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Quarterly Review: AAWKS & Aiwass, Surya Kris Peters, Evert Snyman, Book of Wyrms, Burning Sister, Gévaudan, Oxblood Forge, High Brian, Búho Ermitaño, Octonaut

Posted in Reviews on October 6th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

the obelisk winter quarterly review

Last day, this one. And probably a good thing so that I can go back to doing just about anything else beyond (incredibly) basic motor function and feeling like I need to start the next day’s QR writeups. I’m already thinking of maybe a week in December and a week or two in January, just to try to keep up with stuff, but I’m of two minds about it.

Does the Quarterly Review actually help anyone find music? It helps me, I know, because it’s 50 records that I’m basically forcing myself to dig into, and that exposes me to more and more and more all the time, and gives me an outlet for stuff I wouldn’t otherwise have mental or temporal space to cover, so I know I get something out of it. Do you?

Honest answers are welcome in the comments. If it’s a no, that helps me as well.

Quarterly Review #41-50:

AAWKS & Aiwass, The Eastern Scrolls

AAWKS & Aiwass The Eastern Scrolls

Late on their 2022 self-titled debut (review here), Canadian upstart heavy fuzzers AAWKS took a decisive plunge into greater tonal densities, and “1831,” which is their side-consuming 14:30 contribution to the The Eastern Scrolls split LP with Arizona mostly-solo-project Aiwass, feels built directly off that impulse. It is, in other words, very heavy. Cosmically spaced with harsher vocals early that remind of stonerkings Sons of Otis and only more blowout from there as they roll forth into slog, noise, a stop, ambient guitar and string melodies and drum thud behind vocals, subdued psych atmosphere and backmasked sampling near the finish. Aiwass, led by multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Blake Carrera and now on the cusp of releasing a second full-length, The Falling (review here), give the 13:00 “The Unholy Books” a stately, post-metallic presence, as much about the existential affirmations and the melody applied to the lyrics as it moves into the drumless midsection as either the earlier Grayceon-esque pulled notes of guitar (thinking specifically “War’s End” from 2011’s All We Destroy, but there the melody is cello) into it or the engrossing heft that emerges late in the piece, though it does bookend with a guitar comedown. Reportedly based around the life of theosophy co-founder and cult figure Madame Helena Blavatsky, it can either be embraced on that level or taken on simply as a showcase of two up and coming bands, each with their own complementary sound. However you want to go, it’s easily among the best splits I’ve heard in 2023.

AAWKS on Facebook

Aiwass on Facebook

Black Throne Productions store

Surya Kris Peters, Strange New World

Surya Kris Peters Strange New World

The lines between projects are blurring for Surya Kris Peters, otherwise known as Chris Peters, currently based in Brazil where he has the solo-project Fuzz Sagrado following on from his time in the now-defunct German trio Samsara Blues Experiment. Strange New World is part of a busy 2023/busy last few years for Peters, who in 2023 alone has issued a live album from his former band (review here) and a second self-recorded studio LP from Fuzz Sagrado, titled Luz e Sombra (review here). And in Fuzz Sagrado, Peters has returned to the guitar as a central instrument after a few years of putting his focus on keys and synths with Surya Kris Peters as the appointed outlet for it. Well, the Fuzz Sagrado had some keys and the 11-song/52-minute Strange New World wants nothing for guitar either as Peters reveals a headbanger youth in the let-loose guitar of “False Prophet,” offers soothing and textured vibes of a synthesized beat in “Sleep Meditation in Times of War” (Europe still pretty clearly in mind) and the acoustic/electric blend that’s expanded upon in “Nada Brahma Nada.” Active runs of synth, bouncing from note to note with an almost zither-esque feel in “A Beautiful Exile (Pt. 1)” and the later “A Beautiful Exile (Part 2)” set a theme that parts of other pieces follow, but in the drones of “Past Interference” and the ’80s New Wave prog of the bonus track “Slightly Too Late,” Peters reminds that the heart of the project is in exploration, and so it is still very much its own thing.

Fuzz Sagrado on Facebook

Electric Magic Records on Bandcamp

Evert Snyman, All Killer Filler

evert snyman all killer filler

A covers record can be a unique opportunity for an artist to convey something about themselves to fans, and while I consider Evert Snyman‘s 12-track/38-minute classic pop-rock excursion All Killer Filler to be worth it for his take on Smashing Pumpkins‘ “Zero” alone, there is no mistaking the show of persona in the choice to open with The Stooges‘ iconic “Search and Destroy” and back it cheekily with silly bounce of Paul McCartney‘s almost tragically catchy “Temporary Secretary.” That pairing alone is informative if you’re looking to learn something about the South African-based songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and producer. See also “The Piña Colada Song.” The ’90s feature mightily, as they would, with tunes by Pixies, Blur, Frank Black, The Breeders and Mark Lanegan (also the aforementioned Smashing Pumpkins), but whether it’s the fuzz of The Breeders’ 1:45 “I Just Wanna Get Along,” the sincere acoustic take on The Beatles “I Will” — which might as well be a second McCartney solo cut, but whatever; you’ll note Frank Black and Pixies appearing separately as well — or the gospel edge brought to Tom Waits‘ “Jesus Gonna Be Here,” Snyman internalizes this material, almost builds it from the ground up, loyal in some ways and not in others, but resonant in its respect for the source material without trying to copy, say, Foo Fighters, note for note on “The Colour and the Shape.” If it’s filler en route to Snyman‘s next original collection, fine. Dude takes on Mark Lanegan without it sounding like a put on. Mark Lanegan himself could barely do that.

Evert Snyman on Facebook

Mongrel Records website

Book of Wyrms, Storm Warning

book of wyrms storm warning

Virginian heavy doom rockers Book of Wyrms have proved readily in the past that they don’t need all that long to set up a vibe, and the standalone single “Storm Warning” reinforces that position with four-plus minutes of solid delivery of craft. Vocalist/synthesist Sarah Moore Lindsey, bassist Jay “Jake” Lindsey and drummer Kyle Lewis and guitarist Bobby Hufnell (also Druglord) — the latter two would seem to have switched instruments since last year’s single “Sodapop Glacier” (premiered here) — but whatever is actually being played by whoever, the song is a structurally concise but atmospheric groover, with a riff twisting around the hook and the keyboard lending dimension to the mix as it rests beneath the guitar and bass. They released their third album, Occult New Age (review here), in 2021, so they’re by no means late on a follow-up, and I don’t know either when this song was recorded — before, after or during that process — but it’s a sharp-sounding track from a band whose style has grown only  more theirs with time. I have high expectations for Book of Wyrms‘ next record — I had high expectations for the last one, which were met — and especially taken together, “Storm Warning” and “Sodapop Glacier” show both the malleable nature of the band’s aesthetic, the range that has grown in their sound and the live performance that is at their collective core.

Book of Wyrms on Facebook

Desert Records store

Burning Sister, Get Your Head Right

burning sister get your head right

Following on from their declarative 2022 debut, Mile High Downer Rock (review here), Denver trio Burning Sister — bassist/vocalist Steve Miller (also synth), guitarist Nathan Rorabaugh and drummer Alison Salutz — bring four originals and the Mudhoney cover “When Tomorrow Comes” (premiered here) together as Get Your Head Right, a 29-minute EP, beginning with the hypnotic nod groove and biting leads of “Fadeout” (also released as a single) and the slower, heavy psych F-U-Z-Z of “Barbiturate Lizard,” the keyboard-inclusive languid roll of which, even after the pace picks up, tells me how right I was to dig that album. The centerpiece title-track is faster and a little more forward tonally, more grounded, but carries over the vocal echo and finds itself in noisier crashes and chugs before giving over to the 7:58 “Looking Through Me,” which continues the relatively terrestrial vibe over until the wall falls off the spaceship in the middle of the track and everyone gets sucked into the vacuum — don’t worry, the synthesizer mourns us after — just before the noted cover quietly takes hold to close out with spacious heavygaze cavern echo that swells all the way up to become a blowout in the vein of the original. It’s a story that’s been told before, of a band actively growing, coming into their sound, figuring out who they are from one initial release to the next. Burning Sister haven’t finished that process yet, but I like where this seems to be headed. Namely into psych-fuzz oblivion and cosmic dust. So yeah, right on.

Burning Sister on Facebook

Burning Sister on Bandcamp

Gévaudan, Umbra

Gévaudan UMBRA

Informed by Pallbearer, Warning, or perhaps others in the sphere of emotive doom, UK troupe Gévaudan scale up from 2019’s Iter (review here) with the single-song, 43:11 Umbra, their second album. Impressive enough for its sheer ambition, the execution on the extended titular piece is both complex and organic, parts flowing naturally from one to the other around lumbering rhythms for the first 13 minutes or so before a crashout to a quick fade brings the next movement of quiet and droning psychedelia. They dwell for a time in a subtle-then-not-subtle build before exploding back to full-bore tone at 18:50 and carrying through a succession of epic, dramatic ebbs and flows, such that when the keyboard surges to the forefront of the mix in seeming battle with the pulled notes of guitar, the ensuing roll/march is a realization. They do break to quiet again, this time piano and voice, and doom mournfully into a fade that, at the end of a 43-minute song tells you the band could’ve probably kept going had they so desired. So much the better. Between this and Iter, Gévaudan have made a for-real-life statement about who they are as a band and their progressive ambitions. Do not make the mistake of thinking they’re done evolving.

Gévaudan on Facebook

Meuse Music Records website

Oxblood Forge, Cult of Oblivion

Oxblood Forge Cult of Oblivion

In some of the harsher vocals and thrashy riffing of Cult of Oblivion‘s opening title-track, Massachusetts’ Oxblood Forge remind a bit of some of the earliest Shadows Fall‘s definitively New Englander take on hardcore-informed metal. The Boston-based double-guitar five-piece speed up the telltale chug of “Children of the Grave” on “Upon the Altar” and find raw sludge scathe on “Cleanse With Fire” ahead of finishing off the four-song/18-minute EP with the rush into “Mask of Satan,” which echoes the thrash of “Cult of Oblivion” itself and finds vocalist Ken McKay pushing his voice higher in clean register than one can recall on prior releases, their most recent LP being 2021’s Decimator (review here). But that record was produced for a different kind of impact than Cult of Oblivion, and the aggression driving the new material is enhanced by the roughness of its presentation. These guys have been at it a while now, and clearly they’re not in it for trends, or to be some huge band touring for seven months at a clip. But their love of heavy metal is evident in everything they do, and it comes through here in every blow to the head they mete out.

Oxblood Forge on Facebook

Oxblood Forge on Bandcamp

High Brian, Five, Six, Seven

High Brian Five Six Seven

The titular rhythmic counting in Austrian heavy-prog quirk rockers High Brian‘s Five, Six, Seven (on StoneFree Records, of course) doesn’t take long to arrive, finding its way into second cut “Is it True” after the mild careening of “All There Is” opens their third full-length, and that’s maybe eight minutes into the 40-minute record, but it doesn’t get less gleefully weird from there as the band take off into the bassy meditation of “The End” before tossing out angular headspinner riffs in succession and rolling through what feels like a history of krautrock’s willful anti-normality written into the apocalypse it would seemingly have to be. “The End” is the longest track at 8:50, and it presumably closes side A, which means side B is when it’s time to party as the triplet chug of “The Omni” reinforces the energetic start of “All There Is” with madcap fervor and “Stone Came Up” can’t decide whether it’s raw-toned biker rock or spaced out lysergic idolatry, so it decides to become an open jam complete people talking “in the crowd.” This leaves the penultimate “Our First Car” to deliver one last shove into the art-rock volatility of closer “Oil Into the Fire,” where High Brian play one more round of can-you-follow-where-this-is-going before ending with a gentle cymbal wash like nothing ever happened. Note, to the best of my knowledge, there are not bongos on every track, as the cover art heralds. But perhaps spiritually. Spiritual bongos.

High Brian on Facebook

StoneFree Records website

Búho Ermitaño, Implosiones

Búho Ermitaño Implosiones

Shimmering, gorgeous and richly informed in melody and rhythm by South American folk, Búho Ermitaño‘s Implosiones revels in pastoralia in opener “Herbie” before “Expolosiones” takes off past its midpoint into heavy post-rock float and progressive urgency that in itself is more dynamic than many bands even still is only a small fraction of the encompassing range of sounds at work throughout these seven songs. ’60s psych twists into the guitar solo in the back half of “Explosiones” before space rock key/synth wash finishes — yes, it’s like that — and only then does the serene guitar and, birdsong and synth-drone of “Preludio” announce the arrival of centerpiece “Ingravita,” which begins acoustic and even as it climbs all the way up to its crescendo maintains its peaceful undercurrent so that when it returns at the end it seems to be home again at the finish. The subsequent “Buarabino” is more about physical movement in its rhythm, cumbia roots perhaps showing through, but leaves the ground for its second half of multidirectional resonances offered like ’70s prog that tells you it’s from another planet. But no, cosmic as they get in the keys of “Entre los Cerros,” Búho Ermitaño are of and for the Earth — you can hear it in every groove and sun-on-water guitar melody — and when the bowl chimes to start finale “Renacer,” the procession that ensues en route to the final drone is an affirmation both of the course they’ve taken in sound and whatever it is in your life that’s led you to hear it. Records like this never get hype. They should. They are loved nonetheless.

Búho Ermitaño on Facebook

Buh Records on Bandcamp

Octonaut, Intergalactic Tales of a Wandering Cephalopod

Octonaut Intergalactic Tales of a Wandering Cephalopod

In concept or manifestation, one would not call Octonaut‘s 54-minute shenanigans-prone debut album Intergalactic Tales of a Wandering Cephalopod a minor undertaking. On any level one might want to approach it — taking on the two-minute feedbackscape of “…—…” (up on your morse code?) or the 11-minute tale-teller-complete-with-digression-about-black-holes “Octonaut” or any of their fun-with-fuzz-and-prog-metal-and-psychedelia points in between — it is a lot, and there is a lot going on, but it’s also wonderfully brazen. It’s completely over the top and knows it. It doesn’t want to behave. It doesn’t want to just be another stoner band. It’s throwing everything out in the open and seeing what works, and as Octonaut move forward, ideally, they’ll take the lessons of a song like the mellow linear builder “Hypnotic Jungle” or nine-minute capper “Rainbow Muffler Camel” (like they’re throwing darts at words) with its intermittent manic fits and the somehow inevitable finish of blown-out static noise. As much stoner as it is prog, it’s also not really either, but this is good news because there are few better places for an act so clearly bent on individualism as Octonaut are to begin than in between genres. One hopes they dwell there for the duration.

Octonaut on Facebook

Octonaut’s Linktr.ee

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The Obelisk Questionnaire: Jay Brown of Weddings

Posted in Questionnaire on November 15th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

Jason Brown of Weddings

The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.

Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.

Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.

The Obelisk Questionnaire: Jay Brown from Weddings

How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?

I am a songwriter first, singer second and guitar player third. I started bashing on a guitar and poorly singing in Calgary, Alberta when I was 17 and just couldn’t stop.

Describe your first musical memory.

My father is a big country music fan. I remember a lot of outlaw country artists played in the house or car when I was a kid. Merle, Waylon, Johnny Cash, Johnny Paycheck, David Allan Coe, these were tough fuckers who, in retrospect, were kind of the OG punks before it was even a thing. They were on the fringe, they walked it like they talked it, they oozed authenticity and sang about life’s darker moments. Their music really resonated with me.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

I love the band R.E.M.. Getting to meet and interview them years ago after they played an amazing festival show alongside Radiohead in Vancouver is a fantastic memory.

The first time I took to the stage in Europe with Weddings was another great memory. As a Canadian, getting to play in front of people in Europe was always a dream. I ‘m glad I was able to manifest it into a reality.

When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?

I think our beliefs are being challenged and tested on a daily basis. And it’s supposed to be like that. Designed to be like that. It’s how we get shaken out of unhealthy patterns, how we make progress, how we access new ideas and information. Isn’t this the goal, to search for truth?

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

To a better understanding of self and the human condition. Songs are basically a living diary, but the whole world potentially has access to reading and hearing it.

Connecting with music and lyrics creates unity, a sense of community or rather a sense that that at least you are not alone. At least it did for me.

How do you define success?

Accomplishing a goal is success.

What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?

I’ve seen some dark shit. But I wouldn’t wish it away. The dark moments are equally as important as the light ones. It’s a yin and yang thing.

But darkness that lingers or repeats in your life is fucking toxic and needs to be dealt with.

Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.

I want to make a stoner rock album with synths and horns.

What do you believe is the most essential function of art?

To create connection, shake the status quo and make us feel alive. “Got to kick at the darkness til it bleeds daylight.” – Bruce Cockburn

Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?

Spending time at Austrian mountain lakes and Portuguese beach breaks.

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Weddings, Book of Spells (2022)

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Quarterly Review: James Romig & Mike Scheidt, Mythic Sunship, Deville, Superdeluxe, Esel, Blue Tree Monitor, Astrometer, Oldest Sea, Weddings, The Heavy Crawls

Posted in Reviews on September 28th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

THE-OBELISK-FALL-2020-QUARTERLY-REVIEW

I’m in it. The only reason I even know what day it is is because I keep notes and I set up the back end of these posts ahead of time. They tell me what number I’m on. As for the rest, it’s blinders and music, all all all. Go. Go. Go. I honestly don’t even know why I still write these intro paragraphs. I just do. You know the deal, right? 10 records yesterday, 10 today, 10 more tomorrow. At some point it ends. At some point it begins again. Presumably before then I’ll figure out what day it is.

Quarterly Review #71-80:

James Romig & Mike Scheidt, The Complexity of Distance

James Romig Mike Scheidt The Complexity of Distance

James Romig is a Pulitzer-finalist composer, and Mike Scheidt is the founding guitarist/vocalist of YOB. I refuse to cut-and-paste-pretend at understanding all the theory put into the purported ’13:14:15′ ratio of beat cycles throughout The Complexity of Distance — or, say, just about any of it — but the resulting piece is about 57 minutes of Scheidt‘s guitar work, as recorded by Billy Barnett (YOB‘s regular producer). It is presented as a single track, and with the (obviously intentional) chord progressions in Romig‘s piece, “The Complexity of Distance” is a huge drone. If you ever wanted to hear Scheidt do earlier-style Earth guitar work — yes, duh — then this might satisfy that curiosity. There’s high-culture intersecting with low here in a way that takes Scheidt out of it creatively — that is to say, Romig did the composing — but I won’t take away from the work in concept or performance, or even the result. Hell, I’ll listen to Mike Scheidt riff around for 57 minutes. It’ll be the best 57 minutes of my god damned day. Perhaps that’s not universal, but I don’t think Romig‘s looking for radio hits. Whether you approach it on that theory level or as a sonic meditation, the depths welcome you. I’d take another Scheidt solo record someday too, though. Just saying.

James Romig website

Mike Scheidt on Facebook

New World Records store

 

Mythic Sunship, Light/Flux

mythic sunship light flux

Copenhagen’s Mythic Sunship turned Light/Flux around so quick after 2021’s Wildfire (review here) they didn’t even have time to take a new promo photo. There is no question the Danish five-piece have been on a tear for a few years now, and their ascent into the psych-jazz fusion ether continues with Light/Flux, marrying its gotta-happen-right-this-second urgency to a patience in the actual unfolding of songs like the sax’ed out “Aurora” and the more guitar-led “Blood Moon” at the outset — light — with the cosmic triumphalist horn and crashes of “Decomposition” leading off side B and moving into the hey-where’d-you-come-from boogie of “Tempest,” presumably flux. Each half of the record ends with a standout, as “Equinox” follows “Blood Moon” with a more space rock-feeling takeoff pulse, right up to the synth sweep that starts at about 2:50, and “First Frost” gives high and low float gracefully over steady toms like different dreams happening at the same time and then merging in purpose as the not-overblown crescendo locks in. May their momentum carry them ever forward if they’re going to produce at this level.

Mythic Sunship on Facebook

Tee Pee Records store

 

Deville, Heavy Lies the Crown

Deville Heavy Lies the Crown

What a fascinating direction the progression of Sweden’s Deville has taken these 15 years after Come Heavy Sleep. Heavy Lies the Crown finds the Swedish journeymen aligned to Sixteentimes Music for the follow-up to 2018’s Pigs With Gods (review here), and is through its eight tracks in a dense-toned, impact-minded 33 minutes with nary a second to spare in cuts like “Killing Time” and “Unlike You” and “A Devil Around Your Neck.” Their push and aggressive edge reminds of turn-of-the-century Swedish heavy rockers like Mustasch or Mother Misery, and even in “Hands Tied” and “Serpent Days” — the two longest cuts on Heavy Lies the Crown, appearing in succession on side A — they maintain an energy level fostered by propulsive drums and a rampant drive toward immediacy rather than flourish, but neither does the material feel rushed or unconsidered right up to the final surprising bit of spaciousness in “Pray for More,” which loosens up the throttle a bit while still holding onto an underlying chug, some last progressive angularity perhaps to hint at another stage to come. One way or the other, in craft and delivery, Deville remain reliable without necessarily being predictable, which is a rare balance to strike, particularly for a band who’ve never made the same record twice.

Deville on Facebook

Sixteentimes Music store

 

Superdeluxe, Superdeluxe

Superdeluxe Superdeluxe

Guitarist/vocalist Bill Jenkins and bassist Matthew Kahn hail from Kingsnake (begat by Sugar Daddie in days of yore), drummer Michael Scarpone played in Wizard Eye, and guitarist Christopher Wojcik made a splash a few years back in King Bison, so yes, dudes have been around. Accordingly, Superdeluxe know off the bat where their grooves are headed on this five-song self-titled EP, with centerpiece “Earth” nodding toward a somewhat inevitable Clutch influence — thinking “Red Horse Rainbow” specifically — and seeming to acknowledge lyrically this as the project’s beginning point in “Popular Mechanix,” driving somewhat in the vein of Freedom Hawk but comfortably paced as “Destructo Facto” and “Severed Hand” are at the outset of the 19-minute run. “Ride” finishes out with a lead line coursing over its central figure before a stop brings the chorus, swing and swagger and a classic take on that riff — Sabbath‘s “Hole in the Sky,” Goatsnake‘s “Trower”; everybody deserves a crack at it at least once — familiar and weighted, but raw enough in the production to still essentially be a demo. Nonetheless, veteran players, new venture, fun to be had and hopefully more to come.

Superdeluxe on Instagram

Superdeluxe website

 

Esel, Asinus

Esel Asinus

Based in Berlin and featuring bassist Cozza, formerly of Melbourne, Australia’s Riff Fist, alongside guitarist Moseph and drummer 666tin, Esel are an instrumentalist three-piece making their full-length debut with the live-recorded and self-produced Asinus. An eight-tracker spanning 38 minutes, it’s rough around the edges in terms of sound, but that only seems to suit the fuzz in both the guitar and bass, adding a current of noise alongside the low end being pushed through both as well as the thud of 666tin‘s toms and kick. They play fast, they play slow, they roll the wheel rather than reinvent it, but there’s charm here amid the doomier “Donkey Business” — they’ve got a lot of ‘ass’ stuff going on, including the opener “Ass” and the fact that their moniker translates from German as “donkey” — and the sprawling into maddening crashes “A Biss” later on, which precedes the minute-long finale “The Esel Way Out.” Want to guess what it is? Did you guess noise and feedback? If you did, your prize is to go back to the start and hear the crow-call letters of the band’s name and the initial slow nod of “Ass” all over again. I’m going to do my best not to make a pun about getting into it, but, well, I’ve already failed.

Esel on Facebook

Esel on Bandcamp

 

Blue Tree Monitor, Cryptids

Blue Tree Monitor Cryptids

With riffs to spare and spacious vibes besides, London instrumentalists Blue Tree Monitor offer Cryptids, working in a vein that feels specifically born out of their hometown’s current sphere of heavy. Across the sprawl of “Siberian Sand” at the beginning of the five-song/38-minute debut album, one can hear shades of some of the Desertscene-style riffing for which Steak has been an ambassador, and certainly there’s no shortage of psych and noise around to draw from either, as the cacophonous finish manifests. But big is the idea as much as broad, and sample-topped centerpiece “Sasquatch” (also the longest cut at 8:41) is a fine example of how to do both, complete with fuzzy largesse and a succession of duly plodding-through-the-woods riffs. “Antlion” feels laid back in the guitar but contrasts with the drums, and the closer “Seven” is more straight-ahead heavy rock riffing until its second half gets a little more into noise rock before its final hits, so maybe the book isn’t entirely closed on where they’ll go sound-wise, but so much the better for listening to something with multifaceted potential in the present. To put it another way, they sound like a new band feeling their way forward through their songs, and that’s precisely what one would hope for as they move forward from here.

Blue Tree Monitor on Facebook

Blue Tree Monitor on Bandcamp

 

Astrometer, Incubation

Astrometer Incubation

Vigilant in conveying the Brooklynite unit’s progressive intentions, from the synthy-sounding freakout at the end of “Wavelength Synchronizer” to the angular beginning of “Conglobulations,” Incubation is the first two-songer offering from Astrometer, who boast in their ranks members of Hull, Meek is Murder and Bangladeafy. The marriage of sometimes manically tense riffing and a more open keyboard line overhead works well on the latter track, but one would at no point accuse Astrometer of not getting their point across, and with ready-for-a-7″ efficiency, since the whole thing takes just about seven and a half minutes out of your busy day. I’m fairly sure they’ve had some lineup jumbling since this was recorded — there may be up to three former members of Hull there now, and that’s a hoot also audible in the guitars — but notice is served in any case, and the way the ascending frenetic chug of the guitar gives way to the keyboard solo in “Wavelength Synchronizer” is almost enough on its own to let you know that there’s a plan at work. See also the melodic, almost post-rock-ish floating notes above the fray at the start of “Conglobulations.” I bought the download. I’d buy a tape. You guys got tapes? Shirts?

Astrometer on Facebook

Astrometer on Bandcamp

 

Oldest Sea, Strange and Eternal

Oldest Sea Strange and Eternal

Somewhere between a solo-project and an actual band is Oldest Sea. Led by songwriter, vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and recording engineer Sam Marandola — joined throughout the four tracks of debut EP Strange and Eternal by lead guitarist/drummer Andrew Marandola and on 10-minute closer “The Whales” by bassist Jay Mazzillo — the endeavor is atmospherically weighted and given a death-doom-ish severity through the echoing snare on “Consecration,” only after opener “Final Girl” swells in distortion and melody alike until receding for string-style ambience, which might be keyboard, might be guitar, might be cello, I don’t know. Marandola also performs as a solo folk artist and one can hear that in her approach to the penultimate “I’ll Take What’s Mine,” but in the focus on atmosphere here, as well as the patience of craft across differing methodologies in what’s still essentially an initial release — if nothing before it proves the argument, certainly “The Whales” does — one hears shades of the power SubRosa once wielded in bringing together mournful melody and doomed tradition to suit purposes drawing from American folk and post-metallic weight. At 25 minutes, I’m tempted to call it an album for its sheer substance. Instead I’ll hang back and just wait and get my hopes up for when that moment actually comes.

Oldest Sea on Facebook

Oldest Sea on Bandcamp

 

Weddings, Book of Spells

Weddings Book of Spells

Based in Austria with roots in Canada, Spain and Sweden, Weddings are vocalist/guitarist Jay Brown, vocalist/drummer Elena Rodriguez and bassist Phil Nordling, and whether it’s the grunge turnaround on second cut “Hunter” or the later threatening-to-be-goth-rock of “Running Away” — paired well with “Talk is Cheap” — the trio are defined in no small part by the duet-style singing of Brown and Rodriguez. The truly fortunate part of listening to their sophomore LP, Book of Spells, is that they can also write a song. Opener “Hexenhaus” signals a willful depth of atmosphere that comes through on “Sleep” and the acoustic-led gorgeousness of “Tundra,” and so on, but they’re not shy about a hook either, as in “Greek Fire,” “Hunter,” “Running Away” and closer “Into the Night” demonstrate. Mood and texture are huge throughout Book of Spells, but the effect of the whole is duly entrancing, and the prevailing sense from their individual parts is that either Brown or Rodriguez could probably front the band on their own, but Weddings are a more powerful and entrancing listen for the work they do together throughout. Take a deep breath before you jump in here.

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The Heavy Crawls, Searching for the Sun

The Heavy Crawls Searching for the Sun

A classic rock spirit persists across the nine songs of The Heavy Crawls‘ sophomore full-length, Searching for the Sun, as the Kyiv-based trio of guitarist/vocalist/keyboardist Max Tovstyi, bassist/backing vocalist Serj Manernyi and drummer/backing vocalist Tobi Samuel offer nods to the likes of the Rolling Stones and Jimi Hendrix, among others, with a healthy dose of their own fuzz to coincide. The organ-laced title-track sounds like it was recorded on a stage, if it wasn’t, and no matter where the trio end up — looking at you, Sabbath-riffed “Stoner Song” — the material is tied together through the unflinchingly organic nature of their presentation. They’re not hiding anything here. No tricks. No BS. They’re writing their own songs, to be sure, but whether it’s the funky “I Don’t Know” or the languid psych rollout of “Take Me Higher” (it picks up in the second half) that immediately follows, they put everything they’ve got right up front for the listener to take in, make of it what they will, and rock out accordingly, be it to the mellow “Out of My Head” or the stomping “Evil Side (Of Rock ‘n’ Roll) or the sweet, sweet guitar-solo-plus-organ culmination of “1,000 Problems.” Take your pick, really. You’re in good hands no matter what.

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Quarterly Review: Hemlock Branch, Stiu Nu Stiu, Veljet, Swamp Lantern, Terror Cósmico, Urna, Astral Magic, Grey Giant, Great Rift, Torpedo Torpedo

Posted in Reviews on July 7th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

THE-OBELISK-FALL-2020-QUARTERLY-REVIEW

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

hemlock branch (Photo by Nikita Gross)

[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.

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Știu Nu Știu, New Sun

Știu Nu Știu new sun

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.

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Veljet, Emerger de la mentira llamada dios

Veljet Emerger de la mentira llamada dios

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.

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Swamp Lantern, The Lord is With Us

Swamp Lantern The Lord is With Us

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.

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Terror Cósmico, Miasma

Terror Cosmico Miasma

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.

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Urna, Urna

urna urna

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-OceanChief 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.

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Astral Magic, Magical Kingdom

Astral Magic Magical Kingdom

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.

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Grey Giant, Turn to Stone

grey giant turn to stone

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 Stone Sabbath 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.

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Great Rift, Utopia

Great Rift Utopia

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.

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Torpedo Torpedo, The Kuiper Belt Mantras

Torpedo Torpedo The Kuiper Belt Mantras

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.

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Hypnotic Floor Premiere “Toxo” Video; Odd Conjectures Due in Sept.

Posted in Bootleg Theater on August 3rd, 2021 by JJ Koczan

hypnotic floor (photo by Lukas Sukal)

Vienna quirk rockers Hypnotic Floor will release their second full-length, Odd Conjectures next month through StoneFree Records. The first single from the outing is the bouncing, fuzzy-but-mathy “Toxo,” premiering below in a video that’s suitably weirdo in its vibe, with a claymation storyline playing out that’s probably a metaphor for something about violence but I’m not even sure what and I think that might be the point to start with. It goes like that.

I’m a fan of not knowing things sometimes, and the proggy underpinnings here, the sense of control Hypnotic Floor exhibit as they hop from one measure to the next, the vocals of Julian Streit recalling some lost krautrock incantation about traveling inside your brain, lets you know they’re in charge of the procession, thoughtful about the song’s movement and indeed that of the clay accompanying. I don’t know who in the band — whether Streit, guitarist Jonas Biesenbender, bassist Andreas Gnigler or drummer Serafin Eiter — is down with stop-motion photography, but the “Toxo” clip is, like the song itself, a work of very specific skill and precision. It reminds me of an old Sesame Street interlude, except longer, and instead of spelling out letters the clay alien creatures seem to kill each other and lay eggs on corpses. Okay, so maybe not Sesame Street. You get what I’m saying though.

So what does the rest of Odd Conjectures hold? I don’t know that either. Haven’t heard it. But based on “Toxo,” I’d expect it to be aptly named, since the spirit in which the song is brought to bear seems very much forward-looking and is, as noted at the outset, in no small part defined by its quirk. But we’ll see when we get there.

Until then, enjoy the video:

Hypnotic Floor, “Toxo” Video Premiere

Toxo is the first single from the upcoming album “ODD CONJECTURES” which will be release via StoneFree Records early September.

The Vienna quartet HYPNOTIC FLOOR combines influences of Psych-, Kraut- and Progressive Rock. Their music is shaped by fuzzy riffs, spaced out synths and changing timesignatures and covers a varied range of sounds. The contrast between complex melodic lines and hypnotic and repetitive grooves is predominant throughout their meandering songs.

In February 2020 they released their debut album „Foggy Bog Eyes“ via “Ultraviolence Records”.

Members:
Jonas Biesenbender – Guitar
Julian Streit – Guitar, Vocals
Andreas Gnigler – Bass
Serafin Eiter – Drums

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Album Review: Savanah, Olympus Mons

Posted in Reviews on February 18th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

savanah olympus mons cover

Structure reveals itself over time to be of significant importance to Graz, Austria’s Savanah, even if that doesn’t always show itself in the most obvious of ways. Those, I suppose, would be predictable verse/chorus turns, A/B rhyme patterns and other such accessible and no-less-valid modes of expression, and that’s not what Savanah have ever really been about from their first EP, 2015’s Deep Shades, through 2017’s The Healer (review here) and now their second album, Olympus Mons. Issuing through reliable Austrian imprint StoneFree Records, the trio of bassist/vocalist Benjamin Schwarz, guitarist Jakob Gauster and drummer Felix Thalhammer clearly prefer a melding of aesthetics and ideas. And yet, to look back at The Healer, it was an album that purposefully saved its most forward-thinking material for its final two tracks, longer and of greater reach as they were. They were the destination toward which the album was building.

Olympus Mons seems to pick up that journey where it left off. True, it also ends with its two longest cuts in “1872” (9:11) and “Olympus Mons” (13:04), but the distinction is less immediate between those songs and the opening pair of “Kaleidoscopia” and “Velvet Scarf,” both of which run eight minutes long. Of further interest, the three-minute instrumental “Tharsis” divides these two sections. Doubtless it’s included on side A of the vinyl version of Olympus Mons with the opening duo before it, but its positioning can only be intentional and it speaks to the level of consideration Savanah are putting into their work and and their engagement of the listener overall. I would argue that this purposefulness no less represents their status as a progressive unit than the total five tracks/42 minutes of Olympus Mons itself, which sees them port such a level of intention to their songwriting, continuing the trail that The Healer and Deep Shades — which, though shorter, mirrors the structure of Olympus Mons more directly than the LP that followed — set out, while moving decidedly further along the same path of meeting cohesive songcraft with riffs that blur the line between rock and metal and find a place between sounds and styles that is their own.

All well and good, but what does it sound like? Well, if you’re going to name your record after the tallest mountain in the solar system, you should probably pack in some sense of largesse, and Savanah most certainly do that. Guitar, bass and drums are all geared toward being heard with whatever volume can be spared for the cause, and Schwarz‘s echoing vocals add to the cavernous feel throughout. Much of what one needs to know on the most basic level about Olympus Mons can be heard in “Kaleidoscopia.” A righteous and no doubt purposefully-placed opener, it brings a defining hook for what follows and starts with a near-immediate groove, the drums quickly giving way to the central riff, delivered with metallic surety and a crisp separation between the guitar and bass. The production style — the album was recorded by Hannes Mottl Audioproductions — might link Olympus Mons to the post-Mastodon school of big-bigger-biggest groovers, but like the rest of what they do, they seem to pull from varying influences what works for them and translate it toward their own purposes.

savanah olympus mons full art

In that way, “Kaleidoscopia” represents well what follows, since one might think of a kaleidoscope itself using different angles and colors to give a similar impression. Olympus Mons, then, is telling the listener about itself. As the song moves through its quiet and semi-psych midsection, there’s shades of later, proggier Truckfighters — partially in the vocals — but once the riff kicks back in, Savanah are again steering their own course. “Velvet Scarf” changes methods, opening quiet and hypnotic before hitting into its main progression, which then moves into a chugging semi-chorus, mellowing and building once more toward a bigger, solo-topped apex. The two songs are just different enough despite their similar runtime and the obvious consistency of production to keep the listener aware of the possibility of change, and that’s fortunate as “Tharsis” takes hold with its condensed run through multiple parts, here led by guitar, there bass, always with the drums keeping it steady. It’s too brash and lumbering to be graceful, but neither do Savanah make a misstep along the way.

As noted, The Healer also capped with its two longest songs. The difference is one that only a few years could bring in terms of the band’s growth. The vocal melody in “1872” is offered with a confidence that could only be born of having the experience of the first album and EP behind the band, and the smoothness which which the song moves through its nine minutes only adds to the demonstration, including trades back and forth of volume late and the rumbling noise that leads directly into “Olympus Mons” itself. At 13 minutes, the title-track consumes a not insignificant portion of the album’s runtime, but fair enough again for the subject matter. And to their credit, Savanah make it a journey, touching on modern heavy psychedelia, rolling doom and classic metallic force that summarizes the case they began to make with “Kaleidoscopia” even as it evidences potential still to flourish in their sound.

Whatever Savanah may or may not do from here, the still-somehow-jammy ending of Olympus Mons — with bass so rich you can practically see the strings vibrating in your mind’s eye beneath a triumphant final riff, wide-open drums and a vocal taking flight overtop — makes it clear that if the band are interested in climbing mountains, they’re still looking for higher ones to take on. That is to say, as much as Olympus Mons distinguishes them in style and purpose, as well as songwriting, it does not sound like the work of a group who have no interest in pushing further. A third album is a crucial moment for a band, and as their second, Olympus Mons not only satisfies in its own right, but holds promise for the next steps of their creative pilgrimage still to come. Immersive and progressive, engaging genre but not beholden to it, and clear in its mission, Savanah‘s Olympus Mons is an adventure in the listening guided by the steady presence of its makers.

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Mothers of the Land Stream Live at Deer in the Headlights Studio Session in Full

Posted in audiObelisk on February 1st, 2021 by JJ Koczan

mothers of the land session

Austrian double-guitar instrumentalists Mothers of the Land found themselves in what will by now be a familiar pickle circa last summer. They had their sophomore full-length, Hunting Grounds (review here), set to release on June 19, and there was of course no way to make a release gig or any others supporting it happen. They did what a lot of those in similar situations did — they went into a studio and recorded themselves playing live. You’ve heard this story before? Good. Like I said, it should be familiar by now.

That doesn’t however, change just how much 2020 absolutely blew ass for bands, big and small. Consider a group like Mothers of the Land. Their debut album, Temple Without Walls, came out in 2016, and got a favorable response. So the entire planet shuts down just as you’re putting together the follow-up for release, and what the hell do you do? Shows are out, but do you even bother issuing the album? Should you wait, and until when? Facing the situation of not knowing when the pandemic was going to end, Mothers of the Land — like many others — put out their record. mothers of the land live at deer in the headlightsAnd to listen to Hunting Grounds, its heavy NWOBHM-inspired grooves are delivered with an energy that deserves to be heard.

But putting the album out could only replace one frustration with another, because you can’t go and put it in a crowd’s ears directly anymore. Here we are, going on eight months later, and Live at Deer in the Headlights Studio, which brings three songs from Hunting Grounds and one from its predecessor, is being issued, not to take the place of live shows — how could it? — but at least to give some representation of the band’s dynamic in that setting. As “Queen of the Den” flows into the guitarmonized unfolding of “Harvest,” the nobility of their intent is plain to hear and their melodies engage with a spirit of triumph through adversity. If you can relate to such a thing, chances are you’re a human being and alive.

“Nightwalk Blues” is the only cut included from Temple Without Walls and it soars in classic form, giving way to “Showdown,” which capped Hunting Grounds, as if to bring to emphasis the progression the years between the two LPs brought forth in their dynamic and style. Fret not, there’s still plenty of groove to go around, and go around it does.

Live at Deer in the Headlights Studio was recorded by Markus Matzinger (who also mixed) and Paul Bacher. You’ll find it streaming in full below, followed by the story as told by the band.

Please enjoy:

„Live Session at Deer In The Headlights Studios 2020“
We had a new album coming in mid June and there was no chance to play any shows to promote „Hunting Grounds“ due to the lockdown measures in Austria. So we did what we thought would be the closest thing to a live show – a live session.

“Deer In The Headlights Studio” has a tradition to do live sessions and have an amazing team of sound engineers. They told us we could only do three songs, but luckily we could convince them to add another one, since one of them was so short – like just three minutes or so.. The only criterium for choosing the songs was the amount of fun we have playing them – we hope you enjoy it as much as we did and still do!

The recording took place at “Deer In The Headlights Studios” Linz, Austria on May 30, 2020.
Engineering: Markus Matzinger and Paul Bacher
Mix: Markus Matzinger

Tracklisting:
1. Queen of the Den 05:04
2. Harvest 03:48
3. Nightwalk Blues 05:11
4. Showdown 09:17

Mothers Of The Land:
Georg Pluschkowitz (guitar)
Jack Jindra (guitar)
Johannes ‘Jon’ Zeininger (bass)
Jakob Haug (drums)

Mothers of the Land, Harvest (2020)

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Mothers of the Land Stream Hunting Grounds in Full; Out Tomorrow on StoneFree Records

Posted in audiObelisk, Reviews on June 18th, 2020 by JJ Koczan

mothers of the land

Vienna-based instrumentalists Mothers of the Land will release their second album, Hunting Grounds, tomorrow through StoneFree Records. The vinyl arrives as the follow-up to their 2016 debut, Temple Without Walls, and brings six tracks across 37 minutes of dual-guitar-led heavy rock and roll, mostly straightforward particularly in its early going until it gets to the longer pair of cuts across side B in the two eight-minute tracks “Sanctuary” and “Showdown.” Even there, however, there’s little by way of pretense or masking of intention, and one finds likeness to what might happen if Karma to Burn had at some point joined forces with Valkyrie, though whether it’s the lead-in given to the record by opener “Harvest” or the swaggering title-track that takes hold from there, the material contains a good bit of NWOBHM influence as well, more Iron Maiden gallop and Priestly chug than Thin Lizzy swing, despite the decided foundation in classic heavy rock.

There are a number of general modes in which an instrumental act might operate, and as one might expect with the two guitars of Jack Jindra and Georg Pluschkowitz as forward in the sound as they are ahead of Johannes Zeininger‘s bass and Jakob Haug‘s drums, the method of choice for Mothers of the Land is to fill the space where vocals would otherwise be with leads and standout riffs. No complaints there, as “The Beast” shows them all the more able to twist around dynamic changes in volume and mothers of the land hunting groundsmeter and melody without having to adhere to the inherent structure of lyrics. At the same time, each of these songs is working according to a plan, and where so much of the current instrumental heavy wave is based around jamming and improvisation — especially but not exclusively throughout Europe — Mothers of the Land go another way and instead make a showcase of their craft, so that when “The Beast” returns to its central progression to finish out, the listener is able to follow along with the change and internalize it as all the more memorable.

Hunting Grounds is traditionalist enough to be readily familiar to heavy rock heads who might take it on, but it’s not at all void of personality, and the stomp and strut of “Queen of the Den” gives a fittingly regal impression as though to underscore the point, with the bass jutting out from beneath the winding guitars punctuated by the snare and crash in a build of tension that settles into more harmonized leads acting in a semi-chorus fashion. At just under four and a half minutes, “Queen of the Den” makes a relatively quick impression and then ends quietly in a shift to the soft and relatively patient start of “Sanctuary,” which takes hold with a more linear feel in its construction, not just enacting a build from quiet to loud necessarily, but using that as part of a greater expressive ideal. “Showdown” might be titled for the battling solo lines that take place as and after it passes the midpoint, but whether it’s that or there’s some other narrative at work across Hunting Grounds, the central purpose in summarizing what’s come before and expanding on it comes through with no less clarity than the notes themselves.

The upfront nature of their style might give one a superficial first impression of what Mothers of the Land are doing on their second album, and to a point, it’s hard to argue with that. It’s double-guitar instrumentalist heavy rock — not reinventing the form, but making it their own. Fine. But subsequent listens unveil changes and shifts in mood and/or approach that do affect a sense of atmosphere that, while straightforward, seems to be working toward finding its own place within the established aesthetic grounds it occupies. Ultimately, for the minute indulgence asked on the part of the band, the reward is plenty substantial.

You can hear for yourself with the full premiere of Hunting Grounds below, ahead of the release tomorrow.

Please enjoy:

Mothers of the Land, Hunting Grounds official premiere

Riff-Smiths “Mothers of the Land” are an instrumental Heavy Psych Rock band from Vienna, Austria founded in 2012. Known for crafting powerful vintage rock epics, centered around the spiraling psychedelia of their twin lead guitars. In June 2016, they released their live recorded DIY Debut-Album ‚Temple Without Walls‘ and gained a great international reception from listeners, artists and bloggers, resulting in fruitful collaborations around the globe.

Introducing a new era of 70‘s inspired Rock, they deliver heavy twin guitars mounted on a protometal body, rejuvenated by numerous influences reaching from NWOBHM to Stoner Rock. Having played dozens of concerts with international headliner acts like Asteroid, Elder or Red Fang, the band provides powerful performances that lure in the audiences deeply through the surreal worlds they create.

All those experiences were used to forge the new material, which finally formed their second album. “Hunting Grounds” will be released physical and digital via StoneFree Records on June 19th pressed by the state of the art pressing plant “Austrovinyl”.

Recorded and Mixed by Nino Del Carlo
Mastering by Lukas Wiltschko at LW Sonics

Members
Georg Pluschkowitz (Guitar)
Jack Jindra (Guitar)
Johannes Zeininger (Bass)
Jakob Haug (Drums)

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