Posted in Whathaveyou on March 14th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
The first single from the third Vitskär Süden full-length, which is called Vessel, is the opening track “Vengeance Speaks,” unveiled the other day by the PR wire with the album’s announcement and streaming below. A space initially left open in the song amid ambient strings and the not-quite-standalone-but-definitely-a-focal-point vocals of Martin Garner — somewhere between Patrick Walker of Warning and David Eugene Edwards in his delivery — give focus ahead of a layer of non-lyric guest singing, a layered heavier chug and droning hum. It finds a flow of its own and is unhurried and progressive in kind. Given what the L.A.-based post-whatnot troupe had on offer with 2022’s The Faceless King (review here), one doubts this or any other cut among the seven included speaks for the record’s entirety — the word is ‘breadth’ — but at very least they’re giving the listener an opportunity to familiarize theirself with its initial immersion.
May 17 is the release date, and Vessel will be out through Ripple Music, which has preorders up and info to share about the making and intent behind it. I believe them when they talk about branching out in terms of arrangement and style, not the least because this too is something “Vengeance Speaks” manifests. They sound like they sweated out the details.
Approach with patience. The song is only five minutes long, but its depth of mix makes it feel bigger, and it’s best heard on its own level:
Los Angeles dark folk and progressive rock unit VITSKÄR SÜDEN to issue new album “Vessel” on Ripple Music this May; stream new single “Vengeance Speaks”.
Vitskär Süden announce the release of their third studio album “Vessel” on May 17th through Californian label Ripple Music. Stream the hypnotic debut single “Vengeance Speaks” on all streaming platforms now!
The opening track of Vitskär Süden’s new album “Vessel” begins with plaintive vocals and a solitary guitar. Hear our plea. Show your presence… “It’s essentially a prayer to the Elder Gods,” says vocalist Martin Garner. “‘Save us from ourselves.’ It’s stark. I’m exposed in a way I haven’t been vocally in our music before, but I wanted the despair of the text to come through. As the song progresses, this character who’s been begging for salvation begins to call for fire, wrath and revenge, and the build the guys created musically really illustrates that.”
The band’s first foray into live strings, “Vengeance Speaks” offers cellist Max Mueller and violinist Emily Moore adding heft and scope, as well as a soaring vocal solo by Kristi Merideth. “With dark angels descending from the heavens lyrically we needed a female voice in play to paint the full picture,” says Garner. “Kristi improvised this amazing solo in a couple of takes. We all heard it for the first time when we were mixing the record in Austin and our jaws were on the floor.”
Vitskär Süden’s new album “Vessel” contemplates the fragility of human life in the form of a weird fiction collection of sorts. From post-apocalyptic, rain-soaked forests and sunken Lovecraftian cities to turbulent seas and marshy battlefields, the record guides listeners through portals to seven distinctive soundscapes. They expand their sonic arsenal with the additions of strings, synth and electronic elements, leaning further into progressive rock territory while remaining singularly themselves all the while. “Sonically we wanted to go further with what we started in The Faceless King, using different instrumentation, more synths, piano, and strings,” says guitarist Julian Goldberger. “I think we all wanted to stretch out a bit and lean into the atmosphere and vibe that was emerging from these dark tales.”
The album continues the band’s collaboration with co-producer/mixer Don Cento and also features guest appearances from cellist Max Mueller, violinist Emily Moore and pianist Rich Martin as well as vocalists Kristi Merideth and Isabel Beyoso.
VITSKÄR SÜDEN – New album “Vessel” Out May 17th on Ripple Music (vinyl/CD/digital)
Posted in Bootleg Theater on December 28th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Kudos to Massachusetts-based three-piece Benthic Realm — who play both the doom and the metal kinds of doom metal — on not letting 2023 end without reminding any and all in earshot that their debut album came out this year. Five years and one actual plague after their second EP, 2018’s We Will Not Bow (review here), the band comprised of guitarist/vocalist Krista Van Guilder (formerly of Second Grave, Lucubro, WarHorse, etc.), bassist/keyboardist Maureen Murphy (whose fascinating low end path has seen her work with the likes of Negative Reaction and Dimentianon, as well as Second Grave with Guilder, I’m pretty sure Curse the Son for a bit, and a slew of others) and drummer Dan Blomquist (also Conclave) hoisted anchor and took to dark and undulating seas on an hour-long Vessel (review here). Marked by its grim tones, bleak melodicism and downer nods meeting periodically with a growl, a scream, or a particularly deathly riff, the 10-song collection reveals the band’s extreme underpinnings early in the eight-minute “Traitors Among Us” after the intro “Raise the Banners” set the nautical theme.
And all that takes is one low, guttural growl from Van Guilder and the entire sphere of death metal is fair game at any point on the record. That’s maybe a little dramatic in terms of the framing, and at least on their first record, Benthic Realm aren’t interested in going full-on slip-a-disc-windmill-headbanging death metal gruntery, but listening to Vessel, there’s always the threat they might, however far to the other side they might go with the acoustic interlude “Set Adrift” that sets up the album’s rolling highlight title-track. Melody holds the day in terms of balance, which “Course Correct” makes plain after “Traitors Among Us” with a faster but still ultimately comfortable push and an arrangement of layered harmonies from Van Guilder in its apex, and whether she’s singing ‘clean’ — often at least double-tracked; in closer “As it Burns” with the video below, or “Summon the Tide,” the quiet-till-it-isn’t post-Metallica‘s “One” brooding in the second half of “Veiled Embrace,” and so on — or the band are dug into the one-two pairing of “I Will Wait” and “Summon the Tide,” both of which are just under nine minutes and each of which lays out its own sprawling but thoughtful path through weighted melodic doom metal that’s more Paradise Lost than Saint Vitus, stately and patient, taking on metal’s symmetry over punk’s urgency, her presence as a songwriter, range as a singer and unafraid-to-be-angular style of riffing are defining factors of the material.
You can’t have heavy without groove, and those among the genre-converted know that’s generally going to come from the rhythm section. What Murphy and Blomquist bring to Vessel is more than tonal oomph to support the melodies and a roll on which to gain momentum, but rest assured, both of those are part of it too. Benthic Realm benefit from a single-guitar configuration in that as Van Guilder takes her solo in the penultimate tempo-kicker chug of “What Lies Beneath,” Murphy and Blomquist are able to hold the rhythm underneath, allowing the song to move forward without giving up one of the record’s most infectious movements, instead working like a classic power trio to build a crescendo that, if “What Lies Beneath” closed, I’d probably tell you had no trouble serving as a payoff for the entirety of the release. Just being honest. Benthic Realm push farther with “As it Burns.”
If you want to think of track 10 as Benthic Realm going to 11, fair enough, but they’re never so over-the-top in “As it Burns” as to sacrifice the poised impression they’ve made over the 50-plus minutes prior (and by mentioning runtime again I’m not ragging on Benthic Realm for making a long record; it’s part of the aesthetic), and it’s once again the vocal melody that distinguishes that last peak the band will hit before the closer’s insistent chug — it sounds like producer Apollo XVII said, “Play it like you’re annoyed waiting for the sound to come out of the speaker,” though that’s not an actual quote — seems to finally decide you’ve had enough and put a couple last holes in the wall on its way out. And there you are, a record that just spent so much time in the water ending with fire and just kind of pulling it off because they do and the songs work and when you have that you’ve got everything.
I’ve gone on for too long. Their debut album was a while in the making, and I’m glad it came out this year. Here’s that video.
Formed in July of 2016 in Worcester, MA, USA, Benthic Realm conjures melodies and crushing rhythms from the dark abyss. The trio consists of former Second Grave members Krista Van Guilder (WarHorse, Lucubro) on vocals/guitar and Maureen Murphy on bass, and Dan Blomquist (Conclave) on drums.
Welcome to day two of the Summer 2023 Quarterly Review. Yesterday was a genuine hoot — I didn’t realize I had packed it so full of bands’ debut albums, and not repeating myself in noting that in the reviews was a challenge — but blah blah words words later we’re back at it today for round two of seven total.
As I write this, my house is newly emerged from an early morning tornado warning and sundry severe weather alerts, flooding, wind, etc., with that. In my weather head-canon, tornados don’t happen here — because they never used to — but one hit like two towns over a week or so ago, so I guess anything’s possible. My greater concern would be flooding or downed trees or branches damaging the house. I laughed with The Patient Mrs. that of course a tornado would come right after we did the kitchen floor and put the sink back.
We got The Pecan up to experience and be normalized into this brave new world of climate horror. We didn’t go to the basement, but it probably won’t be the last time we talk about whether or not we need to do so. Yes, planet Earth will take care of itself. It will do this by removing the problematic infection over a sustained period of time. Only trouble is humans are the infection.
So anyway, happy Tuesday. Let’s talk about some records.
Quarterly Review #11-20:
Bell Witch, Future’s Shadow Part 1: The Clandestine Gate
Cumbersome in its title and duly stately as it unfurls 83 minutes of Billy Anderson-recorded slow-motion death-doom soul destroy/rebuild, Future’s Shadow Part 1: The Clandestine Gate is not the first longform single-song work from Seattle’s Bell Witch, but the core duo of drummer/vocalist Jesse Shreibman and bassist/vocalist Dylan Desmond found their path on 2017’s landmark Mirror Reaper (review here) and have set themselves to the work of expanding on that already encompassing scope. Moving from its organ intro through willfully lurching, chant-topped initial verses, the piece breaks circa 24 minutes to minimalist near-silence, building itself back up until it seems to blossom fully at around 45 minutes in, but it breaks to organ, rises again, and ultimately seems to not so much to collapse as to be let go into its last eight minutes of melancholy standalone bass. Knowing this is only the first part of a trilogy makes Future’s Shadow Part 1: The Clandestine Gate feel even huger and more opaque, but while its unrelenting atmospheric bleakness will be listenable for a small percentage of the general populace, there’s no question Bell Witch are continuing to push the limits of what they do. Loud or quiet, they are consuming. One should expect no less in the next installment.
Some records are self-titled because the band can’t think of a name. Plainride‘s Plainride is more declarative. Self-released ahead of a Ripple Music issue to accord with timing as the German trio did a Spring support stint with Corrosion of Conformity, the 10-song outing engages with funk, blues rock, metal, prog and on and on and on, and feels specifically geared toward waking up any and all who hear it. The horns blasting in “Fire in the Sky” are a clear signal of that, though one should also allow for the mellowing of “Wanderer,” the interlude “You Wanna…” the acoustic noodler “Siebengebirge,” or the ballady closer “The Lilies” as a corresponding display of dynamic. But the energy is there in “Hello, Operator,” “Ritual” — which reminds of Gozu in its soulful vocals — and through the longer “Shepherd” and the subsequent regrounding in the penultimate “Hour of the Mûmakil,” and it is that kick-in-the-pants sensibility that most defines Plainride as a realization on the part of the band. They sound driven, hungry, expansive and professional, and they greet their audience with a full-on “welcome to the show” mindset, then proceed to try to shake loose the rules of genre from within. Not a minor ambition, but Plainride succeed in letting craft lead the charge in their battle against mediocrity. They don’t universally hit their marks — not that rock and roll ever did or necessarily should — but they take actual chances here and are all the more invigorating for that.
Massachusetts doomers Benthic Realm offer their awaited first full-length with Vessel, and the hour-long 2LP is broad and crushing enough to justify the wait. It’s been five years since 2018’s We Will Not Bow (review here), and the three-piece of bassist Maureen Murphy (ex-Second Grave, ex-Curse the Son, etc.), guitarist/vocalist Krista Van Guilder (ex-Second Grave, ex-Warhorse) and drummer Dan Blomquist (also Conclave) conjure worthy expanse with a metallic foundation, Van Guilder likewise effective in a deathly scream and melodic delivery as “Traitors Among Us” quickly affirms, and the band shifting smoothly between the lurch of “Summon the Tide” and speedier processions like “Course Correct,” the title-track or the penultimate “What Lies Beneath,” the album ultimately more defined by mood and the epic nature of Benthic Realm‘s craft than a showcase of tempo on either side. That is, regardless of pace, they deliver with force throughout the album, and while it might be a couple years delayed, it stands readily among the best debuts of 2023.
Cervus follow 2022’s impressive single “Cycles” (posted here) with the three-song EP Shifting Sands, and the Amsterdam heavy psych unit use the occasion to continue to build a range around their mellow-grooving foundation. Beginning quiet and languid and exploratory on “Nirvana Dunes,” which bursts to voluminous life after its midpoint but retains its fluidity, the five-piece of guitarists Jan Woudenberg and Dennis de Bruin, bassist Tom Mourik, keyboardist/guitarist Ton van Rijswijk and drummer Rogier Henkelman saving extra push for middle cut “Tempest,” reminding some of how The Machine are able to turn from heavy jams to more structured riffy shove. That track, shorter at 3:43, is a delightful bit of raucousness that answers the more straightforward fare on 2021’s Ignis EP while setting up a direct transition into “Eternal Shadow,” which builds walls of organ-laced fuzz roll that go out and don’t come back, ending the 16-minute outing in such a way as to make it feel more like a mini-album. They touch no ground here that feels uncertain for them, but that’s only a positive sign as they perhaps work toward making their debut LP. Whether that’s coming or not, Shifting Sands is no less engaging a mini-trip for its brevity.
On their third album, Where’s the Ground?, Portuguese experimentalists Unsafe Space Garden tackle heavy existentialist questions as only those truly willing to embrace the absurd could hope to do. From the almost-Jackson 5 casual saunter of “Grown-Ups!” — and by the way, all titles are punctuated and stylized all-caps — to the willfully overwhelming prog-metal play of “Pum Pum Pum Pum Ta Ta” later on, Unsafe Space Garden find and frame emotional and psychological breakthroughs through the ridiculous misery of human existence while also managing to remind of what a band can truly accomplish when they’re willing to throw genre expectations out the window. With shades throughout of punk, prog, indie, sludge, pop new and old, post-rock, jazz, and on and on, they are admirably individual, and unwilling to be anything other than who they are stylistically at the risk of derailing their own work, which — again, admirably — they don’t. Switching between English and Portuguese lyrics, they challenge the audience to approach with an open mind and sympathy for one another since once we were all just kids picking our noses on the same ground. Where’s the ground now? I’m not 100 percent, but I think it might be everywhere if we’re ready to see it, to be on it. Supreme weirdo manifestation; a little manic in vibe, but not without hope.
Guitarist/vocalist Henning Schmerer reportedly self-recorded and mixed and played all instruments himself for Neon Burton‘s third full-length, Take a Ride. The band was a trio circa 2021’s Mighty Mondeo, and might still be one, but with programmed drums behind him, Schmerer digs in alone across these space-themed six songs/46 minutes. The material keeps the central duality of Neon Burton‘s work to-date in pairing airy heavy psychedelia with bouts of denser riffing, rougher-edged verses and choruses offsetting the entrancing jams, resulting in a sound that draws a line between the two but is able to move between them freely. “Mother Ship” starts the record quiet but grows across its seven minutes to Truckfighters-esque fuzzy swing, and “I Run,” which follows, unveils the harder-landing aspect of the band’s character. The transitions are unforced and feel like a natural dynamic in the material, but even the jammiest parts would have to be thought out beforehand to be recorded with just one person, so perhaps Take a Ride‘s most standout achievement — see also: tone, melody, groove — is in overcoming the solo nature of its making to sound as much like a full band as it does in the 10-minute “Orbit” or the crescendo of “Disconnect” that rumbles into the sample-topped ambient-plus-funky meander at the start of instrumental closer “Wormhole,” which dares a bit of proggier-leaning chug on the way to its thickened, nodding culmination.
Though pedigreed in a Maryland doom scene that deeply prides itself on traditionalism, Laurel, MD, trio Thousand Vision Mist mark out a progressive path forward with their second full-length, Depths of Oblivion, the eight songs/35 minutes of which seem to owe as much to avant metal as to doom and/or heavy rock. Opener “Sands of Time” imagines what might’ve been if Virus had been raised in the Chesapeake Watershed, while “Citadel of Green” relishes its organically ’70s-style groove with an intricacy of interpretation so as to let Thousand Vision Mist come across as respectful of the past but not hindered by it creatively. Comprised of guitarist/vocalist Danny Kenyon (ex-Life Beyond, Indestroy, etc.), bassist/backing vocalist Tony Comulada (War Injun, Outside Truth, etc.) and drummer Chris Sebastian (ex-Retribution), the band delves into the pastoral on “Love, the Destroyer” and the sunshine-till-the-fuzz-hits-then-still-awesome “Thunderbird Blue,” while “Battle for Yesterday” filters grunge nostalgia through their own complexity and capper “Reversal of Misfortune” moves from its initial riffiness — perhaps in conversation with “We Flew Too High” at the start of what would be side B — into sharper shred with an unshakable rhythmic foundation beneath. I didn’t know what to expect so long after 2018’s Journey to Ascension and the Loss of Tomorrow (review here), which was impressive, but there’s no level on which Thousand Vision Mist haven’t outdone themselves with Depths of Oblivion.
Founded and fronted by vocalist George Chamberlin (Ritual Earth), the named-for-a-Joy–Division-tune New Dawn Fades make their initial public offering with the three-songer Forever, which at 15 minutes long doesn’t come close to the title but makes its point well before it’s through all the same. In “True Till Death,” they update a vibe somewhere between C.O.C.‘s Blind and a less-Southern version of Nola-era Down, while “This Night Has Closed My Eyes” adds some Kyuss flair in Chamberlin‘s vocal and the concluding “New Moon” reinforces the argument with a four-minute parade of swing and chug, Sabbath-bred if not Sabbath-worshiping. If the band — whose lineup seems to have changed since this was recorded at least in the drums — are going to take on a full-length next, they’ll want to shake things up, maybe an interlude, etc., but as a short outing and even more as their first, they don’t necessarily need to shock with off-the-wall style. Instead, Forever portrays New Dawn Fades as having a clear grasp on what they want to do and the songwriting command to make it happen. Wherever they go from here, it’ll be worth keeping eyes and ears open.
According to the band, Aton Five‘s mostly-instrumental self-titled sophomore full-length was recorded between 2019 and 2022, and that three-year span would seem to have allowed for the Moscow-based four-piece to deep-dive into the five pieces that comprise it, so that the guitar and organ answering each other on “Danse Macabre” and the mathy angularity that underscores much of the second half of “Naked Void” exist as fully envisioned versions of themselves, even before you get to the 22-minute “Lethe,” which closes. With the soothing “Clepsydra” in its middle as the only track under eight minutes long, Aton Five have plenty of time to develop and build outward from the headspinning proffered by “Alienation” at the album’s start and in the bassy jabs and departure into and through clearheaded drift-metal (didn’t know it existed, but there it is), the work they’ve put into the material is obvious and no less multifaceted than are the songs, “Alienation” resolving in a combination of sweeps and sprints, each of which resonates with purpose. That one might say the same of each of the three parts that make up “Lethe” should signal the depth of consideration in the entirety of the release. I know there was a plague on, but maybe Aton Five benefitted as well from having the time to focus as they so plainly did. Whether you try to keep up with the turns or sit back and let the band go where they will, Aton Five, the album, feels like the kind of record that might’ve ended up somewhere other than where the band first thought it would, but is stronger for having made the journey to the finished product.
Giants Dwarfs and Black Holes, In a Sandbox Full of Suns
Their second LP behind 2020’s Everwill, the five-song In a Sandbox Full of Suns finds German four-piece Giants Dwarfs and Black Holes fully switched on in heavy jam fashion, cuts like “Love Story” and “In a Sandbox Full of Suns” — both of which top 11 minutes — fleshed out with improv-sounding guitar and vocals over ultra-fluid rhythms, blending classic heavy blues rock and prog with hints and only hints of vintage-ism and letting the variety in their approach show itself in the four-minute centerpiece “Dead Urban Desert” and the suitably cosmic atmosphere to which they depart in closer “Time and Space.” Leadoff “Coffee Style” is rife with attitude, but wahs itself into an Eastern-inflected lead progression after the midpoint and before turning back to the verse, holding its relaxed but not lazy feel all the while. It is a natural brand of psychedelia that results throughout — an enticing sound between sounds; the proverbial ‘not-lost wandering’ in musical form — as Giants Dwarfs and Black Holes don’t try to hypnotize with effects or synth, etc., but prove willing to take a walk into the unknown when the mood hits. It doesn’t always, but they make the most of their opportunities regardless, and if “Dead Urban Desert” is the exception, its placement as the centerpiece tells you it’s not there by accident.
Posted in Whathaveyou on May 16th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Probably fair to call the debut full-length from Benthic Realm ‘awaited.’ To wit, their second and most recent EP was 2018’s We Will Not Bow (review here), and as I feel like I’ve reminded mostly myself in the last week multiple times, that was five years ago. Staggering. In any case, if you believe in ‘due,’ they’re due for a debut album. For the Worcester, Massachusetts, trio with guitarist/vocalist Krista Van Guilder and bassist/keyboardist Maureen Murphy — both ex-Second Grave, among others — sharing drummer Dan Blomquist with Conclave, it’s time.
They have two release shows booked for a few days subsequent to the July 1 release — that’s a Saturday and the shows are the next Thursday and Friday; I’ve never been to Starlite, but Ralph’s Rock Diner was rad last time I was fortunate enough to check (probably also five years) — and no doubt more to come after that, but the thing to look forward to for most of those reading this and me as well is Vessel itself, for which you can see a teaser below. It’s a self-release and an hour long, so a 2LP would be a lot to ask for of a band DIY’ing it on their first long-player, but I suppose nothing’s impossible. They’ve got CDs for folks like me who enjoy tunes on smaller plastic discs in the meantime. I know I’m not the only one out there. And if I am, give me your collection. Ha.
Info follows:
Benthic Realm has set July 1, 2023 as the official release date for their first full length album. Clocking in at just over 1 hour, the release will be available digitally though all of the usual channels. Physical CDs packaged in an 8-panel digipack will be available to order online and at all shows.
Formed in July of 2016 in Worcester, MA, USA, Benthic Realm conjures melodies and crushing rhythms from the dark abyss. The trio consists of former Second Grave members Krista Van Guilder (WarHorse, Lucubro) on vocals/guitar and Maureen Murphy on bass, and Dan Blomquist (Conclave) on drums. Brian Banfield (The Scimitar, Blood Stone Sacrifice) was a founding member but handed over drum duties to Dan in September 2017 and continued to perform locally in the New England area.
The band was actively writing for their third release and had been scheduled to return to the studio July 2020, until the Covid pandemic changed their plans. The group resumed regular rehearsals in the summer of 2021 and spent the next year writing and rehearsing. October of 2022 the band headed back into the recording studio to record their first full-length album, to be released in early summer 2023. The band is actively booking shows in support of the new album.
Posted in Questionnaire on December 29th, 2021 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: Jordan Forster of Vessel
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How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?
High school teacher by day, musician by spare moment! Which honestly, has been hard to come by in the last few years since becoming a father. Nevertheless, a musician that still has something to say is still a musician, even if it takes longer to find the opportunity to say it. As the driving force (guitarist and songwriter) behind the Vessel project, I define it as exactly that, more of a project than a band. I have been lucky to hook up with vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and long-time acquaintance Mason [Matheson] who has become the main voice of the music, but I really define Vessel as a solo-project and a vehicle for my own self-expression. That came about from being dissatisfied and disgruntled from the dynamics that come with being in a band, and just wanting something that I can be solely responsible for. That still comes with its challenges and mismanaged relationships, but at least I don’t lose my art to the distortion of compromise and the abyss of time, which has happened in the past with previous bands.
Describe your first musical memory.
I am the youngest in a group of siblings, so I remember music and pop culture always being around growing up. My sister had an obsessive phase with Michael Jackson in the late ’80s and early ’90s which rubbed off on me as a young child. The guitar collaborations with Eddie Van Halen, Steve Lukather, Slash and Steve Stevens are probably what turned me on to rock music. No specific memories, just an aura of big riffs in pop music. Something that pop music today is lacking.
Describe your best musical memory to date.
When doing a collaboration with another musician that you admire, and you get their recorded takes back and listen to them for the first time. Hearing amazingly talented singers put themselves into your art and interpreting your words is mesmerizing. Definitely a different feeling to anything else. That one actually came to me after I had finished the questionnaire, but here is my initial response, which I’ll keep in as well. Last year I happened across some positive comments about one of my songs in a Facebook group, and when I replied with a thank you, the fan just gave some of the most beautiful compliments. It was so unexpected, and during the pandemic it felt fantastic to be able to reach people around the world with my music. So different from some of my other favorite memories which are based around playing live. Another similar one was a fellow musician sharing one of my songs on socials with a comment along the lines of “when you hear a song that you wish you had written.” I can’t think of a bigger compliment than that really. Anyone reading this, please continue to let bands know what their music means to you, because those comments mean the world to them/us!
Oh, and the time I saw Iron Maiden’s ‘Somewhere Back In Time’ Tour, I may have cried during “Revelations” haha.
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
I mentioned earlier that trying to progress a band can cost you relationships and friendships. That. My music, my art, is an important part of my life. An integral part of my life. I understand that it might not be as important to those around me as it is to me (I’d be shocked if it was, really. It’s my art after all), and they may not prioritize it in their life like I do in mine, and that is ok with me. Unfortunately, when decisions need to be made to ensure that studio time is booked, deadlines are met, and opportunities aren’t missed, people don’t like decisions being made around them. I guess the firmly held belief is that you should back yourself and your art at (almost) all costs, as it means more to you than it does to anyone else. Others aren’t going to champion you if you don’t champion yourself. This belief was tested, as I don’t want to lose friends over it, but if people take offence to that notion, that is on them. I just want to be me, without limits.
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
Exploration of self. I can’t tell you what the next song I write is going to sound like, what themes it will explore or what message it might want to share with both the listener and myself as the writer. And I’ll never know either if I don’t pick up the guitar again and see what happens. I’m always discovering a variety of new music (nowhere NEAR as much as yourself JJ and many of your readers, [where do you find the time!?], but still..), which means I’m always going to be influenced by new things when it comes to playing my instrument. Being a bit obsessed with stomp boxes will always help progress your sound too! Back to the question though; I think you can surprise yourself with what is important to you and what affects you as a person. It can become much more obvious what makes you tick, when you find yourself waking up in the night to continue writing a song about it. I sometimes wonder about how people who aren’t creating in some capacity know who they really are.
How do you define success?
Realization of ideas and completion of projects. I see our last album as a huge success as it was released, and nothing was compromised in the creation of it. I’ve been in bands in the past that I would not refer to as a success, as we never recorded some great songs or played certain shows, and people involved were left dissatisfied. Perhaps another reason why I structured Vessel as a solo project, as I don’t need to align other people’s ideas of what success is to get things done. Setting goals and meeting them is success to me. I look forward to meeting some new ones in the future!
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
At first I thought “the dark side of some people”, but then thinking on it a little more, I am glad I have seen that, as now I know where to place them. The more you know. Knowledge is power. Oh, maybe that time I caught Mötley Crüe live in 2009, what a shit-show. That is something I never needed to see.
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.
I would love to write a book. I have a couple of ideas, both fiction and non-fiction, but time is scarce as it is. Spare moments are put into music where possible. Maybe I need a collaborator!
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
I am not sure that there is one ‘most’ essential function. If I had to choose, perhaps the ability to connect individuals with the emotion of others from another time and place. Or for the artist, to be heard, even if only by others in another time and space. To communicate what words cannot? To capture a moment in time to be looked upon forevermore? To leave a stain of yourself on the fabric of history? Haha ok I’ll stop.
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
Taking my children to the beach when summer rolls around. That seems like the furthest thing from a winter lockdown; being on the coast far from home, in the sun, watching my children play in the ocean (and probably hate it like I seem to remember from my childhood haha!). Time to get back to life again.
Posted in Questionnaire on December 10th, 2021 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: Norman Siegel of Haven
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How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?
Speaking just for me personally, I see what I do with HAVEN as pure self- expression – whether it’s through the music itself, including the lyrics, or through the way I move on stage when we play live. Also, our imagery we put out there… the videos, the artwork… these things are of course created in a collective effort, but they portray a part of my being that I find to be essential. I “have to” do it – so to speak.
The whole process of coming to this point would be too much to write down, but I believe in impulses everyone receives, which lead you to another impulse and so forth. So with all my influences, people I have met throughout my life, experiences I made – be they painful or joyful – they all led me to the others in the band and to do what we do now. Of course, that also includes our style of music and everything else.
Describe your first musical memory.
That probably would be me experiencing my father playing the drums with his band back then. I was only a few years old and therefore the memory is pretty vague, but I think that’s probably it.
Describe your best musical memory to date.
That’s really hard to say. Watching favorite bands of mine live, I had many moments where I was in an emotional state of mind and where – through the live-experience, the music and the moment – I felt something I can’t really put into words. Had these moments with Explosions in the Sky, Sigur Rós, Godspeed You Black Emperor, and Amenra.
…But definitely also performing with HAVEN and being in a similar state myself on stage, there are moments that come close to the experiences mentioned – slightly different maybe, but as intense. Also, there is a great feeling of accomplishment when you create a piece of music that you are proud of.
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
That’s actually a tough one to answer. Maybe, I lack the self-awareness in that regard, if I am honest, but I don’t know if any of my beliefs are that firmly held in a way that I am truly tested if I experience something that challenges them. I can usually somewhat understand almost any kind of behavior by others – or at least acknowledge the reasons and causes that can explain it, even if I don’t like it or agree with it. Everything has some sort of validity, because it simply “is”. Everything and everyone has its / his or her story. There is sense or no sense behind all of it. … Yeah, but that’s an interesting question I will have to think about some more. Right now, I cannot recall a moment where I felt tested in that way.
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
Bliss and contentment, I hope. Also, of course, manifestation of thought and emotion.
How do you define success?
There are many aspects to this. For me, it is probably something in the realms of fulfilling certain goals you set for yourself. Those can be small ones or bigger ones, and they can be materialistic, artistic, or just about being a certain type of person and treating others around you in a certain way – and, I guess, also going about all of this with honesty and self-reflection. If I can be content with my being – that’s success. That also includes being okay with not being okay, with failing, and with feeling lost sometimes. To see things like that and experience them, use them for something inspirational maybe – that can be success, too.
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
Speaking from a personal belief that everything we experience leads us to a place where we should be, I cannot say I would wish to unsee anything really. I think that, as cruel as things can be in this world – which usually involves mankind or things we can’t really grasp with our way of perception and understanding of what we define as “life” – I think everything must exist. The mere fact that something is happening shows you that there is a reason for it. And that might not be a sophisticated or moral reason. Maybe it is just purely “things are, and then they are not”.
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.
Hm. Also not easy to answer. Music that brings out the maximum of my potential I guess. We still have a lot of room to grow. And if part of that creation is to reach more people and to leave something behind, something that also creates something in them – that would be great.
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
For the people that do it, it could be self-expression – as I mentioned earlier. Or trying to feel connected to something bigger than themselves. For the people experiencing it, it can be a remedy, pure entertainment or a “HAVEN” where they can find some sort of comfort, something thought-provoking or inspiration – or just fun.
I guess, since you can define many earthly things as art, a lot of things could fulfill that role.
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
To share love. Experience autumn. Hopefully see snow in winter and take walks, with music I love in my ears. To get in touch with people and art again more, after this time of withdrawal. Also, personally, I hope I’ll find time to get more into performance art and contemporary dance. I love expressing myself through motion. That is something I want to take part in and explore more.
Posted in Whathaveyou on December 2nd, 2020 by JJ Koczan
I’m getting strong Cult of Luna-meets-Amenra vibes from Haven‘s Vessel EP, but there’s some Katatonia in the melodies of “Samsara” as well, and I’m not gonna complain about that. That track, for which there’s a video below, is the middle of three inclusions on the Berlin outfit’s second EP, Vessel, which is up on Bandcamp in a variety of bundles and t-shirt editions and all that sort of whatnot. A follow-up debut album is slated for next year sometime.
If you’re feeling like you want some atmospheric heavy, you might also check out the 14-minute “Miasma” from the EP. And at that point, all you really have left is the three-minute closer “Within,” and then you’ve listened to the whole thing. See how that happens? Crazy, right?
Here’s news from the PR wire:
Post-Metal Act HAVEN Signs To Argonauta Records! Brand New EP, “Vessel”, out now!
Argonauta Records is proud to welcome German-based post-metal act HAVEN to their eclectic artist roster. The up&coming five-piece from Berlin has not just signed a worldwide record deal, they are also celebrating the release of their brand new EP, titled “Vessel”, which is out now!
HAVEN’s music is driven by topics such as self-reflection, consequence of action, the structure of ego, the weight of personal experience, and questions concerning the significance of human life as part of an all-embracing cycle of energy. Following an intensive phase of defining their sound – which brings together manic aggression, dark heaviness, and fragile melody – and several energetic live shows that already left a stamp in within the heavy music scene, the band made their impressive debut with the 2018- EP “Anima”.
While HAVEN are already working on their first full-length album, which will see the light of day in 2021 via Argonauta Records, the band has just unleashed their sophomore EP “Vessel”. Upholding the core of what they have built while further developing the elements of their musical and performative efforts, “Vessel” clearly shows that the band is willing and capable to explore more of their deep pool of artistic potential. Dive into the atmospheric, vibrant yet heavy as hell sound of HAVEN – highly recommended for fans of AMENRA, RUSSIAN CIRCLES, NEUROSIS, CULT OF LUNA or A PERFECT CIRCLE – and watch a brand new video clip for the blistering track “Samsara”, taken from the “Vessel”- EP, right here.
“In addition to the release of our second EP “Vessel”, we are also extremely pleased to be able to announce a commencing cooperation with Argonauta Records. ” The band comments. “Argonauta has earned a great reputation as a home to many exciting bands from the fields of Post Metal, Sludge, Doom, and Stoner Rock, so we are sure that we will be in great company there.
“Vessel” – the title of our new EP, acts as the counterpart to the name of our first release “Anima” from 2018, whereby “Vessel” refers to the physical form of our being – in contrast to its spiritual form (Anima). With this EP, we again address topics such as the search for self-reflection, consequence of action, the structure of ego, our relation to time, and the weight of personal experience. We fully dedicated ourselves to create songs that are the best representation of what HAVEN stands for: “Vessel” offers 26 minutes of dense and atmospheric heavy music that flows between manic aggression and fragile melancholy – with a lot of passion for detail, which is also reflected by the artwork.
Another key aspect of our band is expression through performing live. Here, we incorporate visual design and elements of performance art, all coming together in intense energy and a passion for the moment. So let’s all keep our fingers crossed that live shows will be possible again soon, because we want you to come see us!
For 2021, we plan to further work on new material and already have many ideas – for songs, lyrical topics, and exciting cooperations – and we feel extremely fortunate to have Argonauta Records at our side now. “
HAVEN is: Sergey Mareyno: Drums Sabrina Klewitz: Bass Robert Kurth: Guitar Arne Teubel: Guitar Norman Siegel: Vocals
