There was word early in 2019 that renowned bassist/riffmaker Tatsu Mikami was working on new material with his Church of Misery offshoot project, Sonic Flower. Any new record that might’ve surfaced — and none has yet — would be first the band has done since their 2003 self-titled debut (reissue review here), and it seems now that not only will the band’s awaited new full-length come out through Heavy Psych Sounds, but the Italian label will also publish the band’s lost Rides Again second album from 2005 and a reissue of the self-titled to boot. Preorders are live for Sonic Flower and Rides Again as of… right now. Now. Okay now.

Now.

To celebrate that fact, one can dig into a premiere of the ripper opener “Super Witch” from Rides Again, which also boasts in its ranks not only a cover of The Meters, but one of Graham Central Station as well. Really nailing home the point of classic heavy rock and funk crossing over there, but it’s a point too often forgot and well worth making.

The lost album should and will be a gotta-grab for collector types and other interested parties, but I’m dying too to find out what Tatsu and co. have in store for a new record. Either way you go, you don’t lose, and if you’ve never checked out Sonic Flower before, take the time to get introduced.

PR wire info follows. “Super Witch” is at the bottom of the post.

Dig:

Sonic Flower were formed as a side project of Church of Misery in 2001. Tatsu Mikami (bass) and at that time Church’s guitarist Takenori Hoshi (guitar on Church of Misery’s 2nd album “The Second Coming”), teamed up to play more bluesy & non Doomy taste instrumental Heavy Rock. They were influenced by famous 70’s heavy rock bands like CACTUS, GRAND FUNK RAILROAD, GROUNDHOGS, SAVOY BROWN etc. Soon female guitarist “Arisa” and drummer Keisuke Fukawa joined the band. In 2003, they released the self titled debut album “SONIC FLOWER” on Japanese Heavy rock label “Leafhound Records”. All instrumental bluesy heavy rock and improvised doubleguitar, they got a tons of good response from all over the world. They also played some shows as support for some foreign band’s Japan appearance like Electric Wizard, Bluebird (Amen’s side project), Acid King etc.

In 2005 they went to studio for new recordings. At that time the band has some problems and after the recording quit. So this recordings were long years sleeping in the vault. Totally unreleased studio materials. In 2018 Tatsu decided to re-form the band. He has already tons of new songs. This time he teamed up with old Church singer and his old friend. A new album is in progress and will be released in 2021.

SONIC FLOWER ‘Sonic Flower reissue out 22.01.20 on Heavy Psych Sounds Records
Presale start November 4th on heavypsychsounds.com

TRACKLIST:
A01 Cosmic Highway – 3:22
A02 Black Sunshine – 4:37
A03 Astroqueen – 3:45
B01 Sonic Flower – 3:39
B02 Indian Summer – 4:42
B03 Going Down – 5:10

Available as:
Test Press Vinyl
150 Ultra Ltd Splatter Red/Orange Vinyl
350 Ltd Fucsia Vinyl
Black Vinyl
Digipak
Digital

This Sonic Flower self-titled debut album is an instrumental bluesy heavy rock with no DOOM taste. A lot of improvised double guitar solo and a very special groovy rythm section. The release got a real unexpected awesome response all over the world. All the tracks are 100% original, except the cover of the blues classic “Going Down”.

SONIC FLOWER New album ‘Rides Again’ out 29.01.20 on Heavy Psych Sounds Records
Presale start November 4th on heavypsychsounds.com

TRACKLIST:
A01 Super Witch – 3:26
A02 Black Sheep – 3:10
A03 Jungle Cruise – 4:19
A04 Captain Frost – 3:45
B01 Stay Away ( Meters cover ) – 4:42
B02 Quicksand Planet – 4:08
B03 Earthquake ( Graham Central Station cover ) – 4:26

Available as:
Test Press Vinyl
150 Ultra Ltd Half – Half Orange/Blue Vinyl (With Alternative Orange Cover)
350 Ltd Transparent Red Vinyl
Black Vinyl
Digipak
Digital

All the tracks on this Rides Again album are unreleased studio material recorded after 1st album came out in 2005. At that time the band members had some troubles during recording, so after the recording sessions they broke up. These tracks were sleeping in the vault for more then fifteen years. The music is a mixture of psychedelic groove, rock, funk, and doom metal. For fans of Cactus, Grand Funk Railroad, Mountain, Sir Load Baltimore, Captain Beyond, Meaters, Graham Central Station and Funkadelic. On the album you can find four original songs plus two cover tracks: “Earthquake” from Graham Central Station and “Stay Away” from Meters.

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Sonic Flower, “Super Witch” official track premiere

Side-stepping his role as bassist for Church of Misery, Tatsu Mikami put together Sonic Flower as a heavy blues rock side-project. Their lone EP, Sonic Flower, was released in 2003 on Japan’s Leaf Hound Records, and now that the label has been defunct under what were at the time somewhat mysterious circumstances, Sonic Flower has become a kind of fascinating asterisk in the Church of Misery canon. Enter Michigan imprint Emetic Records, who’s already backed reissues of Church of Misery’s Early Works Compilation (also originally a Leaf Hound release) and previously-unreleased Vol. 1 outing (review here), and Sonic Flower now finds release as a limited-to-500 hand-numbered CD and an already-sold-out limited-to-300 marble vinyl. The artwork matches the original, and there isn’t any bonus material included (I don’t think there was anything to include), so Emetic’s Sonic Flower is basically a chance for anyone who didn’t manage to pick up the original while Leaf Hound was operational to do so now. The six tracks of the EP total 25 minutes and are entirely instrumental, steeped in hard-jammed ‘70s blues, Cactus being a particular reference point for a song like “Astroqueen” or the off-the-rails opener “Cosmic Highway.”

Production-wise, Sonic Flower’s Sonic Flower has plenty in common with what Church of Misery were doing at that time, which is expected. Joining Tatsu in the band were guitarists Takenori Hoshi (ex-Church of Misery) and Arisa, and drummer Keisuke Fukawa (now ex-G.A.T.E.S.), who’d later be replaced by Church of Misery’s Junji “J.J.” Narita. In 2003, Church of Misery released their split with British stoner heavyweights Acrimony, and the following year saw their ultra-blown-out The Second Coming released, so Sonic Flower’s overall sound is right at home between the two. Keisuke’s cymbals are nowhere near as prominent in the mix as were Junji’s on The Second Coming, and the lack of vocals gives the guitars space to breathe and fill the void with harmonic interplay and soloing. The songs are built around and follow the riffs exclusively, with Tatsu adding funky flourishes in fills between cycles of “Black Sunshine” before the song moves into and out of spacey freakouts and revives its bluesy stomp. It’s a solid 25-plus minutes of grooving, and Sonic Flower didn’t seem to have anything more in mind than that; the unabashed stoner rockness of it being half the appeal. Church of Misery’s singularity of focus on serial killers is absent here, but many of the same musical influences persist – Tatsu being principle songwriter, it stands to reason – and even the closing Don Nix cover “Going Down” is inflected with heady distortion and well-fitting rhythmic heft.

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