Posted in Whathaveyou on April 25th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
A year ago this week, Tennessee doom rockers WyndRider brought forth Revival (review here), their second album. They spent a decent amount of last summer supporting the record, which like their 2023 self-titled debut (review here), was roundly well received. Their plans then also included a stop at Maryland Doom Fest, and to the hallowed streets of Frederick the four-piece will return this June, doing so as part of a tour that also takes them north into Canada for a slot at the Rhüne Mountain Festival, which they’ll play on the Thursday with Indian Handcrafts, Sun Below and a slew of others.
The run officially starts June 15, but that’s a few days ahead of Maryland Doom Fest on the 19th, it picks up from there with eight shows in 10 days and probably a decent amount of travel going from Connecticut to Montreal and Ontario to Michigan on the ‘days off.’ Hopefully those days are spent doing more than waiting for the show the next day. But I’m pretty sure WyndRider get stoned, so if it’s sitting and looking at water for a few hours in the Great Lakes sunshine, I somehow think they’d manage to get through it.
Their announcement of the tour was straightforward enough: just the dates and poster. I’ve got those below, as well as the stream of Revival in case you’d like a reminder what you’re in for, but this band has done well in spreading the word about what they do and what they’re into on socials, so I’m sure you’ve already seen these days, marked your calendar for whatever/wherever and moved on. Good on you for that.
Numbers and towns:
WyndRider USA/CAD 2025 6/15 Knoxville, TN 6/19 Maryland Doom Fest, MD 6/20 Brooklyn, NY 6/21 Hamden, CT 6/23 Montreal, QC 6/25 Toronto, ON 6/26 Rhune Mountain Fest, ON 6/28 Melvindale, MI 6/29 Cincinnati, OH
Posted in Whathaveyou on February 20th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
Right on, second edition of Rhüne Mountain Festival. The Ontario-based festival — a mere six and a half hours by car from my home; yes, I looked — has made its second or third or 14th lineup announcement what are numbers anyway who knows how they work?, and brought with it affirmation of a good and heavy time. Ian Blurton’s Future Now, Gozu, WyndRider and Biblical feature in the new round of adds, but they’re already joined by Dopethrone, Sons of Arrakis, Greece’s Acid Mammoth, Sons of Otis, Ecstatic Vision and others, making the whole so-far lineup for the three-day event something of a monster with more apparently to come. Anytime Sons of Otis do just about anything, anywhere, it’s worth hoping someone gets video. Canadia’s ultrastoner pioneers remain undersung in my mind, and the more humans they flatten in-person the better to rectify that.
That’s not to dicsount Indian Handcrafts, Doomboyz or R.I.P. and The Death Wheelers — labelmates who, if they’re touring together, would make for the most attitude-soaked one-two punch of your show-going year — as there’s certainly more than one angle in terms of appeal. I’ll do my best to keep an eye for the next round of ads, but I’d been seeing the poster around and that’s a logo that’s gonna catch your eye, so when it came down the PR wire, well, you know the rest.
Poster rules, by the way:
Rhüne Mountain Festival Announces Next Wave Of Bands
With only a few short months to go until launch, Rhüne Mountain Festival has today unveiled the next wave of bands confirmed to play the festival. In addition to the already-announced artists, today the festival confirms that R.I.P., DOOMBOYZ, GOZU, IAN BLURTON’S FUTURE NOW, BIBLICAL AND WYNDRIDER will all perform.
Set to take place on June 26-28th in Dunnville Ontario, Rhüne Mountain Festival is set to become the premiere destination for the doom/stoner rock scene in North America.
The line-up so far is: DOPETHRONE SONS OF ARRAKIS INDIAN HANDCRAFTS ECSTATIC VISION ACID MAMMOTH THE DEATH WHEELERS SONS OF OTIS R.I.P. DOOMBOYZ GOZU IAN BLURTON’S FUTURE NOW BIBLICAL WYNDRIDER.
Posted in Whathaveyou on October 31st, 2024 by JJ Koczan
As per Halloween tradition, the venerable Maryland Doom Fest has posted its as-of-now-complete lineup for next year’s edition, and MDDF 2025 looks like a rager. Set to unfold its massive billing across June 19-22 in the riffy epicenter of Frederick, Maryland, the fest will highlight newcomers and established acts alike, as veteran outfits like The Skull and Apostle of Solitude, Hollow Leg, Curse the Son, and others make returning appearances and new incarnations like Legions of Doom, Ages and High Noon Kahuna feature familiar players in new contexts. Always cool to see bands like Thunderbird Divine and Spiral Grave doing the thing, and I’ll admit that my eyebrows went up when I saw Virginia’s Lord would be playing, as I’d yet to encounter word of a reunion from that most chaotic of sludge metal outfits. Sonolith and Demons My Friends and Sons of Arrakis and plenty of others will be traveling for it — Ogre! — so I would expect some tours to be forthcoming, and Sun Years, whose Nov. tour begins — wait for it — tomorrow, will feature.
It’s a family reunion you probably already have on your calendar, so don’t let me keep you from perusing the poster and getting stoked on what you find. From Crystal Spiders to B&O Railroad, there’s both a lot here and a lot here to like, and always more waiting to be discovered by those bold enough to show up to Cafe 611 early in the day. Check it out:
MARYLAND DOOM FEST 2025 – June 19-22, Frederick, MD
WE JOURNEY FROM THE HEAVY UNDERGROUND AND STAGES ACROSS THE WORLD TO ASSEMBLE IN FREDERICK, MARYLAND, FOR A JOYOUS CELEBRATION OF DOOM, GROOVE, AND THE ALMIGHTY RIFF.
JOIN US.
After such a magnificent 10th anniversary celebration of #4daysofdoom in 2024, which involved reorganizing and coordinating two stages in one venue (Cafe 611), we are beyond stoked to share The Maryland Doom Fest 2025 roster and marvelous promotional artwork.
The art design was created by one of our Maryland natives in the local music scene—Ben Proudman, the Frederick, MD-based master artist at Key City Tattoo (IG: @tattoosbyprdmn). Ben is also the drummer for the powerful bands Thonian Horde and Foehammer. Our very own Bill Kole (IG: @BillyDiablo) handled the color design and layouts again this year. He majestically brought this piece to life!
Explore the heavy musical talent of these bands and performers and be prepared for the nonstop riffage party in June! Talent beyond words!!! We can’t wait for our doom community to congregate next summer!!!
Time slots, ticket sales, stage rosters, sponsors, and vendors will be presented by year’s end. — 💀DooM💀
THE SKULL + PSYCHOTIC REACTION + APOSTLE OF SOLITUDE + LEGIONS OF DOOM + COMPRESSION + CRYSTAL SPIDERS + HIGH NOON KAHUNA + RED BEARD WALL + WITCHPIT + STRANGE HIGHWAYS + AGES + SUNYEARS + HOLLOW LEG
FUTURE PROJEKTOR + ALL YOUR SINS + SONOLITH + SPIRAL GRAVE + LORD + SABBATH WARLOCK + GALLOWGLAS + SONS OF ARRAKIS + CROP + HOVEL + OGRE + DREADSTAR + THUNDERBIRD DIVINE + WYNDRIDER + SUN MANTRA + KULVERA + STYGIAN CROWN + CURSE THE SON + BENTHIC REALM + HOLY ROLLER
BLOODSHOT + DUST PROPHET + VANISHING KIDS + BLOOD AND EARTH + FIGHT THE FOLD + DAYTRIPPER + B&O RAILROAD + BAILJACK + COKUS + NEW DAWNS FADE + COMA HOLE + FLORIST + ABEL BLOOD + SEASICK GLADIATOR + ENTIERRO + HEX ENGINE + DEMONS MY FRIENDS + ABOMINOG + VRSA + HIGH HORSE CALVARY
Posted in Reviews on August 14th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
Stoned East Coast heavy blues and doom pervade the second full-length, Revival, from Tennesseean four-piece WyndRider, who know of what they riff. Fronted by the foreboding but soulful melodies of Chloe Gould, with Robbie Willis on guitar, Joshuwah Herald on bass and Josh Brock on drums — the latter making his first appearance with the band in an all-Josh rhythm section — the band make a turnaround from their 2023 self-titled debut (review here) that feels almost deceptively quick considering the crawling tempo of “Remember the Sabbath” at the start of side B or the finale “The Wheel” just one song later, but there is growth and self-awareness underlying their sound as they present it on this seven-song/43-minute collection, which was recorded, mixed and mastered by Danielle Fehr of The Wizard Productions, even as it continues the first album’s thread of stoner-doom-speaking-to-stoner-doom and revels in various genre tropes around horror cinema, “Motorcycle Witches,” and religious dogma, and so on.
With four tracks on its first half and three on its second, one might be tempted to think of Revival as a mullet structure — business up front and party in the back — but really it’s just all the party, and the party is doom. The blend of jangly strum and wholly-fuzzed riffing with Gould‘s voice showcased overtop in opener “Forked Tongue Revival” sets a Southern Baptist-style procession forward, but even among “Judas” and “Devil’s Den,” the lead cut is actually something of an outlier in terms of structure, and so smartly placed such that its psych-leaning midpoint solo and lurching gospelism, instead of being mismatched to the subsequent “Motorcycle Witches,” marks out a broader stylistic swath for everything that follows while remaining consistent in tone and the band’s general dynamic.
There and throughout Revival, the sense of a band knowing what works in their sound is palpable, whether it’s the ritualized atmospherics giving over to the riff laid out at the beginning of “Motorcycle Witches” or the steady nod that follows in that first-of-three trilogy of five-minute cuts; “Motorcycle Witches,” “Judas” and “Devil’s Den” each bring something of their own to the record’s front-to-back, but feel grouped together following the six-minute “Forked Tongue Revival” on side A, even if the time differentials aren’t drastic between longer (seven-plus minutes) and shorter (five-plus minutes) songs and the nod is a constant presence regardless.
That grouping, the way Revival is actually set up as “Judas” picks up from “Motorcycle Witches” with a Maryland doom traditionalism in its verse — putting riffs and disaffected vibes where less capable hands might otherwise place bullshit — and leaning into a rawer sound for Willis‘ soloing ahead of the cowbell’s somehow-inevitable arrival, is further evidence of the focus on delivery and the album’s structure. “Judas” meanders a bit into dark-trippiness without losing its way in its second half, coming mostly to a stop before the resurgent solo-topped roll brings them to the last verse and comedown, but it and the centerpiece “Devil’s Den” make fitting companions. The latter brings new testimonial from Gould with elephantine backing from the riff, a sleek groove that’s consistent in its lead flourish and bluesy but perfectly-paced verse stops, hinting toward Clutch-y funk, but ultimately working toward more sinister aesthetic ends. Brock‘s drums join the bass and guitar in a punctuated chug offsetting the central riff later, but it’s Willis who caps side A with a pull of lead guitar that, in a linear format — i.e. CD or digital — moves with grace into Herald‘s bass at the outset of “Remember the Sabbath.”
And they’re not kidding when they say ‘Sabbath’ either. As in, “Black Sabbath” by Black Sabbath on the album Black Sabbath. Hard to get more ‘Sabbath’ than that without actual religious observation. Much to WyndRider‘s credit, they neither play coy with the influence nor neglect to bring something of their own to it, the spaces left open in the verse and tumble-down-the-stairs transitions giving them a chance to push into moodier cavernousness before Willis highlights the point with a late classic-style solo following the crescendo of riff, the bass that gently caps shifting to kick drum as “Under the Influence” takes hold — it’s almost enough to make you wonder if they’re doing “War Pigs” next, and that also feels intentional — soon rejoined by decidedly nastier low end fuzz. That thudding intro opens to what feels like a triumphant breakout but is still decisively doomed, some twist alongside the abiding nod of the verse, almost an Uncle Acid-y strut but grounded in doom rather than the swing itself, and heavy, heavy, heavy in plod even as “Under the Influence” comes across as placed in part to give “Remember the Sabbath” and aforementioned closer “The Wheel” breathing room on either side of it.
This isn’t a detriment to the song or the LP more broadly — if anything, it underscores the focus on fluidity throughout, which is successful and a strength that bolsters the impression of Revival as a whole work — as “The Wheel” lumbers forth through early verses en route to a Iommi-style bi-channel guitar solo that drops in the midsection to spoken word (and maybe organ or manipulated feedback; maybe both?) as part of the build into the next stage of the finale, suitably doomed. The willful slog gives over to more intense drumming at around five minutes in, and the swing of “Under the Influence” is echoed in the last movement of “The Wheel” as the pace gets a kick for the last two minutes or so before the cold stop ends it with no less clarity of purpose than anything that’s come before.
Indeed, that clarity is the most resounding point WyndRider make on their second full-length, the album firmly declaring that, after a debut well received in the US underground — the “scene,” as it exists in social media word of mouth, etc. — the band have taken the lessons of their first album and used them as a means of progressing their craft. Revival is quick in affirming the potential of its predecessor, but more encouraging for the development it portrays in WyndRider stylistically while landing in close enough succession to keep momentum on the band’s side. They now have two strong LP offerings under their collective belt. If the pattern holds, their next one may tell the ultimate tale of their fruition.
Posted in Whathaveyou on April 25th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
Timing is everything. Mere minutes after I took the dog out the other day and got the mail that happened to have the t-shirt I preordered from Tennessee heavy rollers WyndRider a while back in it, I sat back down in front of the laptop and lo, the algorithm saw fit to put the announcement of the band’s signing to Electric Valley Records in front of my eyeballs. I’m not saying it’s anything more than a fun coincidence — I don’t think social media tracking cookies can get in your actual, physical mailbox… yet — but it most certainly was that, and I look forward to hearing how the four-piece will follow-up their well received 2023 self-titled debut (review here), which they subsequently announced they’ll do with Revival on June 7.
To advance and coincide with the release, WyndRider are keeping busy this spring and summer with live shows, headed to Texas in May for Gravitoyd Doom Fest, to Maryland in June for the esteemed Maryland Doom Fest, and to Kentucky in July for the Holler of Doom, all with shows around them sharing the stage with names familiar and righteous. They’ve also posted the single “Motorcycle Witches” as an initial public offering from Revival, readily affirming the clarion-for-the-converted riffery and swing from the debut are well intact. Makes it even less of a challenge to look forward to the album.
The announcement from socials and live dates follow:
We are over the moon that we will be releasing our new album with Electric Valley Records ! More info coming real soon. Don’t blink or ya just might miss it.
From EVR: “Electric Valley Records is proud to announce that heavy riffers WyndRider have just signed for their brand new album🔥”
Pre-order for REVIVAL goes live with Electric Valley Records on 4/24 or on the WyndRider Bandcamp page on 4/25.
Stay Doomed💀”
WyndRider live: 5/2 – Memphis, TN – Hi Tone 5/3 – Arlington, TX – GROWL 5/4 – Houston, TX – Gravitoyd Doomfest 5/5 – New Orleans, LA – Siberia 5/24 – Knoxville, TN – BrickYard Bar & Grill 5/26 – Charlotte, NC – TBA 6/8 – Johnson City, TN – The Hideaway 6/20 – Indianapolis, IN – Black Circle 6/21 – Akron, OH – Buzzbin 6/22 – Frederick, MD – The †maryland DOOM† Fest 6/23 – New York, NY – The Bowery Electric 7/5 – Asheville, NC – The Odd 7/11 – Nashville, TN – Springwater Supper Club and Lounge 7/12 – London, KY – Holler of Doom 7/13 – Cincinnati, OH – THE COMET
Posted in Whathaveyou on January 24th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
Look at the blue text below and you know what you’re gonna see? Yes, a whole lot of skull emojis. Like a lot. But it happens that each individual one corresponds to a demonstration of the labor of love and community that is the Maryland Doom Festival. From Abel Blood through Zekiah, Maryland Doom Fest 2024 celebrates its 10th anniversary edition with its standard sans-bullshit glut of heavy. Once more the Frederick-based event looks your square in the eye, drops for absolutely immersive days on you and asks if you’re up for it. Well, are ya?
I’m not sure what my summer travel plans are yet — this and Freak Valley have overlapped the last couple years for me — but it’s been since 2019 that I was last down there and oh I’d be so eager to show up and have the three or four people who recognize me (and thus make it feel like an absolute family experience; love love love everywhere you go down there) quietly think to themselves I’ve gotten older and fatter en route to obliterating myself with volume for about 96 hours straight. Fuck. King. A.
Oh, and I hear Thunderbird Divine have new stuff in the works and it’s amazing. So that’s a thing too.
Social media had it like this:
We are super stoked to share with you the Maryland Doom Fest 2024 rosters, schedules, and lineups!!!
#4daysofdoom
THE MARYLAND DOOM FEST 2024
✝️Thursday June 20
Cafe 611-
💀 Thunderhorse 1115-1230 💀 The Magpie 1010-1055 💀 Born of Plagues 905-950 💀 Stone Nomads 800-845 💀 Pyre Fyre 700-740 💀 Dirt Eater 600-640
Olde Mother Brewery-
💀 Spellbook 920-1000 💀 Strange Highways 820-900 💀 Bailjack 720-800 💀 Stone Brew 620-700 💀 Abel Blood 520-600
💀 Ten Ton Slug 915-1000 💀 Thousand Vision Mist 815-855 💀 Crowhunter 715-755 💀 Asthma Castle 615-655 💀 Bonded by Darkness 515-555
✝️Saturday June 22
Cafe 611-
💀 WHORES. 1150-115 💀 AGE/S 1040-1130 💀 Bloodshot 935-1020 💀 O ZORN! 830-915 💀 Double Planet 730-810 💀 Sun Years 630-710 💀 When the Deadbolt Breaks 530-610
Olde Mother Brewery-
💀 Black Water Rising 915-1000 💀 Switchblade Jesus 815-855 💀 Wyndrider 715-755 💀 Indus Valley Kings 615-655 💀 Vermillion Whiskey 515-555 💀 Doctor Smoke 415-455
✝️Sunday June 23
Cafe 611-
💀 Cirith Ungol 1200-110 💀 Mythosphere 1055-1140 💀 Conclave 955-1035 💀 Compression 855-935 💀 Sons of Arrakis 755-835 💀 Curse the Son 655-735 💀 Kulvera 555-635 💀 Old Blood 500-535 💀 Cloud Machine 405-440
Olde Mother Brewery-
💀 Thunderbird Divine 920-1000 💀 Black Manta 820-900 💀 High Noon Kahuna 720-800 💀 Unity Reggae 620-700 💀 King Bastard 520-600 💀 Zekiah 420-500
52 bands over a 4 day weekend at 2 venues across the street from one another!! #4daysofdoom
Posted in Whathaveyou on November 1st, 2023 by JJ Koczan
With headlining performances slated from a soon-to-retire Cirith Ungol, noise crushers Whores., mostly-local melodic heavy proggers Mythosphere, Switchblade Jesus, Conclave, Ten Ton Slug (from Ireland; I got to see them one time; way burly; they’ll do well in Frederick), and plenty of other returning acts and newcomers alike, the lineup for Maryland Doom Fest 2024 could hardly be more appropriate a celebration of the annual Chesapeake gathering’s 10th anniversary. Based in Frederick, the four-day ultra-consuming sensory assault of volume will once again take place at Cafe 611 and Olde Mother Brewing, and if you’ve never been, I’ll tell you outright there’s nothing quite like it.
I mean that. Maryland Doom Fest goes harder than the average festival. A day might start at 1PM and not end until 2AM. And now more than ever, as the fest has grown with the two venues running alongside each other, the bill is packed. I think this year was 50 bands? Well, they’ve got 52 for 2024, and while next June is a while out, there’s a tradition to uphold of Halloween announcements, and festival honcho JB Matson (Bloodshot, War Injun, Outside Truth, etc.) pays tribute to his regulars — Shadow Witch, Bailjack, Thunderbird Divine, Thousand Vision Mist (congratulations to Danny Kenyon of Thousand Vision Mist on recently kicking cancer’s ass), among others here — while also giving showcase to outfits like Pyre Fyre, O Zorn! (whose very moniker heralds weirdness), WyndRider and more.
Congrats to Matson and all at Maryland Doom Fest on their 10th anniversary. To do something of this scope once is a lot. To do it across 10 years, well, aside from being fucking crazy, it’s also deeply admirable.
The aforementioned announcement — brief as ever; the poster lands heavy enough to cover any lack of verbiage — follows, courtesy of socials. Ticket link is there too:
WE ARE EXTREMELY PLEASED TO PRESENT TO YOU, THE MARYLAND DOOM FEST 2024 LINEUP!!!!! THIS WILL BE OUR 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION!! (#128128#)(#129304#)(#128128#)
52 bands over a 4 day weekend at 2 venues across the street from one another!! #4daysofdoom
Posted in Questionnaire on August 4th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.
Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.
Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.
The Obelisk Questionnaire: Robbie Willis from WyndRider
—
How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?
That’s a hard one to nail down. I like to do what makes me happy as much as possible, whether it’s playing guitar or travelling or just having a moment to myself. Because most of the time living day to day is full of shit that makes you miserable. I guess I have learned over time that you have to make the good outweigh the bad.
Describe your first musical memory.
Probably when I was very young in church. According to my mom, it was obvious that I loved music from the first time that I heard it. She used to sing Hank Williams and gospel music constantly. But the first actual concert I went to was Sammy Kershaw with my uncle when I was four or five years old.
Describe your best musical memory to date.
I guess that actually changes all the time. Every time we play as WyndRider it means a lot to me. It’s the type of music I have always wanted to play ever since I started on guitar. And I have played a lot of other stuff. Getting to see Black Sabbath was… I was real high but that was fucking cool. And, the first time I saw Iron Maiden was really surreal because I ended up completely separated from my friends but only about 20 feet from the band. I felt like I might as well have been the only person there.
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
There’s been a lot. But, I think shit changes too much to really hold a firm belief in anything for too long.
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
Poverty. Half joking. It can lead wherever you want. The whole point is to just try. Some dude once asked us when we are going to tour the UK, so hopefully it leads there. (Call me.)
How do you define success?
Whatever goal you have, if you have reached that goal or even close I’d say that is pretty successful. You can be as successful as you want, but if you aren’t happy in doing whatever it is then it’s worthless.
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
An accidental suicide. That one was pretty bad.
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.
I would like to make a short movie. But there’s a lot that goes into that and I don’t have a lot of patience. I have thought about it quite a few different times though throughout my life. Maybe one day I can make it happen.
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
I think creating art is the most essential function of art. Somebody has got to do it. Not everybody has to like it. And what somebody considers art is not universal, but actually making it so that it’s there for someone to appreciate (or not appreciate) is the most important part to me.
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
My son’s birthday is coming up. Watching him grow up is always something I look forward to, to an extent. Him getting older means he’s not going to think I’m cool anymore after a while.
