Posted in Reviews on November 20th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Digitally released by the Argentina trio and due for a vinyl issue in early 2024 through Kozmik Artifactz, the fifth release from IAH, titled simply V, finds the band recommitting to their core approach while at the same time expanding their reach. The instrumentalist outfit with the returning lineup of guitarist/synthesist Mauricio Condon, bassist Juan Pablo Lucco Borlera and drummer José Landín have both pulled back into themselves as compares to 2021’s Omines (review here), which boasted collaborations with members of Poland’s Spaceslug and guest strings and was over an hour long. Two years later, IAH are able to transpose progressive textures onto their heavy riffing roots as 10-minute opener/longest track (immediate points) “Kutno” makes its impression with sharp snaps of snare and guitar/bass chug after the synthy drone intro and moves in its second half to a hypnotic and languid stretch of psychedelic contemplation before reality interrupts at 8:21 and they bookend with heavier chugging topped with a solo.
Precision and looseness. Tension and release. Severity and soothing. The band, who once again worked with co-producer Mario Carnerero at Gran Rosa Estudio, have made these essential components since their 2017 self-titled debut EP (review here), and V recalls that dynamic early, with hints dropped toward progressive metal but an offsetting circle around in the central riff of “Kutno” that keeps the groove rolling. To leadoff your record with a song that takes up nearly a quarter of its 41-minute runtime is no minor choice, but IAH have a history in that regard, though “Kutno” stands out for being more relatively extended than, say, closer “Las Palabras y el Mar” at 8:45, than some other long-openers have been in the past.
What does song length tell you in this case? Primarily how long the song is. To find out just about anything else requires hearing. “Madre de los Suspiros” follows “Kutno” with a creeper line of guitar and vague whispers of noise, cymbal crashes and an emergent movement at about a minute in that is both densely weighted and hypnotic. A threatening chug is complemented by higher plucked lead notes, but those soon are swallowed by the maw of the riff brought by the next change; a declining lumber that opens to a more hopeful sans-vocal hook that it makes positively swaggering by second time through, thud of drums and echoing tones giving spaciousness that feels well earned, another late solo taking hold to sort of expand the back half as they wind down what feels like a statement of who they are as a band made to themselves as well as their audience.
A little Karma to Burn in that midsection’s willfully straightforward riffing? Maybe. But by digging as deeply as they are into their style — by doubling-down as they are, particularly after the branching out of Omines — they own it. Listening to V, IAH sound poised and confident in what they’re doing. It’s their fourth LP, and as they shift from “Madre de los Suspiros” into the quiet outset of the eight-minute “Yaldabaoth,” which follows a similar structure to “Kutno” with grounded chug shifting into a calmer middle building to an apex, but in “Yaldabaoth,” that crescendo takes the form of post-rock shimmer-sprawl, evocative even as the drums beneath keep a decent clip, and ending to fit easily with the standalone echoing guitar piece “Sono io!” (1:44), an interlude and presumed side B intro that offers emotional presence and a breather moment before the blindside punch of chug from “Sentado en el Borde de una Pregunta.”
The penultimate cut on the six-tracker brings together the chug that’s been there all the while with a more insistent thrust in the drums, feeling urgent in its first half as it touches on proggier rhythmmaking without giving up the heavy nod, until at 2:46 a crash and stop brings standalone bass deep in the mix, soon enough joined by the drums and atmospheric guitar drawn overtop. While striking on paper, the suddenness of that change when one is actually hearing the album is hardly jarring. IAH simply going from one place to another. They’ve done it several times throughout V by “Sentado en el Borde de una Pregunta,” and the intensity of their return — the album’s genuine breakout-and-run moment — is a payoff serving for more than just the lone track in question. They carry it into a long fade and synth arrives to guide the transition into “Las Palabras y el Mar,” which resets to softer guitar at its beginning.
In the incorporation of synthesizer here, IAH highlight the ambience of V and their style generally while finding a new outlet for it. “Las Palabras y el Mar” plays with the underlying structure of the tracks a bit, with a flowing start shifting into heavier guitar before three minutes in, and even as it solidifies into a chug, much of the (relative) shove behind “Sentado en el Borde de una Pregunta” has dissipated, and a meta-echo — also some real echo — of the post-rock vibe in “Yaldabaoth” reinforces the idea of cognizance on the part of the band. Which is to say, they know what they’re doing. V‘s finale drops the heft in its second half, brings some back for a not-overblown epilogue, and end with melancholy standalone guitar, resonant with effects or synth behind it and consistent in terms of mood with much of what precedes.
This is a band who have found their sound, who know it, and who have purposefully set themselves to refining it and exploring around it while holding to the sphere they’ve marked as their own. One of V‘s greatest appeals is that it paints a sustainable portrait of what they do. With five offerings in six years, IAH have worked at a prolific pace up to now and there’s nothing to say that won’t continue, but V is mature and set in itself in a way that a first or second, even a third record generally can’t be, and that maturity includes the sense of ongoing creative evolution. The synth here is an easy example, and it might be that synth becomes more of a factor in the future and it might not, but that sensibility extends to the dynamic and chemistry between the members of IAH as well as to the places their material is willing to go and the textures being explored. They have never yet been so much their own thing as they are here.
Posted in Reviews on November 2nd, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Whatever else you might have on this weekend, you may want to take some time on Sunday to hit up a brand new album from increasingly progressive instrumentalist trio IAH. The band sent word through their Bandcamp page last night that they’ll release their new album, V, on Nov. 5. Last heard from with 2021’s Omines (review here), which was released through Kozmik Artifactz and featured a collaboration with members of Poland’s Spaceslug, the Argentinian three-piece toured in Europe earlier this year to support — I’m still somewhat surprised to think I’ve seen them (review here), which is genuinely not something I ever believed I would do; I was tired, but that was a good-ass day — making their second trip across the Atlantic following an initial go in 2019.
As for what to expect on V, I have some thoughts but they’re pretty general. To wit, IAH have been dug into a purposeful creative progression since their 2017 self-titled debut EP (review here) and 2018’s first-full-length follow-up, II (review here). Omines came quickly after 2020’s III (review here), but the sense of growth was palpable in the material through more than just the inclusion of vocals, and as far as hopes or expectations go, I’d think another forward step would be the thing — maybe somewhat in a darker mood, given the apparent cover art below — but you never know. Dudes could’ve gone polka metal and not told anyone. You can’t be too careful with these surprise album releases.
They don’t have any songs up yet, but uh, I think you can handle three days’ wait. Unless you’re six years old, in which case, good job reading. Go get a Rolo.
From the band:
We’re excited to share that on November 5th, we’ll be dropping our new album “V,” and we’d love for you to be there to give it a listen!
Big shoutout to all of you, and a huge thanks for your ever-support.
Remember, remember, the fifth of November…
IAH is: Juan Pablo Lucco Borlera: Bass Mauricio Condon: Guitar José Landín: Drums
Well here we are, at last. A couple weeks ago I looked at my calendar and ended up pushing this Quarterly Review to mid-July instead of the end of June, and it’s been hanging over my head in the interim to such a degree that I added two days to it to cover another 20 records. I’m sure it could be more. The amount of music is infinite. It just keeps going.
I’ll assume you know the deal, but here it is anyhow: 10 records per day, for seven days — Monday through Friday, plus Monday and Tuesday in this case — for a total of 70 reviews. Links and audio provided to the extent possible, and hopefully we all find some killer new music we didn’t know about before, or if we did know about it, just to enjoy. That doesn’t seem so crazy, right?
Quarterly Review #1-10:
Bongzilla, Dab City
None higher. Following extensive touring before and (to the extent possible) after the release of their 2021 album, Weedsconsin (review here), Madison, WI, canna-worship crust sludge-launchers Bongzilla return with Dab City, proffering the harsh and the mellow as only they seem to be able to do, even among their ’90s-born original-era sludge brethren. As second track “King of Weed” demonstrates, Bongzilla are aurally dank unto themselves, both in the scathing vocals of bassist Mike “Muleboy” Makela and the layered guitar of Jeff “Spanky” Schultz and the slow-swinging groove shoving all that weighted tone forward in Mike “Magma” Henry‘s drums. Through the seven tracks and 56 minutes of dense jams like those in the opening title-cut or the 13-minute “Cannonbong (The Ballad of Burnt Reynolds as Lamented by Dixie Dave Collins” (yes, from Weedeater) or the gloriously languid finale “American Pot,” the shorter instrumental “C.A.R.T.S.,” or in the relatively uptempo nodders “Hippie Stick” and “Diamonds and Flower,” Bongzilla underscore the if-you-get-it-then-you-get-it nature of their work, at once extreme in its bite and soothing in atmosphere, uncompromising in purpose. I’m not going to tell you to get bombed out of your gourd and listen, but they almost certainly did while making it, and Dab City is nothing if not an invitation to that party.
Adventures await as Redhill, UK, three-piece Trevor’s Head — guitarist/vocalist Roger Atkins, bassist/vocalist/synthesist Aaron Strachan (also kalimba), drummer/flutist/vocalist/synthesist Matt Ainsworth (also Mellotron) — signal a willfully open and progressive creativity through the heavy psych and grunge melodies of lead track “Call of the Deep” before the Primus-gone-fuzz-prog chug of “Under My Skin” and the somehow-English-pastoral “Grape Fang” balances on its multi-part harmonies and loose-feeling movement, side A trading between shorter and longer songs to end with the seven-minute, violin-inclusive folk-then-fuzz-folk highlight “Elio” before “Rumspringa” brings the proceedings to ground as only cowbell might. As relatively straight-ahead as the trio get there or in the more pointedly aggressive shover “A True Gentleman” on the other side of the Tool-ish noodling and eat-this-riff of “What Got Stuck” (answer: the thrashy gallop before the final widdly-widdly solo, in my head), they never want for complexity, and as much as it encapsulates in its depth of arrangement and linear course, closer “Don’t Make Me Ask” represents the band perhaps even more in looking forward rather than back on what was just accomplished, building on what 2018’s Soma Holiday (review here) hinted at stylistically and mindfully evolving their sound.
Born in the ’90s as Amend, turned more extreme as V and now perhaps beginning a new era as Vorder — pronounced “vee-order” — the Dalarna, Sweden, unit return with a new rhythm section behind founding guitarists Jonas Gryth (also Unhealer) and Andreas Baier (also Besvärjelsen, Afgrund, and so on) featuring bassist Marcus Mackä Lindqvist (Blodskam, Lýsis) and drummer Daniel Liljekvist (ex-Katatonia, In Mourning, Grand Cadaver, etc.) on drums, the invigorated four-piece greet a dark dawn with due presence on False Haven, bringing Baier‘s Besvärjelsen bandmate Lea Amling Alazam for guest vocals on “The Few Remaining Lights,” which seems to be consumed after its melodic opening into a lurching and organ-laced midsection like Entombed after the Isis-esque ambience of post-apocalyptic mourning in “Introspective” and “Beyond the Horizon of Life.” Beauty and darkness are not new themes for Vorder, even if False Haven is their first release under the name, and even in the bleak ‘n’ roll of the title-track there’s still room for hope if you define hope as tambourine. Which you probably should. The penultimate “Judgement Awaits” interrupts floating post-doom with vital shove and 10:32 finale “Come Undone” provides a resonant melodic answer to “The Few Remaining Lights” while paying off the album as a whole in patience, heft and fullness. Vorder use microgenres like a polyglot might switch languages, but what’s expressed from the entirety of the work is utterly their own, whatever name they use.
Multi-instrumentalist Beth Gladding (also of Forlesen, Botanist, Lotus Thief, etc.) shares vocal duties in New York’s Inherus with bassist Anthony DiBlasi (ex-Witchkiss) and fellow guitarist/synthesist Brian Harrigan (Grid, Swallow the Ocean), and the harsh/clean dynamic puts emphasis on the various textures presented throughout the band’s debut album. Completed by drummer Andrew Vogt (Lotus Thief, Swallow the Ocean), Inherus reach toward SubRosan melancholy on “Forgotten Kingdom,” which begins the hour-flat/six-track 2LP, and they follow with harmonies and grandeur to spare on “One More Fire” (something in that melody reminds me of Indigo Girls and I’m noting it because I can’t get my head away from it; not complaining) and “The Dagger,” which resolves in Amenra-style squibble and lurch without giving up its emotional depth. “Oh Brother” crushes enough to make one wonder where the line truly is between metal and post-metal, and the setup for closer “Lie to the Angels” in the drone-plus piece “Obliterated in the Face of the Gods” telegraphs the intensity to follow if not the progginess of that particular chug or the scope of what follows. Vogt signals the arrival at the album’s crescendo with stately but fast double-kick, and if you’re wondering who gets the last word, it’s feedback. Beholden may prove formative as Inherus move forward, but what their first full-length lays out as their stylistic range is at least as impressive as it is ambitious. Hope for more to come.
Even in the second half of “Tying Up the Noose” as it leads into “Give it Time” — which is about as speedy as Sonic Moon get on their Olde Magick Records-delivered first LP, Return Without Any Memory — they’re in no particular hurry. The overarching languid pace across the Aarhus five-piece’s 41-minute/seven-tracker — which reuses only the title-track from 2019’s Usually I Don’t Care for Flowers EP — makes it hypnotic even in its most active moments, but whether it’s the Denmarkana acoustic moodiness of centerpiece “Through the Snow,” the steady nod of “Head Under the River” later or the post-All Them Witches psych-blues conveyed in opener “The Waters,” Sonic Moon are able to conjure landscapes from fuzzed tonality that could just as easily have been put to use for traditional doom as psych-leaning heavy rock, uniting the songs through that same fuzz and the melody of the vocals as “Head Under the River” spaces out ahead of its slowdown or “Hear Me Now” eschews the huge finish in favor of a more unassuming, gentler letting go, indicative of the thoughtfulness behind their craft and their presentation of the material. Familiar enough on paper and admirably, unpretentiously itself, the self-recorded Return Without Any Memory discovers its niche and comes across as being right at home in it. A welcome debut.
With cosmic doom via YOB meeting with progressive heavy rock à la Elder or Louisiana rollers Forming the Void and an undercurrent of metal besides in the chug and double-kick of “Controlled Burn,” Cleveland’s Slow Wake make their full-length debut culling together songs their 2022 Falling Fathoms EP and adding the prior-standalone “Black Stars” for 12 minutes’ worth of good measure at the end. The dense and jangly tones at the start of the title-track (where it’s specifically “Marrow”-y) or “In Waves” earlier on seem to draw more directly from Mike Scheidt‘s style of play, but “Relief” builds from its post-rocking outset to grow furious over its first few minutes headed toward a payoff that’s melody as much as crunch. “Black Stars” indulges a bit more psychedelic repetition, which could be a sign of things to come or just how it worked out on that longer track, but Slow Wake lay claim to significant breadth regardless, and have the structural complexity to work in longer forms without losing themselves either in jams or filler. With a strong sense of its goals, Falling Fathoms puts Slow Wake on a self-aware trajectory of growth in modern prog-heavy style. That is, they know what they’re doing and they know why. To show that alone on a first record makes it a win. Their going further lets you know to keep an eye out for next time as well.
The Fierce and the Dead, News From the Invisible World
Unearthing a bit of earlier-Queens of the Stone Age compression fuzz in the start-stop riff of “Shake the Jar” is not even scratching the surface as regards textures put to use by British progressive heavies The Fierce and the Dead on their fourth album, News From the Invisible World. Comprised of eight songs varied in mood and textures around a central ethic clearly intent on not sounding any more like anyone else than it has to, the collection is the first release from the band to feature vocals. Those are handled ably by bassist Kev Feazey, but it’s telling as to the all-in nature of the band that, in using singing for the first time, they employ no fewer than six guest vocalists, mostly but not exclusively on opener/intro “The Start.” From there, it’s a wild course through keyboard/synth-fed atmospheres on pieces like the Phil Collins-gone-heavy “Photogenic Love” and its side-B-capping counterpart “Nostalgia Now,” which ends like friendlier Godflesh, astrojazz experimentalism on “Non-Player,” and plenty of fuzz in “Golden Thread,” “Wonderful,” “What a Time to Be Alive,” and so on, though where a song starts is not necessarily where it’s going to end up. Given Feazey‘s apparent comfort with the task before him, it’s a wonder they didn’t make this shift earlier, but they do well in making up for lost time.
Kliwon is the second offering from Indonesia-based meditative psych exploration unit Mud Spencer to be released through Argonauta Records after 2022’s Fuzz Soup (review here), and its four component songs find France-born multi-instrumentalist Rodolphe Bellugue (also Proots, Bedhunter, etc.) constructing material of marked presence and fluidity. Opener “Suzzanna” is halfway through its nine minutes before the drums start. “Ratu Kidul” is 16 minutes of mindful breathing (musically speaking) as shimmering guitar melody pokes out from underneath the surrounding ethereal wash, darker in tone but more than just bleak. Of course “Dead on the Heavy Funk” reminds of Mr. Bungle as it metal-chugs and energetically weirds out. And the just under 16-minute “Jasmin Eater” closes out with organ and righteous fuzz bass peppered with flourish details on guitar and languid drumming, becoming heavier and consuming as it moves toward the tempo kick that’s the apex of the album. Through these diverse tracks, an intimate psychedelic persona emerges, even without vocals, and Mud Spencer continues to look inward for expanses to be conveyed before doing precisely that.
It would seem that in the interim between 2021’s Ocean of Acid EP and this five-song/41-minute debut full-length, Tyhjiö, Finnish psychedelic death-doomers Kita traded English lyrics for those in their native Finnish. No, I don’t speak it, but that hardly matters in the chant-like chorus of the title-track or the swirling pummel that surrounds as the band invent their own microgenre, metal-rooted and metal in affect, but laced with synth and able to veer into lysergic guitar atmospherics in the 10-minute opener “Kivi Puhuu” or the acoustic-led (actually it’s bass-led, but still) midsection leading to the triumphant chorus of bookending closer “Ataraksia,” uniting disparate ideas through strength of craft, tonal and structural coherence, and, apparently, sheer will. The title-track, “Torajyvä” and “Kärpässilmät,” with the centerpiece cut as the shortest, make for a pyramid-style presentation (broader around its base), but Kita are defined by what they do, drawing extremity from countrymen like Swallow the Sun or Amorphis, among others, and turning it into something of their own. Striking in the true sense of: it feels like being punched. But punched while you hang out on the astral plane.
Greek fuzz alert! Heavy rocking three-piece Embargo hail from Thessaloniki with their first long-player, High Seas, using winding aspects of progressive metal to create tension in the starts and stops of “Billow,” “EAT” and “Candy” as spoken verses in the latter and “Alanna Finch” draw a line between the moody noise rock of Helmet, the grunge it informed, and the heavy rock that emerged (in part) from that. Running 10 tracks and 44 minutes, High Seas is quick in marking out the smoothness of its low tonality, and it veers into and out of what one might consider aggression in terms of style, “with 22 22” thoughtfully composed and sharply pointed in kind, one of several instrumentals to offset some of the gruffer stretches or a more patient melodic highlight like “Draupner,” which does little to hide its affinity for Soundgarden and is only correct to showcase it. They also finish sans-vocals in the title-track, and there’s almost a letting-loose sense to “High Seas” itself, shaking out some shuffle in the first half before peaking in the second. Greece is among Europe’s most packed and vibrant undergrounds, and with High Seas, Embargo begin to carve their place within it.
Posted in Whathaveyou on May 1st, 2023 by JJ Koczan
If you recognize the trees at the start of the video below from the woods of Dalarna, Sweden, kudos. The post-metallic outfit Vorder — who threaten extremity even when they don’t actually push that far — count Andreas Baier, also of Besvärjelsen, Afgrund, Oak, etc., as guitarist/vocalist, so maybe you’ve seen those trees in some of the videos Besvärjelsen did for their last album, 2022’s Atlas (review here), or even the ‘Live From the Shadows’ session video (premiered here) that V recorded in suitable garb astride a hilltop in what looks like the same region where the new clip “Introspective” takes place.
And I guess that’s burying the lede a bit, so let’s dive into the fact that V have become Vorder. They’ve got Daniel Liljekvist (also Katatonia, In Mourning, Ambassadors of the Sun) on drums, Marcus Mackä Lindqvist (Blodskam, Lýsis), and Baier‘s fellow founding member Jonas Gryth on guitar, and that’s the same lineup that put out 2019’s Led Into Exile (review here), but with the single-letter name making them almost impossible to find in the digital sphere let alone in the actual world, perhaps they found that willful obscurity has its ups and downs. Can’t blame them, and even better, I can’t think of another band called Vorder, whether you pronounce it ‘vee-order’ or ‘vor-DER’ or ‘VOR-der,’ etc.
SuicideRecords will have False Haven, Vorder‘s first LP under the new name, out on May 26. You’ll hear post-metal, and some of the ambience and certainly the visuals in the “Introspective” clip derive from black metal, but the primary aesthetic here is dark, and it’s the dark that draws the different sides of their sound together. It’ll make sense when you listen.
From the PR wire:
Vorder – Swedish Sludgy Doom Collective Ft Members of Katatonia, In Mourning and Besvärjelsen Announce New Album “False Haven”
Share Music Video For Opening Song “Introspective”
Swedish sludgy doom metal group Vorder, formerly known as V and comprised of current and former members of Katatonia, In Mourning, Besvärjelsen and Afgrund will release their third album titled “False Haven” on May 26th via Suicide Records.
The follow-up to their previous effort “Led Into Exile” sees the Swedes further refining their sludgy and doomy post-metal sound, contrasting a dark and bleak atmosphere with glaring, beautiful melodies. There’s a clear dichotomy of light and dark to be found throughout “False Haven,” where heavily dense riffs are constantly interlaced with captivating and beautiful melodies. Vorder experiment with different styles, influences and dynamics throughout these six new songs that not only sound intoxicatingly unique but also demonstrate a thoughtful and impressive cohesion. Tracks such as opener “Introspective” or “Come Undone” are driven by crushing and slow riffs in the vein of post-metal acts like Neurosis or Isis, but are magnificently enhanced by alluring and continuous melodies that brings to mind the darker side of Alice In Chains. Pre-orders are now available at this location: https://suiciderecordsswe.bandcamp.com/album/false-haven
Meanwhile, the band have just shared a music video for leading single and opening song “Introspective”.
The band V has been around since the last century in its current state, although the line-up has changed to a previous installation of the band with Jesper (Perplex, Suffocate for fucks sake etc) leaving the drums to Daniel Liljekvist (Katatonia, Disrupted etc) and also Jonas Kindlund being replaced by Marcus Mackä Lindqvist on bass (Burn the Plague, Maggot Infested Ventriculus).
In the mid 90’s the personnel of V were all heavily involved with the underground hardcore scene of Sweden. A mix of death, thrash, punk and hardcore was facilitating a sound that later was to become the heaviness of V.
Andreas and Jonas G formed the hardcore outfit Amend in 1994, which is the starting point for what was later to become V after its earlier incarnation Clean Shade of Dirty which featured Per Sodomizer Eriksson on guitar (Bloodbath, Katatonia).
After the “Patternbreaker” EP that was recorded in studio Ear 2006, V was on a hiatus for ten years but emerged for another round with the full-length recording “Pathogenisis” in 2016 and the follow up “Led into Exile” in 2018. The sound has moved towards even more heaviness and depth, laced with the ever-present cynicism of a world crumbling to its knees.
What started conceptually over 20 years ago as a straight path towards a better life with a socio-political agenda has during the years evolved into a realm of survivalism in an ever-increasing nihilistic environment.
V stands for many things, one of them being rebirth into a postmodern, apocalyptic world. The sound is being sculpted out of their misanthropic souls and the harsh weather of the north. Not only with heavy guitars, screaming vocals and pounding drums of doom but also with ethereal, cold and ambient landscapes surrounding the sonic mass being produced by V.
After playing a bunch of shows before the pandemic, including one on a mountaintop with generators etc (available on youtube) V decided to start recording of their third full length album. Due to the pandemic, things dragged out but now in 2023 it is done and about to be unleashed. To celebrate this, V has upgraded to: V order, the order of V which is written as: Vorder.
Posted in Questionnaire on March 23rd, 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: John Steele of High n’ Heavy
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How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?
I’m one of the primary songwriters, and guitarist, of the metal band High n’ Heavy. After trying a few different band ideas I, along with our drummer and bassist, invited an old friend to start a new project. The original idea has sort of evolved along the way.
Describe your first musical memory.
My parents started taking me to concerts when I was very small. One of the first concerts I remember going to was to see Aerosmith in Providence when I was 4 years old. I remember Skid Row opening, and slightly remember Aerosmith. Mostly because I fell asleep during their set. We always listened my dad’s old records at home, and they really opened me to some of my favorite music. But I also remember starting to play guitar at 9. That’s when it all came full circle, and I was able to learn my favorite songs and use that inspiration to make my own.
Describe your best musical memory to date.
That’s a really tough one. When it comes to going to shows, playing shows, and moments in life that had a certain soundtrack behind it. Getting to see The Misfits at Madison Square Garden a few years ago is definitely up there. They are one of my all time favorite bands, and it felt like being 13 all over again. Made even better by getting to share the experience with my wife. As far as my playing, the first High n’ Heavy show really stands out. Our singer showed up dressed as a wizard from that very show, and still does. The energy of the people in that little bar. Plus, the energy we had. The full excitement of getting to play songs we’d been working on for those months before.
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
In one of my earlier bands there was a lot of infighting due to whether or not we should charge people for certain things. I was always of the belief that if you can get music to people for free then you should do it. I understand the need to charge when things get bigger and more involved. We made the demos on our computers and printed the stickers on cheap sticker paper.
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
It opens up so many doors. Like with music. The more I’ve learned. Whether it’s a new instrument, how to record/mix, or how to write a song. It can lead you down so many roads. The pandemic was a big moment of progression for me. Trying to write all different types of music. Building up a home studio. Becoming more comfortable in my artistic skin, so to speak.
How do you define success?
Probably being happy with where you are, and not letting other people’s opinions affect that. High n’ Heavy was the first band I was in where I just wrote what came without worrying how it may be perceived. Before that I was hardly ever happy with what I wrote. It all felt so forced. Once I stopped worrying what other people might think it opened the flood gates and the inspirado flowed.
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
I’d like to say instances where favoritism in a music scene screws over a more talented band, or someone who might deserve a chance. However, the thing that always comes to mind is when I saw Iggy Pop when I was 17. At one point a kid climbed on stage. It was just a small club. The bouncers dragged him to the side, threw him off the stage, and started beating the shit out of him while he was on the ground. When they were finished the dragged him to the door that led to the alley, and tossed him outside. I get the position of not wanting people to jump on the stage, but it was a heavy over reaction. Made especially horrible when a few songs later he played The Passenger and invited everyone on stage.
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.
I’ve been working a lot on video editing. Mostly skate footage, and such. I’ve really wanted to incorporate all my interests into it. Make short films of stimulating imagery. Scored by me. Maybe leading to music videos for my band, or other peoples if they’re interested. Also, been messing with animation a little, so I’d love to incorporate that.
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
Self expression. Just get it out of you. Opinions don’t matter. Make what you like. On the other side of it just finding what you like, and trying to find more of it. Getting outside of your comfort zone to find things that can move you.
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
I have two wonderful children, and I’m really looking forward to seeing how they grow. They’re already at the age of their personalities starting to really shine through. The journey is a wonderful thing.
Posted in Reviews on September 6th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Morgantown, West Virginia’s Karma to Burn passed into legend with the 2021 death of Will Mecum, founding guitarist and spearhead of the band for their 20-plus years. And as regards holy trinities, one could ask little more than what the mostly-defiantly-instrumental trio conjured across their first three albums: 1997’s self-titled debut (discussed here), 1999’s Wild Wonderful Purgatory (discussed here) and 2001’s Almost Heathen (discussed here). Comprised then of Mecum, bassist Rich Mullins and an earlier succession of drummers that led to Rob Oswald taking over for the second and third LPs, Karma to Burn became one of the most essential riff-rock outfits of the turn of the century, and their influence extended to the compositional in that for most of their career after their first record, they were about as stripped down as you can get and still be playing heavy rock and roll.
I’ve said on multiple occasions that Karma to Burn‘s music is the straightest line from silence to bullshit-free heavy, and with their discography taken as a whole, I stand by that. After 2002, the band broke up until a 2009 reunion tour and split with ASG, which was followed by a few more splits and short/live outings en route to 2010’s return full-length, Appalachian Incantation(review here) and 2011’s V(review here), issued respectively through Napalm Records and its short-lived heavy rock imprint Spinning Goblin Productions. This comeback era also produced 2012’s Slight Reprise, a wholly sans-vocal redux 15 years later of their debut, numerous other live albums, a 2013 self-titled EP on Heavy Psych Sounds and their final long-player, 2014’s Arch Stanton (review here) through FABA/Deepdive Records.
The Heavy Psych Sounds EP is notable because it was the first collaboration between the band and the then-nascent label, and at the time, Karma to Burn were a significant get for the Italian imprint. Nine years later, Heavy Psych Sounds has not only reissued the prior-noted first three albums, but steps up for Appalachian Incantation, V and that same 2013 EP as well, adding Karma to Burn to a list of quintessential bands revisited like Nebula, Dozer, Kylesa, Josiah, Sgt. Sunshine, Brant Bjork, Yawning Man, and so on, solidifying its position as the world’s foremost purveyor of heavy rock in its various forms. The EP repress feels a bit like an indulgence when one thinks that it was either that or Arch Stanton, but two factors to consider: what was/is catalog number HPS008 highlighted Karma to Burn‘s commitment specifically to the European underground that always seemed to love them best, and there’s nothing to say a Heavy Psych Sounds edition of Arch Stanton isn’t coming later. You never really know until the announcement shows up.
Comeback Karma to Burn, who would bid farewell to Oswald after V, sound especially vital on Appalachian Incantation. The trio of Mecum, Mullins and Oswald were air tight and solidified after their return to touring, and the Scott Reeder production of the eight-song/38-minute collection gives life and dynamic to songs like “Forty One” and the slower “Forty Five,” the band’s penchant for numerical titles resulting in setlists that look like lottery pulls and an interchangeable-at-times feeling of immersion. That is to say, when you’re listening to a record like Appalachian Incantation, even if you don’t know where you are numerically — because tracks don’t appear in the order they were apparently written, mind you — the experience is that much easier to take as a whole when considering the interplay of songs presumably written around the same time.
And Mecum as the band’s driving creative force was not averse to throwing his listenership a bone. Collaboration with singer Dan Davies of Year Long Disaster resulted in Appalachian Incantation‘s side B leadoff and landmark “Waiting on the Western World,” and V — which picks up numerically at “Forty Seven” where the prior album left off at “Forty Six” — reminds that at one point it was difficult to tell where Karma to Burn ended and Year Long Disaster began, the two groups touring together and offering three vocalized songs on V in “The Cynics,” “Jimmy D” and a closing take on Black Sabbath‘s “Never Say Die.” Produced by John Lousteau (Alice in Chains‘ Black Gives Way to Blue, Corrosion of Conformity‘s 2012 self-titled, many more) , V streamlined some of the range of the album prior into an especially-tight-even-for-Karma–to–Burn presentation that these years later still captures the band who’d soon shift lineup in their ultimate element, riffs leading the charge one nod to the next like a succession of so many Appalachian foothills.
Taken back to back with Appalachian Incantation, V doesn’t have quite the same force of low end — “Scott Reeder” and “bass” are words that go very well together — but it’s about as to-the-bone as Karma to Burn would ever get. The Karma to Burn EP that followed two years later brought aboard drummer Evan Devine, who would remain in the band for the duration, and marked Mullins‘ final studio appearance with them. Comprised half of new tracks — “Fifty Three,” “Fifty Four,” “Space Tune” — and half of songs redone from the prior two LPs in “Forty One” and “Forty Two” from Appalachian Incantation and “Forty Seven” from V, the 29-minute outing straddles the line between a short release and a full-length, and demonstrates particularly well the swing that Devine brought to the trio and the direction they’d continue to take on their next outing in 2014.
All of which is to say that while this period of Karma to Burn‘s work will likely never be that upon which their already-noted legend is based — that’s really Wild Wonderful Purgatory and Almost Heathen, and if you’re a new listener to the band, that’s where you want to start — it was a succession of crucial moments for them and for Mecum as they returned to the stage, continued to declare who they were, and set about influencing a new generation of heavy instrumentalists. They have never been and they will never be a band for everybody, but these reissues readily demonstrate how even as purposefully, willfully simplified as their sound was — as though they took Mecum‘s t-shirt, jeans, and ball cap pulled down over eyes and turned it into music — the statement they made was as much one of persona as of heft and groove. Despite the efforts of many, there was and will only ever be one Karma to Burn. Here they are.
Posted in Bootleg Theater on December 1st, 2021 by JJ Koczan
Dalarna, Sweden’s V — aka VPathogen, if you’d like something easier for search engines — released their second album, Led Into Exile (review here), in Sept. 2019 through Suicide Records. The video premiering below for that album’s opening track, taken from a series of four to be unveiled over the course of the next couple weeks, has been in the works since before the record actually came out.
Consider that for a second. V — led by guitarist/vocalist/synthesist Andreas Baier (also of Besvärjelsen), with guitarist Jonas Gryth, bassist/vibraphonist Marcus Lindqvist and drummer Daniel Liljekvist — went up to a hilltop, spread a few mats out on pallets, fired up a P.A., their amps and some cameras and taped a full-album performance, before they had to stop playing shows because… well, you know.
As it happens, the exclusion-of-audience fits with Led Into Exile‘s hermittty narrative, going off into the forest and not coming back. Comprised of six songs, the studio version of the album tells the story detailed below of leaving society behind in favor of a self-imposed isolation while the world chooses to destroy itself. Painfully prescient, to a degree, but the songs’ atmospheres bear out the plot as well as the lyrics, and out among nature at dusk as V are with ‘Led Into Exile – Live at Svansberget,’ lit by ritual torches with an effigy of their own moniker behind them, the concept is brought to life with spacious flourish even as the sounds are rawer and heavier-hitting.
I’ve included the full details of the video’s making as told by the band below, as well as the background on Led Into Exile‘s theme, and the stream of the album itself in case you’d like to get caught up. Today is Dec. 1 and the other videos will roll out Dec. 8, Dec. 16 and Dec. 22, respectively.
Go fullscreen, and enjoy:
V, “Broadcast From the Shadows” Live at Svansberget premiere
V on Live at Svansberget:
We discussed doing something out of the ordinary, perhaps a live show in the middle of the forest on a mountain and filming it all. This is back in 2019 and livestreams and recorded live shows were not as common as now during the pandemic, at least not going out of one’s way to make something like this with practically no budget. We live in a pretty desolate part of Sweden where one can easily get lost in the wilderness of the mountains, rivers lakes and forests of the Taiga Belt. This is a huge inspiration for us, probably even more than we like to admit. So driving up a mountain in the old Finngrounds of western Dalecarlia with an old German van filled with: five generators, full backline, P.A., lights, a mobile bar with craft beer on draft, a military tent with a stove and a few good friends and a small camera team takes some balls considering how much that can actually go wrong with the typical Scandinavian weather and so forth.
We managed to record an entire set in one take, except for a few hiccups while starting a few of the songs but we started right back up again. The weather forecast was threatening us with rain and so of course we felt that the pressure was on. We had a huge tarp to cover all the gear in case of that and we actually built a little shed on site for the mixing and lighting desks.
It turned out to be a very magical night and we lit a huge bonfire when the rain finally came after the show.
So what happened to the material one might ask? Since it was recorded in the beginning of May 2019 and now coming out December 2021 in segments, why did it take so long? Well since it was a full-on DIY happening, funds for editors and postproduction was at the mercy of benefactors and they withdrew in the final stages, enter the pandemic it seemed like a hopeless task to fulfill. So it seemed that Led into the wild-live at Svansberget (swanmountain) just wasn’t to be. But with the help of Henrik from Suicide Records and some cutting by Andreas (vocals, guitar – V) it finally came to its right and is now available to be seen by the world.
Led Into Exile is a six song concept album sprung from a short story dealing with the definitive departure from civilisation into the wild Finnmark in Dalecarlia Sweden.
The story deals with the hardships of living in this rough terrain of the outdoors and all the toils that comes with that territory. It also speaks of loss and a strong will to become isolated from an insane world on the brink of destruction. Set to the background of a nihilistic darkness the album paints a picture of isolation with broad misanthropic brushstrokes seasoned with the occult and old folklore tied to the region.
The six songs on led into exile describes what happens to a person who succumbs to the siren song coming from the taiga-belt and how this ultimately leads to the vanishing of this person, never to be seen again.
V are: Andreas Baier • Vocals, Guitars, Synths Jonas Gryth • Guitars Marcus Lindqvist • Bass, Vibraphone Daniel Liljekvist • Drums and all Percussions
Posted in audiObelisk on May 6th, 2021 by JJ Koczan
Massachusetts doom rockers High n’ Heavy release their fifth album, V, through Electric Valley Records on May 28. A flair for the epic pervades the eight-song/42-minute outing that should come as little surprise to anyone who donned the mantle of their 2019 offering, Warrior Queen (review here) — also their debut on Electric Valley — and from opener “Cleansed with Blood” and the even-fuzzier “Gather Flame” that follows, the band take the trodden paths of genre deep into an old growth New England forest of lost mysticism and magic that’s probably spelled with a ‘k’ somewhere in there. As frontman KrisFortin intones in the hook of “Gather Flame,” “It must be victory or death.” The stakes, then, are pretty high.
Fair enough. Fortin is a steady forward presence on V, and stands up to the test before him of bringing thematic scope to the classic heavy fuzz and natural tones of guitarist John Steele (also keys) and bassist Michael Dudley, as well as the rolling drumwork of Nick Perrone. Horror, fantasy, fantasy horror — and no doubt the songs are rife with references for those in the know on this or that particular book, game, whatever it might be, but more crucially, High n’ Heavy create a flow between their songs that’s neither wholly doom nor heavy rock and roll, finding a place between genres that’s metal-adjacent in its poise but not aggressive, unwilling to sacrifice fist-in-the-air power for stonerly groove, but somehow harnessing both. Maybe that’s that magik at work.
“Power of Arachnid” — premiering below — runs six and a half minutes and slows down from the opening duo, but nestles into a nice, wah-coated rhythm, carrying over subtle backing layers from “Gather Flame” with semi-harmonies worthy of headphones, and doesn’t necessarily represent the whole of V but showcases its tones and performances well, a balance between live energy and studio clarity brought to bear by Trevor Vaughan in the band’s native New Bedford, along the south coast of Massachusetts, Buzzards Bay, an old whaling town remade — when last I was there; a few years ago now — into an antiparadise of opiates and wanna-gentrify intent. MA, and New England as a whole, has never wanted for heavy, but High n’ Heavy share no more with the likes of Roadsaw than they do with Pentagram or The Sword, and their refusal to cower makes the march that caps side A in “Onward to Oblivion” even more righteous.
Does side B dig in further? Yes, yes it does. “Screaming Moon” is a molasses-thick tonal highlight, Sabbathian in its roll, lyrics of mammoth tusks and warhammers and the like, all nod and grooving tempo and Dudley playing the Geezer role in the setup to the arrival of the appropriately grandiose keyboards. The subsequent “Rise” is faster, as it inevitably would be, but still thrilling in its tonal depth and catchiness, and it serves double-duty as a transition into the 2:43 “Death in the Unknown,” which is the point at which High n’ Heavy go full The Action is Go in their rush. No complaints as they rip it up in the penultimate moment; the structure of the song holds up to the force with which it’s delivered. For the closer, the turn to nylon-string acoustic guitar and keyboard brings us back to Dio-era Sabbath medievalism — in my head I hear, “I think about closing the door…” — but the drama that ensues is modern in its lumber and patient in its unfolding.
Here too, High n’ Heavy bask in doom for doom’s sake, a grand finale that shows class while adhering to genre tenets, again unwilling to be anything other than the band’s own despite the familiarity of the setting in which their tale takes place. This is V in summation, but the adventure doesn’t have to end there. As the band marches out to the bookending acoustic and keys, one gets the sense that, while they’ve come a ways from “Attack the 30 Rack” on their 2015 self-titled debut — “I may be a wizard/I may be from space/The rules are the same/Now I’m shitfaced” — and “Sex Potions Rock ‘n’ Roll” from 2017’s From the Flames, finding their way to where they are now is by no means a conclusion unto itself. Warriors, wizards, whathaveyou, they may be, but High n’ Heavy are songwriters too, and V demonstrates the best aspects of that as well as a heaping dose of personality.
Enjoy “Power of Arachnid” on the player below, followed by preorder links and all that other good stuff from the PR wire:
Electric Valley Records is proud to present the 5th LP of High n’ Heavy, entitled V. The album will be available on different variants of vinyl (Black, Transparent Purple, and Ultra LTD “Moon Edition”) and digital formats on 28th May 2021. On the same day, the Italian label represses the doom quartet’s last album, Warrior Queen, on vinyl (Red, White, and Ultra LTD “Shield Edition”).
Out of the depths of Massachusetts, High n’ Heavy continue to bring the fire. Formed in 2014, under the influence of The Stooges and Black Sabbath, this quartet have put together a formidable blend of dirty 70’s style rock, doom, and blues that’d make the devil blush. They go one better with each of their studio work, outstripping the caliber of the previous albums. Their live shows come with an energy that leaves the audiences with their brains tingling and knees weak. They were fortunate to play RPM Fest ’19 and open for The Obsessed.
High n’ Heavy’s upcoming release, V, sees the band continue their ascent towards the rock n’ roll mountain top. Going back into the studio with Trevor Vaughan at the helm, their sound is larger than ever before. The songwriting and performance on this album prove yet again that they are a band that’s found its groove, but is also just getting started. The Eight massive tracks of the LP eventually turn out to be their greatest offering to the gods of rock n’ roll!
“High n’ Heavy are beyond excited to continue working with Electric Valley Records on our second release with the label,” the band says. “The support from EVR, along with the bands that make up their amazing family, has helped bring this album’s vision to fruition.”
TRACKLIST: A1. Cleansed with Blood A2. Gather Flame A3. Power of Arachnid A4. Onward to Oblivion B1. Screaming Moon B2. Rise B3. Death in the Unknown B4. We Will Burn
All songs written by High n’ Heavy. Recorded & Engineered by Trevor Vaughan Recorded at The Coliseum. Produced by Trevor Vaughan and High n’ Heavy. Artwork & Layout by John Steele.
High n’ Heavy: Kris Fortin: Vocals John Steele: Guitar/Keys Michael Dudley: Bass Nick Perrone: Drums
