Posted in Whathaveyou on February 10th, 2026 by JJ Koczan
French heavy psychedelic rockers Karkara will embark on a Spring tour through Portugal, Spain, Germany and their home country as they continue to support their 2024 album, All is Dust, on Stolen Body Records. As you can see below, the trio are also booked for Hungary’s Jam in the Psych CastleFestival, the inaugural edition of which is set for this September and is co-presented by this site. That’s not the only festival the Toulouse trio are set to play before the Fall gets here, and I’d suspect that one or more of those TBA dates over the summer is for festivals yet unannounced, though I don’t have confirmation of that. It’s just awfully specific dates to not yet reveal.
There are fests on the Spring run as well, which makes sense, and I’ve never had the pleasure of seeing the band live (sadly, I wasn’t at Bear Stone in 2025 when they played; I’d say I’m over it but I think we both know that’s a lie), but apparently they bring the TVs with them, because I guess with amps and such they still had room in their hearts for lugging more heavy things around. I don’t know when the last time you moved a CRT television was. I also don’t know when the last time I moved a CRT TV was, but I know it was heavy as crap when I did.
But I mean, all the better to watch a VHS of Spaceballs on.
Dates as they stand now came through the social feed:
KARKARA – OSCILLATION TOUR
Humans 🖤 It’s time to get back on the road and stack our amps and TVs on stage again 📺
The list of shows will grow over time and will be updated regularly, keep an eye on it.
Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, Hungary
Let’s dance before chaos strikes :
09.04 | Sopelana, La Atalaia Del Gordaki 10.04 | Pamplona, Txintxarri 11.04 | Torello, FET Festival 12.04 | Zaragoza, Sala Credence 14.04 | Madrid, Wurlitzer Ballroom 15.04 | Santander, R.B The New 16.04 | Oviedo, Lata de Zinc 17.04 | Porto, Ferro Bar 18.04 | Braga, Rum by Mavy 19.04 | Boiro, A Pousada 09.05 | Belfort, TBA 14.05 | Nantes, TBA 15.05 | Angers, Jokers Pub 16.05 | Douarnenez, Le Pavé 22.05 | Ploudalmézeau, O’DonNeil 23.05 | TBA 24.05 | Buthiers, Big Bloc Festival 29.05 | TBA 04.06 | Toulouse, Le Rex 09.07 | Freiburg, Slow club 10.07 | TBA 31.07 | TBA 15.08 | TBA 05.09 | Pusztazamor, Jam in the castle Fest
Poster by Vinc Povedamoal 📺
LINE UP : Karim Rihani – Guitar , Vocals , Didgeridoo Hugo Olive – Bass Maxime Marouani – Drums , Vocals
Posted in Whathaveyou on May 26th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
We — you and I; if ever homies was homies — already knew that Mexico City instrumentalist space-themed riffcrunchers Vinnum Sabbathi were headed back to Europe this coming summer. Not at all their first time doing the dance, and they’ll hit SonicBlast in Portugal and Hoflärm in Germany on their way, along with a week-plus of club shows. When the tour was announced, I’m pretty sure they said a new release was coming though, and Intersatelital is that.
A new EP following up on their 2023 collab LP with Rezn, Silent Future (discussed here), Intersatelital will be Vinnum Sabbathi‘s first standalone studio work since Of Dimensions and Theories (review here), which was released roughly concurrent to a split with Comacozer (review here) in 2020. Five years, but of course they’ve been plenty busy in the interim.
To wit, this past weekend was the Doom City Fest in Mexico City, which Vinnum Sabbathi played and in which members of the band are involved. They shared the stage with Conan, Dopethrone and Bongzilla, among others.
From social media (plus the tour dates from last time again):
“Intersatelital” is the new EP from Vinnum Sabbathi, a sonic testament of the intricate human-machine comradeship from the last century, featuring an incredible cover artwork by Indonesian artist Yasinviolet.
A collaboration between Stolen Body Records 🇬🇧 and Teschio Dischi 🇮🇹 for vinyl and cassette physical formats.
Official release date on June 17th 2025, to commemorate 40 years of missions STS-51-G as well as STS-61-B, launching the Morelos communications satellites in orbit and the first Mexican astronaut, Rodolfo Neri Vela 🇲🇽.
Pre orders coming soon.
EUROPA 2025 09 AUG SonicBlast Fest (ANCORA, PT) 11 AUG Wurlitzer Ballroom (MADRID, ES) 12 AUG De Tanker In Noord (AMST, NL) 13 AUG TBA (HAMBURG, DE) 14 AUG Neue Zukunft (BERLIN, DE) 15 AUG Chemiefabrik Dresden (Chemo) (DE) 16 AUG Heinzelmännchen Hofcafe & Hoflärm (DE) 17 AUG TBA (GHENT, BE)
Posted in Whathaveyou on February 21st, 2024 by JJ Koczan
Heading out from their home in Toulouse, France, on March 13 puts Karkara a little more than a week ahead of the arrival of their new album, All is Dust, which is out March 22. The record brings together heavy psych rock and classic impulses born of kraut and space rock(s) that feels current-gen in its expanded mindset, digging less into Easternism in terms of balance than did 2020’s Nowhere Land (review here), but still showing that dug-in side somewhat on the advance track “Anthropia” that you can stream below. Progressive in its texturing, it is nonetheless an easy, and pleasurable, ride to take into a communal unconscious.
Though some of the shows are split up — that is, the chunk of dates below isn’t all concurrent — gives a chance to see further ahead to the band’s summer plans, as they’ll make stops at Rabastock in July and Krach am Bach in August. They call this ‘the first round,’ so it wouldn’t be a surprise if a second one followed in summer, or certainly a stint through sundry Fall fests would be a possibility and will be all the more after the record, which is Karkara‘s third overall, lands next month. In the meantime, intermittent teaming with spacey spearheads Slift feels appropriate. You’ll find those dates noted below among the others in Europe and the UK.
Right under the poster, in blue. Can’t miss ’em:
Hello friends 🖤
We’re thrilled to announce the first round of the ALL IS DUST tour.
We’re sharing gigs with SLIFT on this so dig in 🖖✨
Can’t wait to see you all 👇
🇫🇷 13.03 – Toulouse, Le Bikini | w/ SLIFT 🇫🇷 29.03 – Ventabren, Secret Place 🇫🇷 30.30 – Marseille, L’Intermediaire Live 🇫🇷 31.03 – Chambery, Brin de Zinc 🇫🇷 02.04 – Dijon, Singe en Hiver Asso Mondofuzz 🇳🇱 03.04 – Luxembourg, Rockhal | w/ SLIFT 🇨🇭 04.04 – Zurich, Mascotte Club Zürich | w/ SLIFT 🇫🇷 05 .04 – Lyon, L’Épicerie Moderne / salle musiques actuelles | w/ SLIFT 🇫🇷 06.04 – Paris, La Mécanique Ondulatoire 🇫🇷 10.04 – Rouen, Le 3 Pièces Muzik’Club 🇫🇷 11.04 – Lille, La Bulle Café – Maison Folie Moulins 🇫🇷 12.04 – Ardres, Le saxhorn 🇧🇪 13.04 – Bruxelles, Cheval Marin Brussels 🇫🇷 15.04 – Vannes, Le barailleur 🇬🇧 16.05 – London, Strongroom 🏴 17.05 – Edinburgh, Bannermans Live 🇬🇧 19.05 – Newcastle, Star and Shadow. Wandering Oak 🇬🇧 21.05 – Leicester, The Musician 🇬🇧 23.05 – Lancaster, The kanteena 🇬🇧 24.05 – Bristol, The Lanes 🇬🇧 25.05 – Cambridge, TBA 🇧🇪 22.06 – Namur, Ramd’Âm 🇫🇷 20.07 – Rabastock Festival 🇩🇪 02.08 – Krach am Bach
Stolen Body Records | EXAG’ Records | Le Cèpe Records | Bullet Seed | NRV Promotion
LINE UP : Karim Rihani – Guitar , Vocals , Didgeridoo Hugo Olive – Bass Maxime Marouani – Drums , Vocals
Posted in Whathaveyou on October 25th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Look, my coffee pot wouldn’t turn on at four this morning — whole plug was off — and I don’t yet know why, and Gondhawa have all of 20 seconds of music posted from their upcoming Mäanthagorī EP, so you’re just gonna have to pardon me if I just tell you I don’t know what the hell to expect from the thing when it arrives. I know I dug last year’s Käampâla (review here) well enough, but they don’t strike me as the kind of band who want to do the same thing all the time. Usually in cases like that, the press releases don’t include words like “boundless,” and Stolen Body Records has a knack for fostering the unpredictable.
So yeah, not much to go on at this point, but they honestly don’t need more than the 20 seconds in the aforementioned teaser to tell you it’s gonna be weird. The point comes across.
As you’ll see:
Offbeat psych-prog trio GONDHAWA to unveil details on new EP ‘Mäanthagorī’ – out this November 25th via Stolen Body Records.
Exuberant, quirky and brilliant, psychedelic magicians GONDHAWA bring to life uncommon and unique musical colours. Their boundless rock picks from the best of African, Oriental and even fictive cultures! Supported by British psychedelic record label Stolen Body Records (Slift, Karkara, Wyatt E.), the French trio announce the release of their new EP ‘Mäanthagorī’ on November 25th 2022.
Angers-based psych-prog three-piece GONDHAWA are an eclectic sonic tumult that ignore geographical and genre limitations. Their imagination ends where the impossible begins! Straddling the line between psychedelic and progressive rock, they write songs in their very own language: Gondhawii. Lulled by science-fiction literature, Gondhawa’s luminous and high-spirited universe rubs shoulders with afrobeat, oriental rhythms and the rock’n’roll frenzy.
GONDHAWA’s new EP ‘Mäanthagorī’ is a successful synthesis of revisited folk music and space rock. Hypnotic loops a la Moon Duo tickle with exuberant and futuristic ethnic elements. The two-track EP was recorded and mixed by Elliot & Stew at La Cuve studio (Angers, France) and mastered by Thibault Chaumont of Deviant Lab. Artwork by Léo Zedinn. The EP is coming out on November 25th 2022 via Stolen Body Records at the following formats: vinyl and digital. Watch teaser.
GONDHAWA new EP ‘Mäanthagorī’ Out November 25th 2022 in Stolen Body Records Artwork Leo Zedinn.
TRACK LISTING: 1. Go!Go! Sinay 2. Toko Mieko
GONDHAWA were born in 2018, following the musical wanderings of their three members who met a year before. Evolving in a garage rock direction until then, the three musicians from Angers, France, decided to break out of the mould and set off on a hallucinatory journey inspired by science fiction literature. From psychedelia to oriental music, passing through afrobeat and progressive rock, Gondhawa draw inspiration from all over the World. All of this converge towards an eclectic and singular musical universe, with lyrics written in their very own language : Gondhawii.
On stage, the power trio takes on a whole new dimension by introducing traditional Chinese instruments (sanxian), Malian instruments (n’goni) or a micro-tonal guitar, always seeking to expand their sound spectrum. Their performances are peppered with improvisations, immersing the audience into unique journeys around this rich blend of influences.
Gondhawa’s debut album ‘Käampâla’ was released on October 2021 on Bristol-based record label Stolen Body (Yo No Se, Slift, Karkara, Bad Pelican). Through the micro-tonal groove of “Raba Dishka”, the afrobeat stoner power of “Käampâla”, or the softness of “Djoliko” – a beautiful ballad lulled by the melancholy of acoustic strings from all around the World – Gondhawa deliver the soundtrack of an interstellar road-movie. Six tracks of electric tornado with a bunch of rhythms and textures.
Gondhawa’s new EP ‘Mäanthagorī’ arrives on November 25th 2022 through Stolen Body Records.
Somewhat unbelievably, we’ve reached the penultimate day of the Summer 2022 Quarterly Review. I believe it because every time I blink my eyes, I can feel my body trying to fall asleep. Doesn’t matter. There’s rock and roll to be had — 10 records’ worth — so I’mma get on it. If you haven’t found anything yet that speaks to you this QR — first of all, really??? — maybe today will be the day. If you’re feeling any of it, I’d love to know in the comments. Otherwise, off into the ether it goes.
In any case, thanks for reading.
Quarterly Review #81-90:
Hemlock Branch, Hemlock Branch
[Note: art above (photo by Nikita Gross) is not final. Album is out in September. Give it time.] Those familiar with Ohio sludge metallers Beneath Oblivion might recognize Scotty T. Simpson (here also guitar, lap-steel and vocals) or keyboardist/synthesist Keith Messerle from that band, but Hemlock Branch‘s project is decisively different on their self-titled debut, however slow a song like “The Introvert” might be. With the echo-laden vocals of Amy Jo Combs floating and soaring above likewise big-sky riffs, the far-back crash of drummer David Howell (White Walls) and the it’s-in-there-somewhere bass of Derda Karakaya, atmosphere takes a central focus throughout the 10 tracks and 22 minutes of the release. Hints of black metal, post-metal, doom, heavy psychedelia, and noise-wash dirgemaking experimentalism pervade in minute-long cuts like “Incompatible,” the sample-topped “Temporal Vultures” and “Küfür,” which gives over to the closing duo “Lifelong Struggle” and “High Crimes & Misdemeanors.” As even the longest track, “Persona Non Grata,” runs just 4:24, the songs feel geared for modern attention spans and depart from commonplace structures in favor of their own ambient linearity. Not going to be for everyone, but Hemlock Branch‘s first offering shows an immediate drive toward individualism and is genuinely unpredictable, both of which already pay dividends.
In “Siren” and at the grand, swelling progression of “Zero Trust,” one is drawn back to The Devil’s Blood‘s off-kilter psychedelic occultism by Swedish five-piece Știu Nu Știu — also stylized all-caps: ŞTIU NU ŞTIU — and their fourth album, New Sun, but if there’s any such direct Luciferianism in the sprawling eight-song/47-minute long-player, I’ve yet to find it. Instead, the band’s first outing through respected purveyors Heavy Psych Sounds takes the stylistic trappings of psychedelic post-punk and what’s typically tagged as some kind of ‘gaze or other and toss them directly into the heart of the recently born star named in the title, their sound subtle in rhythmic push but lush, lush, lush in instrumental and vocal melody. “New Sun” itself is the longest piece at 8:17 and it closes side A, but the expanses crafted are hardly more tamed on side B’s “Nyx” or the get-your-goth-dance-shoes-on “Zero Trust,” which follows. Opening with the jangly “Styx” and capping with the also-relatively-extended “Dragon’s Lair” (7:57) — a noisy final solo takes them out — Știu Nu Știu bask in the vague and feel entirely at home in the aural mists they so readily conjure.
The title of Veljet‘s debut LP, Emerger de la mentira llamada dios, translates from Spanish as, ‘Emerge from the lie called god.’ So yes, the point gets across. And Veljet hint toward metallism and an overarching darkness of purpose in “Estar vivo es nada,” “La construcción de los sentimientos negativos,” and the buzzing, bounce-bass-until-it-falls-apart “Arder al crecer,” despite being instrumental for the album’s half-hour duration save perhaps for some crowd noise filling out the acoustic “Mentir con tristeza” at the finish, people talking over acoustic guitar notes, as they almost invariably, infuriatingly will. That three-minute piece rounds out and is in form a far cry from the push of “Inundata” or the buzz-tone-click-into-airiness “Lucifer luz del mundo,” but there’s room for all of these things in what feels like Satanic escapism more than any occult trappings — that is to say, while it’s pretty safe to say Veljet aren’t religious types, I don’t think they’re rolling around holding devil-worship masses either — and the album as a whole is drawn together by this immersive, mood-altering slog, a sense of the day’s weight conveyed effectively in that of the guitars, bass and drums, making the acoustic finish, and the human shittiness of speaking over it, all the more of a poignant conclusion. If god’s a lie, people aren’t much better.
Longform avant metal that draws on atmospheres from Pacific Northwestern blackened tropes without bowing completely to them or any other wholly rigid style, doom or otherwise. Some of the vocals in the more open moments of “Still Life” bring to mind Ealdor Bealu‘s latest in their declarative purpose, but Swamp Lantern‘s The Lord is With Us takes its own presumably-left-hand path toward aural identity, finding a sound in the process that is both ambient and obscure but still capable of deep heft when it’s called for — see “Still Life” again. That song is one of two to cross the 10-minute mark, along with closer “The Halo of Eternal Night,” though wholly immersive opener “Blood Oath (on Pebble Beach)” and “Graven Tide” aren’t far off, the latter nestling into a combination of groove-riding guitar and flourish lead notes intertwining on their way toward and through a well charred second half of the song, the way eventually given to the exploratory title-track, shorter but working off a similarly building structure. They cap vampiric with “The Halo of Eternal Night,” perhaps nodding subtly back to “Blood Oath (On Pebble Beach)” — at least the blood part — while likewise bookending with a guest vocal from Aimee Wright, who also contributed to the opener. Complex, beautiful and punishing, sometimes all at once, The Lord is With Us is a debut of immediate note and range. Who knows what it may herald, but definitely something.
The hellscape in the Jason Barnett cover art for Mexico City duo Terror Cósmico‘s fourth full-length, Miasma, is a fair update for Hieronymus Bosch, and it’s way more Hell than The Garden of Earthly Delights, as suits the anxiety of the years since the band’s last album, 2018’s III (review here). The eight instrumental selections from guitarist Javier Alejandre and drummer Nicolás Detta is accordingly tense and brooding, with “En un Lugar Frio y Desolado” surging to life in weighted push after seeming to pick at its fingernails with nervousness. A decade on from their first EP, Terror Cósmico sound fiercer than they ever have on “Tonalpohualli” and the opener “Necromorfo” sets the album in motion with an intensity that reminds both of latter day High on Fire and the still-missed US sans-vocal duo Beast in the Field. That last is not a comparison I’ll make lightly, and it’s not that Miasma lacks atmosphere, just that the atmospherics in question are downtrodden, hard-hitting and frustrated. So yes, perfectly suited to the right-now in which they arrive.
Somewhere between aggressive post-metal, post-hardcore, sludge and ambient heavy rock, Stockholm’s Urna find a niche for themselves thoroughly Swedish enough to make me wonder why their self-titled debut LP isn’t out through Suicide Records. In any case, they lead with “You Hide Behind,” a resonant sense of anger in the accusation that is held to somewhat even as clean vocals are introduced later in the track and pushed further on the subsequent “Shine,” guitarist Axel Ehrencrona (also synth) handling those duties while bassist William Riever (also also synth) and also-in-Ocean–Chief drummer Björn Andersson (somebody get him some synth!) offer a roll that feels no less noise-derived than Cities of Mars‘ latest and is no more noise rock than it either. “Revelations” fucking crushes, period. Song is almost seven minutes. If it was 20, that’d be fine. Centerpiece indeed. “Werewolf Tantrum” follows as the longest piece at 8:06, and is perhaps more ambitious in structure, but that force is still there, and though “Sleep Forever” (plenty of synth) has a different vibe, it comes across as something of a portrayed aftermath for the bludgeoning that just took place. They sound like they’re just getting started on a longer progression, but the teeth gnashing throughout pulls back to the very birthing of post-metal, and from there Urna can go just about wherever they want.
Finnish songwriter, synthesist, vocalist, guitarist, bassist, etc. Santtu Laakso started Astral Magic as a solo-project, and he’s already got a follow-up out to Magical Kingdom called Alien Visitations that’s almost if not entirely synth-based and mostly instrumental, so he’s clearly not at all afraid to explore different vibes. On Magical Kingdom, he somewhat magically transports the listener back to a time when prog was for nerds. The leadoff title-track is filled with fantasy genre elements amid an instrumental spirit somewhere between Magma and Hawkwind, and it’s only the first of the eight explorations on the 42-minute offering. Keyboards are a strong presence throughout, whether a given song is vocalized or not, and as different international guest guitarists come and go, arrangements in “Dimension Link” and “Rainbow Butterfly” are further fleshed out with psychedelic sax. Side B opener “Lost Innocense” (sic) is a weirdo highlight among weirdo highlights, and after the spacious grandiosity of “The Hidden City” and the sitar-drone-reminiscent backing waveforms on “The Pale-Skinned Man,” closer “Seven Planes” finds resolution in classic krautrock shenanigans. If you’re the right kind of geek, this one’s gonna hit you hard.
The story of Turn to Stone seems to take place in opener “The Man, the Devil and the Grey Giant” in which a man sells his soul to the devil and is cursed and turned into a mountain for his apparent comeuppance. For a setting to that tale, Santander, Spain’s Grey Giant present a decidedly oldschool take on heavy rock, reminiscent there of European trailblazers like Lowrider and Dozer, but creeping on chunkier riffing in “Unwritten Letter,” which follows, bassist/vocalist Mario “Pitu” Hospital raw of throat but not by any means amelodic over the riffs of Ravi and Hugo Echeverria and the drums of Pablo Salmón and ready to meet the speedier turn when it comes. An EP running four songs and 26 minutes, Turn to StoneSabbath start-stops in “Reverb Signals in Key F,” but brings about some of the thickest roll as well as a particularly righteous solo from one if not both of the Echeverrias and the Kyussy riff of closer “Last Bullet” is filled out with a grim outlook of Europe’s future in warfare; obviously not the most uplifting of endings, but the trippier instrumental build in the song’s final movement seems to hold onto some hope or at very least wishful thinking.
Symmetrically placed for vinyl listening, “The Return” and “Golden Skies” open sides A and B of Great Rift‘s second long-player, Utopia, with steady grooves, passionate vocals and a blend between psychedelic range and earthier tonal textures. I feel crazy even saying it since I doubt it’s what he’s going for, but Thomas Gulyas reminds a bit in his delivery of Messiah Marcolin (once of Candlemass) and his voice is strong enough to carry that across. He, fellow guitarist Andreas Lechner, bassist Peter Leitner and drummer Klaus Gulyas explore further reaches in subsequent cuts like “Space” and the soaringly out-there “Voyagers” as each half of the LP works shortest-to-longest so that the arrival of the warm heavy psych fuzz of “Beteigeuze” and minor-key otherworldly build-up of the closing title-track both feel plenty earned, and demonstrate plainly that Great Rift know the style they’re playing toward and what they’re doing with the personal spin they’re bringing to it. Four years after their debut, Vesta, Utopia presents its idealistic vision in what might just be a story about fleeing the Earth. Not gonna say I don’t get that.
Most prevalent complaint in my mind with Torpedo Torpedo‘s The Kuiper Belt Mantras is it’s an EP and not a full-length album, and thus has to go on the Best Short Releases of 2022 list instead of the Best Debut LPs list. One way or the other, the four-song first-outing from the Vienna psychedelonauts is patient and jammy, sounding open, lush and bright while retaining a heaviness that is neither directly shoegaze-based nor aping those who came before. The trio affect spacious vibes in the winding threads of lead guitar and half-hints at All Them Witches in “Cycling Lines,” and cast themselves in a nod for “Verge” at least until they pass that titular mark at around five and a half minutes in and pick up the pace. With “Black Horizon” the groove is stonerized, righteous and familiar, but the cosmic and heavy psych spirit brought forth has a nascent sense of character that the fuller fuzz in “Caspian Dust” answers without making its largesse the entire point of the song. Loaded with potential, dead-on right now, they make themselves the proverbial ‘band to watch’ in performance, underlying craft, production value and atmosphere. Takes off when it takes off, is languid without lulling you to sleep, and manages to bring in a hook just when it needs one. I don’t think it’s a listen you’ll regret, whatever list I end up putting it on.
Posted in Whathaveyou on June 13th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Ostensibly, French uptempo heavy psych/space rockers Slift will be coming to the US to support 2020’s Ummon (review here), and fair enough. That record landed with an immediate impact crater and I’m already hearing bands working off their influence in trying to make the cosmos dance to their righteous interstellar punk.
Given these dates are in the Fall, and that Slift were playing new material live this Spring, it’s that much easier to wonder if a new album announcement is coming. Feasibly an LP could arrive in late September in time for the tour to start, and with momentum from pre-album hoopla on their side, they’d be that much better off, but they’re hardly short on hype as it is, so maybe the right move for them is hold the next record back until 2023 and give it its due. If past is prologue with things like this, they’ll announce the record, like, tomorrow and I’ll feel like a dope for having just posted about the tour.
But that will happen when it happens. Or doesn’t. Or whatever. Slift coming to the States feels like a big deal, in no small part because they don’t seem like the kind of band who are only going to do so on a one-and-done basis, and at very least it’s an occasion worth marking. Dear posterity: this was the first time Slift played in the US. Their coming was anticipated.
From social media, this:
Oï !
STOKED to announce that we’ll be playing in the US for the very first time this fall !!!
TICKETS at bit.ly/SLIFT-USTour
We never thought we would ever cross an ocean to play music when we started this band but hey, here we are !
Thank you very much to all the people involved in this tour, and to you all for your continuated support. It’s gonna be loud !
See you on the other side.
THU 23 JUNE – SUN 26 JUNE Hellfest Extended 2022 Clisson, France
FRI 24 JUNE – SUN 26 JUNE Rock In Bourlon 2022 Bourlon, France
THU 11 AUGUST – SAT 13 AUGUST SonicBlast Fest 2022 Viana Do Castelo, Portugal
FRI 19 AUGUST – SAT 20 AUGUST Check-In Party 2022 Saint-Laurent, France
FRI 19 AUGUST – SUN 21 AUGUST Motocultor Festival 2022 Saint-Nolff, France
WED 28 SEPTEMBER The Echo Los Angeles (LA), CA, US
SAT 1 OCTOBER Desert Daze Festival Palm Springs, CA, US
SUN 2 OCTOBER Brick & Mortar Music Hall San Francisco, CA, US
FRI 7 OCTOBER The Crocodile Seattle, WA, US
SAT 8 OCTOBER Doug Fir Lounge Portland, OR, US
SUN 9 OCTOBER The Shredder Boise, ID, US
TUE 11 OCTOBER The HQ Denver, CO, US
WED 12 OCTOBER The Bottleneck Lawrence, KS, US
THU 13 OCTOBER Reggie’s Rock Club Chicago, IL, US
FRI 14 OCTOBER Rumba Cafe Columbus, OH, US
SAT 15 OCTOBER The Bug Jar Rochester, NY, US
MON 17 OCTOBER Sonia Cambridge, MA, US
TUE 18 OCTOBER Elsewhere Brooklyn, NY, US
WED 19 OCTOBER Metro Gallery Baltimore, MD, US
FRI 21 OCTOBER Asheville Music Hall Asheville, NC, US
Posted in Whathaveyou on May 11th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Situated in the hotbed of heavy that is Mexico City, the two-piece Terror Cósmico are set to release their fourth album (and first in four years) Miasma on May 23 through UK imprint Stolen Body Records. The links are below if you want to just hit it and quit it — I won’t be offended — and if you need more info on what’s up, I might recommend you just dive into the six-minute album opener “Necromorfo,” for which there’s a new video at the bottom of this post. The instrumentalist track is what Karma to Burn might’ve been had they been raised on Gojira, but its heart and its tones are clearly given to capital ‘H’ heavy, which they admirably shove along at a near-thrasher’s pace.
I’d say something here like, “hey, cool vibe,” but it kind of vibes like a downward mental spiral. So maybe I’ll just say I hope everyone’s alright.
Info from the PR wire:
Stolen Body Records – TERROR CÓSMICO – MIASMA PRE ORDER
Stolen Body Records is thrilled to announce the release of Mexican Doom Metal band Terror Cósmico’s first album in 4 years – Miasma. Out on LP/CD/DL on May 23rd.
Miasma is the fourth album from Mexico City based duo, Terror Cósmico. The record takes a different turn in production from past albums, having a more aggressive tone, having drums and guitar recorded separately in the studio, being able to create an intense and surrounding sound.
Miasma is made up of 8 tracks which deliver a great range of emotions, going through desperation, anguish and desolation mixed with an air of nostalgic mystery.
Recorded in January of 2021 in Testa Studio in Leon, Guanajuato, Mexico. The sessions held a vibe of doubt and fear to what the pandemic could bring. The album is charged with all the emotions of a very strange moment in our timeline. The artwork was a commissioned task by Portland artist Jason Barnett.
Track Listing Necromorfo En un lugar frío y desolado Carbunco Alguien vendrá desde el fondo del mar Cepa mortal Las máquinas colapsan Tonalpohualli Se mueren
Day Three of the Spring 2022 Quarterly Review — commence! As you well know because I’m quite certain you’re the type of person to sit around and think about these things and I’m in no way the only human who gives enough of a crap to notice, today we hit the halfway point of this particular QR, not in the middle, but at the end, as today will culminate with review number 30 of the total 60 to come by the end of the day next Monday. Is it cheating to get a full weekend to do the last installment? Depends entirely on the weekend. In any case, starting tomorrow we go downhill, numerically, not in terms of the quality of what’s covered.
Until then.
Quarterly Review #21-30:
Ruby the Hatchet, Live at Earthquaker
While on tour with Kadavar in late-2019, New Jersey heavy psych rockers Ruby the Hatchet swung through Earthquaker Devices in Ohio and put these three songs to tape. In addition to being the band’s first release for Magnetic Eye Records, the EP serves these years after the fact as a still-foreshadowing glimpse at their next full-length, the follow-up to 2017’s Planetary Space Child (review here), which but for plague probably would be on its third pressing by now. At least it would be if the rolling riffs and organ shimmer of “1,000 Years” and the bluesier what-I’ll-just-assume-is-an-homage-to-the-band-of-the-same-name “Primitive Man” are anything to go by. Paired with Ruby the Hatchet‘s take on Uriah Heep‘s “Easy Livin’,” the new songs herald the awaited album in a way that seems to justify their having been kept in-pocket for just the right moment. I’m glad that moment is now, and I also kind of feel like Ruby the Hatchet need to start recording more shows and putting out their own soundboard bootlegs. This is clearly mixed, pro-mastered and all that, but still. They make every second of these 14 minutes count.
Anonymous Belgian outfit Wyatt E. return five years after their debut with āl bēlūti dārû, comprising two tracks of all-in Mesopotamian-themed drone ritualizing. The robed outfit top 18 minutes with “Mušhuššu” and “Šarru Rabu” both, and their intention toward immersing the audience in a whole-side experience isn’t misplaced as their arrangements branch beyond genre typicality in service of the Middle Easternism around which much of what they do is based. More than cinematically wrought, the two pieces here are striking in moving from the crescendos of their respective builds into richly conjured explorations, the former of saz and other instruments, the latter of percussion and voice. Likewise, with two drumkits, they want nothing for rhythmic urgency, despite the open structures of the actual material. One wonders at the Orientalism on display throughout as potentially a kind of minstrelsy, particularly with the hooded unknown figures casting themselves as decidedly ‘other’ from a European mainstream, but the same anonymity guards against the notion since it’s unclear just who these people are. I’m not sure I’m all the way on board, but they effectively convey spectacle without losing artistic presence. And if you spend the rest of your day reading about the Akkadian Empire, I’m sure worse things have happened.
My impression of Canterbury, UK, doomers Famyne‘s 2016 self-titled debut (review here) were of a band burgeoning in atmosphere anchored by strong songwriting and melodic vocals with periodic likeness to Alice in Chains and The Wounded Kings. Arriving through Svart Records, the eight-song/45-minute II: The Ground Below doesn’t do much to detract from that core impression, but the ambient “A Submarine” and the mean chug in the back half of the later “The Ai” take them to new places and demonstrate the individualization of genre tropes underway in their sound. “Once More” taps a more NWOBHM style, while “Babylon” touches on Candlemassian grandiosity, and “Gone” fluidly begins to transition from the crush of opening duo “Defeated” and “Solid Earth” before “A Submarine” takes hold, which is only further evidence they know what they’re doing.
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Humanotone, A Flourishing Fall in a Grain of Sand
Evidently a number of years in the making from front-to-back, Humanotone‘s second full-length, A Flourishing Fall in a Grain of Sand, finds the solo-project spearheaded by Jorge Cisternas, aka Jorge Cist, working once more completely on his own save for some saxophone on 12-minute closer “Even Though.” Given the lush, progressive, and thoughtful execution of progressive heavy rock the Chile-based Cist manifests throughout cuts like “Light Antilogies” and “Ephemeral” prior — taking lessons from Elder‘s Dead Roots Stirring and applying them well for his own purposes — it wouldn’t have been surprising if he picked up the sax himself, frankly. He proves visionary throughout the proceedings one way or the other, and atop a bed of his own drumming is able to cast deep landscapes of keys and guitar and bass in “A Flourishing Fall” and a build and payoff in “Scrolls for the Blind” before the 3:45 “Beyond the Machine” goes straightforward in a way that feels like a gift ahead of the closer, while still retaining its proggy vibe vocally, melodically and rhythmically. There’s been some word-of-mouth hype around this one. Not unwarranted.
Big on vibe, crunches when it wants, spaces out with broader jams, takes its time, flows as it will but still hits with an impact — yeah, there’s no shortage of things to like about Madmess‘ Hassle Records-issued second full-length, Rebirth. If you, yourself, have been born-again semi-instrumentalist psych-prog, then no doubt you’ll relate to the careening and twisting path that the five mostly-extended tracks take, unfolding with a focus on liquefied echo on “Albatross” before the companioning “Mind Collapse” introduces the vocals that will show up again on closer “Stargazer” (not a Rainbow cover). Between those two, the title-cut and “Shapeshifter” back-to-back build on some of the mellower stretches prior at least before locking into their own heavier parts, but by then you’re long since hypnotized anyway, and the drift that serves to transition into “Stargazer” is only pushing further out as it goes. I’m not sure who in the Portugese trio (if anyone) is the vocalist, but the voice suits the songs well, even if they’re plainly comfortable going without, and reasonably so.
Mostly instrumental, the aptly-titled EP II — the second short release from Utrecht, the Netherlands, trombone-inclusive experimentalist doomers Eaters of the Soil — runs four tracks and 35 minutes and, early on, uses spoken samples from this or that serial killer about putting plastic bags over women’s heads to suffocate them. Through “V – Point of Capture” and even into “VI – Untouched, Unspoken To” (the Roman numeral numbering system continued from their pandemic-minded 2021 first EP), a somewhat slowed down version of whoever it is goes on about killing women and this and that. The second half of the release with “VII – Burrowing, Feasting” and “VIII – Subcurrent,” are both dark enough to be considered affected by the same atmosphere — “VI – Untouched, Unspoken To” has a bit of float to it, so it’s not all grim — churning, meandering and freaking out in at-least-partially improv-jazz style, but Eaters of the Soil cast a grim vision of humanity and that impression stays resonant even as “VIII – Subcurrent” lumbers into its wash of a finish. Is extreme jazz a thing? Turns out maybe.
With its just-slightly-off-beat drum loop, “Light” seems to build into a wash until even the song can’t take anymore and needs to drop out. It’s not the first take on NYOS‘ second offering for Pelagic Records, Celebration — that would be the improvised opener “First Take” — but it and the serene hum that emerges in the subsequent “Something Good” and even the shimming almost steel-drum sounds of “Tucano” demonstrate the Finland-based instrumentalist duo’s stated intentions toward dance music. The later “Gold Vulcan,” the first single, gets into some noisier fare as if to remind that guitarist Tom Brooke (also recording) and drummer Tuomas Kainulainen are coming from a harder-hitting place, but in the also-improv “Cloudberry” just before and particularly the willfully gorgeous “Rosario” (Dawson?) after, the intentions are gentler and more welcoming, and that continues into the final drone stretch and far, far back drumming that consumes most of closer “Surface” before it ultimately explodes in resonant light, reinforcing the notion of joy inherent in the album’s title, feeling like a grand finale to an aural fireworks display.
Making their debut on Heavy Psych Sounds with Impending Doom, Sweden’s Endtime are not shy about their influence from horror cinema. Their sound blends sludge and classic doom together such that opener “Harbinger of Disease” comes through like Mike IX Williams of Eyehategod stepping in to front Cathedral, and his harsh wails echo out a tolling (for thee, make no mistake) bell to foretell the harsh terrors soon to unfold. “ICBM” kills quick and lets its church organ mourn later, and the centerpiece “They Live” (a classic) adjusts the balance such that the cinematic, post-Uncle Acid vibe comes to the front still with the barking vocals overtop; a blend I can’t think of anyone else pulling off as well as Endtime do. The longer “Cities on Fire with the Burning Flesh of Men” follows and is more purely about the crunch at least until the sitar shows up — a nice curve to throw — ahead of its severe closing section, and closer “Living Graves” wraps the 28-minute LP by pushing the organ forward again and dissolving into a wash of noise before the feed seems to cut out like channel 11 just stopped broadcasting in the middle of the night. Hey man, I was watching that. Not quite revolutionary, but onto something. Impending, if you will.
By my count, Bloodshot Buffalo — the solo-project of Santa Rosa, California’s Sheafer McOmber — has put out no fewer than four full-lengths since 2019. Accordingly, the two-song Light EP is most likely a stopgap en route to the next one, but “Light” and “Don’t Follow Me” make an enticing sampler of the band’s wares all the same, digging into an energetic heavy progressive rock like a less-low-end-focused Forming the Void in the title-track as McOmber carefully weaves in a multi-layered guitar solo panning channels from one to the other and “Don’t Follow Me” reaffirms the groove on which that happens while sorting out its own languid flow. The shorter of the two, “Don’t Follow Me” doesn’t feature the same kind of midsection break as “Light” itself, and once it heads out, it doesn’t come back, unlike “Light,” which returns to the hook at the finish. Some structural play as enticement to dig further into the Bloodshot Buffalo catalog while waiting for the seemingly inevitable next thing. This being my first exposure to McOmber‘s work, I hope to do exactly that.
Swedish now-duo Oh Hiroshima present their fourth album, Myriad, as a collection of weighted, spacious and emotive contemplations. Their heavy post-rock is stylized to be patient and broad-reaching, and in pieces like “All Things Pass” and “Veil of Certainty” early on, they find a niche for themselves between harder-hitting atmospheric material marked out by droning horn arrangements and more straight-ahead melodic verses, the ambience open enough to pull the focus away from underlying structures. It’s an immersive-if-somewhat-familiar modern take, but the two-piece of guitarist/bassist/vocalist Jakob Hemström and drummer Oskar Nilsson stem into moodier vibes on “Tundra” and closer “Hidden Chamber” takes a less effects-centered, more organic-sounding approach, emphasizing the strings for its build while staying earthbound in the drums, bass and guitars beneath. Some will pass Myriad up entirely, others will worship its depth. Either way, the pair seem like they’ll keep moving forward in their well-crafted, considered approach.
