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Quarterly Review: Nibiru, The Ditch and the Delta, Cyanna Mercury, Surya Kris Peters, Golden Bats, Blind Hen, The Black Wizards, Low Flying Hawks, Brother Sister Hex, Cold Insight

Posted in Reviews on September 28th, 2017 by JJ Koczan

the obelisk quarterly review

Ready for round three of the Fall 2017 Quarterly Review? I hope so, because it’s a doozy. Things get pretty weird and pretty rockin’ in this batch, and at the risk of being completely honest, I much prefer it that way. It’s a varied group — maybe the most diverse in terms of sound throughout the entire week, though there’s stiff competition still to come — and as we hit the 30th review, that brings us to the halfway point of the Quarterly Review itself, which if all keeps proceeding according to plan will wrap up on Monday with a grand total of 60 done. Let’s hope no pianos fall on my head between now and then, literally or figuratively. Onward.

Quarterly Review #21-30:

Nibiru, Qaal Babalon

nibiru qaal babalon

The fourth full-length from Italian sludge ritualists Nibiru, Qaal Babalon (on Argonauta) is an encompassing, 57-minute grind comprised of four extended tracks, the longest of which is opener (immediate points) “Oroch” at 19:07 – a song whose depths run dark and cruel and which, even when the tempo pushes upward from its initial slow crawl, still feels massively slow. Still, the spirit behind “Oroch” as well as the following and much faster “Faboan” (10:51), the buzzsaw noise cutting avant insanity of “Bahal Gah” (16:40) and full-drone rite of “Oxex” (11:05) is less directly about the punishment itself than about the exploration enacted thereby. That is, Nibiru aren’t just heavy for heaviness’ own sake and they’re not just assaulting their listenership without reason. Though I won’t take away from its raw sonic impact, Qaal Babalon’s greatest asset is its atmospheric impression and the experimentalism it brings to bear, which moves Nibiru into a terrifying place sound-wise that they seem to have all to themselves.

Nibiru on Thee Facebooks

Argonauta Records website

 

The Ditch and the Delta, Hives in Decline

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Hailing from the unlikely heavy hotbed of Salt Lake City, Utah – though where better for a counterculture to emerge? – sludge rocking trio The Ditch and the Delta made their debut earlier in 2017 with the seven-song Hives in Decline via Battleground Records before being picked up by Prosthetic for this reissue. Comprised of bassist/vocalist Kory Quist (see also: Making Fuck), guitarist/vocalist Elliot Secrist and drummer Charles Bogus, the three-piece pummel handily throughout early cuts like opener and longest track (immediate points) “Hives in Decline” “Fuck on Asphalt” and the nodding “Sleeping Dogs,” but with the instrumental interlude “Dry Land,” they tap into post-Across Tundras heavy Americana and in that brief two-minute stretch deeply affect the mood of the release overall. They’re back to angular noise rock turns soon enough on “Till Body Quits” and the Remission-era-Mastodon-style “Mud” before alternating between lurching crush and airier prog/post-rock on closer “Dread Spectacle,” but by then the secret’s out of their underlying complexity, and rather than offset the sense of drive in the prior cuts, one finds them only enhanced by the later unfolding. Intense, and very much in the process of sorting through these impulses, but loaded with potential.

The Ditch and the Delta on Thee Facebooks

The Ditch and the Delta at Prosthetic Records

 

Cyanna Mercury, Archetypes

Cyanna-Mercury-Archetypes

From Greek dialogue in “Hermes” to the Nick Cave-style piano balladry of “Apollo” to the organ-and-handclaps Mediterranean pop underscoring “Lilith”’s boogie and the spoken verses and explosive hook of “Snake” ahead of moody closer “There will be a Time,” Cyanna Mercury’s debut long-player, Archetypes, seems to leave no sonic stone unturned. The Athens-based five-piece hone a thoroughly progressive approach across the 10-track/40-minute (plus a CD bonus track) outing, touching on heavy psych in opener “Horse Dark as Night” and injecting a darker theatricality into centerpiece “Ode to the Absent Father” and the later “Nothing We Can Do,” but refusing to relegate themselves ultimately to one sound or another. Elements of folk, heavy rock, psychedelia, classic prog, pop and more besides show themselves across what’s a legitimate head-trip of a record, and though it’s hard to get a grip on where Cyanna Mercury are ultimately headed with this sonic brew already so potent and already so much their own, they seem to be completely in control of how it all plays out in arrangement and songwriting, and they work quickly to earn the listener’s trust via a resonant overarching flow that renders Archetypes truly immersive. Will fly under most radar, but a stunningly creative debut.

Cyanna Mercury on Thee Facebooks

Cyanna Mercury on Bandcamp

 

Surya Kris Peters, 2nd Chances

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Numerically-titled three-song EP 2nd Chances is – since we’re going by the numbers – the third release of 2017 from Surya Kris Peters, behind the synth-driven Dream Exit EP digitally-issued this past summer and January’s Holy Holy Holy (review here) full-length. With it, Samsara Blues Experiment frontman Christian Peters further expands the contextual breadth of his solo work, revisiting songs from his prior outfit Terraplane in the Mellotron-infused melancholy of “Smalltown Blues” and the quick, folkish rambling instrumental “Dark Euphoria” while also covering Jefferson Airplane’s “Come up the Years” between. All told, it’s only 10 minutes long, but Peters brings a particularly progressive psychedelic folk vibe to the tracks, and from the shimmering guitar lead that takes hold in “Come up the Years” and the intimate feel of “Smalltown Blues” despite an arrangement of keys, vocals, multiple layers of guitar and effects, an emotional and sonic resonance is still very much achieved. One never wants to guess what Peters will do next, but if he had a full-length of this kind of thing out at some point, you wouldn’t be likely to find me complaining.

Surya Kris Peters on Soundcloud

Electric Magic Records on Bandcamp

 

Golden Bats, Residual Dread

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An underlying mournfulness pervades Golden BatsResidual Dread, or maybe that’s just the Brisbane-based solo-project of multi-instrumentalist/vocalist/engineer Geordie Stafford living up to the title chosen for the album on “Nothing.” Elsewhere, Residual Dread takes on guitar-as-keyboard plotted soloing in 11-minute closer “The Crows Build a Fire” and find a place between black metal and doomly roll, and add piano to tapped Godflesh-style programming on opener “Trouble in the Sewers” and bring organ to the relative bounce of “Eye Juices” as far-back echoing shouts provide the vocal presence. Setting elements against each other would seem to be a core aspect of Stafford’s intent, and the feel on Residual Dread is more about the smashing them together and seeing what happens than trying to gently meld one idea from two or three. That lends a raw, experimentalist sensibility to the lumber of “Outer Body” and “Into the Silver Valley” that serves them well, like a Large Hadron Collider driven by riffs and thickness of tone.

Golden Bats on Thee Facebooks

Haemorrhage Records webstore

 

Blind Hen, Life

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In its first two minutes, Blind Hen’s “As a Monster” moves from electronica-style Euro dance rock to heavy-riffed progressive metal. Then it turns back. This is just the start of the Finnish four-piece’s four-track/21-minute Life EP, and “Titanic” follows stylistic suit with an even more intense thrust early before moving into psychedelia in its second half with an underlying tension in its beat to contrast the melodic wash overtop. The chugging “The Maze” is more guitar-led and straightforward, but even there, Blind Hen find room for nuance in their vocal arrangement, also bringing in acoustics amid the multiple layers of singing, and with a sample at the outset, closer “Catch” moves once again toward the danceability of the earlier fare, if in a via-Mr.Bungle rhythmic restlessness rather than the fusion beatmaking. Weird, weird, weird. What draws Life together is the fact that Blind Hen cross this aesthetic swath with stuck-in-your-head choruses as a constant, essentially giving the audience something to grasp onto while they go wherever they want in terms of sound. It is appreciated to say the least, and shows the band to be all the more attuned to their craft, even when they seem at their most unhinged.

Blind Hen on Thee Facebooks

Blind Hen on Bandcamp

 

The Black Wizards, What the Fuzz!

the-black-wizards-what-the-fuzz

If you’ve got 68 minutes, Portuguese four-piece The Black Wizards are ready to have a heavy blues shindig on their second 2LP full-length, What the Fuzz!, and I do believe we’re all invited. The nine-song outing emphasizes the vocals of guitarist Joana Brito, who emerges on post-intro opener “Freaks and Geeks” with a prominent kind of trilling in her voice of the sort Parker Griggs brings to Radio Moscow that holds for the duration as a steady presence. Joined by guitarist Paulo Ferreira, bassist/acoustic guitarist B and drummer/backing vocalist Helena Peixoto, Brito leads the way through the fuzzy rollout of the nine-minute “The Story of an Hopeless Drummer” (sic), stepping back to let the guitar/bass have a righteously nodding moment late in the track, but holds firm in a forward position on the short, twanging “Just Not Today” as well as the early going of the prior subdued-blues-smoker highlight “Floating Blues.” “Build Your Home,” “I Don’t Wanna Die” and the particularly-classic-sounding “Fire” revive the classic heavy rock spirit of “Freaks and Geeks,” and 16-minute finale “Everything is Good Until Trouble Comes” uses its extra runtime for a satisfying and patient execution with an expanded arrangement including choral vocals, organ and additional guitar effects. You might be boogied out by the time they’re done, but as The Black Wizards crash through their big finish, they sound like their party’s just getting started.

The Black Wizards on Thee Facebooks

The Black Wizards on Bandcamp

 

Low Flying Hawks, Genkaku

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One might expect that with all the Melvins affiliation going on in the second Magnetic Eye Records full-length from L.A. duo Low Flying Hawks, Genkaku would sound, you know, more like the Melvins, but despite working with bassist Trevor Dunn, drummer Dale Crover and producer Toshi Kasai, and despite bringing in Buzz Osbourne for guest vocal spots on eight-minute opener/longest track (immediate points) “Smile” and side B leadoff “Space Wizard,” initials-only multi-instrumentalists EHA and AAL follow their 2016 debut, Kofuku (review here), with a sound even more their own, balancing between thick riffy rollout and post-rock atmospherics. Of course, they weird out a bit on “Smile” and the lumberingly spacious “Uncool” and “Virgin Witch,” but whether it’s the later mournfulness of “Hallucination” or “Twilight” toying with noisy fuckall while seeming to mock heavy rocker burl ahead of the melodic payoff in closer “Sinister Waves,” there’s more EHA and AAL in Low Flying Hawks than the prominent pedigree of their collaborators might lead you to believe. All the better for what becomes a richly satisfying 43-minute listen rife with depth, patience, and yes, personality.

Low Flying Hawks on Thee Facebooks

Magnetic Eye Records on Bandcamp

 

Brother Sister Hex, End Times

brother-sister-hex-end-times

Coherent songwriting rests at the core of what Denver’s Brother Sister Hex bring to their five-song third EP, End Times, which darkens up Queens of the Stone Age-circa-Songs for the Deaf vibing on its title-track (also a bit of Kyuss’ “El Rodeo” in there for good measure) before delving into more ambient fare on the centerpiece “Confessions.” Vocalist/guitarist Colfax Mingo demonstrates SubRosa-style vocal command there, but the context is more rock-based, uptempo and straightforward as she, guitarist Patrick Huddleson, bassist Drew Hicks and guest-drummer Jordan Palmer (Plastic Daggers) meld traditionalist structures with atmospheric moodiness. Opener “Hey” offers a suitable greeting through hook and groove, and the shuffle of “Sweet and Sleazy” and the rumbling fuzz (Hicks makes it a highlight) of closer “News Feed” wraps with another grunge-style QOTSA melody efficiently drawn, shouting the question “what have we done?” as it thuds into its second half. Uh, you’ve made a professional-sounding, excellently-constructed EP that shows you’re more than ready to embark on a debut full-length, permanent drummer or no. So yeah, get on that.

Brother Sister Hex on Thee Facebooks

Brother Sister Hex on Bandcamp

 

Cold Insight, Further Nowhere

cold-insight-further-nowhere

As progressive as it is brutal, Further Nowhere is ostensibly the debut release from Paris’ Cold Insight. The material seems to date back at least to 2013, if not earlier than that, when band-spearhead Sébastien Pierre (also of Enshine, Fractal Gates, and others) first issued what’s now tagged as a “pre-production album” version, but it’s hardly as though the lush, growling, melodeathly doom sounds dated. With sonic likenesses throughout to bands like Amorphis, Dark Tranquility and Paradise Lost, Cold Insight – on which Pierre, who also did the artwork, is joined by drummer Christian Netzell while Jari Lindholm adds lead guitar – hit on a very particular, very European style, and not an unfamiliar one as displayed in the righteously driving “Distance,” but the find-the-beauty-in-darkness spirit behind “Close Your Eyes” and songs like “Even Dies a Sun” and the more uptempo later piece “I Will Rise” help ensure that the formidable 12-song/66-minute run of Further Nowhere never gets too bogged down in its melancholy. It may have been a while in the making, and one hopes a follow-up won’t take as long to arrive, but the precise execution Pierre hones in these songs and the depths to which he can bring a willing audience are a fitting payoff for the years of work that went into their construction.

Cold Insight on Thee Facebooks

Cold Insight on Bandcamp

 

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Desertfest London 2018 First Announcements: Monster Magnet, Nebula Reunion, Eyehategod, Jex Thoth, Planet of Zeus, Black Moth and The Black Wizards

Posted in Whathaveyou on September 22nd, 2017 by JJ Koczan

Desertfest London 2018 comes out of the gate with some pretty huge confirmations for next Spring. The fest will feature Monster Magnet headlining and a return appearance from Eyehategod, as well as — just days after they announced their reunion lineup — the reformed heavy psych rockers Nebula. The set at Desertfest London 2018 is the first confirmation from Eddie Glass and company, and I’m thrilled to say I wrote the announcement for that one as well as for Monster Magnet, which I totally scammed myself into doing, citing the New Jersey connection in the process.

Also confirmed for the bill are the doomily delightful Jex Thoth, Greek burl-bringers Planet of Zeus and the also-worthy-of-alliteration-but-really-enough-is-enough Black Moth and The Black Wizards. All told it’s an immediately awesome and varied bill that sets up the fest — to be held from May 4-6 in Camden Town — with multiple avenues for further expansion. And no doubt it will expand, with more lineup announcements to come along with ticket info and all the rest over the coming months as we move into the end of 2017 and the arrival of the New Year.

But one way or another, the season has started. Check it out:

desertfest london 2018

MONSTER MAGNET, NEBULA AND MORE KICK OFF DESERTFEST 2018!

Desertfest aims to get bigger and better every year, and for our 7th edition it’s no different. Ladies and gentlemen, bow down to the Bullgod because Monster Magnet are headlining Desertfest 2018!

That’s right, New Jersey’s finest rock exports, Monster Magnet, are set to steamroll through Camden as headliners of Desertfest. The bona fide stoner psych living legends are approaching three decades of bringing the world acid freakouts and riff rock anthems; freakouts and anthems which, it’s no understatement to say, helped shape the stoner rock scene.

From their boundary breaking psych in early releases to the hard rock stomp through the noughties and their recent return to early influences, Monster Magnet have a knack for putting out iconic albums, before doing it all better live. We were always going to have Monster Magnet play eventually and 2018 is the year it happens. We can’t wait to be part of the biggest singalong in Desertfest history when Powertrip hits.

Joining them are the recently resurrected early stoner kings, Nebula, who return from an eight year hiatus in 2018. Steered by the riffs of Eddie Glass, Nebula tore through the turn of the millennium thanks to releases such as To The Center and Charged; must own LPs for anybody reading these words.

Also on the bill are barons of the Bayou, Eyehategod. Shaped by destruction, the sludge metal heroes have a life beaten coarseness that brings a next level of harshness to their sound. Pioneering sludge with their 1990 release, In the Name of Suffering, Eyehategod’s brutal assault through the nineties is something to behold. Then, after a decade away, the band came back stronger with 2014s self-titled, rawer, angrier and more driven than before. Having smashed The Electric Ballroom to pieces in 2015, Eyehategod are back at Desertfest.

We also have performances from High Priestess of occult rock Jex Thoth, stoner strut from champions of the Greek underground Planet of Zeus, the garage infused sound of Black Moth and the soulful proto-doom of The Black Wizards. Of course, that’s only the beginning. We have dozens of huge bands to announce over the next few months so keep your eyes open.

Alongside that mammoth announcement, tickets are now on sale for Desertfest 2018. As ever, we’re offering affordable hotel and hostel packages, which you can find out about here. Also, for the first time ever, we’re also offering a split payment plan. With our payment plan, you’ll pay half now and half early next year, making it easier to get your ticket for Desertfest 2018. For more info on our payment plan, click here.

It’s going to be another huge weekend in Camden. We can’t wait for you to see what we have in store for our 7th edition of Desertfest.

http://www.desertfest.co.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/DesertfestLondon
https://twitter.com/DesertFest
https://www.instagram.com/desertfest_london/

Monster Magnet, Live in Lakewood, NJ, Oct. 1, 2016

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Reverence Valada 2016: Steak, Mars Red Sky, Sisters of Mercy and More Added

Posted in Whathaveyou on April 8th, 2016 by JJ Koczan

reverence valada 2016 header

I’ll give credit where it’s due in that Portuguese fest Reverence Valada 2016 has put together a lineup that’s impressive in both its scope and in the names involved. The Sisters of Mercy may not be my thing, The Damned may not be my thing, but even I know they’re good gets. And put that together with a resonant commitment to underground heavy psych in bands like LSD and the Search for God, Papir and Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs and there’s a molten foundation of weird upon which the whole thing can play out. In the restaurant business, they might call that the “concept.” I dig the concept.

The PR wire sent over info on the latest round of additions. There are many:

reverence valada 2016 poster

REVERENCE FESTIVAL: The Sisters Of Mercy, The Brian Jonestown Massacre and 8 more acts confirmed!

Portugal’s groundbreaking heavy, psyche and indie festival REVERENCE VALADA just confirmed a new batch of bands to play the festival this September near Lisbon. Please welcome The Sisters of Mercy, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Raveonettes, Fat White Family, A Place To Bury Strangers, Mars Red Sky, The Japanese Girl, The Black Wizards, Steak and Earth Drive to this mouth-watering vintage of the festival.

One of the most influential bands of the 80’s THE SISTERS OF MERCY return to Portugal this summer! Although they have remained very active, playing numerous shows throughout the past decade, the Leeds-based outfit hasn’t released a full-length since their 1990’s Vision Thing. For this headline show at Reverence Valada, the band will perform some all-time classics along with a handful of unreleased gems. Not to be missed.

Led by genius frontman Anton Newcomben, San Francisco’s THE BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE are one of the most respected bands in the modern psych scene, also known for delivering uncompromising energetic live shows. The band will celebrate their 25th anniversary this year at Reverence.

Blending ’60s psych garage with noise pop influences, Denmark’s prolific duo THE RAVEONETTES are already mentioned as a must-see of this year’s edition. In a mission to show the Reverence crowd what a “fresh and thriling” band is, their debut album Champagne Holocaust skyrocketed FAT WHITE FAMILY them on top of the British psych scene.

They don’t need any introduction, for their reputation precedes them: Brooklyn’s A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS are back to Reverence Valada for the second consecutive year, ready to entrance minds with their newest material Transfixiation.

After they graced the stages of SXSW, Hellfest, Roadburn, Desertfest and countless other events across the globe, French groundbreaking heavy psych trio MARS RED SKY will deliver the aerial yet loud tones of their new offering Apex III to quench the crowds’ thirst of fuzz. Napalm Records’ protégés and London’s most emblematic stoner rockers STEAK will also join the fun, making the Palm Desert blazing sun and sand a reality in Valada.

Known for being a pioneer event for everything psych and low-tuned in the peninsula, Reverence Festival also invited some of the finest local talents, with lo-fi garage psychsters THE JAPANESE GIRL, heavy fuzzadelic revelation THE BLACK WIZARDS and slow, low tunes addicts EARTH DRIVE.

– REVERENCE VALADA FESTIVAL 2016 –
September 8-9-10th in Parque de Merendas, Cartaxo (PT)
Weekend & day tickets available AT THIS LOCATION
– 3-day tickets (w/ camping) are on sale at €55 until April 30th only –

http://www.reverencefestival.com/
https://www.facebook.com/reverencevalada/
https://twitter.com/reverencefest
https://www.instagram.com/reverencefest/

Steak, “Rising” official video

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SonicBlast Moledo 2015 Timetable Posted; Pentagram, My Sleeping Karma, Greenleaf and More to Play

Posted in Whathaveyou on July 29th, 2015 by JJ Koczan

sonicblast moledo banner

How far off can we, as a species, be from a stoner rock cruise? I don’t know. Heavy metal already has like 50 different cruises. Get Royal Caribbean on the line! What? There’s no lines? And I’m not actually speaking to anyone? I’m blogging? Still? Ah hell.

SonicBlast Moledo 2015, in Portugal, isn’t the only fest in the world offering a resort-type atmosphere — a certain “secret” Sardinian shindig walks by and waves — but they certainly make the prospect enticing. Part of that, of course, is the lineup. Pentagram will headline, and GreenleafMy Sleeping KarmaBelzebongHigh Fighter and many more share the bill on Aug. 14 and 15 in the coastal town of Moledo. Going to the beach is nice. Going to the beach where riffs are is how you win at life.

The timetable for SonicBlast Moledo 2015 has been newly unveiled, and you’ll find it below with more info from the PR wire to fuel your escapist fantasies:

sonicblast moledo schedule

It’s on the 14th and 15th of August that, by the Atlantic shore, the 5th edition of SonicBlast Moledo takes place. For those looking for stoner, psych, doom or heavy music styles, it’s already an obligatory yearly stop. This small festival is a well kept secret for the fans of these genres. With a powerful line up, a dream location in one of the most beautiful beaches in the Iberian Peninsula and affordable prices, going to SonicBlast Modelo is a no brainer.

Spread across two stages, in the afternoon by the pool and at night by the park, the highlights of this year are pioneers of doom Pentagram, unique and hypnotic My Sleeping Karma, the intense sound of Greenleaf, responsible for one of the best stoner records of 2014 (Trails and Passes), heavy rockers The Vintage Caravan and Belzebong, playing for the very first time in Portugal. Some other smashing acts from the european scene playing at Sonicblast Moledo are Wight, Mother Engine, High Fighter, The Attack of the Brain Eaters, Somali Yacht Club, Puma Pumku and Galactic Superlords. The usual support to the punk scene is held by Nervous from North America and Cuchillo de Fuego from Spain. The Portuguese scene is also very well represented through the 70’s rock from The Black Wizards, Big Red Panda, Lâmina, Vircator, Mantra and the return of aweless Plus Ultra.

This festival has a free-entrance warmup party on the 13th August on a beach bar, several activities as surf or skate, and free camping just two minutes away from the sea, where it meets the forest.

Kadavar, Blues Pills, The Atomic Bitchwax, Church of Misery, Samsara Blues Experiment, The Machine and Black Bombaim are some of the great bands that have passed for SonicBlast Moledo in the past editions.

The tickets for this outstanding gathering are already on sale. You can acquire the 2 day pass for 36€ until the 13th August. After this date the price is 42€. Daily tickets are 20€ until the 13th and 25€ on the day.

Tickets at:
http://www.blueticket.pt/site/EventoDetalhe.aspx?ecomm=1&eventoId=2308&idiomaid=2&op=0
www.sonicblastmoledo.com
https://www.facebook.com/pages/SonicBlast-Moledo/242619262427066
https://www.facebook.com/events/607451179385390/

Belzebong, “Diabolical Dopenosis” live in Germany

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