Italian trio Bottomless make their self-titled debut July 16 through Spikerot Records. Oh, it’s doomy. Classic doom. Doom schooled in the ways of doom. Comprised in the CD version of 10 tracks running a total of 46 minutes, the collection does not dissemble and gets right to business with the post-Saint Vitus rollout of opener “Monastery,” guitarist/vocalist Giorgio Trombino going all-in on the Reagers-style vocals. Cuts like the subsequent “Centuries Asleep” have a bit more boogie and the title-track or the later “Loveless Reign” nod toward The Obsessed while the shove of “Losing Shape” vibes deep in Pentagram, but one way or another, it all comes back to pure doom, with Trombino, bassist Sara Bianchin and drummer David Lucido offering more than referential reverence in their progressions, but still speaking most to an audience of the genre-converted. In another time, another place, it’s easy to imagine their logo on any number of Doom Over…-style festival posters. They may yet get there.
Trombino and Lucido have played together in a number of outfits as you can read below, and Bianchin is perhaps best known for her work in Messa, so maybe their cohesion around the central idea of Bottomless — that is, dooom, with three ‘o’s and all — shouldn’t be a surprise, but it is righteous. Listening to LP-centerpiece “Ash” lumber across its first half before an “alright!” from Trombino signals the tempo shift in its second is to hear worship expressed as persona. Like their cover art works off of Henri-Joseph Harpignies’ painting Lever de Lune sur un Étang — yes, I was given that info; that’s not a pick I made off the top of my head and I won’t pretend otherwise — so too is their aesthetic born of established methods but presented in sincere, back-to-the-roots fashion, and what once made Reverend Bizarre‘s work so purposeful resonates too in “Vestige” here in a sense that richness of sound means more than just subsuming oneself in microgenre for its own sake. They knock on your door. You answer. They hold up the pamphlet comprised entirely of killer riffs and nodding grooves. On the front, you read the words, “Is there room for doom in your heart?”
Almost certainly there is.
And just as the resounding push in “Cradling Obsession” is sure to enact a satisfied metal-frown even unto its fading solo and the arrival of the bonus track “Hell Vacation,” so too does the earlier “Centuries Asleep” speak to the core of what makes doom doomed. The band cites a ’70s influence, calling out the Tony Iommi-produced Necromandus as well as underrated Scots Iron Claw, and fair enough, but if you’re wondering what makes it lead-single-ready, it’s the hook and the fullness of its sound that’s doing the heavy lifting here, as well as the bleeding-black sneering vocal from Trombino. Fucking a.
Ahead of the album’s release this summer, still about two months off, you can stream a lyric video for “Centuries Asleep” premiering below, followed by a few words from the band about it, preorder link, album info, etc.
Doom on:
Bottomless, “Centuries Asleep” lyric video premiere
Bottomless on “Centuries Asleep”:
This particular song strikes closest to our vision of 70s dark and doomed rock. Iron Claw, Necromandus: you name ’em. We try to write rock songs, first and foremost, and they gotta have that structure and feel otherwise it’s plain musical failure. It’s about a vision of an ever still and dangerous world.
Bottomless is our vehicle to express a love that never dies, i.e. that for the most threatening, Sabbathic form of slow heavy metal we could ever come up with. There’s no room for anything but our influences inside this project. That being said, our first album is the materialization of our vision.
Preorder:https://smarturl.it/bottomless Set for release on July 16th 2021 and featuring members of well known acts like Messa, Assumption and more, BOTTOMLESS will stir up the scene with their upcoming debut album, to be released this summer via Spikerot Records! Consisting of guitarist/singer Giorgio Trombino and drummer David Lucido (together in Assumption, Undead Creep, Haemophagus, Morbo and more) and joined by Sara Bianchin (Messa, Restos Humanos) in 2018 on bass, a constantly demanding musical schedule has forced the trio to keep postponing the recording and release of their first-full length album for years, yet, in 2021, it is finally about to come to life. BOTTOMLESS’ first self-titled record will be coming out on CD, LP and digital and features nothing but unadulterated Doom Metal in the vein of the ancient masters Black Sabbath, Saint Vitus, Pentagram, Trouble and The Obsessed!
BOTTOMLESS’ s/t debut will be coming out July 16th on Spikerot Records and is now available for pre-order here:http://smarturl.it/bottomless
Posted in Whathaveyou on February 16th, 2021 by JJ Koczan
Not much to tell at this point about Bottomless. If it helps, one suspects their moniker derives from some endless doomly abyss — be it actual, metaphorical or emotional — rather than simply having no pants on, though in the age of waist-up videoconferencing, perhaps it’s best not to take anything for granted.
A social media presence for the Italian trio would seem to have emerged just before the announcement that they’ve signed to Spikerot Records went out, though they’ve most likely been working on the QT for longer, since they’ll issue a full-length already later this year. I don’t know the status of any recording or progress, and there isn’t even a demo posted that I could find — which should only tell you that, yes, there probably is, and most likely it’s ridiculously easy to find — but it’ll be along when it comes along. The personnel here caught my eye, and of course Spikerot has shown they know what they’re doing on multiple occasions at this point. One can hardly argue with the mission as it’s presented here. For the rest, we’ll see I guess.
To the PR wire:
BOTTOMLESS (feat. members of Assumption, Messa, Haemophagus) signs to Spikerot Records!
Spikerot Records is extremely stoked to announce the signing of BOTTOMLESS, the brand new project formed by Giorgio Trombino and David Lucido, respectively guitar/vocals and drums (together in Assumption, Undead Creep, Haemophagus, Morbo and others) and by Sara Bianchin (Messa, Restos Humanos) on bass.
BOTTOMLESS play nothing but unadulterated Doom Metal in the vein of the ancient masters Black Sabbath, Saint Vitus, Pentagram, Trouble, The Obsessed.
“Bottomless is our vehicle to express a love that never dies, i.e. that for the most threatening, Sabbathic form of slow heavy metal we could ever come up with” says Trombino. “There’s no room for anything but our influences inside this project. That being said, our first album is the materialization of our vision. We thank Spikerot for believing in Bottomless since the very start. There is no end…”.
The trio’s first self-titled record is expected to be released in late 2021 via Spikerot Records on CD, LP and Digital.
BOTTOMLESS are: Giorgio Trombino – Guitar / Vocals Sara Bianchin – Bass David Lucido – Drums
Posted in Reviews on December 22nd, 2020 by JJ Koczan
I just decided how long this Quarterly Review is actually going to be. It’s seven days, then I’ll do my year-end list and the poll results on New Year’s Eve and Day, respectively. That’s the plan. Though honestly, I might pick up after that weekend and continue QR-style for that next week. There’s a lot more to cover, I think. The amount of releases this year has been pretty insane and completely overwhelming. I’ve tried to keep up as best I can and clearly have failed in that regard or I probably wouldn’t be so swamped now. So it goes. One way or the other, I don’t think a lot of emails are getting answered for the next two weeks, though I’ll try to keep up with that too.
But anyhow, that’s what’s up. Here’s Day II (because this is the QR where I do Roman numerals for absolutely no reason).
Quarterly Review #11-20:
16, Dream Squasher
The fourth long-player since 16‘s studio return with 2009’s Bridges to Burn, the 10-track Dream Squasher begins with tales of love for kid and dog, respectively. The latter might be the sweetest lyrics I’ve ever read for something that’s still bludgeoning sludge — said dog also gets a mention amid the ultra-lumbering chug and samples of “Acid Tongue” — and it’s worth mentioning that as the Cali intensity institution nears 30 years since their start in 1991, they’re branching out in theme and craft alike, as the melody of the organ-laced “Sadlands” shows. There’s even some harmonica in “Agora (Killed by a Mountain Lion),” though it’s soon enough swallowed by pummel and the violent punk of “Ride the Waves” follows. “Summer of ’96” plays off Bryan Adams for another bit of familial love, while closing duo “Screw Unto Others” and “Kissing the Choir Boy” indict capitalist and religious figureheads in succession amid weighted plod and seething anger, the band oddly in their element in this meld of ups, downs and slaughter.
Kalamazoo four-piece BoneHawk make an awaited follow-up to their 2014 debut, Albino Rhino (discussed here), in the form of Iron Mountain, thereby reminding listeners why it’s been awaited in the first place. Solid, dual-guitar, newer-school post-The Sword heavy rock. Second cut “Summit Fever” reminds a bit of Valley of the Sun and Freedom Hawk, but neither is a bad echelon of acts to stand among, and the open melodies of the subsequent title-track and the later “Fire Lake” do much to distinguish BoneHawk along the way. The winding lead lines of centerpiece “Wildfire” offer due drama in their apex, and “Thunder Child” and “Future Mind” are both catchy enough to keep momentum rolling into the eight-minute closer “Lake of the Clouds,” which caps with due breadth and, yes, is the second song on the record about a lake. That’s how they do in Michigan and that’s just fine.
DÖ follow the Valborg example of lumbering barking extremity into a cosmic abyss on their Black Hole Mass three-songer, emitting charred roll like it’s interstellar background radiation and still managing to give an underlying sense of structure to proceedings vast and encompassing. “Gravity Sacrifice” and “Plasma “Psalm” are right on in their teeth-grinding shove, but it’s the 10-minute finale “Radiation Blessing” that steals my heart with its trippy break in the middle, sample, drifting guitar and all, as the Finnish trio build gradually back up to a massive march all the more effective for the atmosphere they’ve constructed around it. Construction, as it happens, is the underlying strength of Black Hole Mass, since it’s the firm sense of structure beneath their songs that allows them to so ably engage their dark matter metal over the course of these 22 minutes, but it’s done so smoothly one hardly thinks about it while listening. Instead, the best thing to do is go along for the ride, brief as it is, or at least bow head in appreciation to the ceremony as it trods across rigid stylistic dogma.
Howling Giant & Sergeant Thunderhoof, Turned to Stone Chapter 2: Masamune & Muramasa
Let this be a lesson to, well, everyone. This is how you do a conceptual split. Two bands getting together around a central idea — in this case, Tennessee’s Howling Giant and UK’s Sergeant Thunderhoof — both composing single tracks long enough to consume a vinyl side and expanding their reach not only to work with each other but further their own progressive sonic ideologies. Ripple Music‘s Turned to Stone split series is going to have a tough one to top in Masamune & Muramasa, as Howling Giant utterly shine in “Masamune” and the rougher-hewn tonality of Sergeant Thunderhoof‘s “Maramasa” makes an exceptional complement. Running about 41 minutes, the release is a journey through dynamic, with each act pushing their songwriting beyond prior limits in order to meet the occasion head-on and in grand fashion. They do, and the split easily stands among the best of 2020’s short releases as a result. If you want to hear where heavy rock is going, look no further.
Punkish shouts over dense noise rock tones, New York trio Chimney Creeps make their full-length debut with Nosedive, which they’ve self-released on vinyl. The album runs through seven tracks, and once it gets through the straight-ahead heavy punk of “March of the Creeps” and “Head in the Sand” at the outset, the palette begins to broaden in the fuzzy and gruff “Unholy Cow,” with the deceptively catchy “Splinter” following. “Creeper” and “Satisfied” before it are longer and accordingly more atmospheric, with a truck-backing-up sample at the start of “Creeper” that would seem to remind listeners just where the band’s sound has put them: out back, around the loading dock. Fair enough as “Diving Line” wraps in accordingly workmanlike fashion, the vocals cutting through clearly as they have all the while, prominent in the mix in a way that asks for balance. “Bright” I believe is the word an engineer might use, but the vocals stand out, is the bottom line, and thereby assure that the aggressive stance of the band comes across as more than a put-on.
Kingnomad‘s third album, Sagan Om Rymden certainly wants nothing for scope or ambition, setting its progressive tone with still-hooky opener “Omniverse,” before unfurling the more patient chug in “Small Beginnings” and taking on such weighted (anti-)matter as “Multiverse” and “The Creation Hymn” and “The Unanswered Question” later on. Along the way, the Swedish troupe nod at Ghost-style melodicism, Graveyard-ish heavy blues boogie — in “The Omega Experiment,” no less — progressive, psychedelic and heavy rocks and no less than the cosmos itself, as the Carl Sagan reference in the record’s title seems to inform the space-based mythology expressed and solidified within the songs. Even the acoustic-led interlude-plus “The Fermi Paradox” finds room to harmonize vocals and prove a massive step forward for the band. 2018’s The Great Nothing (review here) and 2017’s debut, Mapping the Inner Void (review here), were each more accomplished than the last, but Sagan Om Rymden is just a different level. It puts Kingnomad in a different class of band.
Shores of Null, Beyond the Shores (On Death and Dying)
By the time Shores of Null are nine minutes into the single 38-minute track that makes up their third album, Beyond the Shores (On Death and Dying), they would seem to have unveiled at least four of the five vocalists who appear throughout the proceedings, with the band’s own Davide Straccione joined by Swallow the Sun‘s Mikko Kotamäki as well as Thomas A.G. Jensen (Saturnus), Martina Lesley Guidi (of Rome’s Traffic Club) and Elisabetta Marchetti (INNO). There are guests on violin, piano and double-bass as well, so the very least one might say is that Shores of Null aren’t kidding around when they’re talking about this record in a sense of being ‘beyond’ themselves. The journey isn’t hindered so much as bolstered by the ambition, however, and the core five-piece maintain a steady presence throughout, serving collectively as the uniting factor as “Beyond the Shores (On Death and Dying)” moves through its portrayal of the stages of grief in according movements of songcraft, gorgeously-arranged and richly composed as they are as they head toward the final storm. In what’s been an exceptional year for death-doom, Shores of Null still stand out for the work they’ve done.
Tectonic sludge has become a mainstay in Polish heavy, and The Device, about whom precious little is known other than they’re very, very, very heavy when they want to be, add welcome atmospherics to the lumbering weedian procession. “Rise of the Device” begins the 47-minute Tribute Album in crushing form, but “Ritual” and the first minute or so of “BongOver” space out with droney minimalism, before the latter track — the centerpiece of the five-songer and only cut under six minutes long at 2:42 — explodes in consuming lurch. “Indica” plays out this structure again over a longer stretch, capping with birdsong and whispers and noise after quiet guitar and hypnotic, weighted riffing have played back and forth, but it’s in the 23-minute closer “Exhale” that the band finds their purpose, a live-sounding final jam picking up after a long droning stretch to finish the record with a groove that, indeed, feels like a release in the playing and the hearing. Someone’s speaking at the end but the words are obscured by echo, and to be sure, The Device have gotten their point across by then anyhow. The stark divisions between loud and quiet on Tribute Album are interesting, as well as what the band might do to cover the in-between going forward.
Spanish progressive heavy psychedelic semi-instrumentalists Domo follow late-2019’s Domonautas Vol. 1 (review here) with a four-song second installment, and Domonautas Vol. 2 answers its predecessor back with the jazz-into-doom of “Avasaxa” (7:43) and the meditation in “Dolmen” (13:50) on side A, and the quick intro-to-the-intro “El Altar” (2:06) and the 15-minute “Vientohalcón” on side B, each piece working with its own sense of motion and its own feeling of progression from one movement to the next, never rushed, never overly patient, but smooth and organic in execution even in its most active or heaviest stretches. The two most extended pieces offer particular joys, but neither should one discount the quirky rhythm at the outset of “Avasaxa” or the dramatic turn it makes just before five minutes in from meandering guitar noodling to plodding riffery, if only because it sounds like Domo are having so much fun catching the listener off guard. Exactly as they should be.
Doom be thy name. Or, I guess Early Moods be thy name, but doom definitely be thy game. The Los Angeles four-piece make their debut with the 26-minute Spellbound, and I suppose it’s an EP, but the raw Pentagram worship on display in the opening title-track and the Sabbath-ism that ensues flows easy and comes through with enough sincerity of purpose that if the band wanted to call it a full-length, one could hardly argue. Guitar heads will note the unbridled scorch of the solos throughout — centerpiece “Isolated” moves from one into a slow-Slayer riff that’s somehow also Candlemass, which is a feat in itself — while “Desire” rumbles with low-end distortion that calls to mind Entombed even as the vocals over top are almost pure Witchcraft. They save the most engaging melody for the finale “Living Hell,” but even that’s plenty grim and suited to its accompanying dirt-caked feel. Rough in production, but not lacking clarity, Spellbound entices and hints at things to come, but has a barebones appeal all its own as well.
The ongoing nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, the varied responses of publics and governments worldwide, and the disruption to lives and livelihoods has reached a scale that is unprecedented. Whatever the month or the month after or the future itself brings, more than one generation will bear the mark of having lived through this time, and art, artists, and those who provide the support system to help uphold them have all been affected.
In continuing the Days of Rona feature, it remains pivotal to give a varied human perspective on these events and these responses. It is important to remind ourselves that whether someone is devastated or untouched, sick or well, we are all thinking, feeling people with lives we want to live again, whatever renewed shape they might take from this point onward. We all have to embrace a new normal. What will that be and how will we get there?
Thanks to all who participate. To read all the Days of Rona coverage, click here. — JJ Koczan
Days of Rona: Davide Straccione of Shores of Null, Spikerot Records, Tube Cult Fest, etc. (Pescara, Italy)
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How have you been you dealing with this crisis as a band? As an individual? What effect has it had on your plans or creative processes?
When the whole situation went haywire in Italy, at the end of February, I was driving the van for Mondo Generator on their European and UK tour. Nevertheless I was able to complete the tour and go back home safely around mid-March. I experienced live music until the very last minute possible, so I feel luckier than many others. Driving back home within a Country in lockdown was quite a shock. As for my bands, Zippo were on hold before and still are, the whole Covid-19 thing has just made things harder; on the other hand with Shores Of Null we managed to finish the recordings and mixing of our next album before the crisis.
2019 has been quite a busy year for me creative-wise, so I used the last couple of months to relax as much as I could, listen to music, watch movies and catching up with pending stuff. I also run a small label called Spikerot Records and although it’s a tough moment for the industry in general, there are still people buying records luckily. And of course I’ve been forced to cancel/postpone the two festivals I’m involved with: Tube Cult Fest and Frantic Fest.
How do you feel about the public response to the outbreak where you are? From the government response to the people around you, what have you seen and heard from others?
In the region where I live in Central Italy there are always less cases of Covid-19 but the situation in other regions, especially in the northern area, is still pretty bad. Since May 4th it is possible to visit relatives, to go out for a walk or exercise, not just for groceries or emergencies like before. Everyone is wearing masks and we’re all getting used to this new normal. From May 18th there will be a further loosening of limitations with re-opening of bars, restaurants, hair/beauty salons, but they’ll be all subject to very strict regulations. Another important matter is whether people will be allowed to go to the beach, and there will be regulations there too; I’m not a beach person myself but for most people it matters, especially in summer.
Government response is not pleasing everyone, what we know is that we’re living something totally unprecedented and it’s too early to say who’s right or wrong. I sometimes talk to friends all over the world, some have more freedom than others but in the end I only hope we’ll get through this.
What do you think of how the music community specifically has responded? How do you feel during this time? Are you inspired? Discouraged? Bored? Any and all of it?
Definitely not bored, spending time with myself and my girlfriend was something I really missed and I’m doing things that normal schedules wouldn’t allow. I’m fully convinced hard times always teach us something, and music community always comes together one way or another, even without concerts or festivals. They’ll come back, but please don’t tell me about drive-in concerts. I’d prefer one year without shows than a drive-in concert.
What is the one thing you want people to know about your situation, either as a band, or personally, or anything? What is your new normal? What have you learned from this experience, about yourself, your band, or anything?
Support bands and underground labels as much as you can, we all know there are more important things to take care of, but if you have the possibility, just do it. We’re all struggling here but we all want to keep doing what we love. With Spikerot Records we’ve released the new albums of two amazing doom bands before this mess and I recommend you to check them out:
Posted in audiObelisk on December 18th, 2019 by JJ Koczan
Italian atmosludge extremists Zolfo will release their debut album, Delusion of Negation, on Jan. 24 via Spikerot Records. More idyllic settings than the band’s hometown of Bari, on the coast of the Italian southern peninsula — the heel of the boot, as it were — are hard to come by in Europe, with buildings that look like they were carved by nature rather than man, clear water off the shore and beaches the mere sight of which makes for immediate escapist fantasies. And yet, Zolfo‘s Delusion of Negation is marked with a sense of dread and abrasive malaise, a work of noise-soaked sludge disaffection based not around the joy its surroundings might produce in the tourism trade, but a deep-running swarm of punishing caustic assault in the vein of a more riff-based Primitive Man. Following the sub-three-minute scathe-drone intro “Neural Worm,” “Inner Freeze” (7:17) unfolds with a ready declaration of the miseries to be displayed across the remainder of the album’s five-track/49-minute lurch. Perhaps the centerpiece title “Existential Prolapse” is the best summary of Zolfo‘s sound. It is an expulsion of bone as well as a spilling gut, of being as much as physicality — all the more so at the song’s maddening conclusion.
Delusion of Negation is a record that, yes, is deafeningly weighted in a post-sludge fashion, but it’s not necessarily uncontrolled. The five-piece consciously bring the listener into their material’s depths with each concurrent song, even as the outward impression they seem to be wanting to make is one of repugnance. “Inner Freeze” isn’t without some melody in its midsection, grim and followed by crawling lumber and death-growls though it is, and before its cacophonous payoff, “Existential Prolapse” offers plenty of atmosphere and even a Sleep-style riff earlier on to go with all its aural flaying. Tellingly though, that song is 10:36, and it leads into the title-track and closer “The Deepest Abyss,” both of which top 14 minutes, thereby comprising more than half the album’s runtime between them. And the sense of destination as one moves through the gradual and of-burgeoning-patience “Delusion of Negation” and into the more ambient “The Deepest Abyss” is right there in the name. Zolfo are bringing the listener to a very specific place, and that place is intended to be as low as humanly possible. With a direct bleed from the ending of “Delusion of Negation” before it, “The Deepest Abyss” feels no less accurate in its self-description than did “Inner Freeze” or “Existential Prolapse,” unfolding on an long, ambient and linear path to a searing conclusive wash, nigh on claustrophobic as it is.
Forceful in its intent and destructive seemingly unto itself as well as anything in its path, Delusion of Negation is not by any means subtle in its execution or overarching purpose, but it nonetheless offers as much breadth as crush, and thereby proves all the more fascinating than it might at first appear. As a first taste, “Inner Freeze” can be heard premiering below, and though it doesn’t tell the entire story of the album, even on its own it carries that sense of bringing — dragging? — those who’d take it on down toward that eventual abyss.
Huge riffs and loud amps proceed hand in hand with the slow-paced yet unmerciful drumming while the vocal delivery is harsh as hell, non-human at times.
After releasing their well received debut EP „Phosphene/Floaters“ in 2017, Italy’s doom heavyweights ZOLFO are about to release their first full length album „Delusion of Negation“, a crushing wall of sound now waiting to get unleashed by powerhouse label Spikerot Records! If you are into heavy tunes as Iron Monkey, Ufomammut, Bongzilla and alike, this is definitely a release not to be missed in early 2020!
Or to keep it in the words of ZOLFO: “Our firstborn represents for us an essential point of balance between the many artistic and musical entities that dwell within the band’s core, brought into our sound by each member’s previous experiences. ‘Delusion Of Negation’ is a warning for the future that urges us to experiment and evolve what we are. It’s not everyday you find insiders with the same passion and dedication as our friends at Spikerot Records, and for this reason releasing our first work with them is going to be truly gratifying.”
TRACKLIST: 1. Neural Worm 2. Inner Freeze 3. Existential Prolapse 4. Delusion Of Negation 5. The Deepest Abyss
ZOLFO is: Dave – Vocals Nicolò – Guitars Fabrizio – Guitars Saverio – Bass Piero – Drums
Posted in audiObelisk on October 30th, 2019 by JJ Koczan
Business is getting nastier in Napoli. Since Italy’s NAGA released their self-titled debut EP in 2013, their trajectory has consistently been a downward spiral — atmospherically speaking, not in terms of the quality of their output — into an inflicted and charred morass of grim post-sludge. As was manifest on 2014’s HEN (review here) and its 2016 Lay Bare Recordings-issued follow-up, Inanimate, the trio have only grown darker as they’ve moved forward into this realm of intended extremity, and their latest manifestation, the six-song/44-minute Spikerot release, Void Cult Rising, takes cues from spacious black metal on opener “Only a God Can’t Save Us” and uses them as a foundation from which to conjure post-metallic ambience in pieces like “Melete” and “Thanatou” — the latter serving as their “Stones from the Sky”-moment; can’t be post-metal without one — while keeping the bite in the screaming vocals of guitarist Lorenzo De Stefano. Through a lumbering churner like “Bedim the Sun” and higher-register-tension-into-utter-noise-wash of the penultimate “Pyre,” NAGA demonstrate the willfulness of their creativity and the purpose of their aesthetic evolution, the progressive mindset that’s brought them to the near-lightless place they now reside.
Void Cult Rising is the kind of album that reviewers plaster with hyperbolic warnings about not being “for the faint of heart,” and while I’ll spare you that — adding as I do that I hope this post finds you in good health generally; thanks for reading — it’s nonetheless true that anything so extreme is going to be all the more select in who can approach it on its own merits. If you can’t get down with vocal scathe, you might not find your place in NAGA‘s void cult — which, given the progression of the 14-minute title-track that closes, seems all the more like their very own incarnation of Amenra‘s “church of Ra” — and that seems just fine by the band. Clearly their exploration is about more than locking in maximum audience appreciation or they’d be a pop band. As it stands, Void Cult Rising is the most outwardly heavy and the most intentionally brutal thing they’ve done, as De Stefano, bassist Emanuele and drummer Dario — all three of whom have been on board since the debut EP — find sense in what to so many no doubt sounds like pure chaos. It isn’t, in fact, chaotic. It’s thought out, rife with expressive drive and uncompromising force.
As they move through the last march and noise-soaked abrasion of the title-track, with the song finally tearing itself apart past 11 minutes in en route to a long fadeout of static and feedback and other residual sounds, NAGA come across like they’re letting go into the void in question, but even giving that impression is a purposeful drive on the part of the band. Void Cult Rising is full of these kinds of realizations, and whichever end to which a given song might tip the balance of their aesthetic between post-metal, black metal, doom or sludge, the fact remains that all of it feeds into the central identity that becomes NAGA‘s own by the time they’re done. A third album, traditionally, is where a band finds the path that they’ll continue to talk as they go forward (those that do), and NAGA could certainly do a lot worse in terms of direction, but they don’t at all seem like they’re finished pushing themselves into new territory either, and that’s just as much a part of who they are as any individual riff, scream or crash presented here. They may be cohesive and sure of what they’re doing, but they by no means come across as settled or ready to settle. No. They’ll try to outdo this, and given the places Void Cult Rising seems willing to go, they just might do it.
You can watch/listen to the premiere of “Thanatou” below, followed by a quote from De Stefano about the song and more PR wire background, including the preorder link for Void Cult Rising, which is out Nov. 15 on Spikerot Records.
Enjoy:
NAGA, “Thanatou” official track premiere
Singer/guitarist Lorenzo De Stefano on “Thanatou”:
“‘Thanatou’ is part of the climax of Void Cult Rising and represents together with ‘Melete’ one of its most intense passages. In general the album is a meditation on death (melete thanatou for the ancient Greeks) given by a series of events in our lives that have left a mark in this regard and therefore inspired most of my lyrics. ‘Thanatou’ wants to depict a soliloquy of a dying man forced to be silent, he can hear his beloved ones around him but can’t express what he feels because of a sensory dulling, and he let himself go in a consideration on the human finitude, on his own life, in the inability to rely on any transcendence whatsoever. Toward the end there’s a quote from a Eugenio Montale verse that I’ve always loved: ‘Yet it remains that something has happened, perhaps nothing that is everything,’ which summarize in just a few words what I think remains of our lives from an atheistic point of view: the memory, nothing compared to eternity and yet for us all that matters.”
Italian Blackened Doom monster NAGA is ready to make their comeback in November with a new obscure effort called ‘Void Cult Rising’ following up the fortunate ‘Hen’ and ‘Inanimate’. Deeply grounded in the sulphurean atmosphere of their land, their aim is to deliver the biggest amount of distortion, heaviness and nihilism to your ears. No concept, no bullshits, no happiness, just sound anger and frustration to exorcise and reflect the greyness and despair of contemporary world.
Using the words of frontman Lorenzo De Stefano”Void Cult Rising is a meditation on death from a personal perspective, like for example losing someone dear, but also a global one like the end of all things”.
The Naples-based three-piece pick up where they left off, shaping a masterpiece of grief and nihilism.
Void Cult Rising will be coming out November 15th via Spikerot Records and is now available for pre-order RIGHT HERE
NAGA is: Lorenzo – (Vocals and guitar) Emanuele – (Bass) Dario – (Drums)
Posted in Whathaveyou on October 28th, 2019 by JJ Koczan
I’m not entirely sure what Italian sludgers Zolfo are going for in titling their album Delusion of Negation, in terms of what that means or is intended to signify, but hey, I like phonetics, so what the hell. The full-length will serve as their debut, and it’s been newly announced that countryman imprint Spikerot Records will stand behind the release. That’s a good vote of confidence for the five-piece, who issued the Phosphene/Floaters two-tracker in 2017 that you can hear below and with it offered no shortage of brutalist riffing. It won’t take you long to get where they’re coming from, but that hardly makes the experience less enjoyable, you know, as much as it’s meant to be enjoyable in the first place.
Pummel pummel pummel and whatnot.
No real details on the record yet, but the announcement of the January release through Spikerot arrived thusly from the PR wire:
Doom Metal unit ZOLFO sign to Spikerot Records!
New album “Delusion Of Negation” to be released in January 2020
Italy’s Doom underworld is somewhat fervent environment lately and ZOLFO has rightfully earned a place in such realm.
Spikerot Records is stoked to announce the signing of the Apulian Sludge/Doom-mongers for the release of their debut album ‘Delusion Of Negation’, due in January 2020. As the monicker suggests – it’s the Italian for “Sulfur” – the band evokes a smoking creature that will utterly please fans of Ufomammut, Yob and Bongzilla alike. Huge riffs and loud amps proceed hand in hand with the slow-paced yet unmerciful drumming while the vocal delivery is harsh as hell, non-human at times.
The band has stated: “Our firstborn represents for us an essential point of balance between the many artistic and musical entities that dwell within the band’s core, brought into our sound by each member’s previous experiences. ‘Delusion Of Negation’ is a warning for the future that urges us to experiment and evolve what we are. It’s not everyday you find insiders with the same passion and dedication as our friends at Spikerot Records, and for this reason releasing our first work with them is going to be truly gratifying.”
While waiting for this beast of an album, you can listen to a couple of older songs on their Bandcamp profile, a great foretaste of what’s to come!
ZOLFO is: Dave – Vocals Nicolò – Guitars Fabrizio – Guitars Saverio – Bass Piero – Drums
Posted in audiObelisk on September 6th, 2019 by JJ Koczan
Today, Sept. 6, marks the arrival of the new split tape from Canadian and Italian outfits Chron Goblin and Isaak. Issued name-your-price through Spikerot Records in a soon-to-be-gone limited edition of only 100 tapes, the offering features one track from each band, each representing something different from them. To wit, Chron Goblin are about to put out their fourth album, Here Before (track premiere here), on Sept. 27 through Grand Hand Records. Isaak, meanwhile, were last heard from with 2015’s Sermonize (review here) on Heavy Psych Sounds. The Chron Goblin track, “Signs,” however, was recorded in 2015 at the same session as their third album, Backwater (review here). The Isaak song, “Taste,” was tracked at the end of last year. So the split arises from some pretty complex circumstances. For one band, it represents a chance to showcase something older as they move onto something newer, and for the other, it marks a return after a few years’ absence from the studio, a kind of refresher for their audience and a reminder of what they do as a group. It’s a fair amount of context to pack into an eight-minute release.
Fortunately, in listening to “Signs” and “Taste,” there’s plenty to dig into for those who’d otherwise, you know, just want to listen to some previously unheard material. Chron Goblin begin with a bit of amp noise and are all-go, soon enough launching into a Roadsaw-style verse that careens through a gang-shout hook en route to a winding slowdown and bluesy solo in the second half. The key moment is when everything but the bass drops out and the nod takes full shape before dropping out to complete the efficient 4:25. Done. Flip tape. Chron Goblin are in and out of “Signs” with an assurance of songwriting that leaves little to wonder why they’d dig up the track four years after the fact and still find it relevant enough to release: because quality songcraft is always relevant.
Isaak‘s answer back in “Taste” by building up over the first minute-plus to finally unleashing a forceful pummel of a riff met with likewise burly vocals. They’ve never wanted for brashness, and “Taste” is no exception to this as the low-end takes central position tonally and they cycle through the verse again as though coming back out of the corner for round two. The tension they manifest turns in the third minute to a more straightforward pop of snare and seems to run a little more forward rather than circular, but the let’s-kick-ass-and-worry-about-the-rest-later vibe remains consistent. They too finish clean. Surprisingly so for having seemed to throw so much sonic mud around, but maybe after a few years it’s just a sense of relief to be back with new material at all. I won’t speculate as to what their plans are without knowing, but Isaak certainly sound like they still have plenty more to say, as they did on their last record too.
And for Chron Goblin, there’s already the advantage of knowing the direction they’d take after recording “Signs,” so yeah, it’s a bit of a different situation from one band to the other, but the bottom line is it’s two tracks of hard-edged heavy rock and roll marked out by zero pretense and an efficient delivery, pressed up to a limited tape that will likely sell out before it even lands on the merch table, so yeah, there’s really no way to lose here. Bonus to anyone who listens to the stream on a Walkman.
Chron Goblin – Signs Recorded and mixed by Adam Pike at Toadhouse Studios in Portland, OR in February, 2015 Mastered by Stephan Hawkes at Interlace Audio
Listening to LP-centerpiece “Ash” lumber across its first half before an “alright!” from Trombino signals the tempo shift in its second is to hear worship expressed as persona. Like their cover art works off of Henri-Joseph Harpignies’ painting Lever de Lune sur un Étang — yes, I was given that info; that’s not a pick I made off the top of my head and I won’t pretend otherwise — so too is their aesthetic born of established methods but presented in sincere, back-to-the-roots fashion, and what once made Reverend Bizarre‘s work so purposeful resonates too in “Vestige” here in a sense that richness of sound means more than just subsuming oneself in microgenre for its own sake. They knock on your door. You answer. They hold up the pamphlet comprised entirely of killer riffs and nodding grooves. On the front, you read the words, “Is there room for doom in your heart?”
