Posted in Whathaveyou on July 14th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
Swan Valley Heights go out at the top of their game. Their Fuzzorama-delivered 2023 album, Terminal Forest (review here), was their best, and is the kind of record that people will continue to discover for years, even though the Munich-based three-piece have played their last show and gone their separate ways.
The band’s 2016 self-titled debut (review here) set them forth on a trajectory of warm heavy psychedelic rock, and 2019’s The Heavy Seed (review here) solidified that with more progressive construction and ideology in the songwriting. Terminal Forest — very much in third-record fashion — was the point where the different sides came together to create something richer than the parts comprising it. Not a moment that a band can fake, and again, they may be done, but the document remains. In light of the fact that they won’t do a follow-up (immediately; never say never on a reunion), I’m that much gladder for the realization of Terminal Forest‘s songs.
That album streams at the bottom of this post, along with the video for “My First Knife Fight” (premiered here) that they reference in their goodbye message, which appears below in blue as hoisted from social media. All my best to the members of Swan Valley Heights on future endeavours:
Friends, this is it. This is the end. The end of Swan Valley Heights’ story.
The quick, honest, and probably very unspectacular “why”: Life changes. People change. And when your focus shifts away from being in a band (which demands a lot), and the enthusiasm to write music—or to sit in a van for countless hours to play it—starts to fade for some in the band, it’s time to call it quits. That’s what happened. Very simple. That’s why you’re reading this.
But that’s okay. The journey this band had, the time we spent with each other and of course with all of you, was priceless. Swan Valley Heights has been a massive part of our lives for a long time, and we are—and always will be—beyond grateful for what it gave us. Playing beautiful festivals, wild DIY shows, meeting so, so many awesome people and bands, hearing from every single one of you who came to see us, wrote to us, supported us, offered us a place to sleep. You know who you are! <3 Over ten years is a long time. And all of it shaped us.
And the journey’s not quite over. There will be one last show — our swan song, if you will — [this past weekend] at Knispival. It’s an awesome little festival, organized by Oroboros e.V. and our dear friend Felix — roadie, merch guy, driver, motivator, and basically fourth band member (he especially has earned a lot of good karma, +6 mana, and our eternal gratitude for the last years). The festival’s also just a couple stone throws away from where this band was born, and at the same place we recorded our final LP, Terminal Forest — a bit prophetic in hindsight. One last show, in a place that means a lot, surrounded by friends.
We know this is short notice for a PSA like this, but we couldn’t imagine a better way to close the circle. And what a circle it was!
So, what’s left to say? Thanks for reading this far. And of course — thank you! Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 3rd, 2025 by JJ Koczan
Barely a month removed from the glorious, still-coming-down ride that was Planet Desert Rock Weekend V, the Las Vegas-based festival is already making its second lineup announcement for its 2026 edition, and I have to think at this point that most of the bill is out there by now. The Well, from Austin, Texas, will bring swing and a bit of cult threat to the proceedings, and two more European acts — Germany’s Swan Valley Heights and Norway’s Saint Karloff — have also been added, bringing the total international contingent to six acts, and that includes Canada’s Mooch, because Canada is, and will likely be grateful to remain, its own country.
One of my favorite aspects of this year’s Planet Desert Rock Weekend was the flow in how each night was set up, and I think looking at the lineup as it stands you can kind of piece it together, a legacy band here, a Euro band there, Phantom Hound tucked away at the bottom like a secret PDRW VI is keeping. But make no mistake, there’s more coming. Fest curator John Gist (who promotes through Vegas Rock Revolution) still has the ‘Last Call’ lineup to unveil for the fourth night, there are day splits to come, and more names too. Stay tuned while you book your flights, I guess is what I’m saying.
From the PR wire:
For this next batch of bands to announce for Planet Desert Rock Weekend VI / Last Call we have 3 distinctively different bands heading to Sin City. At PDRW we want to deliver super cool groups from all over the world that represent our growing community. So let’s get the party going!
We have been fans and admirers of The Well for years and just in the last year or so had them as part of a Vegas Rock Revolution show with 1000mods. This Austin Texas power trio brings a really good mesh of proto metal with heavy psych. On bass is the energizer bunny Lisa Alley that can’t help but get you moving at their shows. This killer band has played all over the world in support of their 3 full length releases. Harmony vocals and retro tones really are dynamic live!
At PDRW we always like to have very good heavy psych bands like we did this year with JIRM, Mr. Bison and Iota. This year coming all the way from Germany is Swan Valley Heights. These guys have been releasing high tiered psych rock since 2016. They can go from dreamy to a darker feel. This will be their first time to USA and we are excited to have them play a nice lengthy set that will captivate our fans. They are perfect for folks who dig King Buffalo, Elder, All Them Witches and others that are part of the new wave of heavy psych.
What would a rock and roll party be without some vikings to storm our stages? All the way from Norway we have Saint Karloff! These guys have been on our radar since their debut album “All Heed the Black God” when we heard the Sabbath drenched song “Ghost Smoker”. This band not only leans at times on Black Sabbath and doom but also hard rock and prog. Their 2023 album “Paleolithic War Crimes” does a supreme job of mixing various influences and styles while making it feel seamless between the more doom tinged tracks vs heavy pysch songs. The album landed #1 on The Doom Charts for the month of June 2023 as voted on by insiders from around the world.
Posted in Whathaveyou on October 23rd, 2024 by JJ Koczan
The festival announcement and info below has been run through a major social media organization’s translation matrix, so I mean, take it with a grain of salt in terms of grammar. I punched up a couple don’t-translate-this words and such, but consider it an introduction to the concept rather than a manifesto laying out broader intentions across a range of years.
And since Tempel Festival — sharing its name with a Colour Haze album from 2006 and set to take place for the first time on Jan. 25, 2025 in that same band’s hometown of Munich — will be happening for the first time, proof-of-concept makes sense. Swan Valley Heights will headline, and the proggy heavy psych trio are joined in the all-dayer bill by Robo, Raging Sloth, Monomanic, Sundog and Miss Mellow.
Hey, a new thing is happening, and it’s happening at a time when there isn’t already a ton of other stuff. Maybe there’s room in the European festival calendar for another name bringing names. Here’s the info:
Tempel Festival 2025 – Enter Heavy Music’s Citadel
Monumental temples around the globe have skyrocketed since human memory. They are a cultural and spiritual expression and a place of gathering at the same time. The Tempel Festival 2025 in the Munich Feierwerk pays tribute to this basic idea, but it is not an ordinary festival. Rather, it unites the city’s diverse musical streams and sets the backdrop for the turbulent descents of Psychedelic Rock, forms the solid foundation for deep-seated Stoner Rock and casts shadow to grim Doom sounds.
An evening that unites several bands from the South of the Republic. An evening celebrating the hard sounds of the city. The Tempel Festival 2025 welcomes the local scene to a crazy journey between spirituality, hard riffs and driving rhythms – welcome to the Tempel!
The high priests of the temple welcome Raging Sloth, Sundog, Swan Valley Heights, Miss Mellow and Robo to the Feierwerk temple.
The recorded-in-a-cabin-in-the-woods narrative for Swan Valley Heights‘ third album, Terminal Forest, offers quick explanation for the birdsong at the outset of opener “Microbe Galaxy,” which might seem inconsistent until one digs a little deeper into the title. I don’t know which German forest resulted in the six tracks and 46 minutes with which Swan Valley Heights follow-up their 2019 sophomore LP and first outing for Fuzzorama Records, The Heavy Seed (review here), as well as their 2016 self-titled debut (review here) on Oak Island, but the band give a duly pastoral impression in the 11-minute leadoff as homage. The phrase ‘terminal forest’ itself means a forest in the stage of sustainable, incremental sprawl over the long term; an older forest, grown through the initial rounds of grasses, bushes and trees to things like large pines and taller deciduous trees, and so on.
You see where this is going as relates to the work done by guitarist/vocalist David Kreisl, bassist Christian Schmidt and drummer/keyboardist Andy Ozbolt — they’re the forest. They’re the ones who’ve been through the process of organic growth, in their case for at least the last seven years, and who emerge with their third album backed by the lessons they’ve learned and the strong roots they’ve established. Is that what they meant by the title? Probably not, but it’s arguably applicable just the same. Indeed, Terminal Forest does blossom enriched by what Swan Valley Heights have done prior, and the sense of grace they bring to their take on warm-toned, melodic and largely mellow heavy psychedelia is something that has likewise flourished as they’ve moved forward to this point.
To wit, “Microbe Galaxy” — which one assumes is actually something pretty small in relation to an actual galaxy — runs 11:24 and is the first of three extended tracks to feature throughout Terminal Forest. Side B boasts the title-track (10:02) and closer “Star Fever” (12:20) either in succession to close the record if you have the vinyl or with the four-minute fuzz instrumental “Looking for Bird Pet” between them in the digital version, and the album as a whole uses these as not only the bulk of its expression but as landing points from which to continue to expand outward. That is to say, the three shorter pieces — “The Hunger” (5:12), “Space Bash III” (3:09) and the already-noted “Looking for Bird Pet” (4:19) — are complementary to what their longer counterparts are accomplishing, while still offering an impression of their own, whether it’s the drums making the fuzz dance on “The Hunger” or the winding and bopping procession that follows immediately and shows the guitar stepping in to lead the movement.
TerminalForest is rife with precisely this kind of dynamic. As it unfolds through its melodic first verse peppered with stick clicks and airy guitar lines that solidify around an acoustic-inclusive movement where the lead guitar works like Colour Haze playing the bridge of the Ghostbusters theme — that sounds like I’m ragging on it; let me be clear and say I’m not — “Microbe Galaxy” sets a patient and flowing atmosphere that hold firm even for the crunchiest stretches of fuzz in it or the culmination payoffs of “The Hunger” or “Looking for Bird Pet,” “Terminal Forest” or “Star Fever” after.
And ultimately, it is the flow that defines the album; the smoothness and ease with which Swan Valley Heights foster an overarching impression while each piece explores a space of its own, however long that may or may not be. “Space Bash III,” for example — and no, I don’t think there’s a “Space Bash I” or “Space Bash II”; maybe someday we’ll get prequels in the trilogy — is the shortest of the inclusions, but it stands out with the twisting movement of its riff and the airy lead lines around it, neither the first nor last time the band seem to reference what-coulda-been Dutch heavy psych rockers Sungrazer in the proceedings, as the drift and nod of the early going of “Terminal Forest” feels specifically in conversation with the subdued verses of that band’s “Somo,” never mind the consuming fullness of tone that ensues from there, but in Kreisl‘s vocal echo and the easy movement between loud and quiet parts, Swan Valley Heights own the moment, resolving the title-track with building intensity around a circular movement until slamming shut at nine minutes and opening wide from there into a final chorus calling up from under the weight of guitar and bass.
On a lot of records, “Microbe Galaxy” or “Terminal Forest” would be a finale or a crowning achievement wherever else they might be placed in the tracklisting, but after the palette-cleansing roll and riffy jam of “Looking for Bird Pet” — in which genuine-sounding laughter can be heard off-mic before it gets loud for the second time — delves into momentary noodle-prog hypnosis and clears its head with one more wash of fuzz before the drone at the outset of “Star Fever” announces the arrival of the album’s best argument for being about itself; that is, the point at which Swan Valley Heights most enunciate their to-this-point development as a group. A long stretch of intertwining guitar and keys moves subtly toward the inclusion of drums and bass at two minutes in. They’ll soon enough get into the handclaps and surges of fuzz and layered vocal melody — have I mentioned the fuzz? oh, only 15 times? well it’s worth a 16th mention — but they do return to that spaceout, adding vocals later as a precursor to the surprising rager of a solo and the saved-the-biggest-for-last nod that caps “Star Fever” and Terminal Forest as a whole.
There and everywhere throughout Terminal Forest, Swan Valley Heights are thoughtful in their approach and considered in their presentation without losing the natural spirit required for this kind of heavy psych. As a result, they’re not so much playing to style as letting style play to them. Generally speaking, this is not the work of first or second full-lengths, so maybe it’s true that Terminal Forest is the stylistic endgame for the band, but given the linear trajectory of their releases up to now, the fact that they take their time both within and between them, and the apparent commitment to sonic evolution on display in this material as it relates to their past output, it doesn’t seem likely they’ve finished exploring. Terminal Forest demonstrates nascent mastery in Swan Valley Heights‘ ability to careen so fluidly between parts and entire songs, and taken front-to-back, it should go without saying that it’s the high point of their tenure to-date. But, part of what makes it so striking is that it doesn’t actually sound ‘terminal’ in that regard. From seed to forest and toward who knows what, they might just keep growing.
Posted in Radio on February 17th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
I was sitting on the couch earlier this week, in the usual spot, putting this playlist together and, knowing that I wanted to start with the title-track of the new Mansion album — something about Alma crooning that second death is upon you felt just right — I was immediately stuck. How on earth do you follow that? I was glad that I remembered Samán and could use them to transition to a kind of riffier take, but yeah, in terms of vibe, the severity of that Mansion record is a tough one to answer immediately with something else. Where do you go from there beyond an actual dungeon?
This show kind of divides in half. The first hour is new music. The second hour is a look at some Polish heavy, which if you’ve been paying attention to the last few Friday Full-Lengths (including today’s, which isn’t posted yet), you know has been on my mind. Dopelord, Major Kong, Belzebong, Sunnata and Weedpecker represent Poland well, I thought — Spaceslug are the obvious name left out, but I’m keeping them in reserve for later — and after that I wanted to close with SubRosa just because “Black Majesty” is long, brilliant, not a jam, and something that was in my head. It’s been an up and down couple of weeks, I guess, as regards general well-being.
If you’re unfamiliar, keep an ear out for Moodoom early, plus the tracks from The Machine, Swan Valley Heights, Stoned Jesus and Troll Teeth. The 1782 track isn’t my favorite off their new record — anything about lady-demons is kind of a turnoff for me at this point — but the band is cool and that’s the single from the album, so I wasn’t about to be a jerk and pick something else. And if you didn’t hear the L’Ira del Baccano earlier this week when it premiered, that’s time well spent in instrumental immersion, and makes a great leadoff for that extended block of tunes, I think.
As always, I hope you enjoy the show if you listen. Thanks for reading.
The Obelisk Show airs 5PM Eastern today on the Gimme app or at: http://gimmemetal.com.
Full playlist:
The Obelisk Show – 02.17.23 (VT = voice track)
Mansion
Second Death
Second Death
Samán
A las puertas
II. Montaña Roja
1782
Succubus
Clamor Luciferi
Moodoom
Las maravillas de estar loco
Desde el Bosque
VT
L’Ira del Baccano
The Strange Dream of My Old Sun
Cosmic Evoked Potentials
The Machine
Reversion
Wave Cannon
Swan Valley Heights
The Hunger
Terminal Forest
Stoned Jesus
Get What You Deserve
Father Light
Troll Teeth
Garden of Pillars
Underground Vol. 1
Dopelord
Doom Bastards
Sign of the Devil (2020)
Major Kong
Fading Memory of the Planet Earth
Off the Scale (2020)
Belzebong
Roached Earth
Light the Dankness (2018)
Sunnata
A Million Lives
Burning in Heaven, Melting on Earth (2021)
Weedpecker
Big Brain Monsters
IV: The Stream of Forgotten Thoughts (2021)
VT
SubRosa
Black Majesty
For This We Fought the Battle of Ages (2016)
The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal airs every Friday 5PM Eastern, with replays Sunday at 7PM Eastern. Next new episode is March 3 (subject to change). Thanks for listening if you do.
Posted in Whathaveyou on February 6th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Based in Seelbach, Germany, the Hoflärm Festival will host its fifth edition this August, as seemingly every weekend of Europe’s Spring and Summer fest season seems to increasingly have something going on somewhere at sometime. A glut of cool events is nothing to complain about for anyone who remembers a couple years back when there was nothing — which, as much as one tries to repress those particular memories, I still do — and the lineup here is right on in terms of vibe with Acid King, Mars Red Sky, Messa and Elephant Tree so far at the top of the bill with Rotor, Swan Valley Heights, Mondo Generator, Grin, Black Lung, Eremit, Madmess, Old Horn Tooth and Kvinna rounding out and a few black boxes on the poster like the rest of the lineup has been redacted for the purposes of protecting classified information.
And I won’t argue with Hoflärm adding another six or seven bands, but, I mean, this is already pretty killer on first blush. You’ll note this takes place over three days, so spreading the 20 bands out over that long, it seems like a pretty laid back kind of deal — at least until Mondo Generator starts ripping into Kyuss tunes, but that’s fun too — and not necessarily as overwhelming as some multi-stage fests in Europe and elsewhere. This is the five-year anniversary of the fest, and to see Acid King and Mars Red Sky alone, it’s already got me daydreaming, so I take that as a win.
Details follow as per Hoflärm‘s socials:
Hoflärm – 5th Anniversary – GO FOR THE RIDE
Join us this year for the 5th stony ride to Hoflärm 2023! We are very happy to announce the first bands of the line-up today! We also announce the start of the presale for 05.02.2023 at 5 pm!
Started in 1993, we are more than proud to welcome Acid King! The band around Lori S. looks back on 30 years of band history and will bring their new Album to Marienthal in August.
Mars Red Sky and Elephant Tree will drive you into the sunset with their all time classics like Strong Reflection or Wither! We’re already feeling the vibe around the yard!
A very special highlight we are looking forward to is Messa. The Italian doom band combines the raw and rough sides of doom with the warm summer evenings of the Hoflärm.
Just last year, stoner legend Nick Oliveri visited us with his band Stöner. Nick liked it and had reason enough to come knocking on our door again in 2023. We are looking forward to Mondo Generator, Mr. Oliveri!
We also have visitors from Berlin again, on the one hand we are happy to welcome Rotor, our tractors are running at Vollast! But on the other hand also Grin! We can’t imagine a Hoflärm without Jan, Sabine and Andre! In 2021 the three played with Earth Ship, in 2022 with Slowshine. This year, however, only Sabine and Jan will be on stage, Andre will mingle with the audience while Grin plays their crushing riffs.
Black Lung and Madmess will bring you through our hot afternoons with their heavy psych rock!
Doom over Marienthal: Eremit and Old Horn Tooth will be blasting the darkest riffs into your ears! Live Slow Die Old!
Last but not least, we are happy to welcome 2 bands that have played at the Hof in the past! Swan Valley Heights and Kvinna! Kvinna was the band that opened the first Hoflärm, who of you was there and can remember?
Stay tuned for even more announcements! We have more Bands, as well another Headliner & Co Headliner to announce!
Posted in Whathaveyou on January 19th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
You’ve got the forerunners of Greek heavy rock in 1000mods as a headliner and Black Rainbows who should have a new record in the can by then, Dutch out-there-searchers Temple Fang and burly Osnabrückian sludge metallers Iron Walrus, Gnome who are frickin’ everywhere right now, Acid Mammoth who crush and I hope have a new LP out this year, Mother Engine, dreamy Darmstadt instrumentalists Lucid Void, plus the eternally weird Beehoover and DŸSE, and did I miss anybody? I don’t think so. In any case, this is pretty strong first announcement from the venerable and long-running Stoned From the Underground Festival in Germany. Set to take place July 13-15, it’s always a spot on the summer’s heavy circuit and an event I’ve admired from afar for a long time even if I haven’t always necessarily covered it. I don’t have an excuse, I’m only one person and I think more than 20 years on from when they started out, the fest needs me to write words about it not in the slightest. They are an institution.
In any case, it’s already a solid assemblage and obviously there’s more to come. Earlybird tickets seem to be on sale now, so if you know you’re going to be in the neighborhood or if you’re putting yourself there for the festival, traveling, etc., you might as well get the bargain. For the rest of us, a bit of daydream fodder:
Dear Stoned community,
So far we’ve been holding back on band announcements, but now we’re really getting started. Enjoy with us:
1000mods BLACK RAINBOWS Temple Fang Acid Mammoth Mother Engine DŸSE Gnome Beehoover IRON WALRUS Swan Valley Heights Lucid Void …and more
Daniela Uhlig is already working at full steam on our new artwork for 2023, which will follow in the next few days – stay tuned!
Posted in Whathaveyou on January 9th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
German heavy psychedelic rockers Swan Valley Heights will release their new album, Terminal Forest, March 31 on Fuzzorama Records. The Munich-based trio made the announcement and posted the cover art on socials, which is pretty standard, and the label followed up by making it the headlining feature of their ‘Fuzzletter’ — it continues to amaze how versatile the word ‘fuzz’ is, never mind the practice of fuzzing out itself — which is fortunate, since it makes the information less subject to the winds and whims of the algorithm, tyrant of our days as it is.
There is no audio yet public from Terminal Forest, or private for that matter, at least in my case, but I was fortunate enough to see Swan Valley Heights play in Stockholm at the first night of the Truckfighters Fuzz Festival #3 (review here), and that was a joy. The band toured north to that fest with fellow Munich natives Colour Haze, which is a suitable pairing highlighting not only the serenity in Swan Valley Heights‘ sound as well as the harder-hitting stretches that offset. In 2022, Swan Valley Heights also toured with Greece’s Stonus on a run I’m proud to say was presented by this site.
When it arrives, seemingly on March 31, Terminal Forest will be the band’s first outing since The Heavy Seed (review here) in 2019. Not that long, considering, but a welcome return nonetheless.
From the fuzzwire:
Swan Valley Heights – Terminal Forest
Swan Valley Heights announce new album and release show!
March 31st! Save the date
TERMINAL FOREST will be out and we cannnnnot wait to release this cabin-crafted son of a log into the troposphere.
Hallelujah
-Yes-, you’re looking at the official cover artwork, painted by the brilliant Dario Puggioni. What a man.
Infos on pre-orders, the first single and *impending festivities* will be announced in the coming days & weeks.
