Västerås Doomfest 2026 Announces Lineup

Posted in Whathaveyou on December 29th, 2025 by JJ Koczan

Västerås Doomfest 2026 first lineup

That’s a heavy night in June at the 2026 Västerås Doomfest, put on at least in part by members of hometown pummellers 10,000 Years and highlight the brasher side of Sweden’s heavy underground. If you’re gonna do that, you probably want Firebreather on the bill. Oh, and Spelljammer. Oh, and, yeah, 10,000 Years too. I could keep doing this if you want. Never mind.

You may have noticed Hästspark also played the Norwegian Tundra and Lightning festival, and they also played Truckfighters Fuzz Fest in 2023. Their 2025 video for “Sounds of Her Nature” reveals that the recording was helmed by Johan Rockner (Dozer) and that Robert Lamu (Skraeckoedlan) mixed. No wonder the song sounds so good. Maybe more to come in the New Year?

From socials:

Västerås Doomfest 2026 first lineup poster

VÄSTERÅS DOOMFEST 2026

Death Valley Productions presents in partnership with Merchprint and O’Learys Västerås:

FIREBREATHER

Sweden’s number one riff gods. Created from Matt Pike’s ribs, they thunder over Sweden, Europe and the world and put everything under ruins. Now it’s finally time to Västerås to get a taste of the car and we are very happy to announce Firebreather as the headliner for Västerås Doomfest 2026!

SPELLJAMMER

Lead-heavy and desert dusty riffdoom custom tailored for cosmic travel

HÄSTSPARK

Modern sounding stoner rock that delivers up to its name, straight in solar plexus

10,000 YEARS

Västerås own stonermetal heroes

HEXJAKT

Classic stonerdoom in updated blackfair gun

KLASTOS

Dirty chopper sledge with the fists in the highest chop

DARK OCEAN CIRCLE

Stoner-turned fuzz rock that always offers to dance

Tickets: https://billetto.se/e/vasteras-doomfest-2026-biljetter-1648277

Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/800990962617566/

https://linktr.ee/vasterasdoomfest
https://www.facebook.com/p/V%C3%A4ster%C3%A5s-Doomfest-61551903774974/

Firebreather, Dwell in the Fog (2022)

Hästspark, “Sounds of Her Nature” official video

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Desertfest Oslo 2026 Makes First Lineup Announcement

Posted in Whathaveyou on November 3rd, 2025 by JJ Koczan

desertfest oslo 2026 first banner

King Buffalo, Dozer, Pelican, High Desert Queen, Blackwater Holylight, Howling Giant, Daevar, Bottenhavet, Moonstone, The Sword, Russian Circles — I mean, do I really need to say more here than the list of names. Desertfest Oslo 2026 will be the third edition of the Norwegian Desertfest installation, and one might accuse them of coming out of the gate swinging. Some of these — The Sword, Earthless, High Desert Queen, etc. — are being shared with Desertfest Berlin and Desertfest London, setting up the possibility of three weeks of touring at least for a few acts here. Then there’s King Buffalo, who I think are just spending their entire summer abroad next year. Not gonna complain about it if there’s a chance I can see them.

To that end, I was lucky enough to be invited to cover Desertfest Oslo last year and, unsurprisingly, I had a blast. Should I be so fortunate as to be invited again, I’ll go, but I’m not about to presume. Whether I’m there to see it or not has no bearing on the sickness of the lineup-thus-far, as you know, but still makes for a nice daydream.

They’ve got tickets on sale now, as per socials:

desertfest oslo 2026 first poster

Let’s get this train running! 🔥

We’ve been so excited to share the first batch of bands coming to Oslo the 8th and 9th of May 2026.

From great geniuses of the genre, to guitar-wielding warlocks of the wasteland. From divine drop-d decibels, to new necromancers of nostalgic noise.

Please welcome to Desertfest Oslo 2026:

🏜 RUSSIAN CIRCLES (US)
🏜 THE SWORD (US)
🏜 EARTHLESS (US)
🏜 KING BUFFALO (US)
🏜 PRIMITIVE MAN (US)
🏜 DOZER (SE)
🏜 PELICAN (US)
🏜 DAEVAR (DE)
🏜 BLACKWATER HOLYLIGHT (US)
🏜 WYATT E. (BE)
🏜 HOWLING GIANT (US)
🏜 HIGH DESERT QUEEN (US)
🏜 SPELLJAMMER (SE)
🏜 MOONSTONE (PL)
🏜 KOLLAPS (AUS)
🏜 BOTTENHAVET (SE)
🏜 SUNFACE (NO)
🏜 HÅNDGEMENG (NO)
🏜 UNDULATHUND (SE)

First round of tickets are now on sale 🤝

Tickets: https://www.ticketmaster.no/event/desertfest-oslo-2026-festivalpass-8-9mai-billetter/931528219

https://www.desertfest.no/
https://www.instagram.com/desertfest_oslo
https://www.facebook.com/desertfestoslo

Earthless, Live in Denton, TX, 10.10.25


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The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal Playlist: Episode 74 (Yes, Again)

Posted in Radio on December 24th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

the obelisk show banner

Some extenuating circumstances here leading to a repeat posting of this playlist. What does that mean? Fair question!

This show was originally supposed to air on Dec. 10, but there were some last-minute technical difficulties — the nature of which I don’t even know, so it’s not like I’m keeping secrets — and it didn’t happen. Hey, I’ve done (apparently) 74 episodes of this show and that’s never happened before, so I consider that a pretty impressive run.

And obviously the world has continued along its chaotic, dizzying spin, so no real harm done. In the voice breaks here I talk about the next episode being on Xmas Eve and this being part one of two before the end of the year — which obviously won’t happen — but to be honest with you, I’ll be fucking astounded if anyone even notices, let alone calls it out. It is what it is. I’m lucky Gimme lets my weird, often-doesn’t-play-metal ass do a show at all.

So hey, thanks for listening if you do. And Happy Xmas if that’s your thing.

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

Full playlist:

The Obelisk Show – 12.24.21

Green Lung Leaders of the Blind Black Harvest
Monolord I’ll Be Damned Your Time to Shine
Greenleaf Bury Me My Son Echoes From a Mass
VT
Heavy Temple The Maiden Lupi Amoris
Maha Sohona Leaves Endless Searcher
Domkraft Into Orbit Seeds
Spelljammer Among the Holy Abyssal Trip
Samsara Blues Experiment Massive Passive End of Forever
IAH Arce Omines
Genghis Tron Alone in the Heart of the Light Dream Weapon
Spidergawd Black Moon Rising VI: At Rainbows End
Thunderchief King of the Pleistocene Synanthrope
Spaceslug Follow This Land Memorial
King Buffalo Acheron Acheron
Weedpecker Fire Far Away IV: The Stream of Forgotten Thoughts
VT
Temple Fang Let it Go/When We Pray Fang Temple

The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal airs every Friday 5PM Eastern, with replays Sunday at 7PM Eastern. Next new episode is Dec. 24 (subject to change). Thanks for listening if you do.

Gimme Metal website

The Obelisk on Facebook

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The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal Playlist: Episode 64

Posted in Radio on July 23rd, 2021 by JJ Koczan

the obelisk show banner

If you’re paying attention at all — and fair enough if you’re not — you had to see this one coming, right? No way I wasn’t going to follow up that massive Quarterly Review with a playlist for The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal. Had to happen. Honestly, I covered enough stuff in that 110-record span that I might do two shows out of it. Have to see what I can pull together for next time.

To answer your next imginary question, yes, it is somewhat bittersweet after two all-Neurosis episodes to be playing anything else. It was bound to happen eventually, some return to normalcy. Such as it is. Fortunately the selections here are killer if I do say so myself, and if you think it’s a coincidence that I reviewed so many albums and this playlist is starting with a cut from the Maha Sohona record, I promise you it is not. That one might’ve been my pick of the whole thing. Also took the excuse to play the Spaceslug track here again, just because it rules and fits that vibe too.

Thanks for listening and/or reading. 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 – 07.23.21

Maha Sohona Leaves Endless Searcher
The Crooked Whispers Hail Darkness Dead Moon Night
Filthy Hippies I’m Bugging Out Departures
Paralyzed Golden Days Paralyzed
VT
Alastor The Killer in My Skull Onwards and Downwards
Spelljammer Bellwether Abyssal Trip
Spaceslug The Event Horizon The Event Horizon
Los Disidentes del Sucio Motel Horizon Polaris
VT
Hellish Form Shadows with Teeth Remains
Vouna Grey Sky Atropos
Rose City Band World is Turning Earth Trip
Moanhand The Boomerang of Serpents Present Serpent
VT
Methadone Skies Retrofuture Caveman Retrofuture Caveman

The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal airs every Friday 5PM Eastern, with replays Sunday at 7PM Eastern. Next new episode is Aug. 6 (subject to change). Thanks for listening if you do.

Gimme Metal website

The Obelisk on Facebook

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Quarterly Review: Spelljammer, The Black Heart Death Cult, Shogun, Nadja, Shroud of Vulture, Towards Atlantis Lights, ASTRAL CONstruct, TarLung, Wizzerd & Merlin, Seum

Posted in Reviews on July 8th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

the-obelisk-fall-2016-quarterly-review

We proceed onward, into this ever-growing swath of typos, lineup corrections made after posting, and riffs — more riffs! — that is the Quarterly Review. Today is Day Four and I’m feeling good. Not to say there isn’t some manner of exhaustion, but the music has been killer — today is particularly awesome — and that makes life much, much, much better as I’ve already said. I hope you’ve found one or two or 10 records so far that you’ve really dug. I know I’ve added a few to my best of 2021 list, including stuff right here. So yeah, we roll on.

Quarterly Review #31-40:

Spelljammer, Abyssal Trip

spelljammer abyssal trip

To envision an expanse, and to crush it. Stockholm three-piece Spelljammer return five years after Ancient of Days (review here), with an all-the-more-massive second long-player through RidingEasy, turning their front-cover astronaut around to face the audience head on and offering 43 minutes/six tracks of encompassing largesse, topping 10 minutes in the title-track and “Silent Rift,” both on side B with the interlude “Peregrine” between them, after the three side A rollers, “Bellwether,” “Lake” and “Among the Holy” have tripped out outward and downward into an atmospheric plunge that is a joy to take feeling specifically geared as an invite to the converted. We are here, come worship with us. Also get crushed. Spelljammer records may not happen all the time, but you won’t be through “Bellwether” before you’re saying it was worth the wait.

Spelljammer on Facebook

RidingEasy Records website

 

The Black Heart Death Cult, Sonic Mantras

The Black Heart Death Cult Sonic Mantras

A deceptively graceful second LP from Melbourne’s The Black Heart Death Cult, Sonic Mantras pulls together an eight-song/45-minute run that unfolds bookended by “Goodbye Gatwick Blues” (8:59) and “Sonic Dhoom” (9:47) and in between ebbs and flows across shorter pieces that maximize their flow in whether shoegazing, heavygazing, blissing out, or whatever we’re calling it this week on “The Sun Inside” and “One Way Through,” or finding their way to a particularly deadened meadow on “Trees,” or tripping the light hypnotic on “Dark Waves” just ahead of the closer. “Cold Fields” churns urgently in its 2:28 but remains spacious, and everywhere The Black Heart Death Cult go, they remain liquefied in their sound, like a seemingly amorphous thing that nonetheless manages to hold its shape despite outside conditions. Whatever form they take, then, they are themselves, and Sonic Mantras emphasizes how yet-underappreciated they are in emerging from the ever-busy Aussie underground.

The Black Heart Death Cult on Facebook

Kozmik Artifactz store

 

Shogun, Tetra

Shogun Tetra

Tetra is the third long-player from Milwaukee’s Shogun, and in addition to the 10-minute “Delta,” which marries blues gargle with YOB slow-gallop before jamming out across its 10-minute span, it brings straight-shooter fuzz rockers like “Gravitas,” the someone-in-this-band-listened-to-Megadeth-in-the-’90s-and-that’s-okay beginnings of “Buddha’s Palm/Aviary” and likewise crunch of “Axiom” later, but also the quiet classic progressive rock of “Gone Forever,” and the more patient coming together of psychedelia and harder-hitting movement on closer “Maximum Ray.” Somewhat undercut by a not-raw-but-not-bursting-with-life production, pieces like “Buddha’s Palm/Aviary,” which gives over to a sweeter stretch of guitar in its second movement, and “Vertex/Universal Pain Center,” which in its back end brings around that YOB influence again and puts it to good use, are outwardly complex enough to put the lie to the evenhandedness of the recording. There’s more going on in Tetra than it first seems, and the more you listen, the more you find.

Shogun on Facebook

Shogun on Bandcamp

 

Nadja, Luminous Rot

Nadja Luminous Rot

Keeping up with Nadja has proven nigh on impossible over the better part of the last two decades, as the Berlin-by-way-of-Toronto duo have issued over 25 albums in 19 years, plus splits and live offerings and digital singles and oh my goodness I do believe I have the vapors that’s a lot of Nadja. For those of us who flit in and out like the dilletantes we ultimately are, Luminous Rot‘s aligning Aidan Baker and Leah Buckareff with Southern Lord makes it an easy landmark, but really most of what the six-cut/48-minute long-player does is offer a reminder of the vital experimentalism the lazy are missing in the first place. The consuming, swelling drone of “Cuts on Your Hands,” blown-out sub-industrialism of “Starres,” hook of the title-track and careful-what-you-wish-for anchor riff of “Fruiting Bodies” — these and the noisily churning closer “Dark Inclusions” are a fervent argument in Nadja‘s favor as being more than a sometimes-check-in kind of band, and for immediately digging into the 43-minute single-song album Seemannsgarn, which they released earlier this year. So much space and nothing to lose.

Nadja on Facebook

Southern Lord Recordings website

 

Shroud of Vulture, Upon a Throne of Jackals

shroud of vulture upon a throne of jackals

Welcome to punishment as a primary consideration. Indianapolis death-doom four-piece hold back the truly crawling fare until “Perverted Reflection,” which is track three of the total seven on their debut full-length, Upon a Throne of Jackals, but by then the extremity has already shown its unrepentant face across the buried-alive “Final Spasms of the Drowned” and the oldschool death metal of “The Altar.” Centerpiece “Invert Every Throne” calls to mind Conan in its nod, but Shroud of Vulture are more about rawness than sheer largesse in tone, and their prone-to-blasting style gives them an edge there and in “Halo of Tarnished Light,” which follows. The closing pair of “Concealing Rabid Laughter” and “Stone Coffin of Existence” both top seven minutes and offset grueling tension with grueling release, but it’s the stench of decay that so much defines Upon a Throne of Jackals, as though somebody rebuilt Sunlight Studio brick for brick in Hoosier Country. Compelling and filthy in kind.

Shroud of Vulture on Facebook

Wise Blood Records website

Transylvanian Tapes on Bandcamp

 

Towards Atlantis Lights, When the Ashes Devoured the Sun

Towards Atlantis Lights When the Ashes Devoured the Sun

Ultra-grueling, dramatic death-doom tragedies permeate the second full-length, When the Ashes Devoured the Sun, from UK-based four-piece Towards Atlantis Lights, with vocalist/keyboardist Kostas Panagiotou and guitarist Ivan Zara at the heart of the compositions while bassist Riccardo Veronese and drummer Ivano Olivieri assure the impact that coincides with the cavernous procession matches in scope. The follow-up to 2018’s Dust of Aeons (review here), this six-track collection fosters classicism and modern apocalyptic vibes alike, and whether raging or morose, its dirge atmosphere remains firm and uncompromised. Heavy lumber for heavy hearts. The kind of doom that doesn’t look up. That doesn’t mean it’s not massive in scope — it is, even more than the first record — just that nearly everything it sees is downward. If there’s hope, it is a vague thing, lost to periphery. So be it.

Towards Atlantis Lights on Facebook

Kostas Panagiotou on Bandcamp

 

ASTRAL CONstruct, Tales of Cosmic Journeys

ASTRAL CONstruct Tales of Cosmic Journeys

It has been said on multiple occasions that “space is the place.” The curiously-capitalized Colorado outfit ASTRAL CONstruct would seem to live by this ethic on their debut album, Tales of Cosmic Journeys, unfurling as they do eight flowing progressions of instrumental slow-CGI-of-the-planets pieces that are more plotted in their course than jams, but feel built from jams just the same. Raw in its production and mix, and mastered by Kent Stump of Wo Fat, there’s enough atmosphere to let the lead guitar breathe, certainly, and to sustain life in general even on “Jettisoned Adrift in the Space Debris,” and the image evoked by “Hand Against the Solar Winds” feels particularly inspired given that song’s languid roll. The record starts and ends in cryogenic sleep, and if upon waking we’re transported to another place and another time, who knows what wonders we might see along the way. ASTRAL CONstruct‘s exploration would seem to be just beginning here, but their “Cosmos Perspective” is engaging just the same.

ASTRAL CONstruct on Instagram

ASTRAL CONstruct on Bandcamp

 

TarLung, Architect

TarLung Architect

Vienna-based sludgedrivers TarLung were last heard from with 2017’s Beyond the Black Pyramid (discussed here), and Architect continues the progression laid out there in melding vocal extremity and heavy-but-not-too-heavy-to-move riffing. It might seem like a fine line to draw, and it is, and that only makes songs like “Widow’s Bane” and “Horses of Plague” all the more nuanced as their deathly growls and severe atmospheres mesh with what in another context might just be stoner rock groove. Carcass circa the criminally undervalued Swansong, Six Feet Under. TarLung manage to find a place in stoner sludge that isn’t just Bongzilla worship, or Bongripper worship, or Bong worship. I’m not sure it’s worship at all, frankly, and I like that about it as the closing title-track slow-moshes my brain into goo.

TarLung on Facebook

TarLung on Bandcamp

 

Wizzerd & Merlin, Turned to Stone Chapter III

ripple music turned to stone chapter iii wizzerd vs merlin

Somewhere in the great mystical expanse between Kalispell, Montana, and Kansas City, Missouri, two practicioners of the riffly dark arts meet on a field of battle. Wizzerd come packing the 19-minute acoustic-into-heavy-prog-into-sitar-laced-jam-out “We Are,” as if to encompass that declaration in all its scope, while Merlin answer back with the organ-led “Merlin’s Bizarre Adventure” (21:51), all chug and lumber until it’s time for weirdo progressive fusion reggae and an ensuing Purple-tinged psych expansion. Who wins? I don’t know. Ripple Music in releasing it in the first place, I guess. Continuing the label’s influential split series(es), Turned to Stone Chapter III pushes well over the top in the purposes of both acts involved, and in that, it’s maybe less of a battle than two purveyors joining forces to weave some kind of Meteo down on the heads of all who might take them on. If you’ve think you’ve got the gift, they seem only too ready to test that out.

Wizzerd on Facebook

Merlin on Facebook

Ripple Music website

 

Seum, Winterized

Seum Winterized

“Life Grinder” begins with a sample: “I don’t know if you need all that bass,” and the answer, “Oh, you need all that bass.” That’s already after “Sea Sick Six” has revealed the Montreal-based trio’s sans-guitar extremist sludge roll, and the three-piece seem only too happy to keep up the theme. Vocals are harsh, biting, grating, purposeful in their fuckall, and the whole 28-minute affair of Winterized is cathartic aural violence, except perhaps the interlude “666,” which is a quiet moment between “Broken Bones” and “Black Snail Volcano,” which finally seems to just explode in its outright aggression, nod notwithstanding. A slowed down Ramones cover — reinventing “Pet Sematary” as “Red Sematary” — has a layer of spoken chanting vocals layered in and closes out, but the skin has been peeled so far back by then and Seum have doused so much salt onto the wounds that even Bongzilla might cringe. The low-end-only approach only makes it more punishing and more punk rock at the same time. Fucking mean.

Seum on Facebook

Seum on Bandcamp

 

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Spelljammer Announce New LP Abyssal Trip out Feb. 26; Post “Lake”

Posted in Whathaveyou on December 17th, 2020 by JJ Koczan

Oh hello feedback. Oh hello drums. Oh hello pummeling riff. Oh hello Spelljammer. It’s been a while. Indeed, half a decade has gone by since the Stockholm-based heft hefters released Ancient of Days (review here) in October 2015, their debut album, though to listen to the crush they foster in the seven-minute “Lake,” which is the first audio to be unveiled from the forthcoming second LP, Abyssal Trip, it hardly feels like a day. The three-piece will release Abyssal Trip — as in, “a trip to the abyss”; one can only assume they’re speaking in terms of tone — on Feb. 26, which is just far away enough to think that the world might be on some course toward restoration of ‘life as we knew it,’ though even saying that makes me fear the alternative, as I suspect it will into perpetuity.

Whatever reality greets it upon its arrival, the world needs more crushing riffs, and Spelljammer seem only too pleased to provide. You can read the PR wire info below — and you should, because information is good, knowledge is power and all that — and check out “Lake” at the bottom of this post because I genuinely believe it’ll make your day better.

Album preorders are up through RidingEasy Records, and the link is right on the other side of the cover art:

spelljammer abyssal trip

SPELLJAMMER (RidingEasy Records) first single from first new album in 5 years

Pre-orders: https://www.ridingeasyrecs.com/product/spelljammer-abyssal-trip/

“The vastness of everything is something that I think about a lot,” says Spelljammer bassist/vocalist Niklas Olsson. And it certainly shows in both the expansive, sludgy sounds and contemplative lyrics of the Stockholm, Sweden based trio. Following a 5-year break between their previous album, Ancient of Days — perhaps fittingly spent pondering said vastness — Spelljammer is back with an album that perfectly bridges the band’s earlier desert rock leanings and their later massive, slow-burning riffs.

Abyssal Trip (note: carefully re-read that album title) takes its moniker from the perpetually dark, cold, oxygen-free zone at the bottom of the ocean. The 6-song, 44-minute album fittingly embodies that bleak realm with rumbling, oozing guitars intercut with dramatic melodic interludes. The songs take their time to unfurl, making them even more hypnotic. Likewise, the lyrics take a poetic approach to establishing the sonic scenery.

“The lyrical themes we address, like the ultimate doom of man, and the search and longing for new and better worlds, are still there,” Olsson says. “The concept of something undiscovered out there in vast emptiness is pretty much always present.”

The recording process for Abyssal Trip differs from previous releases in that the band — guitarist Robert Sörling, drummer Jonatan Rimsbo and Olsson — opted to capture the performances while holed up in the mental bathysphere of a house in the countryside near Stockholm. “The songs benefitted from the relaxed environment of being away from everything,” Olsson explains. Indeed, the album sounds confident and meticulously arranged, afforded by the band’s isolation. Sörling mixed the album and it was mastered by Monolord drummer Esben Willems at Berserk Audio.

Album opener “Bellwether” begins dramatically with a very slow, nearly minute-long fade in of rumbling distortion setting the stage for heavily distorted bass and guitar plucking out the lugubrious riff for another minute and a half before the drums begin, and likewise equally as long before vocals gurgle to the surface. “Lake” abruptly shifts gears, opening with an unusually fast gallop before rupturing into thundering doom that soon drops into a clean-tone Middle Eastern melodic breakdown. The title track serves as the album centerpiece, opening with ominous film dialogue about blood sacrifice that launches into pummeling, detuned guitars rumbling over gut-punching drums and howling vocals hearkening to the proto-sludge of Pink Floyd’s “The Nile Song.” The dynamic relents briefly for a slow building clean guitar melody before all instruments lock into a jerking riff topped off by a trilling Iommi style lead. Throughout, Abyssal Trip is, just like its title suggests, an epic tour through desolate zones which yields much to discover.

Abyssal Trip will be available everywhere on LP, CD and download on February 26th, 2021 via RidingEasy Records.

Artist: Spelljammer
Album: Abyssal Trip
Label: RidingEasy Records
Release Date: February 26, 2021

01. Bellwether (6:38)
02. Lake (7:04)
03. Among The Holy (6:18)
04. Abyssal Trip (10:38)
05. Peregrine (2:22)
06. Silent Rift (10:09)

Spelljammer are:
Niklas Olsson: bass/vocals
Robert Sörling: guitar
Jonatan Rimsbo: drums

spelljammer.bandcamp.com
facebook.com/Spelljammer
ridingeasyrecords.com

Spelljammer, “Lake”

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Esbjerg Fuzztival 2019: Spelljammer, Mythic Sunship, Stone Cadaver and Vestjysk Ørken Confirmed

Posted in Whathaveyou on October 23rd, 2018 by JJ Koczan

esbjerg fuzztival 2019 banner

Okay, so I’m not sure how many bands will ultimately play the Esbjerg Fuzztival next May 11 in Esbjerg, Denmark, but a first four have been announced. The incarnation of the festival that ran this year and was the first was six acts, five of which were Danish natives. Of the four listed below, three are, so thus far it’s pretty consistent with 2018’s bill. Whether that trend will hold when/if there are other groups revealed for the lineup, we’ll just have to wait and see. May 2019 is still a ways off, folks. Plenty of time before we get there.

Some righteous stuff in the meantime, with Spelljammer coming over from Sweden to top the so-far lineup and hometown Esbjergers Vestjysk Ørken bringing their horror-sample-laden riffery for a return appearance. I’ve included the stream of their demo/first EP, Cosmic Desert Fuzz, at the bottom of this post because it’s hitting the spot at the moment and if you, like me, have a thing for name-your-price downloads, the three-piece have that going for them. Which is nice.

When and if there’s more word from Esbjerg Fuzztival, I’ll be sure to post. Until then, I’d love to know what font they’re using for their poster:

esbjerg fuzztival 2019 poster

Esbjerg Fuzztival – May 11th 2019

STOKED!

Excited to announce the first four bands for next years line-up!

First up is Spelljammer – the swedish fuzztronauts will be hitting us all hard!

Mythic Sunship will be bringing their own style of fuzzed out kraut-jazz!

Stone Cadaver from Aarhus, DK loves their 70’s horror as much as they love their fuzz!

Lastly our very own house-band VESTJYSK ØRKEN will once again deliver on the fuzz-side, bringing their horror show to the big screen on stage!

Tickets are strictly LIMITED to 150 and go on sale on december 1st. Stoked to keep you informed on the many more bands to go on the roster in the next few months!

https://www.facebook.com/esbjergfuzztival/
https://www.facebook.com/events/880111745513014/

Vestjysk Ørken, Cosmic Desert Fuzz (2018)

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Here are 40+ New Releases to Look for in the Next Three Weeks

Posted in Features on September 21st, 2017 by JJ Koczan

Starting tomorrow, the next three weeks are absolutely stupid with new albums. Over-the-top, ridiculous. An immediately-go-broke amount of music. Nothing less than an onslaught. We’re under attack.

Far be it from me to tell you how to spend your money — also far be it from me not to — but there’s some really killer stuff in here. As to why it’s all landing now? Some of it of course has to do with the timing of when it was recorded, bands hitting the studio in Spring before heading out on the road over the summer, but Fall releases also line up nicely for tours in October and November, heading into the holiday season, when the music industry basically shuts down. This is the last chance for releases to come out in 2017 and be considered for best-of-year lists.

I doubt the likes of Chelsea Wolfe or Godspeed You! Black Emperor or even Kadavar would cop to that as a motivating factor, instead pointing to the timing of Fall touring and so on, but these things are rarely coincidental. You know how there aren’t any blockbusters in January but every movie feels like it’s trying to win an Oscar? Same kind of deal.

Nonetheless, 2017 is laying it on particularly thick these next couple weeks, and as you can see in the lists below, if you’ve got cash to spend, you can pretty much choose your rock and roll adventure. I’ll add to this as need be as well, so keep an eye for changes:

Sept. 22:

Alcest, Souveinirs d’un Autre Monde (10th Anniversary Edition)
Brant Bjork, Europe ’16
Chelsea Wolfe, Hiss Spunthe-flying-eyes-burning-of-the-season
Epitaph, Claws
Faces of the Bog, Ego Death
The Flying Eyes, Burning of the Season
Fvzz Popvli, Fvzz Dei
Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Luciferian Towers
Jarboe & Father Murphy, Jarboe & Father Murphy
Monarch, Never Forever
Nibiru, Qaal Babalon
Process of Guilt, Black Earth
Satyricon, Deep Calleth Upon Deep
Spelljammer, Inches from the Sun (Reissue)
Thonian Horde, Inconnu
Trash Titan, Welcome to the Banana Party
Ufomammut, 8
With the Dead, Love from With the Dead
Wolves in the Throne Room, Thrice Woven

Sept. 29:

monolord rust
Cities of Mars, Temporal Rifts
Deadsmoke, Mountain Legacy
A Devil’s Din, One Hallucination Under God
Disastroid, Missiles
Jim Healey, Just a Minute More (Sept. 26)
Idylls, The Barn
Kadavar, Rough Times
Lucifer’s Chalice, The Pact
Monolord, Rust
Outsideinside, Sniff a Hot Rock
Radio Moscow, New Beginnings
Scream of the Butterfly, Ignition
Tronald, Tronald (Sept. 30)
Unsane, Sterilize
Wucan, Reap the Storm

Oct. 6:

fireball-ministry-remember-the-storyElder Druid, Carmina Satanae
Fireball Ministry, Remember the Story
Frank Sabbath, Are You Waiting? (Oct. 2)
Himmellegeme, Myth of Earth
House of Broken Promises, Twisted EP
O.R.B., Naturality
Primitive Man, Caustic
Spirit Adrift, Curse of Conception
Spotlights, Seismic
Sumokem, The Guardian of Yosemite
Torso, Limbs
White Manna, Bleeding Eyes

Also:

Oct. 13: Enslaved, Firebreather, I Klatus, R.I.P., Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats (reissue), Weird Owl, etc.

Oct. 20: Iron Monkey, Spectral Haze, Bell Witch, The Spacelords, etc.

Something I forgot?

Invariably, right? If you know of something not seen above that should be, then by all means, please leave a comment letting me know. My only ask is that you keep it civil and not call me a fucking idiot or anything like that. I write these posts very early in the day, and if something has been neglected, I assure you it’s not on purpose and I’m happy to correct any and all oversights.

Thanks for reading and happy shopping. Support local record stores.

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