This isn’t the end of the Quarterly Review — it wraps up on Monday — but it is the end of the week, and I’m ready for it. The music’s been good though and that’s something of a salvation for times where it seems like the strange and terrifying are in competition with each other to make life more awful. That doesn’t end on the weekend, of course, but at least I’ll have two days to put together the last post of this QR, and when you’ve been writing 10 reviews a day all week, half that counts as respite. Something like it, anyhow.

So before we wrap up the week with whatever on earth I’ll actually pick to close it out (any requests?), here’s one more batch, with my thanks for your valuable time and attention. Hope you find something cool.

Quarterly Review #51-60:

P+A+G+E+S, No More Can Be Done

No More Can Be Done is the debut album from South Africa’s P+A+G+E+S, but the Cape Town trio spent five years in the 2010s together as Morning Pages, so that their first record would hold so much intention behind it shouldn’t necessarily be a shocker. The reason behind the name change? An apparent change in their project, which is to say the band got way, way darker, way, way heavier and nasty in that sharp-toothed-thing-you-can’t-see-but-you-know-is-there-also-there-are-no-lights kind of way. The 15-minute opener/longest track (immediate points) “The Passage” leads the way down into the bleak, extreme sludge that follows, but as the careful linear build of “Shine On” later demonstrates, P+A+G+E+S are more methodical than the noise and outwardly chaotic feel would seem to indicate. Atmosphere plays a central role in what they do, and that’s consistent from their run as Morning Pages, but No More Can Be Done is about what’s lurking and lurching in the bleakness.

P+A+G+E+S Linktr.ee

P+A+G+E+S on Bandcamp

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Bask, The Turning

Following the intro “Chasm,” Bask launch their fourth album, The Turning, with minor-key mystique and subsequent crush via “In the Heat of the Dying Sun” and “The Traveler,” piling triumph upon triumph in a way that is indicative of the progressive songwriting at work. “The Cloth” is slower, but neither less weighted nor less gorgeous for that, and as “Dig My Heels” works in some of the Southern/Americana pastoralism the Asheville, North Carolina, outfit have always been known for, the melody proves a standout, setting up another life-affirming payoff in the seven-minute “Unwound,” the mellower turn for the build of “Long Lost Light” and the somewhat wistfully twanging undertones of the title-track, which closes with grace and poise rare enough in heavy anything. Clearly a band who have worked to and been successful in transcending their root influences, and an identity that’s been hard-forged over their decade-plus. The Turning sees them actively bring their approach to another level.

Bask on Bandcamp

Season of Mist website

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Matus, El Aullido b/w Planetario

A 15-minute two-songer from Lima, Peru’s Matus, as the psychedelic weirdo sometimes-cultists of long standing offer “El Aullido” (8:45) and “Planetario” (6:55) as their first outing since 2021’s Espejismos II (review here). Both processions — and they are that — feel built out from jams, but the recordings have guitarist Manolo Garfias and keyboardist Richard Nossar (both also alternate bass duties) at their core, along with Roberto Soto‘s drumming, Veronik‘s theremin in the deep-freakout section of “Planetario,” Úrsula Inga‘s vocals on “El Aullido,” and so on with other guests (including Camilo Uriarte, who co-produced and mixed, along solo artist Chino Burga on guitar, and Cristóbal Pérez on sax for “Planetario”) adding to the movement. “El Aullido” pairs shoegaze with a roll informed by South American folk, perfect for Inga‘s vocals, while “Planetario” carries more of its melody in the keyboards and surrounding ambience. It’s a welcome check-in from Matus as they celebrate the 20th anniversary of the band.

Matus on Bandcamp

Matus on Facebook

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November Fire, 2025

Where New England bizarropsych rockers November’s Fire‘s 2024 album, Through a Mournful Song, took an approach to its material like some of earliest Monster Magnet‘s underproduced kitchen-sink quirk, the two-song EP 2025 presents two different faces, and that turns out to be because the songs included are over 30 years old. “2025” and “Somnia” — the latter which brings in original guitarist Greg Brosseau for a guest spot that includes clean lead vocals — were allegedly written in the early 1990s, and if you told me the root of the title-track was a teenaged thrash riff, they make that easy enough to believe in the modernized, thickened chug of the song as it stands now. That is to say, they’ve brought it into the sludgy experimentalist context of the work now, but it remains dark. As it inevitably would. “Somnia” is shorter, has some backing chants, and feels meditative even as the guitar holds to its restlessness. Weird band staying weird, screwing around with their old stuff and getting something out of it. Sometimes an experiment works.

November Fire Linktr.ee

November Fire on Bandcamp

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Goatmilker, Goatmilker

Bergen, Norway, four-piece Goatmilker don’t really leave you with much choice other than to call them progressive, though that hardly says boo about the reach of their self-titled debut, which is as much psychedelic punk as it is black metal in its rhythms, but remains a work of heavy rock and roll nonetheless, grooving, catchy on “Devils on My Tail,” aggro-weird on “Time… Tearing Apart,” all-in on tonal overwhelm for “Mountains” and cheekily grandiose in the finale “Storm” only after they’ve seen fit to take on Journey‘s “Separate Ways (Worlds Apart),” which given the goes-where-it-wants succession leading up to it hardly feels out of place at all. While at no risk of overstaying its welcome at eight songs and 34 minutes, Goatmilker does make for a challenging listen at times, but the rewards for actually paying attention to what they’re doing are worth whatever effort is required. That is to say, engage actively for best results.

Goatmilker Linktr.ee

Goatmilker on Instagram

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Grin, Incantation

If Grin sound a little different on Incantation, a two-track 7″ with a digital bonus cut in the flatteningly heavy “Echoes in the Static,” that might be because the duo of drummer/vocalist Jan Oberg and bassist Sabine Oberg didn’t record themselves as usual, but instead tracked live at Wave Akademie in their native Berlin with Anton Urban (Jan Oberg co-produced, mixed and mastered, so still had a hand for sure). So, rather than the studio leftovers one might expect mere months after the band’s last full-length, Acid Gods (review here), the songs may have their origins as such but arise from different circumstances. There’s some more of a wash to “Incantation” and “The Color of Ghosts,” and “Echoes in the Static” is consumed by its titular noise toward its finish, but “The Color of Ghosts” dares some melodic vocals amid all that bombast, and as usual, Grin forge their own take on metal, sludge and intense atmospheric heavy.

Grin on Bandcamp

The Lasting Dose Records on Bandcamp

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Mezzoa, TON 618

A collection of bangers on the second LP through Glory or Death Records from San Diego rockers Mezzoa, TON 618 plays out over the course of a taut 13 songs and 39 minutes, careening desert style in “Hard to Hear,” punking up the groove in “Chump” before basking in Sabbath worship for “Wasted Universe” (think “Symptom” thereof), building crunching tension in “Uncle Cho” only to release it in the second half of the song with a grunge melody, carrying that melody into “Smiles for Everyone,” and then slamming all that momentum into the fuzzed radness of the lead tone and Alice in Chainsy vocal of “How You Been.” That’s not the end, I’m just less efficient than the band and so I’m running out of space. “Blessing” attains inner Nirvana while “Desert Snakes” sounds like it’s ready for a John Garcia guest spot, “Chachi Liberachi” echoes the sharper corners of “Wasted Universe,” “Goin’ Down” has that riff that every New York hardcore song ever (yes, all of them. don’t @ me.) has but goes somewhere completely different with it, and closer “How Are We” highlights the craft that’s let them do it all in the first place. Hey kid, you like rock music? Well get a load of this.

Mezzoa on Bandcamp

Glory or Death Records website

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Orsak:Oslo, Silt and Static

Beginning with its longest track in the nine-minute “Biting In,” Orsak:Oslo‘s Silt and Static finds the Norwegian/Swedish outfit somewhat outgrown from their dronier foundations, harnessing a psychedelia that moves with krautrocking purposes, while retaining the band’s previously-established ambient instrumentalist approach. “Days Adrift” is an even thicker roll, with ebbs and flows that give precedent to the shove that results in “Salt Stains,” which follows, while “Petals” dips momentarily into minimalism. But the story here is the fullness of sound, with pieces like the subdued-but-building “Resonance in Ash” or “Petals” in conversation with Pelican/Russian Circles-style heavy, while “The Onward Stride” and “Time Leak” bring prog more to the forefront and “Bread and Sink” lets the rumble bring it all together. In these ways, Silt and Static rewrites the story of Orsak:Oslo as a band, and their reach has never seemed so broad.

Orsak:Oslo website

Vinter Records website

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Modder, Destroying Ourselves for a Place in the Sun

The hypnotic drone finish of “Type 27” that ends side A of Modder‘s second album, Destroying Ourselves for a Place in the Sun, is just one way the band incorporate ambience as a key element in their trades between loud and quiet, tense and open, and crushing and spacious. These different sides come together in various combinations across the six cuts on the Belgian instrumentalist five-piece’s 41-minute run, which sets out in oppressive and blasting fashion with “Stone Eternal,” as heavy as whatever doom you want to put it next to and still able to hit with the precision of Gojira. The shorter “Mather” is more angular, glitchy and mirrored by “Chaoism” on the album’s second half, and though they lead off with their longest track (immediate points) in “Stone Eternal,” the heavy djenty chug that comes to fruition on “In the Sun” is unmistakable as anything but the closer, building, receding, tossing in what sure sounds like a human voice chanting and surging in intensity to round out with a keyboard-overlaid bludgeoning. By then you’re pretty much pulp anyway.

Modder Linktr.ee

Lay Bare Recordings website

Consouling Sounds store

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Futuredrugs, Past Warnings of Present Futures

Past Warnings of Present Futures tells you a lot about its point of view in the title, but electronic experimentalists Futuredrugs push the meaning deeper still, opening with a barely recognizable take on “What a Wonderful World” with “Skies of Blue” and revamping Tom Waits‘ “Dirt in the Ground” on “…And the Gallows Groaned.” The cinematic, dark synth/programmed backdrop of these and the sampled “No Home” blur the line between originality and reinterpretation/manipulation, and I won’t claim to know whether pieces like “Ice Age Coming” or “When the Last Tree Falls” are similarly sourced, but maybe. In any case, in a time when remembering things like “nothing matters anyway” is a comfort, there is space for the open-minded listener to dwell among these seven tracks, which when taken as a whole succeed in embodying the apocalyptic hellscape of recent years. I don’t know if they’re offering sanctuary so much as a snapshot, but as that, it sure feels like an accurate depiction.

Futuredrugs on Bandcamp

Futuredrugs on Instagram

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A friendly reminder that the end of the week is not, in fact, the end of the Quarterly Review, which will continue through Monday and Tuesday. That brings the number of releases covered to 70 total, which feels like plenty, and should hopefully carry us through a busy Spring release season. I’m thinking June for the next QR now but don’t be surprised if that turns into July as we get closer. All I know is I wanna do it before it’s two full weeks again.

As always, I hope you’ve found something that speaks to you in all this 10-per-day nonsense. If not, first, wow, really? Second, it ain’t over yet. Maybe today’s your day. One way to know.

Quarterly Review #41-50:

Dead Meadow, Voyager to Voyager

You may be mellow-vibes, but unless you’re “Not the Season,” Dead Meadow have one up on you forever. While Voyager to Voyager, which is the L.A. band’s eighth or ninth LP depending on what you count, comes with the tragic real-world context of bassist Steve Kille‘s 2024 passing, he does feature on the long-running trio’s first offering through Heavy Psych Sounds, and whether it’s “The Space Between” or the shuffle-stepping “The Unhounded Now” or the pastoral “A Question of Will” and the jangly strum of “Small Acts of Kindness” later on, guitarist/vocalist Jason Simon, Kille and drummer Mark Laughlin celebrate the ultra-languid take on heavy, psychedelic and shoegazing rock that’s made Dead Meadow a household name for weirdos. Not that they’re not prone to a certain wistfulness, but Voyager to Voyager is vibrant rather than mournful, and the title-track is an album flow unto itself in just eight minutes. If you can slow your manic-ass brain long enough to sit and hear it front-to-back, you’re in for a treat.

Dead Meadow website

Heavy Psych Sounds website

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Seán Mulrooney, This is My Prayer

There is a sense of stepping out as Irish troubadour Seán Mulrooney makes his full-length solo debut with This is My Prayer on Ómós Records. Mulrooney is best known for residing at the core of Tau and the Drones of Praise, and for sure, pieces of This is My Prayer are coming from a similar place, but where there was psychedelic meander for the band, under his own moniker, Mulrooney brings a clarity of tone and presence to lyrics ranging from spiritual seeking to what seems to have been an unceremonious breakup. With character and emotion in his voice and range in his craft, Mulrooney sees a better world on “Ag Múscliaghacht” and posits a new masculinity — totally needed; trainwreck gender — in “Walking With the Wind,” meets indie simplicity with lap steel in “Jaguar Dreams” and, in closer “The Pufferfish,” pens a fun McCartney-style bouncer about tripping sea life. These are slivers of the adventures undertaken in singer-songwriter style as Mulrooney hones this solo identity. Very curious to see where the adventure might take him.

Seán Mulrooney on Bandcamp

Ómós Records website

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MaidaVale, Sun Dog

Issued in 2024, Sun Dog is the third MaidaVale long-player, and with it, the Swedish heavy psychedelic rockers showcase six years’ worth of growth from their second album. Melancholic of mood in “Fools” and “Control” and the folkish “Alla Dagar” and “Vultures,” Sun Dog starts uptempo with the Afrobeat-influenced “Faces,” drifts, shreds, then drifts again in “Give Me Your Attention,” dares toward pop in “Daybreak” and fosters a sense of the ironic in “Wide Smile is Fine” and “Pretty Places,” the latter of which, with a keyboardier arrangement, could’ve been the kind of New Wave hit that would still be in your head 40 years later. The nine-songer (10 if you get “Perplexity,” which was previously only on the vinyl) doesn’t dwell in any single space for too long — only “Wide Smile is Fine” and “Vultures” are over four minutes, though others are close — and that lets them balance the downer aspects with forward momentum. MaidaVale are no strangers to that kind of movement, of course, but Sun Dog‘s mature realization of their sound feels so much more vast in range.

MaidaVale website

Silver Dagger Records website

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Causa Sui, Loppen 2024

Here come Causa Sui with another live album. And I’m not saying the only reason the thankfully-prolific Danish psychedelic treasures, heavyjazz innovators and El Paraiso label honchos are only releasing a complement to 2023’s Loppen 2021 (review here) to rub in the fact that I’ve never been lucky enough to catch them on a stage — any stage — but I am starting to take it personally. Call me sensitive. In any case, despite feeling existentially mocked by their chemistry and the fluidity of “Sorcerer’s Disciple” or the 22-minute “Visions of a New Horizon,” the hour-long set is glorious as one would expect, and though Loppen 2024 is a blip on the way to Causa Sui‘s forthcoming studio album, In Flux, especially when set alongside their previous outing from the same Christiania-based venue, it highlights the variable persona of the band and the reach of their material. Someday I’ll see this goddamn band.

Causa Sui’s Linktr.ee

El Paraiso Records website

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Fulanno, Nosotros Somos el Fin del Mundo

Underlying the grit and stoner drawl of “El Rey del Mundo de los Muertos” is the lurching progression of Black Sabbath‘s “Sweet Leaf,” and that reinterprative ethic comes to the strutting Pentagrammery of “La Verdad es Tu Ataud” as well, but in the tonal density and the way their groove snails its way into your ear canal, the vibe Fulanno bring to Nosotros Somos el Fin del Mundo is in line with stoner doom traditionalism, and the revelry is palbale in the slow nod of the title-track or the horror samples sprinkled throughout or the earlier Electric Wizard-style languidity of “El Nacimiento de la Muerte.” They save an acoustic stretch in reserve to wrap “Desde las Tinieblas,” but if you think that’s going to clean your soul by that point then you haven’t been paying attention. Unrepentantly dark, stoned and laced with devil-, death-and riff-worship, Nosotros Somos el Fin del Mundo further distinguishes Fulanno in an always crowded Argentinian underground, and dooms like a bastard besides.

Fulanno on Bandcamp

Interstellar Smoke Records store

Smolder Brains Records on Bandcamp

Ruidoteka Records’ Linktr.ee

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Ze Stoner, Desert Buddhist

Because the age we live in permits such a thing and it tells you something about the music, I’m going to cut and paste the credits for Israeli duo Ze Stoner‘s debut EP/demo, Desert Buddhist. Dor Sarussi is credited with “bass guitar, spaceships, vocals,” while Alexander Krivinski handles “didgeridoo, spaceships, drums, and percussion.” How tripped out does a band need to be to have two members credited with “spaceships,” you ask? Quite tripped out indeed. Across the 12:09 “Part I – The Awakness” (sic) and the 11:41 “Part II – The Trip,” and the much-shorter 1:41 finale “Part III – The Enlightenment,” Ze Stoner take the meditative doom of Om or an outfit like Zaum and extrapolate from it a drone-based approach that retains a meditative character. It is extreme in its capacity to induce a trance, and as Desert Buddhist unfolds, it plays as longer movements tied together as a single work. There is massive potential here. One hopes Sarussi, Krivinski, their spaceships and didgeridoo are just beginning their adventures in the cosmos.

Ze Stoner on Bandcamp

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Arv, Curse & Courage

Oslo-based newcomers Arv aren’t shy about what their sound is trying to do. Their debut album, Curse & Courage, arrives via the wheelhouse of Vinter Records and brings together noise-laced and at-times-caustic hardcore with the atmospherics, echoing tremolo and churning intensity of post-metal. They lean to one side or the other throughout, and “Wrath” seems to get a bit of everything, but it’s a harder line to draw than one might think because hardcore as a style is all urgency and post-metal very often brings a more patient take. Being able to find a place in songwriting between the two, well, Arv aren’t the first to do it, but they are impressively cohesive for Curse & Courage being their first record, and the likes of “Victim,” the overwhelming rush of “Forsaken” earlier on and the more-ambient-but-still-vocally-harsh closing title-track set up multiple avenues for future evolution of the ideas they present here. Too aggressive to be universal in its appeal, but makes undeniable use of its scathe.

Arv website

Vinter Records website

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Fvzz Popvli, Melting Pop

I’m not sure what’s going on in “Erotik Fvel P.I.M.P.,” but there’s chicanery a-plenty throughout Fvzz Popvli‘s fourth full-length, Melting Pop, which is released in renewed cooperation with Heavy Psych Sounds. Hooks, fuzz, and the notion that anything else would be superfluous pervade the Indiana Jones-referencing “Temple of Doom” and “Telephone” at the outset, the latter with some choice backing vocals, and they kick the fuzz into overdrive on “Salty Biscvits” with room besides for a jangly verse. Running an ultra-manageable 30 minutes, the album breaks in half with four songs on each side. “Kommando” leads off the second half with dirtier low end tone ahead of the slower-rolling “Ovija,” which shouts and howls and is all kinds of righteously unruly, where “Cop Sacher” punks at the start and has both gang vocals and a saxophone, which I can say with confidence nothing else among the 70 records in this Quarterly Review even tried let alone pulled off, and they close with due swagger and surprising class in “The Knight.” Part of Fvzz Popvli‘s persona to this point has been based in rawness, so it’s interesting to hear them fleshing out more complex arrangments, but at heart they remain very much stoner rock for the glory of stoner rock.

Fvzz Popvli on Bandcamp

Heavy Psych Sounds website

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Rust Bucket, Rust Bucket

The tone worship is there, the working-class-dude stoner swing is there, and the humor that might result in a song like “Hypertension” — for which no less than Bob Balch of Fu Manchu sits in — so when I compare Rust Bucket to Maryland’s lost sons Earthride, please know that I’m not talking out of my ass. The Minnesota-based double-guitar five-piece revel in low end buzz-tone, and with no-pretense groove, throaty vocals and big personality, that spirit is there. Doesn’t account for the boogie of “Keep Us Down,” but everybody’s gotta throw down now and then. They shift into a sludgier mood by the time they get around to “The Darkness” and “Watch Your Back,” but the idea behind this first Rust Bucket feels much more like a bunch of guys getting together to hammer out some cool songs, maybe play some shows, do a record and see how it goes. On paper, that makes Rust Bucket an unassuming start, but its anti-bullshit stance, steady roll and addled swing make it a gem of the oldschool variety. Much to their credit, they call the style, “fuzzy caveman dad rock.” They forgot ‘bearded,’ but otherwise that about sums it up. Maybe the beard is implied?

Rust Bucket on Bandcamp

Glory or Death Records website

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Mountain Dust, Mountain Dust

It is appropriate that Mountain Dust named their third LP after themselves, since it finds them transcending their influences and honing a cross-genre approach that’s never sounded more their own than it does in these nine songs. From the densely-weighted misdirect of “Reap” with its Earth-sounding drone riff through the boogieing en route to the mellower and more open soul-showcase “Waiting for Days to End” — backing vocals included, see also “It’s Already Done” on side B — and the organ in “Vengeance,” the dynamic between the Graveyard-style ballad “This is It” and the keyboard/synth-fueled instrumental outro “All Eyes But Two,” Mountain Dust gracefullly subverts retroist expectations with individualized songwriting, performance and production, and this material solidifies the Montreal four-piece among the more flexible acts doing anything in the sphere of 1970s-style heavy rock. That’s still there, understand, but like the genre itself, Mountain Dust have very clearly grown outward from their foundations.

Mountain Dust website

Mountain Dust on Bandcamp

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Ah, a Quarterly Review Wednesday. Always a special occasion. Monday starts out with a daunting look at the task ahead. Tuesday is all digging in and just not trying to repeat myself too much. Wednesday, traditionally, is where we hit the halfway point. The top of the hill.

Not the case this time since I’ll have 10 records each written up next Monday and Tuesday, but crossing the midpoint of this week alone feels like an accomplishment and you’ll pardon me if I mark it as such. If you’re wondering how the rest of the week will go, tomorrow is all-business and Friday’s usually a party one way or the other. My head gets so in it by the middle of next week I’ll be surprised not to be doing this anymore. So it goes.

Quarterly Review #21-30:

Khanate, To Be Cruel

Who among mortals could hope to capture the horrors of Khanate in simple words? The once-New York-based avant sludge ultragroup end a 14-year hiatus with To Be Cruel, a fourth album, comprising three songs running between 19-21 minutes each that breed superlative hatefulness. At once overwhelming and minimalist, with opener “Like a Poisoned Dog” placing the listener in a homemade basement dungeon with the sharp, disaffection-incarnate bark of Alan Dubin (also Gnaw) cutting through the weighted slog in the guitar of Stephen O’Malley (also SunnO))), et al), the bass of James Plotkin (more than one can count, and he probably also mastered your band’s record) and the noise free-jazz drumming of Tim Wyskida (Blind Idiot God, etc.), they retain the disturbing brilliance last heard from in 2009’s Clean Hands Go Foul (discussed here) and are no less caustic for the intervening years. “It Wants to Fly” is expansive and wretched death poetry set to drone doom, a ritual made of its own misery, and the concluding title-track goes quiet in its midsection as though to let every wrenching anguish have its own space in the song. There is no one like them, though many have tried to convey some of what apparently only Khanate can. As our plague-infested, world-burning, war-making, fear-driven species plunges further into this terrible century, Khanate is the soundtrack we earn. We are all complicit. All guilty.

Khanate on Facebook

Sacred Bones Records store

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Space Queen, Nebula

Though plenty atmospheric besides, Vancouver heavy fuzz rockers Space Queen add atmosphere to their nine-song/26-minute Nebula EP through a series of four interludes: the a capella three-part harmonies of “Deluge,” the acoustic-strummed “Veil” and “Sun Interlude,” and the finishing manipulated space-command sample in “End Transmission” after the richly melodic doom rock of “Transmission/Lost Causemonaut.” That penultimate inclusion is the longest at 6:14 and tells a story in a way that feels informed by the three-piece of drummer/vocalist Karli MacIntosh, guitarist/vocalist Jenna Earle and bassist/keyboardist/vocalist Seah Maister‘s past in the folk outfit Sound of the Sun, but transposes its melodic sensibility into a heavier context. It and the prior garage-psych highlight “When it Gets Light” — a lighter initial electric strum that arrives in willful-seeming contrast to “Darkest Part” immediately preceding — depart from the more straight-ahead push of opener “Battle Cry” and the guitar-screamer “Demon Queen” separated from it by the first interlude. Where those two come across as working with Alice in Chains as a defining influence — something the folk elements don’t necessarily argue against — the Nebula EP grows broader as it moves through its brief course, and flows throughout with its veering into and out of songs and short pieces. This is Space Queen‘s second EP, and if they’re interested in making a full-length next, they sound ready.

Space Queen on Facebook

Space Queen on Bandcamp

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King Potenaz, Goat Rider

Fasano, Italy’s King Potenaz debut on Argonauta Records with Goat Rider, which conjures raw fuzz, garage-doom atmospherics, and vocals that edge toward aggression and classic cave metal, early Venom or Celtic Frost having a role to play even alongside the transposition of Kyuss riffing taking place in the title-track, which follows “Among Ruins” and “Pyramids Planet,” both of which featured on the trio’s 2022 Demo 6:66, and which set a tone of riff-led revelry here with a sound that reminds of turn-of-the-century era stoner explorations, but grows richer as it moves into “Pazuzu (3:33)” — it’s actually 5:18 — with guest vocals from Sabilla and the quiet three-minute instrumental “Cosmic Voyager” planet-caravanning into the 51-minute album’s second half, where “Moriendoom (La Ballata di Ippolita Oderisi)” and the even doomier “Monolithic” dig into cultish vibes and set up the bleak shuffle of nine-minute closer “Dancing Plague,” departing from its central ’90s-heavy riff into a mellow-psych movement and then returning from that outward stretch to end. Even at its most familiar, Goat Rider finds some way to harness an individual edge, cleverly using the mix itself as an instrument to create the space in which the songs dwell. It may take a few listens to sink in, but there’s real potential in what they’re doing.

King Potenaz on Facebook

Argonauta Records store

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Treedeon, New World Hoarder

With the release of their third album, New World Hoarder, German art-sludgers Treedeon celebrate their first decade as a band. The combined vinyl-with-CD follows 2018’s Under the Manchineel (review here) and proffers raw cosmic doom in “Omega Time Bomb,” crossing the 10-minute line for the first time after the particularly-agonized opener “Nutcrème Superspreader” and before the title-track’s nodding riff brings bassist Yvonne Ducksworth to the fore vocally, trading off with guitarist Arne Heesch as drummer Andy Schünemann crashes cyclically behind. “New World Hoarder” gives over to side B opener “Viking Meditation Song,” which rolls like an evil-er version of Goatsnake, and “RHV1,” on which Heesch and Ducksworth share vocal duties, as they also do in 12-minute closer “Läderlappen” — a shouting duet in the first half feels long in arriving, but that’s how you know the album works — as the band cap with more massive chug following an interplay of melody and throatier fare. They’re right to ride that groove, as they’re right about so much else on the record. Like much of what Exile on Mainstream puts out, Treedeon are stylistically intricate and underrated in kind.

Treedeon on Facebook

Exile on Mainstream site

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Orsak:Oslo, In Irons

There are a couple different angles of approach one might take in hearing Orsak:Oslo‘s In Irons full-length. The Norway/Sweden-based instrumental troupe have been heretofore lumped in with heavy post-rock and ambient soundscaping, which is fair enough, but what they actually unveil in “068 The Swell” (premiered here), is a calming interpretation of space rock. With experimentalism on display in its late atmospheric drone comedown, “068 The Swell” moves directly into the more physical “079 Dutchman’s Wake (Part I),” the languid boogie feeling modern in presentation and classic in construction and the chemistry between the members of the band. The drums sit out much of the first half of “069 In What Way Are You Different,” giving a sense of stillness to the drone there, but the song embraces a bigger feel toward its finish, and that sets up the feedback intro to “078 The Mute (Part II),” which veers dreamily between amplifier drone and complementary melodic guitar flourish. Taking 17 minutes to do it, they close with “074 Hadal Blue,” which more broadly applies the space-chill of “068 The Swell” and emphasizes flow and organic changes from one part to the next. Immersive, it would be one to get lost in if it weren’t so satisfying to pay attention.

Orsak:Oslo on Facebook

Vinter Records website

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Nuclear Dudes, Boss Blades

Fuck. Yes. As much grind as sludge as electronics-infused hardcore as it is furious, unadulterated noise, the 12-song/50-minute onslaught that is Boss Blades arrives via Modern Grievance at the behest of Jon Weisnewski, also of Sandrider, formerly of Akimbo. If Weisnewski‘s name alone and the fact that Matt Bayles mixed the self-recorded debut LP aren’t enough to pull you into the tornado of violence and maddening brood that opener “Boss Blades” uses to open — extra force provided by one of two guest vocal spots from Dave Verellen of Botch; the other is on “Lasers in the Jungle” later on — then perhaps the seven-minute semi-industrial march of “Obsolete Food” or the bruising intensity of “Poorly Made Pots” or the minute and a half of sample-topped drone psych in “Guitart,” the extreme prog metal of “Eat Meth” or “Manifest Piss Tape” will do the trick, or the nine-minute near-centerpiece “Many Knives” (which, if there’s a Genghis Tron influence here generally — and there might be — is more the last record than the older stuff) with its slow keyboard unfolding as a backdrop for Dust Moth‘s Irene Barber to make her own guest appearance, plenty of post-everything cacophony mounting by the end, grandiose and consuming. I could go on — every track is a new way to die — but suffice it to say that this is what my brain sounds like when my kid and my wife are talking to me about different things at the same time and it feels like my skull is on fire and I have an aneurysm and keel over. Good wins.

Nuclear Dudes on Instagram

Modern Grievance Records website

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Mycena, Chapter 4

Sometimes harsh but always free, 2022’s Chapter 4 from Croatian instrumentalist double-guitar five-piece Mycena — guitarists Marin Mitić and Pavle Bojanić, bassist Karlo Cmrk, drummer Igor Vidaković and synthesist/noisemaker Aleksandar Vrhovec — brings three tracks that are distinct unto themselves but listed as part of the same entirety, dubbed “Dissolution” and divided into “Dissolution Part 1” (17:49), “Dissolution Part 2” (3:03), and “Dissolution Part 3” (18:11), and it may well be that what’s being dissolved is the notion that rock and roll must be confined to verse/chorus structuring. Invariably, Earthless are a comparison point for longform instrumental heavy anything, and given the shred in “Dissolution Part 1” around five minutes deep and the torrent rockblast in the first half of “Dissolution Part 3” before it melts to near-silence and quietly noodles its way through its somehow-dub-informed last 11 or so minutes, building in presence but not actually blowing up to full volume as it caps. While totaling a manageable 39 minutes, Chapter 4 is a journey nonetheless, with a scope that comes through even in “Dissolution Part 2,” which may just be an interlude but still carries a steady rhythm that seems to reorient the band ahead of their diving into the extended final part, the band sounding natural in making changes that would undo acts with less chemistry.

Mycena on Facebook

Mycena on Bandcamp

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Bog Monkey, Hollow

Filthy tone. Just absolutely nasty. Atlanta’s Bog Monkey tracked Hollow, their self-released debut LP, with Jay Matheson at The Jam Room in South Carolina, and if they ever go anywhere else to try to capture their sound I’d have to ask why. With seven cuts totaling 33 minutes play-time and fuzz-sludge blowouts a-plenty in “Facemint,” the blastbeaten “Blister” and the heads-down largesse-minded shove-off-the-cliff that is “Slither” at a whopping 2:48, Hollow transposes Conan-style shouted vocals on brash, thickened heavy, the bass in “Tunnel” and forward-charging leadoff “Crow” with its thrash-riffing hook is the source of the heft, but it’s not alone. Spacious thanks to echoes on the vocals, Hollow crushes just the same, and as the trio plunder toward the eight-minute “Soma” at the end, growing intense quickly out of a calmer intro jam and slamming their message home circa 3:40 with crashes that break to bass and guitar noise to establish the nod around which the ending will be based, all you can really do is look forward to the bludgeoning to come and be glad when it arrives. Don’t be fooled by their generic name, or the silly stoner rock art (which I’m not knocking; it being silly is part of the point). Bog Monkey bring together different styles in a way that’s thoughtful and make songs that sound like they just rose out of the water to fucking obliterate you. So go on. Be obliterated.

Bog Monkey on Facebook

Bog Monkey on Bandcamp

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The Man Motels, Dead Nature

Punkish in its choruses like the title-track or opener “Sports,” the four-song Dead Nature EP from South Africa’s The Man Motels is the latest in a string of short releases and singles going back to their 2018 full-length, Quit Looking at Me!, and they temper the urgency of their speediest parts with grunge-style melody and instrumental twists. Bass and drums at the base of “Young Father” set up the sub-three-minute closer as purely punk, but sure enough the guitar kicks in coming out of the verse and one can hear the Nirvana effect before it drops out again. Whether it’s a common older-school hardcore influence, I don’t know, but “Sports” and “Young Father” remind of a rawer Fu Manchu with their focus on structure, but “The Fever” is heavier indie rock and culminates in a tonally satisfying apex before cutting back to the main riff that’s led the way for… oh, about three minutes or so. All told, The Man Motels are done in 15 minutes, but they pack a fair amount into that time and they named the release after its catchiest installment, so there. Maybe not the kind of thing I’d always reach for in my own listening habits, but I’m not about to rag on a band for being good at what they do or showcasing their material with the kind of energy The Man Motels put into Dead Nature.

The Man Motels on Facebook

Mongrel Records website

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Pyre Fyre, Pyre Fyre

With a couple short(er) outings to their credit, Bayonne, New Jersey, three-piece Pyre Fyre present seven songs in the 18 minutes of their self-titled, which just might be enough to make it a full-length. Hear me out. They start raw with “Hypnotize,” more of a song than an intro, punkish and the shortest piece at 1:22. From there, the Melvins meet Earthride on “Flood Zone” and the range of shenanigans is unveiled. Produced by drummer/noisemaker Mike Montemarano, with Dylan Wheeler on guitar, Dan Kirwan on bass and vocals from all three in its hithers and yons, it is a barebones sound across the board, but Pyre Fyre give a sense of digging in despite that, with the echo-laced “Wyld Ryde” doled out like garage thrash, while “Dungeon Duster/Ice Storm” sounds like it was recorded in two different sessions and maybe it was and screw you if that matters, “Don’t Drink the Water” hits the brakes and dooms out with stoner-drawl vocals later, “Arachnophobia” dips into a darker, somehow more metal, mood, and the fuzzy “Cordyceps” ends with swagger and noise alike in just under two and a half minutes. All of this is done without pretense, without the band pausing to celebrate themselves or what they just accomplished. They get in, kick ass, get out again. You don’t want to call it an album? Fine. I respectfully disagree, but we can still be friends. What, you thought because it was the internet I was going to tell you to screw off? Come on now.

Pyre Fyre on Instagram

Pyre Fyre on Bandcamp

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On March 9, atmospheric post-rockers Orsak:Oslo will release “068 The Swell,” the first single from their upcoming second long-player, In Irons, which will be released April 27 on Vinter Records. The band were last heard from in 2021, when their Vemod/Skimmer LP came out through Kapitän Platte, and the new song offers a not-insignificant sampling of where they’re at these two years later. The drift and meditative sensibility of their last work is intact — “068 The Swell” is hypnotic in its lulling — and no, I don’t mean meditative as in-genre code for an Eastern influence. But while the serenity is consistent, there’s a definite current of movement amid that flow and the song as a whole feels more active as a result, evocative of the watery nature of its title.

How does that apply to the impending record as a whole? Fair question. I haven’t heard it so can’t comment, but if you’ve heard the band before, the grace that lured you in in the first place is well accounted for here, as Orsak:Oslo continue to explore the peaceful moments within moments through audio. While I’m not speculating about things I don’t know, I won’t presume to say how you feel about that kind of thing, but I sure as shit am looking forward to this album.

Here’s PR wire info, followed of course by the video, which was made using AI animation as I suspect an increasing number of videos will be soon enough:

ORSAK:OSLO: Watch/Share ‘068 The Swell’ Video From Norway and Sweden Located KRAUTROCK/POST-ROCK Band; Sophomore Full-Length ‘In Irons’ To Drop Aril 27th Through VINTER RECORDS

Orsak:Oslo is one of those hidden gems, always grinding, always perfecting the imperfections. The four piece has been lurking around the underground for years, steadily pawing its way with a mellow, laidback, but yet intense sound. «068 The Swell» starts off with an Orsak:Oslo benchmark-groove. And they don´t let go. They never do. Orsak:Oslo takes you on a journey right off the bat, and the trip feels delicious.

First single «068 The Swell» off their upcoming full length «IN IRONS», is out March 9th on Vinter Records.

Says the band: “The Swell captured the essence of Orsak:Oslo in just minutes. After being separated by borders for nearly 3 years, these seven minutes of music is what came to life after we finally met again.

“The fact that three years of bottled up creative energy ended up with this slow, churning and almost anticlimactic groove is perhaps a mystery to some, but it is immensely unveiling of how we fashion songs: We do this first and foremost to make meaningful musical conversations and expressions.

“The steady ebb and flow from the guitars in combination with the heavy, but almost loitering drum beat gives us a feeling of rising waters. It’s like the oceans reclaiming their old territories, taking back the land that was once part of the ocean floor.”

https://www.facebook.com/orsakoslo/
https://www.instagram.com/orsakoslo/
https://orsakoslo.bandcamp.com/
https://www.orsakoslo.com/

https://www.facebook.com/vinterrecords
https://www.instagram.com/vinter_records/
http://vinterrecords.com/

Orsak:Oslo, “068 The Swell” AI video premiere

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: Gøran Karlsvik of Damokles

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How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?

That’s always a tough question. And there’s never a short answer for it. Just recently a friend firmly stated that I was “an artist”, and I had problems accepting that, but let’s just say I took it as a big compliment. I’ve always been very creative, while also extremely curious. Guess I’m a multimedial multitasker. I do a little bit of this, and a litte bit of that.

I’m the vocalist and lyricist in three bands; Damokles, This Sect and Endtimers, and have an electronic solo project where I play around with my analogue synths and drum machines; Contrarian. I’ve been in touring bands since I was 14, so the band life has always been my “backbone”, I guess it’s time to consider myself a musician.

I’m a published author, currently working on new books. I direct music videos for bands and labels, plus do illustration and graphic design. I translate comics and books for children and young adults. I do creative content for an arcade bar; Tilt. The place is packed with pinballs and arcade games, so to me it’s geek heaven, as I basically grew up in arcades. I’m the co-director/creator of a TV and web comedy series, ZAP, which debuted on the national TV channel back in 2014. The project has an upcoming album, over 30 tracks both old and new from the show. ZAP has basically turned into an art project for my co-creator and I. Also co-run a DIY record label; Sect Appeal Records.

So I keep busy. I’m fortunate in the sense that I get to exclusively do creative work. It’s helped me grow, learn and be unafraid, kept me on my toes, and also kept me humble even though I can be a complete bad cop if you rub me the wrong way. Lately, I’ve mostly worked on music. Mainly preparing for tours with Damokles and recording the 2nd album, as well as putting the finishing touches on Contrarian album four.

How did I come to do all of this? That’s not a short answer either, so bear with me.

I started out as a journalist in my early teens, for local newspapers. Mainly culture content. Had to cover the occasional soccer match, which I know zero about, so those articles turned out super weird yet I somehow got away with it. Always carried a camera while on jobs, that led to getting photographer gigs. At the time I was also in two active bands that did DIY tours, and usually got into trouble with the locals.

I did a year of film school, then moved to the capital in Norway; Oslo. Through being an avid comic book customer of a dude selling stuff out of his mom’s basement, I had somehow landed myself a job as the manager of the comic books department in a newly opened geek store. Was surrounded by comics, sci/fi, horror & fantasy literature, RPG games, cult movies, miniatures, collectible cards and a crazy amount of merch and toys. The shop was a success, and gradually turned into a national chain of stores.

While managing the store, I got a job as a writer, photographer and illustrator for a pop culture magazine. That led to similar gigs. These jobs eventually turned into permanent editorial roles. By then it got hard to combine the writing and the store, so I became a fulltime writer and editor. Music editor in some magazines, concert editor in others, covered soundtracks and cult movies in a film mag, had regular columns here and there, plus did feature articles that basically were gonzo travel journalism.
There were also many odd jobs, one-offs; like doing voiceovers for a cartoon series and singing on their jingle tracks, writing the script for an episode of a soap opera, running a short film festival or acting as a football hooligan in an ad for a gambling firm, ironically, since I as previously mentioned, know nothing about soccer. Or gambling.

I eventually got a job in publishing, as an editor for comic books. Stayed in that biz for a long time. Worked on properties such as The Far Side, Calvin & Hobbes, Dilbert and other humor comics, Conan, various Scandinavian projects and my favourite; Marvel Comics. In that job I also worked on scripts, developed new titles and did translations, mainly for Marvel and certain comedy books. After over a decade in the comics business, the economy collapsed, the publishing industry got severely affected, and I just removed myself while I could. Cashed in a severance check.

That led to freelancing again. An editor job for an international film festival. Translated video games. Worked as an advisor in an author’s association, securing creative rights for non-fiction writers. Acted in a TV promo for a doomed reality talent show featuring Dee Snider trying to find the Scandinavian singer of Twisted Sister. Freelanced for publishing houses as a translator, script consultant and proof reader. Got small directorial gigs, like documentaries for another author’s guild. My music connections led into videos, promos, graphic design and illustration for labels and bands. Got text jobs in advertising. The show ZAP was accepted by a TV channel. I wrote my first book; “Grim Justis – Svartebok om dødsstraffens historie i Norge”, non-fiction about the history of capital punishment in Norway. Became a creative potato for an arcade. Parallel to this weird “career,” I kept on doing music, and gradually joined more and more bands, while also doing guest spots. And here I am, in 2022, basically working on whatever I want. You can safely say I’ve lived a rich life.

Sorry for the not-so-short answer.

Describe your first musical memory.

Difficult to pin down the very first memory, I’ve always listened to so much different stuff. But I guess my first musical phase was at a young age, glued to the TV set watching MTV and recording compilations of music videos onto VHS tapes. Sat through all the heavy rotation videos, at the time what was en vogue was synth pop and New Wavey things like Devo, Depeche Mode, The Cure, Gary Numan, Human League, Wall of Voodoo, Oingo Boingo and more. Got heavily into that style of music. Still am! Devo’s video for “Whip It” made a lasting impression, and left me a lifelong fan of the band. In a general way, music videos mesmerized me – the combination of abstract visuals set to catchy sounds, then ordered into a cryptic internal logic… Still feels like magic to me. Around the same time, I got “Let’s Dance” by David Bowie on cassette and I played that tape to shreds, literally.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

Difficult to pin down also, but my best musical memories are connected to live shows and getting to see some of my heroes in a concert setting. Best show ever? DEVO, hands down. Twice, hehe. But I’ve had so many epic live experiences. Here are some. David Bowie, Fugazi, The Cure, Nomeansno, Anthrax, Converge, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Slayer, City of Caterpillar, Sebadoh, Dillinger Escape Plan, Kraftwerk, Built to Spill, Neurosis, Afghan Whigs, Einstürzende Neubauten, Motorpsycho, The Locust, Cursive, Modest Mouse, Today is the Day, Pavement, Shellac, PJ Harvey, Mr. Bungle, Unsanse,Tool, Melvins, Gary Numan, Eyehategod, New Model Army – those stand out to me, to name a few. And I’m sure I’ve forgotten tons. The discovery of bands in a live setting is also very appealing to me, like when I first saw Future of the Left, or Man or Astro-Man plus their side-project Servotron, or Modern Life is War supporting Converge in a tiny all-ages venue, then coming back next year to headline the same venue… That list of excellent memories is endless.

When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?

Uh, my faith in humanity is tested several times daily. I have to block out news outlets or social media for periods of time, it can bum me out heavily, and that’s something I don’t need. Sometimes I wonder if reality has shifted slightly, and we’ve ended up in a parallel Twilight Zone dimension. We are living in absurd times. A human cheeto served as the President for four years and egged up some morons to storm the Capitol at the end of his tenure. We just got done with a global pandemic that completely changed the fabric of society. We now have a war in Europe, complete with imperialistic genocidal tactics and the potential of a nuclear disaster. When I was a kid I used to have nightmares about utter complete nuclear holocaust, and that primal fear is certainly tingling at a very rapid pace these days. Also, hiding explosives in toys in order to blow up kids? Disgustingly evil. Give me an hour alone with Putin. Or less, I can work it into my schedule. Repeated school shootings, like the one in Texas recently, also severely tests my faith in humanity, get some gun laws goddammit. What else bums me out? The environment is collapsing. There’s an unsustainable food industry going on. We treat beautiful creatures as granted commodities. Hate crimes, no matter where it’s directed, whether it be towards race, gender, sexual orientation or creed, seems to be on the rise, even the cops are in on it. Teenage incels get terrorist training courses in toxic reddits; instant indoctrination into the next edgelord hate hype where child murderers are the heroes.

I don’t know, man. It seems to me that everyone is getting dumber and less educated in the facts of life. This is pretty close to the movie Idiocracy, and that was directed by the Beavis & Butthead creator – seems like a cosmic joke, right? A lousy one. We’re regressing rather than progressing. My favourite band Devo was right all along: de-evolution is real. We’ve reached peak mankind, it’s all downhill from here. We were promised jetpacks, hoverboards, astronaut superfood in toothpaste tubes, and now the space race is in the hands of a Richie Rich manchild, plus a bunch of warmongers.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

Down a rabbit hole, probably? Us artistic types tend to go into some sort of hyperfocus for periods of time whenever we chase an idea. It will hopefully lead to a better place, both creatively and personally.

How do you define success?

That’s something I don’t spend much time thinking about. Who knows? Envy? Bitterness? False expectations? Fake friends and Yes People? It’s all in the eye of the beholder, I guess. One person’s success is another person’s failure. There’s so much pettiness going on, I wish we could lift one another up whenever fortune strikes rather than tear each other down. You won an award? Struck a new deal? Landed a neat gig? Great! Pats on the back and high-fives from me.

Maybe success means getting too comfortable and resting on your laurels. I wouldn’t know how that feels, don’t think I want to. I’ve always felt hungry and on the move, a mode that suits me fine.

What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?

My brother’s stitched up corpse in a morgue. But on a less serious note: U2. I used to live near an outdoors stadium. Was able to see the stage and big screens from the balcony. Not that I love Bruce Springsteen or Michael Jackson, but it was nice to crack a cold one, put out a camping chair and see a show from the porch. There was also a hill near the flat where you could see most of the stage and screens. I was coming home from work one day, completely exhausted. Heard an ungodly racket and wondered what the fuck it could be. Went up the hill to see, and of course it was U2. They had these giant mechanical lemons that would transport the band members to the stage and open up. The lemons seemed to be malfunctioning, and opened in a completely jerky manner, making it difficult for these douchebags to exit from their yellow monstrosities. Total Spinal Tap vibe. Wish those lemons had remained closed forever, like plastic tombs.

Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.

Haha, #lifegoals style? Also, not a thing I spend much time thinking about. I’ve got enough projects. Right now I’m focusing on Damokles. Finishing album two, studio time recording, setting up plans for album three and some surprise releases. Plus, rehearsals for gigs and tours are time-consuming. In the small off-periods for Damokles, I’m playing around with analogue synths, drum machines and beatboxes in my Contrarian project. Album four TBA soon. My good old band of post-punk weirdos, This Sect, are having its 20-year anniversary next year. A new album is materializing, as well as a few shows and a retrospective collection of rarities; live tracks, remixes, demos, outtakes. We’ve always recorded our rehearsals and jams, there are harddrives and CD folders stacked with hidden lo/fi gems.

If there’s one thing I’d really like to do; is to write and illustrate my own comic book. I’ll certainly give it a try. I have a little motto: I never get bored. That’s kept me afloat thus far.

What do you believe is the most essential function of art?

To be able to be elevated and transported into a different realm? Sometimes it’s nice to be able to escape from the reality you’re stuck in.

Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?

My fave author, Bret Easton Ellis, is releasing a new novel early next year; The Shards. The blurb sounds awesome: “It’s 1981 and Bret Ellis is an aspiring writer beginning his senior year of high school in Los Angeles. A serial killer, The Trawler, begins targeting teenagers throughout the city – just as a mysterious new student joins Bret’s class.”
Hoping for a Patrick Bateman appearance!

https://www.facebook.com/therealdamokles/
https://www.instagram.com/damoklesband
https://therealdamokles.bandcamp.com/
bit.ly/damoklesspotify
bit.ly/damoklesyoutube

https://www.facebook.com/vinterrecords
https://www.instagram.com/vinter_records/
http://vinterrecords.com/

Damokles, Nights Come Alive (2022)

Norwegian duo MoE will release their new album, The Crone, next year on Vinter Records. Accordingly, the two-piece — who I gather also served for a time as the backing band for Årabrot; certainly not nothing as far as feathers in the cap of their CV go, along with various awards and critical nods and thisses and thatses — have a video out for the title-track. It’s a little under 10 minutes long and thusly tells you much more than the prior-posted teaser that accompanied first word of the signing, but a big part of what’s happening here is atmospheric anyway, so if you’ve got brain capacity for mood-heavy, MoE — who were also the first act that Vinter picked up — have plenty of heavy mood on offer.

Also, creepy stuff in the woods. MoE is bassist/vocalist Guro S. Moe and guitarist Håvard Skaset — plus others or so it would seem, but in the video, the look is less about here’s-the-band than kind of an art film building on the underlying theme of the track. Hey, if you’ve got trees, use ’em. By the time all the spinning around is done late in the clip, I too am ready to fall over.

Would love to tell you all about the album and its sundry creative intricacies and probably the contemplative nature of the work met with an element of individual expression, living through hard times through carving one’s own outlet — at least I assume that’s what we’d be talking about; I suppose there’s always the weather instead — but I haven’t actually heard it yet in its entirety. Will I eventually? Probably. Always a chance I’ll get hit by a bus or I’ll get JUST ONE MORE email addressed to “hey dudes” coming through the contact form and scrap the site entirely, but barring that, yeah, I’ll probably check that out. The video certainly argues in its favor.

Enjoy:

MoE, “The Crone” official video

First single and title track from the upcoming album “The Crone”, by avant-garde sludgers MoE.

Comments the band: “‘The Crone’ represents a cry from within from a voice that has seen, and continues to see. Who observes the challenges that have simple solutions, and the solutions that make impossible demands.”

The Crone is an uncompromising journey into a realm of feverish and taunting dreams. Through driving rhythms, and Guro’s lulling and tantalizing vocals, you are drawn into a world formed by hidden narratives and broken realties.

And though soft, and almost comforting at times, you are quickly hurled back into a harsh and diverged soundscape. It is a steady and compelling ride through anger and pain to absolution. The Crone judges you, and The Crone lets you judge. This is the first new single from the resolute, free, and chaotic force that is MoE.

Since the beginning, back in 2009, MoE has dedicated their craft to international partners and the global touring circuit. They have visited almost every corner of the world, playing places most bands can only dream of, counting Singapore, Malaysia, China, Australia, Mexico and all over Europe. Alongside the extensive traveling MoE has challenged and experimented with both the album and live-format, giving them an extraordinary foundation as a unit.

The Crone is the title track of MoE’s 4th album which is scheduled to be released on Vinter Records early 2022.

Hailing from the outskirts of Oslo, the prolific avant-garde machinery that is MoE have toured the corners of the world continuously for years with their uncompromising take on noise infused experimental sludge. Those who have witnessed them as either a two piece, a three piece, as theater composers or as Årabrot’s backing band, know that MoE surpasses all expectations, leaving their audiences completely overthrown.

Now they are ready to take on new territories with their most ambitious album to date, The Crone.

MoE, The Crone teaser

MoE on Facebook

MoE on Instagram

MoE on Bandcamp

Vinter Records on Facebook

Vinter Records on Instagram

Vinter Records website

Details about the forthcoming debut album from Swedish/Swiss post-sludge trio Norna are much like their promo picture below: dark grey and vague. For example, I know that Vinter Records will release the album, but I’ve heard both that it’s coming this Fall and that it’ll be out sometime early in 2022 — you can see the latter in the PR wire headline below, so that’s what I’m rolling with — but as to what it’s called, where/how/when it was made, all that stuff, I haven’t the foggiest.

This is obviously a purposeful choice, and it’s consistent from when it was announced that Norna had signed to Vinter and basically all that went with that was a teaser. It, was, however, a very heavy teaser. “The Truther,” an initial single from the yet-untitled long-player, follows suit in that “very heavy” regard, and one will find some commonality with the Euro school of more extreme post-metal, but the atmosphere rings especially harsh here and is all the more satisfying for that.

Again, info is establish-some-mystique sparse, but I actually just got the title. The album will be called Star is Way Way is Eye.

Here’s the rest of what I’ve got:

NORNA: First Single From Swedish/Swiss Post-Metal Collabo With Members Of BREACH, ØLTEN and THE OLD WIND Streaming; Debut Full-Length To Drop Early Next Year via VINTER RECORDS

Norna, the new and devastatingly punishing outfit with members from Breach, Ølten and The Old Wind, will release their debut album via Vinter Records.

Hailing from the cold north of Sweden and the epic vastness of the Swizz alps, the band consists of Swedish hardcore pioneer Tomas Liljedahl (Breach, The Old Wind) and Swiss underground troopers Christophe Macquat and Marc Theurillat (Ølten). Formed merely a year ago, the three piece is now ready with their debut recording – a thunderous onslaught of bleak, cold and desperate heaviness.

Band:
Guitar/Vox. Tomas Liljedahl (ex Breach ,The old wind)
Guitar/Moog. Chris Macquat (Ølten)
Drums/Moog. Marc Theurillat (Ølten)

https://www.facebook.com/Nornaband
https://www.instagram.com/norna_band/
https://www.facebook.com/vinterrecords
https://www.instagram.com/vinter_records/
http://vinterrecords.com/

Norna, “The Truther”

If you think about the generational trajectory of decades, a revival of aughts-era post-hardcore — born in the ’90s but flourished after the turn of the century — makes sense. Consider acts that are older now, have been around for a few years, based on ’90s grunge and heavy rock and roll. They started in the 2010s, were informed by the 1990s, which in turn was informed by the 1970s. It’s the 2020s now. Bands are exploring things like post-hardcore from the 2000s and electronic sounds that came around in the 1980s. This creative conversation happens across borders and across time. It is a generalization, of course, but sometimes it can be useful to think in general terms.

Specifically, Oslo’s Damokles come to Vinter Records in furtherance of the label’s stated mission to bring together a sonically diverse lineup. They join Norna, MoE and Dig Deeper on the Høstsabbat-adjacent imprint, and offer a rawness of approach that’s weighted in first impression — you can stream “Ms. Misanthropy” below; one of several singles on their Bandcamp — without losing its harder impact edge. Their debut album, Nights Come Alive, will see release in 2022.

Also fun? Pronouncing their name “damo-kles” like “ankles” instead of Damokles, which is likely intended as “damo-kleeze” as in “sword of Damocles.”

To wit:

Founded late 2019, DAMOKLES might be a fresh edition to the Oslo rock scene, but its members are hardly any greenhorns. With deep roots stemming from metal, experimental rock, sludge and and dark electronica, they have all blown minds in different parts of the underground for decades. Now, in the heart of Oslo, the new found five piece is vigorously carving a sonic path on the intersection between ’90s post-hardcore, obscure indie rock and dystopian 80s post-punk – a path filled with toxic hooks and creative madness, wrapped in ferocious intensity.

As a results the band has already released five acclaimed singles, which instantly caught the ear of fans from both sides of the rock and metal spectrum, as well as Norway’s national radio broadcaster NRK.

Damokles will release their debut album, Nights Come Alive, on Vinter Records in 2022. Welcome to the Vinter family!

And yeah, first single coming soon!

Damokles: Kristian Liljan, Ronny Flissundet, Gøran Karlsvik, Fredrik Ryberg, John Birkeland

https://www.facebook.com/therealdamokles/
https://www.instagram.com/damoklesband
https://therealdamokles.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/vinterrecords
https://www.instagram.com/vinter_records/
http://vinterrecords.com/

Damokles, “Ms. Misanthropy”