At the Fest Grounds

Rain’s back on early in the day. I forewent Doom Yoga and hotel breakfast in favor of sleeping an extra hour. Time will tell on that choice. My head is swimming in last-day logistics; how I’m getting back to the hotel tonight, how and when I’m getting to Frankfurt Airport tomorrow, on and on. So yes, wet and scatterbrained. One or the other would be enough on its own. Poncho may yet make an appearance.

A few people have asked how my mother is doing. First, thank you for reading. I feel like I’ve transposed the haphazardly way this trip ended up being undertaken onto a kind of overarching mania of the experience, but one way or the other, it’s still restorative. She’s recovering from having her knee replaced on Wednesday, is walking, had started physical therapy. These things are months in the healing, but she’s strong and inspiring.

Though it shows little sign of it at the moment, the rain is supposed to stop this afternoon. We’ll see. I was sitting before the start of the show in the smoking tent; the wafting of joint smoke inexplicably cut with tobacco as is the method. Not my thing. I barely had the batteries in the camera when Volker took the stage and it was time to roll, so take that, last-day blues. Good thing my new Freak Valley hoodie is warm.

Sorry in advance for the typos.

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Splinter

Thank you to Splinter for being the day’s reminder that everything’s okay when the music starts. The Netherlands based classic-heavy four-piece fronted by Douwe Truijens had the Hammond, the boogie, enough sleaze in some of their lyrics to feel like a #metoo waiting to happen (looking at you, “Soviet Schoolgirl,” et al), but there’s no denying the life in their performance. Rain pouring down on the early crowd, Truijens was nonetheless on fire strutting and dancing around the stage with moves drawn from an arena-ready playbook, plus shorty-shorts for the last song because when you’re doing a thing, you go for it. They were tight in addition to putting on a show, and “Every Circus Needs a Clown” from last year’s Role Models (review here) was a highlight in presentation and from-speaker force to go with the conceptual foundation of what they do. That is to say, they’re a band with a plan. And that’s not a negative at all. The songs are catchy and uptempo, fun if you can get on board with euphemism, and it’s over-the-top in just the way it’s supposed to be. Echoing the energetic start of yesterday, pushing it further, Splinter made a field on a cold, rainy afternoon feel like a sweaty nightclub, and for that, one can only be grateful.

Gravy Jones

Uh oh, I think I might dig this band. Another full-size Hammond on stage, cult-ish, classic-ish riffy vibe. I recall digging the Norwegian four-piece’s 2018 debut, Funeral Pyre (review here), for the quirk it brought to genre tropes, but the apparently-don’t-do-this-all-the-time outfit were more cohesive on stage, solid in groove, hinting or maybe more with that organ toward retroist dark-boogie, and on point in the interplay of the keys and guitar. The bluesy but not caricature vocals specifically reminded me of Buffalo, but if Gravy Jones only want you for your body, they’re almost certainly nefarious in that intent. At least some of what they played was taken from an impending follow-up to Funeral Pyre, as was announced from the stage, and wherever/whenever, I take that as good news in terms of such a thing existing at all. Because I just might end up a fan of this band. You know how that happens? Hear a thing. “Oh that’s cool.” Six years pass. You see them. “Oh shit that’s cool.” It was kind of like that watching them close out with “Mountains of Madness.” If you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna go see if they’ve got anything going at the merch.

Deathchant

My prevailing impression of L.A.’s Deathchant holds firm from seeing them last August at SonicBlast in Portugal (review here), and to save you the time following that link, I’ll just say it’s thar they kick ass. Two guitars that can lean into Thin Lizzy harmonies or thrash out at will, doomly in the title-track of Thrones, which they released last Fall, but gnarly and ripping at any speed, it’s like they play both the Heavy and the Metal sides of heavy metal, but they’re not doing some bullshit disaffected-white-dude aggro thing either. They get on stage, hit it, and groove with tonal presence regardless of a given part’s intensity, drawing from metal and rock on the way, charged and precise, but not so clear in sound as to lose their edge. Perhaps they’re subject to the perils of the band in-between, when it comes to style: too metal for some rockers, too rock for some metallers, but shit, I like bands who don’t fit (also bands who do; in no way does it have to be one or the other, remember), and they played a yet-untitled shouty new song and decided on the spot to call it “Freak Valley.” It ruled and I hope they keep the name. They should probably also have six or seven live records out by now, by rights. I’ll hope to see them again at Desertfest New York later this year.

Mouth

It didn’t take Mouth long to reroute the momentum from Deathchant’s raw Motõrheaded thrust to suit their proggier psychedelic purposes, and the sun came out for them, which can only be called appropriate. I did some liner notes recently for their Vortex Redux semi-reissue LP, and well, I’ll tell you truly, they’re not a band I ever really expected to see live. I mean, it’s a universe of infinite possibility, right? So a thing always could happen, but that doesn’t mean it will. And they were so much fun. Into the music, not trying to convince you that being on stage and playing their songs isn’t the most fun thing in the world. A positive vibe, energy front to back. There was one point where guitarist/vocalist Christian Koller went on his back on the stage while playing a solo and all I could think about was how much of John Dwyer’s dried-up spit from last night must be on there, but beyond that, not a worry in the world while watching them, and their affinities for ’60s psych, ’70s prog and multiple eras of heavy rock came through with poise and passion alike. The keyboard and snare jabs in “Into the Lines” and the slew of builds throughout were exciting and well crafted, and they put everything they had into the show. They weren’t a surprise for me, but it’s kind of a relief sometimes when you see a band you’ve followed for a while and they validate the reasons you liked them in the first place. Mouth did that and improved the weather. That’s a high point in any day.

Black River Delta

Swedish mellow heavy blues rock. Oldschool in ideology, modern in tone. It always takes me a second to stop listening for the stoner to show up when Freak Valley breaks out the bluesier stuff, but Black River Delta did well in the dinnertime slot. And immediately upon thinking of it as that, I realized I was starving. No goulash, but a vegan curry — no I’m not vegan, but probably should be, not the least because it would allow me to subsist exclusively on a variety of homeground nut butters — was the thing. Green beans, carrots, broccoli, onions and peppers of course, but most crucially there were four — yes, I counted, it was four — bites of cauliflower. Cauliflower! For upwards of six minutes while Black River Delta nestled into one comfortable flow after another, I found paradise. By the time another 15 minutes had passed, they’d be finished with their sharply composed and executed fare, delivered smoothly and suited to the style bringing together contemporary and classic as so many here have, but in their own way. And soon after that, the rain would start again, but since it was between bands and Black River Delta were so classy anyhow, I won’t hold it against them. It poured for a minute there, though.

Godsleep

And stopped doing so about 35 seconds after I ran away from the photo pit to get away from the deluge coming down from the roof overhang in front of the stage while Greece’s Godsleep were getting going. I was curious what series of circumstances brought a Rutgers football t-shirt into vocalist Amie Makris’ life — I got a MFA from Rutgers Newark, and my wife did her Ph.D. in New Brunswick; you don’t see a lot of Newjerseynalia in other countries [edit: I asked her later at the merch area and she said she got it from her sister] — but the shirt didn’t last much longer than the rain, and Godsleep’s material had so much push and sweep that the thought was in and out of my head like some kind of asshole who just flies in for the festival and then is gone. They slowed down a bit for the delightfully ’90s-reminiscent “Saturday,” which was a highlight of last Spring’s all-over-the-place-and-only-more-rad-for-it Lies to Survive (review here), but as that record will demonstrate, there’s no lack of variety in what they do regardless of tempo. Not being exclusively sad, slow and miserable, there are aspects of Godsleep’s aesthetic I can relate to more than others, but almost any in-genre boundary pushing is good news as far as I’m concerned, “Permanent Vacation” sort of bridges worlds between explosion-happens-now and more methodical whathaveyou. I found that their harsher moments were complement rather than contrast to the odd bit of desert riffing and sundry other lessons in kicking ass on display. Split LP with Ruff Majik post-haste, please. Both with some screaming, while I’m making requests. Dizzying but undizzied, intermittently furious, deceptively intricate, and rad. They finished by bringing it all back around to the riffs and were better than the veggie curry. Yup. That’s the review.

Speck

Mellow molten instrumentalism from Vienna trio Speck, whose expanses soothed with considerably more cosmic warmth than is offered by, say, actual space. It was my first time seeing the band, whose second album, Eine Gute Reise, came out last Fall, and it took them a while to get going, sure enough, but more, it took me a couple minutes to warm up to it, but all of a sudden I looked up and they were killing it. They’d continue to do so even as a torrential, bucket-style downpour took hold, adding another layer of soak to the already saturated everything and causing a scramble for shelter for some and a very pointed not-scramble from others, which I can respect. Rockpalast has a small tent set up outside the production truck backstage with a tv showing the livestream feed, right next to Lulu’s Garden, and I took advantage of that to wait out the deluge. It didn’t last — it couldn’t or it’d be Freak Lake Festival — but it was harder even than the rain before, and if you were caught in it, you know that’s saying something. I eventually made my way further back to sit someplace drier, but listened as Speck brought their set-long build to its payoff, and I couldn’t help but wonder if the livestream mics picked up the sound of the rain pounding down. If so, all the more reason they should make it into a live record. People mud-moshing like a hippie version of whatever Woodstock that was.

Amyl and the Sniffers

Thrills and such from brash, hard-hitting Aussie punk rockers Amyl and the Sniffers. When they were announced as a headliner, it kind of had me scratching my head, but obviously seeing them you get it in a different way. Their frontwoman, Amyl, came out in an overcoat and stripped it off to reveal her undies while singing a line I interpreted as “I like power,” so yes, if that’s what it was, then clearly. Not gonna take away from the statement or the volume that coincided, but on my coolest day I was never cool enough to be a punker, and today’s certainly not my coolest day. Still, can’t really argue with the ass kicking meted out, and after a certain point, loud groove is loud groove. They shouted out countrymen outfit C.O.F.F.I.N., who played the other day, which was nice, en route to the next onslaught. Rain stopped and started, as it has for most of the day.

I just kind of hung around and let both the noise and the water falling from the sky — because this planet is incredible and to our present knowledge completely unique in the universe in being able to support life and water is why and we treat it like shit; by the way I’m getting on a plane tomorrow morning, so I’m not indemnifying myself, rest assured; if you’re alive to read this you’re complicit there — wash over me while making the rounds saying a few quick goodbyes/hope-to-see-you-next-years. The harsh reality of needing to head to the airport early tomorrow has set in, so better to take care of that earlier than to feel bad about it later. There are a lot of very nice people here, and they are kind to me, and talk to me. I don’t have the kind of brain that always translates being happy to see someone into a smile on my face, but even if you just said hi this weekend, please know it was appreciated. I guess I’m saying goodnight there, too. Guess I got sidetracked talking about Amyl and the Sniffers. Okay.

Kadavar

The one and only. Because as many imitators as they’ve spawned, Kadavar on a level of their own. I knew to expect good things from their still-relatively-recent four-piece incarnation from seeing them play last summer at the aforementioned SonicBlast (review here), and god damn, they’re about as headliner as you get when they take the stage at something like this. They’ve been recording — for what, I don’t know, but I’ve got my hopes — rather than the old tour-tour-tour thing, while it was killer to hear Lupus Lindemann up on stage speak to the crowd in his (and most of their, I assume) native language. He, Tiger, Dragon and Jascha Kreft — last I checked, the ‘new guy’ hadn’t chosen a spirit animal — took the stage to defy the supposition that rock and roll has no more heroes, and while they’re a professional band putting on a show for an audience, on doing so, they throw down like no one else in this thing. “Doomsday Machine” into “Come Back Life” at the start? Come on. I hung around for a few songs, which was a choice facilitated by either the rain mostly stopping or my new Freak Valley hoodie just being soaked enough that I didn’t notice, then made my way out with more than a tinge of sadness at it being over, but secure in the knowledge I’ll see Kadavar again this summer, barring disaster, and as I arrived at the hotel after hailing a cab like the New York metro, throw-your-arm-out-just-at-the-right-time-to-catch-the-driver, it occurred to me to put on the Rockpalast stream. So I got to watch “I Fly Among the Stars” and so on that way. Scrolling back told me I missed “Black Sun” and the clap-along to “Die Baby Die” while in transit, which is a little sad, but I’m grateful for what I got.

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The same applies to the festival as a whole. I’m grateful for everything I saw and heard — whether it was in accord with my everyday listening habits or not — over the last three days, grateful to Jens for having me over, for Falk watching out for me in the photo pit, to Alex, Marcus, Jamie, and Basti for the rides, and to you for reading any of it if you did. As she often is concerning a wide variety of subjects, The Patient Mrs. was right to give me the push out the door I needed. Such as I’m a duck, I’m a lucky one.

If I have time, I’ll do kind of an epilogue tomorrow, if not, probably Friday, which is probably what I’d prefer to allow for a little actual-processing/distance. We’ll see. Either way, thank you again. More pics after the jump.

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Day two and no looking back. Yesterday was Monday and it was pretty tripped out. There’s some psych stuff here too, but we start out by digging deep into metal-rooted doom and it doesn’t get any less dudely through the first three records, let’s put it that way. But there’s more here than one style, microgengre, or gender expression can contain, and I invite you as you make your way through to approach not from a place of redundant chestbeating, but of celebrating a moment captured. In the cases of some of these releases, it’s a pretty special moment we’re talking about.

Places to go, things to hear. We march.

Quarterly Review #11-20:

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Primordial, How it Ends

Excuse me, ma’am. Do you have 66 minutes to talk about the end of the world? No? Nobody does? Well that’s kind of sad.

At 28 years’ remove from their first record, 1995’s Imrama, and now on their 10th full-length, Dublin’s Primordial are duly mournful across the 10 songs of How it Ends, which boasts the staring-at-a-bloodied-hillside-full-of-bodies after-battle mourning and oppression-defying lyricism and a style rooted in black metal and grown beyond it informed by Irish folk progressions but open enough to make a highlight of the build in “Death Holy Death” here. A more aggressive lean shows itself in “All Against All” just prior while “Pilgrimage to the World’s End” is brought to a wash of an apex with a high reach from vocalist Alan “A.A. Nemtheanga” Averill, who should be counted among metal’s all-time frontmen, ahead of the tension chugging in the beginning of “Nothing New Under the Sun.” And you know, for the most part, there isn’t. Most of what Primordial do on How it Ends, they’ve done before, and their central innovation in bridging extreme metal with folk traditionalism, is long behind them. How it Ends seems to dwell in some parts and be roiling in its immediacy elsewhere, and its grandiosities inherently will put some off just as they will bring some on, but Primordial continue to find clever ways to develop around their core approach, and How it Ends — if it is the end or it isn’t, for them or the world — harnesses that while also serving as a reminder of how much they own their sound.

Primordial on Facebook

Metal Blade Records website

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Patriarchs in Black, My Veneration

With a partner in drummer Johnny Kelly (Type O Negative, Danzig, etc.), guitarist/songwriter Dan Lorenzo (Hades, Vessel of Light, Cassius King, etc.) has found an outlet open to various ideas within the sphere of doom metal/rock in Patriarchs in Black, whose second LP, My Veneration, brings a cohort of guests on vocals and bass alongside the band’s core duo. Some, like Karl Agell (C.O.C. Blind) and bassist Dave Neabore (Dog Eat Dog), are returning parties from the project’s 2022 debut, Reach for the Scars, while Unida vocalist Mark Sunshine makes a highlight of “Show Them Your Power” early on. Sunshine appears on “Veneration” as well alongside DMC from Run DMC, which, if you’re going to do a rap-rock crossover, it probably makes sense to get a guy who was there the first time it happened. Elsewhere, “Non Defectum” toys with layering with Kelly Abe of Sicks Deep adding screams, and Paul Stanley impersonator Bob Jensen steps in for the KISS cover “I Stole Your Love” and the originals “Dead and Gone” and “Hallowed Be Her Name” so indeed, no shortage of variety. Tying it together? The riffs, of course. Lorenzo has shown an as-yet inexhaustible supply thereof. Here, they seem to power multiple bands all on one album.

Patriarchs in Black on Instagram

MDD Records website

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Blood Lightning, Blood Lightning

Just because it wasn’t a surprise doesn’t mean it’s not one of the best debut albums of 2023. Bringing together known parties from Boston’s heavy underground Jim Healey (We’re All Gonna Die, etc.), Doug Sherman (Gozu), Bob Maloney (Worshipper) and J.R. Roach (Sam Black Church), Blood Lightning want nothing for pedigree, and their Ripple-issued self-titled debut meets high expectations with vigor and thrash-born purpose. Sherman‘s style of riffing and Healey‘s soulful, belted-out vocals are both identifiable factors in cuts like “The Dying Starts” and the charging “Face Eater,” which works to find a bridge between heavy rock and classic, soaring metal. Their cover of Black Sabbath‘s “Disturbing the Priest,” included here as the last of the six songs on the 27-minute album, I seem to recall being at least part of the impetus for the band, but frankly, however they got there, I’m glad the project has been preserved. I don’t know if they will or won’t do anything else, but there’s potential in their metal/rock blend, which positions itself as oldschool but is more forward thinking than either genre can be on its own.

Blood Lightning on Facebook

Ripple Music website

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Haurun, Wilting Within

Based in Oakland and making their debut with the significant endorsement of Small Stone Records and Kozmik Artifactz behind them, atmospheric post-heavy rock five-piece Haurun tap into ethereal ambience and weighted fuzz in such a way as to raise memories of the time Black Math Horseman got picked up by Tee Pee. I don’t think that’s a coincidence. With notions of Acid King in the nodding, undulating riffs of “Abyss” and the later reaches of “Lost and Found,” but two guitars are a distinguishing factor, and Haurun come across as primarily concerned with mood, although the post-grunge ’90s alt hooks of “Flying Low” and “Lunar” ahead of 11-minute closer “Soil,” which uses its longform breadth to cast as vivid a soundscape as possible. Fast, slow, minimalist or at a full wash of noise, Haurun‘s Wilting Within has its foundation in heavy rock groove and riffy repetition, but does something with that that goes beyond microniche confines. Very much looking forward to more from this band.

Haurun on Facebook

Small Stone Records website

Kozmik Artifactz website

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Wicked Trip, Cabin Fever

Its point of view long established by the time they get around to the filthy lurch of “Hesher” — track three of seven — Cabin Fever is the first full-length from cultish doomers Wicked Trip. The Tennessee outfit revel in Electric Wizard-style fuckall on “Cabin Fever” after the warning in the spoken “Intro,” and the 11-minute sample-topped “Night of Pan” is a psych-doom jam that’s hypnotic right unto its keyboard-drone finish giving over to the sampled smooth sounds of the ’70s at the start of “Black Valentine,” which feels all the more dirt-coated when it actually kicks in, though “Evils of the Night” is no less threatening of purpose in its garage-doom swing, crash-out and cacophonous payoff, and I’m pretty sure if you played “No Longer Human” at double the speed, well, it might be human again. All of these grim, bleak, scorching, nodding, gnashing pieces come together to craft Cabin Fever as one consuming, lo-fi entirety, raw both because the recording sounds harsh and because the band itself eschew any frills not in service to their disillusioned atmosphere.

Wicked Trip on Instagram

Wicked Trip on Bandcamp

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Splinter, Role Models

There’s an awful lot of sex going on in Splinter‘s Role Models, as the Amsterdam glam-minded heavy rockers follow their 2021 debut, Filthy Pleasures (review here), with cuts like “Soviet Schoolgirl,” “Bottom,” “Opposite Sex” and the poppy post-punk “Velvet Scam” early on. It’s not all sleaze — though even “The Carpet Makes Me Sad” is trying to get you in bed — and the piano and boozy harmonies of “Computer Screen” are a fun departure ahead of the also-acoustic finish in closer “It Should Have Been Over,” while “Every Circus Needs a Clown” feels hell-bent on remaking Queen‘s “Stone Cold Crazy” and “Medicine Man” and “Forbidden Kicks” find a place where garage rock meets heavier riffing, while “Children” gets its complaints registered efficiently in just over two boogie-push minutes. A touch of Sabbath here, some Queens of the Stone Age chic disco there, and Splinter are happy to find a place for themselves adjacent to both without aping either. One would not accuse them of subtlety as regards theme, but there’s something to be said for saying what you want up front.

Splinter on Facebook

Noisolution website

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Terra Black, All Descend

Beginning with its longest component track (immediate points) in “Asteroid,” Terra Black‘s All Descend is a downward-directed slab of doomed nod, so doubled-down on its own slog that “Black Flames of Funeral Fire” doesn’t even start its first verse until the song is more than half over. Languid tempos play up the largesse of “Ashes and Dust,” and “Divinest Sin” borders on Eurometal, but if you need to know what’s in Terra Black‘s heart, look no further than the guitar, bass, drum and vocal lumber — all-lumber — of “Spawn of Lyssa” and find that it’s doom pumping blood around the band’s collective body. While avoiding sounding like Electric Wizard, the Gothenburg, Sweden, unit crawl through that penultimate duet track with all ready despondency, and resolve “Slumber Grove” with agonized final lub-dub heartbeats of kick drum and guitar drawl after a vivid and especially doomed wash drops out to vocals before rearing back and plodding forward once more, doomed, gorgeous, immersive, and so, so heavy. They’re not finished growing yet — nor should they be on this first album — but they’re on the path.

Terra Black on Facebook

Terra Black on Bandcamp

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Musing, Somewhen

Sometimes the name of a thing can tell you about the thing. So enters Musing, a contemplative solo outfit from Devin “Darty” Purdy, also known for his work in Calgary-based bands Gone Cosmic and Chron Goblin, with the eight-song/42-minute Somewhen and a flowing instrumental narrative that borders on heavy post-rock and psychedelia, but is clearheaded ultimately in its course and not slapdash enough to be purely experimental. That is, though intended to be instrumental works outside the norm of his songcraft, tracks like “Flight to Forever” and the delightfully bassy “Frontal Robotomy” are songs, have been carved out of inspired and improvised parts to be what they are. “Hurry Wait” revamps post-metal standalone guitar to be the basis of a fuzzy exploration, while “Reality Merchants” hones a sense of space that will be welcome in ears that embrace the likes of Yawning Sons or Big Scenic Nowhere. Somewhen has a story behind it — there’s narrative; blessings and peace upon it — but the actual music is open enough to translate to any number of personal interpretations. A ‘see where it takes you’ attitude is called for, then. Maybe on Purdy‘s part as well.

Musing on Facebook

Musing on Bandcamp

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Spiral Shades, Revival

A heavy and Sabbathian rock forms the underlying foundation of Spiral Shades‘ sound, and the returning two-piece of vocalist Khushal R. Bhadra and guitarist/bassist/drummer Filip Petersen have obviously spent the nine years since 2014’s debut, Hypnosis Sessions (review here), enrolled in post-doctoral Iommic studies. Revival, after so long, is not unwelcome in the least. Doom happens in its own time, and with seven songs and 38 minutes of new material, plus bonus tracks, they make up for lost time with classic groove and tone loyal to the blueprint once put forth while reserving a place for itself in itself. That is, there’s more to Spiral Shades and to Revival than Sabbath worship, even if that’s a lot of the point. I won’t take away from the metal-leaning chug of “Witchy Eyes” near the end of the album, but “Foggy Mist” reminds of The Obsessed‘s particular crunch and “Chapter Zero” rolls like Spirit Caravan, find a foothold between rock and doom, and it turns out riffs are welcome on both sides.

Spiral Shades on Facebook

Spiral Shades on Bandcamp

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Bandshee, Bandshee III

The closing “Sex on a Grave” reminds of the slurring bluesy lasciviousness of Nick Cave‘s Grinderman, and that should in part be taken as a compliment to the setup through “Black Cat” — which toys with 12-bar structure and is somewhere between urbane cool and cabaret nerdery — and the centerpiece “Bad Day,” which follows a classic downer chord progression through its apex with the rawness of Backwoods Payback at their most emotive and a greater melodic reach only after swaying through its willful bummer of an intro. Last-minute psych flourish in the guitar threatens to make “Bad Day” a party, but the Louisville outfit find their way around to their own kind of fun, which since the release is only three songs long just happens to be “Sex on a Grave.” Fair enough. Rife with attitude and an emergent dynamic that’s complementary to the persona of the vocals rather than trying to keep up with them, the counterintuitively-titled second short release (yes, I know the cover is a Zeppelin reference; settle down) from Bandshee lays out an individual approach to heavy songwriting and a swing that goes back further in time than most.

Bandshee on Facebook

Bandshee on Bandcamp

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I wrote part of the second announcement from Freak Valley Festival 2024 just yesterday, as it was a surprise that the batch of bands being added were all ready to go at some late notice. Not to say I mind, just that this is all pretty fresh in my head. Apparently Amyl and the Sniffers are big enough to come from Australia and headline in Germany, which is news to me, but that’s cool and something different is welcome alongside such familiar entities as Monolord and Kadavar and 1000mods.

There’s a lot here I’m looking forward to seeing, even just having caught Kadavar in August. With Douwe from Splinter having been in Death Alley, it’ll be great to see him again, and to witness bands like Slomosa, Godsleep, Daevar and Fuzzy Grass is to look at where European heavy rock is headed. The answer to that question, incidentally, is “everywhere.” With riffs.

The sentences with the bands are mine, and I did a little work on the second paragraph with the memories and all that. And you know the only reason I mention it is because I’m trying to keep track for myself however many years from now.

Dig:

(#127928#) Freak Valley Festival 2024 Lineup Announcement (#127928#)

Freak Valley 2024 is set for May 30 – June 1.

Get ready to rock your world at Freak Valley Festival 2024! We’re thrilled to announce an epic lineup featuring some of the hottest acts in the international underground. Join us for a weekend of nonstop music, unforgettable vibe, and memories waiting to be made.

(#129304#) Bands you can’t miss:

(#127908#) Amyl and The Sniffers: Coming all the way from Melbourne, Australia, these raucous punkers will shake things up for sure. What, you thought it was all going to be meditative heavy prog-psych?

(#128293#) Kadavar: They’re only one of the best bands of their generation. No introduction needed. Welcome back Kadavar!

(#128165#) Godsleep: These Athenian aural adventurers release ‘Lies to Survive’ earlier this year and absolutely blew us away with their scope and songwriting. Up next: see how they do it in-person! Can’t wait.

(#127775#) Deathchant: Shredding at the place where classic rock and heavy metal meet, Deathchant are a well kept secret until you see them and can’t shut up about how good they are.

(#127926#) Splinter: Hot on the heels of their second album ‘Role Models,’ Splinter foster roughed-up vintage glam heavy and from “Velvet Scam” to “Forbidden Kicks,” it’ll be a party second to none when they hit the FVF stage for the first time.

(#128266#) Here’s the star-studded lineup:

Monolord – 1000mods – Dÿse – Slomosa – Alex Henry Foster – Mouth – Speck – Demonauta – Full Earth – Fuzzy Grass – Daevar

All killers, no fillers. That’s how we do it, freaks. Get your tickets now because they’ll be gone before you know it.

Don’t miss the chance to be part of the ultimate music experience. Mark your calendars for Freak Valley Festival 2024 – it’s going to be legendary!

Stay tuned for more updates. Let’s rock!

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https://www.instagram.com/freakvalleyfestival/
https://twitter.com/FreakValley
http://www.rockfreaks.de/
http://www.freakvalley.de/

Kadavar, “Die Baby Die” live at Sonic Blast Fest 2023

Amsterdam glam-informed classic-heavy semi-punk other-hyphenated-words rockers Splinter have signed to Noisolution and announced that their second full-length, Role Models, will be out next month. You might recall their debut, Filthy Pleasures (review here), came out in 2021 through Robotor Records, the label run by members of Kadavar. That endorsement was a boon to the uptempo purveyors of hook fronted by Douwe Truijens, best known for his time in Death Alley.

The band issued the single “Velvet Scam” in a new video a couple months back, and if you didn’t catch it, that’s below along with an unboxing video — those are strangely entertaining; it’s amazing what humans will watch; ‘here’s a person opening a thing’ — for the record itself. A release show has been lined up for Sept. 1 in Leiden, the Netherlands, at Studio Klaplong, and of course more info on that is below, culled from the band’s socials and included amid the promo text for the record, which came through the PR wire.

Dig that cover:

Splinter – “Role Models” Out 25th August via Noisolution

Cheeky and snotty, the Dutch fourpiece dances between the styles. And sort themselves between punk, rock, pop and they give the guitars back to the dancefloor. A contemporary and fresh retro rock album that is danceable and catchy through and through – but most of all fun!

BIRTH OF JOY and DEATH ALLEY, two of the best Dutch live bands, played one last tour together and fell apart. How close “birth” and “death” are sometimes, is also shown here. After the tour, parts of both bands found each other again in the rehearsal room and formed SPLINTER. The debut album was released via Robotor Record, the label of Kadavar, who then found too little time besides their own band activities and thankfully recommended the band to Noisolution. We did not have to think long…

The album will be released on August 25th via NOISOLUTION!

RELEASE SHOW: Friday 1 September in a very special venue in Leiden with special guests The sha-la-lee’s and Skallebieter. Tickets are strictly limited: only 120 available. Order yours right away via https://lastnightonearth.stager.nl/web/tickets

SPLINTER question everything musically and throw their preferences and influences together. Danceable, sleazy, full of pop and yet a feisty heavy rock album. Much reminds of the late 80s, when rock flew apart disoriented but full of ideas in all directions. Punk was over, wave was over, metal was coming up, alternative rock was knocking on the door… SPLINTER have a bit of everything. “Heavy rock ‘n’ roll” is pretty accurate. Sometimes I also refer to the punk foundations of the band, because it’s cheeky, defiant and unorthodox” says singer Douwe Truijens.

The biggest difference to the debut album is that they were able to get Mario Goossens (drummer of Triggerfinger) as producer for the new record and that they took a lot of time to write and record. “Unique is the punk sound with Hammond organ and the energy and dance moves of the singer,” Douwe says with a smile, “for me it’s very important that the songs are catchy and danceable. I always like bands that have that. It doesn’t have to be mellow music to be poppy, it can still rock hard and make your hips swing.”

Songs like “Velvet Scam” or “Bottom” let the disco ball rotate, whereas “Every Circus needs A Clown” rather leaves room for duels between guitar and organ. Cheeky, defiant and unorthodox they dance between the styles. And sorts itself between Blondie and Iggy, Viagra Boys and The Who, Hanoi Rocks and Killing Joke. A contemporary and fresh retro rock album that is danceable, that grooves, rocks but above all is fun and announces a fantastic live band!

And the artwork is also a clear nod to Pop, reminiscent of Warhol or Lichtenstein, who liked to pick up trivial motifs from everyday culture. The Banana Man shows what today’s role models of the world are: “just fruits in suits.” Political leaders and so-called influencers are “role models,” smartly dressed but empty and disposable. Everything plastic, everything fake, image instead of message and appearance instead of content. Superficially colorful, but still with depth and message.

https://www.facebook.com/splintergeneration
https://www.instagram.com/splinter.generation/
https://www.youtube.com/@splintergeneration2166
https://open.spotify.com/artist/5R9WJjT2i9zmBWMNWD2rLp
https://splinter-music.com/

http://www.noisolution.de/
https://www.facebook.com/noisolution
https://www.instagram.com/noisolution/

Splinter, “Velvet Scam” official video

Splinter, Role Models unboxing teaser

Can’t help but wonder if this isn’t the shape of things to come. Amid loosening regulations in the country, Desertfest Belgium 2021 announces a hopeful list of names for the Antwerp edition of the festival and also unveils that Wolves in the Throne Room — who were bringing Stygian Bough and Blood Incantation along for the trip — have canceled their Fall tour of Europe because, obviously, of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Thinking about what touring looks like in the future, it seems to me that domestic and continental runs are what’s coming back first. Places you can drive to on tour or take a train at most. Travel within the EU, travel within the US, within Asia, Australia.

I know Psycho Las Vegas managed to bring Psychlona across, but there were numerous international cancelations there as well, and seeing Wolves in the Throne Room pull out of their Fall stint makes me think that while regulations in Belgium are opening up (for now, remember; these things are fluid), it’s still so uncertain how the next several months are going to play out. It’s amazing to have no fucking idea about anything. I admire Desertfest Belgium for trying to make a thing happen, genuinely, but I don’t envy them the task.

While I’m opining, I think My Sleeping Karma might be my biggest bucket list band at this point. I’ve been a fan since their first record and I’ve never seen them live. I won’t be traveling to Antwerp to do so either, sorry to say. One day though. They join a slew of awesome acts here.

With hope and well wishes, this from the PR wire:

DF ANTWERP: Kadavar, My Sleeping Karma & more – WITTR cancelled

Summer’s nearly over, and yet it feels like life is only just beginning anew. COVID regulations are loosening up over here in Belgium, so we are looking hopeful towards the future. We’ll give you an update on the exact conditions very shortly.

First however, we have to bear some bad news that is very much still the result of the pandemic. Wolves In The Throne Room are forced to cancel their European fall tour, and in their wake we also have to forego Blood Incantation and Stygian Bough. All three will NOT be performing at either the Antwerp or Ghent editions of the festival.

We’re very sorry, but them’s the breaks in this Foul Year of our Lord 2021.

Fortunately, to make up for the loss we have some killer new additions to the Antwerp line-up as well! We figured you’re all in need of some face-melting unadulterated RAWK, and you know that’s what you get whenever KADAVAR hits the stage. On a more Sabbath-y trip, the same goes for DOPELORD who bring the Dooooooom with no prisoners taken.

Need some more healing vibes? Let the power of MY SLEEPING KARMA wash over you, as they bring back their entrancing instrumental groove after some severely trying times. MOHAMA SAZ hails from Spain, but cooks up a globetrotting psychedelic sound that is impossible to pin down. Total sonic freedom!

Closer to home, we present a new Dutch supergroup by the name of SPLINTER, born out of the ashes of Death Alley and Birth Of Joy. A fresh take on retro sounds, with a glorious Hammond organ sound at the juicy center. And finally, the Belgian black sludge sensation KLUDDE draws from local folklore to spin their evil tales of sorrow and despair.

TAKE NOTE: All of these bands will ONLY perform at the ANTWERP edition, we will complete the GHENT line-up later this month.

http://www.desertfest.be/
https://www.facebook.com/desertfestbelgium/
https://www.instagram.com/desertfest_belgium/

My Sleeping Karma, “A Steya” Live in Nijmegen, July 31, 2021

Amsterdam classic heavy rockers Splinter release their debut album, Filthy Pleasures, Sept. 3 through Robotor Records. The band played their first show in Oct. 2019 and at that point had already offered up a few hints of what was to be their trajectory on early singles like Hurt b/w Brand New Future (discussed here) or the subsequent pairings of Bitter Sounds b/w Robothell and Hold My Leash b/w Take No More, pressed to a series of 7″ vinyls ahead of appearing as more than half of the 10 tracks here. And the pleasures throughout the 33-minute release? Well, just because they’re filthy doesn’t mean they can’t be fun. Whether it’s the penultimate “Hurt” bringing bruiser energy to side B — despite the vocal harmonies; trust me, it makes sense by the time you get there — or “Hold My Leash” with its unambiguous advocacy of strangulation play and sundry other kink earlier on, Filthy Pleasures feels intended in part to pick up where vocalist Douwe Truijens and guitarist Sander Bus left off in Death Alley, but with Birth of Joy organist Gertjan Gutman making major contributions on Hammond throughout and drummer Barry van Esbroek (ex-Vanderbuyst) propelling the entirety or near enough to it, the place Splinter inhabit owes aesthetic debt to the heavy ’70s and the heavy ’10s alike, but creates its own vitality from the moment “Robothell” opens to the very last cacophony of “Brand New Future.”

Because it needs to be said, I’ll say it: Mk. II-era Deep Purple. There. Glad we got that out of the way. I’m sorry, but you put a Hammond in a rock band and set to careening as Splinter do on “Robothell,” and someone’s bound to bring up the classic British rockers, and it’s one more element that Splinter seems content to toy with, with Truijens perhaps nodding at Ian Gillan with the half-screamed wail he pushes out at the beginning of “Hurt” (the end of “Read My Mind” comes close as well). Since the band ticked the cowbell/woodblock box first thing — literally — I had been waiting for such a shout, and they save it for late, but that works well with the two-sided trajectory of Filthy Pleasures as a whole, the tracklisting dividing into even, purposeful five-song halves, each suited to its own purpose while working in conversation with the other, the sub-three-minute burst of “Robothell” clearly intended to set a tone for the uptempo, catchy, electric and melodic heavy rock and roll that is so central to Splinter‘s intention all the while. “Bitter Sounds” builds on this with a strong hook, handclaps, starts and stops and a babe-it’s-a-cold-world-but-you’re-so-hot danceable swagger that is only pushed further in “Hold My Leash,” as the following “Splintermission” finds the keys working alone for a two-minute stretch, working up from soundtracky minimalism to nearer-to-church-but-for-the-scratch fare as a lead-in for the softer guitar at the outset of “Plastic Rose.”

A title-track by any other name, “Plastic Rose” nestles into a mellower groove than did the full-boar launch salvo, but its more crafted feel and focus on melody is foreshadow ahead of what side B unfurls, with “Read My Mind” complementing the pace of “Robothell” but even through that working with a shifted vocal arrangement, a gruff verse offset by one of Filthy Pleasures‘ most resonant hooks, cleanly, clearly delivered. “Something Else” adjusts the balance from guitar to organ and backs the straightforward structure of the song before — Splinter aren’t in a hurry on these shorter cuts in a compositional sense, but they do execute with a fitting urgency, proto-punk in its root like 1975 deciding that ’69-’74 just weren’t quite fast enough — but the shift in “Take No More,” an early whistle and more immediately-arriving vocal harmonies, clever verse structure and sans-drum emergent swirl is a marked departure from everything that precedes, which is all the more highlighted by the face-punch of “Hurt” that follows. But if “Plastic Rose” and “Take No More” demonstrate how quiet Splinter can or are willing to get at this point and “Hurt” is an apex in the cardiovascular sense, the methods are united through the quality of the underlying writing and the melodies that pervade. For as rough and tumble as “Hurt,” or “Hold My Leash” for that matter, get, Splinter remain conscious of bringing the listener into the song via melodic. “Something sweet,” they might put it.

Fair enough. “Brand New Future” rounds out after “Hurt” not so much to bring Filthy Pleasures back to ground as to push it over the edge. By its halfway point, it’s touched on psychedelia, but the foundation they’re working from is more raw and I’ll allow the context of members’ past outfits in drawing that line; hearing it because you expect to hear it, etc. However, coming through plainly throughout these tracks is that whatever aspects or mission parameters Splinter might have inherited, this is a new band beginning its own exploration of sound. A mix, then, of past, present and future that draws from all of them, and does so with a clarity of vision that comes across as so very, very ready for the stage. A stage. Any stage. The cliché designation for that vibe is “hungry.” Fine. I wouldn’t be surprised though if Splinter have other kinds of gluttony in mind.

“Plastic Rose,” with its love-story lyrics and zombie-themed video, premieres below. Some comment from Truijens follows, as well as the Filthy Pleasures preorder link.

Please enjoy:

Splinter, “Plastic Rose” video premiere

Douwe Truijens on “Plastic Rose”:

The video shows the shattering of dreams and the illusion of perfection, a utopian pretend that will sooner or later be dismantled. It’s about the unavoidable and irreversible killing of innocence – which, as we can see, can bear great entertainment value in and of itself. In fact, it’s a strong driving force in life, as both the illusion and its shattering are the filthy pleasures that force us through the night.

Play with honey and your fingers will get sticky, no matter how hard you try to avoid that. “Plastic Rose” is about the swirl of lust, pretention, masks on and off, and eventual satisfaction and fulfillment. All that wrapped in a song that is as catchy and sweet as the game of love itself.

Album preorder: https://www.robotorshop.com/robde/splinter.html

Splinter’s new single “Plastic Rose” is out today. Splinter’s debut album “Filthy Pleasures” will be released on 03.09.2021.

Recorded & mixed by Igor Wouters at Amsterdam Recording Company
Mastered by Attie Bauw at Bauwhaus
Featuring Janneke Nijhuijs

Directed by Jeroen de Vriese, JAYDEE Video
Video Camera & light: Kris Vandegoor

Starring Silke Becu

Make-up and styling: Stefanie Vervaet, Audrey Anouk Deswert, Nina Shikako

Costumes courtesy of ViaVia

Automobiles courtesy of Ernst Noldus, Job van de Zande, Aalst-Waalre APK

Special thanks to Robrecht van Steen

Splinter is:
Douwe Truijens – vocals
Sander Bus – guitar
Gertjan Gutman – organ
Barry van Esbroek – drums

Splinter website

Splinter on YouTube

Splinter on Instagram

Splinter on Facebook

Robotor Records on Facebook

Robotor Records on Instagram

Robotor Records on Bandcamp

Robotor Records website

Amsterdam heavy rockers Splinter have been steadily offering up singles for the last year-plus en route to this eventual signing with the Kadavar-run Robotor Records. They’ve got three to their credit as of now — the last of them was issued as a would’ve-been-Roadburn-exclusive; they were set to play in 2020 — and six songs accordingly that either will or won’t be featured on their impending debut album. When that’s coming, I don’t know beyond the “later this year” it says below, but the band make a fitting first signing for Robotor, given their connection to former Kadavar tourmates Death Alley and general remember-when-it-was-just-rock-and-roll-and-that-was-dangerous-enough vibe. With their to-date unabashed poppier aspects, I’ll be interested to hear where the record goes.

You can see their “Bitter Sounds” video at the bottom of the post, and comment from the label and band follows:

Robotor Records signs Splinter

We’re beyond thrilled to announce our first signing on ROBOTOR RECORDS – ladies and gentlemen, welcome Splinter to our roster!

Lupus comments:
“A really exciting moment in our short label history. We have a long friendship with Douwe and Sander and KADAVAR have toured all over Europe with their previous band DEATH ALLEY. Together with Gertjan from BIRTH OF JOY and Barry, they have now founded the super rock n roll band SPLINTER. It is our honor to work with them!”

The Amsterdam based group will release a full-length album on ROBOTOR RECORDS later this year and we welcome you to follow their socials and stay tuned for more info to be revealed very soon!

Douwe adds:
“It’s an absolute thrill that SPLINTER’s first feat of arms is presented to you all by the cool and fresh ROBOTOR RECORDS. These guys have this (successful) sense of doing things your own way – a DIY spirit that also runs through SPLINTER’s veins. We’ve been hanging out with KADAVAR a lot over the past years, so we’re very excited to seal the friendship even further with this collaboration. And after being kept in the doghouse for so long, our imminent release now tastes extra extra sweet. It’s time to let the rubber band snap, and make it stick!”

https://splinter-music.com/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRmxHGiHevwfQaQnjqyECCQ
https://www.instagram.com/splinter.generation/
https://www.facebook.com/splintergeneration
https://www.facebook.com/robotorrecords/
https://www.instagram.com/robotorrecords/
https://robotorrecords.bandcamp.com/
https://www.robotorrecords.com/

Splinter, “Bitter Sounds” official video

Before you start feeling like you’re out of the loop — I promise you, you’re way more in the loop than I am; stuck in the rhombus over here — Splinter are a pretty new band. Based in the Netherlands (I think probably Amsterdam or somewhere thereabouts), they did what was most likely their first recording session this past March, with Igor Wouters (indeed in Amsterdam), and from that issued the debut single Hurt b/w Brand New Future that they self-released as a 7″ vinyl with the logo you see above as its cover. There was a video for “Hurt” — no it’s a not a cover of the Nine Inch Nails song later taken on by Johnny Cash — that went up last month, and that’s now been followed-up with a new clip, this time for a song called “Bitter Sounds.”

The thing about “Bitter Sounds?” It wasn’t on that single.

So clearly there’s more to come.

Fair enough. Splinter‘s heralding of a busier future is extra notable given that the band is fronted by Douwe Truijens, formerly of Death Alley, and also features guitarist Sander Bus, who was brought in as that group’s second bassist, as well as drummer Barry van Esbroek and organist Gertjan Gutman (also of Utrecht’s Birth of Joy, who played their final show in January), whose contributions to both “Hurt” and “Bitter Sounds” are significant. The sound is either a formative punker take on classic heavy rock or a formative heavy rocker take on classic punk, depending on the angle you look at it, and for an act who are just getting going, they’ve clearly got their songwriting ducks a row. That is to say, get ready to want to put on “Bitter Sounds” twice, and maybe clap along the second time.

Video follows here, and definitely stay tuned for more.

Please enjoy:

Splinter, “Bitter Sounds” official video

Recorded and mixed by Igor Wouters at Amsterdam Recording Company

Mastered by Attie Bauw at Bauwhaus

Video by Hakki Takkie, shot and cut by Max Westendorp

Splinter live:
Oct 19 Ballroom Fest Zukunft am Ostkreuz Friedrichshain

Splinter is:
Douwe Truijens – vocals
Sander Bus – guitar
Gertjan Gutman – organ
Barry van Esbroek – drums

Splinter on Thee Facebooks

Splinter BigCartel store