Posted in Reviews on February 27th, 2026 by JJ Koczan
Weedpecker by now are no strangers to lush soundscaping. In 2026, they stand as one of Europe’s foremost in progressive heavy psychedelia, the product of a mature and broadly respected Polish heavy underground, with an expansive style and a fanbase that continues to grow. Their fifth album, titled simply V, comes five years by the numbers (it was late 2021, so take that as you will) after IV: The Stream of Forgotten Thoughts (review here), which was duly encompassing, and once again sees founding guitarist, vocalist and keyboardist Piotr Dobry heading a partially-revamped lineup.
Tomasz Walczak (Tankograd, ex-Dopelord), who played drums last time, returns on synth alongside Piotr “Seru” Sadza (“Cheesy Dude” in Belzebong), while Piotr Kuks, who played with Dobry in the apparent side-project Atom Juice for last year’s self-titled debut (review here) takes up the bassist role and Zbigniew Promiński of Behemoth, Witchmaster and others steps in on drums.
Longtime associate and former member Bartłomiej “Bartek” Dobry adds guitar and continues his role as producer, working with Haldor Grünberg at Satanic Audio (who also mixed and mastered; Mikołaj Kiciak recorded the drums), and for those who’ve followed Weedpecker on the path they’ve laid out, the six-song/40-minute procession will feel familiar in tone and even more consistent in its purposeful exploration.
With marked flow within and between the songs, a clear two-sided LP structure, rampant melody and Mellotron-fueled etherealism, the band 13 years on from their self-titled debut (review here) still sound like they’re discovering fresh ground, but doing so with a maturity and a sense of intention that a newer band couldn’t have. That is to say, V offers both the sun-coated breadth of the view and the perspective to see it fr om, teaching patience with patience guided by a hand of mastery.
Side A establishes fluidity as a key component with deceptive efficiency. The two-minute “Intro” sets forth, fading in on a sustained and undulating synth line, almost a drone but moving, and is joined by more keys as a wash emerges. It becomes its own movement enough to be distinct from the subsequent “Fading Whispers” (which is also the longest inclusion at 11 minutes), but the two feel like a stage-ready complement just the same, and the guitar that enters to start “Fading Whispers” could hardly seem as serene without the lead-in it gets.
That’s part of what the “Intro” accomplishes, but not all of it. It is foremost a two-minute chillout; playing to transition from the headspace of the moment you just left to your experience of the album. It is the entryway, or if you prefer to think of it as going outside into sunlight and breathing fresh air, the quick contemplation carries that as well. “Fading Whispers,” then, becomes where Weedpecker first unfurl the fuller vision of V; the airy guitar strumming, the harmonized vocals, continued melodic backdrop of keys/synth, the drums distant but not so far off as to be lost in the mix, enhancing the sense of texture while subtly providing the ground beneath the rampant atmospherics.
“Fading Whispers” is not without its own introduction, and it does the work of building on the soothing mood of “Intro” in its opening minutes before shifting into a more tonally weighted (read: “heavier”) roll, full, stately and no less immersive than anything they’ve wrought to that point. The going is smooth and the mix is dynamic, and as vast as “Fading Whispers” gets, it never loses sight of its structure.
It could be an album unto itself, but the driftier “Ash” (9:10) answers, picking up from the comedown to close the (longer) first half of V, with long, pulled lead guitar notes over its initial strum and currents of distortion peaking through, reminiscent of the heft of “Fading Whispers,” but not relying on that as a crutch so much as a piece of the entirety of their presentation. When they lock into the central riff, the affect reminds of Elder, which isn’t at all the first time I’ve said that about Weedpecker but is true nonetheless, and what plays out over the nine minutes is a reverbed cascade of gorgeous tone and outreach. The later moments are more clear-eyed than the middle movement, but they not only payoff the build with due crunch, but do so, again, without departing from their purpose.
None of the songs on side B — “In the Dark We Shine” (4:27), “Mirrors” (6:16) or “The Last Summer of Youth” (7:14) — is long as either of side A’s non-intro cuts, but they flow together more directly and the Rhodes (I think) amid the acoustic/electric blend of “In the Dark We Shine” is worth whatever temporal tradeoff you might want to make. The acoustic solo just past the halfway mark is a shift, but not radically so, and the verse comes back around before a synthier finish leads into the stark and more immediate, heavier push at the start of the penultimate “Mirrors.”
Mellotron/keys again play a major part as they have all along, but while “Mirrors” comes gradually to hit more forcefully and, as it is wrapping up tears willfully into a standout (electric) guitar solo which gives over to the residual feedback that ends, the contrast of ‘now it’s pretty again’ as “The Last Summer of Youth” emits its nostalgic crux — string Mellotron sounds over acoustic guitar will do that — the transition isn’t exactly intuitive, but works because of the prior established scope.
The vocals aren’t whispered but give a breathy impression just the same, and seem to come from deeper in the mix of guitar. There is sitar for flourish and classic-psych vibing, and where the closer really triumphs is in the band’s ability to telegraph the fact that they’re about to get much heavier, then to do that and continue to hold to their path. It’s been the case throughout the entire album that they’ve demonstrated and preached patience through their songwriting, but the level of consciousness in V remains striking, and even as the lineup has shifted, Weedpecker has only grown more self-aware with time.
As to whether or not that holds them back, like anything, there are arguments to be made on either side. I would say that the strength of purpose laid out across V is a strength in their songwriting, and that the fact that they know what they’re doing and have an idea of where they want their sound to go — and that then those things are what happens in the material — are emblematic of the growth they’ve undertaken over the last decade-plus. V is often beautiful, while still unmistakably heavy, and it creates its own (better) world and organic warmth with poise and what sounds an awful lot like a will to keep searching. At properly loud volume, it is easy to feel surrounded by the music, and that is a lucky place to be.
Posted in Whathaveyou on January 23rd, 2026 by JJ Koczan
Of course, Polish progressive heavy psychedelic rockers Weedpecker are preparing for the Feb. 27 (I have it in my notes so I can hopefully review beforehand) release of their new album, V. The night of the release, the band will be in Deventer, in the Netherlands, playing a Heavy Psych Sounds Fest followed by another the next night in Bruxelles, which is how it goes. The tour starts in Berlin at the famed Neue Zukunft, and they’ll spend a good amount of time in France as well on this run, which I suspect won’t be the last they undertake in promotion of the album.
Summer fests? Maybe. If you’ll recall, in addition to these dates, the band are booked for the Obelisk co-presented Jam in the Psych Castle (info here) in Hungary in September, so that at least would speak to an active Fall involving some measure of travel and gigging. I obviously have no knowledge beyond what’s been announced (and even that I’m spotty at best), but if you don’t live somewhere on this routing, I wouldn’t get upset, is all I’m saying. I think you’ll get a chance.
From socials and the PR wire:
Thanks to our friends at HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS, we’re thrilled to announce the upcoming tour! We’d be more than happy to meet you all! See you very soon 🖤
*** WEEDPECKER – European Tour 2026 *** 25.02 DE Berlin – Neue Zukunft 26.02 DE Oldenburg – MTS 27.02 NL Deventer – HPS Fest 28.02 BE Bruxelles – HPS Fest 01.03 ***OPEN SLOT*** 03.03 FR Lille – La Bulle Café 04.03 FR Paris – Le Chinois 05.03 FR Nantes – Cold Crash 06.03 FR Lorient – Pit Dog 07.03 FR Arthez de Béarn – Le Pingouin Alternatif 08.03 FR Clermont-Ferrand – La Raymonde 09.03 FR Chambery – Brin De Zinc 10.03 ***OPEN SLOT*** 11.03 SK Bratislava – Pink Whale
BIOGRAPHY
One of Poland’s pioneering bands in the realm of psychedelic stoner rock, they’ve already released four albums and are now entering their fifth transformation to unveil a brand new creation. Constantly in search of new sensations and flavors, the band relentlessly chases the green dragon, never looking back.
Weedpecker: Piotr Dobry – Guitars / Vocals / Synths Zbigniew Promiński – Drums Piotr Kuks – Bass Piotr Sadza – Synths Tomasz Walczak – Synths
Jam in the Psych Castle won’t be the first music festival hosted at the Öreg Tölgy Kastély-Fogadó, an estate-turned-event-space in Pusztazámor, Hungary. Earlier this year, the grounds hosted a punk and hardcore barbecue that went on for two days, so yes, don’t break a window because the place has weddings in — don’t break a window anyway; don’t be a dick — but there is experience on-site for running sound, lights, and all that other festival-type stuff. The partnership between Para Hobo and Psychedelic Source Records — which will also host a jam session the second day — has put together a lineup that runs a gamut through European heavy psych, with Speck and Obsidian Sea, MR.BISON, the proggy Daliborovo Granje and Poland’s Weedpecker in the headlining spot. By next September, they’ll likely have spent much of 2026 on the road for their impending album, V, due in February.
I’ll make no bones about my interest in Hungary. I’m of Hungarian origin and have been taking language lessons with an eye toward acquiring citizenship through my ancestry. My family and I spent four weeks in Budapest last year and I’ve been trying to figure out how to get back since. I’m proud to have The Obelisk’s logo (especially the metal one!) in good company on the poster above, and while I doubt I’ll be there to see it next year, I hope to be able to watch Jam in the Psych Castle grow in the years to come, as well as to be a part of it physically eventually.
Please keep in mind that this is a small gathering at a very special venue. Our capacity is limited to only 500 people per day. You should buy your ticket as soon as possible if you want to participate!
Shows: Weedpecker / POL Daliborovo Granje / HR Karkara / FR The Qualitons / HUN (special set) Mr. Bison / IT Roadkillsoda / RO Giöbia / IT Speck / AT Supernaughty / IT Obsidian Sea / BG Da Captain Trips / IT Psychedelic Source Records / HUN (with special guests) Band in the Pit / HUN Endre / HUN Azutmaga / HUN Alas! / HUN Deley / HUN (Sound System special)
Polish progressive heavy psychedelic rockers Weedpecker will release their fifth full-length, called simply V, on Feb. 27, 2026, as their first offering through Heavy Psych Sounds. For those who’ve followed the band’s creative growth across their up-till-now four LPs — the latest of them, IV: The Stream of Forgotten Thoughts (review here), came out in 2021 — the realizations contained in the six songs/40 minutes of the new album will feel like reasonable extrapolations, but I’m not sure Weedpecker have ever been as lush or as purposefully directed as they feel in “Fading Whispers” below.
The post-intro lead cut on Weedpecker‘s V makes a hell of a first single, topping 11 minutes as it does, but Weedpecker have no reason to be cagey about what they’re doing at this point — they know they can hold a listener for that long, and they do it by making the shifting movements immersive and multifaceted. Keys and guitar blend together to create a sprawl that the quieter opening only hints toward, and by the time they’re blowing out the fuzzy chug 10 minutes later in the track’s vital crescendo, they’ve undertaken a journey worthy of prefacing the rest of the record that follows.
And I’ll hope to have a review of that record — “Ash” could be another single; or “Mirrors,” which hits hardest of the bunch on first blush — sometime between now and February, but for today, enjoy “Fading Whispers” on the player below and the album info from the PR wire:
Weedpecker, “Fading Whispers” premiere
Piotr Dobry on V:
“I started writing the songs for V at the beginning of 2023, and the demos were finished by the end of that year. While creating this material, I kept returning to one thought: everything we take for granted — everything that feels stable and permanent — is, in reality, incredibly fragile. Nothing lasts forever, and the sense of things slipping away can hit much sooner than we expect. I tried to translate those feelings into sound. At that time, a lot of difficult things were happening in my life, things I didn’t know how to cope with. Music became a form of therapy — a way to process emotions I couldn’t express in any other way.
“In early 2024, we began working through the songs together as a full band. After finalizing the arrangements, we spent the rest of the year recording them. The process stretched over many months, split into several sessions across different studios. I didn’t want to rush anything. I wanted, as always, to refine every detail the best we possibly could. Soon you’ll be able to hear the result for yourselves. For me, this album is something deeply personal. It’s an act of opening up to anyone who chooses to listen — a glimpse into things I can’t fully describe with words, into what I felt and who I became during that period. I’m incredibly happy that together with my friends from the band, we’ve created another record. What comes next… time will tell.”
Tracklisting: 1. Intro 2. Fading Whispers 3. Ash 4. In the Dark We Shine 5. Mirrors 6. The Last Summer of Youth
Additional guitars: Bartłomiej Dobry Drums recorded at: Sound of Records Studio by Mikołaj Kiciak Guitars & bass recorded at: Wieloślad Studio by Bartłomiej Dobry & Haldor Gruenberg Vocals & synths recorded at: our rehearsal space Mix & Master: Haldor Gruenberg (Satanic Audio) Artwork: Maciej Kamuda All songs composed by Piotr Dobry
Weedpecker: Piotr Dobry – Guitars / Vocals / Synths Zbigniew Promiński – Drums Piotr Kuks – Bass Piotr Sadza – Synths Tomasz Walczak – Synths
Posted in Whathaveyou on September 4th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
If this initial announcement of Weedpecker signing to Heavy Psych Sounds is beginning the label’s usual promo cycle, it should be next week that we begin to get details — maybe even audio, although usually there’s a date dropped in the first announcement for when the next announcement will be — from the Polish heavy psych-prog forerunners’ awaited fifth album, which last I heard was just called V. ‘Stoked’ would be putting it mildly. Four years after 2021’s IV: The Stream of Forgotten Thoughts (review here), the band would seem to have taken the time to allow themselves to grow and to let their songs flourish and breathe, or at very least that’s my hope since their records have become such worlds unto themselves.
The Italy-based label will also reissue the band’s second album, II (review here), which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, and will have them on the road in 2016 in Europe. Having gotten to see them that one time at SonicBlast in 2023 (review here), I’ll tell you sincerely that if the opportunity presents itself, that’s the way you want to go.
More to come, but for today, good news and a start to the process from the PR wire:
Heavy Psych Sounds Records to announce Polish psychedelic stoner rock band WEEDPECKER signing for a BRAND NEW RECORD!!!
We’re really stoked to announce that the Polish psychedelic stoner rock riffers WEEDPECKER are now part of the Heavy Psych Sounds Family.
HPS will release their 5th brand new album very soon + repress their sophomore release “II” and book an European tour in 2026 !!
SAYS THE BAND:
„We’re excited to announce that Weedpecker is joining the Heavy Psych Sounds family. It feels great to team up with a label that shares our vision, and we can’t wait to share the next chapter of our journey with you all.“
BIOGRAPHY One of Poland’s pioneering bands in the realm of psychedelic stoner rock, they’ve already released four albums and are now entering their fifth transformation to unveil a brand new creation. Constantly in search of new sensations and flavors, the band relentlessly chases the green dragon, never looking back.
WEEDPECKER is: Piotr Dobry Piotr Sadza Piotr Kuks Zbigniew Promiński Tomasz Walczak
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 6th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
Over the last several weeks, the inaugural Desertfest Oslo has piece-by-piece announced the remainder of the lineup for May 10 and 11, and the list is substantial. Wolves in the Throne Room, Weedpecker, Kadabra, Steak, Crippled Black Phoenix, Earth Tongue, Apostle of Solitude, Orsak:Oslo, Margarita Witch Cult, REZN, Bongzilla and Slomosa joined the bill one at a time, broadening the scope exponentially in terms of style from searing black metal thrust to sad post-goth to stoner rock of progressive and willfully unprogressive strains and outright ambience, older and newer bands, and geographical range. It’s kind of stunning how commonplace this standard has become for the Desertfest brand over the last decade-plus.
Tickets for each day are also on sale now — in case, what you want to see Acid King and not REZN? it’s okay, I’m not judging; I know people have lives and things to do — but it’s pretty clear looking at the full roster of who’ll play that Desertfest Oslo 2024 is all-in on the thing. And with Kadavar, Monolord, Crippled Black Phoenix and Eyehategod headlining, they’ll rely on a multifaceted draw from the top down through the entire lineup. This feels both like a festival brand reaching into new territory and new collaborations — which it is, absolutely — and a righteous start to what could become a staple of the Spring touring circuit. Do I really need to go on about Norway’s underground boom? Probably not when a hand-picked selection of those responsible are present below to remind you.
Bottom line here is I look forward to seeing how this unfolds even from a distance, but whatever Desertfest Oslo does in the longer term, this is a monster. Behold:
Finally the day splits are here!
As well as day splits we’ve also made single day tickets available from february 29th.
Friday: KADAVAR Monolord Wolves In The Throne Room Acid King Slomosa Weedpecker Håndgemeng Orsak:Oslo Kadabra Earth Tongue Bismarck Karavan Superlynx
Saturday: CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX Brant Bjork EYEHATEGOD REZN The Devil And The Almighty Blues Bongzilla Full Earth Margarita Witch Cult Steak Agabas Saint Karloff Apostle of Solitude Suncraft
Posted in Features, Reviews on August 12th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
08.11.23 – Fri. – Press trailer
Before show
Hot one in Âncora today. I walked over via the beach, crossing from one boardwalk to the other on the sand instead of going by the river as I did yesterday. No regrets. Waves crashing in, a humid haze in the air reminding of home, summer, that feeling where you want to swim instead of walk. Swimming sounds pretty good, actually. I may have to settle for soaking myself in one of the sinks I’ve been using to refill my water bottle.
Rolled in like I knew where I was going. Day one down, I’m an expert now. Ha. I ran into the Temple Fang dudes and Jack from Elder, saw Weedpecker setting up to open the day on the third stage, said a quick hi to Ricardo. It’s that kind of thing. See people, say hi, and then I usually feel that pull to go sit by myself somewhere and write. The press shack is air conditioned. It is a mercy. Actually cooler here than in New Jersey, where I live, but I’ve got more resources at home to stay cool, and I’m not running back and forth all day taking pictures and writing. Not usually, anyhow. Sometimes we all have those days.
Got to bed a little after three, woke up at 9AM, showered first, coffee second. Sorted pictures to go with the review of day one, which considering how much I saw took some time, quick check-in with the family — everybody’s fine; they said don’t come home (no, not really) — and had an hour left over to sneak in a nap before getting heading over here from the crash spot.
By the course of my history with festivals today will be the hardest day. Tired from a late night last night with the prospect of another full day tomorrow, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. I’m doing a lot of slow breathing. Too bad I haven’t run into anyone running an impromptu yoga class. Maybe I’ll start one later if I have 10 minutes to spare and am feeling like making a spectacle of myself, which is how you know it won’t happen.
A lot of water, coffee until I get the jitters, which I’m approaching with the usual lack of caution like I’m trying to burn a hole in my stomach, and food somehow some way. The latter is my only real goal today beyond survival. And a big part of that, I suppose. It’s gonna be a good one. You can see the lineup above. I don’t need to tell you.
I don’t know if you’ve been keeping up or what — that review of day one was a beast; I don’t imagine anyone reading it front to back, and if they do, I’m sorry about the typos; more to come! — but what a time this is, and what a place. Maybe I’ll be invited back and maybe not — not sure what I add except jamming the backstage espresso maker — but if this is actually a once-in-a-lifetime experience, I’m lucky it’s my life it’s happening in.
Conan, Clutch and Stoned Jesus over the P.A. Thinking of you, Igor, and the war on the other side of this continent. Stay safe.
Here’s the day:
Weedpecker
Clearly SonicBlast knows how to pick its leadoff acts. The fest is three-for-three with Plastic Woods, Desert’Smoke and now Weedpecker coming all the way from Poland. Stratospheric in lush and proggy three-part harmonies at the start, a calming entry to the day that will unfold in its wake, and solidified from there around a few more terrestrial riffs and big finishes. Immediate vibe, well received. The growth this band has undertaken throughout the last 10-plus years shouldn’t be discounted, and if I was going to see them at any point, I’m glad to do so after their late-late 2021 album, IV: The Stream of Forgotten Thoughts (review here), which as you might expect is the pinnacle of their evolution to-date. But the thing about the trajectory they’ve had that I want necessarily expecting was how fluidly their heavier rock stuff fit with the ’70s melodies and the echo in the guitar that it’s hard to imagine can’t be heard in Spain from here. Not a band I expected to see, but they packed the third stage like it was much later in the day and closed with “Nothingness” from their second LP, II (review here) with one more engaging mellow-heavy flow that I watched from a little spot on a bench in the shade. That was pretty much perfect.
—
Monarch
Heavy, progressive, and not laid back but not forced in its push, Monarch were more rooted in original-era heavy than Weedpecker just prior, but on a different wavelength. Big early ’70s vibes, but modernized, and they’ve been through a few lineup changes, but if there were hiccups, I didn’t hear them, and I watched the full set while writing, which I also take as a sign of genuinely enjoying a thing as well as appreciating where it’s coming from. I’d love a new record from these guys, after 2019’s Beyond the Blue Sky (review here) — issued through no less than Causa Sui’s label, El Paraiso Records — and I have to feel like if Mondo Drag can do it, so can they. Keyboards complementing a bassline that had the earplugs vibrating in my head, they were remarkably well suited to the atmosphere here, with the beach over that way, sometimes languid but not lazy, melodic and drifty but filled out with a heft and the keyboards that make them even more their own thing. SoCal and Portugal seem to mesh well. Sun and breeze, beach and the ocean. Complementary West Coast vibes. Hey man, it doesn’t even snow anymore where I live. I can get down.
—
Naxatras
Speaking of bands I never thought I’d see who’ve made strikingly proggy turns, here come Naxatras heralding 2022’s modus redirect, IV (review here). The Greek outfit made an impact in Europe almost from their very beginning, or so it seemed to me across an ocean, and the chemistry of their jammier early work provides an easy explanation why. They mixed instrumentals and vocalized pieces, and were serene in a manner that was their own, creating the space while also inhabiting it. Like I said, this is my first time watching them play, so I can’t speak to how the presence of the keyboard on stage has affected their live show one way or the other, but they were hypnotic, and I found myself standing out front in the crowd for a few minutes, near the sound booth, just kind of drinking it in, because that’s what Naxatras’ music does to me. Those times when you feel like your blood is moving too fast — that’s what they’re there for, to put you back in a place that feels less combustible. It wasn’t a surprise that their sound was so gracefully enveloping, but it was a pleasure to experience in-person, and their subdued space ambience and subtle push of bass were more than I might reasonably have asked for. Bonus extra trippy, lightly funked, smoothly grooved.
—
Temple Fang
You never quite know what’s coming with Temple Fang, and they seem to like it that way. They’ve replaced their drummer I think since I saw them at Freak Valley last year (review here), and the single-song set they played there was put together as a last-minute change from their original plan that worked so well they ended up releasing it as a live record (review here). The kind of band who don’t think twice about playing a full show comprised solely of new material, and a treasure for that as well as for the soul they bring to their expansive heavy psychedelia. They opened with “Gemini” and set themselves on a course of ultra-patient ebbs and flows, proffering the kind of cosmic rock that reminds you that the universe is so big human brains lack the capacity to fathom it. Guitarist/vocalist Jevin de Groot and bassist/vocalist Dennis Duijnhouwer have a creative partnership that goes back more than a decade, and Temple Fang is more its own thing with time. I couldn’t find a shady spot anywhere, so meandered a bit, digging the jam as it unfolded. Whatever these guys do next — live-recorded studio LP with a solidified lineup? — just count me in already. Their songs build worlds. Vast, heavy, soulful, spontaneous, immersive, always with the chance of a freakout looming. They’ve got a thing, to be sure, but the thing is everything.
—
Greenleaf
Fuuuuuuuuck. Greeeeeeeeenleaf. They light fires, fortunately not literally, with the sheer physicality of their delivery. And I’m dying to hear what they do after 2021’s Echoes From a Mass (review here), since the longer they proceed with the current lineup of founding guitarist Tommi Holappa (also Dozer), vocalist Arvid Hällagård, bassist Hans Frölich (“everybody say hi to Hans, it’s his first time here”) and drummer Sebastian Olsson becomes more established with each passing LP and subsequent touring cycle, the latest album rife with emotive heavy blues that was neither culturally appropriated from Black American culture nor masculine caricature. As someone who’s heard a decent amount of heavy blues, this is a feat to be appreciated. They played “Bury Me My Son,” which made me feel ways, and hard-boogied from there into the stomp of “Good Ol’ Goat” followed by “Needle in My Eye,” also from the latest record and one I had kind of forgotten about. “Bound to Be Machines” from 2014’s Trails and Passes (review here), ignited a sing-along, and they jammed on it a bit, emphasizing how very badly they need to put out a live record. I stood up front for their whole set, planted my feet and ignored my aging back (I tried to write ‘aching’ there, but my phone autocorrected, and really, that’s more honest, so I’m leaving it) as they built up the start of “Tides” — Arvid noting that he’s an astronaut in the video; dude’s between-song banter was on point in a sarcasm that might’ve been too dry for some of the crowd but was twice as hilarious for that — playing that song through like the condensed epic it is and then pushing right into the finale, which was “Let it Out” from 2018’s Hear the Rivers (review here). I’d been trying not to get my hopes up for a new song in the set. That didn’t happen, but if you think I’m sad about it, you severely underestimate how much of a dork I am for this band. Hands in the air, the day’s first crowd surfer that I saw — hold onto that phone, guy — and the convincing shove from the band that made it all happen. Great fucking band.
—
Mondo Generator
I haven’t heard their new record yet — it’s out in Oct. 13 and called We Stand Against You — but they played some stuff from it, and it sure does have that brain-collapsing punk-born intensity one should expect from the Nick Oliveri-fronted three-piece, with Mike Pygmie on guitar and Mike Amster (who wore a Saint Vitus Bar shirt) drumming. I saw them last summer, so knew to expect selections from the Oliveri back catalog — “13th Floor” by Queens of the Stone Age, Kyuss’ “Green Machine,” and so on — and there’s little debating he’s contributed to, not just played on, some of the most crucial heavy albums of all-time. More than two, which is not something a lot of people can say. I paused to grab a quick bite to eat — meat and cheese as I’m in survival mode and they didn’t have any spinach or other salad stuff that I saw — and to do battle once more with one of the backstage coffee makers, which I’ve now jammed twice. Because incompetence. So Oliveri, Pygmie and Amster are on stage tearing whatever track from the new record a second (or first, as it were) asshole, and I’m trying to pick which button to push and trying not to be in the way, not really successful at either. By the time that coffee was gone, I realized just how much my ears were ringing despite the plugs, so clearly SonicBlast meets whatever ‘loud enough’ quota you’ve got. “Allen’s Wrench” led into Queens’ “Millionaire,” and that was it. Where the hell would you go after that anyway?
—
Bombino
Led by the group’s namesake, Nigerian guitarist and songwriter Omara “Bombino” Moctar, they might not have been the first Tuareg jammers on the SonicBlast bill this year, but they were perhaps even more danceable, and the crowd was ready for it. Onstage as a three-piece, guitar, bass, drums, they took that nothing-too-fancy approach and unfurled sweet desert grooves without a care in the world for what heavy means or to whom. But coming through the SonicBlast P.A., the bass couldn’t help but add weight, smooth as those lines were, and when Moctar took a solo, well, you knew it. He’s had Hendrix comparisons, which is a very nice thing to say about somebody who plays guitar, and I guess in some of the held-out solo notes and brash sweeps it’s there, but the namedrop isn’t really adequate to describe what Bombino does or how it relates to the musical and political history of Niger and the rock and roll therefrom, never mind the West African roots of rock music more broadly, or reggae, jazz, blues, etc. Bombino put out a record earlier this year called Nomad that was produced by Dan Auerbach from The Black Keys, so I guess that’s something. He could shred or bounce or vibe out make the guitar run in dizzying circles, sometimes in succession, and was clearly a master of his craft. There was one sing-along early in the set that didn’t take I think mostly because of the language barrier, but they did try it twice, and they got a better result the second time, as well as again later on. I think maybe I missed it happening, but when they were done it was nighttime.
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Scowl
A few firsts here. First Negative Approach hat I’ve seen. First cover of “99 Red Ballons.” First bit of onstage skanking. Second blacklight-responsive hair, as it happens. Scowl, from Santa Cruz, California, did OFF! proud in terms of hardcore punk, but would occasionally break into cleaner, more rock-based parts too, making them unpredictable as well as sonically volatile. I won’t pretend to be familiar, but they’ve got one record that came out before the end of the world and they accomplished the energy-change that the punkier side of SonicBlast has pulled off a couple times in the last two days, and vocalist Kat Moss shouted out Bombino from stage, which was cool, but from the noise assault before they even started, it was clear that Scowl’s would be an entirely different kind of dance party. A very fast, very angry, stomping and gnashing song was dedicated to those who feel like they don’t fit in, so while I didn’t come into their set knowing much about them, I got to learn a bit, including that stuff about their album, the singer’s name, and that they seem like nice kids who mean well. Go get ’em, you wholesome hardcore slaughterers.
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Thurston Moore Group
I saw Sonic Youth I’m pretty sure on the Sonic Nurse tour, and duh, they were Sonic Youth. And when it comes to Thurston Moore solo, I still have my Psychic Hearts CD from 1995 or whenever it was, and so yeah, I’m down for Thurston Moore Group’s lightly noisy, floating cosmic shoegaze exploding into blastbeats from its otherwise peaceful beginnings in “Hashish” from his 2020 album By the Fire and the subsequent “Hypno Brain.” I’m not sure what else one might expect. Between the two guitars, bass and keys, that assault was significant, but “Siren,” the 12-minute By the Fire track from whence that blast comes, has a sweet comedown on the other side of that, a subdued indie sway no more afraid to be pretty than caustic. Feedback and noise rang out as it started misting, and Moore and company dropped hints of space rock and psych fuzz along with all that ready scorch, and it seemed like by that point the band was warmed up, drumstick at the ready for guitar manipulation shenanigans that helped make Moore the kind of figure who might headline a festival like this, creating a kind of wave of noise and riding its crest to see where they might end up. The answer there os more noise, and that’s just fine. They were in and out of it for the duration, and the mist held too, never really becoming rain, thankfully, but ambient droplets on the breeze were refreshing as evening became night and the Thurston Moore Group wrapped with one more dive into noise and feedback, no less at home there than the verse they left behind. Fun moment: when I was getting food in back, I went to sit down at a table outside the trailer where you get the food and when I asked, “mind if I sit here?,” I looked up and sure enough, Thurston Moore Group band meal. I can’t confirm or deny, but the words “ah shit you’re Thurston Moore” may have left my mouth.
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Frankie and the Witch Fingers
Okay, so it turns out that the bassist of L.A.’s Frankie and the Witch Fingers, Nikki Pickle, was sitting in last night with Death Valley Girls, whose singer was stuck in California, and of whom she is a former member. Learning new things every day here. With guitarist/vocalists — Josh Menashe and Dylan Sizemore — flanking either side of the stage and an urgency born of mathier punk but which is most definitely not that thing, Frankie and the Witch Fingers translated some of the intensity of the hardcore acts who’ve played this far into a heavy rock context. They had some keyboard going, the occasional slowdown into a funkier groove, and they were loved by the SonicBlast crowd (it’s not their first time here), but by and large their trade was forward thrust, and while it may have appeared otherwise, they weren’t screwing around. I’ve had no fewer than eight espressos today. The one I had after dinner could’ve been nine. At their fastest, in the frenetic first part of their set, I felt like maybe that wasn’t enough. So I grabbed another and went back out front. By then the mist was becoming genuine rain. Less convenient. Frankie and the Witch Fingers shuffled back into speedier fare and I started thinking about my camera getting wet, or my phone, even, which I’ve been writing on all weekend. Might end up leaving earlier than planned, which, since it’s 12:30, is still not actually all that early, at least for me. Portugal goes late. Rock and roll. I still got to see Frankie and the Witch Fingers close with a cover of “Now I Wanna Be Your Dog,” which was fun and made sense in a mathematically extracted way.
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Elder
This is the first time I’m seeing them since they put out Innate Passage (review here) late last year, so it was a particular joy when they followed “Compendium” from 2015’s Lore (review here) with “Merged in Dreams/Ne Plus Ultra” from the new album. The space in front of both stages was full, and even though it was raining, it didn’t look like folks were in a hurry to seek shelter. Thousands of people. Jack doing backing vocals with Nick on the new stuff, Mike swapping guitar for keys, then back, that kind of groove that so much of progressive heavy has tried to emulate in the last 10 years or so but that no one’s gotten quite right or at least not at the level Elder to it. Maybe the rain lightened up. Maybe it didn’t, but standing there watching perhaps the foremost heavy band of their generation still exploring after 15 years and continuing to outdo themselves; it wasn’t the kind of thing you easily walk away from. Or walk away at all. They are exceptional. Another level. And then another. And another. And everything they do has heart, sincerity and a sense of evolution from where they’ve been in the past. It was humbling to witness. This is the biggest crowd I’ve seen them play for, and there’s not a doubt in my mind they can still push further, grow broader in sound, keep chasing whatever ideal version of their approach they’re after. At least I hope they do. I don’t have enough hyperbole for it. Closing out as they will with “Gemini,” it’s like they were up there inventing colors.
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After show/next morning
I had already apologized to one of the dudes from Acid Mammoth for not seeing his set, and I’ll extend those apologies to Black Bombaim, who at least I’ve seen before. I guess next time I’m buying a camera bag it’ll be made of rubber? I don’t know. I felt bad leaving, but it was coming on 2AM and I had no trouble hearing Black Bombaim jam from my room, so at least there was that. Sounded cool from a distance.
For what I expected to be a rough day — the middle of three days is always a little adrenaline comedown as compared to the first or last — it wasn’t. I put my head down, worked, and pushed ahead, which is what you do. I was haggard by the end, but a video chat with The Patient Mrs., some sleep, a shower, some more coffee and almond butter for breakfast and I feel like a new person… who’s spent 24 of the last 48 hours having his ears blown out by the coast in Portugal. Sometimes it’s weird to realize these things.
One more day to go, and it’s a big one, as I might be prone to say about Jupiter or this or that blue supergiant star (the scale of those being completely different, both are nonetheless unfathomably huge). I’ll be ready. Thank you for reading.
Posted in Radio on February 17th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
I was sitting on the couch earlier this week, in the usual spot, putting this playlist together and, knowing that I wanted to start with the title-track of the new Mansion album — something about Alma crooning that second death is upon you felt just right — I was immediately stuck. How on earth do you follow that? I was glad that I remembered Samán and could use them to transition to a kind of riffier take, but yeah, in terms of vibe, the severity of that Mansion record is a tough one to answer immediately with something else. Where do you go from there beyond an actual dungeon?
This show kind of divides in half. The first hour is new music. The second hour is a look at some Polish heavy, which if you’ve been paying attention to the last few Friday Full-Lengths (including today’s, which isn’t posted yet), you know has been on my mind. Dopelord, Major Kong, Belzebong, Sunnata and Weedpecker represent Poland well, I thought — Spaceslug are the obvious name left out, but I’m keeping them in reserve for later — and after that I wanted to close with SubRosa just because “Black Majesty” is long, brilliant, not a jam, and something that was in my head. It’s been an up and down couple of weeks, I guess, as regards general well-being.
If you’re unfamiliar, keep an ear out for Moodoom early, plus the tracks from The Machine, Swan Valley Heights, Stoned Jesus and Troll Teeth. The 1782 track isn’t my favorite off their new record — anything about lady-demons is kind of a turnoff for me at this point — but the band is cool and that’s the single from the album, so I wasn’t about to be a jerk and pick something else. And if you didn’t hear the L’Ira del Baccano earlier this week when it premiered, that’s time well spent in instrumental immersion, and makes a great leadoff for that extended block of tunes, I think.
As always, I hope you enjoy the show if you listen. Thanks for reading.
The Obelisk Show airs 5PM Eastern today on the Gimme app or at: http://gimmemetal.com.
Full playlist:
The Obelisk Show – 02.17.23 (VT = voice track)
Mansion
Second Death
Second Death
Samán
A las puertas
II. Montaña Roja
1782
Succubus
Clamor Luciferi
Moodoom
Las maravillas de estar loco
Desde el Bosque
VT
L’Ira del Baccano
The Strange Dream of My Old Sun
Cosmic Evoked Potentials
The Machine
Reversion
Wave Cannon
Swan Valley Heights
The Hunger
Terminal Forest
Stoned Jesus
Get What You Deserve
Father Light
Troll Teeth
Garden of Pillars
Underground Vol. 1
Dopelord
Doom Bastards
Sign of the Devil (2020)
Major Kong
Fading Memory of the Planet Earth
Off the Scale (2020)
Belzebong
Roached Earth
Light the Dankness (2018)
Sunnata
A Million Lives
Burning in Heaven, Melting on Earth (2021)
Weedpecker
Big Brain Monsters
IV: The Stream of Forgotten Thoughts (2021)
VT
SubRosa
Black Majesty
For This We Fought the Battle of Ages (2016)
The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal airs every Friday 5PM Eastern, with replays Sunday at 7PM Eastern. Next new episode is March 3 (subject to change). Thanks for listening if you do.
