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The Pilgrim Premieres “Peace of Mind”; Walking into the Forest Available to Preorder

Posted in audiObelisk, Whathaveyou on January 30th, 2019 by JJ Koczan

the pilgrim

This is the first audio to come from The Pilgrim‘s debut album, Walking into the Forest, and when one finds out that the figure behind the project — who might indeed be the pilgrim in question — is Gabriele Fiori, known as the head of Heavy Psych Sounds and frontman of Black Rainbows and Killer Boogie, that will do little to prepare you for what’s coming. Sure, there’s still a bit of psychedelic edge — okay, more than a bit — to The Pilgrim‘s work, but as Fiori launches this new project, he indeed begins a new exploration in style and form. Space folk, acid psych, classic psychedelic serenity — all of these feed into The Pilgrim‘s work on Walking into the Forest but there’s a foundation in rock too, and it could hardly be more appropriate that “Peace of Mind” is the track to be unveiled with the album announcement, because it sums up a lot of the point of view on display throughout.

Fiori, whose presence in Black Rainbows and Killer Boogie The-pilgrim-walking-into-the-forestbleeds through those bands’ recordings in larger-than-life form, creating an increasingly grand cosmic wash in the former and a classic heavy shuffle in the latter, rawer, but still turned on and tuned in, is very much front and center throughout Walking into the Forest. And fair enough so, since ostensibly it’s a solo-project. But with effects on his vocals and layers of keys and the drums of Black Rainbows bandmate Filippo Ragazzoni worked in intermittently, there’s a wide-open sensibility to the creative sphere in which he’s working. He’s honest in terms of his influences — he’s not coming out of the gate pretending he’s Hank Williams or something — but it’s new ground for him to cover, and he does well in making it his own as he makes his way through the album.

I’ll have a proper review up — I also wrote the bio, so might post that — at some point between now and April 26, which is the set release date, but you can take a listen to “Peace of Mind” on the player below and get yourself introduced.

Info follows from the PR wire, as well as a quote from Fiori himself.

Enjoy:

Gabriele Fiori on The Pilgrim:

“This is a project I really care about, it has been in my pocket for so long but without any available time for it. Finally we made it! And I am so happy, proud and relieved to have accomplished it. To me, it’s an authentic work, it came out really spontaneously from the inside and it’s a challenge cause we never played so low and calm!”

PEACE OF MIND is the first single of The Pilgrim debut album Walking Into The Forest. The record will be released on April 26th via Heavy Psych Sounds. Cover art by Maarten Donders.

Preorder available now: https://www.heavypsychsounds.com/shop.htm?#HPS092

AVAILABLE IN:

20 test press vinyl
250 marbled yellow background – red vinyl
250 orange background splatter in black green blue vinyl
black vinyl

digipak (6 panels)

digital

The Pilgrim is the latest solo project of Gabriele Fiori, frontman of Rome-based outfits Black Rainbows and Killer Boogie.

With “Walking into the Forest”, Fiori evokes a sound that is both classic and fresh, melodically rich and creatively constructed. It is a new outlet for Fiori that demands spiritual as well as auditory engagement, and an all-things-permissible sonic context.

The Pilgrim on Thee Facebooks

Heavy Psych Sounds on Thee Facebooks

Heavy Psych Sounds website

Heavy Psych Sounds on Bandcamp

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The Pilgrim, The Pilgrim: All Three Wishes and a Kickstarter

Posted in Reviews on July 10th, 2012 by JJ Koczan

Not to be confused with the trad doom trio Pilgrim from Providence, Rhode Island, The Pilgrim are a bluesier heavy rocking five-piece from Baltimore. They make their debut in the form of the full-length The Pilgrim, which they’re self-releasing on Kickstarter-supported vinyl. The six songs that comprise the album were put to tape in 2009 by Rob Girardi at Sir Lord Baltimore Studio, and the band reportedly traded roofing in order to get the tracks recorded, so if you’re wondering what might be behind a three-year delay between tracking and pressing, let that give some indication of the kind of budget they’re working with. Nonetheless, a Spring 2012 tour also brought a handcrafted CD digipak issue, limited to 500, so the songs are out there one way or another, however much they might represent a version of The Pilgrim that The Pilgrim have already outgrown. If that’s the case (and I’ll underscore the point that I don’t know if it is or isn’t), all the more kudos to the band, because the tracks on The Pilgrim hardly sound formative. They’re crisply produced in a manner both organic and professional, and the band maintains a rough-hewn energy well suited to their ‘70s-derived sound, vocalist Mis Zill and guitarist Bob Sweeney coming together in several of the songs – “Cold Lady” and the later “Hey Freddy” and “The Pilgrim,” as examples – for what might truly be called duet parts. The band behind them, which has been through two bass players since Scott Rot played on this album (including Tonie Joy of the recently-reviewed The Convocation and current bassist Dan Evans), proves nimble, moving between fuzzy swagger on “Perdido” and a boogie shuffle on the title-track, guitarist Danny McDonald, Sweeney, Evans and drummer Derrick Hans touching on a variety of ‘70s rock tendencies without really ever aping one band or another. The resulting atmosphere hits on a mood somewhat reminiscent of Valkyrie’s Man of Two Visions, which was hard to place in a similar way – Zill’s vocals being an obvious difference between the two bands.

The Pilgrim have a clear awareness of their genre, and that shows right from the start of “Really Movin’,” which opens the self-titled with blues harp and a driving, classically-styled riff. Hans makes his snare pay for some unknown crime while McDonald and Sweeney move into and out of harmony with each other – feel free to cite Thin Lizzy for riff construction and any number of classic acts who’ve put their two guitars to good use over the decades as comparison points – and Rot does well holding the rhythm with the drums but veering here and there with and between the guitars. Zill’s vocals are an immediate focal point. She’s mixed high but is a more than capable singer, though perhaps best when backed by Sweeney and McDonald on “Cold Lady,” the longest cut on The Pilgrim at 8:12 and arguably the most stylistically complex as well, flowing well from one part to the next in its first half and much of the second to a frenetic boogie and slower break that boasts some of the album’s best vocals repeating the line “Go on and go.” That kind of strength of performance is heard again in the chorus of side B opener “Hey Freddy,” and because of that, it’s easy (and somewhat ironic) to forget “Perdido” closing out side A, but if you’re into dueling solos, it’s not to be missed. Sweeney and McDonald seem both to be lead players, which might account for their adept melodicism as well, and “Perdido” is a blistering showcase of their prowess, as well as a well-written song, on which Zill tops a kind of Witchcraftian sub-waltz (there’s a riff in there that keeps taking me back to “What I Am” from the first album – not a complaint) with an appropriately more crooned delivery. When “Hey Freddy” arrives on the CD, it does so as an energetic burst to contrast the subdued finish of the track before it.

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