The first Heavy Psych Sounds Fest in Salzburg, Austria, will take place June 4 and 5, 2022 with Elder, Mondo Generator, Black Rainbows, Duel, Ecstatic Vision, Giobia, Acid Mammoth, Geezer, 1782, Hazemaze, Sleepwulf, Tons, Deadsmoke, Ryte and Oreyeon playing. Because shit, I guess if you’re gonna do a thing, make it count.

This tells us a few things about the European touring circuit for next summer, some of which we knew, some not so much. That Geezer would head abroad again was unveiled with their last Heavy Psych Sounds Fest announcement, but to see others pulled not only from the US — Duel, Ecstatic Vision, Mondo Generator — but with a meet-in-the-middle vibe from north and south in Europe as well — Sleepwulf and Acid Mammoth, Tons and Black Rainbows, etc. — is enough to make me think that the Rockhouse Bar in Salzburg that’s set to host the two-dayer will be a significant centerpoint for the label’s summertime activities. Maybe not all of these bands will be doing full European tours, but some of them definitely will. Mix and match your favorite combination. See how many killer shows you can make out of this single, also killer festival.

I don’t even remember what I was gonna post before this came down the PR wire, but I guess whatever it was can wait.

Because here:

*** HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST SALZBURG ***

Heavy Psych Sounds Records & Booking will smash Salzburg with their highly acclaimed mini festival-series, the HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST!

In cooperation with Rockhouse Bar, today Heavy Psych Sounds has announced the dates and full bands line-up of the first HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST – SALZBURG.

The HPS Fest Salzburg will be taking place 4th and 5th of June, 2022 at the Rockhouse Bar in Salzburg !!!

HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST – SALZBURG
@ Rockhouse Bar, Salzburg
June 4th and 5th 2022

feat.
ELDER
MONDO GENERATOR
BLACK RAINBOWS
DUEL
ECSTATIC VISION
GIÖBIA
ACID MAMMOTH
1782
GEEZER
HAZEMAZE
SLEEPWULF
TONS
DEADSMOKE
RYTE
OREYEON

TICKETS PRESALE:
https://www.rockhouse-bar.at/e458/heavy-psych-sounds-fest-salzburg

We’ll have 50 early bird tickets online and 50 more early bird that will be sold at the Dome of Rock festival at the Rockhouse from 2nd to 4th December 2021.

heavypsychsoundsrecords.bandcamp.com
www.heavypsychsounds.com
https://www.facebook.com/HEAVYPSYCHSOUNDS/
https://www.instagram.com/heavypsychsounds_records/

Elder, “Halcyon” live session

I feel like the conjoined logos of the tour poster tell a lot of the story here. Tons and Deadsmoke might be considered outliers of the packed Heavy Psych Sounds label roster, but they definitely have some commonality between them. Namely, they crush. Deadsmoke might be the nastiest band on the imprint, and Tons aren’t far behind in that regard, so yeah, pairing them up for a tour makes sense in that they’ll be able to share gear if they want and just absolutely break everything that belongs to everybody that way. Both bands will feature at all three nights of the road-show Heavy Psych Sounds fest in the UK, Belgium and the Netherlands alongside Black Rainbows and others, and they’ll stomp their way as well through their native Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Austria.

Looks like a heavy time. Details from the PR wire:

DEADSMOKE AND TONS TEAM UP FOR EUROPEAN TOUR THIS MARCH!

Down-tuned monolithic guitar riffs scraping the soil down to the core of the earth; slow, hypnotic and dissonant cadences recall the eternal need for isolation and the atavistic fear of nothingness. Your soul will be burned, and smoke is what remains after a memorable show on this exciting tour: HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS RECORDS & BOOKING is proud to get heavy weights DEADSMOKE on the road this March! Kicking off on March 20th in Italy with dates in Switzerland, Germany, Austria and the Netherlands, the Italian power Doom and Sludge foursome has teamed up with no one less than label mates, Turin-based Doom masters TONS.

„Tons and Deadsmoke can’t wait to hit the road again, this time together as a monolithic combo touring the most noisy smoky buried venues of Europe and taking their deafening spaghetti Doom to the big audience. A blaspheme haze of corrosion is flowing up north, spreading curses, illness and tons of smoke.“ the bands are excited to hit the road together soon.

The atmosphere around both groups is not only so devilish, mesmerizing and noisey, but will take the entire crowd on a ride through the heaviest soundwalls in psychedelic doom landscapes. Make sure to catch this heavy touring package live at the following dates this March:

22.02.19 UK London | HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST **
23.02.19 BE Brussel | HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST **
24.02.19 NL Deventer | HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST **
20.03.19 IT Bologna | Freakout Club **
21.03.19 IT Torino | Blah Blah **
22.03.19 CH Kreuzlingen | Horst Klub
23.03.19 DE Mannheim | 7er Club
24.03.19 NL Utrecht | Db’s
26.03.19 DE Berlin | Toast Hawaii
27.03.19 DE Leipzig | Zoro
28.03.19 DE Dresden | Chemiefabrik
29.03.19 AT Salzburg | Rockhouse
30.03.19 CH Basel | Hirscheneck
** Deadsmoke only

Tickets are now on sale at your local ticket dealer and at the following locations:
www.heavypsychsounds.com
www.poisonforsouls.com

www.facebook.com/deadsmokedoom
www.facebook.com/TONSBAND
https://www.facebook.com/HEAVYPSYCHSOUNDS
http://www.heavypsychsounds.com
https://heavypsychsoundsrecords.bandcamp.com

Tons, Filthy Flowers of Doom (2018)

Deadsmoke, Mountain Legacy (2017)

You gotta watch out for these. They’re sneaky. Label samplers can be tricky in general — sometimes it’s nothing but rehashed tracks from years ago with one or two new songs from a band somebody’s trying to push, but with Heavy Psych Sounds, their annual sampler series has been a way of sneaking new tracks out for first public showcases. Last year, new Black Rainbows showed up, and sure enough they appear here as well, and there also seems to be some new stuff from The Freeks included, which as far as I’m concerned is reason enough on its own to chase the thing down. Also Tons will have a track on there ahead of their album release in April, and new Killer Boogie, so yeah, plenty to grab onto, and even the stuff that’s already out — Mother Engine, Fvzz Popvli, The Lords of Altamont, Nick Oliveri — is all still current, and righteous. That “Kyuss Dies” song is hilarious.

Full tracklisting follows here, courtesy of the PR wire:

As every Year, my little dear, what we have here is: HPS074 ***HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS SAMPLER VOL.3***

We’re so proud to announce the new Sampler, is the third year we are going to release this, and tracklist look awesome!

You will find it in your HPS boxes when you will purchase from the site, or at some good festival in Europe for free at the merch table, or on tour with HPS bands…

RELEASE DATE:
16th MARCH 2018

PRESALE:
8th FEBRUARY 2018

Enjoy the tracklist!

Avon – Red Barn
Black Rainbows – High To Hell
Deadsmoke – Emperor Of Shame
Fvzz Popvli – Lost In Time
High Reeper – Die Slow
House Of Broken Promises – Toranado
Killer Boogie – Atomic Race
Monsternaut – Landslide
Mother Engine – Tokamak
Nebula – Between Time
Nick Oliveri (Kyuss Lives) – Kyuss Dies
The Freeks – American Lighning
The Lords Of Altamont – Going Downtown
Tons – 99 Weed Balloons
Turn Me On Dead Man – Vimana
Wedge – Lucid

https://www.facebook.com/HEAVYPSYCHSOUNDS/
http://www.heavypsychsounds.com/
https://heavypsychsoundsrecords.bandcamp.com/

VA, Heavy Psych Sounds Records Sampler Vol. II

Torino-based sludgers Tons have the distinction of being the first band to sign to Heavy Psych Sounds in 2018, and considering the Italian label’s swath of pickups last year, from Cachemira to The Lords of Altamont, Turn Me on Dead Man, Avon, Mother Engine and High Reeper (did I forget anyone? probably), one sincerely doubts they’ll be the last. Still, the four-piece will offer up their second album, Filthy Flowers of Doom, via the respected imprint this Spring, with an April ballpark date listed ahead of a tour set to begin in May.

Though Tons first got together in 2009, their only full-length to-date was 2012’s Musineè Doom Session Vol. 1, which you can hear in its entirety at the bottom of this post. They also had a split with Lento in 2013, but the forthcoming LP will be the debut for a new lineup and their first outing in half a decade.

The PR wire brings background and the promise of more details to follow:

Heavy Psych Sounds Records & Booking is really proud to present the signing of TONS

The band is coming back with a great new album that will be released in April 2018 via Heavy Psych Sounds.

More info coming soon.

BIOGRAPHY:

TONS is an italian doom sludge band formed in Turin in October 2009 from the ashes of three popular hardcore bands of the city. The band consists of Steuso on guitar (rock poster artist and guitarist of The Redrum) Marco on drums (drummer of Noinfo and Medusa) and Paolo on bass/vocals (singer of Lamatematica). The aim of the band is to remain close to the hardcore influence of the city where they were born but they decided to move on to sludge and doom. In June 2009 with the help of Danilo Bottocchio (Last Minute to Jaffna guitarist and a closer friend of the band) they recorded a first demo of four songs in which we can find the first features of the band: a powerful stoner rock trio, sludge riffs, psychedelic landscapes and doom sessions.

The atmosphere around the band is devilish, but ironic as we can see from some song titles such as “The Rime of the Ancient Grower”, “Tangerine Nightmare”, or “Once Upon a Tentacle…”, that suggest the passion of the guys for H.P. Lovecraft and in a more general way for esotericism. The mystery of the city of Turin and the magical and esoteric places around it fascinate the band as we can notice from the title and the cover of the first album “Musineè Doom Session Volume 1”. Mount Musinè is situated in Val Susa and has always been surrounded by local myths such as witchcraft and alien life.

In July 2011 the band recorded the six songs on the album “Musineè Doom Session Volume 1” (CD – CD LTD screenprinted – LP) with the help of Danilo and Paolo Paganelli (Woptime, Linea 77, Muddy Mokes, Rock-a-Hula) and the master session has been done by Lorenzo Stecconi (sound engineer for Ufomammut, Lento, ZU, Grime, Amen Ra). The album includes the four songs of the old demo and two more new songs “Ketama Gold” and “At War with Yog-Sothoth” that clearly suggest the direction of the band. The album, released by Heavy Psych Sounds and Escape from Today, is available from March 2012. In 2013 the band recorded a couple of songs for a split-album with Lento, released by Heavy Psych-Sounds, with the help of Danilo and Paolo Paganelli, while the master session has been done by Lorenzo Stecconi. Luca T. Mai, member of ZU, Mombu, played baritone saxophone with Tons on “Dark Medieval Skunk”.

They shared the stage around Europe with bands like Bongzilla, Weedeater, Church Of Misery, Unsane, Napalm Death, Karma To Burn, Big Business, Kylesa, Lesbian, Pentagram, Naam, Fatso Jetson, Yawning Man, between Italy, Austria, Netherland, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, France and Switzerland. In 2014 Tons played at Duna Jam festival in Italy and at Incubate Festival in Tilburg (NL). In 2016 Marco left Tons and Andrea Peracchia (Slaiver, Dogs for Breakfast) joined the band as a new drummer; in the same year Paolo Paganelli, a longtime friend, who already collaborated with the band, became a permanent member too.

In 2017, with the new line-up, Tons finally recorded the second full length album “Filthy Flowers of Doom”, which will be released by Heavy Psych Sounds in April 2018. In May 2018 Tons will be on tour across Europe.

https://www.facebook.com/TONSBAND/
https://soundcloud.com/tonsofeedback
https://www.youtube.com/user/tonsband
https://www.facebook.com/HEAVYPSYCHSOUNDS/
http://www.heavypsychsounds.com/
https://heavypsychsoundsrecords.bandcamp.com/

If so inclined, one could probably find an update for every day of the week from Italian imprint Heavy Psych Sounds, which between its label and booking ends is helping to establish Italy as a major player in the European heavy rock underground — or at very least bring attention to the country’s contributions to same — but frankly it’s impossible to keep up with it all. Nonetheless, as Gabriele Fiori — also of Black Rainbows and Killer Boogie, as if he didn’t already have enough going on — brings together the lineup for the second edition of the Heavy Psych Sounds Fest, it’s hard not to admire the expanding scope of the project as a whole, one thing feeding into the next as it becomes a sustainable and growing whole.

With Ufomammut and Fiori‘s own Killer Boogie at the top, the Heavy Psych Sounds Fest Vol. 2 has announced its initial round of bands with the promise of more to come. I’m looking forward to seeing just how big this thing gets:

HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST VOL.2: Ufomammut, Killer Boogie, and more announced!

The first acts have been announced for Italy’s heavy music event HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST, with Ufomammut, Killer Boogie, Isaak, Throneless, Sgt Sunshine, Oak and Tons. A mouthwatering lineup that will be hosted in Roma’s famous venue Traffic Live this December.

– HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST VOL.2 –
December 11th & 12th at Traffic Live (Roma, Italy)
Weekend & day tickets available soon

With UFOMAMMUT
KILLER BOOGIE
SGT SUNSHINE
THRONELESS
ISAAK
OAK
TONS
…and more bands to be announced soon.

Hosted by Italian rock’n’heavy music label and booking agency Heavy Psych Sounds (Black Rainbows, Fatso Jetson, Karma To Burn, White Hills, Mos Generator…), the second edition of HPS FEST VOL.2 will once again bring the heaviest riffs to the peninsula for two days of doom, stoner and psych partying, with both established bands and newcomers from the HPS roster.

http://www.heavypsychsounds.com/fest/
https://www.facebook.com/events/1614790898800751/
https://www.facebook.com/HEAVYPSYCHSOUNDS
http://www.heavypsychsounds.com/

Killer Boogie, Detroit (2015)