Posted in Whathaveyou on February 12th, 2016 by JJ Koczan
My friends, the United Kingdom is drowning in sludge. Here’s a fun fact: every time you blink, five hardcore bands in London buy tube amps and start listening to Eyehategod. From Newport in South Wales, Spider Kitten are something of an antidote to the abrasion going on in and around England. Their new album — their umpteenth, I believe — is called Ark of Octofelis, and I’ve only heard the song “One from the Heart,” but the impact is immediate. Dense fuzz pervades a heavy psychedelic roll while from out of all that tone comes a sci-fi social commentary that seems to unfold across the album’s span. They’re not a new band by any stretch of the imagination — 2016 makes it 15 years, reportedly — but sometimes an idea has to be around for a while before its time comes, and this might just be Spider Kitten‘s time.
Album is out April 29 on Undergroove Records. Spider Kitten will play Desertfest London 2016, as was first noted here last month and as confirmed below by the PR wire:
SPIDER KITTEN confirm release of new album Ark Of Octofelis and DesertFest London appearance
Ark Of Octofelis by Spider Kitten is released worldwide through Undergroove Records on 29th April 2016, and the band will appear at DesertFest London (29th April – 1st May)
There are some bands whose sound would benefit less from a description and more from a comprehensive lab test, and Newport, South Wales’ legendary anti-heroes Spider Kitten is most definitely one such band.
Signing to Undergroove in 2014 for the release of their last full-length Behold Mountain, Hail Sea, Venerate Sky, Bow Before Tree, new album Ark Of Octofelis is the end product of eight months writing and recording during sessions that saw the band trade straight-up doom for headier, astral climes. Amon Düül II, King Crimson and an unmistakable Floydian influence permeate the record, which, over two tracks explore one conceptual theme. A theme driven by malevolent and authoritarian powers, unexplained goings-on in the desert and a local psychedelic rock band’s quest to recapture the landscape.
Produced by vocalist and guitar player Chi Lameo – who originally founded the band back in 2001 – while Spider Kitten’s experiments with sound may have continually progressed, one thing that hasn’t changed is their approach to making music. Whether recording demos, EPs or full-length albums, their furiously DIY ethic is as dogged now as it’s ever been. With frightening prolificacy they have amassed a back catalogue that swallows a universe of styles ranging from proto-grunge and heavy psychedelia to doom and industrial noise. All drowned in the influence of artists as diverse as Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Leonard Cohen, The Melvins and the dirtiest miscellany of Sub Pop’s early output.
While Spider Kitten have both expanded and contracted their line-up in recent times to accommodate their ambitions, their live line-up currently consists of Lameo, drummer and former Taint member Chris West, guitarist Gareth Day and bass player Steve Jones. The quartet will take to the stage this year at London’s DesertFest (29th April – 1st May) and appear alongside the likes of Electric Wizard, Corrosion Of Conformity, Crowbar and Godflesh.
Ark Of Octofelis by Spider Kitten will be released worldwide through Undergroove Records on 29th April 2016.
Spider Kitten: Chi Lameo – Vocals, Guitar Chris West – Drums, Vocals Steve Jones – Bass Gareth Day – Guitar
We’re on the downhill swing of this edition of the Quarterly Review, so it’s time to get into some extremes, I think. Today, between death-doom lurch, drone-as-fuck exploring, gritty aggression and a whole lot more, we pretty much get there. I’m not saying it’s one end of the universe to another, but definitely a little all-over-the-place, which is just what one might need when staring down the fourth round of 10 reviews in a row in a week’s time. Feeling good though, so let’s do it.
Quarterly Review #31-40:
Kamchatka, Long Road Made of Gold
It would really be something if Swedish blues rockers Kamchatka released six albums over the course of the last decade and didn’t know what they were doing by now. Fortunately, that’s not the case with Long Road Made of Gold (Despotz Records), their sixth, as the Verberg three-piece of guitarist/vocalist Thomas Juneor Andersson, bassist Per Wiberg (see also: Spiritual Beggars, Candlemass, Opeth, etc.) and drummer Tobias Strandvik modernize classic heavy rock with equal comfort in including a banjo on “Take Me Back Home” and progressive-style harmonies on “Rain.” They seem to get bluesier as they go, with later cuts “Mirror,” “Slowly Drifting Away,” “Long Road” and “To You” rounding out the album with Clutch-style bounce, but the prevailing impact of Long Road Made of Gold is one of unflinching class, the chemistry of its players – not to mention Wiberg’s bass tone – ringing through loud and clear from the material as Kamchatka make their way down that long road to their inevitable next outing.
I said as much when the Tokyo duo released their 2013 debut EP (review here) as well, but their first long-player Iron Scorn (on At War with False Noise) only confirms it: Legion of Andromeda are fucked. Theirs is a doomed-out death metal given further inhumanity by programmed drums and the blown-out growls of vocalist -R-, while guitarist/programmer –M- holds down grime-encrusted chug and dirge riffing. Perhaps most fucked of all is the fact that Iron Scorn uses essentially the same drum progression across its seven tracks/44 minutes, varying in tempo but holding firm to the double-kick and bell-hit timekeeping for the duration. The effect this has not only ties the material together – as it would have to – but also makes the listener feel like they’ve entered into some no-light-can-escape alternate universe in which all there is is that thud, the distortion and the growls. Not a headphone record, unless you were looking to start psychotherapy anyhow, its extremity is prevalent enough to feel like a physical force holding you down.
Relentlessly creative and geographically amorphous drone warriors Queen Elephantine compile eight tracks from eight years of their perpetual exploration for Omen on Atypeek Music, which launches with its titular cut, the oldest of the bunch, from 2007. It’s a gritty rolling groove that, even as nascent and riff-noddy as it is, still has underpinnings that might clue the listener in to what’s to come (especially in hindsight) and comes accompanied by the sludgy “The Sea Goat,” a rawer take recorded the same year in Hong Kong. Newest on Omen is the blissfully percussed “Morning Three” and an 18-minute live version of “Search for the Deathless State” from 2010’s Kailash full-length. Lineups, intent and breadth of sound vary widely, but even into the reaches of “1,000 Years” (2012, Providence, RI) and “Shamanic Procession” (2009, New York), Queen Elephantine remain unflinching in their experimentalism and the results here are likewise immersive. Vastly underrated, their work remains a world waiting to be explored.
Consuming undulations of tectonic riffing. Two of them, actually. Watchtower’s Radiant Moon EP serves as their debut on Magnetic Eye, and like their fellow-Melbourne-resident labelmates in Horsehunter, the four-piece Watchtower slam heavy-est riffs into the listener’s cerebral cortex with little concern for lasting aftereffects, all in worship of nod and volume itself. Where the two acts differ is in Watchtower’s overarching sense of grit, harsh vocals pervading both “Radiant Moon” (9:03) itself and the accompanying “Living Heads” (7:09), standalone vocalist Nico Guijt growing through the tonal fray wrought by guitarist Robbie Ingram and bassist Ben Robertson, Joel McGann’s drums pushing the emergent roll forward on “Living Heads,” a High on Fire-style startoff hitting the brakes on tempo to plod over any and all in its path. I’m trying to tell you it’s fucking heavy. Is that getting through? Watchtower had a live single out before Radiant Moon, but I’d be eager to hear what they come up with for a full-length, whether they might shift elsewhere at some point or revel in pure onslaught. Now taking bets.
The use of multiple vocalists gives Roman trio Ape Skull’s ‘70s fetishism a particularly proggy air. Fly Camel Fly is their second full-length for Heavy Psych Sounds behind a 2013 self-titled, and the boogie of “My Way” and “Early Morning,” the solo-topped groove of “Fly Camel Fly,” and the raw Hendrixology of “A is for Ape” position it as a classic rocker through and through. Vocalist/drummer Giuliano Padroni, bassist/vocalist Pierpaolo Pastorelli and guitarist/vocalist Fulvio Cartacci get down to shuffling business quick and stay that way for the 39-minute duration, the Mountainous “Heavy Santa Ana Wind” missing only the complement of a sappy, over-the-top ballad to complete its vintage believability. Even without, the triumvirate stand tall, fuzzy and swinging on Fly Camel Fly, the cowbell of “Tree Stomp” calling to mind the earthy chaos of Blue Cheer without direct mimicry. A quick listen that builds and holds its momentum, but one that holds up too on subsequent visits.
Mad-as-hell trio Hordes have had a slew of releases out over the last eight years or so – EPs, splits, full-lengths with extended tracks – but their experimental take on noise rock topped with Godfleshy shouts arrives satisfyingly stripped down on their latest self-titled five-track EP, recorded in 2013 and pressed newly to tape and CD (also digital). “Eyes Dulled Blind” dials back some of the pummeling after the bruises left by “Cold War Echo,” guitarist/vocalist Alex Hudson at the fore in the JK Broadrick tradition. Centerpiece “Summer” starts with a slow and peaceful ruse before shifting into brash and blown-out punk – Chris Martinez’s hi-hat forward in the mix to further the abrasion – and finally settles into a middle-ground between the two (mind you, the song is four minutes long), and bassist Jon Howard opens “Life Crusher,” which unfolds quickly into the most oppressive push here, while a churning atmosphere pervades the more echo-laden closer “Fall” to reinforce Hordes’ experimentalist claims and steady balance between tonal weight and noise-caked aggression.
There’s a theatrical element underlying Welsh rockers Dead Shed Jokers’ second, self-titled full-length (on Pity My Brain Records). That’s not to say its eight songs are in some way insincere, just that the five-piece of vocalist Hywel Davies, guitarists Nicky Bryant and Kristian Evans, bassist Luke Cook and drummer Ashley Jones know there’s a show going on. Davies is in the lead throughout and proves a consummate frontman presence across opener “Dafydd’s Song,” the stomping “Memoirs of Mr. Bryant” and the swinging “Rapture Riddles,” Dead Shed Jokers’ penultimate cut before the cabaret closer “Exit Stage Left (Applause),” but the instrumental backing is up to its own task, and a clear-headed production gives the entire affair a professional sensibility. They veer into and out of heavy rock tropes fluidly, but maintain a tonal fullness wherever they might be headed, and Cook’s bass late in “Made in Vietnam” seems to carry a record’s worth of weight in just its few measures at the forefront before Davies returns for the next round of proclamations.
Berlin’s These Hands Conspire aren’t through the two-minute instrumental “Intro” before they’re showing off the heft of tone that pervades their metallized debut album, Sword of Korhan, but as they demonstrate throughout the following seven tracks and the total 45-minute runtime, there’s plenty to go around. Vocalist Felix delivers an especially noteworthy performance over the dual-guitars of Tom and Stefan, the bass of Paul and Sascha’s drums, but heavy metal storytelling – the sci-fi narrative seems to be a battle in space – is just as much a part of the record’s progressive flow, longer cuts like “Praise to Nova Rider,” “The Beast Cometh,” which directly follows, and “Ambush at Antarox IV” feeding one into the next sonically and thematically. The penultimate title-track brings swinging apex to an ambitious first outing, but the foreboding, winding guitar echoes of “Outro” hint at more of the tale to be told. Could be that Sword of Korhan is just the beginning of a much longer engagement.
Maybe it doesn’t need to be said, since if it weren’t the case, they wouldn’t have paired at all, but Enos and Mangoo pair well. The UK chimp-obsessed space metallers – that’s Enos, on side A – and the Finnish modernized classic heavy rock outfit – that’s Mangoo, on side B – don’t ask much of the listener across their Son of a Gun/The Grey Belly split (on H42 Records) beyond a little over 10 minutes of time and a willingness to follow a groove. “Son of a Gun” finds Enos blending particularly well with Mangoo’s methodology via the inclusion of organ in their swinging but still forward-directed movement, and after that, it’s an easy mesh to flip the platter and find Mangoo’s “The Grey Belly” waiting, its own keys playing a huge role in carrying across the ‘70s-via-‘90s vibe the band projects so well. Flourishes of percussion in the former seem to complement the progressive guitar work in the latter, and whichever side happens to be spinning, it all works out just fine.
Born in 2007 as Spice and the RJ Band and rechristened Band of Spice in 2010 prior to their third album, Feel Like Coming Home, the Swedish unit boasting vocalist Christian “Spice” Sjöstrand (founding vocalist of Spiritual Beggars, also Mushroom River Band, currently also in Kayser) release their fourth full-length half a decade later in the form of Economic Dancers on Scarlet Records. It’s a straightforward heavy rocker in the organ-laced European tradition that Spice helped create, with some shades of quirk in the intro to “The Joe” and the arena-ready backing vocals of “In My Blood,” but mostly cutting its teeth on modernized ‘70s jams like “On the Run,” “Down by the Liquor Store” and “True Will,” though the six-minute centerpiece “You Will Call” touches on more psychedelic fare and is backed immediately by two metallers in “You Can’t Stop” and “Fly Away,” so it’s not by any means one-sided, even if at times the mix makes it feel like the 11 tracks are a showcase for the singer whose name is on the marquee.
There are plenty of people around more qualified than I am to comment on Budgie‘s enduring legacy or their effect on heavy rock and metal, but one doesn’t exactly need a masterful knowledge of the form to hear the roll of “Nude Disintegrating Parachutist Woman” and have a lot of things subsequently make more sense. The Welsh trio’s self-titled 1971 debut is one of those albums you hear and recognize pieces of from the work of other bands who’ve snagged a riff here, a melody there, and really you can take your pick from among their first three full-lengths — this, 1972’s Squawk and 1973’s Never Turn Your Back on a Friend — for supremacy. What ultimately does it for me is Burke Shelley‘s bass tone. With guitarist/vocalist Tony Bourge and drummer Ray Phillips along with Shelley on bass/vocals, Budgie was nothing if not a power trio, but to hear the weight in the production by Rodger Bain (who also helmed early outings for Black Sabbath and Judas Priest) as “Guts” gets the album going, yeah, it’s a pretty easy sell.
And in classic ’70s heavy form, they open with this killer heavy track and then move immediately into ballads, in this case the quick “Everything in My Heart” and subsequent “The Author,” which picks up as it makes its way to toward the aforementioned “Nude Disintegrating Parachutist Woman,” which rounds out side A. From there, “Rape of the Locks” picks up with an immediate slam and proto-shredding solo, and all the swing and swagger you could hope for, leading to the fuzzed out “All Night Petrol,” an acoustic resurgence on “You and I,” and the unfuckwithable closer “Homicidal Suicidal.” In the spirit of many of the best records of its era, it gets in, kicks ass and gets out — probably because by the time it was finished Budgie were due either out on tour or back in to start tracking Squawk.
If you know heavy rock or doom, you don’t need me to tell about this one I’m sure. Frankly, I was surprised to find that I’d never closed out a week with Budgie before, so consider this my way of making up for lost time. Of course, I hope you dig it.
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Nothing to say, really. If you’re wondering about that job, I heard today [after this post first went up] that they want to do another interview. Between phoners and in-person, this will be number four. It’s in two weeks.
I also put in for a bartending gig yesterday, just out of a need to try for something. No word back.
Next week, audio from Insect Ark and Mos Generator and reviews of Cigale and Ichabod. Akris interview too at some point. Unless I get a call in the next two hours telling me to start work Monday, I was supposed to head to Brooklyn on the 5th for Kings Destroy‘s record release with Elder, Apostle of Solitude and Clamfight, but it occurs to me that in addition to having no job and no money, my car is also dead in the parking lot outside and needs a new battery before it can go anywhere. Which of course I can’t afford. So we’ll mark those plans as “tentative” for the time being.
Got some cool vinyl this week though and was referred to twice as a “legend.” Feels great. Feels legendary.
Posted in Reviews on December 29th, 2014 by JJ Koczan
This is it. New Year’s is this week and by Friday we’ll be into 2015. A new year always brings new hopes, concerns, records and so on, but to be completely honest, I’m just not quite done with 2014 yet. So here we are. I’ve had stacks of CDs on my desk and folders on my computer from the last couple months of stuff I have been trying to fit in, and it doesn’t seem right to me to let the year go without cramming in as much music as I possibly can.
Gotta call it something, so I went with “Last Licks,” since that’s basically what it will be. The plan is that between today and Friday, each day I’ll have another batch of 10 reviews. I’m not going to promise they’ll be the most comprehensive ever, but the idea is to do as much as I can and this seems to me the best way to turn my brains into goo. When that ball drops in Times Square, there’s a good chance I’ll be typing.
No sense in delaying. You get the idea, so let’s jump in:
Sigiriya, Darkness Died Today
Recorded live as their debut on Candlelight Records and the follow-up to 2011’s debut, Return to Earth (review here), the sophomore outing from Welsh heavy rockers Sigiriya, Darkness Died Today, is distinguished by a vocalist swap bringing in Matt Williams of Suns of Thunder. Williams has a tough job in replacing Dorian Walters, who like guitarist Stuart O’Hara, bassist Paul Bidmead and drummer Darren Ivey, is a former member of Acrimony. There are times when it works and times when it doesn’t. Along with a more barebones tonality in the guitar than appeared on the debut, Williams brings a more straightforward style in his voice, and it changes the personality of the band on songs like “Freedom Engines” and the first-album-title-track “Return to Earth.” “Tribe of the Old Oak” is a catchy highlight and I’ll almost never argue with a song called “Obelisk,” but it seems like they’re still searching for the footing here that seemed so firmly planted their last time out.
Upstate New York blues rockers Handsome Jack waste little time living up to the title Do What Comes Naturally. The name of their third album, released by Alive Naturalsound, is both mission-statement aand suggestion, and on songs like the soul-inflected “Creepin’” and the rolling “You and Me,” they make it sound like a good idea. Blues and classic soul meet garage rock across cuts like the relatively brief “Leave it all Behind,” but the tones are warm throughout the record, and guest spots on harmonica and Hammond help keep a sense of variety in the material, well-constructed but still loose in its vibe. The twang might recall The Brought Low for heavy rock heads, but one doubts Handsome Jack groove on much that came out after Psychedelic Mud. Even the CD splits into sides, and as easy as it would be for something like this to sound like a put-on, Handsome Jack prevail with closer “Wasted Time” in making an outing that’s anything but.
London doomers Serpent Venom sound like experts in the form on Of Things Seen and Unseen, their second album for The Church Within following 2011’s Carnal Altar and their initial 2010 demo (review here), a righteous 48-minute lumbering slab of heavy riffs, downerism and nod. It’s not every band who could put “Death Throes at Dawn” and “Lord of Life” next to each other, but the four-piece of vocalist Garry Ricketts, guitarist Roland Scriver, bassist Nick Davies and drummer Paul Sutherland keep their focus so utterly doomed that even the quiet, minimalist acoustic interlude “I Awake” – ostensibly a breather — comes across as trodden as the earlier “Sorrow’s Bastard,” or the Reverend Bizarre-worthy “Let Them Starve,” which follows. For those who long for trad doom that has an identity outside its Vitus and Sabbath influences, Serpent Venom prove more than ready to enter that conversation on the wah-soaked soloing in the second half of “Pilgrims of the Sun.” Right fucking on.
The artwork tells the story. Owl Glitters’ Alchemical Tones (on Heart and Crossbone Records) is a wash of color. Taking tribal rhythms and repetitions and pairing them with organic low-end, chanted vocals and periodic excursions of psych rock guitar, Arkia Jahani (who seems to be the lone creative force behind the project, though Mell Dettmer mastered) brings a ritualistic sensibility to the eight included pieces, and the flow is molten from the start of “Dervishes.” Less purposefully weird than Master Musicians of Bukkake, but farther into the cosmos than Om, there’s a folkish identity at the heart of Alchemical Tones that keeps the proceedings human even on the near-throat-singing of “Hakim Sanai” or “Poets of Shiras” and “Khalifa’s Visions” an immersive pair preceding the droning closer “By the Candlelight Our Eyes Welcome Glimmers of Eternity.” Beautifully experimental – and in the case of “Mindful of Gems,” fuzzed to the gills – Owl Glitters’ second outing engages sonic spiritualism with dogmatic command and stares back at you from the space within yourself.
Sandveiss released Scream Queen, their first full-length, late in 2013, reveling in a modern sound crisply produced and more than ably executed to feature the vocals of guitarist Luc Bourgeois, who provides frontman presence even on disc alongside guitarist Shawn Rice, bassist Daniel Girard and drummer Dzemal Trtak. Cohesiveness isn’t in question as opener and longest cut (immediate points) “Blindsided” rounds out its 6:26, leading the way into “Do You Really Know” and setting the tone for big-riffed Euro-style heavy from the Quebecois foursome, who slow down on “Bottomless Lies,” on which Trtak backs Bourgeois in you-guys-should-do-this-more fashion, and ultimately hold firm to the focus on songwriting that establishes itself early. They fuzz out on closer “Green or Gold,” but by then it’s another element of variety among the organ, guest vocals on “Scar” and tempo shifts on Sandveiss’ ambitious debut, distinguished even unto the six-panel gatefold digi-sleeve in which it arrives, the art and design by Alexandre Goulet one more standout factor on an album demanding attention.
Probably the most clearly Beatlesian moment on Octopus Syng’s Reverberating Garden Number 7 is a slight “Hey Bulldog”-style cadence on side A’s “Very Strange Trip,” and that in itself is an accomplishment (one I’m apparently not the first to observe). The Helsinki four-piece in their 15th year are led by guitarist/vocalist Jaire Pätäri and emit an oozing, serene psychedelia, peaceful and lysergic in late ‘60s exploratory fashion. Reverberating Garden Number 7 (on Mega Dodo Records) echoes out vibe to spare and is deceptively lush while keeping a humble vibe thanks in no small part to Pätäri’s restrained vocal approach and curios like “Cuckoo Clock Mystery,” which boasts an actual cuckoo clock to add bounce to its arrangement. Nine-minute closer “Listen to the Moths” is the single biggest surprise, and an album unto itself, but its unfolding is only the capstone on a collection of psychedelic wonder sincere in its stylistic intent and execution. It fills the ears like warm air in the lungs.
Destructive Australian trio Sun Shepherd put the bulk of Procession of Trampling Hoof to tape in 2011. Closing bonus track “Exploding Sun” is a demo from 2006, but it fits with their extended tracks and big riffs piled onto each other in densely-weighted fashion, if rougher in presentation. More Ramesses than High on Fire, who prove otherwise to be a key influence tonally for guitarist/vocalist Anson Antriasian, must-hear bassist Leigh Fischer and drummer Michael Barson, though their approach is decidedly less thrash-based. The first five of the six songs find Sun Shepherd’s first full-length a pummel-minded blend of sludge and doom. Antriasian’s vocals are semi-spoken, but fitting theatrically on “Goat-Head Awakening” with the grueling riff-led nod, the tension released as they pass the halfway point of the 10-minute run, a raw atmosphere bolstering the chaos of their slower-motion marauding. With the welcome flourish of stonerly soloing on “Engulfed by Ocean of Time,” one can’t help but wonder what the Melbourne natives are up to three years later.
Fuzz-toned elements of Sleep and Sabbath pervade the stoner-doomy self-titled The Church Within debut from Oslo three-piece Purple Hill Witch, who carry the bounce well in immediately familiar riffs and groove. Swinging drums from Øyvind and the inventive basslines of Andreas underscore Kristian’s purely Iommic riffage and blown-out vocals, somewhere between Witchcraft’s earliest going and Witch’s self-titled. If that gives Purple Hill Witch an even witchier feel, “Final Procession” sounds just fine with that, as do shorter tracks like the later “Aldebaranian Voyage (Into the Sun)” and centerpiece “Karmanjaka” on which the stoner side comes out in force. They finish by using all 11 minutes of the eponymous “Purple Hill Witch”’s runtime, breaking in the midsection for a murky exploration that’s creepily atmospheric without veering into cult rock cliché. They bounce resumes and slows to a crawl to close out, but the jam serves Purple Hill Witch well in expanding the band’s sonic reach and the album’s weedian sensibility. Not that they were keeping it a secret.
A burly dual-guitar five-piece with roots in Germany and Switzerland, Giant Sleep start out their self-titled, self-released first LP with a brief intro titled “Argos” before getting to the question, “Why am I angry all the time?” as the central, recurring line of “Angry Man.” That song, like “Henu” and “Reproduce,” gets its point across quick in heavy rock fashion and develops its argument from there, a progressive metal vibe pervading especially the latter, which is penultimate in the 10-song/52-minute effort, and underscores the high-grade craftsmanship accomplished throughout. “Dreamless Sleep” is probably my pick of the bunch for its airier tone and resonant minor-key hook in the guitars of Markus Ruf and Patrick Hagmann, vocalist Thomas Rosenmerkel belting out the chorus before making way for plotted solos atop Radek Stecki’s bass and Manuel Spänhauer’s drums, but it’s not so far removed from its surroundings. As a whole, the album could be more efficient, but it wants nothing for songwriting, and especially as a debut, Giant Sleep hits its marks readily.
Opener “Las Noches del Desierto” is the only one of Star Collider’s five tracks under 10 minutes. Flux seems to be the norm for Finnish post-stoners Acid Elephant, who recently brought in vocalist Martin Ahlö but here revolve around the core of bassist/guitarist/vocalist Miksa Väliverho, guitarist/vocalist Ilpo Kauppinen and drummer Roope Vähä-Aho, employing a host of others on obscure vocals, percussion and djembe throughout the 64-minute sophomore outing, recorded in 2012 and released late in 2013. Whoever they are now, Acid Elephant on Star Collider call out heavy psych, drone/jam and riff-based impulses in their extended cuts, gradually getting longer from “Red Carpet Lane” (10:46) until closer “Bog” hits 18:29. To their credit, their songs leave impressions to match their length, and even as it’s finishing its instrumental run, “Godmason” (15:58) is highlighting its resonant central riff, having emerged from a wash of feedback and amp noise at its beginning, preceded by the droning centerpiece “7th Stone.” Satisfying and unpredictable, Star Collider balances experimentation and engagement smoothly without losing its focus on individualism.
With a persistent murk and pervasively foggy sensibility, Welsh four-piece Reclvse make their debut with their self-titled three-song demo. The doubly-bassed Swansea doomers craft an aesthetic of sonic obscurity throughout “Temptress!,” “Of Many Names” and “Bewitch the Sky,” broiling themselves in molten garage demos of old while offering glimpses of ideas more complex, be it the nascent battle-metal melody in the chorus of the opener or the acoustic finale that closes out. Their name (which they often use stylized in all-caps, though that’s somewhat less reclusive) speaks to a cult mentality, but there’s little of that mindset in their actual songs, which are stripped to the bone stylistically and rounded off with medieval cruelty, turning otherwise simplistic trad doom grooves into something more cavernous and malevolent.
“Temptress!” resides deep in the mix, and Reclvse stay there for the duration, varying some in tempo while keeping an otherwise consistent sound no more telling than the single initials by which they identify themselves — J. (guitar/vocals), P. and B. (bass) and C. (drums) — but which should be relatable enough to experienced ears. The opener is the most rolling of the three tracks, though “Of Many Names” follows suit somewhat while keeping a less finished feel and spacing out in its midsection, while “Bewitch the Sky,” which stretches past the seven-minute mark as the longest cut here, moves at a crawl for most of its duration. Reclvse‘s middle piece, though shorter, varies some from the doomly atmospheres of “Temptress!” or “Bewitch the Sky.” “Of Many Names” was previously released in December 2013 as the band’s first recorded audio, and while the entire release this time around has some of that rehearsal-room air to it, the songs are cohesive and ably executed. Hard to know how they might hold up under a more elaborate production, but that’s not a concern for the time being.
As it stands, the raw feel only adds to the ambience — a phenomenon more commonly associated with black metal — and Reclvse‘s Reclvseends up a cassette-ready demo that announces the band’s arrival well while giving a sense of where they might be headed creatively as they plunge deeper into ancient metals and altered-consciousness doom. You can hear the tracks now as part of The Obelisk Radio‘s 24/7 stream, and grab yourself a name-your-price download courtesy of the Bandcamp player below.
Posted in On the Radar on May 8th, 2012 by JJ Koczan
In case you didn’t see it, the benevolent soul known as Ollie from Grifter put a post in the news forum about kickass UK bands worth checking out. He’s got some winners in there for sure, his own band among them, but a name that stood out to me was that of Welsh instrumental foursome Thorun, who’d been in touch recently about their (relatively) new EP, Chorus of Giants. Self-released back toward the end of last year and recorded completely live, the six tracks of Thorun‘s second EP display thick tones and lofty grooves, with a bit of ’70s influence lurking beneath the surface of their modern doomly vibing.
Chorus of Giants is actually pretty diverse once you get to the meat of it. The charmingly titled “Hipster Circle Pit” seems to toy with post-metallic progressivism in the guitar while the bass and Mike Johnson‘s drums keep the motion straightforward, and were it not for the monstrous low end coming from six-stringers Keeran Williams and Jonny Evans and bassist Neal Palmer, the earlier “Ivan the Terrible” might be genuine boogie rock. Whatever dynamics might be sacrificed in the singularity of tone, however, are more than accounted for in Chorus of Giants‘ live feel and the interplay among the musicians. It’s thick, and it moves like something thick, but there’s a sense of melody to be found as well and it doesn’t lose sight of the riffs leading its way.
A little under two minutes of noise in “Dark Ocean Song” paves the way for the slow build of the title-track, Palmer‘s bass providing the foundation, and “God Particle” might have the collection’s most solid groove. In any case, I thought the tracks were worth checking out, even though it’s been available for a while at this point. Thorun have downloads available at their Bandcamp page, and they’re on Thee Facebooks if you want to drop a line. They’ve also got a nifty website with a color scheme that looks awfully familiar. Here’s the entirety of Chorus of Giants, just for kicks:
Posted in Features on August 19th, 2011 by JJ Koczan
Welsh four-piece Sigiriya garner immediate interest based solely on their pedigree — all four members of the band used to be in Acrimony — but on their debut album, Return to Earth (released Sept. 1 on The Church Within), it’s the songs themselves that hold the attention. Likewise, one listen through Return to Earth, and it’s plain to see why the members of Sigiriya, when they were getting this project together, decided against just making it a 4/5 Acrimony reunion: Tumuli Shroomaroom this ain’t.
Rather, Sigiriya takes the riffy center that was always under the resin-caked grooves of Acrimony and brings it to the forefront. Songs like “Robot Funeral” and “Tobacco Sunrise” offer more straightforward heavy rock, and though Return to Earth gets even heavier at times (“Dark Fires” borders on metal), the album is precisely as Sigiriya wanted it to be in that it modernizes the approach of the members’ prior band without sacrificing what made them want to get back together in the first place.
Guitarist Stuart O’Hara, drummer Darren Ivey, bassist Paul “Mead” Bidmead and vocalist Dorian Walters took the moniker Sigiriya from a sacred mountain in Sri Lanka, and though that alone might lead one to think their songs would be spiritual explorations rife with sitar and vague interpretations of ancient mysticism, Return to Earth isn’t that at all. True to its name, the album keeps its head down, it’s amps up, and wants much more to kick your ass than to trip you out. Either way, it’s a killer ride. Full review is here.
In the discussion that follows, Ivey talks about what made Sigiriya come together some eight years after Acrimony‘s last studio release (a split with Japenese masters of mayhem, Church of Misery), why they did so without the involvement of former Acrimony second guitarist Lee Davies, now of the more commercially-minded rock outfit Lifer, how they got hooked up with The Church Within, their plans following the release of Return to Earth, and much more. As theirs is one of the more impressive debuts I’ve heard in 2011, I’m thrilled to be able to bring you this interview.
Please find enclosed the complete email Q&A with Darren Ivey of Sigiriya, and please enjoy.
Posted in On the Radar on September 13th, 2010 by JJ Koczan
Well, if there’s one thing “Mountain Goat” and “Deathtrip,” the two brand new tracks posted by the UK‘s Sigiriya, show us, it’s that the dudes from Acrimony have been keeping up with stoner rock for the nine years since their original band broke up. Sigiriya has four out of the five Acrimony members — only guitarist Lee Davies is absent — and under their new moniker, the band plays a totally modern, much less shroomed take on riff metal. In no way is Sigiriya a throwback or an attempt to recapture Acrimony‘s past greatness. One expects if they wanted to do that, they would have just reunited Acrimony.
The shorter “Mountain Goat” and more expansive “Deathtrip” were posted on SoundCloud, which I’m going to pretend to have heard of before for fear of being behind the times. SoundCloud allows for embedding its players, so you can hear both songs below (or click here). “Mountain Goat” is definitely the more straightforward of the two songs; at 3:22 it’s a recognizable stoner excursion. At over 10 minutes, however, “Deathtrip” does the bulk of the work distinguishing Sigiriya from both Acrimony and the modern stoner metal scene. The guitar of Stuart O’Hara comes on well-layered, offering melody and crunch, and vocalist Dorian Walters seems more melodically capable as well for his time away. It’s been nine years. A little development shouldn’t be much of a surprise.
And the rhythm section — bassist Paul Bidmead and drummer Darren Ivey — are as locked in on “Deathtrip” as they ever were on Acrimony‘s now-classic Tumuli Shroomaroom, proving no less adept at keeping a groove going during the song’s lengthy jam than during the riffy freakouts of yore. I’ll say if you dug/dig Acrimony you’ll like Sigiriya, but that’s not because they’re the same musically. Despite the subtle end of “Deathtrip,” Sigiriya is (at least going by these two songs) much less psychedelic. They’re doing what the age demands of them, and they’re doing it well. As someone into Acrimony, but more as someone into Sigiriya, I look forward to hearing more.
fear of being behind the times. SoundCloud allows for embedding its players, so you can hear both songs below (or 
