Posted in Bootleg Theater on January 16th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
Hitting Ireland and the UK in a couple weeks’ time before returning to the US for their second Stateside touring stint since their second album, Tundra Rock (review here), was released last September, Norwegian heavy rock spearheads Slomosa — seen above in full flannel regalia — have rolled out ‘The Making of Tundra Rock,’ a 37-minute documentary and performance video that goes behind the scenes as its title suggests. The band, maybe last week?, had put up a video for “Monomann” from the album that would seem to have been taken from this, and it’s one more way in which they’re engaging their audience and inviting people to take a look at what they do on a professional level.
This just came down the wire this morning, so I haven’t had time to sit in my own ’70s cushion chair and dig in, but you do get to see the band recount their favorites from the new record (and then play them) and the sound on the recordings is such that if the audio was posted to Bandcamp as an album-performance in-studio live record kind of thing it’d probably be worth picking up, so even at a skim it’s got something to offer anybody who dug the record. And if Slomosa‘s winning the year-end poll here is anything to go by, that’s plenty of people.
The video, PR wire info, and all the upcoming tour dates I currently have follow here. Enjoy:
Slomosa, ‘The Making of Tundra Rock‘
Slomosa Releases “The Making of ‘Tundra Rock'” Performance + Interview Video
Norwegian Rock Band set to Support Helmet on ‘Betty’ 30th Anniversary Tour; See New Music Video “Monomann”
Slomosa’s New LP, ‘Tundra Rock’, Out Now!
Norwegian “tundra rock” band, Slomosa, has released a live-in-studio performance and interview video centered on its new album, ‘Tundra Rock’, which was released this past September via Stickman Records in Europe and MNRK Heavy in the US, and was hailed as “a sweeping signature hybrid of revved-up stoner rock riffage, grungy hooks, and a concentrated punk wallop”. Recorded live in Bergen, Norway, the 37-minute “Making of ‘Tundra Rock'” video spotlights the undeniable energy and unquestionable catchiness that surrounds Slomosa, paired with behind-the-scenes stories about creating the album and forming the band.
Simultaneously, Slomosa drops a new play through music video for the powerful ‘Tundra Rock’ track “Monomann”. Crank it up now.
Slomosa will support Helmet on the North American leg of its ‘Betty 30th Anniversary Tour’. The 25-city winter tour kicks off on February 19 in Ft. Worth, TX and runs through March 23 in Baltimore, MD. The tour routing is as follows:
Slomosa + Helmet ‘Betty’ 30th Anniversary US Tour 2025: February 19 – Fort Worth, TX – Tulips FTW February 21 – San Antonio, TC – Paper Tiger (Slomosa headlining show) February 22 – Houston, TX – Scout Bar February 23 – Austin, TX – Mohawk February 25 – Mesa, AZ – Nile Theater February 27 – Pomona, CA – The Glass House February 28 – Los Angeles, CA – The Regent Theater March 1 – Oakland, CA – Crybaby March 2 – Roseville, CA – Goldfield Trading Post March 4 – Portland, OR – Hawthorne Theatre March 5 – Seattle, WA – The Crocodile March 6 – Boise, ID – Shrine Social Club March 8 – Denver, CO – The Oriental Theater March 9 – Lawrence, KS – The Bottleneck March 10 – Minneapolis, MN – Varsity Theater March 11 – Madison, WI – Majestic Theatre March 12 – Chicago, IL – Cobra Lounge March 14 – Columbus, OH – Skully’s March 15 – Mechanicsburg, PA – Lovedraft’s Brewing Co March 16 – Ferndale, MI – The Magic Bag March 17 – Toronto, ON – Lee’s Palace March 18 – Montreal, QC – Théâtre Fairmount March 20 – Boston, MA – The Paradise Rock Club March 21 – Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg March 22 – Philadelphia, PA – Underground Arts March 23 – Baltimore, MD – Baltimore Soundstage
UK & Ireland 2025: 31.1 / Limerick / Dolan’s Kasbah 01.2 / Belfast / Voodoo 02.02 / Dublin / The Grand Social 03.02 / Manchester / Rebellion 04.02 / Glasgow / Garage Attic 05.02 / Nottingham / Rescue Rooms 06.02 / Brighton / Green Door Store 07.02 / London / Underworld 08.02 / Bristol / Thekla 09.02 / Norwich / Waterfront Studio
Posted in Reviews on December 11th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
Wow. This is a pretty good day. I mean, I knew that coming into it — I’m the one slating the reviews — but looking up there at the names in the header, that’s a pretty killer assemblage. Maybe I’m making it easy for myself and loading up the QR with stuff I like and want to write about. Fine. Sometimes I need to remind myself that’s the point of this project in the first place.
Hope you’re having an awesome week. I am.
Quarterly Review #21-30
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Thou, Umbilical
Even knowing that the creation of a sense of overwhelm is on purpose and is part of the artistry of what Thou do, Thou are overwhelming. The stated purpose behind Umbilical is an embrace of their collective inner hardcore kid. Fine. Slow down hardcore and you pretty much get sludge metal one way or the other and Thou‘s take on it is undeniably vicious and has a character that is its own. Songs like “I Feel Nothing When You Cry” and “The Promise” envision dark futures from a bleak present, and the poetry from which the lyrics get their shape is as despondent and cynical as one could ever ask, waiting to be dug into and interpreted by the listener. Let’s be honest. I have always had a hard time buying into the hype on Thou. I’ve seen them live and enjoyed it and you can’t hear them on record and say they aren’t good at what they do, but their kind of extremity isn’t what I’m reaching for most days when I’m trying to not be in the exact hopeless mindset the band are aiming for. Umbilical isn’t the record to change my mind and it doesn’t need to be. It’s precisely what it’s going for. Caustic.
The fourth full-length from Boston’s Cortez sets a tone with opener “Gimme Danger (On My Stereo)” (premiered here) for straight-ahead, tightly-composed, uptempo heavy rock, and sure enough that would put Thieves and Charlatans — recorded by Benny Grotto at Mad Oak Studios — in line with Cortez‘s work to-date. What unfolds from the seven-minute “Leaders of Nobody” onward is a statement of expanded boundaries in what Cortez‘s sound can encompass. The organ-laced jamitude of “Levels” or the doom rock largesse of “Liminal Spaces” that doesn’t clash with the prior swing of “Stove Up” mostly because the band know how to write songs; across eight songs and 51 minutes, the five-piece of vocalist Matt Harrington, guitarists Scott O’Dowd and Alasdair Swan, bassist Jay Furlo and sitting-in drummer Alexei Rodriguez (plus a couple other guests from Boston’s heavy underground) reaffirm their level of craft, unite disparate material through performance and present a more varied and progressive take than they’ve ever had. They’re past 25 years at this point and still growing in sound. They may be underrated forever, but that’s a special band.
Writing a catchy song is not easy. Writing a song so catchy it’s still catchy even though you don’t speak the language is the provenance of the likes of Uffe Lorenzen. The founding frontman of in-the-ether-for-now Copenhagen heavy/garage psych pioneers Baby Woodrose digs into more straightforward fare on the second full-length from his new trio Lydsyn, putting a long-established Stooges influence to good use in “Hejremanden” after establishing at the outset that “Musik Er Nummer 1” (‘music is number one’) and before the subsequent slowdown into harmony blues with “UFO.” “Nørrebro” has what would seem to be intentional cool-neighborhood strut, and those seeking more of a garage-type energy might find it in “Du Vil Have Mere” or “Opråb” earlier on, and closer “Den Døde By” has a scorch that feels loyal to Baby Woodrose‘s style of psych, but whatever ties there are to Lorenzen‘s contributions over the last 20-plus years, Lydsyn stand out for the resultant quality of songwriting and for having their own dynamic building on Lorenzen‘s solo work and post-Baby Woodrose arc.
The popular wisdom has had it for a few years now that retroism is out. Hearing Baltimorean power trio Magick Potion vibe their way into swaying ’70s-style heavy blues on “Empress,” smoothly avoiding the trap of sounding like Graveyard and spacing out more over the dramatic first two minutes of “Wizard” and the proto-doomly rhythmic jabs that follow. Guitarist/vocalist/organist Dresden Boulden, bassist/vocalist Triston Grove and drummer Jason Geezus Kendall capture a sound that’s as fresh as it is familiar, and while there’s no question that the aesthetic behind the big-swing “Never Change” and the drawling, sunshine-stoned “Pagan” is rooted in the ’68-’74 “comedown era” — as their label, RidingEasy Records has put it in the past — classic heavy rock has become a genre unto itself over the last 25-plus years, and Magick Potion present a strong, next-generation take on the style that’s brash without being willfully ridiculous and that has the chops to back up its sonic callouts. The potential for growth is significant, as it would be with any band starting out with as much chemistry as they have, but don’t take that as a backhanded way of saying the self-titled is somehow lacking. To be sure, they nail it.
Oase is the second full-length from Berlin’s Weite behind 2023’s Assemblage (review here), also on Stickman, and it’s their first with keyboardist Fabien deMenou in the lineup with bassist Ingwer Boysen (Delving), guitarists Michael Risberg (Delving, Elder) and Ben Lubin (Lawns), and drummer Nick DiSalvo (Delving, Elder), and it unfurls across as pointedly atmospheric 53 minutes, honed from classic progressive rock but by the time they get to “(einschlafphase)” expanded into a cosmic, almost new age drone. Longer pieces like “Roter Traum” (10:55), “Eigengrau” (12:41) or even the opening “Versteinert” (9:36) offer impact as well as mood, maybe even a little boogie, “Woodbury Hollow” is more pastoral but no less affecting. The same goes for “Time Will Paint Another Picture,” which seems to emphasize modernity in the clarity of its production even amid vintage influences. Capping with the journey-to-freakout “The Slow Wave,” Oase pushes the scope of Weite‘s sound farther out while hitting harder than their first record, adding to the arrangements, and embracing new ideas. Unless you have a moral aversion to prog for some reason, there’s no angle from which this one doesn’t make itself a must-hear.
Big on tone and melody in a way that feels inspired by the modern sphere of heavy — thinking that Hum record, Elephant Tree, Magnetic Eye-type stuff — Florida’s Orbiter set forth across vast reaches in Distorted Folklore, a song like “Lightning Miles” growing more expansive even as it follows a stoner-bouncing drum pattern. Layering is a big factor, but it doesn’t feel like trickery or the band trying to sound like anything or anyone in particular so much as they’re trying to serve their songs — Jonathan Nunez (ex-Torche, etc.) produced; plenty of room in the mix for however big Orbiter want to get — as they shift from the rush that typified stretches of their 2019 debut, Southern Failures, to a generally more lumbering approach. The slowdown suits them here, though fast or slow, the procession of their work is as much about breadth as impact. Whatever direction they take as they move into their second decade, that foundation is crucial.
As regards genre: “dark arts?” Taking into account the 44 minutes of Vlimmer‘s fourth LP, which is post-industrial as much as it’s post-punk, with plenty of goth, some metal, some doom, some dance music, and so on factored in, there’s not a lot else that might encompass the divergent intentions of “Endpuzzle” or “Überrennen” as the Berlin solo-project of Alexander Donat harnesses ethereal urbanity in the brooding-till-it-bursts “Sinkopf” or the manic pulses under the vocal longing of closer “Fadenverlust.” To Donat‘s credit, from the depth of the setup given by longest/opening track (immediate points) “2025” to the goth-coated keyboard throb in “Mondläufer,” Bodenhex never goes anywhere it isn’t meant to go, and unto the finest details of its mix and arrangements, Vlimmer‘s work exudes expressive purpose. It is a record that has been hammered out over a period of time to be what it is, and that has lost none of the immediacy that likely birthed it in that process.
Indianapolis four-piece Moon Goons cut an immediately individual impression on their third album, Lady of Many Faces. The album, which often presents itself as a chaotic mash of ideas, is in fact not that thing. The band is well in control, just able and/or wanting to do more with their sound than most. They are also mindfully, pointedly weird. If you ever believed space rock could have been invented in an alternate reality 1990s and run through filters of lysergism and Devin Townsend-style progressive metal, you might take the time now to book the tattoo of the cover of Lady of Many Faces you’re about to want. Shenanigans abound in the eight songs, if I haven’t made that clear, and even the nod of “Doom Tomb Giant” feels like a freakout given the treatment put on by Moon Goons, but the thing about the album is that as frenetic as the four-piece of lead vocalist/guitarist Corey Standifer, keyboardist/vocalist Brooke Rice, bassist Devin Kearns and drummer Jacob Kozlowski get on their way to the doped epic finisher title-track, the danger of it coming apart is a well constructed, skillfully executed illusion. And what a show it is.
Although it opens up with some element of foreboding by transposing the progression of AC/DC‘s “Hells Bells” onto its own purposes in heavy Canadiana rock, and it gets a bit shouty/sludgy in the lyrical crescendo of “What a Dummy,” which seems to be about getting pulled over on a DUI, or the later “The Castle of White Lake,” much of Familiars‘ Easy Does It lives up to its name. Far from inactive, the band are never in any particular rush, and while a piece like “Golden Season,” with its singer-songwriter vocal, acoustic guitar and backing string sounds, carries a sense of melancholy — certainly more than the mellow groover swing and highlight bass lumber of “Gustin Grove,” say — the band never lay it on so thick as to disrupt their own momentum more than they want to. Working as a five-piece with pedal steel, piano and other keys alongside the core guitar, bass and drums, Easy Does It finds a balance of accessibility and deeper-engaging fare combined with twists of the unexpected.
Progressive stoner psych rockers The Fërtility Cült unveil their fifth album, A Song of Anger, awash in otherworldly soul music vibes, sax and fuzz and roll in conjunction with carefully arranged harmonies and melodic and rhythmic turns. There’s a lot of heavy prog around — I don’t even know how many times I’ve used the word today and frankly I’m scared to check — and admittedly part of that is how open that designation can feel, but The Fërtility Cült seem to take an especially fervent delight in their slow, molten, flowing chicanery on “The Duel” and elsewhere, and the abiding sense is that part of it is a joke, but part of everything is a joke and also the universe is out there and we should go are you ready? A Song of Anger is billed as a prequel, and perhaps “The Curse of the Atreides” gives some thematic hint as well, but whether you’ve been with them all along or this is the first you’ve heard, the 12-minute closing title-track is its own world. If you think you’re ready — and good on you for that — the dive is waiting for your immersion.
Posted in Whathaveyou on December 3rd, 2024 by JJ Koczan
For context: Slomosa have already made their US live debut on a comparatively brief Fall tour (live review here) and recent confirmations for 2025 have already seen them announce a UK and Ireland tour for early Feb. in addition to being added to the lineups for Sound of Liberation‘s anniversary party in Cologne, Germany, on March 29 as well as Desertfest Berlin in May and SonicBlast Fest in Portugal next August. The let’s-squeeze-in-another-US-run tour being announced here alongside Helmet doing Betty in full — what’s up, dudes my age? — comes as Slomosa continue to support their second album, Tundra Rock (review here) and wrap up their Fall stint through Scandinavia. They work really fucking hard, in other words.
They’ll go coast-to-coast in the company of Helmet, scootching up to Canada for Toronto and Montreal shows. I won’t be the least bit surprised when tours are announced to follow-up on this in Europe to coincide with one if not all of those fest appearances above; you’ll note that the Sound of Liberation party is six days after the US tour ends. One thing to the next is how Slomosa seem to like it. Six days is more than they gave themselves last time they crossed the Atlantic, as I recall.
Word came down the PR wire:
Slomosa Announces North American Tour with Helmet
Norwegian Rock Band to Support Influential Group on ‘Betty’ 30th Anniversary Tour
Slomosa’s New LP, ‘Tundra Rock’, Out Now!
Norwegian rock band, Slomosa, will support Helmet on the North American leg of their ‘BETTY 30th ANNIVERSARY TOUR’, along with War on Women. The 25-city tour, which kicks off on February 19, 2025 in Ft. Worth, TX and wraps on March 23 in Washington, DC, will see Helmet performing the iconic “Betty” album in its entirety alongside favorites from the band’s extensive catalog.
Slomosa continues to tour in support of its new album, ‘Tundra Rock’, released this past September. Purchase ‘Tundra Rock’ at this location:https://slomosa.ffm.to/tundrarock
Tickets for the Helmet + Slomosa tour go on sale this Friday, December 6, at 10 AM ET / 3 PM UK / 4 PM CET, with presales available prior via Spotify, Knotfest, and Blabbermouth. Visit Helmet’s official site for ticket links and additional details. The tour routing is as follows:
Helmet ‘BETTY’ 30th Anniversary US Tour 2025: February 19 – Fort Worth, TX – Tulips FTW February 22 – Houston, TX – Scout Bar February 23 – Austin, TX – Mohawk February 25 – Mesa, AZ – Nile Theater February 27 – Pomona, CA – The Glass House February 28 – Los Angeles, CA – The Regent Theater March 1 – Oakland, CA – Crybaby March 2 – Roseville, CA – Goldfield Trading Post March 4 – Portland, OR – Hawthorne Theatre March 5 – Seattle, WA – The Crocodile March 6 – Boise, ID – Shrine Social Club March 8 – Denver, CO – The Oriental Theater March 9 – Lawrence, KS – The Bottleneck March 10 – Minneapolis, MN – Varsity Theater March 11 – Madison, WI – Majestic Theatre March 12 – Chicago, IL – Cobra Lounge March 14 – Columbus, OH – Skully’s March 15 – Mechanicsburg, PA – Lovedraft’s Brewing Co March 16 – Ferndale, MI – The Magic Bag March 17 – Toronto, ON – Lee’s Palace March 18 – Montreal, QC – Théâtre Fairmount March 20 – Boston, MA – The Paradise Rock Club March 21 – Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg March 22 – Philadelphia, PA – Underground Arts* March 23 – Washington, DC – Union Stage* * Dates without War on Women
UK & Ireland 2025: 31.1 / Limerick / Dolan’s Kasbah 01.2 / Belfast / Voodoo 02.02 / Dublin / The Grand Social 03.02 / Manchester / Rebellion 04.02 / Glasgow / Garage Attic 05.02 / Nottingham / Rescue Rooms 06.02 / Brighton / Green Door Store 07.02 / London / Underworld 08.02 / Bristol / Thekla 09.02 / Norwich / Waterfront Studio
Posted in Whathaveyou on November 25th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
Previously confirmed for the esteemed Sonic Whip Festival on May 17 in Nijmegen, Amsterdam heavy psych spellcasters Temple Fang will make that part of a broader swath of European touring that starts in the back half of April and continues for a month into the end of May. They’ll also be at Terneuzen on Fire in the Netherlands in March, as you can see on the poster below. And I know you’re perfectly capable of reading that yourself, I just didn’t want to leave anybody out.
The band were on the road last month in Europe as well, making a stop at Lazy Bones Festival in Hamburg and hopefully recording six or seven other live records at club shows along the way. Their last three releases have been born onstage, and the modus suits the sound/the sound suits the modus, though if they wanted to turn around and put out a new studio LP sometime early in 2025, you would likely not hear me complain. At least not about that. Temple Fang are their own vision of soulful, exploratory heavy psychedelic rock, and that is a thing to appreciate. As they’ll be joined by Heath and Mojo and the Kitchen Brothers for the Dutch portion of this run, you can also credit them with fostering choice up and comers in selecting supporting acts. If you were looking for excuses to like them, that is. Other nights will see them keeping fine company as well.
Shows are presented by Radar Agency, as posted by the band on socials:
We’re thrilled to announce we’ll be hitting the road hard in Spring ‘25 with a whole lot of new music for y’all. Psyched to play with @elderband @thedevilandthealmightyblues @heath.band @mojoandthekitchenbrothers @blackpyramidband and many more. More dates TBA.
29/03 Terneuzen, NL Terneuzen on Fire 23/04 Køln, DE Sonic Ballroom 24/04 Duisburg, DE Bora 25/05 Münster, DE Rare Guitar 26/04 Jena, DE Kuba 27/04 Dresden, DE Chemiefabrik 28/04 Hamburg, DE Markthalle 30/04 Amsterdam, NL Secret Show w/ Heath 02/05 Eindhoven, NL Effenaar w/ Mojo & the Kitchen Brothers 03/05 Haarlem, NL Slachthuis w/ Heath 05/05 Augsburg, DE Soho Stage 06/05 Salzburg, AT Rockhouse Bar 07/05 Stuttgart, DE Goldmarks 08/05 Winterthur, CH Gaswerk 09/05 Seewen, CH Gaswerk 10/05 Delémont, CH SAS 11/05 Barberaz, FR Brin de Zinc 13/05 Esch-Alzette, LUX Kulturfabrik w/ Elder 14/05 Tourcoing, FR Le Grand Mix w/ Elder 15/05 Rotterdam, NL Baroeg @ Rotown 16/05 Groningen, NL Vera w/Heath 17/05 Nijmegen, NL Sonic Whip 19/05 Frankfurt, DE Das Bett w/ The Devil and The Almighty Blues 20/05 Karlsruhe, DE P8 w/ The Devil and The Almighty Blues 21/05 Bielefeld, DE Forum w/ The Devil and The Almighty Blues 22/05 Leipzig, DE Werk 2 w/ The Devil and The Almighty Blues 23/05 Oldenburg, DE Cadillac Club
Temple Fang: Dennis Duijnhouwer – Bass, Vox Jevin de Groot – Guitar, Vox Ivy van der Veer – Guitar Daan Wopereis – Drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on November 11th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
This past weekend, Rochester, New York, heavy progressive-psychedelic rockers King Buffalo embarked on their latest stretch of touring, setting out along the East Coast ahead of heading west in December with support from Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol. There are more dates this week — today’s the 11th; they had a couple nights off and will pick up tomorrow — ending off in Asbury Park, NJ, which is as good a place as any. That the band are touring isn’t news — these shows were announced a while back and they tour plenty — but that they’re bringing out new material is.
The song is called “Balrog,” and the studio version is out today. Banger of a build. I’m obviously still getting to know it, but to my knowledge this is the first output from King Buffalo since they built their new studio in Rochester, in addition to being the first new material since 2022’s Regenerator (review here) wrapped up their pandemic trilogy. Two years isn’t such a long time, but on the scale of King Buffalo dropping either a full-length or an EP during the course of all but one year between 2015 and 2022, two full years since then feels significant. It’s a question of scale I guess.
Fortunately “Balrog” accounts for multiple sides of their sound. The live video below was from the first show of this tour, in Washington D.C., and was filmed by Jay “The Renaissance Blann” Blann. The studio version is name-your-price on Bandcamp ahead of hitting other streaming services. To be sure, King Buffalo could be charging you a buck or two for their first new song in two years. That they’re not is yet one more reason to put them on your holiday card list. New 2025 tour dates don’t hurt either. You’ve heard of Elf on the Shelf. Now get ready for King Buffalo, pretty much everywhere.
New album? EP? Standalone single? Hell if I know. Here’s what I’ve got from the PR wire:
KING BUFFALO ‘BALROG’ IS AVAILABLE NOW & NORTH AMERICAN TOUR DATES
Hey Friends,
We’ve just released a BRAND NEW song called “Balrog” and have announced some additional tour dates. You can download it FOR FREE at kingbuffalo.bandcamp.com right now! It will be available on all the streaming platforms in the coming weeks.
We’ve been hard at work on our studio and still have more to do. Even with things not quite complete we wanted to try tracking something to dial in the room.
What spawned is “Balrog” and we can’t wait for you to hear it! We will be playing it and some other album tracks we’ve never played live on all our remaining tour dates.
These will be our last shows in the US for the time being as we are going to finish the studio and continue working on new ideas. See you at the upcoming shows!
2024 – 2025 North America Tour Dates 11/12 Virginia Beach, VA @ The Bunker^ 11/14 Asheville, NC @ Eulogy^ 11/15 Charlottesville, VA @ The Southern^ 11/16 Asbury Park, NJ @ Wonder Bar^ (low tickets) 12/4 Omaha, NE @ Slowdown* 12/6 Colorado Springs, CO @ Black Sheep* 12/7 Boulder, CO @ Fox Theatre* (selling fast) 12/8 Santa Fe, NM @ Tumbleroot* 12/10 Tucson, AZ @ 191 Toole* 12/11 Las Vegas, NV @ Swan Dive* 12/12 San Diego, CA @ The Casbah* (low tickets) 12/13 Santa Ana, CA @ Constellation Room* (low tickets) 12/14 Pioneertown, CA @ Pappy & Harriet’s* (selling fast) 12/17 Fort Worth, TX @ Tulips* (selling fast) 12/18 Oklahoma City, OK @ Resonant Head* 12/19 Kansas City, MO @ Recordbar* 12/20 St. Louis, MO @ Off Broadway* 12/28 Buffalo, NY @ Electric City w/ Handsome Jack 1/17 Brooklyn, NY @ TV Eye 1/24 Columbus, OH @ Skully’s 1/25 Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle 1/28 St. Paul, MN @ Turf Club 1/29 Madison, WI @ High Noon 1/30 Milwaukee, WI @ Vivarium 1/31 Indianapolis, IN @ The Vogue 2/1 Toledo, OH @ Frankie’s Inner City
^ w/ Ben Katzman * w/ Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol
BALROG STREAM: https://kingbuffalo.bandcamp.com
Rochester, New York-based trio King Buffalo will issue a single, Balrog, on Nov. 11, 2024. Balrog is available now via https://kingbuffalo.bandcamp.com.
Written and recorded by the band with mixing and engineering by guitarist/vocalist Sean McVay and mastering by Bernie Matthews, the single is the first song recorded at King Buffalo’s new studio. This is the first studio material since the ‘pandemic trilogy,’ following One of 2022’s Best Albums in Regenerator and Two of 2021’s Best Albums in The Burden of Restlessness and Acheron.
All of these albums – like 2018’s Longing to Be the Mountain, 2016’s debut, Orion, and the various EPs and other offerings they’ve made over the last eleven years – made bold declarations about who King Buffalo are as a band. As McVay, bassist/synthesist Dan Reynolds and drummer Scott Donaldson continue to explore the outer reaches of modern psychedelic songcraft, melding progressive rhythms, drifting atmospheres and accompanying surges of electricity, the new song only further establishes them as one of the brightest lights shining in underground rock today.
Balrog was written by King Buffalo in Rochester, NY at KB Studios in 2024. Produced, engineered and mixed by Sean McVay, and mastered by Bernie Matthews. The artwork was created by Thomas Tubiolo.
King Buffalo is: Sean McVay – Guitar, Vocals, & Synth Dan Reynolds – Bass & Synth Scott Donaldson – Drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on October 31st, 2024 by JJ Koczan
We knew Elder were going to spend a decent portion of the Spring on tour in Europe, and today brings word that they’ll do the US before that as they celebrate the 10th anniversary of 2015’s genre-landmark third album, Lore (review here), by playing it in full on stage. They also note there will be older songs in the set too, and wouldn’t be surprised if that means 2012’s Spires Burn/Release EP (review here) gets some representation in the set. I seem to recall from shows of the era that that stuff went well together, at least.
I’ve included the Euro dates here as well in case that’s relevant to you. And a further word to the wise, check out Moon Destroys. It’s Juan Mantoya (ex-Torche, MonstrO), Evan DiPrima (ex-Royal Thunder) and Charlie Suarez (also MonstrO). They’ve got a single out called “The Nearness of June” (posted below) that rules. Sacri Monti of course are more of a known quantity with more records out, and their 2024 LP, Retrieval (review here), should certainly be among the reasons to look forward to this tour.
From social media:
ELDER – LORE 10th ANNIVERSARY TOUR – NORTH AMERICA
TICKETS ON SALE NOW
Following our announcement of European dates to celebrate Lore turning 10, we’re pleased to also reveal our North American dates next April! We’ll be performing a full album playthrough of the 2015 record along with older songs from the fold before turning our focus back to album 7.
Joining us on this run are two fantastic bands, SACRI MONTI and Moon Destroys.
Sacri Monti are old friends from San Diego whose sun-soaked progressive psych always blows our mind. Check their latest album “Retrieval” now!
Moon Destroys is a newer project from ex-members of Torche, Royal Thunder and MonstrO. We got a sneak peek at their upcoming LP and let’s just say if you dig downtuned, shoegazing, dreamy riff-rock you’re in for a treat.
4/3 Brooklyn, NY @ The Meadows 4/4 Baltimore, MD @ The Ottobar 4/5 Raleigh, NC @ The Pour House 4/6 Asheville, NC @ Eulogy 4/8 Orlando, FL @ The Conduit 4/9 Atlanta, GA @ The Earl 4/11 Columbus, OH @ Ace of Cups 4/12 Chicago, IL @ Reggies 4/13 Detroit, MI @ Sanctuary 4/14 Buffalo, NY @ Rec Room 4/15 Toronto, ON @ Axis 4/17 Montreal, QC @ Theatre Fairmount 4/18 Hamden, CT @ Space Ballroom 4/19 Cambridge, MA @ Middle East / Downstairs
Original LORE album artwork by Adrian Dexter Poster by Adam Hill
ELDER – LORE 10th ANNIVERSARY TOUR – EUROPE
08.05.2025 Hamburg (DE), Bahnhof Pauli 09.05.2025 Copenhagen (DK), Colossal Festival 10.05.2025 Oslo (NO), Desertfest Oslo 11.05.2025 Stockholm (SE), Hus 7 13.05.2025 Esch-Alzette (LU), Kulturfabrik 14.05.2025 Tourcoing (FR), Le Grand Mix 15.05.2025 to be announced soon 16.05.2025 London (UK), Desertfest London 17.05.2025 Nijmegen (NL), Sonic Whip 20.05.2025 Wiesbaden (DE), Schlachthof Kesselhaus 21.05.2025 Lyon (FR), L’Epicerie Moderne 22.05.2025 Lucerne (CH), Sedel 23.05.2025 Munich (DE), Feierwerk 25.05.2025 Berlin (DE), Desertfest Berlin
Elder is: Nick DiSalvo – Guitars, Vocals Mike Risberg – Guitars, Keys Jack Donovan – Bass Georg Edert – Drums
Posted in Reviews on October 18th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
So this is it for the second of two Quarterly Review weeks around here, bringing the total to 100 releases covered since last Monday, with 10 more still to come next Monday.
110 releases, mostly (not all) from about April through November.
That’s insane. More, I’m not in any way prepared to call it or any other Quarterly Review comprehensive. It’s nowhere near everything that’s come out or is coming out. It’s a fraction at best. There’s just so much.
I’m not going to attach a value judgment to that. It’s not good, it’s not bad; it simply is. My processes remain largely unchanged, and whether it’s a net positive that the underground is either sparse and fractured or flooded with bands to such a point that Gen-X reunions underwhelm in the face of so much good, new music being made, I’ll be here regardless. And even if there were a fifth as many bands out there as there are right now, no doubt I still couldn’t keep up.
See you Monday.
Quarterly Review #91-100:
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Elder, Live at BBC Maida Vale Studios
While it’s by no means Elder‘s first captured-live release, as they’ve put out festival sets from Roadburn and Sonic Whip in years past, Live at BBC Maida Vale Studios answers any what’s-all-this-about questions with the sound of the performances themselves. It’s a single LP, somewhere about 40 minutes long, and in Elder terms that translates to three songs — “Merged in Dreams/Ne Plus Ultra” (15:33), “Lore” (13:54) and “Thousand Hands” (9:21) — so by no means is it expansive, or comprehensive in representing this era of Elder‘s presence on stage or scope in songwriting. Why put it out instead of some recorded tour night or a compilation of songs from different shows? Same answer as before: the sound of the performances. For sure Live at BBC Maida Vale Studios is a fan-piece, but it is live, and Elder sound fantastic — and it’s probably a pretty decent memory for the band to celebrate — so you’re not at all going to hear me argue.
Simon Price, now formerly of UK heavy psych forebears The Heads, returns with the first Kandodo outing since 2019’s K3 (review here) and a reoriented focus on intimacy rather than operating in a full-band style. That is to say, the five-track/44-minute release sounds like the solo album it is. That, however, doesn’t stop “Fuzzyoceans” from casting an expanse in its just-under-11 minutes, with a central rhythmic bounce around which layers of synth and guitar conjure a wash of experimentalist flourish. Lo-fi beatmaking starts in “Chamba7,” the opener, and sounds higher budget as “Theendisinpsych Pt. 1” borders on psych techno — “Theendisinpsych Pt. 2” follows immediately and moves from sustained keyboard notes and a sampled David Bowie radio interview to an evocative, shimmering drone; it isn’t arhythmic, but it doens’t have a ‘beat’ per se — and becomes part of the avant garde soundscape (the lightning part) in closer “Freefalling,” which unfolds in stages of variable volume and hum with some howling leads snuck in near the end. It’s a deep dive and at times a challenging listen. So yes, exactly what one would hope.
When High Reeper‘s third LP, Renewed by Death, was announced back in July, it was notable how much the album’s narrative seemed to position them as a metal band rather than heavy/doom rock, which even though 2019’s Higher Reeper (review here) had its harder-hitting moments, is kind of how I’d come to think of them. The eight songs of Renewed by Death aren’t hyper-aggressive — though you wouldn’t call “Torn from Within” ‘chill’ by any means — but they feel sharper in their composition than the last record, and if High Reeper want to say that “Lamentations of the Pale” and “Jaws of Darkness” are their take on doom metal, I’d only emphasize how much that take feels like High Reeper‘s own in being cognizant of the traditional metal and doom aspects of their sound and making them groove as fervently as they do. The Eastern Seaboard is lucky to have them.
A low-key highlight of 2024, the collaboration between Norwegian neofolkers Ævestaden and heavy progressive instrumentalists Kanaan — titled Langt, Langt Vekk and comprising nine songs of varied intent, arrangement and origin — resounds with creative depth. It’s in Norwegian, and plays a lot off of traditional folk instrumentation and vocal styles — not to mention the songs themselves, which are also traditionals — but as the two sides come together even just on a three-minute instrumental piece like “Fiskaren,” there’s an organic forested space rock to be found, and whether it’s the somehow-catchy “Farvel” or “Habbor og Signe,” the cosmic-leaning “Vallåt efter C.G. Färje” or the wistful progeadelia that resolves in “Vardtjenn,” the reverence for the material is palpable, and also the reverence for the process itself, for each of these two entities contributing to something grander than either might be able or inclined to conjure on their own. That the collection worked out to be gorgeous, both worldly and otherworldly, and to cast such a breadth while remaining cohesive in mood is a credit to all involved. It could’ve been an absolute mess. It very much is not.
Slugs are Legal Now contains two live sets from experimental doomers MC MYASNOI, one from Harpa and one from R6013, both venues in the band’s hometown of Reykjavík, Iceland. The setlists are identical at six-per, but the performances are varied in a way that becomes part of the personality of the whole, which is immersive in its droning stretches, sometimes harsher in the noise being made particularly on the rougher R6013 songs, but still able to be heavy in a piece like “Step on Ur Neck” in a way that feels conversant with the likes of Ufomammut or Boris, and neither the moody post-darkjazz of “Nytrogen” nor the drums-and-rumble-do-a-minute-or-two-of-free-psych “lea%rdi%rdx2%rcx” a short time later (watch out for your speakers with that one), do anything to dissuade that impression. “Terror Serpentine” finishes both halves of Slugs are Legal Now with 11 minutes of grim sprawl, and in the culmination, that it’s the keyboard that’s shredding instead of one or the other of the guitars feels suitable to the weirdo nuance MC MYASNOI seem to come by so naturally and pair with a progressive will to grow by screwing with convention. Not going to be for everybody, but those ready to take a risk might find the reward waiting.
Back after two years with further affirmation of their comfort with the EP format, Connecticut two-piece Turkey Vulture run a condensed gamut in the six songs and 12 minutes of On the List, with the duo of vocalist/guitarist/bassist Jessie May and drummer/backing vocalist Jim Clegg giving specifically Misfits-y early punk impressions on “Fiends Like Us,” which “Untitled” takes more of a garage angle on in following before they metal-up for “Dollhouse” and the 48-second grind-punker “Adults Destroy,” which leads to thrashing in “Harvest Moon” offset by doomly swing, and the closing “Jill the Ripper,” going out on a note that toys with goth Americana in the vein of The Bad Seeds and boasts banjo, guitar, percussion and, crucially, accordion from Steve Rodgers in a multifaceted guest spot. The accordion makes it. Turkey Vulture‘s output is generally pretty raw and that’s true with On the List as well, but there’s character in them coinciding with the flow from one aspect of their sound to the next between the songs, and the EP ends up conveying a lot about what works in the band for something that’s 12 minutes long.
Doubly-bassed Brussels longform doom explorers Ghost:Whale certainly don’t get any less consciousness melting on the second disc of Dive:Two, which manifests its plunge across three extended pieces each given the title “Dub:Whale” and assigned a Roman numeral, but by then the five songs of the album’s first 67 minutes (as opposed to the 57 of the concluding trilogy) have already passed in the hypnotic, cosmic-doom push of “Under Pressure” and the synth-laced chug nod in the second half of “Les Danses des Sorcieres” that seems to come to a head in the speedier “Ultimas Palabras.” The shortest inclusion at nine minutes and by its finish spending some time cruising around a Truckfightersian desert, “Ultimas Palabras” gives over to “Godzilla” and “Eye of the Storm,” a kind of second LP within the first CD, led into by the synth of “Godzilla” — not a cover — and arriving at the farthest reach in the electronics-infused expanses of “Eye of the Storm,” for which the drums mostly sit out and the noise spends 21 minutes venturing into the unknown. Ghost:Whale are not fucking around. And obviously the “Dub:Whale” tracks are a divergence in intention, harnessing the power of repetition in a different way, but either it’s a logical extension or my brain has just gone numb from the low-end. Fine in any case, honestly.
Do I really need to tell you these guys are up to some shenanigans? They called the band Sheepfucker and Kraut, for crying out loud. Heavy rock chicanery ensues over eight tracks rife with willful misbehavior, culminating with “Broner” after turning the album’s progression into a kind of playground running between heavy rock, classic and psychedelic instrumentalism, metal and jams. It’s not a little, and I guess a namedrop for Mr. Bungle is somewhat obligatory, but the Bulgarian outfit make themselves welcome in the swath of ground they cover, punkish in their glee on top of everything else in “Bobanei” and the pop-adjacent “Look at Me,” which would seem to have some satire behind its chorus but is a standout hook just the same. They’re not all nonsense, or at least not at the expense of their songwriting in “Rich Man” and “Jolly Roger,” or “Did You Know” mirroring “Look at Me” in the penultimate spot on side B, but if people having fun while making music is a problem for you, I mean, really, you might want to have a good long think on what that’s all about. Yeah, it’s over-the-top. That’s the idea.
In some ways, LungBurner‘s second LP of 2024, Natura Duale, reminds of earliest Yatra in bringing together vicious sludge metal and a breadth of atmosphere, but the Atlanta outfit have more of a post-metallic bent as the solo of “Barren” nonetheless dares to soar, and opener/longest track (immediate points) “Requiem” establishes the first of the album’s nods in a build of standalone guitar in the spirit of YOB, and in combination with a churn that wouldn’t feel out of place on Neurot and a crush in centerpiece “(Prey) Job” that opens to a classic stoner metal swagger in its verse, the righteousness here takes many forms, most of them dark, grueling and heavy — this definitely applies to the Celtic Frosting put on the proceedings by the finale “Astral Projection” — but not without a corresponding reach or purpose. LungBurner are served by the complexity of character, and Natura Duale grows more vivid as it goes.
With their material steeped in fantasy and horror/sci-fi lore, a goodly portion of it being of their own making, Michigan’s Bog Wizard continue to find the thread between tabletop gaming and sometimes monolithic sludge. The bulk of Journey Through the Dying Lands, which is their second release in a row done in collaboration with a game company, is dedicated to opener “I, Mycelium,” which stretches across 19:50 and unfolds in stages that don’t bother to choose between being brutal or fluid, the band winding up coming across as dug-in as one might expect Bog Wizard to be in the endeavor. There are two more studio tracks, in “Dodz Bringare,” which is black metal until it slams into the doom wall, and “Hagfish Dinner,” on which they depart for two minutes of harmonized chant-like vocals over resonant acoustic guitar. They’re not done yet as Ben Lombard (guitar/vocals), bassist Colby Lowman and drummer/vocalist Harlen Linke offer a glimpse at some live-on-stage banter before tearing into the thrasher “Stuck in the Muck” and backing it with another live track, this one a take on “Barbaria” from 2021’s Miasmic Purple Smoke (review here) that by the time it builds to its galloping finish has already long since demanded every bit of volume you can give it.
Norwegian heavy progressive rockers Kosmodome are set to release their second album and first for Stickman Records, Ad Undas, tomorrow, Oct. 11. With it, they expand on the proggier side of their 2021 self-titled debut, as opener “Neophobia” — also the longest track (immediate points) at 8:41 — finds the band led by brotherly duo Sturle Sandvik (guitar and vocals) and Severin Sandvik (drums and vocals) prioritizing scope with an expanded reach in psychedelia and krautrock, guitar and vocals matching melodically in “Hyperion” in a way that leaves the listener less sure which is following which, and Ole Andreas Jensen‘s bass and Erlend Nord‘s guitar add to the sense of motion as “Hyperion” embarks on its purposefully-understated chorus for the second time.
“Obsternasig” ultimately works in a similar style of folk-informed classic heavy prog, but as Kosmodome subvert the longest-song-last genre norm (among others; that’s part of the idea here) and put “Neophobia” and “Hyperion” at the start, “Obsternasig” and the space-rock shoving “Dystopia,” which follows, can breathe as a result of “Neophobia” having already provided a summary of Ad Undas‘ scope. It doesn’t necessarily account for the sci-fi drama of “Dystopia” — which of course is about now — or the taut twists and jabs of “Turmoil” that writhe around subdued, sad verses, but focusing on immersion early lets Kosmodome have the flexibility later to bring disco-era funk into the bass and keys of “Turmoil” and to harness and subsequently blow up a slog in “Fatigue.”
It is in the patterning of the vocals on the intricate rhythms of the guitar (or vice versa) and in the patience of their execution that Ad Undas most displays the growth in Kosmodome‘s sound. I suppose in a word that would be “songwriting.” Fine. Kosmodome was hardly rushed, mind you, but the guitar is a little more willing to leave space around it, a little less busy at least on the outward impression, and when they launch into the jam on “Neophobia,” they sound like they’re there for a reason. And it’s true that you don’t get that in the same way on “Obsternasig” or “Fatigue,” but that’s because Kosmodome are making their songs with more than one purpose. On Ad Undas, each track feeds into the overarching flow and adds something new to the proceedings without taking away from what came before.
In this way, Kosmodome are able to foster a sound drawing from prog, psych, classic heavy, boogie rock and other various microgenres well served by the unhurried nod with which “Fatigue” is resolved, but not tethered to that nod as a crutch for songwriting that lacks variety or diversity among its influences. Kosmodome might dig on some heavy grooves, but there’s more happening in the songs than a riff parade, though parades are fun and if there was one, the ending of “Fatigue” would probably let you go. It wouldn’t be fair to call what they’re doing revolutionary, since homage is a part of the aesthetic, but Kosmodome‘s prog has character and charm beyond being well composed and executed, and one hopes the band continue to dive into their work with such individualism as their goal.
Ad Undas streams in its entirety on the player below, followed by more info from the PR wire.
Please enjoy:
The brainchild of the two Sandvik brothers, Sturle on guitars and vocals, and Severin on drums, Kosmodome’s music is riff-based rock with stoner elements all of which are placed within a progressive universe to great effect. Together, the duo bridges the gap between the explosive drive of bands such as Mastodon with melodic magic and retrospective, clever songwriting.
Hailing from Bergen, Kosmodome’s astonishing debut album from 2021 heralded the arrival of a melodic progressive powerhouse of a different stripe. While endlessly groovy, the band sidesteps the stoner genre by virtue of their sheer creativity, crafting extremely catchy but still unpredictable tracks topped by excellent vocals. With an explosive drive in which the melodious contrasts the hard and heavy music, Kosmodome came to blow minds with their psychedelic sounding, 60s atmosphere-coloured rock!
In recent years, the band has reached out beyond the Norwegian west coast and is now ready with their second full length album “Ad Undas”. On this album, they are less confined by genre expectations, but still sound like Kosmodome. Growing up with all types of music genres in a musical home from world music to metal is something the songwriting reflects.
Musically the record shows what else lives inside the progressive universe Kosmodome are building, where one/the goal is to avoid being stuck in genre expectations. Seeking a more dynamic and melodious sound than earlier, the songwriters – brothers Sandvik, but appearing as a stellar four piece live band – still deliver an album with heavy riffs, aggressiveness and many surprises.
Lyrically it delves into personal struggles with self-doubt, the pressures of societal expectations, and the existential battles of modern life. The songs touch on different aspects of the human condition, from the fear of failure and the need for growth to the turmoil of modern living and relentless self-exertion in a chaotic world. Ad undas is a Greek term meaning “to the waves”, but in Norway it is used as an expression when everything goes “to hell” or fails (everything goes south).
Kosmodome have played concerts on different stages in Norway and abroad, and are ready for more live performances after a studio hiatus in 2023 working on their much-awaited, second album, “Ad Undas” , set to be released on Stickman Records on October 11, 2024!
