Friday Full-Length: Nemecek, Prokletije II

Posted in Bootleg Theater on August 2nd, 2024 by JJ Koczan

Released just this past February, Prokletije II is, as the title hints, the follow-up to Prokletije I, which Croatian neo-folk-influenced atmospheric progressive metallers Nemeček issued late in 2021. It is the trio’s third album overall — they made their self-titled debut in 2018 — and the second installment of a purported trilogy with the final chapter to come. Maybe something of a between-moment, then. It has been my introduction to the Zagreb-based three-piece whose sound is distinguished by the use of Balkan tambura from Vedran Živković (also lead vocals) and the keys and synth of Leo Beslać (also backing vocals, some electric guitar they charmingly call “hidden”), and the driving rhythms of drummer Borna Maksan (also backing vocals, keys, tambura, other percussion), the latter of whom also recorded, mixed and mastered the album.

In what can be an ideal depending on the context and might have been in this case, my first exposure to Nemeček was seeing them onstage a month ago at Bear Stone Festival (review here), tucked away in the riverside woods outside of Slunj in their home country. Their aesthetic as portrayed on Prokletije II is abundantly dark, and the sun was blinding when they played — all three members of the band seated, though Beslać was prone to standing in more excited parts — and to be sure, that is some of what’s etched into my memory of the experience, but the cavernous echo on the vocals speaks to something older and darker in mood, and the places Prokletije II explores across its 10 component tracks, which features a titular series of four “Prokletije 2” interludes — calling them that is complicated by the fact that “Prokletije 2.2” (4:51) is longer than opener “Os Svijeta” (3:59), but fluidity of purpose suits the ambience of the record as well — that shift and broaden the already-significant scope of the outing in terms of style.

These inclusions vary: from “Prokletije 2.1” (1:13) with its drone and far-off percussion echoes contrasting the insistent tambura strum and snare snaps of “Os Svijeta”; to the aforementioned “Prokletije 2.2” building a more vivid synth landscape diverging from the motorik throb of “Na Kraju Svega (Beograd)” (5:20) just prior, somewhat dystopian sci-fi, but conjuring images in muted colors just the same; to the backward swirls and semi-industrial noise experimentation of “Prokletije 2.3” (1:41) giving a sense of severity without taking away from the standout prog keyboard melody and fuzzier tone as well as anemecek PROKLETIJE II standout vocal in the preceding “Mirila” (5:35) that feels like a grounding moment after the mostly-instrumental sprawl of “Olovni” (9:32) proves so patient and immersive on the way to its more intense, still-building crescendo; to the penultimate “Prokletije 2.4” (2:01) ringing a purposefully-synthesized-sounding bell answered by ghostly swells of notes and drone, ceremonial but vague and admirably not playing to cultism but flowing gracefully into the concluding “Mirëdita” (6:14), which is soon to pick up with strum and snare march that answers back to “Os Svijeta” but demonstrates the journey Nemeček have undertaken to get from one end of the album to another. And if that far-too-long sentence you (maybe) just read tells you anything, it should be that the shifts undertaken throughout Prokletije II are executed with a grace that speaks to the band’s foundations in prog as well as Eastern European folk music. They are as accessible and easy to follow as they are complex in how the material is built; if you can put the record on and keep a fairly open mind, the band are more than ready to bring you along for the already noted front-to-back voyage, whether you’re able to understand the Croatian-language lyrics or not.

For what it’s worth, I’m not. And I’m expert neither in the history of Balkan folk, nor prog rock, post-punk, noise, neofolk or anything else that’s arguably at work here, but there’s a resonance in Prokletije II that goes beyond even the finer details of the audio — that guitar that might be hidden in the mountainside rush of “Kuvet” (5:22) or the distorted roll that’s evoked by “Mirila,” the chime sounds tucked away at the end of “Mirëdita,” the abiding nuance of melody throughout, and so on — to the greater affect of the whole. As a listening experience, i.e. ‘hearing the thing,’ one might be as prone to calling it lush as minimalist, but the more complicated truth is that the songs — both those built around the “Prokletije” theme and the others — can be both, and the spaces created and conjured are dynamic in range as well as volume. “Os Svijeta” builds gently into its procession, and is able to call to mind both Eastern European black metal and synthy prog, where “Na Kraju Svega (Beograd)” comes across initially like a translation of punk rock methodologies into something else entirely, but in addition to being cohesive in production and gorgeously mixed, the sense of purpose extends in each direction a given track might or might not go.

As might be expected after three years and with the change from an external to an in-house producer, Prokletije II outshines its predecessor in terms of growth on Nemeček‘s part, while keeping in league stylistically enough to be a believable second chapter of the same series. I do now know the band’s timing on the third installment of the stated trilogy, but if it’s a few years again, it will be interesting to hear how they continue to develop and how that carries into that now-hypothetical work. To wit, Prokletije I had distinct trades between longer-form songs and its own “Prokletije 1.1,” “Prokletije 1.2,” etc., though there was a malleability there as well that has been pushed to a new degree across Prokletije II along with the balance between immediacy and breadth, and if you told me that having Maksan double as engineer allowed the band to dig further into the mixing process, the minutiae of what a given moment is conveying and how, there are any number of instances supporting the claim to be heard in the songs themselves.

I don’t expect it to be for everyone, but the impression left from seeing Nemeček has been bouncing around in my head for a month now, and I’m glad to have been able to take on hearing Prokletije II in the aftermath of that. Sometimes you learn a thing and it stays with you.

It’s Bandcamp up top, which is my general preference, but if you’d rather stream it some other way, they’ve got a whole whatnot set up here: https://album.link/PROKLETIJEII

Thanks for reading. As always, I hope you enjoy.

This has been my last full week in Hungary. After hitting the Brant Bjork show Monday night, tonight I’ll go see Stoned Jesus and Dopelord (plus two other bands) at a place called Dürer Kert. Look for a review of that show Monday. I’ve also got a video premiere/album announce slated for Monday, and a premiere/announce slated for Wednesday, but in general don’t expect too much in terms of posts. Tomorrow (Saturday) I’m going to visit a farm where some crew or other from the Psychedelic Source Records collective are going to record. Might have a piece up on that for Tuesday.

Sunday we’re driving up to Miskolc, where the small village my family emigrated from is located, and Monday we’re going to the Balaton, which is a big lake where Hungary does its summering. Tuesday morning I have my final in-country language lesson in the morning, and then I think most of the day will be packing, maybe with some final sightseeing in there if there’s time — we have a we’ve-been-here-for-a-month’s worth of shit to shove into our luggage, plus the Legos and various other things we’ve bought while here; yes I have one at home, but I’m a little sad at the thought of leaving the food processor, not the least after making American-style chicken salad in it last night for dinner — and then we head to the airport overnight Tuesday (3:30AM departure, I believe), fly out of Budapest, back through Schiphol in the Netherlands, then on to JFK to sit in however much traffic back to New Jersey. The same fraught process that brought us to Zagreb the better part of five weeks ago, in reverse.

Some crucial learning has happened this summer, mostly I think for The Patient Mrs. and I about who The Pecan is as her own person and what the shape of our family looks like. The first two weeks of this trip were really, really hard. The Southwest trip we did before we came here — also really, really hard. In ways that feel new or at least manifest aspects of The Pecan’s personality in new ways. After we get home, there’s only about three weeks until school starts. I’m curious at this point to see how that goes and how or if we’re called in for meetings as she makes the transition into first grade. Sadly, I don’t think they do astrophysics yet, but being able to multiply numbers in her six-year-old head should help somewhat, at least until she’s asked to “show her work.”

The point is there’s a lot coming up. As usual, I thank you for reading and being a part of this weird project that The Obelisk has become in my life. Dealing with the out-of-my-comfort-zone aspects of travel to new places over the last month-plus, it’s been a bedrock for me in ways I can hardly express. It probably wouldn’t be here if no one but me ever read it, so I owe you for that.

I hope you have a great and safe weekend. It’s hot out there. Don’t forget to hydrate.

FRM.

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Quarterly Review: Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats, Graveyard, Hexvessel, Godsground, Sleep Maps, Dread Spire, Mairu, Throe, Blind River, Rifftree

Posted in Reviews on October 2nd, 2023 by JJ Koczan

the obelisk winter quarterly review

It’s been quite a morning. Got up at five, went back to sleep until six, took the dog out, lazily poured myself a coffee — the smell is like wood bark and bitter mud, so yes, the dark roast — and got down to set up this Quarterly Review. Not rushed, not at all overwhelmed by press releases about new albums or the fact that I’ve got 50 records I’m writing about this week, or any of it. Didn’t last, that stress-free sit-down — one of the hazards of being perfectly willing to be distracted at a moment’s notice is that that might happen — but it was nice while it did. And hey, the Quarterly Review is set up and ready to roll with 50 records between now and Friday. Let’s do that.

Quarterly Review #1-10:

Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats, Slaughter on First Avenue

uncle acid and the deadbeats slaughter on first avenue

Recorded over two nights at First Avenue in Minneapolis sandwiching the pandemic in 2019 and 2022, Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats‘ 14-song/85-minute live album, Slaughter on First Avenue, is about as clean as you’re ever likely to hear the band sound. And the Rise Above-issued 2LP spans the garage doom innovators’ career, from “Dead Eyes of London” from 2010’s Vol. 1 (reissue review here) to “I See Through You” from 2018’s Wasteland (review here), with all the “Death’s Door” and “Thirteen Candles” and “Desert Ceremony” and “I’ll Cut You Down” you can handle, the addled and murderous bringers of melody and fuzz clear-eyed and methodical, professional, in their delivery. It sounds worked on, like, in the studio, the way oldschool live albums might’ve been. I don’t know that it was, don’t have a problem with that if it was, just noting that the sheer sound here is fantastic, whether it’s the separation between the two guitars and keys and each other, the distinction of the vocals, or the way even the snare drum seems to hit in kind with the vintage aspects of Uncle Acid‘s general production style. They clearly enjoy the crowd response to the older tunes like “I’ll Cut You Down” and “Death’s Door,” and well they should. Slaughter on First Avenue isn’t a new full-length, though they say one will eventually happen, but it’s a representation of their material in a new way for listeners, cleaner than their last two studio records, and a ceremony (or two) worth preserving.

Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats on Facebook

Rise Above Records website

Graveyard, 6

graveyard 6

Swedish retro soul rock forerunners Graveyard are on their way to being legends if they aren’t legends yet. Headliners at the absolute least, and the influence they had in the heavy ’10s on classic heavy as a style and boogie rock in particular can’t be discounted. Comprised of nine cuts, 6 is Graveyard‘s first offering of this decade, following behind 2018’s Peace (review here), and it continues their dual-trajectory in pairing together the slow, troubled-love woes emotionality of “Breathe In, Breathe Out,” “Sad Song” on which guitarist Joakim Nilsson relinquishes lead vocals, the early going of “Bright Lights,” and opener “Godnatt” — Swedish for “good night,” which the band tried to say in 2016 but it didn’t stick — setting up turns to shove in “Twice” and “Just a Drop” while “I Follow You,” closer “Rampant Fields” or the highlight “Just a Drop” finding some territory between the two ends. The bottom line here is it’s not the record I was hoping Graveyard would make, leaning slow and morose whereas when you could break out a groove like “Just a Drop” seemingly at will, why wouldn’t you? But that I even had those hopes tells you the caliber band they are, and whatever the tracks actually do, there’s no questioning them as songwriters. But the world could use some good times swagger, if only a half-hour of escapism, and Graveyard are perhaps too sincere to deliver. Fair enough.

Graveyard on Facebook

Nuclear Blast website

Hexvessel, Polar Veil

hexvessel polar veil

The thing about Hexvessel that has been revealed over time is that each record is its own context. Grown out from the black metal history of UK-born/Helsinki-residing songwriter Mat “Kvohst” McNerney, the band returns to that fertile ground somewhat on the eight-song Polar Veil, applying veteran confidence to post-blackened genre transgressions. Songs like “A Cabin in Montana” and “Older Than the Gods” have some less-warlike Primordial vibes between the epic melodies and tremolo echoes, but in both the speedy intensity of “Eternal Meadow” and the later ethereally-doomed gruel of “Ring,” Hexvessel are distinctly themselves doing this thing. That is, they’re not changing who they are to suit the style they want to play — even the per-song stylistic shifts of 2016’s When We Are Death (review here) were their own, so that’s not necessarily new — but a departure from the dark progressive folk of 2020’s Kindred as McNerney, bassist Ville Hakonen, drummer Jukka Rämänen and pianist/keyboardist Kimmo Helén (also strings) welcome a curated-seeming selection of a few guest appearances spread across the release, always keeping mindful of ambience and mood however raging the tempest around them might be.

Hexvessel on Facebook

Svart Records website

Godsground, A Bewildered Mind

Godsground A Bewildered Mind

Bookended by its two longest songs in “Drink Some More” (8:44) and closer “Letter Full of Wine” (9:17), Munich-based troupe Godsground offer seven songs with their 47-minute third long-player, working quickly to bask in post-Alice in Chains melodies surrounded by a warmth of tone that could just as easily be derived from hometown heroes in Colour Haze as the likes of Sungrazer or anyone else, but there’s more happening in the sound than just that. The melodies reach out and the songs develop on paths so that “Balance” is a straight-up desert rocker where seven-minute centerpiece “Into the Butter” sounds readier to get weird. They are well at home in longer forms, flashing a bit of metal in teh later solo of the penultimate “Non Reflecting Mirror,” but the overarching focus on vocal melody grounds the material in its lyrics, and that helps stabilize some of the more out-there aspects. With the roller fuzz of “A Game of Light” and side B’s flow-into-push “Flood” finding space between all-out go and the longer songs’ willingness to dwell in parts, Godsground emerge from the collection with a varied style around a genre center that’s maybe delighted not to pick a side when it comes to playing toward this or that niche. There’s some undercurrent of doom — though I’ll admit the artwork had me looking for it — but Godsground are more coherent than bewildered, and their material unfolds with intent to immerse rather than commiserate.

Godsground Linktr.ee

Godsground on Bandcamp

Sleep Maps, Reclaim Chaos

sleep maps reclaim chaos

Ambition abounds on Sleep MapsReclaim Chaos, as the once-NYC-based duo of multi-instrumentalist Ben Kaplan and vocalist David Kegg — finds somebody that writes you riffs like “Second Generation” and scream your ass off for them — bring textures of progressive metal, death metal, metal metal to the proceedings with their established post-whathaveyou modus. Would it be a surprise if I said it made them a less predictable band? I hope not. With attention to detail bolstered my a mix from Matt Bayles (Isis, Sandrider, etc.), the open spaces of “The Good Engineer” resonate in their layered vocals and drone, while “You Want What I Cannot Give” pummels, “In the Sun, In the Moon” brings the wash forward and capper “Kill the World” is duly still in conveying an apparent aftermath rather than the actual slaughter of the planet, which of course happened over a longer timeframe. All of this, and a good deal more, make Reclaim Chaos a heady feast — and that’s before you get to the ’00-era electronica of “Double Blind” — but in their reclamation, Sleep Maps execute with care and make a point about the malleability of style as much as about their own progression, though it seems to be the latter fueling them. Self-motivated, willful artistic progression is not often so starkly recognizable.

Sleep Maps website

Lost Future Records website

Dread Spire, Endless Empire

Dread Spire Endless Empire EP

A reminder of the glories amid the horrors of our age: Dread Spire‘s Endless Empire — am I the only one who finds it a little awkward when band and release names rhyme? — probably wouldn’t exist without the democratization of recording processes that’s happened over the last 15-20 years. It’s a demo, essentially, from the bass/drum — that’s Richie Rehal and Erol Kavvas — Cali-set instrumentalist two-piece, and with about 13 minutes of sans BS riffing, they make a case via a linear procession of crunch riffing and uptempo, semi-metal precision. The narrative — blessings and peace upon it — holds that they got together during the pandemic, and the raw form and clearly-manifest catharsis in the material is all the backing they need. More barebones than complex, this first offering wants nothing for audio fidelity and gives Rehal and Kavvas a beginning from which to build in any and all directions they might choose. The joy of collaboration and the need to find an expressive outlet are the best motivations one could ask, and that’s very obviously what’s at work here.

Dread Spire on Instagram

Dread Spire on Bandcamp

Mairu, Sol Cultus

MAIRU Sol Cultus

A roiling post-metallic churn abides the slow tempos of “Torch Bearer” at the outset of Mairu‘s debut full-length, Sol Cultus, and it is but one ingredient of the Liverpool-based outfit’s atmospheric plunge. Across eight tracks and 49 minutes, the double-guitar four-piece of Alan Caulton and Ant Hurlock (both guitar/vocals), Dan Hunt (bass/vocals) and Ben Davis (drums/synth) — working apparently pretty closely over a period of apparently four years with Tom Dring, who produced, engineered, mixed, mastered and contributed saxophone, ebow, piano and additional synth — remind in their spaciousness of that time Red Sparowes taught the world, instrumentally, to sing. But with harsh and melodic vocals mixed, bouts of thrashier riffing dealt with prejudice, and the barely-there ambience of “Inter Alia” and “Per Alia” to persuade the listener toward headphones, the very-sludged finish of “Wild Darkened Eyes” and the 10-minute sprawl of “Rite of Embers” lumbering to its distorted gut-clench of a crescendo chug ahead of the album’s comedown finish, there’s depth and personality to the material even as Mairu look outside of verse/chorus confines to make their statement. Their second outing behind a 2019 EP, and again, apparently in the works on some level since then, it’s explorational, but less in the sense of the band figuring out who they want to be than as a stylistic tenet they’ve internalized as their own.

Mairu on Facebook

Trepanation Recordings on Bandcamp

Throe, O Enterro das Marés

Throe O Enterro das Mares

At first in “Hope Shines in the Autumn Light,” Brazilian instrumentalist heavy post-rockers Throe remind of nothing so much as the robots-with-feelings mechanized-but-resonant plod of Justin K. Broadrick‘s Jesu, but as the 14-minute leadoff from the apparently-mostly-solo-project’s three-song EP, O Enterro das Marés (one assumes the title is some derivation of being ‘buried at sea’), plays through, it shifts into a more massive galaxial nod and then shortly before the nine-minute mark to a stretch of hypnotic beat-less melody before resolving itself somewhere in the middle. This three-part structure gives over to the Godfleshier “Bleed Alike” (6:33), which nods accordingly until unveiling its caustic end about 30 seconds before the song is done, and “Renascente” (7:59), in which keys/synth and wistful guitar lead a single linear build together as the band gradually and with admirable patience move from their initial drone to the introduction of the ‘drums’ and through the layers of melody that emerge and are more the point of the thing itself than the actual swell of volume taking place at the same time. When it opens at about five minutes in, “Renascente” is legitimately beautiful, an echoing waterfall of tonality that seems to dance to the gravity pulling it down. The guitar is last to go, which tells you something about how the songs are written, but with three songs and three different intentions, Throe make a varied statement uniform most of all in how complete each piece of it feels.

Throe on Instagram

Abraxas Produtora on Instagram

Blind River, Bones for the Skeleton Thief

Blind River Bones for the Skeleton Thief

Well guess what? They called the first track “Punkstarter,” and so it is. Starts off the album with a bit of punk. Blind River‘s third LP, Bones for the Skeleton Thief corrals 10 tracks from the UK traditionalist heavy rock outfit, who even on the likewise insistent “Primal Urges” maintain some sense of control. Vocalist Harry Armstrong (ex-Hangnail, now also bassist of Orange Goblin) belts out “Second Hand Soul” like he’s giving John Garcia a run for his pounds sterling, and is still able to rein it in enough to not seem out of place on the more subdued verses of “Skeleton Thief,” while the boogie of “Unwind” is its own party. Wherever they go, be it the barroom punkabilly of “Snake Oil” or the Southern-tinged twang of closer “Bad God,” the five-piece — Armstrong, guitarist Chris Charles and Dan Edwards, bassist William Hughes and drummer Mark Sharpless — hold to a central ethic of straight-ahead drive, and where clearly the intended message is that Blind River know what the fuck they’re doing and that if you end up at a show you might get your ass handed to you, turns out that’s exactly the message received. Showed up, kicked ass, done in under 40 minutes. If that’s not a high enough standard for you in a band recording live, that’s not Blind River‘s fault.

Blind River on Facebook

Blind River on Bandcamp

Rifftree, Noise Worship

Rifftree Noise Worship

Rifftree of life. Rifftree‘s fuzz is so righteously dense, I want to get seeds from it — because let’s face it, riffs are deciduous and hibernate in winter — and plant a forest in my backyard. The band formed half a decade ago and Noise Worship is the bass-and-drums duo’s second EP, but whatever. In six songs and 26 minutes, they work hard on living up to the title they gave the release, and their schooling in the genre is obvious in Sleepery of “Amplifier Pyramid” or the low-rumbling sludge of “Brown Flower,” the subsequent “Farewell” growing like fungus out of its quieter start and “Brakeless” not needing them because it was slow enough anyhow. “Fuzzed” — another standard met — ups the pace and complements with spacey grunge mumbles and harshes out later, and that gives the three-minute titular closer “Noise Worship” all the lead-in it needs for its showcase of feedback and amplifier noise. Look. If you’re thinking it’s gonna be some stylistic revolution in the making, look at the friggin’ cover. Listen to the songs. This isn’t innovation, it’s celebration, and Rifftree‘s complete lack of pretense is what makes Noise Worship the utter fucking joy that it is. Stoner. Rock. Stick that in your microgenre rolodex.

Rifftree on Facebook

Rifftree on Bandcamp

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Stonebride Release Animals on Display EP

Posted in Whathaveyou on April 11th, 2018 by JJ Koczan

stonebride

The last offering from Croatian heavy rockers Stonebride arrived some four years ago in the form of the impressive — and impressively titled — full-length, Heavy Envelope (review here). Progressive as that outing was, it should be interesting to dig in and hear what the Zagreb four-piece has come up with for Animals on Display, which has been issued through PDV Records and is comprised of just four songs totaling 18 minutes in length. One track per year between releases? The PR wire makes the claim that Animals on Display is the band’s “most exhaustive” work yet. If each track was a year in the making, it might just be.

Details and the full EP stream came down the PR wire. Let’s all dig in together, shall we?

Indeed:

stonebride animals on display

Stonebride’s new album ‘Animals on Display’ is out

Animals on Display a new mini album by heavy rock veterans Stonebride is out after 4 years since their last full length effort Heavy Envelope. These diversely influenced musicians are on the quest to set another benchmark in the further development of their sound. The album was released this March 15th through PDV Records and is available in CD/digital forms while the vinyl release is scheduled for the upcoming Autumn release.

Animals on Display consists of 4 tracks with running time little under 18 minutes. It is by far the band’s most exhaustive work which demands undivided attention of the listener.

Stonebride remains true to their musical roots but keep implementing both musical and personal experiences and pouring it into this record. On the verge of various (sub)genres like psych, prog, doom, blues, desert/stoner or giving nod to the 90’s grunge/alternative they’re constantly pushing the envelope with each new release. Keeping in mind the band has been together for almost 13 years (with the same line-up) just adds to their credibility as an ongoing creative force that shows no signs of stopping.

The concept is rounded with the artwork from the talented Krešimir ?uk aka VAST. A visual artist that combines digital collage and vector graphics. Visually inspired by crosshatching and thematically by surrealism, his work’s main premise is comparing subjective experience of the person with objectivity and erasing the boundaries between them. Animals on Display was recorded with several people behind the desk in couple of studios in Zagreb, Croatia from April to December 2017. It was produced by Siniša Krneta (band’s vocalist/guitarist), recorded by Luka Grubiši?, Vedran Kova?i?, Hrvoje Nikši?, Vedran Rao Brle?i? and Hrvoje Štefoti?, mixed by Vedran Rao Brle?i? and mastered by Carl Saff.

STONEBRIDE – Animals on Display tracklist:
1. Animal on Display
2. Embodiment
3. Early Bird
4. Half of Me

stonebride.bandcamp.com
facebook.com/stonebrideband
youtube.com/stonebrighter
www.reverbnation.com/stonebride
http://www.pdv.com.hr/
https://www.facebook.com/PDVRecordLabel/

Stonebride, Animals on Display EP (2018)

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Stonebride Release Heavy Envelope on Vinyl

Posted in Whathaveyou on October 16th, 2015 by JJ Koczan

stonebride

Issued via cooperation between PDV Records and Setalight Records, Croatian heavy rockers Stonebride‘s third album, Heavy Envelope (review here), is out now on vinyl. Not technically a reissue since it’s the first pressing in the format, the album is a moody but progressive take on bruiser riffing, and offers more on repeat visits than it might the first time around. All the better that it’s up now for revisiting by anyone who missed it. You’d almost swear these things were planned out ahead of time.

Stonebride had posted in Aug. about planning out a European tour for March/April 2016, so when and if I hear more on that, I’ll post accordingly. Until then, the PR wire sent along the following on the album:

stonebride heavy envelope

Stonebride’s ”Heavy Envelope” vinyl release!

It is a huge pleasure to announce that the sons of all things heavy , the band Stonebride have just released their latest critically acclaimed album Heavy Envelope in vinyl format! From now on you can treat your record player with two LP album versions (black & halloween orange edition). At the end of 2014. the band unleashed upon the world its’ 4th official release in CD/digital format. This came out via joint efforts from an independent label PDV records and Setalight records.

After a European tour last year, including some selected shows this year, Stonebride is ready for further conquering of all hearing senses. Their take on heavy rock, tied with alternative / psych / doom / prog voyages leaves none without awe. European tour for March/April 2016. is being booked at this moment, so keep an eye out when they roam through your city.

It’s also worth mentioning that in December band celebrates a 10th year jubilee of existing, sonic road bending, creating music and leaving their own mark in the oceans of the most finest art we call music.

Tracklist:
1 Movies, Movies
2 Lowest Supreme
3 Lay Low
4 Coloured Blue
5 Sokushinbutsu
6 Venomous

http://www.pdv.com.hr/artist/stonebride
stonebride.bandcamp.com
facebook.com/stonebrideband
youtube.com/Stonebrighter

Stonebride, Heavy Envelope (2014)

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The Machine and Seven that Spells Announce Tour Dates

Posted in Whathaveyou on September 10th, 2015 by JJ Koczan

Dutch heavy rockers The Machine and Croatian krautrock specialists Seven that Spells are teaming up to hit the road in November. The shows are only in Germany and Switzerland, so it’s not exactly full-coverage even as regards Western Europe, but it’s a week of dates anyway and better than nothing. Jeez, what’s the worst that happens, you fly to Germany and see a show? Live with it.

The Machine will be out supporting earlier-2015’s Offblast! (review here), their fifth outing and most accomplished work to-date, while Seven that Spells hit the road on the heels of a Sulatron Records reissue of their 2012 album, Superautobahn, their most recent studio release being last year’s The Death and Resurrection of Krautrock: IO (review here), the second installment of a to-be-concluded trilogy.

Tour is presented by Sound of Liberation and info is as follows:

the machine seven that spells tour

When We Switch Our Amps On The Cities Go Dark Tour (THE MACHINE & SEVEN THAT SPELLS)

The Machine & Seven That Spells will be touring Germany (ok and Switzerland) for one week in November 2015.

ROCK AND ROLL
13.11 : Kulturbahnhof Jena // Jena GER
14.11 : Feierwerk // München GER
15.11 : Sedel Garage Luzern // Luzern CH
16.11 : Immerhin Würzburg // Würzburg GER
17.11 : Bassy Club // Berlin GER
18.11 : Kulturzentrum Faust // Hannover GER

SEVEN THAT SPELLS:
Beyond. We are the dogs of the western Jazz society looking for dope. Modern, aggressive psychedelic wall of sound incorporating polymetrics and occasional Viking funeral rites; hailing from the 23rd century where rock is dead, Seven That Spells returned in time where its still possible to change the tragic course of the boring history.

THE MACHINE:
THE MACHINE is a rock band from the Rotterdam area (NL). Through the years the band has been crafting its own (loud) brand of both hard-hitting tracks and instrumental takeoffs. Rooted in heavy rock, THE MACHINE refuses to be pigeonholed and prefers a modern experimental approach to the well known concepts of yesteryear.

https://www.facebook.com/events/932785733427068/
https://www.facebook.com/STS777
http://www.sulatron.com/xoshop/seven-that-spells-superautobahn-lp.html?xploidID=c9822eb662e59efb76d844cefdc7e28f
https://www.facebook.com/themachine.nl
http://elektrohasch.de/

The Machine, “Coda Sun” official video

Seven that Spells, The Death and Resurrection of Krautrock: IO (2014)

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The Obelisk Radio Adds: HARK, Lucifer, Diesel King, Planes of Satori and Stonebride

Posted in Radio on February 6th, 2015 by JJ Koczan

I have continued to enjoy putting together these posts, and hopefully, whether you listen to The Obelisk Radio or you don’t, you get some use out of them. The fact is that it’s a pretty overwhelming amount of music being released these days — I feel like I’ve been behind all week, and for good reason — but it’s a good problem to have, and all you can really do is your best to keep up as much as you can. Accordingly, some of the stuff joining the playlist this week isn’t out yet, some is newly released and some of it has been out for a long time. Months are irrelevant. Riffs are timeless.

Let’s get to it.

The Obelisk Radio adds for Feb. 6, 2015:

HARK, Crystalline

hark-crystalline

UK heavy proggers Hark — also stylized in all-caps and with spaces between the letters — have all the noodly twists and turns one might expect in the shouty post-Mastodonic sphere of modern heavy, but what the trio do even better is use those turns toward building crescendos, so that songs like “Palendromeda,” the opener from their 2014 Season of Mist debut, Crystalline, isn’t just a mash of technical indulgence, but it actually moves somewhere too. Later cuts like “Sins on Sleeves” and “All Wretch and No Vomit” have some straightforward heavy rock to them as well — guitarist/vocalist/cover artist Jimbob Isaac used to play in Taint — but as one might expect, neither he nor bassist Nikolai Ribnikov (who seems to have since been replaced by Joe Harvatt, unless I have that backwards; things like who plays on what don’t matter in the age of digital promos) and drummer Simon Bonwick stay in one place too long. A guest appearance from Clutch‘s Neil Fallon on 10-minute closer “Clear Light of…” follows some particularly fervent tapping and presages another in Crystalline‘s series of crescendos, a long fade following topped by heady swirl that finishes out. Parts can be a bit much, but the full-on sprint that starts “Breathe and Run” and the weighty groove that follows make Hark‘s debut a solid fit for those seeking blinding fretwork that doesn’t necessarily sacrifice dynamic on the altar of technicality. HARK on Thee Facebooks, Season of Mist.

Lucifer, Anubis

lucifer-anubis

Born out of last year’s hot-shit-and-then-gone The Oath, London/Berlin four-piece Lucifer make their Rise Above debut with the Anubis/Morning Star 7″, vocalist Johanna Sadonis crooning out vaguely devilish incantations over The Wizards‘ riffs, Dino Gollnick‘s bass and Andrew Prestidge drums. The results on “Anubis” are probably the most Sabbathian bit of Sabbathery that’s come along since Orchid wandered along — the progression of “Anubis” is almost singularly indebted to “Snowblind.” “Morning Star” is likewise familiar, nestled somewhere between a theatrical take on ’80s proto-doom and ’70s cultistry and bolstered by the craft of Sadonis and former Cathedral guitarist Gary “Gaz” Jennigs. Hey, if it works, fair enough. One imagines that by the time the single arrives in April, word of Lucifer‘s coming will have spread far and wide, and if the single is meant to intrigue and pique interest ahead of a full-length to be issued later in 2015, I’ve no doubt it will do precisely that. Lucifer on Thee Facebooks, Rise Above Records.

Diesel King, Concrete Burial

diesel-king-concrete-burial

If you’ve got a quota for burl, London sludge metallers Diesel King will likely meet it with their When Planets Collide debut long-player, Concrete Burial, an album that hands out grueling, ultra-dudely chugging like a beefed-up Crowbar, vocalist Mark O’Regan offering shouting and growling extremity bordering at times on death metal. Shit is heavy, and it lives up to the violent threat of its title on songs like the catchy “Inferis” and “Horror. Disgust.,” the latter of which actually manages to make the lumbering guitar tones of Geoff Foden and Aled Marc move, propelled by the metallic drumming of Bill Jacobs while bassist Will Wichanski adds to the already pummeling low end. The 80-second “Mask of the Leper” is straight-up grind, but don’t be fooled by shifts in tempo — Diesel King‘s bread and butter is in sludged-out chug-riffing and growled chestbeating, like a testosterone supplement you take via your ears. Diesel King on Thee Facebooks, When Planets Collide.

Planes of Satori, Planes of Satori

planes-of-satori-planes-of-satori

Made for vinyl and pressed in that manner by Who Can You Trust? Records as the follow-up to last year’s Son of a Gun 7″ (review here), Planes of Satori find easy sanctuary on uneasy ground, smoothing out jagged edges and uncautious twists on their self-titled debut full-length. Bassist Justin Pinkerton doubles as the drummer in Golden Void, but though Planes of Satori share a West Coast affinity for the golden age of krautrock, cuts like “Eyes,” “Gnostic Boogie” and “The Ballad of Queen Milo” are on a much different trip, psychedelic afrobeat rhythms unfolding their insistence under the echoed out vocals of Alejandro Magana while Raze Regal tears into jazzy solos and Chris Labreche somehow manages to make it swing. The airier, more rhythmically settled “KTZ” retains a progressive feel both in the underlying tension of its bassline and in the open, creative vibe through which it careens. Call it “manic peace,” but it works well for Planes of Satori on a cut like the earlier “If You Must Know,” which reimagines ’90s indie weirdness through a lens of what-if-it-wasn’t-so-cool-not-to-give-a-crap, and “Green Summer,” which follows a building course without tipping off its hand until you’re already wrapped up in Regal‘s live-sounding leads. The closing solo guitar echo of “The Snake and the Squirrel” speaks to yet-unexplored drone dynamics and further delving into psychedelia to come. Sign me up. I have the feeling that the more bizarre Planes of Satori get, the more satisfying the trip is going to be. Their debut already shows a pervasive adventurous spirit. Planes of Satori on Thee Facebooks, Who Can You Trust? Records.

Stonebride, Heavy Envelope

stonebride-heavy-envelope

Late 2014’s Heavy Envelope is the third Stonebride record behind 2010’s Summon the Waves (review here) and their 2008 debut LP, Inner Seasons. Released by Setalight Records, it finds the Zagreb, Croatia, four-piece’s sound way solidified as compared to the psychedelic sprawl of the prior release, a ’90s-style rolling crunch riff to “Lay Low” following the distinctly Alice in Chainsian vocal melodies of “Lowest Supreme” and preceding the effectively replicated Queens of the Stone Age bounce of “Coloured Blue.” Some intervening solidification in the four years between the second and third albums might explain the shift in sound — the opposite could also be true — but drummer Steps and guitarist Tjesimir, bassist Alen and vocalist Sinisa work well within their newfound sphere, even finding room to branch out a bit on the more extended closing duo of “Sokushinbutsu” and “Venomous,” never quite hitting the same psyched-out feel of Heavy Envelope‘s predecessor, but definitely adding further individual sensibility to an engaging take on heavy rock. Stonebride seem ripe for a new beginning, and Heavy Envelope boasts precisely that kind of energy. Stonebride on Thee Facebooks, on Bandcamp, Setalight Records.

For the complete list of what went up today and everything else that’s been added recently and everything played going back I don’t even remember how long at this point, be sure to check out The Obelisk Radio Updates and Playlist page. Hope you find something you dig and that you think is worth hearing.

Thanks for reading and listening.

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Frydee Seven that Spells

Posted in Bootleg Theater on January 11th, 2013 by JJ Koczan

Strange to check out without any other posts on a Friday, I know. There’s actually a lot of news that needs to go up — Witchcraft were announced as headlining Desertfest in Berlin, Trippy Wicked were added to the London fest and I’ve got a new song from Endless Boogie and a new single from Radio Moscow that I’d like to post — as well as a review of sludge madmen Fire to Fields that I said I’d post this week, but this morning a dog my sister got me in high school — that’s me trying to distance myself from it and not say “my dog” — had to be put down at 15 and to be honest, my head’s just not in the right space for reviewing anyone’s anything. I’m gonna go home, get in bed, and watch Futurama in the dark. The other stuff I’ll post tomorrow.

Not telling you this in some internet bitching plea for sympathy, just trying to explain why there are no other posts today. In the meantime, when it comes to my own particular vision of escapism, nothing quite does it like Duna Jam. The above clip of Zagreb heavy psych rockers Seven that Spells was filmed in 2010 and I guess the best thing you could say about it (or anything else, ever), is that the band stands up tonally to the gorgeousness and lushness of their surroundings on the beach in Sardinia. Maybe one of these years I’ll get there. I think I’d probably have to win the lottery, lose 100 pounds and buy $20,000 worth of photo equipment first, but hey, could happen.

Thanks to all for reading as always, and even though I’ll be posting tomorrow and I’m not really signing off, I hope you have a great weekend. A quick last-minute kudos to Clamfight, who’ve been added to Stoner Hands of Doom XIII along with Lo-Pan, Freedom Hawk, It’s Not Night: It’s Space, Order of the Owl and others. More news on that to come as well next week, and though I’m loathe to promise something and then not have time to deliver on it, my plan is also to post the 20 albums I’m looking forward to in 2013. I started just with 10 and then it turned out there was too much good stuff in the works for this year to leave it at that, so yeah, keep an eye open.

Okay, I split. Back at it tomorrow, and if you were waiting on something in particular to go up, your patience is appreciated.

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Stonebride: The Marriage of Space and Earth

Posted in Reviews on June 15th, 2010 by JJ Koczan

The second full-length onslaught from these Croatian purveyors of the heavy cosmic psych, Summon the Waves (Setalight Records) finds the four-piece Stonebride coloring outside the lines in Hubble shades while nodding at the head-caked riff crowd with amped crunch and minor-key melodicism. The psych here is dark (that whole minor-key thing) and moody, but never whiny or miserable. Rather, Stonebride play layers of guitar off each other in extended passages and occasionally go into hyper-hypnotism with sometimes too-brief moments of repetition. Head. Trip. Rock.

All seems straightforward and riffy from the intro “The Phoenix,” but “Shadows Like Snakes” makes short work of that impression, constantly shaping and reshaping itself over its nine and a half minute runtime. Though the track begins heavy, the self-harmonizing vocals of Krnfa add complexity to the songcraft, doing call and response à la Dirt-era Alice in Chains for a chorus of “In the arms of God/There is no shame/In the Arms of God/We’re all the same,” while Tjemisir’s guitars chug out underneath. At about the 4:30 mark, the song opens up for an extended instrumental jam that not only shows of Tjemisir’s solo acumen, but some impressive tom work from drummer Thee Steps and well-timed distortion from relatively banally-named bassist Lenny.

So then you’ve got it all figured out again, and you think Stonebride’s Summon the Waves is just going to be another one of those meandering heavy psych records – a little more weighty than Colour Haze or any of their growing legion of imitators, but making plenty of the same moves structurally – and there comes “Crimson Tongue” and “Mute Heart Rivers,” two six-plus minute offerings that up the melody and heavy/ambient interchange. “Crimson Tongue” has some megaphone vocals from Krnfa in the verse but changes to a whispery, softer approach for the chorus, where Thee Steps’ hi-hat is almost a little too busy hitting sixteenths. But soon the music changes again, the guitars pick up and you’re grooving on one of those High on Fire moments where the chaos has given way to the power of the riff. It’s a suitable lead-in for the Melvins-style drum opening of “Mute Heart Rivers,” which retains its percussive edge throughout, affecting a slow build that culminates, appropriately, shortly before the song ends.

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