was gone and he had to start several songs over again. He was loaded and probably hadn’t slept for awhile. It was just so sad and messed up after having seen him just destroy a room in the past.

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

I’d like to write a book about my high school years, although I’m held back by thinking it’s quite egotistical and would piss off some old friends. It’s a pipe dream, and if I did it, it would only be for myself.

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

I think art in general is a process that for the artist, is independent from the final product. Many times, it’s wordless communication that can’t exist any other way, because the feeling conveyed doesn’t translate to verbal language, unless you’re a writer of course. The viewer/listener/reader will have many different translations, and that doesn’t mean that the art is any less singular; it’s just that good art is complex and can be universal. It’s a conversation between the artist and the viewer/listener/reader that happens independently of time and space. So I believe art leads to better understanding, and ultimately a more rich culture. Does it mean the artist is happy? Maybe not, but it’s a moment in time for the artist and it can be both a moment in time for the viewer/listener/reader as well as an ongoing conversation as people age and connect different experiences with old and familiar pieces.

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

I’m looking forward to going out to Massachusetts in a week, getting out of the house and seeing old friends and family. Going out to Cape Cod, parking the car for a week and riding bikes everywhere, eating lobster rolls, chowder and ice cream and taking photos of the beautiful country.

https://mysteriousmammal.com/
https://www.facebook.com/mysteriousmammal

www.snailhq.com
www.facebook.com/snailhq
https://www.instagram.com/snail_hq/

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Snail, Fractal Altar (2021)

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The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal Playlist: Episode 78

Posted in Radio on February 18th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

the obelisk show banner

This was fun. I asked the other day on the ol’ social medias for requests and wound up getting a whole playlist’s worth. It was a genuine surprise, but hell’s bells, there’s some good stuff here, and as I’m normally so focused on trying to fit as much new music as humanly possible into the two hours, the chance to revisit some oldies but goodies from Saint Vitus, Sleep, Mos Generator, and Throttlerod was great, not to mention the chance to shine light on new stuff from Steak, Weedevil, Kurokuma and Lark’s Tongue, the latter of which, I admit, was my own request.

I included the names in the playlist so I could do oldschool radio-style shout-outs, which was fun in the voice breaks, and I appreciated the chance to hear stuff I wouldn’t have otherwise, like Wallowing or Buñuel, the latter whose new album is out today on Profound Lore and is pretty wild heavy stuff. Maybe I’ll do this kind of thing from time to time. Next show I might just load up on psych tunes and let it ride. Ha.

If you listen, or you see these words, thanks.

The Obelisk Show airs 5PM Eastern today on the Gimme app or at: http://gimmemetal.com.

Full playlist:

The Obelisk Show – 02.18.22

Wallowing Earthless (for Matt McCartney) Planet Loss
Kurokuma Smoking Mirror (for Vesper Munkvold & Shasta Beest) Born of Obsidian
Weedevil Underwater (for Matheus Jacques) The Return
Author & Punisher Incinerator (for Dan Blomquist) Kruller
VT
Obsidian Sea The Long Drowning (for Martin Petrov) Pathos
Saint Vitus The Psychopath (for Steven Melson) Saint Vitus
Lord Vicar The Temple in the Bedrock (for Fabrizio Monni) The Black Powder
Throttlerod Never Was a Farmer (for Raul Stanciu) Turncoat
Snail Fractal Altar (for Steve Janiak) Fractal Altar
Ruff Majik Heart Like an Alligator (for Warren Gibson) The Devil’s Cattle
Buñuel When God Used a Rope (for Jasper Hesselnik) Killers Like Us
Steak Papas Special Custard (for John Gist) Acute Mania
10,000 Years Dark Side of the Earth (for Alex Risberg) II
Lark’s Tongue The Novelty Wears Thin (for me) Eleusis
VT
Sleep Leagues Beneath (for Steven Melson) Leagues Beneath
Mos Generator Outlander (for Jessie Avery) The Firmament

The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal airs every Friday 5PM Eastern, with replays Sunday at 7PM Eastern. Next new episode is March 4 (subject to change). Thanks for listening if you do.

Gimme Metal website

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The Obelisk Presents: THE BEST OF 2021 — Year in Review

Posted in Features on December 22nd, 2021 by JJ Koczan

Daniel-Hopfer's-Death-and-the-Devil-Surprising-two-Women,-(ca

[PLEASE NOTE: These are not the results of the year-end poll, which is ongoing. If you haven’t contributed your picks yet, please do so here.]

Maybe 2021 was your breakout, or your hunker-down. Your recovery from trauma or more of the same. Maybe you got six shots, maybe you didn’t get any. Maybe you got sick or lost somebody. I don’t know. Whatever else this year was, though, and whatever else it continues to be, it was busy.

In terms of the heavy underground, the ‘aftermath’ of the covid-19 pandemic resulted in a creative movement that will continue to pan out for years to come. Bands, locked down in 2020, found new directions, new sounds, sometimes new projects or collaborators. Some dug deep into their root influences, others explored new ground entirely.

One way or the other, the result across this year was a lot of really, really good music, and in uncertain times, the comfort it provided and provides shouldn’t be understated. The Obelisk Questionnaire asks what is the primary function of art. I think we learned in 2021 that art is home when you need it.

I say this every year, but please, if you leave a comment on this post — if there’s something you want to suggest I left out (as I’m sure there is; always) or you’re responding to someone else’s comment — please, please be respectful. Please be kind. To me, because I’ve worked hard on this and I don’t mind saying that, and to anyone else offering their picks or suggestions or just words of response. Let’s not fight, or do that “unthinking internet meanness” thing. I’m a human being and so are you. That’s reason enough to make an effort toward kindness. Thank you for that effort and for reading, as always.

Here we go:

The Top 60 Albums of 2021? Really? 60?

Yeah, really 60. I was gonna do 30 and then 50 and I was having trouble narrowing it down and it was my sister who very concisely said, “Who cares? Do what you want,” and it turned out that was precisely what I needed to hear. So if there are complaints about doing a top 60, to them I might just point out that more music is not a hardship. Maybe instead look at the swath of amazing music being made and be glad to have been born? And I’m doing what feels right, if also a little over-the-top. Maybe next year it’ll be 100, or 1,000. To quote my sister, “Who cares?”

The more the merrier.

Alors:

#31-60

31. 3rd Ear Experience, Danny Frankel’s 3rd Ear Experience
32. Slowshine, Living Light
33. LLNN, Unmaker
34. Low Orbit, Crater Creator
35. Somnuri, Nefarious Wave
36. Delving, Hirschbrunnen
37. Kal-El, Dark Majesty
38. Hippie Death Cult, Circle of Days
39. Plaindrifter, Echo Therapy
40. Motorpsycho, Kingdom of Oblivion
41. IAH, Omines
42. Here Lies Man, Ritual Divination
43. The Kings of Frog Island, VII
44. Old Man Wizard, Kill Your Servants Quietly
45. Weedpecker, IV: The Stream of Forgotten Thoughts
46. High Desert Queen, Secrets of the Black Moon
47. Kadabra, Ultra
48. Sleep Moscow, Of the Sun
49. Terry Gross, Soft Opening
50. Cavern Deep, Cavern Deep
51. 10,000 Years, II
52. Rebreather, The Line, its Width and the War Drone
53. Spiral Grave, Legacy of the Anointed
54. LáGoon, Skullactic Visions
55. Jack Harlon & the Dead Crows, The Magnetic Ridge
56. Boss Keloid, Family the Smiling Thrush
57. Shun, Shun
58. Black Willows, Shemurah
59. Expo Seventy, Evolution
60. Year of Taurus, Topsoils

Notes:

The best advice I can give you is DON’T IGNORE THIS LIST. From 3rd Ear Experience’s righteous jams to Kadabra’s and Slowshine’s debuts and 10,000 Years’ hard riffing and Old Man Wizard’s melo-prog swansong and Jack Harlon’s otherworldly West, and Cavern Deep’s conceptual darkness, and Black Willows’ consuming tones and Sleep Moscow’s emotive downerism and Weedpecker progging out and Here Lies Man still being in an league entirely their own, and that Plaindrifter record and Shun and Spiral Grave and Rebreather and The Kings of Frog Island. That Terry Gross’ sheer West Coastness and Somnuri’s Northeastern intensity. Kal-El’s pulp riffage bigger than ever. Motorpsycho being Motorpsycho. IAH collaborating with Spaceslug. Boss Keloid’s prog-metal shenanigans. Hippie Death Cult’s mellow heavy. LLNN utterly killing everything. Damn this is good.

If this was a year-end top 30 in itself, I’d be like, yeah that’s a solid list, and I don’t mean that as a platitude. So please don’t ignore it. If there’s something here you haven’t heard, I can only advise you chase it down. Any one of these could be higher or lower in your own consideration, but I dug all of them, and yeah, by the time you get up to 40 or so the numbering gets pretty arbitrary, but whatever. It’s a list of stuff I think you should check out. Releases that made the year better, all of them one way or the other.

30. Monster Magnet, A Better Dystopia

monster magnet a better dystopia

Released by Napalm Records. Reviewed May 31.

New Jersey stalwarts Monster Magnet taking on obscure and semi-obscure covers out of the heavy ’70s is pretty high on the list of ‘ultimate no-brainers.’ One might’ve preferred an album of originals, but even in a stopgap, Dave Wyndorf and company found ways to be creative with the material, and this belongs here for their take on Dust‘s “Learning to Die” (video here) alone.

29. Domkraft, Seeds

domkraft seeds

Released by Magnetic Eye Records. Featured April 2.

Domkraft‘s third album arrived in so-you-think-you-know-what-we’re-about fashion, building out the heavy noise rock of 2018’s Flood (review here) and 2016’s The End of Electricity (review here), leaning into more textured material executed with a burgeoning patience of approach, while still keeping impact central. They’ve come into their own and one expects they’ll continue to reshape what that means over time.

28. Sunnata, Burning in Heaven, Melting on Earth

sunnata burning in heaven melting on earth

Self-released. Reviewed March 16.

Consuming and shamanic. A record that really took the time to construct its own world for the listener to inhabit in its songs. Sunnata‘s fourth full-length, Burning in Heaven, Melting on Earth brought together six tracks that resonated with purposeful depth and a cold-psych ambience that allowed space for minimalism and movements of blistering heavy in kind. Not for everyone, maybe, but each piece truly added to the flowing progression of the whole, showing the conceptual, ritualized strengths of the band.

27. Conclave, Dawn of Days

Conclave Dawn of Days

Released by Argonauta Records. Reviewed April 22.

Five years after their debut, Sins of the Elders (review here), Massachusetts sludge-of-death metallers Conclave — now with a second guitarist — brought forth epic punishment and bleakness befitting our age. A willful, harsh slog, Dawn of Days had few comforts to offer in “Death Blows Cold” or “Haggard,” and the mourning finale “Suicide Funeral,” while allowed to be flourish in its way, found a means to express its grief while staying honest to underpinnings of extreme metal. Not an easy listen, not supposed to be.

26. Crystal Spiders, Morieris

Crystal Spiders Morieris

Released by Ripple Music. Reviewed Sept. 8.

Some records you just can’t fight. And why would you? Quick turnaround for North Carolina’s Crystal Spiders after their Sept. 2020 debut, Molt (review here), but the three-piece of bassist/vocalist Brenna Leath (also Lightning Born and The Hell-No), drummer/vocalist Tradd Yancey (also Doomsday Profit) and guitarist/producer Mike Dean (also of C.O.C.) demonstrated a range the first record only hinted at, touching on earthy psych, dirty punk, classic heavy and more with evident ease and a marked sense of craft.

25. River Flows Reverse, When River Flows Reverse

River Flows Reverse When River Flows Reverse

Released by Psychedelic Source Records. Reviewed Sept. 30.

Hungarian collective River Flows Reverse brought lysergic healing as part of the Psychedelic Source Records milieu, with a particularly folkish and exploratory vibe branching out across pieces like the serene “At the Gates of the Perennial” or the acoustic-led “Rain it Rages,” creating gorgeous atmospheres from existential dread and a sheer need for outlet. Spontaneous in its spirit but with a thoughtful undercurrent, it’s by no means the highest-profile release on this list, but it also offered something nothing else did in quite the same way. Pastoralia for another world.

24. Borracho, Pound of Flesh

borracho pound of flesh

Released by Kozmik Artifactz. Reviewed Aug. 2.

A decade on from their debut and five years after their last album, Washington D.C. roll-prone trio Borracho came back not only with terrifying cover art, but also an unabashed look at the world around them, socially conscious lyrics topping their hallmark heavy riffage in a way that their prior work had yet to engage. Pound of Flesh was an organic step forward for the band in sound and songwriting, and their perspective of wondering what the hell happened to pretty much everything was relatable, to say the least, but the nuances of arrangement and vibe went a long way too in changing things up around their classic-style sound.

23. Erik Larson, Favorite Iron

Erik Larson Favorite Iron

Self-released. Reviewed Sept. 23.

Larson‘s gonna Larson. As to what that might mean on a given release, that’s harder to say. Drawing from a decades-long background in punk and hardcore, heavy Southern and acoustic songwriting, as well as a pedigree long enough to take up the rest of this post, Favorite Iron was one of three outings issued on the same day in September in a creative splurge and found him playing all instruments himself (horns on opener “Backpage” notwithstanding) and imbuing each piece with its own purpose in feeding the richness of the entire work. And somehow, was humble in it, putting it out on Bandcamp, no PR, no fanfare. Just wasn’t there, then was. Very Larson.

22. Spaceslug, Memorial

spaceslug memorial

Self-released. Review pending.

Issued just on Dec. 10, Memorial arrives from Poland’s Spaceslug in suitably mournful fashion and with it, the trio seem to dive into more personal, human issues than ever before. Loss, uncertainty. It’s certainly a record for the time in which it’s made, but neither do the band neglect their own growth as they continue to incorporate blackened screams along with their more grunge-derived clean vocals, a blend of mellow heavy psych and harsher presence coinciding. After a productive few years with the 2020 Leftovers EP (review here) and 2019’s Reign of the Orion (review here), Spaceslug have managed to push even deeper into their sound. They do so with an increasing sense of mastery.

21. Genghis Tron, Dream Weapon

genghis tron dream weapon art by trevor naud

Released by Relapse Records. Reviewed April 5.

Unexpected and appreciated in kind. I wouldn’t have bet that Poughkeepsie, New York, glitch-grind innovators Genghis Tron would return with a new record after 13 years, and I wouldn’t have guessed either that Dream Weapon would bring both the revamped lineup and the refined focus on melody that it did. Live drums gave new heart to the songs, and thoughtfully layered washes of keys and guitar brought a sense of worldbuilding that, while in contrast to the freneticism of the band’s past work, was refreshing in its honesty and refusal to be anything other than what they wanted it to be. Caught a bunch of hype early and then disappeared, but the songs will hold up long after this year is over. If you get it, you get it.

20. Vokonis, Odyssey

Vokonis Odyssey

Released by The Sign Records. Reviewed May 5.

The story of Sweden’s Vokonis isn’t too dissimilar from that of Spaceslug above in that the band set its foundation in a certain kind of heavy worship and have moved outward from there over time. For the Borås trio, their latest outing expanded on their progressive ideology, taking the heavy riffs of their earliest work and setting them to a winding course while also incorporating a rawer vocal along with the cleaner shouting. In addition to being topped off by the best album cover I saw all year, Odyssey proved to be a journey of mind for those ready to take it, and showed that Vokonis‘ maturity, their finding themselves, is likely to be an ongoing process. And if they want to keep bringing Per Wiberg in on keys, that’ll be fine too.

19. Lammping, Flashjacks

Lammping-Flashjacks

Released by Echodelick Records. Reviewed Aug. 19.

What a blast this record is. Warm tones, classic vibes, ’90s alt weirdness given a little extra push into heavy. I didn’t even care that half of the thing had been released as an EP prior, putting on Lammping‘s Flashjacks was and very much still is a joy. No pretense, no bullshit, just songs, songs, songs. Give me “Intercessor” and “Jaws of Life” and “Lammping” any day of the week as the Toronto outfit hold down both attitude and humor while inviting you in on their good time. 10 tracks/33 minutes — they weren’t even trying to take up too much of your day. Just a short and sweet set on an LP and then they roll out until the next one. May it arrive sooner rather than later. I’m not a party guy, but this is my kind of party.

18. Snail, Fractal Altar

snail fractal altar

Released by Argonauta Records. Reviewed April 26.

The opening duo “Mission From God” and “Nothing Left for You” gave Fractal Altar an initial thrust that the heavy grunge of “Not Two” complemented with darker edge before the swinging “Hold On” tipped back toward forward momentum. “The False Lack,” a highlight, found some middle ground en route to a back half of the LP that culminated with the sub-nine-minute title-track, psychedelic ritualization coming to a head with spaced-out vocals over a black hole of low end. The weirder Snail get, the better they get in my mind, and more than half a decade after Feral (review here), they were ready to get plenty weird here. Wouldn’t trade that for the world.

17. The Age of Truth, Resolute

the age of truth resolute

Released by Contessa Music. Reviewed July 21.

Aggro-edged Philly heavy rock and roll, pulling influence not only from its own backdrop but from heavy modern and old, perhaps the best thing one can say about Resolute was that it lived up to the lofty declaration in the title The Age of Truth gave it. Whether they were playing to more atmospheric ideas on “Palace of Rain” and “Return to Ships” or digging into classic heavy blues on “Salome” or finding new levels of intensity on “Horsewhip,” it was clear The Age of Truth consciously set a high standard for themselves and put the effort in to meet it every step of the way. Clear and sharp in its production, it’s still a record you can put on and be blown away by each individual performance, as well as how they come together. Dudes only put the bar higher.

16. Jointhugger, Surrounded by Vultures

jointhugger surrounded by vultures

Released by Majestic Mountain Records. Reviewed Oct. 29.

It was not an easy task for Norway’s Jointhugger to follow either their 2021 single-song EP Reaper Season (review here) or 2020’s debut, I Am No One (review here), but even amid a still-solidifying lineup, the band conjured listenability and weight in post-Monolordian fashion without either aping that band’s methodology or ignoring their own nascent sonic identity. There’s more growing to do, and one hopes that as they go they’ll hold at least somewhat to the pace of releases thus far established, but there was no getting past the accomplishments of Surrounded by Vultures, not the least because of the 700-foot ice wall of tone the band built along the path. Potential and achievement stomping hand-in-hand into an unknown heavy future.

15. Temple Fang, Fang Temple

Temple Fang Fang Temple

Released by Right on Mountain & Electric Spark. Reviewed Nov. 23.

I’ll be honest, I was a little bummed when Fang Temple got released and I didn’t even know it was coming. I got over the ego bruise quick with the help of the record itself, however, the Amsterdam-based psychedelic spiritualists taking the live-album method from 2020’s Live at Merleyn (review here) and using an on-stage performance as the basic tracks around which the rest of Fang Temple was constructed. The result was a resonant joy in heavy psych; a record as satisfying to lose yourself in as to consciously follow along its charted but spontaneous-feeling path. They’ve had some lineup shifts too, but gosh I hope there’s more to come, whether I get an early heads up or not.

14. Yawning Sons, Sky Island

yawning sons sky island

Released by Ripple Music. Reviewed April 12.

Would you have bet there’d be a second Yawning Sons album, more than 10 years after 2009’s Ceremony to the Sunset (review here; reissue review here)? I might not have, but the collaboration between UK instrumentalists Sons of Alpha Centauri and Yawning Man guitarist and desert rock figurehead Gary Arce brought a slew of memorable moments, including guest spots from Fatso Jetson/Yawning Man‘s Mario Lalli and Hermano‘s Dandy Brown, and return appearances from Scott Reeder and Wendy Rae Fowler. It’s still impossible to know if Yawning Sons will be a band or a once-every-decade happening, but Sky Island proved they were more than a cult one-off. A third outing would only be welcome.

13. Comet Control, Inside the Sun

comet control inside the sun

Released by Tee Pee Records. Reviewed Aug. 23.

Careening back and forth between its space rock and more drifting psychedelic impulses, Comet Control‘s Inside the Sun brought varied pleasures of craft and melody, saving its more contemplative stretches for the peaceful immersion of “The Afterlife” or “Heavy Moments” and “The Deserter” later on after the duly cosmic launch of “Keep on Spinnin'” and the buzzing “Secret Life” established the pattern of movement under the drift. Whichever way a given track went — and it was by no means limited to one or the other with “Good Day to Say Goodbye” and “Inside the Sun” in the album’s midsection — the Toronto-based outfit worked mostly as a two-piece in putting it together, but the lushness of the ensuing work took what the band had accomplished on 2016’s Center of the Maze (review here) and added even more dimension.

12. Maha Sohona, Endless Searcher

Maha Sohona endless searcher

Released by Made of Stone Recordings. Reviewed July 13.

They should’ve called it “endless repeat.” The mellow heft of Swedish unit Maha Sohona‘s sophomore full-length is one that I just kept going back to, time and time again, and the appeal of doing so only grew with more listening. Melodically capable but not overblown, songs like “Luftslott” and “Orbit X” brought to mind Sungrazer and earlier Spaceslug with a bittersweet nostalgia (in the case of the former, certainly) even as Maha Sohona used them to chart their own stylistic course. It was seven years between their first and second records, so I’m not going to predict when/if a follow-up will come, but Endless Searcher made my 2021 better to the point that I just put on “Leaves” and can feel the serotonin being released. It feels only right to honor that by having them here.

11. Samsara Blues Experiment, End of Forever

Samsara Blues Experiment End of Forever

Released by Electric Magic Records. Reviewed Nov. 16, 2020.

With a permanent-seeming dissolution as context for its arrival, End of Forever wrapped a run for Samsara Blues Experiment that could only really be called successful in terms of what they accomplished during their time, but moreover, it underscored what made them such a special group to start with, its progressive psychedelia still developing in persona as the band was coming to a close. Guitarist/vocalist Christian Peters, having spent the prior few years in various solo explorations, brought increased use of keys and synth, and in combination with the organic fluidity of the rhythm section of bassist/backing vocalist Hans Eiselt and drummer Thomas Vedder, that let Samsara Blues Experiment say something new even as they were also saying goodbye. If they’re truly done for good, they’ll be missed.

10. Heavy Temple, Lupi Amoris

heavy temple lupi amoris

Released by Magnetic Eye Records. Reviewed May 28.

An awaited debut from this Philadelphia trio, Lupi Amoris confronted high expectations and surpassed them with a complexity of atmosphere that was surprising even after seeing them live multiple times, taking the oft-psychedelic fuzz of Heavy Temple‘s previous output and setting it to a more rigid focus and a daring sense of intent. This was a record that came about after years of lineup changes and tumult, but made cohesion from chaos, and there was not one second of its stretch that didn’t serve the album as a whole. Even more than 2016’s Chassit EP (review here), which I’d previously counted as their first long-player, Lupi Amoris showed toward what Heavy Temple‘s potential had been driving all along, and its realization was stunning. Whatever they do next, whenever they do it, will also be confronting high expectations.

9. Apostle of Solitude, Until the Darkness Goes

Apostle of Solitude Until the Darkness Goes
Released by Cruz Del Sur Music. Reviewed Nov. 9.

At this point, I feel ready to posit Indianapolis four-piece Apostle of Solitude as the best doom band in America. I know that’s a loaded statement because there are as many kinds of doom as there are of heavy metal itself, but if you look at a group bringing new ideas to the established traditions and tenets of the style Apostle of Solitude have put themselves in the uppermost of the upper echelon. At just 36 minutes, Until the Darkness Goes feels likewise concise and engaging, its songs holding the emotive thread that has always typified the band’s work, but engaging more vocal harmonies between guitarists Chuck Brown and Steve Janiak (now both also in The Gates of Slumber) atop the densely weighted impact from bassist Mike Naish (also Shroud of Vulture) and drummer Corey Webb. Don’t think they’re the best US doom band right now? Find me someone better.

8. Greenleaf, Echoes From a Mass

greenleaf echoes from a mass

Released by Napalm Records. Reviewed March 25.

With a wholesale invite to either take the heat or remove your ass from the kitchen, Greenleaf tossed out Echoes From a Mass as their eighth LP some 20 years after their first, 2001’s Revolution Rock (discussed here), and reminded their listenership of the songwriting chemistry that’s emerged over the better part of the last decade between founding guitarist Tommi Holappa — and yes, I’ve heard rumors he’s got new Dozer in progress as well; we’ll see in 2022 — and vocalist Arvid Hällagård, whose work here outshone even 2018’s Hear the Rivers (review here), establishing the conversation between instruments and voice as the crucial element in Greenleaf circa 2021. A heavy blues shuffle from bassist Hans Frölich and drummer Sebastian Olsson and production by Karl Daniel Lidén only up the asset count working in the band’s favor, and on any given day I might still be walking around with “Bury Me My Son” on repeat in my brain. No complaints.

7. Blackwater Holylight, Silence/Motion

blackwater holylight silence motion

Released by RidingEasy Records. Reviewed Oct. 18.

At a pivotal moment, Blackwater Holylight pivoted. The Portland-based outfit’s third full-length found them pressing outward from their heavy psychedelic and dream-pop foundations into bleaker atmospheres, using Silence/Motion as a means for processing trauma and perhaps to revamp their audience’s expectations of the kind of band they want to be. 2019’s Veils of Winter (review here) and 2018’s self-titled debut (review here) brought marked progress from one to the next, but bassist/vocalist/guitarist Allison “Sunny” Faris, guitarist/bassist Mikayla Mayhew, synthesist Sarah McKenna, and drummer Eliese Dorsay (Erika Osterhout now plays guitar but isn’t on the record) brought on board producer A.L.N. of Mizmor, and the record’s guest vocals from Thou‘s Bryan Funck and Mike Paparo of Inter Arma brought flourish of more extreme metals than anything the band had done before. As a result, their next outing could go pretty much anywhere, so mission likely accomplished for this one.

6. Kadavar & Elder, Eldovar – A Story in Darkness and Light

eldovar a story of darkness and light

Released by Robotor Records. Reviewed Dec. 1.

Answering the call of being unable to tour and presumably tired of sitting on their hands as a result, Berlin-based outfits Kadavar and Elder (minus the latter’s bassist Jack Donovan, who lives in the US and was under travel restriction) hit the studio together earlier this year to piece together jams and, reportedly, take a “see what happens” approach. What happened was a sound that belonged solely to neither band and drew enough from both to legitimately earn the title Eldovar. Rife with melody brought to bear amid a threat of the breakout that arrived in “Blood Moon Night” — which, while the most uptempo, was not necessarily the highlight of the record — it was an album perhaps carved from experiments, but one that seemed to brim with a sense of underlying direction, even after the fact. Its shimmer felt like a light being cast through a dark year, defiant and peaceful. That two of the current generation’s leaders in heavy rock could come together in such brazen fashion was a noteworthy novelty, but it was the way that Eldovar stood on its own that made it so special.

5. Stöner, Stoners Rule

Stöner stoners rule

Released by Heavy Psych Sounds. Reviewed July 1.

Gonna get this off my chest while I can. After this one came out, I saw on the vast sphere of social media some disappointed response, like what was up with Stöner being so stripped down and just rocking riffs and all that? Okay. The hell did you expect? That’s the point of the band! It’s Brant Bjork and Nick Oliveri — and Ryan Güt, also of Bjork‘s solo band — purposefully digging back to their roots, playing the simplest form possible of the low desert punk they helped create together in Kyuss. It wasn’t about “let’s innovate,” it was about “I dig the Ramones and Fatso Jetson so let’s have a good time.” You got the ultra-grooves of “Own Yer Blues” and “Tribe/Fly Girl,” the Oliveri-fronted punk of “Evel Never Dies,” and the bluesman’s telling-it-like-it-is of “The Older Kids” and “Rad Stays Rad,” “Nothin'” and “Stand Down.” They were in, done, and out. I chalked some of the “meh” up to the studio album arriving so soon after their Live in the Mojave Desert stream (review here) and live album (review here), but even so, damn, be thankful these songs got made in the first place. With yer spoiled ass.

4. King Buffalo, Acheron

King Buffalo Acheron

Released by the band and Stickman Records. Reviewed Nov. 11.

Word to anyone who’s managed to read this far: I hear King Buffalo might have an Xmas surprise in store as relates to this album, so heads up. Acheron — filmed as well as audio-recorded — was the second in an intended series of three yet to be completed of albums Rochester, NY, trio King Buffalo composed during the pandemic lockdown. Like so many, their inability to tour resulted in a need for another outlet. Following The Burden of Restlessness (review here) would be a challenge, but the band shifted focus in sound toward four extended pieces of heavy psychedelia — not completely escapist from the reality surrounding them, but attempting for sure to shift the mindset through which they (and the listener) were experiencing it. Traveling to record in the remote location of Howe Caverns, guitarist/vocalist/synthesist Sean McVay, bassist/keyboardist Dan Reynolds and drummer Scott Donaldson found a way to immediately differentiate their second album of 2021 from the first while offering a shift in sound that leaned less into darkness — ironic, maybe considering it was tracked underground — than its predecessor while retaining the band’s ever-forward progression of sound.

3. Green Lung, Black Harvest

green lung black harvest

Released by Svart Records. Reviewed July 28.

One would be hard-pressed to find a more suitable Halloween release. London-based heavy rockers Green Lung brought together a collection of songs that, yes, were duly autumnal in their spirit, but also refreshing in their sound, unashamed in their readiness to engage their audience, and in cuts like “Old Gods,” “Reaper’s Scythe,” “You Bear the Mark” and “Graveyard Sun” tapped into a cross-genre appeal that was brought together with impeccable quality of craft and production. Classic and new at the same time. Thoughtful in arrangement, Black Harvest nonetheless skirted pretense and kept to a basic verse/chorus appeal that felt easy to get into, and the complexity held in the material only revealed itself more with time. It is an album in which something new will be heard for years, and it not only answered the call to step up after 2019’s Woodland Rites (review here), but put Green Lung in a different echelon of bands entirely. They are an act whose influence will be felt, and not that the world needs another reason to hope for a “return” for live music, but Black Harvest is one for sure. Its songs deserve to be heard by however many ears they can reach.

2. Monolord, Your Time to Shine

Monolord your time to shine

Released by Relapse Records. Reviewed Oct. 21.

Monolord are the most essential band in heavy music. Whatever qualifier you want to put on that in terms of style, go ahead, it’s still true. The Gothenburg trio’s fifth album doubled as an anticipated follow-up to No Comfort (review here), which was 2019’s album of the year, and brought no dip in the quality of their craft, the breadth of their style or the force of their execution. In addition to having already ignited a generation’s worth of riffers in their wake, Monolord have steadily progressed in their own approach, and Your Time to Shine skillfully mirrored the structure of No Comfort before it while pushing ahead of where the band were two years ago. Someone needs to build a statue in honor of Mika Häkki‘s bass tone, let alone the riffs of guitarist/vocalist Thomas V. Jäger and the stomp/production of drummer Esben Willems, but with cuts like “The Weary,” “Your Time to Shine,” “I’ll Be Damned,” “To Each Their Own” and “The Sirens of Yersinia” — oh wait, that’s all of them — it was the entire band shining, a plural “your” that was realized in the work. The superficial bleakness of the cover art spoke to the death perhaps of an entire world, but also the new growth and life to inevitably emerge therefrom. The songs did no less.

2021 Album of the Year

1. King Buffalo, The Burden of Restlessness

king buffalo the burden of restlessness

Released by the band and Stickman Records. Reviewed May 11.

A record for the times. The record for the times. There are a few reasons King Buffalo‘s third full-length and first in the pandemic-born series, The Burden of Restlessness, deserves to be the album of the year. There’s no reasonably denying the level of songwriting or the move into hard-edged progressive rock and metal of its songs, or the boldness of the manner in which the Rochester trio — again, Sean McVayDan Reynolds and Scott Donaldson — made that move, or the resonance of the finished product. It’s a very, very, very good album. Fine. What stands out to me though in thinking of The Burden of Restlessness in context of the addled period between 2020 and 2021 is the fact that it is completely unflinching. From the striking depiction of decay in the front visuals by Zdzisław Beksiński to the personal-seeming nature of songs like “The Knocks,” “Burning” — the opening lyric, “I turn my head from the stars” a direct contrast to “Orion can you hear me?” from the band’s 2016 debut, Orion (review here) — “Silverfish” and “Hebetation” and the speaking to the outside world of “Locusts,” “Grifter” and the maybe-daring-t0-hope-for-something-better conclusion in “Loam,” The Burden of Restlessness gave comfort to its listenership through shared experience rather than platitude. It didn’t tell you it was going to get better. It shared the space you were in, and acknowledged all the unknown corners of that space. This spirit, coupled with the outright sonic achievement on the part of the band, made the album a statement poised to ring out as a document of its weighted era and a standard for the expressive depth of its creativity.

The Top 60 Albums of 2021: Honorable Mention

Sit tight, we’ve got a ways to go here.

Acid Magus, Wyrd Syster
Acid Mammoth, Caravan
Age Total, Age Total
Alastor, Onwards and Downwards
Amenra, De Doorn
The Angelus, Why We Never Die
The Answer Lies in the Black Void, Forlorn
Apollo80, Beautiful, Beautiful Desolation
Arlekin, The Secret Garden
Bog Wizard, Miasmic Purple Smoke
Book of Wyrms, Occult New Age
Bongzilla, Weedsconsin
Canyyn, Canyyn
Craneium, Unknown Heights
Delco Detention, It Came From the Basement
Demon Head, Viscera
Doctor Smoke, Dreamers and the Dead
Dread Sovereign, Alchemical Warfare
Dream Unending, Tide Turns Eternal
Duel, In Carne Persona
Dunbarrow, III
DVNE, Etemen Ænka
Eyehategod, A History of Nomadic Behavior
Bill Fisher, Hallucinations of a Higher Truth
Funeral, Praesentalis in Aeternum
Fuzzy Lights, Burials
Holy Death Trio, Introducing…
Iceburn, Asclepius
Jakethehawk, Hinterlands
Kanaan, Earthbound
Khemmis, Deceiver
King Woman, Celestial Blues
Kvasir, 4
Lingua Ignota, Sinner Get Ready
Los Disidentes del Sucio Motel, Polaris
Low Flying Hawks, Fuyu
Low Orbit, Crater Creator
Malady, Ainavahantaa
Mastiff, Leave Me the Ashes of the Earth
Mythic Sunship, Wildfire
Zack Oakley, Badlands
Octopus Ride, II
Øresund Space Collective, Universal Travels
Red Beard Wall, 3
Robots of the Ancient World, Mystic Goddess
Emma Ruth Rundle, Engine of Hell
Saturnia, Stranded in the Green
Savanah, Olympus Mons
Sergio Ch., La Danza de los Toxicos
Shiva the Destructor, Find the Others
Smote, Bodkin
Snake Mountain Revival, Everything in Sight
Snowy Dunes, Sastrugi
Sonic Demon, Vendetta
The Spacelords, False Dawn
Spelljammer, Abyssal Trip
Spidergawd, VI
Swallow the Sun, Moonflowers
Thunderchief, Synanthrope
Thunder Horse, Chosen One
Ultra Void, Ultra Void
Vouna, Atropos
WEEED, Do You Fall?
When the Deadbolt Breaks, As Hope Valley Burns
Witchcryer, When Their Gods Come for You
Witchrot, Hollow
Wolftooth, Blood & Iron
Wowod, Yarost’ I Proshchenie

Notes:

I feel immediately defensive here, and that kind of sucks, to be honest. Here’s the basic truth: I know people like different things. I know people think different things are important, that everybody works hard making records, that lists are bullshit and that people go back to listen to different things more over time.

What I’d ask is that after 60 records in the list proper and another 60-plus here, you please give me a break. I’ve reviewed well over 250 releases this year, so neither is this everything, nor is it nothing. I’ve done my best. And if one of these records is your album of the year? Awesome! I’m so, so glad for that. I can’t and won’t argue. I’m sure this list is incomplete and I’m sure I’ll add more to it over the next couple days — always do — but if you didn’t hear anything this year and you take this list and you take the other 60 records, listen to one per week, you’ll have enough new music to carry you into 2023, and I feel pretty good about that.

Debut Album of the Year 2021

Heavy Temple, Lupi Amoris

heavy temple lupi amoris

Other notable debuts (alphabetically):

Acid’s Trip, Strings of Soul
Age Total, Age Total
Bala, Maleza
Bog Wizard, Miasmic Purple Smoke
Bottomless, Bottomless
Cancervo, 1
Cave of Swimmers, Aurora
Cavern Deep, Cavern Deep
Chamán, Maleza
Cosmic Reaper, Cosmic Reaper
DayGlo Mourning, Dead Star
Delving, Hirschbrunnen
Den Der Hale, Harsyra
Dome Runner, Conflict State Design
Draken, Draken
Gangrened, Deadly Algorithm
Gristmill, Heavy Everything
High Desert Queen, Secrets of the Black Moon
Holy Death Trio, Introducing…
The Judas Knife, Death is the Thing With Feathers
Kadabra, Ultra
Kadavar & Elder, Eldovar – A Story of Darkness and Light
Kvasir, 4
Plaindrifter, Echo Therapy
Shiva the Destructor, Find the Others
Slowshine, Living Light
Smote, Bodkin
Snake Mountain Revival, Everything in Sight
Sonic Demon, Vendetta
Sow Discord, Quiet Earth
Stöner, Stoners Rule
Suncraft, Flat Earth Rider
Terry Gross, Soft Opening
Trillion Ton Beryllium Ships, TTBS
Vestamaran, Bungalow Rex
White Void, Anti
Witchrot, Hollow
Wooden Fields, Wooden Fields
Wytch, Exordium
Year of Taurus, Topsoils

Notes:

Yes, technically the Stöner record was higher than Heavy Temple on the top 60. I took into account the fact that Brant Bjork and Nick Oliveri have worked together on and off for 30-plus years in my final assessment and decided Lupi Amoris, as a debut album, deserved the top spot. I actually had a numbered list going — Stöner were two, Delving was three — but decided to just let the Heavy Temple stand on its own instead, which it certainly earned.

One could see the pandemic shuffle of creativity peaking out though. Kadavar & Elder’s collaboration was a debut as well, but it was just one of the new projects or collaborations to surface this year. Note Slowshine is Earthship by another name (and purpose) and so are Dome Runner. There was a wash of diggable debuts, loaded with potential, and again, I don’t think this list is exhaustive so much as it’s a primer for some of the best stuff out there as I see/hear it. I’ll spare you wax poetry about the forward movement of genre overall, but suffice to say that in acts like Plaindrifter, Shiva the Destructor, Witchrot, Age Total and High Desert Queen, among others here, such things were readily apparent.

Your time would not be wasted with any of these, I just thought that Heavy Temple, as a first album, was a special achievement and deserved its place as debut of the year.

Short Release of the Year 2021

Jointhugger, Reaper Season

jointhugger reaper season

Other notable EPs, Splits, Demos, etc.:

Aiwass & ASTRAL CONstruct, Solis in Stellis
All Are to Return, II
Birth, Birth
Blackwolfgoat, (In) Control / Tired of Dying
Bog Wizard/Dust Lord, Split
Boozewa, First Contact
Carlton Melton, Night Pillers
Cerbère, Cerbère
Cortége, Chasing Daylight
The Crooked Whispers, Dead Moon Night
Doomsday Profit, In Idle Orbit
Dopelord, Reality Dagger
EMBR, 1021
Enslaved, Caravans to the Outer Worlds
Fuzz Sagrado, Fuzz Sagrado
Guhts, Blood Feather
Howling Giant, Alteration
Ikitan, Darvaza y Brinicle
Insect Ark, Future Fossils
Erik Larson, Measwe
Lurcher, Coma
Merlock, You Cannot Be Saved
Moonstone, 1904
Morningstar Delirium, Morningstar Delirium
Mos Generator, The Lantern
Nineteen Thirteen, MCMXIII
Old Horn Tooth, True Death
Planet of the 8s, Lagrange Point Vol. 1
Psychonaut/SÂVER, Emerald
Solemn Lament, Solemn Lament
Sorcia, Death by Design
Spaceslug, The Event Horizon
Spawn, Live at Moonah Arts Collective
Stonus, Séance
Trillion Ton Beryllium Ships, Rosalee
Ultra Void, Ultra Void
Ungraven/Slomatics, Split
Wall, II
Weedevil, The Death is Coming
The Whims of the Great Magnet, Share the Sun
Per Wiberg, All is Well in the Land of the Living But for the Rest of Us… Lights Out

Notes:

Again, look at the amazing swath of new creativity happening. Guhts, Boozewa, Aiwass & ASTRAL CONstruct — even Wall with their second EP — Morningstar Delirium, Fuzz Sagrado, Doomsday Profit, Trillion Ton Beryllium Ships: these are new bands and projects coming together, some from established artists and some not, but the shuffling of sound and priorities is a hallmark of the last year-plus’ output, and it can be seen here for sure. Yeah, bands like Enslaved and Dopelord put out killer EPs, but it’s acts like Moonstone — with just one prior release behind them — or Howling Giant working instrumentally for the first time, that struck me even harder.

As regards Jointhugger in the top pick, I took into account the “oh shit this band isn’t fucking around” factor. Coming off their first record and headed into their second in quick succession, the single-song “Reaper Season” served due notice that the debut was no fluke and that the Norwegian outfit had no interest in resting on riffy laurels. This section is always tough since it encompasses different kinds of releases — singles, EPs, whatnot — but in terms of serving the band’s overarching progression, Jointhugger made a difficult choice markedly easier for me.

I won’t take away from the accomplishments of anyone on the list above — or the inevitable ones I forgot, either. Enslaved’s ever-outbound growth is worth a significant mention, and arrivals like Lurcher and Old Horn Tooth kept were undeniable. I’ll nod here too to Psychonaut/SÂVER and Ungraven/Slomatics’ split releases and that The Whims of the Great Magnet. And, and, and…

Late Releases

Partially affected by the Covid-19 pandemic — like everybody’s everything — vinyl pressing delays meant that many albums have come out in the last month or two that were intended to be earlier. I tried to account for these in the lists above, but thinking about November and December specifically, records by Low Orbit, Spidergawd, Weedpecker, King Buffalo, Spaceslug, Bog Wizard, Raibard, Funeral, Temple Fang, Kadavar & Elder, and Wolftooth can’t be left out as part of the larger narrative of 2021 in music.

I can’t say I’ve listened to, as an example, Spidergawd, as much as to Greenleaf or any number of things that were released in the beginning of the year, but neither do I feel like the lack relative passage of time since something came out should be held against it, especially given the circumstances. As much as the ‘music industry’ shuts down at the end of any given year, 2021 seems to have plowed straight through to the finish.

Live in the Mojave Desert

While we’re marking the highlights of 2021, it’s impossible not to note the continued proliferation of livestreaming as a (woefully inadequate but take what you can get) substitute experience for show-going and touring. In the case of director Ryan Jones’ Live in the Mojave Desert series, it was an opportunity to turn lemons into concert films of true measure, as well as live albums for Earthless, Stöner, Nebula, Spirit Mother and Mountain Tamer that held their own merit.

There have been a few noteworthy streams over the last year-plus issued in pay-per-view fashion, but in terms of the scale of the presentation, few have held a candle to what Live in the Mojave Desert accomplished — only Enslaved’s ‘Cinematic Tour’ comes close in my mind, and that’s a different animal entirely, ditto Roadburn Redux — or have managed to capture an atmosphere in the same way that not only gives a setting for the music, but adds to the experience of the viewer. It’s not just a show that otherwise would happen in a venue; it’s a show that would happen once in a lifetime.

Whatever context brings that about, it is something to celebrate.

Looking Ahead to 2022

I love looking forward to new music. I love it. In a spirit of anticipation and friendship and righteous tunes to come, here’s a list of bands who’ve either confirmed new stuff in the works or are recording or have preorders up or are subject to rampant speculation. In no order whatsoever:

Elder, Toad Venom, Torche, King Buffalo, High on Fire, El Perro, Yatra, Bevar Sea, Birth, Pia Isa, Colour Haze, JIRM, Samavayo, Tortuga, El Supremo, Ruby the Hatchet, MNRVA, Buss, White Ward, Dreadnought, Merlock, Gozu, Westing, Eric Wagner, Stöner, Blue Heron, All Souls, Arekin, 40 Watt Sun, Caustic Casanova, Deathwhite, Freedom Hawk, Hazemaze, Stoned Jesus, Mothership, Desert Storm, Poseidótica, Sasquatch, Conan, Seremonia, Långfinger, Wo Fat, Earthless, Dozer, Red Sun Atacama, REZN, No Man’s Valley, Ufomammut, Geezer, Messa, Clutch, Abronia, Somali Yacht Club, Sun Voyager, Atavismo, Some Pills for Ayala, Eight Bells, Stinking Lizaveta, Borracho, The Crooked Whispers, Naxatras, Rotor, Mos Generator, Big Scenic Nowhere, Righteous Fool, High Priest, High Priestess, Loop, Elliott’s Keep, Fostermother, Valley of the Sun, Boris, Deathbell, Siena Root, My Sleeping Karma, Firebreather, Matt Pike, Mythosphere, Crowbar, JIRM, Mount Saturn, Supersonic Blues, Wizzerd, 10,000 Years…

If any names are repeated there, consider it a sign that I’m looking forward to that record twice. And if you’ve got a name to add to that list, I’m all for it. As I said, I love looking forward to new music.

Thank You

Well, I guess that’s it. I’m not anymore done with 2021 than it’s done with itself — some of the releases featured above have yet to be reviewed; looking at you, Spaceslug — and there’s always catching up to do. No coincidence January will feature the second part of the Quarterly Review that began this month.

But while I’ve got you, if I still do, I want to say thank you, thank you, thank you as always for your continued support of The Obelisk, this site, in the various ways it is shown, whether that’s liking a post, sharing a link, leaving a (hopefully kind) comment or buying some sweatpants. More than a decade after the fact, I cannot hope to tell you how much it means to me sitting here in front of my laptop to have that support and encouragement, day in and year out. Thank you. From the bottom of my heart and with ever fiber of my wretched being. Thank you.

But thank The Patient Mrs. even more.

More to come, so stay tuned.

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The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal Playlist: Episode 58

Posted in Radio on April 30th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

the obelisk show banner

I’m trying to break my own rules a little bit. Every now and again, it’s a decent exercise to try to change things up. I kind of did the same last ep, by starting out with a bunch of classic doom. There’s still a lot of new music here — the Snail is out today, and that and The Black Heart Death Cult and Howling Giant are all new too, as well as the Conclave, PapirWitchrot and, relatively speaking, Dopelord. So yeah, plenty of new stuff there.

But there were a couple other things I wanted to talk about — PostWax is one, Maryland Doom Fest is another. So you get Dopelord for that, as they were recently announced for PostWax, and SubRosa, whose offshoot The Otolith will also feature in the vinyl subscription service. And in addition to Howling Giant, there’s the block that starts with Conclave you can see in the playlist — YatraMolasses BargeHorseburner and Sasquatch — all of whom have been confirmed for MDDF this Halloween weekend. Sadly not Papir, though that would also rule.

And between those, I guess I just had Goatsnake and Truckfighters on my mind and decided to throw them in. Who’s gonna argue? I suppose I’ll find out in the Gimme chat later on.

Thanks for listening and/or reading. As always, I hope you enjoy.

The Obelisk Show airs 5PM Eastern today on the Gimme app or at http://gimmemetal.com

Full playlist:

The Obelisk Show – 04.30.21

Snail Draining White Fractal Altar
The Black Heart Death Cult Goodbye Gatwick Blues Sonic Mantras
Howling Giant Understudy Alteration
VT
Dopelord Dark Coils Reality Dagger
Goatsnake What Love Remains 1
Truckfighters Con of Man Mania
Witchrot Million Shattered Swords Hollow
SubRosa Despair is a Siren For This We Fought the Battle of Ages
VT
Conclave Haggard Dawn of Days
Yatra Blood Will Flow Blood of the Night
Molasses Barge Holding Patterns A Grayer Dawn
Horseburner The Oak The Thief
Sasquatch Just Couldn’t Stand the Weather Maneuvers
VT
Papir 01.20.2020 #3 Jams

The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal airs every Friday 5PM Eastern, with replays Sunday at 7PM Eastern. Next new episode is May 14 (subject to change). Thanks for listening if you do.

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Review & Video Premiere: Snail, Fractal Altar

Posted in Bootleg Theater, Reviews on April 26th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

snail fractal altar

[Click play above to stream the premiere of Snail’s video for ‘Mission From God.’ New album, Fractal Altar, releases April 30 on Argonauta Records. Video edited by Matt Lynch with footage by Kevin Spencer, Jennifer Hendrix-Johnson, Weston Radcliffe, and Laura Chavez and art by Ella Lynch.]

It is fitting and perhaps not coincidental that Snail‘s fifth album, Fractal Altar, should arrive on the cusp of the band celebrating their 30th anniversary next year, since it is arguably most the work they’ve done since to harken back to their beginnings as a band. Their 1993 self-titled debut (review here) and 1994’s All Channels Are Open EP document those early days and even as its Seldon Hunt/Ella Lynch front and back covers embrace a yet-unseen complexity of design, the eight songs of the release itself work to in part to pare down some of the layering aspects and push the buzz tone of Mark Johnson‘s guitar to the fore with Matt Lynch‘s bass and Marty Dodson‘s drums accompanying with punkish speed on opening duo “Mission From God” and the righteously Fu Manchu-y “Nothing Left for You” — the latter also previously released as a single — before “Not Two” urges with proto-grunge-meets-desert-rock backing, “Bring your appetite/And we’ll devour each other.”

Of course, Fractal Altar, which is released through Argonauta Records some six years after Feral (review here) came out on Small Stone, has its dynamic and still finds the band trying new things. With recording by Lynch at All Welcome Records in Inglewood, California, and mixing/mastering at his own Mysterious Mammal studio, as well as some home recording by Jennifer Hendrix-Johnson in Seattle, and Lynch‘s daughter handling the back cover, Fractal Altar is nothing if not a family affair, but that perhaps emphasizes how much the band itself has become a kind of family, if one spread between Los Angeles (Lynch), San Diego (Dodson) and Seattle (Johnson), and it makes the elements of growth they showcase in their songwriting, be it in more nuanced arrangements of backing vocals from Lynch in “Hold On” or the subsequent “The False Lack,” or the rhythmic patience that allows for a sense of space in the latter there without resorting to an effects barrage, feel suitably homegrown.

No doubt part of the idea that Snail have stripped down somewhat on Fractal Altar comes from the fact that, at eight tracks and 37 minutes, the record is a full 10 minutes shorter than was Feral, but it’s also the band’s second long-player since returning to a three-piece configuration, their lineup having included guitarist Eric Clausen for their 2009 return-from-ether second album, Blood (review here) and its 2012 follow-up, Terminus (review here). To listen to the relative sprint with which they execute “Mission From God” at the outset or the later mellow-Nirvana-into-rolling-nod of the penultimate “Draining White,” Snail don’t sound like anything so much as themselves, and they sound free in terms of their craft. On their fourth release since coming back from a 16-year break, the most immediate attitude one can glean from listening is that they’re doing what they want to do.

snail fractal altar back

It’s not necessarily a turn toward the humble, but as the video for “Mission From God” finds Johnson playing the lead role of someone having taken enough acid to meet with the divine, the band come across as both willing to have fun — see also the Queens of the Stone Age-style handclaps and strum as “Not Two” approaches its midpoint and the all-out low-end-showcase lumber of the eight-plus-minute closing title-track, on which no less than Ed Mundell turns in a guest appearance on backward guitar — and aware of what they want to do and who they want to be as songwriters. “When the Tree Spoke,” which follows “The False Lack” and opens side B, is elemental Snail through and through. Johnson‘s vocals are melodic and laid back, topping a fervent but not necessarily aggressive groove, and the tones are subtly rich without being overdone. There’s flourish of keys and backward sampling and a call and response hook, but nothing that couldn’t be reproduced faithfully on stage, and they bring it all back around to the chorus in a way that’s atmospheric without veering into such overly cerebral fare as to be inconsistent with earlier pieces.

Further evidence that Snail know exactly what they’re doing here? The progression of the album. Even Feral, which was their most accomplished record to this point, didn’t draw the listener in with as much clarity of purpose as does Fractal Altar, and speaking as a fan of the band, these songs are a trip that’s a pleasure to take, from the hestitate-to-call-them-“simple”-bit-will-anyway-for-the-turn-of-phrase simple pleasures of the choruses in “Mission From God” and “Nothing Left for You,” down through the slowdown in “Not Two” and the bit of Pacific Northwest that shows up in “Hold On” (that main riff calling to mind earlier Red Fang all the more with the backing vocal treatment) ahead of “The False Lack” and “When the Tree Spoke” setting up the longer-unfolding “Draining White” and “Fractal Altar” itself, which, true to classic LP structure, prove to be as stratosphere-bound as Snail push on the album.

Lynch, who you’ll recall also mixed, seems to have been saving his bass punch for the start of the title cut, and fair enough. If the band are in direct conversation with Feral anywhere on Fractal Altar, it’s in the song that shares the release’s name, but they’re more willing to freak out in the apex here than they were on, say, “Thou Art That” or the similarly-extended thudder “Psilocybe” from the prior record. Ed Mundell shredding guitar in another dimension is never going to hurt either as regards setting that mood, and it’s as fitting as anything could hope to be that they end the lysergic march with a sudden stop as though, having finally tipped off the end of the world, there’s nothing left to greet them but vacuum. One wonders how long that section actually went, but cutting it cold serves its purpose, and perhaps the last message they’re sending to their audience is that Snail realize that too. Fractal Altar is the offering through which they are most themselves in songwriting and performance. They may dip here and there in terms of influences or pick out aspects and vibes as they go from others — hello, Blues Brothers — but there is no master being served here more than the songs, and that is as emblematic of their work on the whole as anything could be. Far out.

Snail, Fractal Altar (2021)

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