Athens-based five-piece Under the Sun are set to issue their debut LP, The Bell of Doom, on April 5 through the e’er-reliable Sound Effect Records. And man, some albums just manage to sound loud no matter at what volume you’re actually playing them. Starting with a hearty “Oh yeah!” and diving almost immediately into a celebration of riff and drive with “Smoking Angels,” the shove is inviting through the slowdown and into the dual guitars assuring no dip in the heavy as they shred the solo into the fade. The initial impression is a party and they back that for sure in the burly swagger of “Cry Out,” the more rolling “One Reason” and side B’s pairing of “The Shot” (video premiering below) and “Pony Ride,” with classic-style hooks and careening riffs offered with no pretense in their impulse toward audience engagement. Sounds like a good time? Hell yes it does.

But if you’re looking at the cover art with its graveyard and kraken-church, red sky and vertigo-style swirl, dark hues and creeper logo treatments wondering if I’ve posted the wrong image or some such based on the above description, there’s another side to Under the Sun that manifests throughout the eight-song/38-minute LP. In the video for “The Shot,” they’re getting ready for the show, getting to the show, playing the show, and that focus on on-stage energy is an obvious priority. If they showed up at your front door and started rocking out (after knocking politely, of course), they could hardly make it easier to get on board with the groove. What’s not accounted for in that are cuts like the title-track, which trades “Oh yeah!” for a tolling bell ahead of its crashes and redirects the momentum built across “Smoking Angels” and “Cry Out” toward a post-Cathedral lurch that even when they seem to break out of their own trance later on with a last-minute tempo kick, continues to define “The Bell of Doom” as a marked turn from whence they set forth minutes earlier.

Side B leadoff “Going Down” subs in Sabbathian swing for its own second-half pickup, and they find some middle ground in brash closer “My Name” — which is the longest inclusion at 6:34 but departs to a residual drone around the 4:45 mark — but in that finale the vibe likewise feels grimmer. The vocals are throatier, and the on-beat forwardness that brought the double-time hi-hat, strutting riff and Southern-style soloing of “Pony Ride” has shifted its urgency to act as a setup for the quick drop to bass that precedes a markedly sludged-out nod, which serves as their mostly-instrumental outro before the aforementioned drone takes hold, pausing again to get even slower before it’s through and thereby hammering its teardown all the more into your brain. This dual-faceted ethic isn’t always so stark in presentation, which “One Reason” also demonstrates in sticking to its bigger-feeling lumber, and one has to acknowledge that the lines being drawn are between microniches under the umbrella of ‘heavy.’

It’s the sense of purpose with which Under the Sun toll their bell — aesthetically and literally speaking — when they do that is striking, ultimately, and it may be that as they press forward from The Bell of Doom, they’ll draw the various sides of their persona closer together and end up somewhere in the middle. The opposite feels no less likely; that the lines between their rocker and doomer sides will become more prevalent. As their first record, The Bell of Doom sets out on a path that’s unknowable as yet — though it’s almost always fun to guess, even when I say it isn’t — but what allows it to do so is a strength of performance and songwriting that communes with genre and audience even as the band begin to search for their place, their sound. Or maybe I should take a cue from “The Shot” below, let tomorrow worry about tomorrow, and bask in the revelry of the moment captured and offered, whatever form it might take.

Yeah, let’s roll with it.

Enjoy the video. PR wire info and links of course follow after:

Under the Sun, “The Shot” video premiere

Under the Sun, one of Athens, Greece’s best-kept secrets, announce their debut album “The Bell of Doom”, due out on vinyl and CD on April 5, 2024 on Sound Effect Records. A thunderous stoner-sludge album shaking the foundations of all-things-heavy with its combination of amp-splitting power and red-eyed psychedelics.

Under The Sun is a sludgerotic stoner band that emerged from the depths of heavy riffing and jamming, back in 2015. Inspired by historic ’70s bands like Black Sabbath and embracing the sound of newer bands, like Orange Goblin, Kyuss, and C.O.C., Under the Sun forge their own sound that appeals to both fans of 70s heavy rock and stoner / doom music lovers.

Passionate about creating music driven by fuzz-drenched guitars and groovy bass lines, Under the Sun operate on the event horizon between heavy-doom and sunbaked stoner-rock. Armed with tough riffing, powerful vocals and traveling drums, Under the Sun merge a punk-attitude (the album was recorded live and required a maximum of two takes for each song) with the “sweet surrender” of their more laid-back, psych-blues escapism, resulting in a classic r’n’r record!

From the pure r’n’r of “Smoking Angels” to the seemingly-occult aura of “The Bell of Doom” (in essence an allegorical song about the distortion of human relationships), Under the Sun revisit their childhood dreams (“Shot”), or embark on some… psychedelic ones (“Pony Ride”), pay tribute to choices turned sour and wrong paths (“One Reason”, “Going Down”), though, after all, they do not forget to praise Friday night in the city (“Looking for some dirt, 20 euros in my pocket, welcome to my world”, from “Know My Name”), or make a tender gesture to all those who have a hard time and need to take life in their own hands (“Cry Out”)…cause, as the band insists on, we are all equal under the sun.

Video credits:
Artist: Under The Sun
Song Title: The Shot
Album: The Bell Of Doom
Label: Sound Effect Records (www.soundeffect-records.gr)
Director: Spyros Kourkoulas

Tracklisting:
1. Smoking Angels
2. Cry Out
3. The Bell of Doom
4. One Reason
5. Going Down
6. The Shot
7. Pony Ride
8. My Name

Album credits:
Recorded at Unreal Studios
Engineered by Nick Dimitrakakos
Mixed and mastered by Alex Ketenjian
Artwork by CLLK

Under the Sun, The Bell of Doom (2024)

Under the Sun on Facebook

Under the Sun on Instagram

Under the Sun on Bandcamp

Sound Effect Records on Facebook

Sound Effect Records on Bandcamp

Sound Effect Records website

The occasion bringing together Copper Feast Records in the UK and Sound Effect Records in Greece to collaborate for the first time is the April 5 release of Iron Blanket‘s debut full-length, Astral Wanderer. And fair enough for the charged heavy psychedelia thus far on display in the album’s three streaming tracks, the opening duo “Evil Mind” and “Mystic Goddess” portraying a style of grounded riffing that kicks-in-the-ass some of Uncle Acid‘s garage groove while vocalist Johann Ingemar reimagines Sabbath-era Ozzy reach through a delivery that you could just as easily say comes from folk as prog and which is likened in the release info to Mars Volta. So yes, vibrato.

A later but still side A cut, “Kookaburra Nightmare” is more relaxed in tempo and broader in its soundscaping, taking some of the dreamy impulses hinted at in “Evil Mind” and “Mystic Goddess” and shifting the balance between elements in the crafting. Much of the info below came from Copper Feast‘s Bandcamp, but some I took from the social media announcement as well and kind of repositioned it to make sense all as one thing. The bottom line remains the same: something new for you to dig if you can dig it, and here’s hoping.

Preorders start Feb. 23, which is apparently today because it’s no longer July 2005 for some silly reason.

Info:

Iron Blanket – Astral Wanderer – Sound Effect & Copper Feast Records

Blending 70’s inspired psychedelic grooviness with unmistakable driving stoner rock riffs and Mars Volta-esque vocals, Sydney’s Iron Blanket are a band like no other right now.

Their much heralded live show that has drawn them new fans at every venue they’ve played down under is now translated to their debut LP, Astral Wanderer.

Released through UK-based Copper Feast Records and legendary Athens’ label Sound Effect Records, Astral Wanderer is slated for full release on 5th April.

Says Copper Feast: “Please join me in welcoming one of Sydney’s worst kept secrets Iron Blanket to Copper Feast Records! We’ve got the pleasure to be co-releasing this unmissable slab of wax alongside legendary Athens-based label Sound Effect Records. We’ll be dropping presales this Friday, February 23rd, for the two limited edition variants.”

The inaugural co-release between these much loved labels will also bring two limited edition vinyl editions, one on classic black and the other on blood red vinyl. Numbers as follows:

Classic Black – 250 worldwide
Blood Red – 150 worldwide

Tracklisting:
1. Evil Mind
2. Mystic Goddess
3. Witch’s Kiss
4. Kookaburra Nightmare
5. Astral Wanderer
6. Iron Blanket
7. Visions of the End
8. Tongue of Time

releases April 5, 2024

All songs written and performed by Iron Blanket
Recorded and mixed by Phan Sharif at Parliament Studios
Mastered by Darren Ziesing

Iron Blanket is:
Mark Lonsdale – Guitar
Nick Matthews – Drums
Tom Withford – Guitar
Charles Eggleston – Bass
Johann Ingemar – Vocals

https://www.facebook.com/Ironblanket
https://www.instagram.com/iron_blanket/
https://ironblanket.bandcamp.com/

http://www.facebook.com/SoundEffectRecords
https://soundeffectrecords.bandcamp.com
https://www.soundeffect-records.gr/

http://facebook.com/copperfeastrecords
http://instagram.com/copperfeastrecords
https://copperfeastrecords.bandcamp.com/
http://www.copperfeastrecords.com/

Iron Blanket, Astral Wanderer (2024)

Lamp of the Universe‘s Kaleidoscope Mind is the second full-length of 2023 from Hamilton, New Zealand’s Craig Williamson. Delivered through Sound Effect Records, it bookends the year with The Eightfold Path (review here), the debut from Williamson‘s Dead Shrine project, which is the rock-psych to Lamp of the Universe‘s psych-rock as lines that used to be more stark blur with time. Williamson late in 2022 also oversaw a reissue through Sound Effect of Lamp of the Universe‘s 2001 debut, The Cosmic Union (review here; discussed here), that followed the early-2022 LP, The Akashic Field (review here). These, together with the seven-song/40-minute Kaleidoscope Mind, are the latest manifestations of a creative progression that’s been under way for over 20 years, before Williamson even began the one-man psych-folk outfit that’s grown so cosmically expansive in the years since, weaving through bands like Arc of Ascent and Dead Shrine with an inescapable love of heavy riffing while keeping the e’er molten Lamp of the Universe separate, distinct, in its own special place.

And keeping it his own. Williamson — who sounds like he’s having fun drumming on “Ritual of Innerlight” and in the funky “Codex Moon” — plays all the instruments, as always, for Lamp of the Universe. Synth to sitar, flutes and chimes, guitar, bass, the aforementioned drums that a couple records ago were unheard of from this band, vocals, probably this or that vintage keyboard, all written, arranged, performed and recorded DIY — it is the very definition of ‘dug in.’ At nine-plus minutes, “Ritual of Innerlight” is both opener and longest track (immediate points) on Kaleidoscope Mind, and it welcomes returning and new listeners alike with a hypnotic backing drone and swirling, ethereal verses. Grounded by the drums in a way that the additional hand percussion bolsters rather than detracts from, the songs that follow the extended leadoff are by and large shorter, with the let’s-make-feedback-sexy “Codex Moon” and the righteously organ-happy, blown-out-the-drums finisher “Transfiguration,” the central riff remains extrapolated from Sleep, however far that extrapolation has taken it.

But, much like the 60-ish-year history of psychedelic rock music, Williamson has no trouble bringing these ideas into his own aural context. At the same time, it has to be pointed out that after two decades, Lamp of the Universe‘s continuing evolution is something unto itself in underground acid psych, prog, space rock, cosmic folk or whatever other genre you want either to name or make up. Kaleidoscope Mind might be the 14th full-length under the Lamp of the Universe moniker — that doesn’t include splits, etc. — and it is both in line with the trajectory of everything that’s come before it and a realization unlike anything else in the band’s catalog for the places it goes in terms of songwriting. As second cut “Golden Dawn” backs up “Ritual of Innerlight,” there’s a discernible pivot toward more straightforward structures. The song moves smoothly and fluidly over its drumbeat with a pulsing kick, and the vocals are still mellow and softly delivered, but harmonized layers are used to emphasize the chorus, and when the electric guitar sweeps in for a solo before the three-minute mark, it becomes clear that Lamp of the Universe might just be writing rock tunes this time out.

This is not a thing about which one might complain. At all. With the penultimate “Immortal Rites” notwithstanding, as that 4:42 piece is laden with sitar and acoustic guitar, very much to the roots of Lamp of the Universe on records like the aforementioned The Cosmic Union. But even that is catchier and more forward structurally. And before it, the centerpiece “Procession” anchors itself to its Mellotron line and complements it with organ and delay in low guitar notes so that even as it fades out, the presence and atmosphere remain, and the subsequent “Live of the Severing” is perhaps the most blatant hook I’ve ever heard from Lamp of the Universe, and it works. A wah solo follows the chorus and bridges to the verse, but the next chorus isn’t far off, and Williamson has organ, guitar, massive drums and a general impression of breadth in four and a half minutes. This is a project that in the past has had songs longer than 20 minutes, and whose work has in the past been expansive meditations on spirit and the universe. Four of the seven cuts here don’t hit five minutes.

Clearly some shift in methodology has taken place, but the truth is that, as noted above, Lamp of the Universe has never really been about doing the same thing over and over. Williamson‘s style is highly identifiable and characteristic — you know it when you hear him sing, and that’s true here or in Dead Shrine — and often in Lamp of the Universe is used to enhance the fluidity or the melody of the arrangements surrounding. That’s happening on Kaleidoscope Mind, but to hear Williamson bringing together ideas from the more rock-aligned side of his craft into Lamp of the Universe is satisfying, and frankly, there’s more of it. Tracks on The Akashic Field were shorter than on some other Lamp records too, and Kaleidoscope Mind is a another progressive step in that direction. But what has to be emphasized is that it’s another progressive step — on the 14th album! It’s the 14th progressive step (unless I have my numbers wrong). Williamson has been exploring just what the hell a Lamp of the Universe might be for the last 22-plus years and he’s still finding out.

That journey, and this record’s place in it, is singular. It is Williamson‘s own, and if one is a longtime fan — as I’ll profess to being, not so much as a brag as an admission of dorkdom — then Kaleidoscope Mind, with its wide open third eye and expanded definitions of heavy, is a pun-totally-intended no-brainer. That the album has “Ritual of Innerlight,” “Codex Moon,” and “Transfiguration” only makes it multifaceted and all the more a demonstration of the various places Lamp of the Universe can and does go, in this dimension and otherwise.

Lamp of the Universe, Kaleidoscope Mind (2023)

Lamp of the Universe on Facebook

Lamp of the Universe on Instagram

Lamp of the Universe on Bandcamp

Sound Effect Records on Facebook

Sound Effect Records website

Athens heavy rock and rollers Diesel Cindy released their debut album, Spill the Dirt, last week through Sound Effect Records. If you’re in the Northern Hemisphere and don’t yet miss the summer, it might do the trick. Comprised of eight tracks running an unassuming 33-minutes, the record breaks into four tracks across two sides and is a smooth amalgam of desert-imported tones offered with a careening groove born out of garage rock, vocal melody over top in opener “Sons of Nothing” from guitarist Lee hinting toward Queens of the Stone Age but without much of the caricature that many Homme-style vocals end up portraying and a loosened swing and push that in “Angels” comes with a Mediterranean-folk-ish stretch filtered through scorching lead guitar — also a heaping dose of noise; two guitars between Lee and Red, while Gabriel R. holds down bass and Fivos Flat pounds away behind on drums — and a burst of a chorus near its culmination. What one learns early in Spill the Dirt is that Diesel Cindy are able to affect a change of mood in the span of three minutes without losing the listener.

It’s not the last time that message is delivered. “Seeds” opens up a bit in its verse and is casually psychedelic in the bridge with the martial undertones of space rock in the vocal cadence but a mellower crux overall at least for the most part. At 5:41, it is the longest piece on Spill the Dirt, but not by much and the ‘extra’ time compared to cuts like “Sons of Nothing” or “Angels” before it isn’t some shoehorned-in jam or radical departure from the established structure. It gets raucous enough by its finish to justify the shouts, but its more methodical tempo makes the subsequent side A capper “Bazooka Witch” feel that much more like a ’60s boogie biker party right up to its finish in psych drone and feedback. By then, both momentum and songwriting are on their side, so there’s really no stopping them as “No Truth No End” picks up at the outset of side B with a verse held back an extra measure or two and declarations of truth and lies set against more burner lead work and a subtly insistent backing strum.

Generally when one thinks of ‘headphone records’ it’s something expansive in breadth or minute in its sonic detailing. A lot of really trippy prog, etc. Diesel Cindy don’t necessarily fit with what I would usually say works well listening that way, but it does. The character in the drums and bass comes through as a backdrop for the guitars, the vocals malleable in their position in the mix, the tension in “Chieftains” at once like Talking Heads and synth-affected cosmic post-punk on its steady, rhythmically centered foundation. Tied with “Sons of Nothing” for the shortest track at 3:20, “Spill the Dirt” is the most resonant hook on the record sharing its title, as well as the full reveal of the Stooges influence that’s been a driving factor all along. It’s also something of the finale, since “The Walk” pivots to piano and turns heavy into creepy malevolent blues to round out, but fair enough for the last-minute switcheroo toward the unexpected. I don’t know that you’d say it fits, but it’s not supposed to.

And hell’s bells, I’m not about to hold a band laying claim to atmospheric territory on their first album against them, since in addition to being a kind of cool vibe in itself in a Velvet Underground-y kind of way, who knows to what it might lead. So mark it a win all around, but in terms of representing the record, the title-track appears below in a new video following up on the release date. I’m happy to be able to premiere it and I very much hope you enjoy. PR wire info follows, as you’d expect.

Have fun:

Diesel Cindy, “Spill the Dirt” video premiere

Diesel Cindy is a band of friends from Athens Greece. Them people share a common passion for a wide spectrum of fuzz sounds blended with a dry bass and old school drum sound. This sound, together with the distinctive voice of a tall angry shadow, deliver melodies inspired from favorite garage bands, mostly from the 60’s till the 90’s in a contemporary form of expression, revealing stories from the past, and whispering true tales from the present and future.

The friends, being members of other bands in the past such as One Man Drop, Vibratore Bizarro, Delightful, The Same River, Headquake, have been part of the Athenian underground scene in Greece for many years and have toured around the country several times. However, this time, they share a common project all together. The result is Diesel Cindy’s debut LP titled “Spill the Dirt”.

about the album:

recorded at AUX ‘studio’ Athens / Greece
produced by Diesel Cindy – Yiotis Paraskevaidis – Kimonas Vlachakis
engineered by Kimonas Vlachakis & Yotis Paraskevaidis
mastering at ‘Vu Productions Mastering Studio’ Piraeus / Greece by Nasos Nomikos
graphic design, coordination, photography by Peg Leg Green
front cover illustration by Dekel Hevroni

track list :
side A
1. Sons of nothing
2. Angels
3. Seeds
4. Bazooka Witch
side B
1. No truth no end
2. Chieftains
3. Spill the dirt
4. The walk

DIESEL CINDY
Members:
Lee – vocals, guitar
Red – guitar
Gabriel R – bass
Fivos Flat – drums, percussions

Diesel Cindy, Spill the Dirt (2023)

Diesel Cindy on Facebook

Diesel Cindy on Instagram

Diesel Cindy on Bandcamp

Sound Effect Records on Facebook

Sound Effect Records on Bandcamp

Sound Effect Records website

Australian jammers Apollo80 and Argentinian desert explorers Dimartis are launching a new split series for Sound Effect Records. Titled simply ‘Reverberations,’ with its first installment titled less simply, Reverberations Vol. 1 – Tales of Dust and Winds, the 38-minute long-player lays out the message of geography’s irrelevance when it comes to the heavy. Everywhere might have its own take — informed by local folk traditions or very actively not, depending on the band and situation — but if you’re on Planet Earth, heavy music is just about everywhere. In celebrating this, Sound Effect Records offer a timely reminder that human beings are the same — well timed with now two wars hot in Europe — and that creative expression and the language of music through which it’s happening here know neither gods nor borders nor walls. Whatever shape is ultimately taken, they are free-flowing. They belong to everyone.

As an art form, the split LP is very much not broken. And of all the ways one might find out about a band, it’s among the most personal of endorsements. I’ve never heard Dimartis, but I’m familiar with Apollo80. With the added boost of curation on the part of Sound Effect Records — though Ripple Music and Heavy Psych Sounds also run split series — the two bands are essentially championing each other’s work. Some splits are done for a tour; two bands getting together on a 7″ for the merch table. Some are on a theme. Sides A and B here are so dug into the spirit of the jam that the revelry itself seems to be the driving purpose. Each complements the other, and as Apollo80 set out with the multi-movement single piece “Null Arbor” (19:54) and Dimartis follow with three songs arranged together across 18:47 in “Los Altares,” “Circulos” and “Humo,” the procession is immersive and easy to lose oneself within, “Null Arbor” building to a cosmic apex over its first seven minutes or so before resolving in a big and not completely un-tense chill, gradually swelling in volume again as it moves through its midpoint and into heavier riffing after 10 minutes in.

They’re not shy about the cacophony once they get there, and Apollo80 continue to ride that crescendo for the next minute-plus before starting the comedown process that, with the guitar in the lead spot, unfolds languidly but not lazily or any more meandering than it wants to be. Just past 15 minutes in, they nestle into a swirl of wah that creates a steady current of noise to go with the heavier repetitions that finish in the fadeout, and with a side flip, Dimartis answer patience with patience in the gradual rollout of “Los Altares,” which like “Humo” to come touches on heavy post-rock, but is coming from a place more akin to desert psychedelia, as they show in each of their three inclusions at some point or other, whether it’s the instrumentalist takeoff in “Los Altares,” the heady, kind of downer roll in “Circulos” becoming a march after its midsection and a meditative heavy that echoes My Sleeping Karma at their weightiest, with just the barest edge of post-hardcore dramaturge in the riff for good measure.

“Circulos” crashes and moves into a more subdued fluidity, ending after 13:20 with silence for space between it and the closer “Humo,” which caps Reverberations Vol. 1 – Tales of Dust and Winds with shimmer and float at its beginning. Soon enough, the heavier riff enters and Dimartis carry it through to a last-minute tempo kick that’s part desert but especially emerging from the movement it does is weirder and broader than one thinks of the style’s post-Kyuss flourishing, well placed to meet the end of the record, but not necessarily a huge blowout finish so much as where they decided it was time to leave the journey in progress. You know that math theory that says every time you draw a line, that line is infinite and it just keeps going forever, even if you only drew just a teeny-tiny bit? Reverberations Vol. 1 – Tales of Dust and Winds feels like it’s still playing somewhere when it’s over, even if I can’t hear. To me, that speaks to the idea of resonance and evocation in psychedelic music, but that’s only part of the appeal here alongside the bare heft and flashes of cosmic pulse.

How well these two might’ve known each other prior to sharing space on this platter, I don’t know, but around basic commonalities of form, Dimartis and Apollo80 present individual approaches to adventurous heavy psych, each outfit with a chemistry of their own that makes the other stronger. If that’s not the ideal, I don’t know what is, and in a universe with myriad ways in which one might discover music, from social media word-of-mouth to shitheel blogs like this one to algorithmic suggestions on endless playlists, the split retains a singular presence in the spectrum of releases. I’m glad as hell I got to hear this one.

You might be too. It premieres in full on the player below. Please enjoy.

Sound Effect Records presents the release of REVERBERATIONS, a new split series with the intention of delivering bands across the planet sonically united by a musical common ground.

The first instalment, called TALES OF DUST AND WINDS sees the Western Australians APOLLO80 joining forces with the Argentinian-Patagonians DIMARTIS to take us on a trip through desertic landscapes made of winds, cold sunsets and naked rocks.

The Australians, now at the third chapter with Sound Effect Records, offer a 20-min long desert/ kosmische one-riffer cavalcade in pure Can / Neu tradition but with a heavy twist that will please the lovers of long instrumental trips. Turn the LP and you’ll find Dimartis (10 years on the scene and surprisingly at their debut on vinyl) with three tracks beautifully arranged balancing silences and reverbs that evoke the milestones of desert rock.

Really an excellent concept aiming to take us travelling through the Australian bush and the Patagonian flats with two bands that squeezed all their local authenticity in every groove.

The LP release is planned for November 10th, on classic black and limited sea blue vinyl.

Apollo80 is:
Luke – guitar/throat/synth
Brano – bass/voice
Shane – drums

Dimartis es :
Chino Velazquez : Bateria
Luciano Pucheta : Bajo/Recs
Nazareno Ferro : Guitarra/Drones

Apollo80 on Facebook

Apollo80 on Bandcamp

Dimartis on Facebook

Dimartis on Bandcamp

Sound Effect Records on Facebook

Sound Effect Records on Bandcamp

Sound Effect Records website

Pairing Australia’s Apollo80 with Argentina’s Dimartis, Greek imprint Sound Effect Records is looking to begin a series of split LP releases called Reverberations. The two-track/38-minute full-length brings “Null Arbor” (19:54) from Apollo80 as they straddle the border between heavy psych and post-rock, then sort of decide to say screw it and rumble-jam through the spaces of their own making, and the multi-part “Los Altares/Circulos/Humo” (18:47) from Dimartis, working through a long ambient midsection bookended on either side by raw but still full-sounding riffery.

If it seems like a random pairing — it might be; would it matter, I wonder? — there are plenty of commonalities between the two acts in their respective abilities to conjure fluidity in heavy contexts, moving into and out of atmospheric stretches without giving up the aural heft or the abiding sense of exploration. I don’t know what’s on tap for the series, and most split series need three or four releases before you really get what they’re about, but there’s sprawl here and that’s a fine place to begin. Get yourself a sample with the teaser at the bottom of the post.

From the PR wire:

Sound Effect PRESENTS: Apollo80 / Dimartis: Reverberations Vol.1 – Tales of Dust and Wings

Sound Effect Records presents the release of REVERBERATIONS, a new split series with the intention of delivering bands across the planet sonically united by a musical common ground.

The first instalment, called TALES OF DUST AND WINDS sees the Western Australians APOLLO80 joining forces with the Argentinian-Patagonians DIMARTIS to take us on a trip through desertic landscapes made of winds, cold sunsets and naked rocks.

The Australians, now at the third chapter with Sound Effect Records, offer a 20-min long desert/ kosmische one-riffer cavalcade in pure Can / Neu tradition but with a heavy twist that will please the lovers of long instrumental trips. Turn the LP and you’ll find Dimartis (10 years on the scene and surprisingly at their debut on vinyl) with three tracks beautifully arranged balancing silences and reverbs that evoke the milestones of desert rock.

Really an excellent concept aiming to take us travelling through the Australian bush and the Patagonian flats with two bands that squeezed all their local authenticity in every groove.

The LP release is planned for November 10th, on classic black and limited sea blue vinyl.

Apollo80 is:
Luke – guitar/throat/synth
Brano – bass/voice
Shane – drums

Dimartis es :
Chino Velazquez : Bateria
Morgan Highstar : Guitarra/Teclas
Luciano Pucheta : Bajo/Recs
Nazareno Ferro : Guitarra/Drones

https://www.facebook.com/apollo80rocks/
https://apollo80.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100092551886450
https://dimartis.bandcamp.com/

http://www.facebook.com/SoundEffectRecords
https://soundeffectrecords.bandcamp.com
https://www.soundeffect-records.gr/

Apollo80 & Dimartis, Reverberations Vol.1 – Tales of Dust and Wings teaser

Italian progressive atmospheric rock unit Oslo Tapes will release their new album, Staring at the Sun Before Goin’ Blind, on Dec. 1. The record — which is the fourth since the mostly-solo-project of vocalist, multi-instrumentalist Marco Campitelli (who also handled some of the recording here) released its self-titled debut a decade ago — is being issued through a consortium of labels that includes Echodelick Records, Sound Effect Records and Grazil Records, covering North America, Europe and Australia, respectively.

The distributary triumvirate step in for Pelagic Records, which issued Oslo Tapes‘ ØR (review here) in mid-2021. Staring at the Sun Before Goin’ Blind — the title perhaps conveying some measure of pastoralism by knocking the ‘g’ off “going” — is comprised of eight tracks, like its predecessor, and sees Campitelli working in collaboration with producer Amaury Cambuzat, who also mixed, mastered and contributed to the writing and presumably arrangements of the material, which carries subtle currents of pop in its digestible blend of styles from prog and post-heavy rock in drifty opener “Gravity” and the later “Middle Ground,” which swells to a wash that would feel like a culmination were it not for the seven-minute closing title-track two songs later, to the Godflesh-‘n’-chill of side A’s “Ethereal Song,” the turn-of-the-century Reznorian drum and bass perfect-druggery of “Reject Yr Regret” or the periodic dance parties that seem to break out, in either of those two or elsewhere.

It’s a complex listen, provided you want it to be. For those who might dig into details, there’s full-dimensionality to what Campitelli and Amaury have brought here, unto the use of traditional verse and chorus structures to give that overarching complexity a still-accessible bent. But from the very first windchimes in “Gravity,” there’s intricacy corresponding to the abiding mood that gives the entire album its context.

And while one raises an eyebrow at the notion of congratulating a band that’s mostly one person on their record being cohesive — it better be; there’s no one else around to screw it up — and through the beat intensity of “Middle Ground” or the lower chug of maybe-keyboard under the higher frequency melodies of the suitably flowing penultimate cut “Somnambulist’s Daydream” or the actual-dream tonality of “Like a Metamorphosis” that led off side B, Oslo Tapes‘ sense of purpose never wanes. And for being so clearly exploratory in nature, Staring at the Sun Before Goin’ Blind never loses either its fluidity or the solid ground on which it’s offered. The work of someone who knows the sound they want and seems to be in steady pursuit of new ideas and aspects to bring to it.

Shades of New Wave, dance, classic krautrock, psych, prog — a list that could go on depending on the listener — and yet there’s little to disconnect Staring at the Sun Before Goin’ Blind from the central experience of its melody or the thoughtfulness of its composition and arrangements. In addition to some hard-lugging of wood and a solid argument for why you should try not to get tangled in your socks when hanging out the laundry (you’ll see it, don’t worry), the video’s meditative nature is fitting with the song’s likewise patient but not staid movement. I don’t know if I’d call it peaceful, exactly, but neither is it throwing elements at your ears just to see what sticks. Everything has a place.

Please enjoy:

Oslo Tapes, “Deja Neu” video premiere

Marco Campitelli on “Deja Neu”:

“Deja Neu” a track that falls between cinematic and ritual music, built upon ethno-kraut motifs embedded in hypnotic rhythmic figures, in a crescendo of psychedelic ornaments and intensity.

You can imagine to catch the sound between the mitte-europe and the oriental tunes….

On Friday, December 1st, Oslo Tapes returns with the highly anticipated fourth album, ‘Staring at the Sun Before Goin’ Blind’ marking another step in Marco Campitelli’s personal initiatory journey through the realms of post/art/kraut/noise and introspection. The album will be released on vinyl by Echodelick Records (USA) and Sound Effect Records (Greece), while Grazil Records (Austria) will oversee the CD, cassette, and digital versions.

‘Staring at the Sun Before Goin’ Blind’ is the follow-up to the successful third album, ‘ØR’, released in 2021 by the prestigious Pelagic Records, and it is imbued with emotional radiations that fuel disorientation and restlessness. Voices in contrast with metronomic rhythmic patterns, geometries distorted by fluid basslines, and melodic synths that compensate for the voids left by liquid and acidic guitars all contribute to creating a distinctly personal auditory mirage.

The album is produced by Amaury Cambuzat, a historic member of faUSt, and Ulan Bator, who co-authored the songs and arrangements with Campitelli. Using an unspecified number of magnetic tapes and analog machines, he forged the album’s sound through his thirty-year experience in the kraut/avant/rock domain.

Oslo Tapes says: ‹‹ ‘Staring at the Sun Before Goin’ Blind’ is hypothetically a brief period traversed in eight tracks, from the ethereal opening of ‘Gravity’ to the hypnotic ‘Ethereal Song’, the avant-syncretism of ‘Deja Neu’, and the psychedelic and modern deep house vibes of ‘Reject Yr Regret’. It follows the harmonic framework of ‘Like a Metamorphosis’ in a fusion of psychedelic jazz, the post-minimalist fuzz-kraut of ‘Middle Ground’, the distorted and celestial ‘Somnambulist’s Daydream’, and the tribal-kaleidoscopic title track finale. ››

Recommended for fans of God Is An Astronaut, Neu!, Can, Porno For Pyros, Nine Inch Nails, and Angel Of Light. While the Oslo Tapes capsule is in orbit, on board are Mauro Spada on bass and Davide Di Virgilio on drums, Stefano Micolucci on bass and upright bass, Federico Sergente on percussion, Nicola Amici, also known as Kaouenn, on guitars, synths, and percussion. There are also exceptional guests such as Berlin’s Sicker Man from Trialogos on cello and Dahm Majuri Cipolla, the Japanese post-rock band MONO drummer. After being part of the same label as Marco Campitelli, they cultivated a collaboration driven by their shared passion for kraut rock.

TRACKLIST
A1.Gravity
A2.Ethereal Song
A3.Deja Neu
A4. Reject yr Regret
B1.Like a Metamorphosis
B2.Middle Ground
B3.Somnambulist’s Daydream
B4.Staring at the Sun Before Goin’ Blind

CREDITS
Produced, mixed & mastered by Amaury Cambuzat Recorded by Marco Campitelli (Marigold’s Flower Studio) & Amaury Cambuzat (Let Go Ego Sound Studio)
Written by Marco Campitelli & Amaury Cambuzat
Played by Oslo Tapes
PhotosSilvia Verna
ArtworkDruckwelle Design

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For however long I’ve run this site (and I know how long, I just don’t feel like talking about it), a consistent thread has been nerdery for the work of Craig Williamson, also known as the psych-mantra-folk solo-outfit Lamp of the Universe. The first post about the band on this site was in May 2009, and I’d already been a geek for that stuff for years at that point. Based in New Zealand, Williamson has stayed active all the while, putting out more than a handful of Lamp of the Universe records, as well as doing three albums with the trio Arc of Ascent — a more heavy rock-based outfit; Williamson began Lamp of the Universe following the demise of Datura, in which he played. Earlier this year, he branched back into rock territory with the new solo band Dead Shrine.

And this whole time, I’ve gone on and on about how righteous all this stuff is, how affecting and engrossing the psychedelia of Lamp of the Universe is, the creative range that takes Williamson through inner and outer universes, blah blah blah blah blah. Years of this.

So you know what happened? I saw Kaleidoscope Mind — the new album from Lamp of the Universe out Nov. 10 — was coming in the Sound Effect Records newsletter, and next thing I know I’m stopping myself from writing Williamson an email being like “OMG ANOTHER RECORD CAN I HEAR IT????” A few days later, he reached out, and I got to feel a little less embarrassed for myself.

But yeah, I’ve heard this one, and as I invariably would, I think it’s brilliant. He’s trying some new stuff, working in some funk and sexy grooves. Also sounds like he bought some new mics for his studio, and it’s pretty clear in listening that particular attention has been given to the vocals, which I don’t know if that’s true or not but it sure is what it sounds like. And the drums are killer as well. So basically, here I am, nerding out again to a Lamp of the Universe record, and I guess I don’t give a shit if I look like a goon because now I’ve told you this entire story. Is it a little embarrassing at this point? Yes. Is that going to stop me from reviewing the album? Come on.

Here’s news. A single will be premiering this week. Not here, but you’ll be able to see it on the embed below. Something to enjoy on the 12th:

Lamp of the Universe – Kaleidoscope Mind

Release date : 10th November 2023

Sound Effect Records presents the new album from New Zealand’s Psychedelic artist, Lamp of the Universe.

Multi-instrumentalist and Psych guru Craig Williamson returns with an album of classic Lamp of Universe tunes. Full of artifacts from the original era, including Mellotron, fuzz guitar, Sitar, swirling effects and trippy vocal harmonies, this album touches the Psychedelic Psoul.

7 new songs re-calling times of yester-year, and also the unlimited expanses of the future. Take a dive into the Kaleidoscope Mind.

https://www.facebook.com/lampoftheuniverse/
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https://projectionrecords.bandcamp.com/

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https://www.soundeffect-records.gr/

Lamp of the Universe, “The Golden Dawn”

Lamp of the Universe, The Akashic Field (2022)