Posted in Whathaveyou on September 12th, 2019 by JJ Koczan
These exist and are out on Black Bow Records in November. I’m guessing that if you’ve ever heard either of these superlatively heavy offerings from Conan, that’s probably all the info you need. If you’d like some more though, you might chew on the fact that they come with hand-written lyric sheets or that they’re super-limited in number or that the albums fucking rule or whatever else you want. Or maybe you’d like to do what I’m doing, which is basically use this post as an excuse to spend an hour or two with some of the most righteous riffs the last decade has produced? Yeah, that’s kind of what I figured.
It’s fucking Conan. What more do you want?
Conan to release picture disc versions of classic albums
Legendary British doom band CONAN are pleased to announce that they will release limited edition picture discs of their classic albums Horseback Battle Hammer and Blood Eagle.
Both albums are set to be released in November 2019.
4 brutally heavy slabs of Caveman Battle Doom. Thought of by some as a key moment in the resurgence of ‘modern day’ doom metal.
Picture disks are regular vinyl records but through the middle of the pressed record is a paper sheet with the artwork on. On some picture disks the sound can be less than perfect, but only with certain coloured vinyl and these do not fall into that category.
FIRST 50 ORDERS COME WITH HAND WRITTEN LYRIC SHEET, NOT A PHOTOCOPY.
Blood Eagle is one of Conan’s finest moments. Adding motion and pace to the bludgeoning of Monnos, it quickly rose to the top of most learned doom fan’s lists.
Here we have a ltd edition picture disk copy, in heavy duty plastic sleeve.
***LIMTED TO 150 COPIES WITH INDIVIDUAL HANDWRITTEN LYRIC SHEET*** – NOT A PHOTOCOPY…….. Some copies may contain mistakes.
Lineup: Jon Davis – vocals, guitar (2006-present) Chris Fielding – bass (2013-present) Johnny King – drums (2017-present)
Posted in Whathaveyou on September 11th, 2019 by JJ Koczan
Two years removed from their latest album, 2017’s Wizard Bloody Wizard (review here), and just a month removed from their headlining slot at Psycho Las Vegas, UK doom magnates Electric Wizard will do a select round of dates along the US Eastern Seaboard, and, well, that’s just nifty. It’ll be right before Thanksgiving, which is as appropriate a time as I can think of to hear the riff from “Funeralopolis,” and they’re playing some pretty decent-sized venues. It’s been a couple years since they were in this part of the world, but they’ve been touring in drips and drabs in various regions, so it was a matter of time before they got back. Good doom happens slowly.
Fresh off the PR wire:
ELECTRIC WIZARD ANNOUNCE EAST COAST TOUR DATES THIS NOVEMBER
England’s paramount doom act returns to U.S. soil once again…
Advancing their American assault, British doom legends Electric Wizard are one again returning to the United States. This November, Electric Wizard will level everything in their path and perform in St. Petersburg, FL, Atlanta, GA, Silver Spring, MD, Brooklyn, NY, Philadelphia, PA and Worcester, MA. The tour follows last month’s praiseworthy appearance at Las Vegas’ Psycho Festival where Electric Wizard shook the foundation of the Mandalay Bay Events Center. Soon, residents along the Eastern seaboard will have their chance to experience Electric Wizard’s massively monolithic wall of sound with a set list that traverses the group’s 9 album, 25-year-long legacy.
Electric Wizard continue to support their acclaimed 2017 album Wizard Bloody Wizard. Since its release, the band has played select shows in the United States and overseas including high profile appearances at the likes of London’s iconic Shepard’s Bush Empire, Up In Smoke (Switzerland), Deathfest (Netherlands), and more. Electric Wizard is commonly (and rightfully) referred to as “the heaviest band in the world,” with at least three of their nine LP’s widely recognized as genre benchmarks and heavy metal classics: 1996’s Come My Fanatics…, 2000’s Dopethrone and 2007’s Witchcult Today. Electric Wizard remain an undeniable influence over modern doom metal and how it is perceived today.
Tour dates and venues are detailed below — these shows are not to miss. More news from Electric Wizard to surface soon.
ELECTRIC WIZARD, ON TOUR w/ MIDNIGHT: November 15 St. Petersburg, FL @ Janus Landing November 16 Atlanta, GA @ The Tabernacle November 18 Silver Spring, MD @ The Fillmore November 19 Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel November 20 Philadelphia, PA @ The Fillmore November 22 Worcester, MA @ The Palladium
[Click play above to stream ‘Hunt’ by Alunah, from Violet Hour out Oct. 11 on Heavy Psych Sounds. Bassist Dan Durchmore says of the track, “During the writing process, it became clear that different dynamics were emerging. ‘Hunt’ is built on our earlier style, but becomes its own entity as the song unfolds. Some of us consider this a favourite to play, so it feels right to let it loose ahead of the album release.”]
The tumult of a few chaotic years of reorganization brings UK doom rockers Alunah to a new place with Violet Hour, their fifth full-length. It’s also their first for Heavy Psych Sounds after issuing 2017’s Solennial (review here) on Svart, 2014’s Awakening the Forest (review here) through Napalm, 2012’s White Hoarhound (review here) on PsycheDOOMelic (then Napalm, then PRC Music) and 2010’s Call of Avernus (review here) on Catacomb, but really, the fact that each one of their records has come out through a different label is the least of it. Just months past the release of Solennial, Alunah bid farewell to founding vocalist/guitarist Sophie Day in Sept. 2017, announcing little more than a month later that Siân Greenaway had taken on the role of lead singer. Founding guitarist David Day remained in the band alongside bassist Dan Burchmore and drummer Jake Mason — also an original member — through last year’s Amber & Gold EP (review here) that was the studio introduction to some of the sonic shifts taking place in the band, but earlier in 2019, David Day followed Sophie‘s lead in splitting from the band he helped form, and guitarist Dean Ashton was brought in to fill the role.
So Ashton, who has also handled bass for NWOBHM legends Diamond Head since 2016, is the newest member of Alunah, but apart from Mason, who’s been drumming since the start, in 2006, the longest-tenured member is Burchmore, who joined in 2013. Six years isn’t nothing, and certainly the rhythmic fluidity of the eight-track/42-minute Violet Hour has plenty to say in arguing for the development of the dynamic there, but to trade out your guitarist(s) and vocalist in a riff-led band over the span of two years and still turnaround with an EP and album feels somewhat miraculous. Either Alunah — whose sound has always locked into a relatively laid back groove, marked by some shuffle here and there, but mostly comfortable in a thickened doom roll topped with righteous melody — thrive on this chaos, or it’s been an incredibly stressful time.
And though there are some ways in which Violet Hour feels like a second debut from what’s essentially a new band — Call of Avernus also followed a test-the-waters EP, way back when — a striking amount of the approach remains in accord with their past work. No doubt production from Chris Fielding at Foel Studio has a hand in that as well. Greenaway demonstrated her craft and charisma on Amber & Gold, and whether it’s the outwardly sexualized “Trapped and Bound” or “Hunt,” the ultra-catchy “Hypnotised” or the more doomed “Unholy Disease,” the personality of her work here is both malleable to the mood of the groove behind her and of a steady, engaging melodic quality. As both sides of the album feature four songs with two shorter-ish cuts leading into two longer-ish ones, there is a sense amid all the circumstantial fluster in which the album arrives that there’s still an overarching plan at work, and that goes a long way toward letting the listener relax and take Violet Hour on its own merits, which of course is how it’s best heard.
After the EP, it’s less of a surprise that Alunah have moved away from some of the nature-worship that previously defined their lyrical themes, but “Dance of Deceit,” the penultimate “Velvet,” the closer “Lake of Fire” and “Hunt” still have an organic sensibility to how they play out, and though “Trapped and Bound” provides an almost jarring push at the outset, as the entirety of side A seems devoted to trickery and dark seduction between that launch, “Dance of Deceit,” “Hunt” and “Hypnotised,” the energy with which Alunah carry across the material only bolsters the notion of Violet Hour as a new full-length debut from what’s essentially a new band. The advantage they have, however, is a clear sense of direction and an immediately apparent awareness of who they want to be and what they want to convey as a group, which even as they build chemistry together in this new form over time, is only an advantage for them.
Is it fair to judge Violet Hour by the standard of Alunah‘s other offerings? Probably. They did keep the name. But what Violet Hour does in relation to, say, Solennial, isn’t so radically different from what that album did coming off of Awakening the Forest. It builds on what came before and progresses toward new ideas and new manifestations of a high quality songwriting process that, speaking as one who’s been a fan of the band for some time, is thankfully still intact despite the changes in personnel, as “Hypnotised,” the side-B-leadoff title-track and “Lake of Fire” can easily testify. The lushness of Greenaway‘s layered harmony arrangements bodes well for future ongoing progression — more of that would only be welcome — and though Ashton has been in the band a mere matter of months, his contributions of harder-edged tone and lead work mesh well with the long-since established coherence between Burchmore and Mason.
Violet Hour may have arisen through a turbulent stretch for them, but the songs stand true and want for nothing either in aesthetic or performance. Perhaps tellingly, as “Unholy Disease” takes off in its second half, the band seem particularly steady locked into that faster stretch, but there’s much to be said for the slow-rolling payoff in the hook for “Lake of Fire” as well, so if the band are growing, that’s the most consistent thing they could possibly do. That’s what Alunah have always done. One has learned the hard way over the years not to attempt prediction of what their situation might be in the future, but Violet Hour is a bold stride, and an album rife with character, melody, heft and impact. No doubt there will be those who write it off because of the lineup changes — that’s just the way it always goes with this kind of thing — but it’s their loss in the end, and easy to imagine fresh ears catching on as well. Fair enough, as Alunah set a whole new high standard from which to work as they continue forward, which one hopes — without predicting how it might happen — that they do.
Posted in Bootleg Theater on September 10th, 2019 by JJ Koczan
There’s no shortage of drama inherent in the direct-to-camera looks of Cold in Berlin‘s new video for the lead single from Rituals of Surrender, which is out Oct. 11 as their first release through New Heavy Sounds and fourth long-player overall, but with the strobe and smoke effects, creepy silhouette dancing and thunderously doomed metallic crash, the goth-tinged Londoners remind of something that might’ve taken hold in the later reaches of Headbanger’s Ball back in the day; a dark aesthetic familiar but given additional edge here through the modern tonal weight. Their last two records having come out through Candlelight, Rituals of Surrender follows 2015’s The Comfort of Loss and Dust as well as a couple singles and remixes (in true ’90s fashion) that revamp the band’s approach in various atmospheric ways. “The Power,” the song featured in the clip premiering below, is as much a summary of what’s on offer in terms of style as one could ask.
It is presented with a catchy and commanding hook, as well as a fervent rhythmic stride, the vocals of Maya Berlin in immediate control of the proceedings. Maya is the silhouette in question and has a distinct presence maintained across the song’s sub-five-minute span. As much as the song owes stylistically to goth, though, “The Power” is definitively a work of doom metal, and its not-cult-rock leanings are refreshing in an age of fuzzed-up Insta-ready faux-mystique. Cold in Berlin seem to be taking a different approach, and one that stands them out among the crowded London underground as well as offers a mature approach to craft without sounding stale, overly dramatic or lost in its woes as anything remotely goth runs the risk of doing. That’s not to say there isn’t any drama happening in “The Power” — the video proves that wrong almost immediately — just that the balance between that and the aural heft creates a fusion of elements that enhances both. It’s heavy, it’s metal, it’s doom, it’s goth. Cold in Berlin is an excellent name.
Rituals of Surrender is available to preorder now from New Heavy Sounds and comes in vinyl — red and black smoke — CD and digital editions linked under the video below. More info also follows as per the PR wire.
Please enjoy:
Cold in Berlin, “The Power” official video premiere
This video was created By CHEMICALLY SINISTER PRODUCTIONS Director/Editor: John Clay Director of Photography: Ben Etchells Producer/Creative attache/Colour grading/Projector handler: Jorge Dubac Creative consultant/Lighting: Rob Homewood Set Designer/prop design: Millie Kemp Special Thanks to Alfredo Widmer Violante of Public Pressure
There are rituals surrounding all acts of surrender; the strange dance we perform before the many endings scattered throughout our lives, before the next beginning rises from the dust. Cold in Berlin’s new album Rituals of Surrender, released on 11th October via London label New Heavy Sounds, offers up thunderous modern fables, crawling from the wreckage of an ordinary life – dark and hopeful – standing tall in the debris.
Produced with gritty clarity and volume by Wayne Adams (Green Lung – Woodland Rites), Rituals of Surrender is not a crack of lightning or the drumming of rain on a window, it is an unnatural, ground shaking thunder raging through your veins. It is a suffocating howl crashing through your heart. But with the moments before any ending, surrender brings release, the serenity of escape, even from the darkest of days.
Ten years since their debut Cold in Berlin continue their sonic journey in the face of nothing less than the immanent collapse of the world, as we know it.
Posted in Whathaveyou on September 9th, 2019 by JJ Koczan
At this point, there’s just about no way this is it for Heavy Psych Sounds Fest, the traveling live incarnation of Italian imprint Heavy Psych Sounds that seems to have bands in any town it stops and to pick up headliners wherever it goes as well. Paris, Antwerp, London and Deventer — France, Belgium, the UK and the Netherlands. Well, considering this year saw the first US-based Heavy Psych Sounds Fest run and that there are still dates to play out next month, yeah, it seems likely to me this is just the beginning for Heavy Psych Sounds Fest 2020.
It’s a striking beginning though, with Mondo Generator (seen above) headlining the shows with support from Black Rainbows and Duel each time out and various others coming and going including Dead Witches, Lords of Altamont, Gorilla, Alunah and Giöbia. No less of a scale than one would expect, and again, it won’t at all be the final announcement of Heavy Psych Sounds Fest 2020. More cities, more tours, more bands, more everything. This is not a label that in recent years has shown even the slightest interest in going anything less than all out, all the time.
The PR wire shows tickets on sale already, because of course. With respect:
HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST announce new London, Paris, Antwerp and Deventer editions in 2020 with Mondo Generator, Black Rainbows, Duel, Lords Of Altamont and more!
Heavy Psych Sounds Records, the unstoppable cult and fuzz rock machine rising from Rome, Italy, has announced to once again conquer London, the Netherlands, Belgium and this time also Paris, with their highly acclaimed mini festival series: HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST!
Heavy Psych Sounds specializes in presenting the best artists in the global heavy psych, doom, fuzz blues and space rock realms, and their festival-series is no exception, spotlighting the ever-growing label’s dedication to its craft. HPS is not only THE address for all heavy rock record collectors, but it has also become an important live and festival institution; with a brisk participation from heavy music fans all over the world. Each hotspot of the traveling festival tour features diverse line-ups including both genre leaders and fast-rising acts, all ready to prove their place among the world’s best!
In cooperation with Desertscene, Rock in Bourlon, Metadrone and SOZ Concerts, Heavy Psych Sounds has announced the dates and bands to kick off 2020 in style in London, Antwerp, Paris and Deventer. Featuring high class acts such as Nick Oliveri’s MONDO GENERATOR, BLACK RAINBOWS, DUEL, DEAD WITCHES and many more, the HPS FEST series 2020 will be taking place in March. The line-up, dates and locations will look as follows:
HPS Fest Paris (FR) – March 5th @ Glazart Facebook event The Lords Of Altamont Mondo Generator Black Rainbows Duel Giöbia
HPS Fest Antwerp (BE) – March 6th @ Trix Facebook event Mondo Generator Black Rainbows Duel The Lords Of Altamont Dead Witches Giöbia
HPS Fest London (UK) – March 7th @ The Underworld Facebook event Mondo Generator Black Rainbows Duel Dead Witches Giöbia Gorilla Alunah
HPS Fest Deventer (NL) – March 8th @ Burgerwheesuis Facebook event Mondo Generator Black Rainbows Duel The Lords Of Altamont Dead Witches
“Heavy Psych Sounds is happy to announce the second edition of the London, Belgian and Netherlands HPS fest!“, label owner Gabriele Fiori comments. “Last year was such a success, so we also added Paris. We want to thank all the audiences, who make the label and booking so great. Bands, fans and promoters, we want to thank you all for your support and making it happen!“
Earlier this year, Heavy Psych Sounds also announced a bunch of festival dates in Berlin, Dresden (De), Rome (It) and Innsbruck (AT) to take place in the fall of 2019 with headlining acts such as CONAN, MONOLORD, among further heavy as hell bands alike BLACK RAINBOWS, THE SONIC DAWN, ALUNAH, ECSTATIC VISION and many more. Find out all details, tickets and info at this location.
Posted in Whathaveyou on September 6th, 2019 by JJ Koczan
After the 2018 release of Oak III, otherwise known as their third self-titled EP, the band will once again set to writing next month, after they do a few shows here and there throughout September. The highlight no doubt is HRH Doom vs. Stoner in Sheffield, the lineup for which is absolutely ridiculous, as seems to be the thing with that fest. They’ll also do a show each in Belgium and France, so getting out a little bit as well as, apparently, hitting Wales for the first time in November on another round of UK dates. I don’t know when they’ll record, but a 2020 release is probably a fair bet. I guess we’ll see when it happens.
While we’re on the subject of things I don’t know — there are so many it’s hard to keep up — I also don’t know if Oak‘s next outing will be another EP or a full-length. Maybe they’re just not that into albums. Again, I don’t know. But it’s fun sometimes to pretend I do.
Here’s word via the PR wire:
OAK ANNOUNCE DATES IN UK AND EU
London stoner rockers OAK have finalised tour dates for the latter part of 2019, which will see them visiting a number of cities/towns for the first time – including their first overseas trip, crossing the Channel for dates alongside Cheshire’s 1968.
After a string of September dates – culminating in an appearance at the HRH Doom vs HRH Stoner festival at Sheffield Academy, then a slot opening for Fireball Ministry and Lo Pan at London’s Garage – the band plans to spend October working on material for the follow-up to 2018’s OAK III, before taking to the road again at the start of November, including the band’s first journey to Wales.
Frontman Andy Valiant said, “We’re really excited to be taking OAK into previously uncharted territory, particularly our first off-island trip to France and Belgium, and to be making our first appearance at the Garage – a venue that has near-mythic status for us, having grown up seeing some of our favourite bands there. We’re looking forward to making some new friends along the way, and getting ourselves creatively psyched-up for our next record, which anyone turning up to see us can expect some previews of along the way. See you in the pit!”
Oak live dates, 2019: Thu 12th September – London, UK – The Black Heart Fri 13th September – Ghent, BE – Muziekcentrum Kinky Star Sat 14th September – Paris, FR – L’International Thu 26th September – Glasgow, UK – Ivory Blacks Fri 27th September – Edinburgh, UK – Opium Sun 29th September – Sheffield, UK – HRH Doom vs HRH Stoner @ Sheffield Academy Mon 30th September – London, UK – The Garage
Fri 1st November – Swansea, UK – The Bunkhouse Sat 2nd November – Cardiff, UK – The Moon Club Sun 3rd November – London, UK – The Macbeth Sat 23rd November – London, UK – The Dev
Oak is: Clinton Ritchie: Drums Richard Morgan: Bass, Backing Vocals Kevin Germain: Guitars Andy Valiant: Vocals
Posted in Whathaveyou on September 5th, 2019 by JJ Koczan
UK heavy psych rockers Cracked Machine are not quite five months removed from the release of their second long-player, The Call of the Void (review here), on PsyKa Records, and yet here they are, signing to Kozmik Artifactz for the early 2020 release of their next album. Seems quick, right? Well, I appreciate a bit of efficiency as much as the next guy who also happens to be completely inefficient, so sure, why not? They’ll record this Fall while none other than Tony Reed awaits the tracks for mixing and mastering, and then the label will step in and press the thing up as it so reliably does. No exact release date yet, and of course plans can change at the drop of a hat or a piano on one’s head, but the fact that Cracked Machine have signed the deal and already know when they’ll be in the studio should tell you something about how these guys work and how little screwing around there is involved in the process. One found a similar impression when it came to their setting an atmosphere on The Call of the Void.
You can hear that album at the bottom of the post, of course, and here’s the announcement of the signing via the PR wire:
CRACKED MACHINE sign to KOZMIK ARTIFACTZ: Psychedelic post-rock revellers to release third album in 2020
Originally formed in Wiltshire in 2015 by guitarist Bill Denton, Cracked Machine is a quartet of experienced musicians brought together in a quest for aural mayhem.
Known for their commanding live shows, since their formation the band has shared stages with the likes of The Spacelords, Deaf Radio and Qujaku. Following the release of their debut album, I, Cosmonaut, the band wasted no time in releasing an exceptional follow-up last April. Featuring hook-laden guitars that conjured soaring post-rock vistas, The Call of the Void (PsyKa Records) presented a huge progression in the band’s song writing and showcased a leaner, meaner, and ultimately, heavier sounding machine.
With the band currently writing and discussing new concepts, the quartet will enter Mooncalf Studios in November and join forces with the Berlin-based label Kozmik Artifactz (Forming the Void, Spaceslug, Ruby The Hatchet et al) to release their third full-length in early 2020, with the final mix and master being handled by Mos Generator/Stone Axe’s Tony Reed.
“Things are taking shape nicely,” explains Denton. “We have a concept, plenty of musical ideas and a lot of focus. Our writing process has evolved naturally and we’ve fallen into a more disciplined approach to writing. The structure of how we are working has actually given us a greater freedom to explore and develop ideas so there’s a very healthy level of intensity and focus in the Cracked Machine camp at the moment. We’re all super-keen to deliver the best album we can.”
Posted in Whathaveyou on September 5th, 2019 by JJ Koczan
Though I can’t see their moniker and not hear the words in my head in the oh-so-imitable yarl of Zakk Wydle, the post-Iron Monkey filth proffered by UK four-piece A Horse Called War actually has little to do with pride, glory or any other kind of self-actualization. It’s been 12 years since they put out their Stumble at Every Hurdle EP, but at least as of 2007 the dudes were nasty as hell and proffered a scathing take on raw sludge that was more interested in peeling flesh than shining on. They’ve been a band, they’ve not been a band, they’ve been a band again minus a guitarist, and on Nov. 22, APF Records — arguably Britain’s finest purveyor of sludgy aural pummeling — will issue their new EP, Good for Glue (And Nothing Else). Time would not seem to have dulled their perspective in the slightest. Hey guys, how about a little bit of kind self-talk?
Doesn’t seem likely.
Back on the horse? You’re welcome to the gods of terrible puns.
Here’s the info:
UK sludge band A HORSE CALLED WAR sign to APF Records
Good For Glue (and nothing else) EP out November 22nd 2019
First new music to be released in 12 years.
“It’s a nasty little fucker. 5 tracks of unrelenting, groove-laden sludge bile and bludgeon. It’s gonna melt the skin off your face.” – APF Records
A Horse Called War was originally formed in November 2005 by five mates from the small, grimy English town in the heart of East Anglia known as Thetford.
Many shows were played up and down the country, including two appearances at London’s legendary Underworld and the band soon gained a strong reputation for powerful and energetic live performances.
In 2010 A Horse Called war unfortunately split, due to the strain of ever increasing work and family commitments. During that time, the band self-released the demo “We Ain’t Proud Of This” followed by the EP “Stumble At Every Hurdle” on Calculon Records (who released various 7”s from bands such as Sourvein, Church of Misery, Lazarus Blackstar and Charger).
Five years on from the split and 10 years from its original conception, A Horse Called War was reborn! The band immediately hit the road delivering chaotic and action packed live performances to old and new fans alike, proving that the band hadn’t lost any of their spark in the years away.
After a couple of successful years tearing up the live circuit, playing some brilliant shows, including some at memorable all-dayers such as Riff Fest and Doomlines, the same old problems that had plagued so much of the bands past were beginning to resurface. Things had to slow down for the band, at one point it looked like they might never release any new material. During this time, Ryan (guitars) decided to leave the band due to personal reasons. Losing Ryan was a great loss but the remaining four agreed to carry on without him, not seeking a replacement.
Finally, four years after getting back together and after some turbulent times, light began to appear through the cracks and things looked positive for the horse once again. A new EP was written and recorded (by guitarist Dave). The band managed to strike a deal with the mighty APF Records (BongCauldron, Desert Storm, Mastiff) for a November 22nd release date. The horse couldn’t be happier with its new home at APF Records and to be amongst the great family of APF bands.
The band currently booking live shows to promote the release of the new EP and writing for an new album is already underway, with studio time booked for early next year. 2020 is the year of the horse!
A Horse Called War are: Dave – Guitar Shane – Vocals Cooper – Drums Haydn – Bass
