Today we hit the halfway mark on this relative quickie Quarterly Review on the way to 50 releases covered by the end of the week. We’ll get there if past is prologue, and I’m having a good time so far digging in. Some of these are thrown together, some are more intentional. This just kind of came about as there was so much out there and so much more piling on. I’m glad it’s not a drag, is what I’m saying. Sometimes they’re fun but more of a challenge to get through. Shockingly, kickass records are a help.

Enjoy your day. I’m about to enjoy mine.

Quarterly Review #21-30:

-(16)-, Forgeries Vol. 1 1972-1984

True, 16, or, if you prefer their full name, -(16)-, are in a better position to take on covers than they’ve ever been in their career. They’re self-contained in terms of production with Al Shuster recording, and founding guitarist/now-vocalist Bobby Ferry has introduced more flexibility in their approach to sludge and punk and metal than they’ve had in their 35-year history. No, that’s not going to make Scorpions‘ “Can’t Get Enough,” which opens here, recognizable, but it is going to make it heavy. The key information on Forgeries Vol. 1 1972-1984 is of course the span of years, which means you get X, Rudimentary Peni, Fear, Agent Orange and Black Flag alongside Blue Öyster Cult, Black Sabbath, Bee Gees, KISS and UFO. And guess what? I think that’s pretty much how the band happened too. Also note this is Vol. 1. If it’s the ’80s next time, I hope they do Duran Duran, but if they went for a new LP of originals instead, I wouldn’t complain.

16 Linktr.ee

Heavy Psych Sounds website

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Belzebong, The End is High

The four-song/34-minute The End is High from Polish instrumentalist bong-worship pioneers Belzebong opens with its longest track (immediate points) in the 10:54 “Bong and Chain,” which rolls straight-ahead enough until spacing out for a while and realigning around its chug. Riffs are the priority, always. This is the first studio outing from Belzebong since 2018’s Light the Dankness (review here), and “420 Horseman” lands heavy enough to make up for lost time, shortest of the bunch but heavy straight through. “Hempnotized” starts with a sample like the song before it, something about getting high, before unfurling its solo-topped lumber, and “Reefer Mortis” caps side B (the sample’s at the end this time) in riffversation with the opener. This isn’t the record you put on when you’re just getting stoned. It’s the one you put on when you’re already very, very high. It sounds like it was made with a similar mindset.

Belzebong website

Heavy Psych Sounds website

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Haze Mage, High Fantasy

Born out of Blood Mist‘s debut EP (review here) in 2017, Baltimorean five-piece Haze Mage went on to develop a sound likewise ritualistic, heavy metal, and fun on their 2019 debut, Chronicles (review here), and seven years later, their second full-length, High Fantasy refines this sound while putting a cap on the band’s tenure. That’s right. They might not sound like it on the catchy “Evil Candle” or the Southern-style “Bat Brain” or the vocals-forward-till-it’s-time-to-rip “Ogre,” and so on, but Haze Mage are done as of the last sway into the crashout of “Sleepers,” and while that’s unfortunate since their songwriting had perspective and brought a needed lack of pretense to cultism, the good news is High Fantasy itself, which comes across like Ouija shenanigans across the nine included songs, and if it’s all we’re ever gonna get from them, I’m glad Haze Mage are going out on their own terms. Nothing else could be so appropriate.

Haze Mage on Bandcamp

Haze Mage on Instagram

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Fir Cone Children, Vs. the Real World

Adventurous and sometimes genre-defiant punk is the root from which Fir Cone Children branches, and Alexander Leonard Donat (also Vlimmer, Blackjack Illuminist Records, etc.) revels in the shove of “Enhype!” as much as the post-everything gaze of “Severe Weather Warning” and the Sonic–Youth-but-make-it-sweet guitar-based noise of “(Hang in There) My Moon,” resolving ultimately in the sprint of “Beating the Real World” and the acoustic/electric blend of “Forever,” gleefully breaking its own rules as fast as it can make them as only a project about one’s kids could. Momentum stays on Donat‘s side through the more ethereal moments, and the playful bounce of “Vampire Queen” and the noisier “Time to Ask” convey movement while feeling dug into the process of their own creation, the album’s 32-minute course managing to be atmospheric despite the fact that it never stays in one place all that long. Aesthetic malleability is nothing new for Donat or Fir Cone Children, and it’s nice to be reminded that just because a song is 71 seconds long doesn’t mean it can’t have reach.

Fir Cone Children on Instagram

Blackjack Illuminist Records on Bandcamp

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White Canyon and the 5th Dimension, IV

I’m not sure how many full-length releases Brazilian duo White Canyon and the 5th Dimension have to their name, but I think it’s more than might be indicated by the title IV. Nonetheless, if this eight-song/40-minute collection is their fourth proper studio LP, fair enough for the cohesion the band find in moody psychedelic melodymaking and, tonal and vocal warmth. “Silver Womb” at the outset tells the listener a lot of what they need to know about where the two-piece are headed — into a misty nighttime sprawl, it seems — and feels restrained even in its later breakout. This proves to foreshadow “Gravestone Lips” and pieces like the sax-laced “Alumia Part II,” which have a headphone-ready dynamic that encourages deeper, active hearing and draws one across the album’s span — effectively broken into two sides for vinyl, if that’s your preference — with a sense of overarching flow. The penultimate “River Song” and wobbly-guitar closer “Wicked Eyes” assure that in the final stretch, there’s no loss of ground covered from where the wailing lead of “Where the Dreamers Go” winds up. Immersion is key. So, immerse.

White Canyon and the 5th Dimension Linktr.ee

White Canyon and the 5th Dimension on Bandcamp

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Onionfuzz, Meeplek Naar Nemen

Presumably Belgium’s Onionfuzz are called what they are because the fuzz is like an onion: layered, as per Shrek. Fair enough for the intertwining of guitars and bass on their new live-captured seven-song collection Meeplek Naar Nemen (‘take a seat’), but if that would imply the band get up to some studio wizardry, however many waveforms lined up with guitars on every frequency from here to 35Hz. Not the case, even in the fuzz of “Ongebluste Kalk.” Onionfuzz are much more in-the-moment on these gathered improvisations, recorded at various shows throughout 2025 and immediately distinguished among the improv-based wing of the Euro heavy underground by the use of (I think also improvised) vocal lines underscoring the point that you, the audience, don’t know what’s coming next, whether it’s in the jazzy title-track or the more minimal meander “Answers to Question,” which for most of its 7:42 lets you hear the crowd chattering. That’s not the case as the subdued “The Bees Partout” answers back to the opener “The Bees Don’t Laugh When I Mow the Grass,” so I guess it depends on which night you catch their mellow fluidity. In any case, Meeplek Naar Nemen argues convincingly for doing so.

Onionfuzz website

Onionfuzz preorders

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Glisten Trick, Death Cult Rainbows

I’ve heard vaguely similar moody, heavy post-rock positioned as night-desert before, but Glisten Trick aren’t playing to genre so much as they’re serving the songs with their six-track Death Cult Rainbows EP, with airy guitar, subdued, breathy vocals, deceptively weighted low end textures and straightforward but not boring rhythm. “Dirge From Above” dares toward psychedelic fuzz, but the title-cut’s electronic beat feels indie-fed, and though “Deep Cut” is clever for the sonar sounds included and manipulated within its five-minute span, the lightly meandering guitar, emotive delivery and subtly building procession is more a highlight precisely for how to-style it isn’t. I’m not sure where Glisten Trick are in terms of landscape metaphor — the mostly-solo-project of Glasán Ghost, geographically, is from the UK — but in the swing of “No Comedown” and “Black Acid” they’re barely terrestrial to begin with, so maybe such concerns are all pretend anyway and don’t matter.

Glisten Trick website

Glisten Trick on Bandcamp

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Stonebride, No Chances Given

Zagreb’s Stonebride — the four-piece of guitarist/vocalist Siniša Krneta, guitarist Tješimir Mendaš, bassist Matija Ljevar and drummer Stjepan Kolobarić — are reportedly (i.e. it’s what they said on Bandcamp) thinking of the two-song No Chances Given EP as indicative of where they might want to be direction-wise coming off of 2024’s Smiles Revolutionary (review here), and listening back to that album, neither “111” (4:12) nor “Barren Slope” (7:13) are a radical departure, but the former eases up on thrust somewhat and the latter feels more patient with specific attention to the vocal arrangement and the feeling of space as it builds toward its culmination, so the balance has been apparently mindfully adjusted. I won’t predict how that’ll play out among their more charge-minded impulses as shown on that LP, but an intention to grow and try new things has served them thus far into their tenure and I see no reason why it would stop now. If they’re indeed headed into more open sounds, as “Barren Slope” might hint, they have a real opportunity to play back and forth and develop their dynamic. That they’re even interested in doing so after 20 years is both deeply admirable and indicative of why you should listen.

Stonebride on Bandcamp

http://www.instagram.com/stonebrideofficial

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Aidan Baker, Songs of Waking and Weather

Sounds of Waking and Weather is the soundtrack to a forthcoming novel, and while I’m not sure if that’s also by Aidan Baker (of Nadja and numerous other collaborations) or not, the acoustic guitar threaded through the included 12 songs on the 79-minute offering resonates thematically as something in literature might, even running backward as it does in “Dream Song I.” Such manipulations are prevalent throughout this solo effort, and Baker brings field recordings into “Dream Song II,” which at 10:58 is one of three extended pieces alongside “Weather I (Tule)” and the 18-minute finale “The Black Swan.” Sometimes minimal, with piano in the lead on “Weather III (Advection),” the songs might be peopled by drones, sharp hi-hat, a dulcimer in there somewhere, Baker feels purposeful in the choices of arrangement and texture, and I’m curious about the story being told in the music. If you want the spoiler from the album, it ends in the open, at night, with the sounds of insects and no humans after the bassy avant-doom nod has given way. I’m not sure what that means for plot or character, but Baker‘s ability to put you in a place and time is palpable as ever.

Aidan Baker website

Broken Spine Productions on Bandcamp

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Tesa, Interval

Latvian post-metal instrumentalists Tesa released Interval in June 2025 through My Proud Mountain, and with it offer four engrossing tracks, each with its own feeling of the journey being undertaken, each adding to the scope of the entirety. The harsher noise that makes its way into the back half of “Interval I,” or the tension held in the drums after coming back from the drone in “Interval II” which also ends the song, the time-to-riff moment of arrival at the start of “Interval III” and the fuller push over the edge of its crescendo and the 11-minute sprawl of “Interval IIII” — which does include voice if not lyrics — provide landmarks along the way, but it’s the overarching feeling of going deeper with each one until finally “Interval IIII” caps with a shimmering megawash that’s most resonant. I don’t know if it was written as one whole work or as distinct, separately-processed songs, but between the titling and the listening experience, cohesion was obviously a priority. It comes through manifest in the music itself, for which I’d recommend a healthy dose of whatever volume you can give it.

Tesa on Bandcamp

My Proud Mountain website

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It’s been almost too easy, this week. Like, I was running a little later yesterday than I had the day before and I’m pretty sure it was only a big deal because — well, I was busy and distracted, to be fair — but mostly because the rest of the week to compare it against has been so gosh darn smooth. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. This is the last day. The music’s awesome. Barring actual disaster, like a car accident between now and then or some such, I’ll finish this one with minimal loss of breath.

Set against the last two Quarterly Reviews, one of which went 10 days, the other one 11, this five-dayer has been mellow and fun. As always, good music helps with that, and as has been the case since Monday, there’s plenty of it here. Not one day has gone by that I didn’t add something from the batch of 50 releases to my year-end list, which, again, barring disaster, should be out next week.

Quarterly Review #41-50:

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Cosmic Fall, Back Where the Fire Flows

After setting a high standard of prolific releases across 2017 and 2018 to much celebration and social media ballyhooing, Berlin jammers Cosmic Fall issued their single “Lackland” (review here) in mid-2019, and Back Where the Fire Flows is their first offering since. The apparently-reinvigorated lineup of the band includes bassist Klaus Friedrich and drummer Daniel Sax alongside new guitarist Leonardo Caprioli, and if there was any concern they might’ve lost the floating resonance that typified their earlier material, 13-minute opener and longest track (immediate points) “Lucid Skies Above Mars” allays it fluidly. The more straightforwardly riffed “Magma Rising” (4:31) and the tense shuffler “Under the Influence of Gravity” (4:38) follow that leadoff, with a blowout and feedback finish for the latter that eases the shift back into spacious-jammy mode for “Chant of the Lizards” (12:26) — perhaps titled in honor of the likeness the central guitar figure carries to The Doors — with “Drive the Kraut” (10:34) closing with the plotted sensibility of Earthless by building to a fervent head and crashing out quick as they might, and one hopes will, on stage. A welcome return and hopefully a preface to more.

Cosmic Fall on Facebook

Cosmic Fall on Bandcamp

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Weather Systems, Ocean Without a Shore

It doesn’t seem inappropriate to think of Weather Systems as a successor to Anathema, which until they broke up in 2020 was multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Daniel Cavanagh‘s main outlet of 30 years’ standing. Teamed here with Anathema drummer/producer Daniel Cardoso and producer Tony Doogan, who helmed Anathema‘s 2017 album, The Optimist (review here), Cavanagh is for sure in conversation with his former outfit. There are nuances like the glitchy synth in “Ocean Without a Shore” or the post-punk urgency in the rush of highlight cut “Ghost in the Machine,” and for those who felt the Anathema story was incomplete, “Are You There? Pt. 2” and “Untouchable Pt. 3” are direct sequels to songs from that band, so the messaging of Weather Systems picking up where Anathema left of is clear, and Cavanagh unsurprisingly sounds at home in such a context. Performing most of the instruments himself and welcoming a few guests on vocals, he leads the project to a place where listening can feel like an act of emotional labor, but with songs that undeniably sooth and offer space for comfort, which is their stated intention. Curious to hear how Weather Systems develops.

Weather Systems on Facebook

Mascot Label Group website

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Legions of Doom, The Skull 3

Assembled by bassist Ron Holzner and his The Skull bandmate, guitarist Lothar Keller, Legions of Doom are something of a doom metal supergroup with Henry Vasquez (Saint Vitus, Blood of the Sun) on drums, Scott Little (Leadfoot) on guitar alongside Keller, and vocalists Scott Reagers (Saint Vitus) and Karl Agell (Leadfoot, Lie Heavy, C.O.C.‘s Blind LP) sharing frontman duties. Perhaps the best compliment one can give The Skull 3 — which sources its material in part from the final The Skull session prior to the death of vocalist Eric Wagner — is that it lives up to the pedigree of those who made it. No great shocker the music is in the style of The Skull since that’s the point. The question is how the band build on songs like “All Good Things” and “Between Darkness and Dawn” and the ripping “Insectiside” (sic), but this initial look proves the concept and is ready and willing to school the listener across its eight tracks on how classic doom got to be that way.

Legions of Doom on Facebook

Tee Pee Records store

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Myriad’s Veil, Pendant

The first offering from Netherlands mellow psych-folk two-piece Myriad’s Veil brims with sweet melody and a subtly expansive atmosphere, bringing together Utrecht singer-songwriter Ismena, who has several albums out as a solo artist, and guitarist Ivy van der Meer, also of Amsterdam cosmic rockers Temple Fang for a collection of eight songs running 44 minutes of patiently-crafted, thoughtfully melodic and graceful performance. Ismena is no stranger to melancholia and the layers of “When the Leaves Start Falling” with the backing line of classical guitar and Mellotron give a neo-Canterbury impression without losing their own expressive edge. Most pieces stand between five and six minutes each, which is enough time for atmospheres to blossom and flourish for a while, and though the arrangements vary, the songs are united around acoustic guitar and voice, and so the underpinning is traditional no matter where Pendant goes. The foundation is a strength rather than a hindrance, and Ismena and van der Meer greet listeners with serenity and a lush but organic character of sound.

Myriad’s Veil on Facebook

Myriad’s Veil on Bandcamp

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Michael Rudolph Cummings, Money

Never short on attitude, “I Only Play 4 Money” — “If you take my picture/Your camera’s smashed/You write me fan mail/I don’t write back,” etc. — leads off Michael Rudolph Cummings‘ latest solo EP, the four-track Money with a fleshed out arrangement not unlike one might’ve found on 2022’s You Know How I Get (review here), released by Ripple Music. From there, the erstwhile Backwoods Payback frontman, Boozewa anti-frontman and grown-up punk/grunge troubadour embarks on the more stripped down, guy-and-guitar strums and contemplations of “Deny the World” and “Easier to Leave,” the latter with more than a hint of Americana, and “Denver,” which returns to the full band, classic-style lead guitar flourish, layered vocals and drums, and perhaps even more crucially, bass. It’s somewhere around 13 minutes of music, all told, but that’s more than enough time for Cummings to showcase mastery in multiple forms of his craft and the engaging nature of what’s gradually becoming his “solo sound.”

Michael Rudolph Cummings on Instagram

Michael Rudolph Cummings on Bandcamp

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Moon Destroys, The Nearness of June

Basking in a heavygaze float with the lead guitar while the markedly-terrestrial riff chugs and echoes out below, Moon Destroy‘s “The Nearness of June” is three and a half minutes long and the first single the Atlanta outfit founded by guitarist Juan Montoya (MonstrO, ex-Torche, etc.) and drummer Evan Diprima (also bass and synth, ex-Royal Thunder) have had since guitarist/vocalist/synthesist Charlie Suárez joined the band. Set across a forward linear build that quickly gets intense behind Suárez‘s chanting intertwining vocal lines, delivered mellow with a low-in-mouth melody, it’s a tension that slams into a slowdown in the second half of the song but holds over into the solo and fadeout march of the second half as well as it builds back up, the three-piece giving a quick glimpse of what a debut full-length might hopefully bring in terms of aural largesse, depth of mix and atmospheric soundscaping. I have no idea when, where or how such a thing would or will arrive, but that album will be a thing to look forward to.

Moon Destroys on Facebook

Moon Destroys on Bandcamp

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Coltaine, Forgotten Ways

Billed as Coltaine‘s debut LP — the history of the band is a bit more complex if I recall — Forgotten Ways is nonetheless a point of arrival for the Karlsruhe, Germany, four-piece. It is genuinely post-metallic in the spirit of being over genre completely, and as Julia Frasch makes the first harsh/clean vocal switch late in opener “Mogila,” with drummer Amin Bouzeghaia, bassist Benedikt Berg and guitarist Moritz Berg building the procession behind the soar, the band use their longest/opening track (immediate points) to establish the world in which the songs that follow take place. The cinematic drone of “Himmelwärts” and echoing goth metal of “Dans un Nouveau Monde” follow, leading the way into the wind-and-vocal minimalism of “Cloud Forest” at the presumed end of side A only to renew the opener’s crush in the side B leadoff title-track. Also the centerpiece of the album, “Cloud Forest” has room to touch on German-language folk before resuming its Obituary-meets-Amenra roll, and does not get less expansive from that initial two minutes or so. As striking as the two longest pieces are, Forgotten Ways is bolstered by the guitar ambience of “Ableben,” which leads into the pair of “Grace” and “Tales of Southern Lands,” both of which move from quieter outsets into explosive heft, each with their own path, the latter in half the time, and the riff-and-thud-then-go 77 seconds of “Aren” caps because why the hell not at that point. With a Jan Oberg mix adding to the breadth, Coltaine‘s declared-first LP brims with scope and progressive purpose. It is among the best debuts I’ve heard in 2024, easily.

Coltaine on Facebook

Lay Bare Recordings website

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Stonebride, Smiles Revolutionary

Zagreb-based veteran heavy rockers Stonebride — the four-piece of vocalist/guitarist Siniša Krneta, bassist/vocalist Matija Ljevar, guitarist Tješimir Mendaš and drummer Stjepan Kolobarić — give a strong argument for maturity of songwriting from the outset of Smiles Revolutionary, their fourth long-player. The ease with which they let the melody carry “In Presence,” knowing that the song doesn’t need to be as heavy as possible at all times since it still has presence, or the way the organ laces into the mix in the instrumental rush that brings the subsequent “Turn Back” to a finish before the early-QOTSA/bangin’-on-stuff crunch of “Closing Distance” tops old desert tones with harmonies worthy of Alice in Chains leading, inexorably, to a massive, lumbering nod of a payoff — they’re not written to be anything other than what they are, and in part because of that they stand testament to the long-standing progression of Stonebride. “Shine Hard” starts with a mosh riff given its due in crash early and late with a less-shove-minded jam between, part noise rock, answered by the progressive start-stop build of “March on the Heart” and closer “Time and Tide,” which dares a little funk in its outreach and leaves off with a nodding crescendo and smooth comedown, having come in and ultimately going out on a swell of vocals. Not particularly long, but substantial.

Stonebride on Facebook

Stonebride on Bandcamp

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Toad Venom, Jag Har Inga Problen Osv…​

Toad Venom will acknowledge their new mini-album, Jag Har Inga Problen Osv…, was mixed and mastered by Kalle Lilja of Welfare Sounds studio and label, but beyond that, the Swedish weirdo joy psych rock transcendentalists offer no clue as to who’s actually involved in the band. By the time they get down to “Dogs!” doing a reverse-POV of The Stooges‘ “I Wanna Be Your Dog” in classic soul style, they’ve already celebrated in the rushing bliss and Beatles-y Mellotron break of opener “Jag har verkligen inga problem (så det måste vara du),” taken “One Day You Will Be Perfect” from manic boogie to sunny Californian psych/folk rock, underscoring its chorus with a riff that could easily otherwise be black metal, dwelled in the organ and keyboard dramaturge amid the rolling “Mon Amour” — the keys win the day in the end and are classy about it afterward, but it’s guitar that ends it — and found a post-punk gothy shuffle for “Time Lapse,” poppish but not without the threat of bite. So yes, half an album, as they state it, but quite a half if you’re going by scope and aesthetic. I don’t know how much of a ‘band’ Toad Venom set out to be, but they’ve hit on a sound that draws from sources as familiar as 1960s psychedelia and manages to create a fresh approach from it. To me, that speaks of their being onto something special in these songs. Can’t help but wonder what’s in store for the second half.

Toad Venom on Facebook

Toad Venom on Bandcamp

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Sacred Buzz, Radio Radiation

Following up on the organ-and-fuzz molten flow of “Radio Radiation” with the more emotive, Rolling Stones-y-until-it-gets-heavy storytelling of “Antihero,” Berlin’s Sacred Buzz carve out their own niche in weighted garage rock, taking in elements of psychedelia without ever pushing entirely over into something shroomy sounding — to wit, the proto-punk tension of quirky delivery of “Revolution” — staying grounded in structure and honoring dirt-coated traditionalism with dynamic performances, “No Wings” coming off sleazy in its groove without actually being sleaze, “Make it Go Wrong” revealing a proggy shimmer that turns careening and twists to a finish led by the keys and guitar, and “Rebel Machine” blowing it out at the end because, yeah, I mean, duh. Radio Radiation is Sacred Buzz‘s first EP (it’s more if you get the bonus track), and it seems to effortlessly buck the expectations of genre without sounding like it’s trying to push those same limits. Maybe attitude and the punk-born casual cool that overrides it all has something to do with that impression — a swagger that’s earned by the time they’re done, to be sure — but the songs are right there to back that up. The short format suits them, and they make it flow like an album. A strong initial showing.

Sacred Buzz on Facebook

Sacred Buzz on Bandcamp

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Bookended by harmonies from guitarist Siniša Krneta and bassist Matija Ljevar, the heavy psych and stoner rocking “Time and Tide” appeared on the 2024 album Smiles Revolutionary from long-running Zagreb four-piece Stonebride. The band have a new video up for the song, which since I didn’t get to hear the album (yet! no expiry date for music; the player’s below) I’m glad to have come down the PR wire as an opportunity to get caught up.

It’s been six years since the band released their Animals on Display EP, and the track is an immediate reminder of how much there is to dig in their sound, putting microgenres next to each other in complementary ways while forging an individual impression therefrom. They’re a bit between styles, but as they bring together ethereal and grounded intentions, they also make the groove easy and a pleasure to follow.

I’m sure you didn’t miss the album, because you’re better at this than me, but it’s at the bottom in case you want a refresher after the video, as well as for my own getting on board. The “Time and Tide” video is down there as well, obviously.

Enjoy:

STONEBRIDE: Croatia’s Leading Heavy Rock Destroyers Share New Video for ‘TIME AND TIDE’

Croatian quartet share their first ever music video for searing new single, taken from their fifth studio album, Smiles Revolutionary…

Stonebride’s new album Smiles Revolutionary is out now on PDV Records | Order here: https://stonebride.bandcamp.com/album/smiles-revolutionary-2

Since their formation in Zagreb in 2005, Stonebride have blazed a trail across Europe, racking up countless headline tours, festival appearances and support shows with the likes of Monster Magnet, Karma to Burn, Yawning Man, Elder, Mos Generator and more.

Hand in hand with their impressive live reputation, Croatia’s leading heavy rock destroyers have also developed a habit over the past two decades of putting out some of the genre’s most promising records. Since the release of 2008’s Inner Seasons the quartet has nurtured a sound weighted somewhere between ’90s alt rock and dark psychedelia, while cultivating riffs from the vast, verdant realms of stoner, sludge, and doom.

This month the band will release their first ever official music video for fan-favourite and closing epic on their latest and perhaps finest album – Smiles Revolutionary – which was released in May on PDV Records. Produced and directed by close friend Tvrtko (aka Vidokk) and starring Mario Dobrić, the video for ‘Time and Tide’ finally shines a light on the band and presents a visual story to the deep and meaningful themes behind their music.

“Our new single ‘Time and Tide’ is about the transience of time, soul and spirit searching, and dealing with personal loss and mental health,” explains drummer, Stjepan Kolobarić. “The modern age is one of madness and technology; chaos, war horrors, life challenges and imposed societal norms. It feels like we’re increasingly losing touch with ourselves and the energy that motivates us all so this song champions individuality. It’s about that desire for creative expression and, above all else, enthusiasm, which fuels us and make us feel alive.”

The band’s fifth studio album, Smiles Revolutionary, was released earlier in the year on PDV Records. Order here: https://stonebride.bandcamp.com/album/smiles-revolutionary-2

STONEBRIDE:
Matija Ljevar – bass/vocals
Tješimir Mendaš – guitar
Siniša Krneta – vocals/guitar/lyrics
Stjepan Kolobarić – drums/lyrics

Photo by Domagoj Kunić.

https://facebook.com/stonebrideband
https://instagram.com/stonebrideofficial
https://stonebride.bandcamp.com
https://youtube.com/stonebrighter

Stonebride, “Time and Tide” official video

Stonebride, Smiles Revolutionary (2024)

With what they’re calling the ‘Year Zero’ edition, the new Croatian two-dayer Bear Stone Festival unveils a lineup with immediately international ambitions, with Mars Red Sky, Black Rainbows, Mother Vulture and Acid Mammoth up on top of the poster. It sounds like a pretty genuine outdoor experience, with free-but-limited-to-1,000 entry and free camping on-site, and they say there’s more to come in the lineup, which I’m inclined to believe since although the 12 acts announced would be just fine to fill a two-day bill with six per, there’s also a jam-stage to work out, DJs and other artists reportedly taking part, so yeah, one way or the other, it seems like there will be space for announcements after this.

But it looks like a cool happening if you’re in the area or up for a bit of travel. I can think of worse ways to spend a weekend than by a riverside in Croatia listening to rock and roll and experiencing art of various stripes. I can feel the vibe from here, and it’s not even long enough for everybody to get super-smelly, which is also a win.

Best of luck to Bear Stone Festival on Year Zero, and many happy returns:

Welcome to Bear Stone Festival – Year Zero, the first of its kind

Welcome to Bear Stone Festival, the first of its kind!

This year’s edition of the festival titled #YearZeroEdition will start off Bear Stone Festival as a special preview. Year Zero Edition will be a free admission festival with free camping and an attendance limited to 1.000 visitors. Tickets can be purchased online in digital form via this link –> https://www.entrio.hr/event/bear-stone-festival-year-zero-11209

An audio-visual experience, international gathering of travelers and tribes in the Croatian outback. Two days of psychedelic, stoner, desert, fuzz, heavy rock, electronic and experimental music accompanied by live bands, DJ sets and Jam stage. Stunning landscapes, fantastic psychedelic art installations and projections will shape a unique festival experience and make you reexamine reality.

BLACK RAINBOWS // MARS RED SKY // MOTHER VULTURE // ACID MAMMOTH // SHE LOVES PABLO // STONEBRIDE // DALIBOROVO GRANJE // JASTREB // ACHACHAK // WIZARD OF STONE MOUNTAIN // ARISES // POMELO CHESS SOCIETY //

Slunj, Donje Primišlje, Croatia // 1 & 2 July, 2022 //

MAIN STAGE // JAM STAGE // DJs // CAMPING // FOOD VENDORS // BARS // RAFTING // SWIMMIMG // NATURE and more!

The festival is held in Donje Primišlje (Croatia) on a breathtaking location, on the banks of the river Mrežnica, which with its distinctive emerald color is known as one of the most pristine rivers in Croatia. The location of Bear Stone Festival is also the centre stage for the world famous trance electronic music festival Mo:Dem (Momento Demento).

The Bear Stone Festival is located in the canyon of Mrežnica and is completely surrounded by forest. Both the forest and the river are what make the festival site a part of nature in its most basic and pristine form. The festival site is a 15-minute drive from the towns of Slunj and Ogulin on each side, a 45-minute drive from the world-famous Plitvice Lakes National Park, an hour’s drive from the capital Zagreb and an hour and a half from the Adriatic Sea.

More information at –> www.bearstonefestival.com

https://www.facebook.com/events/2142426915922580
https://www.instagram.com/bearstonefestival
https://www.facebook.com/bearstonefestival
http://www.bearstonefestival.com

Black Rainbows, “Supernova & Asteroid/Fire in the Sky” live at Desertfest Belgium 2021

The last offering from Croatian heavy rockers Stonebride arrived some four years ago in the form of the impressive — and impressively titled — full-length, Heavy Envelope (review here). Progressive as that outing was, it should be interesting to dig in and hear what the Zagreb four-piece has come up with for Animals on Display, which has been issued through PDV Records and is comprised of just four songs totaling 18 minutes in length. One track per year between releases? The PR wire makes the claim that Animals on Display is the band’s “most exhaustive” work yet. If each track was a year in the making, it might just be.

Details and the full EP stream came down the PR wire. Let’s all dig in together, shall we?

Indeed:

Stonebride’s new album ‘Animals on Display’ is out

Animals on Display a new mini album by heavy rock veterans Stonebride is out after 4 years since their last full length effort Heavy Envelope. These diversely influenced musicians are on the quest to set another benchmark in the further development of their sound. The album was released this March 15th through PDV Records and is available in CD/digital forms while the vinyl release is scheduled for the upcoming Autumn release.

Animals on Display consists of 4 tracks with running time little under 18 minutes. It is by far the band’s most exhaustive work which demands undivided attention of the listener.

Stonebride remains true to their musical roots but keep implementing both musical and personal experiences and pouring it into this record. On the verge of various (sub)genres like psych, prog, doom, blues, desert/stoner or giving nod to the 90’s grunge/alternative they’re constantly pushing the envelope with each new release. Keeping in mind the band has been together for almost 13 years (with the same line-up) just adds to their credibility as an ongoing creative force that shows no signs of stopping.

The concept is rounded with the artwork from the talented Krešimir ?uk aka VAST. A visual artist that combines digital collage and vector graphics. Visually inspired by crosshatching and thematically by surrealism, his work’s main premise is comparing subjective experience of the person with objectivity and erasing the boundaries between them. Animals on Display was recorded with several people behind the desk in couple of studios in Zagreb, Croatia from April to December 2017. It was produced by Siniša Krneta (band’s vocalist/guitarist), recorded by Luka Grubiši?, Vedran Kova?i?, Hrvoje Nikši?, Vedran Rao Brle?i? and Hrvoje Štefoti?, mixed by Vedran Rao Brle?i? and mastered by Carl Saff.

STONEBRIDE – Animals on Display tracklist:
1. Animal on Display
2. Embodiment
3. Early Bird
4. Half of Me

stonebride.bandcamp.com
facebook.com/stonebrideband
youtube.com/stonebrighter
www.reverbnation.com/stonebride
http://www.pdv.com.hr/
https://www.facebook.com/PDVRecordLabel/

Stonebride, Animals on Display EP (2018)

Issued via cooperation between PDV Records and Setalight Records, Croatian heavy rockers Stonebride‘s third album, Heavy Envelope (review here), is out now on vinyl. Not technically a reissue since it’s the first pressing in the format, the album is a moody but progressive take on bruiser riffing, and offers more on repeat visits than it might the first time around. All the better that it’s up now for revisiting by anyone who missed it. You’d almost swear these things were planned out ahead of time.

Stonebride had posted in Aug. about planning out a European tour for March/April 2016, so when and if I hear more on that, I’ll post accordingly. Until then, the PR wire sent along the following on the album:

Stonebride’s ”Heavy Envelope” vinyl release!

It is a huge pleasure to announce that the sons of all things heavy , the band Stonebride have just released their latest critically acclaimed album Heavy Envelope in vinyl format! From now on you can treat your record player with two LP album versions (black & halloween orange edition). At the end of 2014. the band unleashed upon the world its’ 4th official release in CD/digital format. This came out via joint efforts from an independent label PDV records and Setalight records.

After a European tour last year, including some selected shows this year, Stonebride is ready for further conquering of all hearing senses. Their take on heavy rock, tied with alternative / psych / doom / prog voyages leaves none without awe. European tour for March/April 2016. is being booked at this moment, so keep an eye out when they roam through your city.

It’s also worth mentioning that in December band celebrates a 10th year jubilee of existing, sonic road bending, creating music and leaving their own mark in the oceans of the most finest art we call music.

Tracklist:
1 Movies, Movies
2 Lowest Supreme
3 Lay Low
4 Coloured Blue
5 Sokushinbutsu
6 Venomous

http://www.pdv.com.hr/artist/stonebride
stonebride.bandcamp.com
facebook.com/stonebrideband
youtube.com/Stonebrighter

Stonebride, Heavy Envelope (2014)

Click Here to Download

 

[mp3player width=480 height=180 config=fmp_jw_widget_config.xml playlist=aot45.xml]

A real blend this time around. Some of this stuff is straight up riffs and crash, and some of it gets pretty far out, even in the first hour, let alone by the time we get to the last two tracks, with Papir’s live prog freakery and Earthling Society’s trippy experimentalism. There’s a lot to dig here and, perhaps unsurprisingly, I dig it a lot. These are all, I think with the exception just of Stonebride, 2015 releases. Some, like Monolord and Blackout and Stoned Jesus, aren’t out yet, and others, like Corsair, or Elbrus, or Sandrider, are newly released.

All told, the balance works between the more straight-ahead stuff and the weirdness, but my head’s been pulled pretty hard in the direction lately of things generally more on the outer edges of genre, so it seemed only right to be honest to that impulse. It’s not too long, and if there’s something here you haven’t heard before, then of course I hope you dig it. Actually, I hope you dig it anyway, new or not. Cheers.

First Hour:
Stoned Jesus, “Here Come the Robots” from The Harvest
Black Rainbows, “The Prophet” from Hawkdope
Sandrider, “Rain” from Sandrider + Kinski
Eggnogg, “Slugworth” from Sludgy Erna Bastard Vol. 1: Borracho & Eggnogg 7”
Blackout, “Cross” from Blackout
Chubby Thunderous Bad Kush Masters, “Devil’s Buttermilk” from Earth Hog
Shepherd, “Turdspeak” from Stereolithic Riffalocalypse
Corsair, “Coriolis” from One Eyed Horse
Kooba Tercu, “Pebble” from Kooba Tercu
Stonebride, “Sokushinbutsu” from Heavy Envelope
Monolord, “Cursing the One” from Vaenir

Second Hour:
Elbrus, “Far Away and into Space Pt. 2” from Far Away and into Space Pt. 2
King Buffalo, “Providence Eye” from split with Lé Betre
Papir, “Monday” from Live at Roadburn 2014
Earthling Society, “It’s Your Love that’s Sound” from It’s Your Love that’s Sound

Total running time: 1:53:18

 

Thank you for listening.

Download audiObelisk Transmission 045

 

I have continued to enjoy putting together these posts, and hopefully, whether you listen to The Obelisk Radio or you don’t, you get some use out of them. The fact is that it’s a pretty overwhelming amount of music being released these days — I feel like I’ve been behind all week, and for good reason — but it’s a good problem to have, and all you can really do is your best to keep up as much as you can. Accordingly, some of the stuff joining the playlist this week isn’t out yet, some is newly released and some of it has been out for a long time. Months are irrelevant. Riffs are timeless.

Let’s get to it.

The Obelisk Radio adds for Feb. 6, 2015:

HARK, Crystalline

UK heavy proggers Hark — also stylized in all-caps and with spaces between the letters — have all the noodly twists and turns one might expect in the shouty post-Mastodonic sphere of modern heavy, but what the trio do even better is use those turns toward building crescendos, so that songs like “Palendromeda,” the opener from their 2014 Season of Mist debut, Crystalline, isn’t just a mash of technical indulgence, but it actually moves somewhere too. Later cuts like “Sins on Sleeves” and “All Wretch and No Vomit” have some straightforward heavy rock to them as well — guitarist/vocalist/cover artist Jimbob Isaac used to play in Taint — but as one might expect, neither he nor bassist Nikolai Ribnikov (who seems to have since been replaced by Joe Harvatt, unless I have that backwards; things like who plays on what don’t matter in the age of digital promos) and drummer Simon Bonwick stay in one place too long. A guest appearance from Clutch‘s Neil Fallon on 10-minute closer “Clear Light of…” follows some particularly fervent tapping and presages another in Crystalline‘s series of crescendos, a long fade following topped by heady swirl that finishes out. Parts can be a bit much, but the full-on sprint that starts “Breathe and Run” and the weighty groove that follows make Hark‘s debut a solid fit for those seeking blinding fretwork that doesn’t necessarily sacrifice dynamic on the altar of technicality. HARK on Thee Facebooks, Season of Mist.

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Lucifer, Anubis

Born out of last year’s hot-shit-and-then-gone The Oath, London/Berlin four-piece Lucifer make their Rise Above debut with the Anubis/Morning Star 7″, vocalist Johanna Sadonis crooning out vaguely devilish incantations over The Wizards‘ riffs, Dino Gollnick‘s bass and Andrew Prestidge drums. The results on “Anubis” are probably the most Sabbathian bit of Sabbathery that’s come along since Orchid wandered along — the progression of “Anubis” is almost singularly indebted to “Snowblind.” “Morning Star” is likewise familiar, nestled somewhere between a theatrical take on ’80s proto-doom and ’70s cultistry and bolstered by the craft of Sadonis and former Cathedral guitarist Gary “Gaz” Jennigs. Hey, if it works, fair enough. One imagines that by the time the single arrives in April, word of Lucifer‘s coming will have spread far and wide, and if the single is meant to intrigue and pique interest ahead of a full-length to be issued later in 2015, I’ve no doubt it will do precisely that. Lucifer on Thee Facebooks, Rise Above Records.

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Diesel King, Concrete Burial

If you’ve got a quota for burl, London sludge metallers Diesel King will likely meet it with their When Planets Collide debut long-player, Concrete Burial, an album that hands out grueling, ultra-dudely chugging like a beefed-up Crowbar, vocalist Mark O’Regan offering shouting and growling extremity bordering at times on death metal. Shit is heavy, and it lives up to the violent threat of its title on songs like the catchy “Inferis” and “Horror. Disgust.,” the latter of which actually manages to make the lumbering guitar tones of Geoff Foden and Aled Marc move, propelled by the metallic drumming of Bill Jacobs while bassist Will Wichanski adds to the already pummeling low end. The 80-second “Mask of the Leper” is straight-up grind, but don’t be fooled by shifts in tempo — Diesel King‘s bread and butter is in sludged-out chug-riffing and growled chestbeating, like a testosterone supplement you take via your ears. Diesel King on Thee Facebooks, When Planets Collide.

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Planes of Satori, Planes of Satori

Made for vinyl and pressed in that manner by Who Can You Trust? Records as the follow-up to last year’s Son of a Gun 7″ (review here), Planes of Satori find easy sanctuary on uneasy ground, smoothing out jagged edges and uncautious twists on their self-titled debut full-length. Bassist Justin Pinkerton doubles as the drummer in Golden Void, but though Planes of Satori share a West Coast affinity for the golden age of krautrock, cuts like “Eyes,” “Gnostic Boogie” and “The Ballad of Queen Milo” are on a much different trip, psychedelic afrobeat rhythms unfolding their insistence under the echoed out vocals of Alejandro Magana while Raze Regal tears into jazzy solos and Chris Labreche somehow manages to make it swing. The airier, more rhythmically settled “KTZ” retains a progressive feel both in the underlying tension of its bassline and in the open, creative vibe through which it careens. Call it “manic peace,” but it works well for Planes of Satori on a cut like the earlier “If You Must Know,” which reimagines ’90s indie weirdness through a lens of what-if-it-wasn’t-so-cool-not-to-give-a-crap, and “Green Summer,” which follows a building course without tipping off its hand until you’re already wrapped up in Regal‘s live-sounding leads. The closing solo guitar echo of “The Snake and the Squirrel” speaks to yet-unexplored drone dynamics and further delving into psychedelia to come. Sign me up. I have the feeling that the more bizarre Planes of Satori get, the more satisfying the trip is going to be. Their debut already shows a pervasive adventurous spirit. Planes of Satori on Thee Facebooks, Who Can You Trust? Records.

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Stonebride, Heavy Envelope

Late 2014’s Heavy Envelope is the third Stonebride record behind 2010’s Summon the Waves (review here) and their 2008 debut LP, Inner Seasons. Released by Setalight Records, it finds the Zagreb, Croatia, four-piece’s sound way solidified as compared to the psychedelic sprawl of the prior release, a ’90s-style rolling crunch riff to “Lay Low” following the distinctly Alice in Chainsian vocal melodies of “Lowest Supreme” and preceding the effectively replicated Queens of the Stone Age bounce of “Coloured Blue.” Some intervening solidification in the four years between the second and third albums might explain the shift in sound — the opposite could also be true — but drummer Steps and guitarist Tjesimir, bassist Alen and vocalist Sinisa work well within their newfound sphere, even finding room to branch out a bit on the more extended closing duo of “Sokushinbutsu” and “Venomous,” never quite hitting the same psyched-out feel of Heavy Envelope‘s predecessor, but definitely adding further individual sensibility to an engaging take on heavy rock. Stonebride seem ripe for a new beginning, and Heavy Envelope boasts precisely that kind of energy. Stonebride on Thee Facebooks, on Bandcamp, Setalight Records.

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For the complete list of what went up today and everything else that’s been added recently and everything played going back I don’t even remember how long at this point, be sure to check out The Obelisk Radio Updates and Playlist page. Hope you find something you dig and that you think is worth hearing.

Thanks for reading and listening.