Posted in Whathaveyou on August 1st, 2025 by JJ Koczan
There have been a few editions of Lowrider‘s classic 2000 debut, Ode to Io (reissue review here), at this point. If one wants to begin with 2017 when the band released a deluxe edition of the album as their first offering through Blues Funeral, then with the subsequent 20th anniversary edition in 2020 and this 25th anniversary pressing, that’s three in the last eight years. Not every record needs to be constantly in print. Ode to Io might.
I was asked earlier this year to contribute to liner notes for this release with a few other people. I had a whole idea for it and whatnot, had hit up Peder Bergstrand and got him to tell me about growing up with this music, an experience of it no one outside the band can know anything about, but having the songs as formative in his life. I will try to get an interview going, though, ugh, looking at myself. In any case, it’s obviously a special record so I want to do something for it, and all the more since I ultimately wasn’t able to make those liner notes happen because I suck at everything and am so distractable I couldn’t even finish telling you about that before I got sidetracked by negative self-talk. Maybe not the time for me to be doing interviews after all.
I got to see Lowrider in May at Desertfest Oslo 2025 (review here) and it was a highlight of my year. I’m just saying that because it’s nice to remember. The punchline was I told them I’d do the liner notes for the 30th anniversary edition, so give me five years and I’ll get on it. Har har, but also I’d do that when the time comes.
Reissue is out Sept. 19, which was also the original release date. As per the PR wire:
European stoner rock icons LOWRIDER to reissue special 25th anniversary edition of classic debut album “Ode to Io” on Blues Funeral Recordings
The godfathers of European stoner rock LOWRIDER are set to release a special 25th anniversary reissue of their landmark album “Ode to Io” in a limited deluxe edition this September 19th, with preorders available now via Blues Funeral Recordings.
At the dawn of the internet, bands and fans around the world coalesced in the wake of defunct Palm Springs originators Kyuss to craft their own visions of the desert rock sound. Standing foremost among them was Lowrider, whose debut, “Ode to Io”, became the blueprint countless others would follow. Stream the full album at this location.
Now, longtime fans and new arrivals can delve into this rumbling chronicle of seminal desert fuzz-heaviness in deluxe remastered glory. Commemorating the 25th anniversary of its original release on September 19, 2000, Lowrider present a towering new reissue of this absolute foundational text for the post-Kyuss stoner rock movement.
“This is the version they didn’t let us do back then — only better. I can’t wait for people to see it”, says singer and bassist Peder Bergstrand. “When we handed in Ode to Io to be printed back in 1999, we had this elaborate silver screen print for the cover. But the external label tasked with making the vinyl were cheapskates. They forced the 2LP playing time into one LP, resulting in subpar audio quality. To finish off, they printed the elaborate silver cover as plain grayscale. Needless to say, we were pretty gutted by the result. Ever since, I’ve dreamt of making THAT version, doing it justice. That is exactly what we’ve done with the 25th anniversary version of ‘Ode to Io’.”
“It’s forever humbling and mindblowing that people care so much about this album, a fourth of a century later. We wanted to do the record justice, and invite fans to see photos and hear stories from that period that we haven’t shared before”.
This limited new special edition of “Ode to Io” will be issued on silver, black and white color merge 2xLP and features previously unpublished photos, essays, liner notes from the band, and updated silverboard packaging and silver-infused art and design.
Alright, y’all. This is where it ends. The Quarterly Review has been an absolute blast, an easy, fun, good time to have, but inevitably it must come to close and that’s where we’re at. Last day. Last 10 releases. Thanks if you’ve kept up. I’ll be back I think in September with another one of these, probably longer.
Hope you’ve found something killer this week. I did.
Quarterly Review #41-50:
Katatonia, Nightmares as Extensions of the Waking State
Nightmares as Extensions of the Waking State is the first long-player in the 34-year history of Katatonia — upwards of their 13th album, depending on what you count — to not feature guitarist Anders Nyström. That leaves frontman Jonas Renkse as the remaining founder of the band, with two new guitarists in Nico Elgstrand and Sebastian Svalland, bassist Niklas Sandin and drummer Daniel Moilanen, steering one of heavy music’s most identifiable sounds in new ways. “Wind of No Change” is duly subversive, and “Departure Trails” basks in texture in a way Katatonia have periodically throughout the last 20 years, but the Opethian severity of they keys in “The Light Which I Bleed” and the declarative chug at the end of opener “Thrice” speak to the band’s awareness of the need to occasionally be very, very heavy, even as “Efter Solen” shifts into dark, emotive electronics ahead of the sweeping finale “In the Event Of…” Renkse has never wanted for expression as a singer. If he’s to be the driving force behind Katatonia, fair enough for how that manifests here.
Black Moon Circle, A Million Leagues Beyond: Moskus Sessions Vol. I
Trondheim, Norway’s Black Moon Circle recorded the four-song set of A Million Leagues Beyond: Moskus Sessions Vol. 1 at the hometown venue of Moskus, a small bar that, to hear them tell it, mostly hosts jazz. Fair enough for cosmic heavy psychedelic grunge rock to join the fray, I should think. It was late in 2023, so earlier that year’s Leave the Ghost Behind (review here) full-length features readily, with “Snake Oil” following the opener “Drifting Across the Plains” — which is jazzy enough, certainly — ahead of the chunkier-riffed “Serpent” and a 20-minute take on “Psychedelic Spacelord (Lighter Than Air),” which has become a signature piece for the three-piece, suitably expansive. If you know Black Moon Circle‘s studio albums, you know they do as much as they can live. Honestly, A Million Leagues Beyond: Moskus Sessions Vol. I isn’t all that different, but it’s definitely a performance worth enjoying.
Kudos if you had ‘new Bloodhorse‘ on your 2025 Stoner Rock Bingo card or caught it when they launched an Instagram page last year. I certainly didn’t. The Massachusetts aughts-type prog-leaning riffmakers were last heard from with their 2009 debut album, Horizoner (review here), and the six-song/28-minute A Malign Star serves as a vital return, if not one brimming with good vibes as “The Somnambulist” dream-crushes its four-minute course, the band not so much dwelling in atmospheres like the relatively careening “Shallowness,” but getting into a song, making their point, and getting out. This works to their advantage in opener “Saboteur” and the chuggier title-track that follows, but even six-minute closer “Illumination” retains a sense of immediacy amid the dirty fuzz and comparatively laid back roll. This band was once the shape of sludge to come. 16 years later, the future has taken a different course and everybody’s a little more middle-aged, but Bloodhorse still kind of feel like they’re waiting for the world to catch up.
Should you find yourself thinking you didn’t remember Canadian riffers Aawks — also stylized all-caps: AAWKS — having quite such a nasty streak, you’re not alone. Their 2022 debut, Heavy on the Cosmic (review here), had a take that seems like fuzzy dream-pop in comparison to “Celestial Magick” and the screamy sludge that populates On Through the Sky Maze, their second LP. The nine-song 48-minute full-length is the first to feature bassist/vocalist Ryan “Grime Pup” Mailman alongside guitarist/vocalist Kris Dzierzbicki, guitarist Roberto Paraíso, and drummer Randylin Babic, and songs like “Lost Dwellers” or the mellow-spacier “Drifting Upward,” with no harsh vocals, seem to hit more directly, in addition to arriving in a different context with the “blegh”s of “Wandering Supergiants” and “Caerdoia,” and so on. In the end, Mailman‘s rasp becomes one more tool in Aawks‘ songwriting shed, and the band have more breadth and are less predictable for it. Call that a win, even before you get to the record being good.
The shimmering, floating guitar in “Echoes (The Empress)” tells part of the story in the deep-running The Cure influence, and the somewhat moody vocals of Charlie Suárez echo that emotional foundation, which is coupled in that song and throughout Moon Destroys‘ debut album, She Walks by Moonlight, with a willful progressivism in the songwriting, attention to detail in the arrangements, melodies, even the mix. Comprised of Suárez, guitarist Juan Montoya (ex-Torche), bassist Arnold Nese and drummer/producer Evan Diprima (Royal Thunder), the band are able to set a wash in place that’s not deceptively heavy in “The Nearness of June” (an earlier demo track) because it’s beating you over the head with tone, but still has more to offer than just its own heft. “Only” sounds like heavied-up proto-emo, while the roll of “Set Them Free” is massive in terms of both its riff and its big feelings. If you’re willing to let it grow on you, She Walks by Moonlight can be a space to occupy.
In Space We Trust is one of four-so-far full-lengths that Santtu Laakso — multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, composer and producer — has out between Astral Magic and related collaborations and projects. It’s not a pace of releasing one can keep up with, but if you need a check-in from the generation ship that is Astral Magic, chances are Laakso is out there on some voyage or other between classic space rock and clearheaded prog, spanning galaxies. The eight-song/42-minute In Space We Trust pairs him with lead guitarist Jonathan Segel (Øresund Space Collective, etc.), and one should not be surprised at the cosmic nature of the resulting music. The pair get into some sci-fi atmospherics in “Ancient Pilots” and “Alien Emperor,” but the synth and guitar are leading the way across the galaxy and the vibe across the board is more Voyager and less Nostromo, so yes, smooth solar-sailing the whole way through.
The dreamy guitar, semi-rapped vocal, and dub backbeat give the opening title-track of Never Never a decidedly ’90s cast, but it’s not the summary of what Toronto’s Lammping have to offer in their collaboration with weirdo-rockabilly solo artist Bloodshot Bill, bringing together their urbane, grounded psych and studiocraft, samples, etc., with the singer/guitarist’s low, sometimes bluesy delivery across seven songs totaling 15 minutes, peppering the vibe-on-vibes of “Never Never,” “One and Own” and “Won’t Back Down” — the longest inclusion at 3:23 — with ramble and flow alike, with experimental jawns like “Coconut,” “0 and 1” or “Anything is Possible” and the closer “Nitey Nite,” all under two minutes long and each going their own way with the casual cool one has come to expect from Lammping, quietly staking out their own wavelength while still sounding like something from a half-remembered soundtrack to a radder version of your life. This is one of four releases Lammping will reportedly have over the next year or so. Way on board for whatever’s coming next.
After the disbanding of Samsara Blues Experiment in 2021, guitarist/vocalist Christian Peters — who had already by then moved from Germany to Brazil — unveiled Fuzz Sagrado with EPs in July and October of that year. Fuzz Sagrado‘s 2021 self-titled (review here) and Vida Pura EPs are included on Strange Daze, a new compilation of tracks unified through a remaster by John McBain, showcasing the early outreach of keyboard and guitar that served as the foundation for the project. As Peters readies a live band for an eventual return to the stage, Strange Daze demonstrates how multifaceted the growth has been in terms of songwriting and still feels exploratory in hindsight as it did when the material was first released. Also included is the jammy “Arapongas,” which wasn’t on either EP but was recorded around the same time. Something of a curio or a fan-piece, but I ain’t arguing.
When the Deadbolt Breaks, In the Glow of the Vatican Fire
A couple different modes on When the Deadbolt Breaks‘ In the Glow of the Vatican Fire, which is the long-running Connecticut malevolent doomers’ umpteenth album, running 63 minutes and eight songs. Some of those are longer pieces, like opener “The Scythe Will Come” (12:24), “The Chaos of Water” (14:02), “The Deep Well” (10:42) and “Red Sparrow” (10:57), but interspersed with these are a succession of shorter tracks, and the breakdown between them isn’t just that the short songs are fast and the long songs are slow. Certainly the ripping early portions (and the later, more minimalist spaciousness) of “The Chaos of Water” argue against this, and the dynamic turns out to be correspondingly complex to suit the abiding murk of mood, as founding guitarist/vocalist Aaron Lewis and co-singer Cherilynne provide foreboding croon to suit the lo-fi, creeping, distorted terrors of the music surrounding. This is When the Deadbolt Breaks absolutely in their element; bleak, churn-chaotic, expressive, immersive. They’re able to put you where they want you whether you want to go or not.
It may have sat on the shelf for two years since recording finished in 2023, but don’t worry, it’s still from the future. Laughter is the second-on-Sulatron full-length from Italian experimentalists A/lpaca, and it sees them push deeper into electronic elements and ambiences, keeping some of the krautrock elements of their 2021’s Make it Better, but with songs that are shorter on average and that stand ready to convey a sense of quirk in the keyboard elements or the Devo verses of the title-track, which isn’t without its aspect of shove. Does it get weird? You bet your ass it does. “Bianca’s Videotape,” “Who’s in Love Daddy?,” the post-punk synthery meeting doomed fuzz on “Empty Chairs,” the list goes on. Actually, it’s just the tracklisting and it’s all pretty freaked out, so as long as you know going in that the band are working from their own standard of weirdoism, making the jump into the keyboardy gorge of “Kyrie” or the new wave-y “Don’t Talk” should be no problem. If you heard the last record, yeah, this is different. Seems like the next one will probably be different again too. Not everyone wants to do the same thing all the time.
Posted in Reviews on April 11th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
A friendly reminder that the end of the week is not, in fact, the end of the Quarterly Review, which will continue through Monday and Tuesday. That brings the number of releases covered to 70 total, which feels like plenty, and should hopefully carry us through a busy Spring release season. I’m thinking June for the next QR now but don’t be surprised if that turns into July as we get closer. All I know is I wanna do it before it’s two full weeks again.
As always, I hope you’ve found something that speaks to you in all this 10-per-day nonsense. If not, first, wow, really? Second, it ain’t over yet. Maybe today’s your day. One way to know.
Quarterly Review #41-50:
Dead Meadow, Voyager to Voyager
You may be mellow-vibes, but unless you’re “Not the Season,” Dead Meadow have one up on you forever. While Voyager to Voyager, which is the L.A. band’s eighth or ninth LP depending on what you count, comes with the tragic real-world context of bassist Steve Kille‘s 2024 passing, he does feature on the long-running trio’s first offering through Heavy Psych Sounds, and whether it’s “The Space Between” or the shuffle-stepping “The Unhounded Now” or the pastoral “A Question of Will” and the jangly strum of “Small Acts of Kindness” later on, guitarist/vocalist Jason Simon, Kille and drummer Mark Laughlin celebrate the ultra-languid take on heavy, psychedelic and shoegazing rock that’s made Dead Meadow a household name for weirdos. Not that they’re not prone to a certain wistfulness, but Voyager to Voyager is vibrant rather than mournful, and the title-track is an album flow unto itself in just eight minutes. If you can slow your manic-ass brain long enough to sit and hear it front-to-back, you’re in for a treat.
There is a sense of stepping out as Irish troubadour Seán Mulrooney makes his full-length solo debut with This is My Prayer on Ómós Records. Mulrooney is best known for residing at the core of Tau and the Drones of Praise, and for sure, pieces of This is My Prayer are coming from a similar place, but where there was psychedelic meander for the band, under his own moniker, Mulrooney brings a clarity of tone and presence to lyrics ranging from spiritual seeking to what seems to have been an unceremonious breakup. With character and emotion in his voice and range in his craft, Mulrooney sees a better world on “Ag Múscliaghacht” and posits a new masculinity — totally needed; trainwreck gender — in “Walking With the Wind,” meets indie simplicity with lap steel in “Jaguar Dreams” and, in closer “The Pufferfish,” pens a fun McCartney-style bouncer about tripping sea life. These are slivers of the adventures undertaken in singer-songwriter style as Mulrooney hones this solo identity. Very curious to see where the adventure might take him.
Issued in 2024, Sun Dog is the third MaidaVale long-player, and with it, the Swedish heavy psychedelic rockers showcase six years’ worth of growth from their second album. Melancholic of mood in “Fools” and “Control” and the folkish “Alla Dagar” and “Vultures,” Sun Dog starts uptempo with the Afrobeat-influenced “Faces,” drifts, shreds, then drifts again in “Give Me Your Attention,” dares toward pop in “Daybreak” and fosters a sense of the ironic in “Wide Smile is Fine” and “Pretty Places,” the latter of which, with a keyboardier arrangement, could’ve been the kind of New Wave hit that would still be in your head 40 years later. The nine-songer (10 if you get “Perplexity,” which was previously only on the vinyl) doesn’t dwell in any single space for too long — only “Wide Smile is Fine” and “Vultures” are over four minutes, though others are close — and that lets them balance the downer aspects with forward momentum. MaidaVale are no strangers to that kind of movement, of course, but Sun Dog‘s mature realization of their sound feels so much more vast in range.
Here come Causa Sui with another live album. And I’m not saying the only reason the thankfully-prolific Danish psychedelic treasures, heavyjazz innovators and El Paraiso label honchos are only releasing a complement to 2023’s Loppen 2021 (review here) to rub in the fact that I’ve never been lucky enough to catch them on a stage — any stage — but I am starting to take it personally. Call me sensitive. In any case, despite feeling existentially mocked by their chemistry and the fluidity of “Sorcerer’s Disciple” or the 22-minute “Visions of a New Horizon,” the hour-long set is glorious as one would expect, and though Loppen 2024 is a blip on the way to Causa Sui‘s forthcoming studio album, In Flux, especially when set alongside their previous outing from the same Christiania-based venue, it highlights the variable persona of the band and the reach of their material. Someday I’ll see this goddamn band.
Underlying the grit and stoner drawl of “El Rey del Mundo de los Muertos” is the lurching progression of Black Sabbath‘s “Sweet Leaf,” and that reinterprative ethic comes to the strutting Pentagrammery of “La Verdad es Tu Ataud” as well, but in the tonal density and the way their groove snails its way into your ear canal, the vibe Fulanno bring to Nosotros Somos el Fin del Mundo is in line with stoner doom traditionalism, and the revelry is palbale in the slow nod of the title-track or the horror samples sprinkled throughout or the earlier Electric Wizard-style languidity of “El Nacimiento de la Muerte.” They save an acoustic stretch in reserve to wrap “Desde las Tinieblas,” but if you think that’s going to clean your soul by that point then you haven’t been paying attention. Unrepentantly dark, stoned and laced with devil-, death-and riff-worship, Nosotros Somos el Fin del Mundo further distinguishes Fulanno in an always crowded Argentinian underground, and dooms like a bastard besides.
Because the age we live in permits such a thing and it tells you something about the music, I’m going to cut and paste the credits for Israeli duo Ze Stoner‘s debut EP/demo, Desert Buddhist. Dor Sarussi is credited with “bass guitar, spaceships, vocals,” while Alexander Krivinski handles “didgeridoo, spaceships, drums, and percussion.” How tripped out does a band need to be to have two members credited with “spaceships,” you ask? Quite tripped out indeed. Across the 12:09 “Part I – The Awakness” (sic) and the 11:41 “Part II – The Trip,” and the much-shorter 1:41 finale “Part III – The Enlightenment,” Ze Stoner take the meditative doom of Om or an outfit like Zaum and extrapolate from it a drone-based approach that retains a meditative character. It is extreme in its capacity to induce a trance, and as Desert Buddhist unfolds, it plays as longer movements tied together as a single work. There is massive potential here. One hopes Sarussi, Krivinski, their spaceships and didgeridoo are just beginning their adventures in the cosmos.
Oslo-based newcomers Arv aren’t shy about what their sound is trying to do. Their debut album, Curse & Courage, arrives via the wheelhouse of Vinter Records and brings together noise-laced and at-times-caustic hardcore with the atmospherics, echoing tremolo and churning intensity of post-metal. They lean to one side or the other throughout, and “Wrath” seems to get a bit of everything, but it’s a harder line to draw than one might think because hardcore as a style is all urgency and post-metal very often brings a more patient take. Being able to find a place in songwriting between the two, well, Arv aren’t the first to do it, but they are impressively cohesive for Curse & Courage being their first record, and the likes of “Victim,” the overwhelming rush of “Forsaken” earlier on and the more-ambient-but-still-vocally-harsh closing title-track set up multiple avenues for future evolution of the ideas they present here. Too aggressive to be universal in its appeal, but makes undeniable use of its scathe.
I’m not sure what’s going on in “Erotik Fvel P.I.M.P.,” but there’s chicanery a-plenty throughout Fvzz Popvli‘s fourth full-length, Melting Pop, which is released in renewed cooperation with Heavy Psych Sounds. Hooks, fuzz, and the notion that anything else would be superfluous pervade the Indiana Jones-referencing “Temple of Doom” and “Telephone” at the outset, the latter with some choice backing vocals, and they kick the fuzz into overdrive on “Salty Biscvits” with room besides for a jangly verse. Running an ultra-manageable 30 minutes, the album breaks in half with four songs on each side. “Kommando” leads off the second half with dirtier low end tone ahead of the slower-rolling “Ovija,” which shouts and howls and is all kinds of righteously unruly, where “Cop Sacher” punks at the start and has both gang vocals and a saxophone, which I can say with confidence nothing else among the 70 records in this Quarterly Review even tried let alone pulled off, and they close with due swagger and surprising class in “The Knight.” Part of Fvzz Popvli‘s persona to this point has been based in rawness, so it’s interesting to hear them fleshing out more complex arrangments, but at heart they remain very much stoner rock for the glory of stoner rock.
The tone worship is there, the working-class-dude stoner swing is there, and the humor that might result in a song like “Hypertension” — for which no less than Bob Balch of Fu Manchu sits in — so when I compare Rust Bucket to Maryland’s lost sons Earthride, please know that I’m not talking out of my ass. The Minnesota-based double-guitar five-piece revel in low end buzz-tone, and with no-pretense groove, throaty vocals and big personality, that spirit is there. Doesn’t account for the boogie of “Keep Us Down,” but everybody’s gotta throw down now and then. They shift into a sludgier mood by the time they get around to “The Darkness” and “Watch Your Back,” but the idea behind this first Rust Bucket feels much more like a bunch of guys getting together to hammer out some cool songs, maybe play some shows, do a record and see how it goes. On paper, that makes Rust Bucket an unassuming start, but its anti-bullshit stance, steady roll and addled swing make it a gem of the oldschool variety. Much to their credit, they call the style, “fuzzy caveman dad rock.” They forgot ‘bearded,’ but otherwise that about sums it up. Maybe the beard is implied?
It is appropriate that Mountain Dust named their third LP after themselves, since it finds them transcending their influences and honing a cross-genre approach that’s never sounded more their own than it does in these nine songs. From the densely-weighted misdirect of “Reap” with its Earth-sounding drone riff through the boogieing en route to the mellower and more open soul-showcase “Waiting for Days to End” — backing vocals included, see also “It’s Already Done” on side B — and the organ in “Vengeance,” the dynamic between the Graveyard-style ballad “This is It” and the keyboard/synth-fueled instrumental outro “All Eyes But Two,” Mountain Dust gracefullly subverts retroist expectations with individualized songwriting, performance and production, and this material solidifies the Montreal four-piece among the more flexible acts doing anything in the sphere of 1970s-style heavy rock. That’s still there, understand, but like the genre itself, Mountain Dust have very clearly grown outward from their foundations.
Posted in Whathaveyou on April 1st, 2025 by JJ Koczan
Oh man, I was lucky enough one time to see Dozer take the stage at Fuzz Festival in Stockholm (review here), and I can only recommend it as a life experience. The Swedish spearheads, who’ve been talked about around here a fair bit on Fridays these last few weeks if you’ve been keeping up, join Långfinger, The Big Rip, and Montana fuzzbringers Wizzerd in this announcement, and as you can see on the poster below, Dozer will co-headline the two-nighter with Brant Bjork Trio. One assumes Fall tour dates are incoming for a number of these acts, but even looking past the headliners, that you get Carson, Craneium, Stonus, Domkraft, Gnome and Hellroom Projectors — and of course, the ones behind the whole thing, Truckfighters — in addition to this latest round of names is certainly compelling.
November, huh? I don’t foresee either an invite or a cash windfall, so I can’t imagine I’ll be able to be at this one, but damn it’s a rad assemblage. Don’t sleep on keeping up just because there are a hundred festivals in Europe in October and this is later.
From social media:
🔥More bands announced for FUZZ FESTIVAL #6 14-15 NOVEMBER 2025🔥
Dozer: Swedish stoner legends that need no introduction, heavy fuzz and alot of in-your-face grooves.
Långfinger: A vibrant heavy rock/stoner trio from Gothenburg.
Wizzerd (US): A Fuzzorama Records band hailing from Montana that will bring a doomy, stoner groove to Stockholm.
The Big Rip (NO): The Big Rip plays groovy fast paced stoner/scandirock with elements of doom.
Takes place at Debaser and Bar Brooklyn, Stockholm, Sweden.
Grab your ticket now and join us for a weekend of unforgettable music, good vibes, and like-minded souls. Whether you’re a veteran festival-goer or a newcomer, Fuzzfestival 2025 promises to be a gathering of sonic exploration and celebration.
Stay tuned for even more lineup announcements and festival updates. We can’t wait to see you there!
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 27th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
Who doesn’t dig a comeback? Actually, I’m not sure this counts as one — though they do say “we are back” — but it’s a revamp just the same for Swedish heavy blues/classic rockers Snowy Dunes. As the five-piece detail below, they have been through some lineup changes in the four years since their second album, Sastrugi (review here), and they emerge as you see configured them below. Doesn’t everybody look thrilled.
If you managed to finish reading the headline or follow the band on socials (not a bad idea), you already know they’re working on the follow-up to Sastrugi now. Curious what that will bring in light of the fact that Stefan Jakobsson was on the first LP and EP and they’ll have two guitars, I think for the first time. Spacier? More effects? More solos? I don’t know.
There’s room for a lot in Snowy Dunes‘ sound, though, as their heavy blues foundation can coincide with anything from psychedelic shimmer to proto-doom crunch. Sastrugi certainly offered both, and had the 11-minute roll of “Helios” tucked away at the end for good measure. It’s at the bottom of this post, if you’d like a revisit.
And if you don’t come out of that also curious what’s in store for Snowy Dunes as 2025 rolls on and 2026 gradually comes to loom, well, I don’t know what to tell you. Maybe go eat a sandwich and try again later.
From social media:
Snowy Dunes 2025 We are back.
Furthermore, our original drummer (S/T and Atlantis), band co-founder and force of nature Stefan Jakobsson is also back behind the kit which we think is fantastic!
Jonathan Wårdsäter is switching to guitar duties alongside Christoffer Kingstedt which already has expanded our vision – we look forward to sharing more with you guys.
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 20th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
Anders ‘Blakkheim’ Nyström is for sure right in his assertion that Katatonia fans are somewhat broken into cliques or collectives or at very least online professions of faith for different eras of the band. Inevitable maybe, for an act whose early albums had a distinct impact on a genre while at the same time the band themselves grew in different directions. Nyström played on 13 records with Katatonia. They’re not all gold, but the horrible truth is that regardless of what year a record came out, Katatonia have remained consistent in the level of their craft as their sound has continued to progress. Nyström and frontman Jonas Renkse, up to this point, were the remaining founders of the band.
I don’t know what this means for Bloodbath, if Nyström and Renkse will continue to collaborate in Katatonia‘s brutal death metal cousin outfit. A quick look at social media shows a fest date at Party San in August, if that’s an answer.
And of course the future of Katatonia itself is something of a question in terms of personnel and sound alike. Nyström mentions Renkse proceeding with “new members,” while Renkse, in his somewhat shorter post, doesn’t say much more than he’s moving forward. Fair enough, as the progression of time do be linear like that. If it’s not the end of the band, it’s at least bound to see a significant shift in the dynamic, on stage and in the studio. I’ll be curious to see how it shakes out… moving forward.
From social media:
Says Anders Nyström:
“Sad but true.
The time has come for me to confirm that the roads ahead Jonas and I have chosen for both Katatonia and ourselves have grown too wide and far apart, and as a result, our long-term collaboration has drawn to a close.
With him and I being the duo that founded Katatonia almost 35 years ago, and owing to the fact that we managed to take our mission this far, it’s inevitable that our band’s legacy will continue to play a huge role for both of us and always live on, albeit in a different light either captured by our past, future or the many chapters in between.
To each our own, we may all have our own preferences and different levels of appreciation for either the early, mid or later Katatonia eras, but it seems like any willingness to embrace them all, in order to honor our history through live activities, has unfortunately failed to sustain. Needless to say, I still love ALL our albums, but with the early stuff being neglected for so many years, a feeling of having “unfinished business” with a style that goes far back to our roots has just grown stronger and stronger. I can’t help feeling adamant that songs from our early-mid discography deserve to be equally acknowledged and likewise targeted for our live show repertoire, the essential medium where the past should always be alive! Unfortunately, that door has been kept shut and left everything we did pre-millennium in a void.
Avowed, with one of us gone, Katatonia could and should have been mutually laid to rest while exploiting the freedom to continue in any desirable direction under a new name. But with Jonas now regrouping with new members and navigating further in his own direction, I no longer need to wait and see which way the wind is blowing to enter that void and grab hold of what’s been abandoned. After all, Katatonia’s legacy is resting on both ends of the timeline.
Come what may, I’d like to thank Jonas and the rest of my ex-colleagues for the incredible ride we shared through four compelling decades.
Blessed be!”
Says Jonas Renkse:
“Anders Nyström and I are going our separate ways. A decision not taken lightly, but for everyone to thrive and move forward with their own creative preferences as well as personal schedules this has become the realistic option. Anders and I started the band in 1991 and his impact on the band’s trademark sound is undeniable. As bleak as this sounds, and is, it’s further evidence of life getting in the way of our preferred plans. I wish Anders all the best for the future.”
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 18th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
It doesn’t seem to be mentioned in the press release below, but included among Candlemass‘ 40th anniversary celebrations is a set later this year at Rock Hard Festival in Greece where they’ll reunite with former frontman Messiah Marcolin for a one-off. Since 2018, and before that as well in a less-on-a-record-type-official-blah-blah capacity, the Swedish doom legends have had vocalist JohanLänquist, who famously sang on their first record but was never actually in the band — inadvertantly becoming part of one of underground heavy metal’s most crucial narratives –out front, but like Länquist, Marcolin is also a big part of Candlemass‘ history, and that’s worth honoring, even if it’s something I’m mentioning in large part because of how unlikely it ever seemed like it would be.
Universe of infinite possibilities, folks.
Black Star is the name of the new Candlemass EP — recorded with Länquist on vocals, as one would expect — and it’s out May 9 on Napalm Records. The band have a teaser trailer for their anniversary rollout streaming at the bottom of this post, and the PR wire brought details of the release including that it’s got covers of Black Sabbath and Pentagram, which in terms of genre-impact, is keeping company one could only call fitting.
Have at it:
CANDLEMASS CELEBRATES 40TH ANNIVERSARY WITH NEW EP, BLACK STAR, OUT MAY 9 VIA NAPALM RECORDS — PRE-ORDER STARTS NOW
Swedish godfathers of epic doom CANDLEMASS celebrate their 40th anniversary of pioneering the genre with a four-track EP, Black Star. Packed with craterous riffs, this celebration of doom metal mastery is set for release on May 9 via Napalm Records.
With Black Star, the genre-defying band unveils two brand-new songs alongside two cover versions of timeless classics. The EP will be available in various formats, including a strictly limited vinyl edition featuring a 12-page vinyl booklet, an A3 poster, and a tote bag.
CANDLEMASS mastermind Leif Edling comments:
“Not all bands get to see their 40th birthday and it certainly hasn’t been an easy ride. But many ups and downs later, we stand here as survivors, veterans even… a bit scarred perhaps? Still ready though to unleash another piece of doom-laden metal upon an unsuspecting world. You have to do something when you turn 40, right? Anyway, as always, it’s been fun recording some new stuff as well as covering a couple of old favorites.”
Title track, “Black Star,” blends haunting melodies with deeply introspective lyrics, brought to life by the dark, romantic voice of vocalist Johan Länquist. Songwriter Leif Edling’s lyrics delve into themes of existential struggle, temptation, and the allure of darkness — creating an intense atmosphere imbued with CANDLEMASS’ signature sound. The second new track, “Corridors Of Chaos,” marks a true old school instrumental containing both classic metal riffing and stunning guitar playing by Lars Johansson, showcasing the band’s mastery of dynamics. Adding to this tribute, CANDLEMASS delivers a cover of Black Sabbath’s iconic “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath,” taking listeners back to 1973. This is followed by their rendition of Pentagram’s classic “Forever My Queen,” further cementing CANDLEMASS’ remarkable contribution to shaping the genre into what it is today.
BLACK STAR TRACK LISTING: “Black Star” “Corridors of Chaos” “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath””Forever My Queen”
Black Star will be available in the following formats:
1LP Gatefold BLACK ORANGE SPLATTER (incl. vinyl booklet (12pp), A3 poster, tote bag) – Napalm Records Mailorder exclusive, strictly limited to 400 copies 1LP Gatefold BLACK 1CD Digisleeve Digital Album
Stockholm-based classic heavy rockers The Riven will release their third full-length, Visions of Tomorrow, on April 25 through Dying Victims Productions, and the video for “Set My Heart on Fire” premiering below celebrates the impending LP in duly uptempo fashion, highlighting the more pop-informed side of the five-piece’s style. Traces of Thin Lizzy in the dual guitar at the outset speak to the nascent NWOBHMery fleshed out in the hooky “Killing Machine” early on while a rock and roll — unqualified in genre terms: rock and roll — chorus in “Follow You” answers the accessible intentions of “Set My Heart on Fire.” Like the record from whence it comes, the clip is all about performance — live, in the studio, alone, together — and the communication of thoughts, feelings, moods and atmospheres that emerges from the band’s straight-ahead-in-terms-of-structure songwriting that draws on influences from ’60s garage and ’70s boogie to the harder metallurgical realizations of the early 1980s. Through it all, the band shine through with clarity, persona and purpose.
The album begins with “Far Away From Home,” the first of the 11 inclusions and the first and by no means last soaring vocal from Charlotta “Totta” Ekebergh, who in presence and range takes almost immediate ownership of the material. With the guitars of Joakim Sandegård and Arnau Díaz, Max Ternebring‘s bass and Elias Jonsson‘s drumming behind her, the here’s-that-word-again classic dynamic of the band is both showcase and sandbox, and the whole band plays accordingly.
Like “Travelling Great Distance” and the title-track, “Set My Heart on Fire” is less than three and a half minutes long, but that’s plenty of time for The Riven to plant a chorus in your brain to keep you coming back, and whether it’s the Swedish-language “En Dag Som Aldrig Forr” or the subsequent pledges of affection and loyalty that follow to cap the record with “We Love You” — think Grand Funk writing a song in the studio to play live speaking directly to the audience in the lyrics — and “Follow You.” Engaging the listener, delivering with energy as a part of that, and general efficiency of craft seem to be the priorities across the taut 39-minute span.
It’s to The Riven‘s credit that they’re able to shift between different feels like the atmospheric break in “Crystals” — longest track at 4:55 — and “On My Mind (Tonight),” which rallies around a bouncy rhythm and choppy riff that maybe reminds of Scorpions or maybe just calls back to “Killing Machine” earlier on; I won’t profess to know. Though it all, Ekebergh ties the songs together on vocals and remains a powerhouse ready to belt out another memorable line as the band weave between max-push and mellower looks. It is pro-shop in sound and execution in a way that few records even based adjacent to heavy rock would dare to be.
And as one might anticipate for a record comprised of 11 hammered-out individual tracks assembled together for maximum flow and listener-carry, momentum stays on The Riven‘s side for the duration. The charge of “Seen it All” provides a boot to side B that continues in the title-cut, and “En Dag Som Aldrig Forr” is a groover whether you speak Swedish or not. More than anything else, Visions of Tomorrow feels like a point of arrival for the The Riven in terms of the songs themselves. The band sound like they knew going into writing what they wanted to write, and that they succeed as they do front-to-back continues to highlight them among the most stage-ready-sounding outfits in the ever-packed Scandinavian underground.
For the person in your life — we all have that person — who says rock music is dead, here’s a band whose very existence is fervent counterargument.
Info follows from the PR wire. Please enjoy:
The Riven, “Set My Heart on Fire” official video
DYING VICTIMS is proud to present THE RIVEN’s highly anticipated third album, Visions of Tomorrow, on CD and vinyl LP formats.
Formed in 2016, Stockholm-by-way-of-London power rockers THE RIVEN have carved a uniquely compelling place for themselves, drawing musical influence from a wide array of genres. Hard rock, old prog, early heavy metal, and even simply rock ‘n’ roll itself: no mossy stone is left unturned by THE RIVEN. And when combined with their lyrical themes – from everyday life all the way to the fantasy-inspired, with sometimes both intertwining – the quintet have forged their own path, displaying a sound fitting firmly within the late ‘70’s and early ‘80s but with an effervescence that feels palpably modern.
Where their second album, 2022’s Peace and Conflict, felt like a watershed moment – moving from the “powerful rocker” of their eponymous debut album in 2019 to an emotive, electric, but no-less-earthy sort of NWOBHM – THE RIVEN sound positively poised for another breakthrough with their forthcoming third full-length, Visions of Tomorrow. Presciently titled, Visions of Tomorrow struts and sways with that sort of star quality that can only come from total, utter self-belief…and absolutely stunning songs! The sound is more present and raw than before, ear-effortlessly exuding dynamics lost to most “hard rock” bands. THE RIVEN here offer a sumptuous feast of familiar-yet-fresh heavy rock built on massive HOOKS and HEART. Not for nothing have they become a finely honed ensemble; touring nonstop has been the band’s lifeblood for years now, and that tangible sense of magick swirls about each of these 11 anthems. New drummer Elias Jonsson pumps that blood with an almost “laidback urgency,” and the rest of THE RIVEN let rip with what they liken more “complete” songwriting: the songs may be shorter than previous ones, but they’re undeniably more action-packed and nuanced.
Interestingly, while writing for Visions of Tomorrow was done in Stockholm in late 2023, THE RIVEN was selected for an international studio residency as part of the Swedish national arts association, and the band lived for a few days at the highly prestigious studio Fascination Street in Örebro. The album was mixed and co-produced by Robert Pehrsson (The Hellacopters, Tribulation, Dead Lord among others). Lyrically, Visions of Tomorrow showcases a band that is frustrated about how the world is run, who’s in charge, and what is about to happen to the rest of us. Musically, it showcases a band that can handle their instruments and is willing to explore and go on musical journeys. THE RIVEN themselves claim that this third album is “a fine example of rock ‘n’ roll being played at its best – it’s honest, it’s urgent, it’s calling you, and it will make you shake your fist and bang your head – all while thinking about where we are and where we are going.”
Wherever you want to go with Visions of Tomorrow, there’s no disputing the fact that THE RIVEN are poised to take over the biggest stages all over the world!
1. Far Away From Home 2. Killing Machine 3. Set My Heart On Fire 4. Travelling Great Distance 5. Crystals 6. On My Mind (Tonight) 7. Seen It All 8. Visions Of Tomorrow 9. En Dag Som Aldrig Forr 10. We Love You 11. Follow You
