Posted in Whathaveyou on June 3rd, 2016 by JJ Koczan
It was abundantly clear that Denver trio Cloud Catcher were onto something with their 2015 debut, Enlightened Beyond Existence (discussed here and here), and they confirmed same when I was fortunate enough to see them play at Borderland Fuzz Fiesta (review here) in February. Their upstart blend of Sabbath boogie and progressive composition is delivered with righteous vigor both live and in the studio, and today they announce that they’ve signed to French imprint Totem Cat Records and that they’ll release their second full-length, Trails of Kozmic Dust, later this year.
The album was recorded by Cody Tarbell of Slow Season following Cloud Catcher‘s Spring tour. They’ll celebrate the signing this weekend at the Denver Electric Funeral Fest by playing the first of the event’s two nights, directly under Mothership and Radio Moscow as a kind of local headliner, and have an extensive tour in the works for early in 2017 to support Trails of Kozmic Dust.
Their announcement follows:
It is with great pride that Cloud Catcher announces its partnership with French label, Totem Cat Records for the release of our second album entitled “Trails Of Kozmic Dust”.
This album is the culmination of friendship, perseverance, and the unyielding spirit of rock ‘n roll. “Trails Of Kozmic Dust” was recorded in a span of 3 days at our good friend Cody Tarbell of Slow Season fame’s house (The Cornfield) at the end of our last Spring tour. This album is raw, organic, and aggressive as there are little to no overdubs, just pure live performance at a time that we felt was right. In other words this is a pure representation of Cloud Catcher.
We are absolutely honored to have Totem Cat Records release “Trails Of Kozmic Dust” and are hoping for a later in the year release date. With that being said Cloud Catcher would like to thank the following: Cody Tarbell for believing in our music enough to let us live and record with him, Ewenn Padovan for giving us a chance to put out a record we believe in, and to you the fans for coming out to our shows, buying merch, letting us crash at your houses and surrounding us with general positivity! This is for you!
Posted in audiObelisk on February 3rd, 2016 by JJ Koczan
In a flooded Portland bandscape, R.I.P. stand out from the crowd pretty easily. The four-piece release their debut album, In the Wind, on March 14 via Totem Cat Records with cover art by Adam Burke, and unlike much of what’s coming out of the Pacific Northwest, R.I.P. are way more interested in having their party breaking bottles on gravestones at night rather than downing pints in the brewpub.
In the Wind offers up a 10-track/54-minute 2LP’s worth of of classic metal churn delivered with modern heavy buzz in the guitars of Angel Martinez, whose riffs lead the fist-pumping charge alongside vocalist Fuzz, bassist Jon Mullett and drummer Willie D, hell-bent on sourcing purposefully-regressive doom from the metal of yore, whether that’s the Saint Vitus-style riffing of “Bereaved” and “Brave in the Grave,” Fuzz nodding at Eric Wagner in “Smoke and Lightning” and closer “In the Wind Part 3” or the scorching leads Martinez brings to cuts like “Tremble” and “In the Wind Part 2.”
Worth acknowledging that for heavy rockers to be mining the tropes of ’80s metal is nothing new. Early Man released their first demo circa 2004 — and they weren’t the first — and while not nearly as indebted to thrash, R.I.P. share some stylistic tendencies on In the Wind, which outwardly proselytizes the righteousness of its aesthetic in the lyrics to “Black Leather” and “Smoke and Lightning,” a self-awareness that, while clearly enjoying itself, avoids an ironic sneer.
With sonic methods drawn from Pentagram, Sabbath, Vitus, Trouble, and so on, R.I.P. are playing to the familiar, but they’re not doing so in a mocking manner so much as in celebration, ready to surprise the crap out of some mostly-empty bar that didn’t know it was about to have its ass kicked like it’s 32 years ago. The element of surprise isn’t necessarily a factor by the time intro “The Scythe” and “In the Wind Part 1” give way to “Brave in the Grave” and “In the Wind Part 3,” but by then the doom has hit the bloodstream and In the Wind‘s headbanger’s ball has either drawn you in or cast you out.
It’s the kind of metal that shows up in grainy big-but-not-glam-hair photos and the kind of metal that you could probably get away with playing in Manowar‘s proverbial hall after a few adult beverages. Across its span, In the Wind isn’t exactly raw and it isn’t exactly retro, but it’s definitely taking the bulk of its influence from a bygone age of demo-tape trading and wearing band t-shirts as a social statement.
Blending those elements with a decidedly heavy rock shuffle in the second half of “Tremble” and slide guitar in the interlude “The Tombstone” (which may or may not be an intro for the second LP) adds complexity to the experience overall, but by no means are R.I.P. aiming for pick-it-apart nuance. They call it “West Coast street doom,” and that’s about as fair as anything I could come up with. Whatever niche genre one might one to invent for R.I.P., like their moniker, their first full-length gets right to the point and leaves little question as to its deathly intent.
Below, you can hear the premiere of “Tremble” ahead of the album’s release on March 14. Please enjoy:
After several years of hammering the west coast with the blunt scythe of street-doom, R.I.P. finally committed to tape an introductory will and testament for the rest of the world to tremble to. “In the Wind” closes the casket on the trends and exhumes the notion that doom isn’t about how slow and de-tuned you can play, but about fear, death, leather and playing as heavy as possible.
A full US tour in the spring follows this Totem Cat Records release, where the band plans to drag the rest of the country down with them. Doom is dead: R.I.P. doom.
Posted in Whathaveyou on January 6th, 2016 by JJ Koczan
“My brain is full of powder/My veins are full of doom, yeah.” Fair enough. Since the label executive/producer/whoever it was referred to Pentagram as a “more ‘street’ Black Sabbath” in the Last Days Here documentary, it seemed only a matter of time before a band picked up the term and applied it to themselves. Portland’s R.I.P., working under the banner of “street doom,” will release their debut album, In the Wind, in March via Totem Cat Records. The race is over.
The band have a preview trailer for the release that includes what I assume is a goodly portion of every finishing move the Undertaker ever pulled off, and you can find it under the PR wire info below:
Portland’s street doomers R.I.P. announce debut album “In The Wind”, dropping this March on Totem Cat Records
If there’s one thing you didn’t see coming for 2016, it’s a radical heavy metal assault by Oregon’s self-proclaimed “street doomers” R.I.P.. Their rousing debut album “In The Wind” – due out this March on Totem Cat Records and illustrated by US painter Adam Burke – will make all metalheads’ hearts leap with joy. Get in the wind or get out the way…
In a heavy metal wasteland littered with cookie cutter snooze-button doom bands rocking $10,000 rigs and $1 riffs, its a huff of fresh air straight out of the glue bottle to hear R.I.P. – four cretins from the Pacific Northwest who play knuckle dragging death obsessed metal at the speed of the streets. After several years of hammering the west coast with the blunt scythe of street-doom, they finally committed to tape an introductory will and testament for the rest of the world to tremble to. “In the Wind” closes the casket on the trends and exhumes the notion that doom isn’t about how slow and de-tuned you can play, but about fear, death, leather and playing as heavy as possible. A full US tour in the spring follows this Totem Cat Records release, where the band plans to drag the rest of the country down with them. Doom is dead: R.I.P. doom.
R.I.P. – Debut album “In The Wind” Out on 2xLP and digital this March on Totem Cat Records
TRACKLISTING: 1. The Scythe 2. In The wind Part 1 3. Tremble 4. Black Leather 5. Smoke and Lightning 6. In The Wind Part 2 7. The Tombstone 8. Bereaved 9. Brave In The Grave 10. In The wind Part 3
ARTWORK: Adam Burke
R.I.P. IS Fuzz – Vocals Angel Martinez – Guitar Jon Mullett – Bass Willie D – Drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on July 22nd, 2015 by JJ Koczan
New Egypt is a no-brainer of awesome. North Dakota’s heaviest trio are freshly returned from their first European tour, which included a stop at Freak Valley 2015, and are looking to keep the high going as they make their way toward the release of their sophomore album, to be titled Endless Flight perhaps in honor of their having made the trip across the Atlantic on United Airlines. Whatever their motivation, I haven’t seen a solid release date yet, but if it’s that or new music, I’ll take the new music every time. While I add Endless Flight to my growing list of 2016’s most anticipated, they give a first glimpse with a rough mix of “Tres Madres.”
Here’s word from the band as well as an update to their bio (which I feel comfortable enough reworking because I’m pretty sure I wrote it in the first place), and of course the song itself:
Here is an unmastered rough mix of the song Tres Madres from our new record that will hopefully be released this summer/fall. We really hope to have the new album out soon. Hope you dig the song. Cheers everyone.
Rough mix of Tres Madres from the upcoming album Endless Flight.
More than a decade after starting out, Egypt were more active and more widely known than they’d ever been, having racked up shows alongside the likes of Dead Meadow, Jucifer, Today is the Day, Acid Mothers Temple, Weedeater, Church of Misery, and Orange Goblin.
There’s nothing happenstance about it, and in an age where word can travel faster than it ever has, Egypt have slow-burned their way to the fore of the American stoner rock underground. In 2015, they’ve expanded beyond those borders with their first European tour. Where they go from here includes a new album, titled Endless Flight, and who knows what else to come, but for a band who regrouped by popular demand and have only gathered momentum since, Egypt are just beginning to shape their empire.
Posted in Whathaveyou on January 22nd, 2015 by JJ Koczan
Montreal sludge trio Dopethrone will release their fourth album, Hochelaga, on Totem Cat Records in April. They have a quality-over-quantity round of European tour dates booked to celebrate, slots included at Desertfest in London and Berlin as well as Heavy Days in Doomtown and shows with Eyehategod and Acid King. I’m also interested to find out if their noted-but-not-specified Los Angeles appearance in November is a part of a festival — as I recall, the Day of the Shred was around that time last year — or just a regular one-off gig. Would be a long way to go for a club show.
Hochelaga will be out by then, but it’s still in preorders for now. Link, album info and trailer follow, courtesy of the PR wire:
Canada’s sludge legends DOPETHRONE to release new album this April on Totem Cat Records!
Montréal-based DIY filthmongers DOPETHRONE finally return this spring with their heaviest album to date! “Hochelaga” is slated for vinyl and digital release on April 13th via independent label Totem Cat Records. Get whatever substance you may need ready, hide your daughters: they’re back…
After they have mercilessly pounded eardrums and spread their groove-laden lunacy on an international scale with three widely acclaimed eargasmic LPs, it is finally time for one of North America’s filthiest weed-infused doom acts DOPETHRONE to take over your households once again. Named after their ghetto stronghold in Montréal, this fourth record betokens DOPETHRONE’s determination to stir up even more trouble and take their sonic power to a higher level.
Enjoy yourselves now and prepare for the takeover with the album’s official trailer.
The riff comes in many forms. Sometimes it’s clean, catchy and elegant. Sometimes it’s filthy, grimy and about as elegant as a sledgehammer to the sternum. DOPETHRONE is the latter. This D.I.Y trio from Hochelaga, Montreal’s trashiest ghetto, wallows in smoke, demons, death, the occult and enough psychotropic drugs to send both Hunter S. Thomspson and William Burroughs on one hell of a trip. Delivering some of the filthiest, most skull-crushing riffs drenched in distortion and fuzz, they encompass the bleakness of black metal, the steadfastness of New Orleans-style sludge with a heavier-than-thou doom mentality. Riffage is thick, punishing, suffocating and destructive and demonic vocals are harsh, visceral and animal-like for tunes dripping with pervasive THC. DOPETHRONE take over doom and view it through a crusty lens, and that perspective rise the genre to new heights of sonic filth.
After they released their first LP “Demonsmoke” on STB Records, the band unleashed “Dark Foil” via Totem Cat Records in 2011, then got invited to Roadburn Festival in 2012 by festival curators Voivod. The performance was followed by the release of third album “III”, in support of which the trio toured Europe two times. Montreal’s distortion-powered sledgehammer DOPETHRONE is set to be back in 2015 with a fourth heavier and most of all thrashier full-length… The band will perform at DesertFest London and Berlin and Heavy Days In Doomtown this spring, and will make their very first appearance in Los Angeles for a special performance in November !
In support of the release, DOPETHRONE will play some of the best heavy festivals this spring, including a bunch of club shows in the rest of Europe. More dates to be announced soon, including North American dates.
UPCOMING SHOWS: 22.04 – LYON (FR) MJC Ô Totem w/ EyeHateGod 23.04 – STRASBOURG (FR) Molodoï w/ EyeHateGod 24.04 – LONDON (UK) Desertfest London 25.04 – BERLIN (DE) Deserfest Berlin 28.04 – PARIS (FR) Glazart w/ Acid King & Black Cobra 29.04 – AMSTERDAM (NL) TBA 30.04 – ATHENS (GR) An Club w/ Belzebong 01.05 – COPENHAGEN (DK) Heavy Days In Doomtown 03.05 – HAMBURG (DE) Hafenklang
DOPETHRONE IS: Vince – Guitar & Vocals Carl – Drums Vyk – Bass
Posted in Reviews on December 17th, 2014 by JJ Koczan
The copper minerals from which Gold & Silver‘s two-song debut EP takes its name, Azurite and Malachite, are blue and green, respectively. But for the shimmering tones present on the tracks themselves, I’d almost be tempted to say it’s a long way around to expressing the ideas of color while avoiding the Baroness trap of actually naming records after colors, but both “Azurite” and “Malachite” seem to take a feel as crystalline in their structure as the Andrea Santos cover hints toward, fleshing out progressively over two extended runtimes and creating a sometimes heavy but almost universally spacious and apparently more concerned with that feel that persists for the 26-minute duration. Even the name of the project, Gold & Silver, relates both to colors and to minerals. The Boston duo of guitarist/drummer/keyboardist Nick DiSalvo, also of Elder, and guitarist Mike Risberg have released Azurite and Malachite on limited vinyl (250 copies, tri-color platter, etc.) through Totem Cat Records, and apart from a prior rehearsal demo, it’s the first output from the band, and the feel throughout is suitably exploratory. But that’s the point. Gold & Silver began as Risberg and DiSalvo writing for acoustic guitar, and if “Azurite” (15:42) and “Malachite” (10:08) were constructed the same way, then they maintain that jam-based sensibility, despite being at least directionally plotted and recorded in layers (unless DiSalvo has concocted a way to play guitar and a full drum kit at the same time; live, Gold & Silver brings in Elder‘s Jack Donovan on bass and John DiSalvo on drums), while fostering clean tonality and a linear feel. They are two distinct pieces, each with its own movements, but consistent in mood and atmosphere and entirely instrumental, the breathy guitar notes and at-the-ready leads saying whatever it is that might ultimately need to be said.
Elder comparisons are inevitable — particularly so for Gold & Silver being DiSalvo‘s first public step outside that band since they got going — so I’ll resign myself to them. Around halfway though “Azurite,” there’s a stop, quick turn, and launch into a heavier push, and in the structure of that, Azurite and Malachite has some commonality with DiSalvo‘s main outfit. As heavy psych influences and some more weighted tones show up later into “Azurite” and “Malachite” gets started on a quieter feel before building into a memorable triumph of a movement, there’s some of that spirit as well, but Gold & Silver retain a personality of their own because of the contributions of Risberg‘s guitar — there’s bass as well, though I’m not sure which of them actually plays it — as well as the overarching progressive vibe throughout. “Azurite” mounts a tense second half on quick-turning rhythms, made jazzy by an overarching lead and some feedback cascading over, and even when it opens up, it does so to a jabbing kind of payoff, guitar and bass bouncing off the sides of the wall of whatever corridor the drums are leading them down toward their crashing finish. It’s not barraging one part after another in the vein of soulless modern prog technicality, but neither is “Azurite” — nor “Malachite,” for that matter — entirely a heavy psychedelic jam. Gold & Silver find a resonant space somewhere between the two sides, and while one gets the sense that should the project continue to move forward Azurite and Malachite could seem formative in comparison to subsequent outings, there’s also clearly a consciousness at work behind both the construction of the material and the style in which it’s presented. As a preliminary exploration, the EP satisfies, and for those familiar with what’s become a signature rhythmic patterning for DiSalvo‘s playing through Elder, it provides a different context in which to experience that as he continues to branch out and progress in his writing.
But there’s also a burgeoning individuality at work within Gold & Silver. The contemplative opening of “Malachite” demonstrates it well, with the wistful lead lines that emerge over an already intricate intro, playing into the subtle build already underway in the guitar, bass and drums. About three minutes in, the drums shift and the central guitar figure arrives that will mark out the song from its predecessor, a sweet sort of noodling that furthers Azurite and Malachite‘s bridge between psych and prog. They build around this riff until shortly before eight minutes in, when the track starts to blow out — think the ending of Neurosis‘ “Stones from the Sky” — and cuts to silence, a drone gradually fading in and swelling to audibility just before wisping out to end the release. That final section, in the two minutes between where the distorted apex of “Malachite” checks out and where the drone takes hold, belongs entirely to Gold & Silver, and if it’s a last minute show of experimentalism on the part of the duo, it’s one that bodes well for their growth as a band. While Azurite and Malachite represents just a first stage in that process, it also makes for an engaging listen both in its concept and execution, and winds up a heartening debut that speaks — without any words, mind you — of good things to come. And while much of DiSalvo‘s 2015 seems set to be consumed by the impending release of his main outfit’s third album and their ascending profile, the word he does here with Risberg isn’t to be ignored.
Posted in Whathaveyou on December 2nd, 2014 by JJ Koczan
Split between Ohio and Pennsylvania, the four-piece Doctor Smoke have just issued their first full-length, The Witching Hour through Totem Cat Records. The long-player follows last year’s four-track Demo 2013 (review here) and repurposes three of those songs, including leadoff duo “The Willow” and “Blood and Whiskey,” giving the implication that they knew what they were going for their first time out and it’s not like their initial batch of songs needed to be scrapped. The other original cut from the demo, “The Seeker” appears on The Witching Hour — the last track was a Pentagram cover — but the album ups the band’s game in terms of production and presentation, their hooks coming across with a decidedly dark, brooding sensibility, more horror than cult, but still definitely aware of ritual.
CD is out on Totem Cat. I’m not sure about a vinyl release, though one has to imagine it’s in the works or in the pre-works one way or another, and the foursome already hit the road in support of the demo, so it seems probable they’ll do likewise for the album itself. More on that as it comes up, but the album’s on Bandcamp, so here’s the stream and info for you to dig in:
Our debut full length album available on CD in Digipak format from Totem Cat Records.
All music and lyrics written and performed by Doctor Smoke
Matt Tluchowski – Lead vocals/Guitar Steve Lehocky – Lead Guitar Cody Cooke – Bass/Vocals Dave Trikones – Drums
Drums and bass recorded December 2013 at The Bombshelter – Nashville, TN Engineered by Andrija Tokic and Jason Blackburn
Guitars and vocals recorded August-September 2014 Engineered by Steve Lehocky and Matt Tluchowski
Mixed by Steve Lehocky
Mastered by Gus Elg at Sky Onion – Portland, OR
Saxophone on “From Hell” performed by Mitchell Lawrence
Texas fuzz mavens Wo Fat and resurgent North Dakota riff rockers Egypt join forces on a new limited-to-500 split LP released via Totem CatRecords. Dubbed Cyclopean Riffsperhaps because the two bands see through one eye or as a play on the fact that the parts work in cycles, the 12″ smoke-colored splatter vinyl features two cuts from each trio. So, to go by the numbers it’s one eye, one release, two bands, two songs each, three members in each band. If you want to keep it going, there’s four songs total and each band has five letters in its name. To draw further correlation, each three-piece also recorded and mixed their own material, with Wo Fat guitarist/vocalist Kent Stump playing the role of engineer for the extended “Nameless Cults,” which starts off their side, and “Electric Hellhound,” while Egypt‘s own six-stringer, Neal Stein, helmed “Blood Temple Hymn” and “Ancient Enemy.” Both have done their own recordings before — Stump has grown into his own as a producer over the course of Wo Fat‘s four albums and Stein proved himself up to the task earlier this year on Egypt‘s comeback LP, Become the Sun(review here) — and with a little over 18 minutes apiece, both bands give a firm sense of where they’re coming from sonically while making a surprisingly good pairing for each other. It’s not necessarily a shock that two fuzzy, heavy rock bands would go together well — that happens all the time — but front to back, Cyclopean Riffsmakes the most of a palpable stylistic kinship between Wo Fat and Egypt, its songs based around top quality riffing and classic jamming swagger.
There aren’t sides, per se, but Wo Fat are given top billing, and they launch Cyclopean Riffswith “Nameless Cults,” a song that plays into a similar kind of swamp-mystic thematic that has presented itself across their last two full-lengths, 2012’s The Black Code(review here) and 2011’s Noche del Chupacabra(review here), while remaining consistent on a musical level as well. One thinks of 10-minute-plus jamming excursions like “The Shard of Leng” from last year’s outing or the title-track of the record before it and it seems Wo Fat‘s penchant for improv-style fuzz wandering has remained strong in the time since they put The Black Codeto tape. They continue to hone a blend between that side of their approach and a knack for memorable choruses, as both “Nameless Cults” and the considerably less open-structured “Electric Hellhound” offer a hook worthy of their reputation, the former using a straightforward verse/chorus beginning as a springboard for an instrumental jam that holds sway for the entirety of the second half of the track — Stump taking leads here and there while bassist Tim Wilson and drummer Michael Walter (also backing vocals) keep a sense of motion and build rolling along — while the latter works largely the same, only without the departure from its initial base structure. An increase in stomp from Walter and build throughout the song itself would make an extended jam almost redundant, not to mention the fact that they just did one and would run out of room on the side of an LP.
