Posted in Whathaveyou on April 5th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
This is deeply admirable work, especially as a first edition. Sword of Damocles is a new festival taking place Oct. 19, 2024, in Glasgow, Scotland. An all-dayer, also with a pre-show the night before, so it doesn’t seem impossible they might expand at some point, but you gotta get through the first one first.
To do so, the DIY-style fest has put together a seven-band lineup with six of the included acts — Yuri Gagarin, Wet Cactus, Maha Sohona, Five the Hierophant, The Lunar Effect and Troy the Band — making their Scottish debuts, while the seventh is headliner Mars Red Sky, who’ll perform with special guest Helen Ferguson (aka Queen of the Meadow) who was so much a part of what made their Dawn of the Dusk LP (review here) such a highlight late last year.
An immediate sense of curation, a breadth of styles covered, and a show that Scotland has never seen before, all in one package. The ambition is noteworthy, but even more, it looks like it’s going to be a great time for those who make it out. May it be the first of many to come:
From the centre of Glasgow, SoD is bringing 7 of the best stoner/alt rock bands to your door, Saturday, October 19th.
Featuring an incredible line-up with Mars Red Sky (plus special guest Helen Ferguson of Queen of the Meadow) headlining the Saturday night, accompanied by Yuri Gagarin, Wet Cactus, Maha Sohona, Five The Hierophant, The Lunar Effect, and Troy The Band. Six of whom are performing in Scotland for the very first time, welcome to the Sword of Damocles.
Independently run, underground at heart, Sword of Damocles offers a new experience to the Glasgow music scene.
Featuring an array alternative acts, from stoner rock to avant-garde, we hope to offer a little something to everyone who’s in Glasgow, and is in to all things heavy!
Expect stoner, psych, and desert vibes as these incredible acts come to grace the stage at Glasgow’s iconic Classic Grand.
Mars Red Sky (excl. set) Yuri Gagarin (SCO debut) Wet Cactus (SCO debut – excl. set) Maha Sohona (UK debut) Five The Hierophant (SCO debut) The Lunar Effect (SCO debut) Troy The Band (SCO debut)
Prices: 1x Adult Ticket – £49 + payment fees Ticket price on the door: TBD (Pre-Show: Info coming soon)
Artwork credits: Gravelord Deathworks – Arts & Designs
Friday, Feb. 2, marks the awaited release for Troy the Band‘s first album, Cataclysm, through Swedish imprint Bonebag Records. The six-song/41-minute offering follows behind 2022’s debut EP, The Blissful Unknown (review here), and is weighted and spacious in kind, the London-based four-piece immersed in a sound that’s part heavygaze, but fuzz-grunge and almost universally molten. Opening with its title-track, Cataclysmlumbers with large-snail-creature presence but isn’t so unipolar in its approach as the overarching wash might make it seem, whether it’s the boogie in the second half of “Cataclysm” itself or the crash-laden shove of “IHOD,” on which vocalist Craig Newman is at his most reminiscent of Facelift-era Layne Staley, or “Only Violence” just before which seems to be working under the influence of earlier Mars Red Sky or the Sabbath-via-Sleep stonerized Declaration of Riff in “Flesh Wound,” bolstered by the production of Wayne Adams at Bear Bites Horse, who you probably already know because he also helmed your album. Or at least mixed it.
Most of the record though resides in the spaces between Dead Meadow‘s languid ethereality and the more grounded ends of modern riff worship. That is to say it’s a current sound but not ready to settle into being one thing or the other and, particularly on this first long-player, that much stronger for the flashes of doom that show up amid the hot pinks and psychedelic yellows in the wah-drenched reaches of “Flesh Wound,” which is also the longest song at 8:53 and a roller that seems to lose none of its impact for all the float surrounding, perhaps best encapsulating the meld of styles Troy the Band are crafting, if not necessarily telling the entire story on its own either in their melodic penchant, the post-punk goth dance party at the start of “The Void” or closer “Fauna” casting its urban-concrete bass tone against a ranging vocal and an outbound final push speaking one way or another to an escapist sensibility maybe also behind the title. They go, have gone, are gone, and when they decide it’s time to vibe on some Earth-y drone repetition, they’re dug no less into that than they are into the expanse in the hook of “Cataclysm” that teaches the listener so much about the album that follows.
And repetition is part of the methodology here, but again, not necessary all of it, as a big part of what ultimately makes Troy the Band an exciting listen — this was true of the EP as well, but is more fleshed out on the longer release, as well as the band being more sonically developed generally — is that the songs are coherent and purposeful but don’t draw from any single source so much as to be readily placed in this or that niche. Yeah, I’ve namedropped a few bands in the course of this review, and I stand by those comparisons — none of them feels outlandish; that riff in “Only Violence” really does sound like second-LP Mars Red Sky, even if it’s been buried in other effects — but that’s just it: Troy the Band have a sound that seems aware of its influences but unwilling to be limited by them. This is something that, inherently, can’t be confirmed by one full-length alone since it’s a measure of a band’s progression over time, but in coming across more like themselves than anyone else in the genre, Troy the Band seem to have a leg up on their own growth. Or maybe I’m just spaced out on that jam halfway through “Flesh Wound.” I don’t know, but it all feels very consuming and light — not like bright colors but like light itself; the mixed wavelengths of raw sunlight — right now, and I think that means it’s working.
The big question is how much Troy the Band will do in a live setting to support it. In 2023, they played both Masters of the Riff II and Desertfest London, and certainly those are by no means the only festivals in the UK, but they’re two good ones to have in your pocket as a band putting out your first LP. But if I mention touring for an act who haven’t been out for months at a time up to this point in their still-perhaps-nascent tenure, it’s not to point out something they haven’t done up to now so much to to highlight their sound as being strong enough in its identity to stand up to the task if they wanted to take it on the road. Plenty of time for such things, though. For now, the spaces conjured and conquered throughout Cataclysm stand as testament to the efforts put in by Troy the Band performance-wise and in terms of composition, but also that potential for what they might accomplish moving on from here.
Cataclysmstreams in full below, followed by more info from the PR wire.
Please enjoy:
Cataclysm, the debut full-length album from London-based Doom-gaze four-piece Troy The Band, will be released on Sweden’s Bonebag Records on February 2nd 2024. Since the release of their debut EP, The Blissful Unknown, Troy The Band have become mainstays in the London heavy music scene, with a list of accolades in 2023 that includes appearances at Desertfest London, Masters of the Riff, and Stoomfest, as well as a craft beer collaboration with East London’s Old Street Brewery.
With Cataclysm the band have taken the most unique elements of their debut EP and forged them into an album that blends elements of Stoner-Doom, Post Rock, Shoegaze and Heavy Psych. Cataclysm is dark, heavy, and identifiably their own.
For this album the band went back to work with Wayne Adams at Bear Bites Horse studio in East London. From the band’s point of view, this was a no-brainer: “We knew we wanted to work with Wayne again on this album. He’s great to work with and he had an important hand in shaping the sound of our EP. We knew he would get what we were trying to do with this album, and we really couldn’t be happier with how it has turned out.”
Each track is built from a sturdy foundation of Sean Durbin’s bass riffs which are then overlaid with Sean Burn’s distinctive guitar playing and Craig Newman’s unique and ethereal vocal style, adding layers of harmonic complexity and tension that is a defining feature of their sound.
The album title is derived from the name the band gave the initial demo of the title track, driven by its musically jarring feel rather than its lyrical content. It was then self-consciously adopted as the album title to reflect their aim of causing a musical upheaval in the heavy music scene. We believe it will.
Posted in Whathaveyou on October 26th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
No public audio yet to share around still more than three months ahead of the Feb. 2 release, but heads up on Troy the Band‘s psych-stoner-doom roll on Cataclysm. The London four-piece made their presence known with 2022’s The Blissful Unknown EP (review here), and answer the promise of that short release with six new tracks of dense aural foam, a sound that’s as must post-now as back-when, a psychedelia that’s able to be loaded with weighted grit or float with a Dead Meadowy lightness, but wherever they go, they’re headed farther out. I’m just listening for the first time, but for the first external band signed by Bonebag Records, the Swedish imprint run by members of Cavern Deep, they seem to have hit on a gem.
Lumbering, drifting, shoving in “IHOD” which stands for who knows what and expansive in its approach throughout, Cataclysm will no doubt have preorders and all that as we get closer to its arrival. I’m not sure if I can personally consider a record ‘most anticipated’ when I’ve heard it, but I’ve started my albums-to-look-forward-to-in-2024 list, and Troy the Band‘s first LP is on it either way. So again, heads up.
The PR wire brought word:
Troy The Band – “Cataclysm” out February 2nd
Cataclysm, the debut full-length album from London-based Doom-gaze four-piece Troy The Band, will be released on Sweden’s Bonebag Records on February 2nd 2024. Since the release of their debut EP, The Blissful Unknown, Troy The Band have become mainstays in the London heavy music scene, with a list of accolades in 2023 that includes appearances at Desertfest London, Masters of the Riff, and Stoomfest, as well as a craft beer collaboration with East London’s Old Street Brewery.
With Cataclysm the band have taken the most unique elements of their debut EP and forged them into an album that blends elements of Stoner-Doom, Post Rock, Shoegaze and Heavy Psych. Cataclysm is dark, heavy, and identifiably their own.
For this album the band went back to work with Wayne Adams at Bear Bites Horse studio in East London. From the band’s point of view, this was a no-brainer: “We knew we wanted to work with Wayne again on this album. He’s great to work with and he had an important hand in shaping the sound of our EP. We knew he would get what we were trying to do with this album, and we really couldn’t be happier with how it has turned out.”
Each track is built from a sturdy foundation of Sean Durbin’s bass riffs which are then overlaid with Sean Burn’s distinctive guitar playing and Craig Newman’s unique and ethereal vocal style, adding layers of harmonic complexity and tension that is a defining feature of their sound.
The album title is derived from the name the band gave the initial demo of the title track, driven by its musically jarring feel rather than its lyrical content. It was then self-consciously adopted as the album title to reflect their aim of causing a musical upheaval in the heavy music scene. We believe it will.
Posted in Whathaveyou on September 20th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
When the storytellers behind Swedish conceptualist doomers Cavern Deep launched their own label, Bonebag Records — whose first release was the band’s own Part II – Breach (review here) this summer — they made known their intention to develop the imprint as something more than a DIY outlet, and the first act to be signed other than themselves is UK crunch riffers Troy the Band.
The band (Troy) released their debut EP, The Blissful Unknown (review here), in 2022, and if you didn’t catch wind of its swinging, grungy psych, it’s streaming below. It’s cool to think of the band moving forward with their first long-player, them and the label growing together.
Announcement came down the PR wire. I’ll hope to have more on the record closer to the release:
BONEBAG RECORDS SIGNS TROY THE BAND
Cavern Deep’s Bonebag Records signs its first artist. Troy The Band is a London-based four piece boasting a distinctive sonic identity that seamlessly weaves together elements of Stoner-doom, post rock, heavy psych, and shoegaze.
Beginning with their first live shows in early 2022, TTB have established themselves as a mainstay of the UK heavy music scene. In April 2022 they self-released their debut EP, The Blissful Unknown, to critical acclaim. One review dubbed it “a surreal release that captivates from start to finish” and hailed it as “one of the most compelling debut releases to emerge from the UK Doom/Stoner Metal scene in recent memory.”
Bolstered by the resonance of their EP, Troy The Band maintained a regular gigging schedule, sharing stages with heavyweights such as King Buffalo, Unida, and Hippie Death Cult during their 2022 UK tours.
In Spring 2023 the band re-entered the studio with Wayne Adams at Bear Bites Horse Studios in London to record their debut full-length album.
Continuing their forward momentum as a band, throughout 2023 they have played festivals within their genre, including Desertfest London, Masters of the Riff II, and Stoomfest.
In August 2023 Troy The Band signed a record deal with Sweden’s Bonebag Records who will release their full length debut in December 2023.
Quote from Bonebag Records:
“After hearing Troy The Band for the first time when they promoted their EP, which captivated us with its unique sound, we were absolutely delighted when they submitted their debut album to our label. Troy The Band excels at blending a distinctive sound with classic doom riffs, which our label is thrilled to support. With such an impressive lineup of songs on their forthcoming album, we firmly believe they are poised to take the Heavy Underground by storm.”
Posted in Whathaveyou on January 31st, 2023 by JJ Koczan
This looks utterly doable. You get into London maybe Friday morning, find your way to Hackney and the Oslo venue in time for the start, check out a few killers on Friday, then spend Saturday and Sunday fully immersed in the front-to-back, digging on the variety mostly of London’s own heavy underground, but certainly from some outside as well. I kind of feel like every time Slomatics book a show at this point I end up writing about it one way or the other — they mostly play fests, so it’s almost true — but along the top line here with them is Gnome — as seen on many 2023 lineups — Conan and Esoteric. That’s a strong argument already, but with the likes of Josiah and Desert Storm and Old Horn Tooth further down the bill there’s more to dig into than headliners to be sure. If you haven’t heard Goblinsmoker yet and want a tutorial on UK sludge, they’re glad to offer.
If I had more money than gawd and fewer responsibilities than I do, this would be the kind of thing I’d pop over to hang out at. It’s not about big bands or any kind of pretense or whatever. It’s just a killer assemblage playing out over what’ll be a good weekend for those fortunate enough to see it. Some familiar, some newer acts, just the way it should be. Nothing more to ask.
Tickets are available, and the venue’s right by Hackney Central train station and there’s a Travelodge there and a Tesco down the road, so if you’re looking to set up shop coming in from out of town, it’s doable. Full lineup follows:
We’re back in the ring to take another swing!
London Doom Collective are proud to bring you the best of the underground doom/stoner/sludge with Master of the Riff II
Posted in Questionnaire on January 24th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.
Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.
Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.
The Obelisk Questionnaire: Sean Durbin of Troy the Band
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How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?
I play bass and write the initial song outlines for a band that I started in 2021 called Troy The Band. In the most immediate sense I came to do this through two intertwining events. One is that in late 2018 my partner and I moved to London from New Zealand, in part so I could continue to pursue my academic career, and by mid-to-late 2019 we were finally feeling settled after getting jobs and finding a place to live. I had been itching to play more music and I found a fun MC5-esque band to play with. Then COVID came along and shut everything down.
So with the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns, I had a lot more time to sit down to write and play music and just sit with my instrument and try new things, which was an enormous boon to my creativity and musicianship. I also resolved to make more time for things that I wanted to do rather than just things that I thought I ought to do. With that, I began taking a lot of the riff ideas I had been recording and transforming them into songs and then in April 2021 when the last lockdown ended I started advertising for others to form this band with me. We finalized the line up in September last year and then very quickly recorded our debut EP about six weeks after that.
There is another part to this story though that is also very important. I grew up in San Jose, California, and as a very unhappy teenager in high school around 2001, one of the bright spots I have is working as a line cook at a small, barbecue restaurant called Malibu Grill. One of the co-owners was a guy named Erik who was about 15 years older than me and basically became my mentor/big brother/best friend all in one. Erik was and is an outstanding vocalist. In the early ’90s he sang in a band called Dear Deceased with High on Fire’s original bassist, George Rice, and the vocalist from Operator Generator, Mitchell French. When I met Erik he had started another band called Woodshed and they would open a lot for High On Fire and Operator Generator, and other stoner bands around at the time like Greenhouse Effect. Erik took me to a lot of shows and quite literally introduced me to the above bands, and thus the broader genre. After I finished high school I moved New Zealand and I really missed Erik a lot so I am sure that also played a part in me really getting into this style of music as well because it was a nice way to remind me of him I guess, and it’s just always been with me since then.
Describe your first musical memory.
Tricky to pinpoint exactly, but I recall seeing Peter, Paul and Mary as a very young kid, and singing Raffi songs.
Describe your best musical memory to date.
This is also tricky. 1) Playing a show with King Buffalo, 2) Playing a show with Unida and Hippie Death Cult, and 3) having people enjoy the music I have helped create.
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
In the past I was good at doubting myself, so when I did or achieved things that I didn’t think I could do I guess those were firm beliefs that were tested by outcomes I hadn’t expected.
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
For me artistic progression (and intellectual progression) can lead to two mutually exclusive places that can nonetheless exist at the same time. One is satisfaction, and the other is frustration. I find creating things very satisfying, and progressing as an artist and musician is a very satisfying thing. But the more you learn or progress, the more awareness you get in terms of how much you don’t know or how much more there is to learn. That awareness can lead to frustration. This is what I try to remind myself of when I get frustrated, which is that it’s part of my own artistic or intellectual development.
How do you define success?
I feel successful if I am able to do the things that make me happy without being overwhelmed by financial or other pressures.
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
A Donald Trump presidency.
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.
Full length Troy The Band album.
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
Creating and consuming art is satisfying and ideally also pushes you intellectually and creatively.
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
I am getting married [in 2023] which I am really excited about.
Posted in Whathaveyou on December 2nd, 2022 by JJ Koczan
I mean, what can you say to this other than ‘can I come?’ I’ve known this festival was capable of some real-deal shit over the last decade, but this is absolutely epic, which is a word I do my best to avoid. And they end it by saying there’s more to come. God damn. Really. God damn.
Wow.
Here:
Desertfest London announce over 40 bands for 2023
Friday 5th May – Sunday 7th May 2023 | Weekend Tickets on sale now
Desertfest London is rounding off the year with an ear-shattering bang, announcing a mammoth 43 artists to their 2023 line-up. Joining the likes of Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats, Graveyard, Kadavar and Church of Misery, the Camden-based festival also welcomes back Corrosion of Conformity as headliners.
Pioneers of a groove-laden sound that is undeniably their own, Corrosion of Conformity have not been back on UK soil since 2018 so expect big, loud and memorable things from their appearance at Desertfest next year. Corrosion of Conformity have been due to play the event since 2020 – making their return one of the most widely requested in the event’s history.
Japan’s own avant-garde maestros of down-tuned psychedelia Boris leap over to London alongside the crushingly loud tones of NOLA’s own Crowbar. One of the most exciting bands in recent memory King Buffalo, make their long-awaited debut plus Desertfest favourites, Weedeater are back after five long years of chugging whiskey lord-knows-where.
The pace moves up a notch with New York City’s noise-rock guru’s Unsane and British punk-legends Discharge, all of whom bring a detour from the slow’n’low sounds the festival is best recognised for. Montreal’s Big | Brave will play the festival for the first time showcasing their experimental and minimalist take on the notion of ‘heavy’, whilst the doors to the Church of The Cosmic Skull are open, as they ask Desertfest revellers to join them in a union unlike any other.
Desertfest also warmly welcomes noise from STAKE, British anti-fascist black metallers Dawn Ray’d and London’s loudest duo Tuskar as well as some of the best recent stoner acts in the form of Telekinetic Yeti, Weedpecker & Great Electric Quest. Elsewhere the weekend will also see Wren, The Necromancers, Dommengang, Samavayo, Morass of Molasses, Sum of R & GNOB offer up unique live performances.
Rounding off this beast of an announcement are Acid Mammoth, Deatchant, Zetra, Trevor’s Head, Our Man in The Bronze Age, Wyatt E., Iron Jinn, Mr Bison, Troy The Band, Oreyeon, Warren Schoenbright, Early Moods, Longheads, Terror Cosmico, Thunder Horse, TONS, Vinnum Sabbathi, Bloodswamp, The Age of Truth, Earl of Hell and Black Groove.
Weekend Tickets for Desertfest London 2023 are on-sale now via www.desertfest.co.uk with more acts still to be announced.
Day splits and day tickets will be on sale from January.
Full Line-Up for Desertfest London 2023: UNCLE ACID & THE DEADBEATS | GRAVEYARD | CORROSION OF CONFORMITY | KADAVAR | BORIS | CROWBAR | CHURCH OF MISERY | WEEDEATER | KING BUFFALO | BLOOD CEREMONY | DISCHARGE | SOMALI YACHT CLUB | UNSANE | BIG|BRAVE | INTER ARMA | CHURCH OF THE COSMIC SKULL | VALLEY OF THE SUN | STAKE | MARS RED SKY | SPACESLUG | GRAVE LINES | GAUPA | TUSKAR | TELEKINETIC YETI | WEEDPECKER | DAWN RAY’D | WREN | GREAT ELECTRIC QUEST | THE NECROMANCERS | DOMMENGANG | ECSTATIC VISION | SAMAVAYO | MORASS OF MOLASSES | SUM OF R | HIGH DESERT QUEEN | GNOB | EVEREST QUEEN | ACID MAMMOTH | DEATHCHANT | ZETRA | CELESTIAL SANCTUARY | TREVOR’S HEAD | OUR MAN IN THE BRONZE AGE | WYATT E. | MR BISON | TROY THE BAND | PLAINRIDE | IRON JINN | OREYEON | WARREN SCHOENBRIGHT | EARLY MOODS | LONGHEADS | TERROR COSMICO | THUNDER HORSE | TONS | VINNUM SABBATHI | BLOODSWAMP | VENOMWOLF | THE AGE OF TRUTH | EARL OF HELL | BLACK GROOVE | MARGARITA WITCH CULT
Day seven of a Quarterly Review is pretty rarefied air, by which I mean it doesn’t happen that often. And even with 100 records in the span of these two weeks, I’ll never ever ever ever claim to approach being comprehensive, but the point is take it as a sign of just how much is out there right now. If you find it overwhelming, me too.
But think about our wretched species. What’s our redeeming factor? Treatment resistant bacteria? War? Yelling for more war? Economic disparity? Abortion rights? Art. Art’s it. Art and nothing.
So at least there’s a lot of art.
Quarterly Review #61-70:
Trigona, Trigona
With independent label distribution in the UK, US, Australia and Europe, Trigona‘s Trigona is about as spread out geographically as sonically. The Queensland, AUS-based instrumental solo outfit of Rob Shiels — guitar, bass, synth, drum programming, effects, noise, etc. — released the Meridian tape earlier in 2022 on Echodelick and I’m honestly not sure if this six-song self-titled is supposed to count as a debut full-length or what, expanded as it is from Trigona‘s 2021 EP of the same name, albeit remastered with a new track sequence and the eight-minute “Via Egnatia” tagged onto the end of side B to mirror side A’s eight-minute finale, “Rosatom.” Sweet toned progressivism and semi-krautrock bass meditation pervades, debut or not, as Shiels touches on more terrestrial songwriting in “Monk” only after “Shita Ue” has offered its uptempo, almost poppy except not at all pop take on space rock outwardness, a mirror itself somewhat for album opener “Von Graf,” while second cut “Nudler” spreads proggy guitar figures over a sunshiny movement, letting “Rosatom” handle the wash-conjuring. There’s a slowdown at the finish of “Via Egnatia,” its effect lessened perhaps by the programmed drums, but Trigona‘s Trigona is so much more about atmosphere than heft it feels silly to even mention. Debut or not, it is striking.
Hells yeah J-psych. Nagoya-based three-piece Blasting Rod — guitarist/vocalist S. Shah (also electronics), bassist/guitarist Yoshihiro Yasui and drummer Chihiro (everybody also adds percussion) — already have a follow-up LP, Of Wild Hazel, on the way/streaming for the two-songer Mirror Moon Ascending, and that and some of their past work has aligned them with US-based Glory or Death Records, but if you’re looking to be introduced to their world of sometimes serene, sometimes madcap psychedelia, these two mono mixes by Eternal Elysium‘s Yukito Okazaki, with the drift and languid crash, far-back drums of “Mirror Moon Ascending” and the shaker-inclusive insistence of “Wheel Upon the Car of Dragonaut,” which turns its title into a multi-layered mantra, can be a decent place to start as a springboard into the band’s and S. Shah‘s sundry other projects. Their experimentalism doesn’t stop them from writing songs, at least not this time around, and it seems to drive aspects of what they do like mixing in mono in the first place, so there’s meta-screwing with form as well as get-weird-stay-weird heavy space rock push. After this, check out 2021’s III and then the new one. After that, you’re on your own. Good luck and have fun.
From Those Ashes, a double-guitar four-piece from Chicago, present four songs in Contagion of thrash-derived but ultimately mostly mid-tempo metal, vocalist/guitarist Aaron Pokoj (also production) leading the charge with Jose “Mop” Valles ripping solos for good measure and bassist Ryan Compton and drummer Omar “Pockets” Mombela holding together tight grooves amid the deathlier moments of the title-track. Pokoj‘s trades between harsh and clean vocals show a firm grasp of melody and arrangement, and though their lyrical perspective is disaffected until basically the last two lines of EP-closer “Light Breaks,” the aggression doesn’t necessarily trump craft, though “The Reset Button” moves through throwing elder-hardcore elbows and the first words shouted on opener “Devoid of Thought” are “fuck it.” Fair enough. The Iron Maiden-style opening of “Light Breaks” is a standout moment, though guitar antics aren’t by any means in short supply, but when From Those Ashes build their way into the song proper, the death-thrash onslaught is fervent right up to the end. And those last lines? “As light breaks through the shadow and gives way to life/Sustained emergence of the soul and the will to survive?” Brutally, righteously growled.
Rarely does music itself sound so stoned. Across six tracks of bassy, at least partially Dune-referential — the hand-drummed “Shai Hulud,” etc. — meditative heavy, the anonymous outfit Hashishian from somewhere, sometime, convey a languid, loosely Middle Eastern-informed, vibe-dense aural weedianism. And much to their credit, “Mountain of Smoke” seems to live up to its name. Less so, perhaps, “Let Us Reason,” which is drawn out in such a way that the moderation implied, maybe with desperation, is inhaled like so much pine-smelling vapor. “Shai Hulud” is the longest cut, mostly instrumental, and might be as far out as Hashishian go, but even the twisting feedback and lead notes at the beginning of closer “Nazareth” feel like a heavy-eyelidded march toward the riff-fill’d land, never mind the bass-led procession of the song itself, manifesting the ethic of opener “Onward” that seems to be the mentality of the 39-minute self-titled as a whole. It is molten in a way not much can claim to be, more patient than the most patient person you know, and seems to find way to make even the tolling bell of the penultimate “High Chief” a drone. Definitely post-Om in sound, Hashishian‘s Hashishian is a sprawl of sand waiting to engulf you. And to whoever is playing this bass, thank you.
Ohio-based industrialists Above & Below — primarily Plaguewielder‘s Bryce Seditz on vocals, guitar, synth, programming with Chrome Waves‘ Jeff Wilson adding bass, noise, production and a release through his Disorder Recordings imprint — make their debut with the seven tracks/27 minutes of Suffer Decay Alone, which digs into modern stylistic features like the weighted tonality of the guitar in “Isolate” and the screams on top, some The Downward Spiraling atmosphere given a boost in rhythm from the dense machine churn of Author & Punisher there and on the prior “Hope,” while “Rust” approaches danceable but for all that screaming. “Dead” sounds like something Gnaw might come up with, but the cold realization of craft in “Tear” feels like a signpost telling the project where it wants to head, and the same applies to the 3Teeth-style horror noise of “Covered.” I don’t know which impulse will win out, songwriting or destructive noise, and I’m not sure it needs to be one or the other, but Suffer Decay Alone sets out with a duly harsh mentality and sounds to match. If this is Rust Belt fuckall circa 2022, I’m on board.
Shades of Earthless‘ more meandering stretches pervade “Cosmic Awakening Pt. I – Forsaken Slumber,” the opener of Lord Elephant‘s Heavy Psych Sounds debut, Cosmic Awakening, and those are purposefully brushed away as “Cosmic Awakening Pt. II – First Radiation” brings on more straight-ahead instrumental shove. The Florence, Italy, trio issued the eight-track album independently in 2021 and their being on the label they are earns them a certain amount of trust before one even listens, but the vibe throughout the outing’s 43 minutes is a don’t-worry-we-know-what-we’re-doing blend of psychedelia and underlying tonal heft. Bass. Tone. Guitar. Tone. Drums. On point. There’s nothing overly fancy about it and there doesn’t need to be as “Raktabija” is a rush and a blast at once, “Covered in Earth’s Blood” crunches and builds and builds and crunches again and “Stellar Cloud” has enough low end to make you feel funny for staring. I wouldn’t put it past them to make friends with an organist at some point, but they’ve got everything they need for right now even without vocals, and the combination of weight and breadth is effectively conveyed from front to back, with closer “Secreteternal” executing a final slowdown until it just seems to come apart. Right on.
French double-guitar four-piece Dirty Shades released their debut EP in March 2020, so yeah, there goes that. Lift Off is the four-song follow-up short release, tagged as a ‘live session,’ and given the organic vibe of the performances, I’m inclined to believe it. Vocalist/guitarist Anouk Degrande leads the way as “Dazed” picks up in winding style from the more ethereal opening across the two-minute “Ignition,” her voice reminding in places of No Doubt-era Gwen Stefani, albeit in a much different context. Fellow guitarist Nathan Mimeau provides backing for the chorus, ditto bassist Martin Degrande, and drummer Mathurin Robart is charged with keeping the patterns together behind the various turns in volume and intensity through “Dazed” and the subsequent “Running for Your Life,” which is full, spaced and surprisingly heavy by the time its five minutes are done but is still somehow more about the trip getting there. And a shorter take on now-closer “Trainwreck” appeared on 2020’s Specific Impulse, but its added dreaminess serves it well. Jazzy in spots and showing the band still seeking their stylistic niche, Lift Off may well prove to be the foundation from which the band launches.
Best case scenario when a band revamps its lineup is that listeners get another killer band out of it. With that, bid hello to Venus Principle‘s debut album, Stand in Your Light. With vocalist/guitarist Daniel Änghede (also Astroqueen), pianist/vocalist Daisy Chapman, guitarist/keyboardist Jonas Stålhammar (also At the Gates), keyboardist/backing vocalist Mark Furnevall and drummer Ben Wilsker all having been in Crippled Black Phoenix — only bassist Pontus Blom would seem not to be an alumnus — this more recent project perhaps unsurprisingly digs into a deeply, richly melodic, expanded-definition-of-heavy post-rock. The songs across the 68-minute 2LP, which starts with its longest track (immediate points) in the 10:34 “Rebel Drones,” are afraid neither to be loud nor minimal, and standout moments like “Shut it Down” or the Mellotron into absolute-melody-wash of “Sanctuary” bear out that vibe as a reminder of the gorgeousness that can come from emotions normally thought negative. The promo text for this record says it, “provides balm for the wound that the split of ANATHEMA has caused,” and that’s a lofty claim from where I sit, but you know, it’s a start, and clearly a lineup capable of a certain kind of magic that they represent well here.
One doesn’t imagine it’s easy to be a new band in London at this point, with the seen-it-all-plus-we’re-all-in-like-10-bands-ourselves crowd and so many acts in and around the sphere of Desertfest, etc. — or maybe I’m way off and the community is amazing; I honestly don’t know — but Troy the Band distinguish themselves through the pendulum swing in their debut EP, The Blissful Unknown, guitars and bass both fuzzed to and beyond the gills and just a bit showy in “Michael” to give the outing a hint of strut despite its generally laid back attitude. Opener “I Wage a War” is the shortest inclusion by far on the 26-minute offering, and it’s a sprint compared to the more plodding, drone-hum-backed “Less Than Nothing,” and after “Michael” chugs and sways to its noisy finish, the title-track blows it all out to end off by underscoring the encouragingly atmospheric impression made by the songs prior, loose-sounding but not at all sloppy and occupying an expanse that comes across like it only wants to grow bigger. Here’s hoping it does exactly that. In the meantime, even in England’s green, pleasant and perpetually-full-of-riffs land, Troy the Band carve a fascinating place for themselves between various microgenres, psychedelic without being carried off by self-indulgence.
Oakland, California’s Mount Desert make an awaited full-length debut with Fear the Heart a full seven years after releasing their self-titled two-songer (review here), both cuts from which feature on the record. Hey, life happens. I get that. And if the tradeoff for not putting out two or three records in the interim is the airy float of guitar throughout and the subtle-then-not-so-subtle build in “Semper Virens,” I’ll take it. Who the hell needs more records when you can have one that speaks to your unconscious like that? In any case, Fear the Heart is striking in more than just its moments of culmination, “Blue Madonna” and “New Fire” at the outset casting a fluidity that “The River I” and “The River II” perhaps unsurprisingly further even as they find their own paths into the second half of the record. “The Wail” closes with nighttime howls only after “Fear the Heart” — one of the two from the first outing — and the aforementioned “Semper Virens” have their say in progressive guitar and weighted psychedelicraft, earthbound thanks to vocal soul and ‘them drums tho,’ and especially as a debut, and one apparently a while in the making, Mount Desert‘s first LP justifies all that hype from more than half a decade and 15 lifetimes ago. They’re a band with something to say aesthetically and in songwriting. I hope they continue to move forward.
