Posted in Whathaveyou on August 11th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
The blurb below, toward the bottom, just above the links, I lifted from Ripple Music‘s Bandcamp. Something about it seemed awfully familiar. I’d soon enough realize that’s because I wrote it in my review of the label’s new Turned to Stone Chapter 5 (review here) split between Planet of the 8s and Duneeater, which is of course what the two bands will be promoting on this upcoming run through their jointly native Australia. That split, organized in executive-producer fashion by Las Vegas-based promoter and general dude-who-knows-stuff-about-heavy-music John Gist of Vegas Rock Revolution (obviously of greater reach than those city limits), is the best argument for itself, so you’ll find it streaming at the bottom of this post, each act a complement for the other without all that exhausting competition.
I don’t have data for how this site does in Australia, and honestly I’d probably rather not know, but Aus heavy is some of the finest in the world, and these bands both rock, so if you happen to be seeing this and in the part of the world where they’ll be, do you really need me to tell you to show up and support, maybe pick up a vinyl? No, I don’t think you do.
From social media:
Planet of the 8s & Duneeater – Turned to Stone Tour
TOUR ANNOUNCEMENT! We’re hitting the road with Duneeater to promote our split 12″ LP ‘Turned To Stone – Chapter V’ out now on Ripple Music. Save $$ with a presale ticket on sale here: https://linktr.ee/ttstour
— More dates TBA —
Fri 30 Sept – The Basement, Canberra Fri 1 Oct – The Stag & Hunter, Newcastle Sun 2 Oct – Frankie’s, Sydney – FREE ENTRY Sat 15 Oct – Enigma Bar, Adelaide Fri 21 Oct – The Evelyn, Melbourne
Ripple Music‘s split series continues, pairing Australian heavy rockers Duneeater and Planet of the 8s. And while many splits set themselves up as a blank-vs.-blank scenario, like a (usually friendly) competition between the bands involved, the Victoria and Melbourne, respectively, outfits make sure everyone knows they’re both playing for Team Riff, setting up the tracklisting between the two so that the bands not only share the release, but indeed some of the music that makes it up. And that goes to underline the sheer listenability of Turned to Stone Chapter 5. It is the converted offering a righteous preach to the choir, and each side has a bit of sermon to it as well. If you’d worship an altar of fuzz, they’ve built one here.
Ripple Music‘s split series continues Aug. 5 with Turned to Stone Chapter 5, pairing Australian heavy rockers Duneeater and Planet of the 8s. And while many splits set themselves up as a blank-vs.-blank scenario, like a (usually friendly) competition between the bands involved, the Victoria and Melbourne, respectively, outfits make sure everyone knows they’re both playing for Team Riff, setting up the tracklisting between the two so that the bands not only share the release, but indeed some of the music that makes it up. Duneeater, who released their No Gas No Good debut LP in 2019, begin side A with “Dusk Part 2.” Planet of the 8s, whose Lagrange Point Vol. 1 (review here) came out last year, end side B with “Dusk Part 1.” So immediately the vinyl has a wraparound effect from these two riff-led interludes.
They do something similar with the middle. Duneeater‘s “Devil Dodgers (Dawn Part 1)” caps their five-song portion by dedicating its last 50 seconds and fadeout to pulling off a quietly complex rhythmic turn into the riff that will also serve as the fading-in foundation of Planet of the 8s‘ minute-long “Dawn Part 2” — they also work some fun stops into the end of it before digging into their two main songs, which are longer than the two between which they’re sandwiched. There are stylistic similarities and differences between the bands. Duneeater are more straightforward, back to the roots of heavy, fuzzy, desert-style rock as shades of Kyuss, Fu Manchu, Mondo Generator, “Twin Voyager” nodding directly at the Californian desert while “Pleather Sex” (video premiering below) echoes Sungrazer‘s “Common Believer” in its riff and pairs that with a Valley of the Sun-style grit and Songs for the Deaf-style crunch that would make Ruff Majik blush.
Familiar terrain? Maybe, but Duneeater do well with it and know the style they’re playing toward. It might be splitting hairs to liken “C.O.B.R.A.” to Hermano for its mellower tempo and general tonal fullness, but they still have plenty of brashness to work with and “Devil Dodgers (Dawn Part 1)” jams more uptempo calling back to early Fu Manchu in its backing vocals and almost punkish approach to its own fuzz. One wonders a bit about the decision to keep “Dawn Part 1” in “Devil Dodgers” itself, rather than list it as its own track, but if you’re listening to the vinyl it doesn’t matter. Planet of the 8s fade in playing the same progression, putting their own spin on it while introducing the shift in production that side B brings, the tones hitting a little fuller than the pivot-ready desert looseness of Duneeater.
As they launch into “Raised by Night” and “Gravity,” it’s worth noting that neither Lagrange Point Vol. 1 or their prior two LPs only had one track over seven minutes long, which both of these are. Coming from the 2021 release, Planet of the 8s still embark on a fuzz-led journey including guest spots, but where on Lagrange Point Vol. 1 there was a different singer on each song — which were arranged around an intro and outro; not dissimilar from Turned to Stone Chapter 5 — the cuts here are inherently less disjointed in their presentation, and even more than 2019’s Tourist Season album, they seem to use their relatively extended length for more progressive shove, the melodies of “Raised by Night” met by fervent hits and a building tension as they move into the song’s back half, some of Elder‘s nuance meeting with a Forming the Void-ish nod. Tourist Season had some glimpses of Wo Fat influence as well, and that’s not necessarily absent from “Gravity,” but there’s more prog happening, more angularity, and the layered vocals add to that individual edge.
But here’s the thing: “Gravity” is still heavy, fuzzed, desert rock, it’s just got a different bent, so however much you want to dig into Turned to Stone Chapter 5, Duneeater and Planet of the 8s are ready for it. Ripple‘s series has felt decidedly curated in the past and does here as well in this pairing of countryman units by John Gist of Vegas Rock Revolution, as their complementary mission is brightly successful as “Gravity” prog-psych-embiggens its way into the count-in and bassy boogie of “Dusk Part 1,” which fades out hypnotically to let the rawer instrumental bite of Duneeater pick up with “Dusk Part 2” on the next spin. Before you know it, you’re back to “Twin Voyager.”
And that goes to underline the sheer listenability of Turned to Stone Chapter 5. It is the converted offering a righteous preach to the choir, and each side has a bit of sermon to it as well. If you’d worship an altar of fuzz, they’ve built one here.
The video for “Pleather Sex” is suitably sleazed-out, but Mr. Pleather gets his in the end to some extent, though he still spent the whole day getting laid, which I’m officially old enough to watch and think that seems exhausting. Alas, the things we do for riffs.
Enjoy:
Duneeater, “Pleather Sex” official video
Duneeater on “Pleather Sex”:
Pleather Sex is all about men and woman alike who love their muscle cars and rootin’ in the back of them. Mike Foxall was approached to do the animation for the clip (after seeing the work he’d done for Grindhouse, we knew he was the dude!)
The brief was, capture our passion for old School Aussie classic cars, take the piss, keep it humorous and throw the band and our own personal cars in the clip. Mike came up with the concept of Pleather man – a goofy 70s stud type, a mixture of Alvin Purple, Ron Jeremy, and Denis Lillie, who runs rampant like he’s back in the days of the sexual revolution. But it’s not just about blokes having all the fun. Collectively we came up with a way to make sure the ladies got their fix too.
Pleather Sex almost never happened, sitting on the cutting room floor for a long time. It was written before we had the full band line up, after a few jams it wasn’t working and therefore shelved. The years pass, Covid comes along and our time to work on new material is limited. So we start dredging through the DE vaults and stumble upon Pleather Sex. This time we had the vibe of the whole band. With Josh now on drums and Robs on lead guitar adding their flare, the song’s groove hit another level and… Voilà! Pleather Sex hits the streets, restored and ready to roll.
“Turned to Stone Chapter 5: Planet of the 8s & Duneeater” out August 5th on Ripple Music. Preorder: https://ripplemusic.bandcamp.com/
Tracklisting:
1. Duneeater – Dusk Part 2 2. Duneeater – Twin Voyager 3. Duneeater – Pleather Sex 4. Duneeater – C.O.B.R.A. 5. Duneeater – Devil Dodgers (Dawn Part 1) 6. Planet Of The 8s – Dawn Part 2 7. Planet Of The 8s – Raised By Night 8. Planet Of The 8s – Gravity 9. Planet Of The 8s – Dusk Part 1
We proceed onward, into this ever-growing swath of typos, lineup corrections made after posting, and riffs — more riffs! — that is the Quarterly Review. Today is Day Four and I’m feeling good. Not to say there isn’t some manner of exhaustion, but the music has been killer — today is particularly awesome — and that makes life much, much, much better as I’ve already said. I hope you’ve found one or two or 10 records so far that you’ve really dug. I know I’ve added a few to my best of 2021 list, including stuff right here. So yeah, we roll on.
Quarterly Review #31-40:
Spelljammer, Abyssal Trip
To envision an expanse, and to crush it. Stockholm three-piece Spelljammer return five years after Ancient of Days (review here), with an all-the-more-massive second long-player through RidingEasy, turning their front-cover astronaut around to face the audience head on and offering 43 minutes/six tracks of encompassing largesse, topping 10 minutes in the title-track and “Silent Rift,” both on side B with the interlude “Peregrine” between them, after the three side A rollers, “Bellwether,” “Lake” and “Among the Holy” have tripped out outward and downward into an atmospheric plunge that is a joy to take feeling specifically geared as an invite to the converted. We are here, come worship with us. Also get crushed. Spelljammer records may not happen all the time, but you won’t be through “Bellwether” before you’re saying it was worth the wait.
A deceptively graceful second LP from Melbourne’s The Black Heart Death Cult, Sonic Mantras pulls together an eight-song/45-minute run that unfolds bookended by “Goodbye Gatwick Blues” (8:59) and “Sonic Dhoom” (9:47) and in between ebbs and flows across shorter pieces that maximize their flow in whether shoegazing, heavygazing, blissing out, or whatever we’re calling it this week on “The Sun Inside” and “One Way Through,” or finding their way to a particularly deadened meadow on “Trees,” or tripping the light hypnotic on “Dark Waves” just ahead of the closer. “Cold Fields” churns urgently in its 2:28 but remains spacious, and everywhere The Black Heart Death Cult go, they remain liquefied in their sound, like a seemingly amorphous thing that nonetheless manages to hold its shape despite outside conditions. Whatever form they take, then, they are themselves, and Sonic Mantras emphasizes how yet-underappreciated they are in emerging from the ever-busy Aussie underground.
Tetra is the third long-player from Milwaukee’s Shogun, and in addition to the 10-minute “Delta,” which marries blues gargle with YOB slow-gallop before jamming out across its 10-minute span, it brings straight-shooter fuzz rockers like “Gravitas,” the someone-in-this-band-listened-to-Megadeth-in-the-’90s-and-that’s-okay beginnings of “Buddha’s Palm/Aviary” and likewise crunch of “Axiom” later, but also the quiet classic progressive rock of “Gone Forever,” and the more patient coming together of psychedelia and harder-hitting movement on closer “Maximum Ray.” Somewhat undercut by a not-raw-but-not-bursting-with-life production, pieces like “Buddha’s Palm/Aviary,” which gives over to a sweeter stretch of guitar in its second movement, and “Vertex/Universal Pain Center,” which in its back end brings around that YOB influence again and puts it to good use, are outwardly complex enough to put the lie to the evenhandedness of the recording. There’s more going on in Tetra than it first seems, and the more you listen, the more you find.
Keeping up with Nadja has proven nigh on impossible over the better part of the last two decades, as the Berlin-by-way-of-Toronto duo have issued over 25 albums in 19 years, plus splits and live offerings and digital singles and oh my goodness I do believe I have the vapors that’s a lot of Nadja. For those of us who flit in and out like the dilletantes we ultimately are, Luminous Rot‘s aligning Aidan Baker and Leah Buckareff with Southern Lord makes it an easy landmark, but really most of what the six-cut/48-minute long-player does is offer a reminder of the vital experimentalism the lazy are missing in the first place. The consuming, swelling drone of “Cuts on Your Hands,” blown-out sub-industrialism of “Starres,” hook of the title-track and careful-what-you-wish-for anchor riff of “Fruiting Bodies” — these and the noisily churning closer “Dark Inclusions” are a fervent argument in Nadja‘s favor as being more than a sometimes-check-in kind of band, and for immediately digging into the 43-minute single-song album Seemannsgarn, which they released earlier this year. So much space and nothing to lose.
Welcome to punishment as a primary consideration. Indianapolis death-doom four-piece hold back the truly crawling fare until “Perverted Reflection,” which is track three of the total seven on their debut full-length, Upon a Throne of Jackals, but by then the extremity has already shown its unrepentant face across the buried-alive “Final Spasms of the Drowned” and the oldschool death metal of “The Altar.” Centerpiece “Invert Every Throne” calls to mind Conan in its nod, but Shroud of Vulture are more about rawness than sheer largesse in tone, and their prone-to-blasting style gives them an edge there and in “Halo of Tarnished Light,” which follows. The closing pair of “Concealing Rabid Laughter” and “Stone Coffin of Existence” both top seven minutes and offset grueling tension with grueling release, but it’s the stench of decay that so much defines Upon a Throne of Jackals, as though somebody rebuilt Sunlight Studio brick for brick in Hoosier Country. Compelling and filthy in kind.
Towards Atlantis Lights, When the Ashes Devoured the Sun
Ultra-grueling, dramatic death-doom tragedies permeate the second full-length, When the Ashes Devoured the Sun, from UK-based four-piece Towards Atlantis Lights, with vocalist/keyboardist Kostas Panagiotou and guitarist Ivan Zara at the heart of the compositions while bassist Riccardo Veronese and drummer Ivano Olivieri assure the impact that coincides with the cavernous procession matches in scope. The follow-up to 2018’s Dust of Aeons (review here), this six-track collection fosters classicism and modern apocalyptic vibes alike, and whether raging or morose, its dirge atmosphere remains firm and uncompromised. Heavy lumber for heavy hearts. The kind of doom that doesn’t look up. That doesn’t mean it’s not massive in scope — it is, even more than the first record — just that nearly everything it sees is downward. If there’s hope, it is a vague thing, lost to periphery. So be it.
It has been said on multiple occasions that “space is the place.” The curiously-capitalized Colorado outfit ASTRAL CONstruct would seem to live by this ethic on their debut album, Tales of Cosmic Journeys, unfurling as they do eight flowing progressions of instrumental slow-CGI-of-the-planets pieces that are more plotted in their course than jams, but feel built from jams just the same. Raw in its production and mix, and mastered by Kent Stump of Wo Fat, there’s enough atmosphere to let the lead guitar breathe, certainly, and to sustain life in general even on “Jettisoned Adrift in the Space Debris,” and the image evoked by “Hand Against the Solar Winds” feels particularly inspired given that song’s languid roll. The record starts and ends in cryogenic sleep, and if upon waking we’re transported to another place and another time, who knows what wonders we might see along the way. ASTRAL CONstruct‘s exploration would seem to be just beginning here, but their “Cosmos Perspective” is engaging just the same.
Vienna-based sludgedrivers TarLung were last heard from with 2017’s Beyond the Black Pyramid (discussed here), and Architect continues the progression laid out there in melding vocal extremity and heavy-but-not-too-heavy-to-move riffing. It might seem like a fine line to draw, and it is, and that only makes songs like “Widow’s Bane” and “Horses of Plague” all the more nuanced as their deathly growls and severe atmospheres mesh with what in another context might just be stoner rock groove. Carcass circa the criminally undervalued Swansong, Six Feet Under. TarLung manage to find a place in stoner sludge that isn’t just Bongzilla worship, or Bongripper worship, or Bong worship. I’m not sure it’s worship at all, frankly, and I like that about it as the closing title-track slow-moshes my brain into goo.
Somewhere in the great mystical expanse between Kalispell, Montana, and Kansas City, Missouri, two practicioners of the riffly dark arts meet on a field of battle. Wizzerd come packing the 19-minute acoustic-into-heavy-prog-into-sitar-laced-jam-out “We Are,” as if to encompass that declaration in all its scope, while Merlin answer back with the organ-led “Merlin’s Bizarre Adventure” (21:51), all chug and lumber until it’s time for weirdo progressive fusion reggae and an ensuing Purple-tinged psych expansion. Who wins? I don’t know. Ripple Music in releasing it in the first place, I guess. Continuing the label’s influential split series(es), Turned to Stone Chapter III pushes well over the top in the purposes of both acts involved, and in that, it’s maybe less of a battle than two purveyors joining forces to weave some kind of Meteo down on the heads of all who might take them on. If you’ve think you’ve got the gift, they seem only too ready to test that out.
“Life Grinder” begins with a sample: “I don’t know if you need all that bass,” and the answer, “Oh, you need all that bass.” That’s already after “Sea Sick Six” has revealed the Montreal-based trio’s sans-guitar extremist sludge roll, and the three-piece seem only too happy to keep up the theme. Vocals are harsh, biting, grating, purposeful in their fuckall, and the whole 28-minute affair of Winterized is cathartic aural violence, except perhaps the interlude “666,” which is a quiet moment between “Broken Bones” and “Black Snail Volcano,” which finally seems to just explode in its outright aggression, nod notwithstanding. A slowed down Ramones cover — reinventing “Pet Sematary” as “Red Sematary” — has a layer of spoken chanting vocals layered in and closes out, but the skin has been peeled so far back by then and Seum have doused so much salt onto the wounds that even Bongzilla might cringe. The low-end-only approach only makes it more punishing and more punk rock at the same time. Fucking mean.
Posted in Whathaveyou on May 14th, 2021 by JJ Koczan
The Merlin track sampled below is a righteous indictment of the tropes of stoner doom, ultimately making its way into the chorus of “I see why/Stoner doom must die.” It’s a good hook, and I don’t know about you, but I want to hear where the rest of that goes over the ensuing 15 minutes, let alone what Wizzerd might try to do to combat it. Indeed, the third installment of Ripple‘s Turned to Stone split series is tagged as Wizzerd vs. Merlin, so as the two mystical-minded riffers come together to release the LP this July, one can only imagine the horrors and wonders that await. It’ll be fun. You like fun, right? I’ve never tried it myself, but I hear good things.
And I guess by that I mean I hear this Merlin snippet. Listen to the lyrics.
Whatever. Here’s the PR wire info you’re here for anyway:
RIPPLE MUSIC: ‘Turned To Stone Chapter III’ details and first track unveiled!
Ripple Music is proud to unveil details for the third chapter of their ‘Turned To Stone’ split series, with yet another riffalicious collaboration! To meet expectations that followed an intense meme war on social media, US heavy psych and doom units WIZZERD and MERLIN will issue a 40-minute split LP entitled ‘Turned To Stone Chapter III: Wizzerd vs Merlin’ this July 16th on Ripple Music. Stream a snippet of Merlin’s mind-bending song right now!
In Chapter III of Ripple Music’s ambitious ‘Turned to Stone’ series, a mythic musical battle unfolds between two wielders of the magical arts: WIZZERD and MERLIN. With each band contributing a full LP side, taking the form of one massive and masterful track, which band will triumph and take the mantle of Master Mage? It is now time to lift a part of the veil, and lend your eager ears to Kansas City doom slingers MERLIN’s own acid-drenched and shapeshifting sound with an appalling snippet of their 20-minute masterpiece “Merlin’s Bizarre Adventure”.
MERLIN about this epic contribution: “Merlin’s Bizarre Adventure was made while the pandemic raged on; band members came and went and all of our jobs became wildly unpredictable. Writing this song in the spring/summer of 2020 was the only thing preventing us from going on a hiatus. It gave our new lineup the challenge and jump-start we needed to embrace the future sound of the band. Plus we needed to write a song that Wizzerd couldn’t top even if they tried.”
WIZZERD outbid: “Fans across the globe have been asking, ‘Who will win the great meme war?’, ‘Why does Merlin think they have anything on Wizzerd?’ and ‘Will this ever end?’, and thanks to the fine folks at Ripple Music, we can finally settle this heated debate once and for all. Merlin think that they’re hot stuff, but really it’s all just a meme game. When it comes to the music, can they make it where it really counts? Grab yourself a chili dog and listen to find out who the real winner is. (Hint: it’s Wizzerd).”
The ‘Turned to Stone Chapter III: Wizzerd vs Merlin’ album will be issued on July 16th via Ripple Music, and available to preorder now on: – Magma Edition Galaxy Vinyl LP (gleaming yellow vinyl w/ deep purple and black splatter) – Bedrock Edition Splatter Vinyl LP (magic-ale colored) – Digital
Side A – Wizzerd “We Are” (18:55) Side B – Merlin “Merlin’s Bizzare Adventure” (21:51)
Posted in Reviews on January 22nd, 2020 by JJ Koczan
On a level of ambition, a series of split releases is second perhaps only to a series of compilations in terms of the massive amount of work that is involved in coordination. Most ‘Vol. 1’-type outings do not get to ‘Vol. 2.’ An exception to this rule was Ripple Music‘s The Second Coming of Heavy, which, though its title wanted for generational context (the heavy ’10s were at least the third coming), was a deeply admirable 10-installment series that brought bands into the Ripple fold who otherwise wouldn’t have gotten the exposure while staying tied together through artwork as well as the titular presentation. It allowed the label to expand its reach and had a curated, carefully-picked sensibility behind it.
Those 10 offerings were not haphazard. Ripple would hope to bring the same mindset to Turned to Stone, a new series that essentially picks up where The Second Coming of Heavy left off. I guess they’re gluttons for punishment when it comes to logistics? There’s no end-figure stated for Turned to Stone so far as I know — that is, they haven’t said “10 and done” as they did with the prior series — but however far it ends up going, its first installment, the full and somewhat cumbersome title of which is Ripple Music Presents: Turned to Stone Chapter 1 – Mr. Bison & Spacetrucker: Enter Galactic Wasteland, already crosses continental borders in bringing together its component acts.
From Pisa, Italy, come the trio Mr. Bison, whose moniker continues to immediately touch of Gen-X nostalgia for the lost hours of my youth playing Street Fighter II, and from St. Louis, Missouri, the three-piece Spacetrucker, whose three tracks run across side B in deceptively atmospheric fashion. The two bands are complementary in some ways, contrasting in others, but one suspects that’s the idea, and like most landscapes described as a wasteland, one finds the LP’s 38-minute run not at all void of life, but a vital ecosystem of heavy rock and roll that helps to demonstrate just how multifaceted the genre has become.
Mr. Bison don’t make it through the seven-minute “The Grace of Time” before they break out the organ and work in elements of psychedelia and classic prog — and that’s just fine. There are shades of Golden Void in the dramatic arrival of organ amid the guitar, bass and drums, but I wouldn’t call the all-Matteo lineup of guitarist/vocalists Matteo Barsacchi and Matteo Sciocchetto and drummer Matteo D’Ignazi overly derivative. Rather, the drift they inject into moments like the opening stretches of “The Stranger” and “Oracle Prophecy,” which builds as it moves forward, receding in the middle only to surge again at the conclusion in not-unforeseeable but still exciting and progressive fashion.
Their 2018 album, Holy Oak (review here), was like-minded in its somewhat deceptive approach, appearing simpler on the surface than it actually was, and as Barsacchi and Sciocchetto arrange vocals here, layering solos and effects all the while to create a sense of swirl as “Oracle Prophecy” comes to a head, the impression is that the band have obviously continued to solidify and become more assured of their approach. This creative next step is, of course, the ideal, though I don’t actually know how long ago the songs were recorded.
Either way, that Mr. Bison would leave one feeling like the band is making forward progress is, indeed, forward progress, and as their three inclusions are longer than those of Spacetrucker by about four minutes, running 21 minutes, their time only seems to be well-spent in setting up an atmosphere and flow. Listening digitally, this flow is immediately, strikingly contrasted by the shift in production value to Spacetrucker‘s three tracks, which are rawer and more directly fuzz-driven. Guitarist/vocalist Mike Owen, bassist/vocalist Rob Wagoner and drummer/multipadder Del Toro present a ready charge in the five-and-a-half-minute “Nosedive,” eschewing the proggier aspects of their side A counterparts in favor of a more direct attack.
That’s not to say that “Nosedive” or the subsequent instrumental “Distant Earth,” which is the longest track on the release at 7:56, don’t have a sense of atmosphere, just that said atmosphere is more based around the sheer punch of what they do. And when the low-end on “Distant Earth” kicks in there’s no shortage of punch to be had. “Distant Earth” resolves itself in some prog-metal-style chugging completed by a chiming bell, and then moves into a solo before rounding out in similar rhythmic terrain, an impressive more-than-jam that’s fluid if less sonically lush than some of what appeared on the split’s first half. Spacetrucker round out with the shorter “King Cheeto,” an early-Fu Manchu-style fuzz punker that revives some of the more aggressive thrust of “Nosedive” and finishes in a satisfying rush of noise and cut momentum. If that’s what being turned to stone sounds like, then so be it.
In terms of what ties the two bands together, aside from the basic umbrella of “heavy” that is horoscope-vague enough to be applicable on all counts, there’s an undercurrent of stylistic depth shared by Spacetrucker and Mr. Bison that comes through in different contexts, but is there just the same. Spacetrucker are not unaffected by Truckfighters-esque energy, but like Mr. Bison before them, they seem to be engaged in the project of internalizing their influences in order to craft their own sound from them.
In that case, the sheer thrust and rawness of production works for them, standing them out from Mr. Bison and adding to their own take, which doesn’t necessarily shy away from aggression. As Ripple Music stares down the prospect of this new series, one wonders just what will emerge from Turned to Stone. Standing astride The Second Coming of Heavy helped the label become among the foremost purveyors of American underground heavy rock and found them increasingly branching out in aesthetic. If Turned to Stone furthers that mission, it can only be considered a worthy cause.
[Clarification: The digital version of the release lists Mr. Bison as the first band, where on vinyl it’s Spacetrucker on side A. Apologies for any confusion this causes.]
Spacetrucker & Mr. Bison, Turned to Stone Chapter 1 – Enter Galactic Wasteland (2020)
Posted in Whathaveyou on November 19th, 2019 by JJ Koczan
I’ve been hearing word kicking around for a while that Ripple Music wanted to continue doing a series of splits after the conclusion of The Second Coming of Heavy, which wrapped up with its 10th and final installment this year, and the realization of that promise woulds seem to be taking shape in Turned to Stone. The first “chapter” — a theme continued from the prior series — is titled Enter Galactic Wasteland, and will feature Italy’s Mr. Bison and St. Louis’ Spacetrucker teamed up for a 12″. It was previously announced when Mr. Bison signed to Rippleearlier this year, but more details have now emerged, including the Jan. 17 release date and the cover art by none other than David Paul Seymour, whose work continues to be stunning in technique and use of color. Dude just gets it.
Interestingly, there won’t be preorders for Turned to Stone Chapter 1: Enter Galactic Wasteland, thereby making the onsale-moment something more of an event for those purchasing — the label advises “watch your clocks,” and that’s probably fair enough, if how fast the The Second Coming of Heavy LPs seemed to sell out. With so much focus these days on getting preorders up and in as a part of the promotion of upcoming records though, it’s a noteworthy shift in method. I’m curious to see if and how it works.
From Ripple‘s social medias:
So many people are bummed that The Second Coming of Heavy split series has finished and have been asking me what’s next?
This!
Brace yourselves, as we get set to release the first chapter of our new ongoing 12” split series “Turned To Stone” Over a year in the planning, Chapter 1: Enter Galactic Wasteland features brand new sides from MR.BISON and Spacetrucker! Art by the ever amazing David Paul Seymour
It’s out January 17th, 2020. No preorders, so watch your clocks. Time of sale to be announced.
