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Blaak Heat Premiere “Al-Andalus” from The Arabian Fuzz

Posted in audiObelisk on August 9th, 2017 by JJ Koczan

blaak heat

As they make ready to embark on a European tour this week, Blaak Heat take nine minutes to massively expand their already significant aesthetic breadth by means of their upcoming single The Arabian Fuzz on Svart Records. Set for issue on Aug. 18 following an appearance at this weekend’s SonicBlast Moledo in Portugal but ahead of slots at Woolstock in the Netherlands and the Obelisk-co-presented Emerald Haze in Dublin on Sept. 1, the follow-up to the somewhat-nomadic and consistently-amorphous four-piece’s 2016 Tee Pee Records third album, Shifting Mirrors (review here), takes on more of a Middle Eastern flair than anything they’ve done before.

That’s not necessarily untrod ground for Blaak Heat, who since making their debut as Blaak Heat Shujaa with their 2010 self-titled (review here) and deep-diving into desert-hued psychedelia across the subsequent 2012 EP, The Storm Generation (review here), and 2013’s The Edge of an Era (review here) that followed have always had some of that minor-key meditative vibe. If accompanied at times by frenetically progressive rhythm-making, blinding turns and effects-laden explorations, this has been part of a modus of unrelenting willful sonic growth that has made Blaak Heat a standout among next-generation heavy psych outfits, and certainly The Arabian Fuzz continues that thread blaak heat the arabian fuzzas guitarist/vocalist Thomas Bellier, guitarist Nicolas Heller, bassist Guillame Theoden and drummer Michael Amster bring in Jordanian ethnomusicologist Fareed Al-Madain to contribute guest vocals on the leadoff track “Marr El Kallam” (posted here), which is accompanied by the instrumental “Al-Andalus,” premiering below.

As noted, both cuts work to build on Blaak Heat‘s prior output in atmosphere and approach, and while that’s invariably going to come through most strikingly in “Marr El Kallam,” what with the track being the band’s first in Arabic and all, one can hear it in the tension created throughout “Al-Andalus” as well, the winding path of Bellier‘s guitar taking cues from his oud and the percussion in “Marr El Kallam” to transpose such complexity onto a more Western-feeling traditional rock arrangement of guitar, bass and drums. Both songs run just over four and a half minutes long and they share the atmospheric impression born of the Middle Eastern influence, but as Blaak Heat have since their outset, they make this influence their own and build a context of coexistence that reaches a new level of individualism in the shimmer and crash of “Al-Andalus” that’s as furious as anything they’ve done before and all the richer for the A-side it complements.

By now, one wouldn’t hazard a guess as to where Blaak Heat might go on a given outing of any type, be it a single, EP, LP or something else. Their sound has simply become too open with its jazzy precision, we-can-really-make-this-move-when-we-want-to sonic heft and landscape-building psychedelia, but they’ve proven over the course of this decade time and again that their commitment to an ongoing sonic progression is no fluke, and the safest bet is that whatever they’re up to next, it will be a considerable step forward from where they were previously. That’s a hell of a track record to keep up, but as The Arabian Fuzz demonstrates once again, Blaak Heat are ready to follow their creative path to anywhere and everywhere it might lead them.

More info and tour dates follow “Al-Andalus” below. Please enjoy:

Blaak Heat, “Al-Andalus” official audio premiere

BLAAK HEAT returns with an oriental heavy psych manifesto, THE ARABIAN FUZZ! The band fur thers its signature East meets West grooves by blending intricate Spanish guitars, surf rock, and Middle Eastern psych.

With Jordanian ethno-musicologist Fareed Al-Madain on vocals, MARR EL KALLAM is an homage to 1960s underground Turkish and Persian psychedelic pop. The climactic line of the song, “The shit who owns a weapon will kill”, as performed in Arabic by a US-French-Jordanian-Greek-Canadian lineup, rings ominously true in 2017 America. Along with the traditional lineup of guitars/bass/drums, BLAAK HEAT mastermind Thomas Bellier plays acoustic oud, and percussionist Peter Valsamis rounds up the band on doumbek.

AL-ANDALUS is a heavy surf rock explosion, a mind-blowing exploration into reverb fuzz wilderness led by astounding musicianship. It’s retro, yet futuristic – dig it!

The songs were recorded in Los Angeles by Jason Schimmel (of Secret Chiefs 3) and produced/mixed/mastered by Bellier.

THE ARABIAN FUZZ comes out via Svart Records on August 18, 2017. You can pre-order it here.

We have a number of festival & club dates for August & September 2017 – Come party, more TBA !

Aug 12 Sonic Blast Moledo – Moledo (PT)
Aug 25 Woolstock Festival – Tilburg (NL)
Aug 27 Blaak Heat DJ Set @ Le Glass – Paris (FR)
Aug 30 The Black Heart – London (UK)
Sept 1 Emerald Haze Fest – Dublin (IRL)
Sept 2 Festival Arteficial – Ribadavia (ES)
Sept 3 Filho Sarilho – Alcobaça (PT)
Sept 4 Cine Incrivel – Lisbon (PT)
Sept 5 Cave 45 – Porto (PT)
Sept 6 Rock Beer The New – Santander (ES)
Sept 8 Bucéphale – Draguignan (FR)
Sept 9 Cheapstock Fest – Barcelona (ES)
Sept 10 Supersonic – Paris (FR)
Sept 11 Blaak Heat DJ set @ Pigalle Country Club – Paris (FR)

Blaak Heat on Thee Facebooks

Blaak Heat on Instagram

Blaak Heat on Twitter

Blaak Heat website

Svart Records webstore

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Blaak Heat Post “Marr El Kallam” Video; The Arabian Fuzz 7″ Preorder Available

Posted in Bootleg Theater on July 20th, 2017 by JJ Koczan

blaak heat photo jorge pereira

Transient heavy psych rockers Blaak Heat will release their new single, The Arabian Fuzz, Aug. 18 via Svart Records. It’s just two songs — one per side, of course — and they’re both only four and a half minutes long, but I feel like one would be hard-pressed to overstate just how far the release goes in expanding what was already the broad palette of Blaak Heat‘s sound. Now a four-piece led by founding guitarist/vocalist Thomas Bellier with Nicolas Heller on guitar, Guillame Theoden on bass and Michael Amster on drums, they follow last year’s Shifting Mirrors (review here) third full-length on Tee Pee Records by delving even further into the Middle Eastern influences that they’ve paired with desert rock tonality and groove since making their self-titled debut (review here) in 2010.

Simple truth of the matter is that from that point on, whether it was the EP The Storm Generation (review here) that marked their arrival on Tee Pee in 2012 or the subsequent blaak heat the arabian fuzz2013 long-player, The Edge of an Era (review here), Blaak Heat have never failed to engage in willful progression from release to release. Part of that has involved looking outside the band for guest contributions. On The Storm Generation, it was beat poet Ron Whitehead ranting away. On The Edge of an Era, Mario Lalli of Fatso Jetson made a landmark of a guest spot on the memorable “Pelham Blue.” Shifting Mirrors got away from that in terms of performers — one could argue that the band’s working with producer Matt Hyde would invariably result in an outside perspective influence of a different kind — but The Arabian Fuzz brings them together with Jordanian ethnomusicologist Fareed Al-Madain, who contributes Arabic-language vocals to the A-side of the 7″ on a song called “Marr El Kallam.”

The video below translates at least some of the lyrics he’s singing, and a social theme permeates, but I’m not sure exactly what the title would be in English. Doesn’t matter, ultimately. What’s more important on both “Marr El Kallam” and its accompanying organ-laced instrumental B-side “Al-Andalus” is that Blaak Heat are continuing to push themselves into new sonic territory, and in just a span of nine minutes, they offer something to their listeners/viewers they’ve never done before in a fashion that’s as bold as it is mature as it is confident of its own approach. There are very few bands in the US or European heavy psychedelic underground willing to take such chances, let alone see those chances so thoroughly pay off.

Blaak Heat have a host of festival appearances coming up, including SonicBlast Moledo in Portugal next month and a stop at the inaugural Emerald Haze festival — co-presented by The Obelisk — the first weekend in September. Dates, complete performing lineup on “Marr El Kallam” and other info can be found under the video below.

Please enjoy:

Blaak Heat feat. Fareed Al-Madain, “Marr El Kallam” official video

Fareed Al-Madain – Vocals
Thomas Bellier – Oud, Guitars
Michael Amster – Drums
Guillaume Theoden – Bass
Nicolas Heller – Guitars
Peter Valsamis – Doumbek

Recorded at The Bunker LA (Los Angeles, CA)
Engineered by Jason Schimmel
Produced, mixed and mastered by Thomas Bellier

Cole Jenkins & Thomas Bihoré – Image
Mathieu Baillargeon – Videography & Editing
Produced by The Phantasma Company

THE ARABIAN FUZZ comes out via Svart Records on August 18, 2017. You can pre-order it here.

We have a number of festival & club dates for August & September 2017 – Come party, more TBA !

AUG 12 – Sonic Blast Moledo, Moledo (PT)
AUG 25 – Woolstock Festival, Tilburg (NL)
SEPT 1 – Emerald Haze Fest, Dublin (IRL)
SEPT 2 – Festival Arteficial, Ribadavia (ES)
SEPT 4 – Cine Incrivel, Lisbon (PT)
SEPT 8 – Bucéphale, Draguignan (FR)
SEPT 9 – Cheapstock Vol4, Barcelona (ES)
SEPT 10 – Supersonic, Paris (FR)

Blaak Heat on Thee Facebooks

Blaak Heat on Instagram

Blaak Heat on Twitter

Blaak Heat website

Svart Records webstore

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Blaak Heat Announce The Arabian Fuzz 7″ out in August

Posted in Whathaveyou on June 30th, 2017 by JJ Koczan

Blaak-Heat-By-Guilhem-Seguin

If there’s one thing you can rely on desert rock adventurers Blaak Heat to do it’s go far, far out. Their 2016 outing, the Tee Pee-issued Shifting Mirrors (review here), pushed the boundaries of mania in its progressive turns, keeping an Eastern influence in its underlying groove but offering an array of riffs and melodies that was absolutely dizzying. Their new single, The Arabian Fuzz, is set to release in August via Svart Records, and true to narrative, it’s far, far out.

I hear tell the band is soon to reveal a new video for one or the other of its tracks, so I won’t spoil too much about either of them, but yeah, I’ve dug in at this point and it’s fair to say they’re continuing to push themselves onto new sonic ground. Bit of an understatement there, maybe.

Basic info and some descriptive words came down the PR wire. Have at it:

blaak-heat-the-arabian-fuzz

New BLAAK HEAT 7″ – The Arabian Fuzz (Svart Records)

BLAAK HEAT returns with an oriental heavy psych manifesto, THE ARABIAN FUZZ! The band furthers its signature East meets West grooves by blending intricate Spanish guitars, surf rock, and Middle Eastern psych.

With Jordanian ethno-musicologist Fareed Al-Madain on vocals, MARR EL KALLAM is an homage to 1960s underground Turkish and Persian psychedelic pop. The climactic line of the song, “The shit who owns a weapon will kill”, as performed in Arabic by a US-French-Jordanian-Greek-Canadian lineup, rings ominously true in 2017 America. Along with the traditional lineup of guitars/bass/drums, BLAAK HEAT mastermind Thomas Bellier plays acoustic oud, and percussionist Peter Valsamis rounds up the band on doumbek.

AL-ANDALUS is a heavy surf rock explosion, a mind-blowing exploration into reverb fuzz wilderness led by astounding musicianship. It’s retro, yet futuristic – dig it!

The songs were recorded in Los Angeles by Jason Schimmel (of Secret Chiefs 3) and produced/mixed/mastered by Bellier.

https://www.facebook.com/blaakheat/
https://www.instagram.com/blaakheat/
http://www.blaakheatshujaa.com/
svartrecords.com/shoppe/

Blaak Heat, “Sword of Hakim” official video

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