https://www.high-endrolex.com/18

The Obelisk Questionnaire: Xtian Pandtle of Sorge

Posted in Questionnaire on March 4th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

sorge

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: Xtian Pandtle of Sorge

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

Sound creators and live experience curators. Some of us happen to be musicians. All of us have long been fascinated by sound/emotions and we started Sorge as an interpersonal project, so being able to play shows and record actual songs has been an experience we’re all thankful for. When you get down to it, some of us were sad a few years ago and also liked large amps.

Describe your first musical memory.

I personally come from young, X’er parents and I was born in the early ’90s, so grunge and other alt rock stuff was always playing in my house. Something off of In Utero was dubbed “the run around” song in my young life, as I would just go nuts running in a circle to it. Live music speaking, first concert was the Beach Boys, one of the few shows that Brian Wilson played with them during that time, which I was WAY too young to properly appreciate. Youth is wasted on the young.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

Playing live shows is always incredible, but tbh, its all so stimulating that everything runs together in my head. So I’m going to demure and say it’s a tie between hitting the peak of a particularly great warehouse rave and crying during Tony Levin’s solo version of the “Moonchild” theme a few years ago.

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

Every load-in, my belief that everyone, at base, has a good heart is put to the test.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

Personal development for the artists and, ideally, for their audience as well. Music is an alchemy, combining different sorts of phenomena into a cohesive whole which transcends the sum of its parts. As such, there’s a feedback loop between personal intentionality and artistic output. One motivates the other and vice versa, meaning that music is a microcosm in which we can explore the inner tensions that lay below our everyday, personal existences. I think that’s pretty cool.

How do you define success?

Loosing >$1k annually on artistic projects. Jk, success is a lie fed to us by an exploitative industry now in its dying days. Just do your thing and enjoy your time.

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

The slow but steady deterioration of communal relationships coupled with a rise of professional nihilism during my brief time on this earth. I also grew up on the early internet, so lots of “can’t unsee.” That being said, my perspective is that it’s better to stare into the abyss than to pretend that there is no abyss, so I’m thankful for everything I’ve seen/experienced.

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

We’re all really interested in multimedia and weird instrumentation, so creating some music videos and atmospheric interludes which correspond is something we’re all interested in.

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

Demonstrate the radical care that is at the basis of all our experiences (i.e. sorge).

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

ELDEN RING ELDEN RING ELDEN RING ELDEN RING (x9000)

https://www.facebook.com/sorgedc
https://sorgedc.bandcamp.com
https://www.instagram.com/sorgedc

Sorge, Sorge EP (2020)

Tags: , , , ,

Sorge Stream Self-Titled EP in Full

Posted in audiObelisk, Reviews on June 3rd, 2020 by JJ Koczan

SORGE (Photo by Matt Carter)

Washington D.C. newcomers Sorge are set to self-release their self-titled debut EP on Friday, and when it comes right to it, one of the most exciting aspects of the 27-minute four-tracker is how settled it isn’t. From the Danzig-ian wails, theatrical synth and rolling sludge riffs of opener “Faith of a Heretic” onward, the five-piece troupe seem to actively work to defy the conventions of microgenre, instead honing a sound that is both aggressive and thoughtful, but without the pretense inherent in so much prog-tinged modern heavy. “Faith of a Heretic” and “A Horse in Turin,” as well as the low-end-distortion highlight “Argent” and the driving finisher “Astral Burnout” are all marked by plotted guitar leads that underscore the band’s surprising level of self-awareness in terms of their methodology — this is not a group haphazardly tossing elements together and seeing what sticks — and the complexity of the progressions surrounding those solos, instrumentally and vocally, draws from an array of sources. It’s not a shock to learn there are multiple creative forces in the band, or that they have some measure of variety in their own personal tastes, but Sorge‘s Sorge makes all the more of an impression because of their refusal to let anything dominate their sound so much as their individualist impulses and concurrent tonal heft.

Two guitars — Joshua Gerras (also vocals) and Logan Boucher (leads) — plus Christian Pandtle on bass, Jake Filderman on synth and Mike Romadka on drums, and as they push into “A Horse in Turin” they sound like some futuristic vision of traditionalist doom, not quite catchy, but not quite not-memorable either, and the wash they bring to bear in the song’s midsection isn’t to be missed, either for its flourish of drama or the Sorge sorgesheer depth of its mix, solidifying around a lumbering riff before bursting forth once more, this time shifting into all-out blastbeating as though to further demonstrate their lack of constriction. “Argent” and “Astral Burnout” are shorter (the EP runs longes-to-shortest), but not my much, and the unbridled atmosphere of the first two cuts continues to hold sway across the churning severity surrounding the crashes late in the proceedings, squibbly soloing seeming to wink at more extreme metal even as laserz-yes-with-a-‘z’ synth accompany. More pummel awaits in “Astral Burnout,” but there’s a hint of melodic fluidity to come there as well — “Faith of a Heretic” had it too, for that matter — that speaks to the angle of growth Sorge might be looking to undertake over the longer term. If they’re the kind of band who are going to look to tour when/if such things are possible, they’ll likely get there that much faster.

They’re young, or at least young-ish, and sound it. There’s patience to be learned in their craft, but in the meantime, I’ll happily take the swinging finish of “Astral Burnout” and the overarching groove that seems to draw the different pieces of the song together into one entirety. Again, Sorge‘s first release isn’t one that finds them declaring outright the rigid parameters of their sound, but rather, the place from which their scope will spread outward, and already they have a significant breadth at their disposal. As to which direction their work might ultimately take, I won’t hazard a guess onto to feel silly later, but for what it’s worth, they show an impressive level of command in their songwriting for a band both new and stylistically varied, and their forward potential only makes this EP more exciting to hear in the present.

You’ll find the four tracks streaming in their entirety below, followed by comment from the band.

Please enjoy:

Sorge on Self-Titled EP:

We’re rather proud of this as our debut release. It took us a little bit to find our feet together and start playing shows, but we all were friends before this so it was a blast playing together. The patience certainly paid off as our collective nerves couldn’t handle bombing a show. Best to practice in a smokey basement for two years, huh?

These songs were written collaboratively during that time, thus allowing us all to infuse our individual inspirations. Josh comes from more of a punk background, where I’ve always been into extreme metal. I also make electronic music as a solo artist, as does Jake. Logan was into shredding and technical stuff in high school. Heavy music was Mike’s first love, but he’s also dabbled in more genres than we can list. I find this interesting because it has been an eventful few years, all of us have changed as people throughout our writing and recording process. These songs, especially Faith of a Heretic and a Horse in Turin, are thus time capsule of sorts, capturing our collective feelings and imaginations from the time. We wanted to draw from our diverse influences while making fucking heavy music and are pleased enough with the results. We’re all our worst critics and when you’ve been drilling and writing for a few years it’s easy for those narratives to become the dominant ones in your head. We’ve been blown away by the initial reception and are so appreciative that people are getting what we’re putting down.

Recording the EP was a real trip. We’re pretty DIY but after self recording/mixing a two song demo we realized that we’re serious enough to be working with professionals. Mike and I were frankly kinda shocked when Kevin from Developing Nations got back to us, some of our favorite albums of the last few years were recorded there (e.g. Ilsa’s Corpse Fortress and Outer Heaven’s Realms of Eternal Decay). That being said, recording is expensive and we’re a bunch of young dudes so we ended up recording the whole thing in four days over two weekends without a click. Most stuff had to get done in one or two takes. That experience really solidified what we had already been screaming at each other for years: don’t waste a moment of your audience’s attention. We’ve written a ton since then and are extremely keen to get back on the road and in the studio when it’s safe to do so.

Joshua and I come from a background in western philosophy and were feeling adrift and depressed when we started this project. We kinda just started writing riffs together and before long had brought Mike, Logan, and Jake into the fold. I think we all realized on some level that doing something creative as a group is better than doing nothing at all and we were able to use that insight along with constant self-criticism to create something that we hope is more than the sum of its parts. We wanted to capture the urgency of living, that sense of restlessness that lives even in the most peaceful of hearts.

We’re at an interesting point in history and we couldn’t not express the low key, yet productive, angst that typifies our generation. We and especially those younger were born atomized and are conditioned to believe it’s the only way to live. Much our initial work into Sorge was driven by a need to prove to ourselves that disconnection is not the only way of living. Sorge is a German word meaning “care, or concern” and can refer to that fundamental concern we have for all beings, and thus for ourselves.

SORGE will independently release Sorge digitally on Friday, June 5th, with a physical release to follow. Find digital preorders at Bandcamp HERE.

SORGE:
Christian Pandtle – bass
Joshua Gerras – guitars, vocals
Mike Romadka – drums
Logan Boucher – lead guitars
Jake Filderman – synths

Sorge on Thee Facebooks

Sorge on Instagram

Sorge on Bandcamp

Tags: , , , ,

Sorge to Release Self-Titled Debut EP June 5

Posted in Whathaveyou on May 11th, 2020 by JJ Koczan

SORGE (Photo by Matt Carter)

Just a heads up here, I’m going to be hosting this EP premiere the week of its release early next month. I think on Tuesday the 2nd? Somewhere around there. Either way, Sorge are a newcomer band from Washington D.C., which is an area, that, like everywhere, is suffering from not being able to host live shows and all the rest of that fun stuff. So yeah, just keep an eye out. Gets swampy, gets a little weird. I’m into it. Sorge would have played Ode to Doom in Manhattan this month as well, but again, you know the deal.

Still, you can’t stop new music and why the hell would you want to try?

You can get a taste of Sorge‘s wares in “Astral Burnout” streaming at the bottom of this post, and hopefully you’ll look forward to the EP stream as I am.

The PR wire brings it:

Sorge sorge

SORGE: Washington, DC-Based Psychedelic Doom Quintet To Release Debut EP In June; “Astral Burnout” Now Playing

Washington, DC-based quintet SORGE presents their eponymous debut EP. Confirmed for release in early June, the band has unveiled the dynamic “Astral Burnout” for public indulgence.

SORGE (sor*guh) recently recorded their maiden EP. Fusing elements of stoner/doom, fuzz, sludge, and psychedelic metal and rock elements into an esoteric concoction of outer space and inner mind, Sorge delivers four crushing tracks totaling nearly twenty-eight minutes of sonic exploration. Elements of the fertile doom scene that birthed Saint Vitus, Internal Void, Place Of Skulls, Earthride, Iron Man, and many others show through, however, SORGE’s tunes reach far beyond said soil, infusing kaleidoscopic and ethereal elements into their sound.

Sorge was recorded with Ken Bernsten of Developing Nations Recording Studio (Full of Hell, Noisem, Ilsa), mastered by Mike Monseur, and completed with artwork by Ellie Yanagisawa and Bonner Sale.

SORGE will independently release Sorge digitally on Friday, June 5th, with a physical release to follow. Find digital preorders at Bandcamp HERE.

Sorge EP Track Listing:
1. Faith Of A Heretic
2. A Horse In Turin
3. Argent
4. Astral Burnout

SORGE:
Christian Pandtle – bass
Joshua Gerras – guitars, vocals
Mike Romadka – drums
Logan Boucher – lead guitars
Jake Filderman – synths

https://www.facebook.com/sorgedc
https://sorgedc.bandcamp.com
https://www.instagram.com/sorgedc

Sorge, Sorge EP (2020)

Tags: , , , ,