Posted in Whathaveyou on March 31st, 2015 by JJ Koczan
If you’d like a quick lesson in efficiency — and hey, I know we all would — look no further than going Baltimore concern Grimoire Records. Earlier this month, a mere 16 days ago, the label’s Noel Mueller and Phil Doccolo had fellow Baltimore natives Corpse Light into the Grimoire studio. The five-piece band recorded four songs with Mueller at the helm, they were subsequently mixed and mastered. At some point in there, artwork happened and bam, a May 19 release date has been set for Without Form, Corpse Light‘s full-length debut, through Grimoire Records. Not a bad a-to-z in 16 days.
Grimoire was threatening notice of the mix’s heft as early as March 17, and the eight minutes of “Lying in State,” which was unveiled today as the first audio to come from the album, make good on that promise, taking post-sludge and doom cues and putting them to punishing use. Slow guitar triumph plays out over a pretty significant span, but I have my doubts that “Lying in State” is the whole story when it comes to Without Form, and that Corpse Light have a couple more tricks up their sleeves than the formidable rumbling and growling on hand here. Or, you know, if not, this is still probably enough to carry them through a record. We’ll see when it hits, I guess.
Info on the recording is below, followed by “Lying in State” itself:
Epic, pummeling doom from Baltimore for fans of Neurosis, Cult of Luna, Mouth of the Architect. Available 05/19/2015 on CD/cassette/digital download through Grimoire Records.
Corpse Light is Jim Webb {Vox}, Larrigold Grimes {Drums}, Aurora Raiten {Bass}, Keiran Holmes {Guitar}, and Don Selner {Guitar}. Guest vocals on Lying in State by Noel.
“Without Form” was recorded on 03/15/2015 by Noel Mueller of Grimoire Records. Mixed and mastered by Noel Mueller/Grimoire Records.
Posted in Reviews on March 31st, 2015 by JJ Koczan
When I finished yesterday’s reviews, I felt suitably beat, but as ever, there was a bit of catharsis to it too. Today’s pile takes us all the way to the other end of the world and back again to my (relative) back yard, and then loops around one more time for good measure with a few stops in between. While I’m coherent enough to form sentences, you’ll pardon me if I get right to it.
Quarterly Review #11-20:
Motherslug, Motherslug
If the name Motherslug or the cover art look familiar, it’s because the Melbourne double-guitar five-piece initially released their self-titled EP late in 2012 (review here). This NoSlip Records release, however, takes the tracks from that, couples them with cuts from Motherslug’s subsequent outing, a 2014 two-tracker called Three Kings in Darkness, and remasters both for vinyl as one 39-minute full-length. There’s a bit of progression evident in the newer cuts, “Trippin’ on Evil” and “Three Kings in Darkness,” but the LP smartly arranges them so that each ends its respective side, led into by two songs from the self-titled, so the impression is more that Motherslug are expanding their riffy, Southern-style sludge rock sound – which is still true, it just initially happened over two releases – rather than they’re mixing and matching different recordings. By the time you get to either, however, Motherslug will have already bowled over you with rolling, thick sludge riffs that could just as easily have come from Maryland or Virginia as Australia.
Allston(e) newcomers Worshipper make an accomplished-sounding debut with Black Corridor/High above the Clouds, two self-released tracks that mark their first release as a band. The two-guitar four-piece balance classic metal riffs and doom tendencies with soaring-style clean vocals and fast-moving grooves, as much Candlemass as High on Fire. “Black Corridor” wows with its solo but more with its hook, guitarist John Brookhouse and bassist Bob Maloney sharing vocals while Alejandro Necochea adds guitar and Dave Jarvis draws it all together on drums, and “High above the Clouds” adds some choice early-Dio “Egypt”-ology to the mix. It’s a sense of grandeur that’s neither overblown nor mishandled by the winding track, which coupled with its predecessor demonstrates Worshipper’s firm grip on a style melding heavy rock and metal into a take of their own, and a progression beginning that seems to have a definite idea of where it wants to end up. One can’t help but look forward to finding out.
Hard to think of a band from Portland, Oregon, these days as being underrated, but Ape Machine fit the bill all the same. The four-piece of vocalist Caleb Heinze, guitarist Ian Watts, bassist Brian True and drummer Damon de la Paz played Germany’s Freak Valley festival as part of a 2013 European tour in support of the then-recently-released Mangled by the Machine (review here), their third album and Ripple Music debut, and accordingly, most of what shows up on the 48-minute Live at Freak Valley comes from that record, later album cuts like the swaying “Strange are the People” and stomp-slide-fueled “Ruling with Intent” leading to a run through Mangled by the Machine’s first five tracks, in order, to close the set. With a cover of Deep Purple’s “Black Night” (something they also did on their second record) in tow with others from their first two records, Live at Freak Valley makes a solid intro to a group more people should know.
A compilation that draws from Churchburn’s 2013 self-titled and two tracks recorded late in 2013/early in 2014 – opener “Embers of Human Ash” and the subsequent “V” – The Awaiting Coffins revels in its extremity of doom and no-light-shall-pass atmospherics. The duo of vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Dave Suzuki (ex-Vital Remains, among others) and Ray McCaffrey (ex-Sin of Angels) issue the CD/LP via Armageddon Shop, and while there are plenty of droning moments, acoustic interludes and stretches of depressive noise, the Rhode Island outfit is primarily brutal. Suzuki, joined on vocals for the first two cuts by guitarist Kevin Curley and bassist Mike Cardoso, leads a pummeling charge in “V” that’s more death than death-doom, but far be it from me to quibble. For “Come Forth the Swarm,” the Sin of Angels cover “Crown of Fallen Kings” and “Kneel upon Charred Remnants,” it’s just McCaffrey and Suzuki, and the dynamic is different and the recording rawer, but the bleak territory being explored has a similar root. Add on an unlisted cover of Celtic Frost’s “Return to the Eve,” and The Awaiting Coffins is even more of a sure thing.
Instrumental save for some samples, spoken proclamations and field recordings, Thrust/Parry was released by Belgian outfit OMSQ in limited numbers via Navalorama Records on CD to mark the occasion of a late-2014 UK tour, and it showcases an outfit of rare sonic adventurousness. Progressive, heavy structures unfold across three overarching movements in the 68-minute whole of the album, which at any moment makes shifts between dense riffs and crashing drums and exploratory washes of noise sound not only smooth but fitting, culminations like “North Sea” and 16-minute closer “4:48” as much about finishing a story as providing a sonic payoff, each cut serving not only the movement of which it’s component, but also the overarching flow of the record as whole. Stylistically wide open an unhindered by genre constraints, Thrust/Parry is a challenging listen that satisfies in proportion to how much one is willing to shift along with its changes in mood and style. Evocative throughout, it proves more than worth the effort.
Swiss five-piece Unhold trace their lineage back to an early-‘90s demo, but Towering (on Czar of Crickets) is their fourth album since their 2001 full-length debut, Walking Blackwards, and their first offering in seven years since Gold Cut in 2008. Something of an unexpected return from the Bern troupe, then, but not unwelcome, their Neurosis-influenced post-hardcore/post-metal finding renewed expression in the moody unfolding of “I Belong” or the tense bellow of the later, keyboard-infused “Hydra,” moments of triumph in ambient/crushing tradeoffs of “Voice Within” as guitarists Thomas Tschuor and Philipp Thöni step back and pianist Miriam Wolf takes lead vocals for a movement almost Alcest-like in its melodic course. Drummer Daniel Fischer and bassist Leo Matkovic are less a foundation than part of Towering’s nodding, modern-proggy whole, and it probably works better that way in smoothing out the various turns in extended pieces like the title-track or “Dawn,” which provides the apex of the album with the calmer “Ascending” and “Death Dying” as an epilogue.
Three words: Rock and roll. With Boston four-piece The Heave-Ho, it’s less about subgenre and more about paying homage to a classic ideal of straightforward expression. Dead Reckoning, the debut full-length from the lineup of guitarist/vocalist Pete Valle (ex-Quintaine Americana), bassist Keith “Barry” Schleicher (ex-Infernal Overdrive), drummer Dylan Wilson and lead guitarist Lawrence O’Toole, is eight songs (plus a closing radio edit, presumably for WEMF) of unpretentious rendition, steady in its delivery of grown-up-punker hooks and barroom rock such that, when Valle calls for “guitar!” prior to the solo in “Buffalo,” it’s entirely without irony or cynicism. Would be hard for “Thirsty Jesus” not to be a highlight on its title alone, but the lyrics also hold up. With a clean production style, centerpiece moment of clarity in “Afraid to Die,” and particularly riotous finish in “The Line,” Dead Reckoning has little use for stylistic nuance and a confident delivery across the board. Drunk as it is, it does not stumble.
Though Adelaide three-guitar six-piece Crypt title their debut release Kvlt MMXIV, it’s actually a Jan. 2015 release, a half-hour’s worth of stoner chicanery pressed up in a recycled-material digipak with a fold-out liner poster – the lyrics, yes, are written in a rune font – and the disc held in place by a piece of cork. The presentation of the songs themselves is no less off the wall, the lumbering “Green Butter” taking hold from the crust-raw opener “Siberian Exile” with unhinged low-end, drum stomp and some deceptively subtle airy guitar, and the weirdo blues howl of the following “These Last Days” only broadens the scope. Seems fair to say “expect the unexpected” since so much effort has been put into throwing off the frame of reference, but as the fuzz of “Idle Minds” and ambience into righteous groove of closer “Dead River” show, Crypt have more working in their favor than variety for its own sake, namely a fire in their delivery that burns away any slim chance this material had of sounding stale.
Ferocious death-doom meets with melodic atmospheres on Oceanwake’s second album, Sunless – a title that’s not quite a full summary of what the Finnish five-piece have on offer throughout the four tracks/44 minutes. Opener “The Lay of an Oncoming Storm,” also the longest cut at 15:35 (immediate points), shifts back and forth between lumbering brutality and sparse guitar atmospherics, and while one waits for the inevitable clean vocals that would put Oceanwake in league with countrymen Swallow the Sun, they don’t come yet. Instead, the track explodes into crashes and screams. Ten-minute closer “Ephemeral” holds the most satisfying build, but between the two, “Parhelion” (9:09) and “Avanturine” (8:03) manage to remind of the particular melancholic beauty of death-doom – including some of those melodic vocals – and how resonant its contrast of light and dark can be when held together by an emotional core as resonant as that of Oceanwake. Sunless is gorgeous and devastating, and not necessarily alternating between the two.
While one struggles not to be skeptical of any release in this day and age that opens with a “Radio Edit,” I won’t discount the quality of songwriting L.A.-based Lunar Electric display throughout their self-titled EP. Now a duo driven by guitarist/vocalist Dre DiMura, the band is highly-stylized but brims with a classic heavy rock swagger in “Bread and Circuses” (the aforementioned radio edit) and the subsequent “Moonlight,” a steady swing emerging in layers of heavy riffing and DiMura’s own croon, pushed ahead by the straightforward drumming of Kaleen Reading and the low-end heft of bassist Geena Spigarelli. They make a solid trio across “Moonlight” and “Sleepwaker,” which follows with its chugging break foreshadowing closer “Crossfire Child” (video premiere here) while building a tension of its own, though it seems unlikely that whatever Lunar Electric do next will have the same lineup because of geographic spread. Too bad. While young, and somewhat brooding, Lunar Electric nonetheless offer up a work of marked potential in their EP’s quick 17-minute span.
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 31st, 2015 by JJ Koczan
Even if you’re not entirely familiar with the bands themselves, you can probably tell from the monikers Grey Skies Fallen and Buckshot Facelift that neither act specializes in ambient psychedelia. Nonetheless, Tom Anderer and Rick Habeeb, who are actually bandmates in both groups, have splintered off — practically and stylistically — to form the new project Brave the Waters, which will make its debut on May 12 with the fittingly titled Chapter 1 – Dawn of Days. The plan is for annual releases and sporadic live appearances, presumably between work on the other bands, but you never really know how these things will work out when a band just gets going.
All the same, the first audio from the two-piece, which arrives in the form of the three-minute “Journey through Highwood Forest” is enticing and immersive, guitars spreading out and layering smooth and serene without the underlying tension one sometimes can hear when those who play extreme music — grind, death metal, etc. — branch into more atmospheric forms. I dig it. If it works out that way, I’d take a record of this every year, easy.
To the PR wire:
BRAVE THE WATERS: Duo From Grey Skies Fallen And Buckshot Facelift Creates Instrumental Act; Track From Debut EP Streaming
From the intertwined throng of musicians who hail from New York acts, Grey Skies Fallen, Buckshot Facelift and others, a brand new musical entity is born with BRAVE THE WATERS, as the duo completes their debut EP for independent release this Spring.
Producing a mesmerizing, ethereal brew of beautiful, instrumental movements, far removed from the tumultuous sounds of the extreme output of their other musical creations, BRAVE THE WATERS came together when Grey Skies Fallen and Buckshot Facelift bandmates Tom Anderer (bass guitar, acoustic guitar) and Rick Habeeb (guitar) decided to write and record some instrumentals in a stripped-down fashion. Improvisation and spontaneity were important aspects going in, and while bits and pieces of music were composed prior to entering Keith Moore’s since burned-down Audio Playground Studio, the vast majority of what appears on the band’s six-song debut EP, Chapter 1 – Dawn of Days, was written and recorded on the spot.
Containing six tracks of ambient guitar and bass that you will find very different from the duo’s main bands, BRAVE THE WATERS’ Chapter 1 – Dawn of Days sees pounding drums, intense death metal vocals, and immense guitar distortion completely abandoned, and here replaced with clean guitars, melodic bass lines, and a healthy dose of Strymon’s amazing Big Sky reverberator. Just in time for the Winter’s thaw, these winding passages inspire visions of lush nature and rebirth. Reminiscent of several styles at once, yet emerging as its own being, Chapter 1 – Dawn of Days is immediately comforting, almost familiar release.
BRAVE THE WATERS will release Chapter 1 – Dawn of Days independently through Bandcamp on May 12th, and in advance, the track listing, cover art by Travis Smith (Death, Opeth, King Diamond) and the EP’s fourth song, “Journey Through Highwood Forest,” have been revealed.
Chapter 1 – Dawn of Days Track Listing:
1. The New King 2. Interesting Times 3. Voice of the Ancient Oak 4. Journey Through Highwood Forest 5. Setting Up Camp 6. At the Old Stone Bridge
Anderer and Habeeb plan on continuing the BRAVE THE WATERS project with yearly releases and physical versions following the initial digital releases of their works. More info on Chapter 1 – Dawn of Days will follow in the coming days.
Live performances from BRAVE THE WATERS are likely in the future as well, but in the meantime, the duo continues to scorch the masses with Buckshot Facelift and Grey Skies Fallen, with both bands currently booking new shows and creating new material.
Visalia, California, four-piece Slow Season made their debut on RidingEasy Records late last year with their second album, Mountains (review here), and they’ve been hitting it ever since. Earlier this month, they were out with labelmates The Well and made a stop at SXSW, and in April they’ll be playing with Joy for Record Store Day before launching a US tour in May that starts with Grizzly Fest — held at the Fresno Grizzlies minor league stadium — alongside Fuzz, and a slot the next day at Psycho California with Pentagram, Sleep and about a million others. Not a bad way to launch a tour, and they’ll play with the likes of Mothership, Blackout, Zed, Goya, Hot Lunch and Sons of Huns on the road as well, so it’s not like it’s a letdown after the first two nights either.
There’s a reason I start with touring, and it’s because on tour is also where Slow Season filmed their new video for the song “Wasted Years” from Mountains. You’ll see banners for The Grotto in Fort Worth and The Lost Well in Austin as the four-piece of Hayden Doyel (bass), Daniel Rice (vocals/guitar), Cody Tarbell (drums) and David Kent (guitar) switch between one show and another the song, suitably enough, remaining the same all the while. The clip has a humble, DIY vibe — no computer graphics, no fancy production other than some snappy editing — but it fits with the natural vibe of the track itself, with its catchy but not beat-you-over-the-head-with-the-chorus hook and steady, welcoming roll. As vibes go, Slow Season‘s is an easy one to dig into, organic but unpretentious, and mindful of songwriting even more than aesthetic.
They were recently in the studio again, though I’m not sure to what end, but if I hear of a new release I’ll let you know. In the meantime, enjoy the clip for “Wasted Years” below, followed by the dates for Slow Season‘s upcoming tour:
Slow Season, “Wasted Years” official video
**STARS & BARS TOUR 2015** 5/16 – Grizzly Fest, Fresno w/ FUZZ 5/17 – Psycho CA, Santa Ana w/ Om, Sleep, Pentagram, Earthless, Pallbearer, BANG!, Radio Moscow, and more! 5/18 – Sweet Springs, Los Osos •¥ 5/19 – Blue Lagoon, Santa Cruz •¥ 5/20 – El Rio, San Francisco w/ Hot Lunch • 5/21 – Rock Bar, w/ Zed •¥ 5/22 – The Know, Portland w/ Sons of Huns • 5/23 – Christo’s, Salem w/ Sons of Huns • 5/25 – Urban Lounge, Salt Lake City w/ Red Telephone 5/26 – Three Kings Tavern, Denver w/ Cloud Catcher 5/27 – Foam, Kansas City 5/28 – The Scene, St. Louis + 5/29 – Cobra Lounge, Chicago +* 5/30 – Louie’s, Kalamazoo +* 5/31 – TBA, Columbus ¥ 6/1 – TBA, Nashville ¥ 6/2 – TBA, Birmingham ¥ 6/3 – TBA, Memphis ¥ 6/4 – The Blue Note, OKC ¥ 6/5 – Double Wide, Dallas ¥ 6/6 – The Lost Well, Austin ¥ 6/8 – TBA, Santa Fe 6/9 – TBA, Phoenix w/ Goya 6/10 – Brick by Brick w/ Great Electric Quest, Red Wizard, LOOM •w/ Blackout +w/ Dead Feathers *w/ Bone Hawk ¥ w/ Mothership
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 31st, 2015 by JJ Koczan
Led by “Minnesota” Pete Campbell, who now counts Pentagram on his already formidable resume alongside Place of Skulls, In~Graved, and the ever-volatile The Mighty Nimbus, the trio Buzzard have signed a deal to release their debut album on Bilocation Records. Titled Sonic Renaissance, the full-length will be out later this year via the German imprint on CD and vinyl. No specific date given yet, but sometime later this year.
As you can hear in “Let’s Get Gone” below, the band kind of runs a middle-ground between heavy rock and doom, but riffs is riffs as they say, and Buzzard‘s got riffs. The PR wire brought word of the Bilocation alliance:
BUZZARD (Minnesota) are signing with Bilocation Records.
Debut album release in 2015.
We are proud to announce that Minnesota’s riff-rockers BUZZARD signed with Bilocation Records for their upcoming debut ‘Sonic Renaissance’ on CD & limited vinyl.
BUZZARD is a down-tuned juggernaut of heavy riffs, groovy beats and a melodic low end. Fans of such bands as: Down, Kyuss, Fu Manchu, Queens of the Stone Age, Robin Trower, Mountain, Pentagram, Saint Vitus, Spirit Caravan, and Black Sabbath will find homage in Minnesota’s BUZZARD!
Formed in 2009, singer and guitar player Minnesota Pete Campbell (The Mighty Nimbus, Pentagram, Place of Skulls, Victor Griffin’s Ingraved, and Sixty Watt Shaman) and bass player Gene Starr (The New Suns) put this monster on hiatus until the fall of 2012 when Big Andy Campbell (The Mighty Nimbus) added his take on drum duties. Since then, the power trio has found their path and has been spreading the word playing shows & writing songs for their debut album, scheduled for release in early 2015. Leaving no stone unturned, BUZZARD will carry the torch of rock and roll and reintroduce metal fans to the power of the riff!
BUZZARD: Pete Campbell – vocal & guitar Andy Campbell – drums Gene Starr – bass
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 30th, 2015 by JJ Koczan
My only complaint about Brothers of the Sonic Cloth going on tour is I won’t get to see them. Beyond that, it’s good to see the Tad Doyle-fronted Seattle three-piece getting out in support of their Neurot Recordings self-titled debut (review here), which was released on Feb. 17. The album slays, if you haven’t heard it, and while I keep my fingers crossed that at some point this outfit comes east, I’m glad to know at least someone will get to have their ass handed to them, even if it’s not me just yet.
The PR wire puts it like this:
BROTHERS OF THE SONIC CLOTH: Seattle Doom Trio Confirms West Coast Tour
Seattle’s BROTHERS OF THE SONIC CLOTH — featuring legendary guitarist/vocalist Tad Doyle, formerly of Tad and Hog Molly, veteran bassist Peggy Doyle and drummer Dave French (The Anunnaki) — will bring their apocalyptic tidings to the streets next month for a long-anticipated run of West Coast performances. Slated to launch on May 21st on their home turf, the trek will quake eight stages through May 30th in Boise and follows the trio’s previously announced record release show at The Columbia City Theater in Seattle with additional live dates to be broadcast in the weeks to come.
Comments Doyle, “After having done our first U.S. West Coast tour back in 2012, we are stoked to be able to bring our songs out on the road once again to a town near you. We look forward to seeing our friends and making new ones as we trudge the highways with 1,500 filthy watts of amplification and drums big enough to be heard from the other side of a mountain range.”
BROTHERS OF THE SONIC CLOTH: 4/18/2015 The Columbia City Theater – Seattle, WA 5/21/2015 Chop Suey – Seattle, WA w/ Baba Yaga 5/22/2015 Dante’s – Portland, OR w/ Atriarch, Rabbits 5/23/2015 Starlight Lounge – Sacramento, CA 5/24/2015 Parkside – San Francisco, CA 5/27/2015 Sister – Albuquerque, NM 5/28/2015 Hi-Dive – Denver, CO 5/29/2015 Metro Bar – Salt Lake City, UT 5/30/2015 Neurolux – Boise, ID
Brothers Of The Sonic Cloth is currently available on CD or LP atTHIS LOCATION.
Posted in Reviews on March 30th, 2015 by JJ Koczan
I must be out of my damned mind. After wrapping up last year with a special feature comprising 50 reviews spread over five days, I’ve somehow decided that it’s not a bad way to do things. So here we are. It’s been three months, that’s a quarter of a year, so it seems only fair to have a Quarterly Review to catch up on some things that might otherwise have gone missed.
And that’s precisely what we’ll do. Between now and Friday, it’ll be 10 reviews per day, rounding up releases from the last couple months. Some are out now, some aren’t out yet, but it’s all recent one way or another. Like with the Last Licks 2014, I’ll be checking in each day as well. Should be fun to see how my mental status deteriorates over the course of the next few days, until my brains are little more than a stinky jelly dripping from out my ears on Friday. At least that’s how I remember it going last time.
So let’s go:
—
King Hitter, King Hitter
A North Carolina five-piece fronted by vocalist Karl Agell, best known as the frontman of Corrosion of Conformity for their 1991 Blind album – he’s also currently reviving that album live on stage with drummer Reed Mullin in C.O.C. Blind – the new outfit King Hitter reunites the singer with his former Leadfoot bandmate, guitarist Scott Little, and they test the waters with a five-track self-titled EP delivered via Candlelight Records. Crisply-produced, songs like “King Hitter” and “Feel No Pain” hit hard and gruff with just a touch of Southern heavy rock flair. The power of Agell’s voice is undiminished, but production is maybe too evident at times, and when they get down to the chugging “Suicide (Is the Retirement Plan,” politics meet personal perspective in a way that strikes deeper than might’ve been intended. Little and fellow guitarist Mike Brown, bassist Chuck Manning and drummer Jon Chambliss turn in worthy performances, but Agell’s command captures a good deal of the attention on this satisfying showcase of a songwriting process getting underway.
Because one invariably measures British anything in “waves,” we’ll put Oxford double-guitar five-some at the crest of the New Wave of British Burl. Omniscient is their third full-length behind 2013’s Horizontal Life and their 2010 debut, Forked Tongues (review here), and it arrives through Blindsight Records with all the brash Southern metal riffing and dudely bellow one might expect. Orange Goblin are an immediate name to drop in comparison to opener “Outlander,” but “Queen Reefer”’s quiet solo section adds breadth and the acoustic “Home,” the Clutchy “Night Bus Blues” and the stomping, subtle djentery of closer “Collapse of the Bison Lung” continue to reveal an extended palette. A richer listen than it might appear the first time through, Omniscient still revels in its heaviness on “Blue Snake Moan” and “Sway of the Tides,” etc., but changes like the tempo downshift in “Horizon” give fodder for repeat visits to Desert Storm’s howling third offering.
Welsh space rockers Sendelica feel out some pretty peaceful vibes on songs like “The Pillar of Delhi,” “Azoic” or the sweet-washing closer “The Hedge Witch” from their self-released cosmos-tripper Anima Mundi, but there’s no shortage of spaced-out push either in songs like the 12-minute jam “Master Benjamin Warned Young Albert Not to Step on the Uninsulated Air” and electronic-pulsing “Baalbek Stones.” An experimental spirit underlies each of the eight included instrumental cuts, elements like sax, synth, keyboards, theremin, flute and various effects intertwining throughout Anima Muni’s 54-minute sprawl. Quiet moments like “Azoic” work well, but I won’t take away from the buzzsaw tone or swing behind “The Breyr, the Taeogion and the Caethion” either. The truly fortunate aspect of Sendelica’s latest is that it flows between its individual pieces, putting the listener in a position of open-minded experience while working around and through various psychedelic impulses, carefully woven and balanced in the mix, but vibrant and exciting and loose-feeling just the same.
Of the 13 songs on Melbourne trio Drifter’s Desert Highways debut LP, Violent at Altitude, only four reach past the three-minute mark, and even most of those play off a fuzz-punk intensity, shades of Melvins weirdness and Nick Oliveri heavy punker charge showing up in cuts like “Cool Breeze” or the raw, open “Another Life.” Closer “So Long” is given another look from Drifter’s 2013 debut EP, Head (review here), which it also capped, but the feel across Violent at Altitude is that guitarist/vocalist Dan King, bassist/vocalist Troy Dawson and drummer/vocalist Dave Payne is exploring the place where grunge and punk met on pieces like “Bi Polar,” the relatively spacey “Devil Digger” and quick-blasting 1:45 rush of “Russian Roulette,” their tones mean and their attack primal in its overall affect in a way that belies the stylistic nuance at work throughout. You can listen on an analytical level or you can be steamrolled by “Drugs.” Your call. Either way, Drifter are gonna tear it up in accordance with the altitude they’ve apparently hit.
Sula Bassana’s performance at Roadburn 2014 was their first as a full band. The experimental psychedelic project of guitarist Dave “Sula Bassana” Schmidt (see also Electric Moon, Krautzone, Zone Six, Weltraumstaunen, etc.) came to life with his Electric Moon bandmates Komet Lulu on bass and Marcus Schnitzler on drums, as well as Zone Six’s Rainer Neeff on guitar, and the four jams of the live recording Live at Roadburn 2014 tell the tale brilliantly. Schmidt, who is quite simply among the foremost heavy psych jammers in the world, leads the four-piece through cascading movements, immersive and clear on record as they were in person, rich with a sense of improvised creation even if based on prior parts. Anything went, as the 18-minute “Dark Days” showcases here, with synth and guitar and heavy bass intertwining to a brilliant cosmic whole, Schnitzler’s drums holding the proceedings together wonderfully. Short at 50 minutes, it’s every bit as switched on as one might expect in a studio album from these players, blurring yet another line as they expand psych-rock consciousness.
To listen to opener “Still Alone” from Strange Here’s Minotauro Records raw second LP, II, one might expect that Alexander Scardavian (ex-Paul Chain) and Domenico “Dom” Lotito (ex-Hand of God) are presenting some loosely-swung classic doom, shades of Candlemass and Death SS filtered through heavy riffing and Scardavian’s gruff vocals, but that’s barely half the story. More is told by putting eight-minute tracks “Born to Lose” and “Black, Grey and White” next to each other, as they appear here. Following the opening duo of “Still Alone” and the echoing “Kiss of Worms,” the two longer cuts unveil a sound alternately diving into morose doomed march and spacious psychedelic flourish. That blend continues as the marching “Acid Rain” gives way to the acoustic/drone interplay of “Only If…”and comes to a head on closer “Shiftless,” a contrast of back-and-forth impulses played off each other throughout the 47-minute offering. There’s work to do bringing the sides together should Strange Here choose to go that route, though the lines drawn between make it that much easier to catch the listener off guard, which II just might.
Marked out by the jazzy noodling of “The Douche Bag Guru” and the funky bassline on “Drift,” the new self-titled EP from Dayton, Ohio, four-piece Once-Ler dates back a decade in some of its material, the track “Law Dog” having appeared on the band’s 2005 full-length, Entropy. It’s an unassuming rumble, sort of humbly produced for a garage-heavy feel, but the clarity of purpose in centerpiece “Swing the Leg”’s crashing progression is plain enough to hear, and opener “The Victim” is the longest cut at 6:43, earning immediate points. A prog-metal undertone in that track sets up some expectation that the EP veers quickly away from with “Drift,” but guitarist Burns, bassist Deininger, vocalist Reif and drummer Minarcek make a solid case despite the rough sonic edges in the recording. At 25 minutes, Once-Ler’s Once-Ler is enough to give an impression of where the band is headed and a demo-style look at what their progressive heavy rock has to offer.
Pummel, pummel, pummel. Vancouver trio Waingro debut at full-sprint with their 11-track/31-minute self-titled, which wastes little time shaking hands and goes immediately for the jugular on “Firebird.” About 10 seconds in, and the ride is underway with little letup to come as Waingro shove heavy tones along at breakneck speed on cuts like “Tailwind,” “Force Fed” and “Bathed in Tongues.” A remarkable sense of control lies beneath, the trio blending hardcore punk, heavy tones and modern metal twists fluidly as interludes like “Matador,” “St. Regis” and “Arboria” add complexity of method and “Rekall,” “Ride” and most especially side B cappers “Black Dawn” and “True North” brazenly craft something of Waingro’s own from familiar components. This album is self-released, but particularly if Waingro are able to tour at any length, it’s hard to imagine some imprint wouldn’t want to stand behind their brash but engaging thrust, professional already in its assured sensibility and rhythmic impact. The real question is whether they’ll wait around for anyone to notice or push ahead with the momentum they build here.
There’s little room left for frills amid the sludge-punk sneer of Motorgoat’s The Iron Hoof of Oppression, which makes no bones about its affinity for booze, metal and fuckall on songs like “Satanic Slacker,” which boasts the lines, “Trippin’ balls is total bliss/He don’t know what day it is,” and so on. Obviously there’s a humor element to “Revenge of the Towndrunk” and “No Pants – No Problems,” but the German four-piece have a sincere vibe as well as they recount loser tales in a viciously-toned punk-metal spirit, less tune-in-drop-out than tune-out-drop-tune, but it turns out heavy either way. Cohesive in spite of its stated penchant for chaos, The Iron Hoof of Oppression offers partytime disaffection that’s so prevalent it might as well be post-modern. After the world has ended, there’s nothing left to do but dance, and Motorgoat seem (mal)content to let their own hooves stomp the floor. An album that gets better when you read the lyrics. Don’t be fooled by how dumb they seem to be calling themselves.
The tell? The tell is the scream just before North Carolina foursome The Seduction move into the bouncing bridge on “Volga,” which launches their Mechanical Pig Records debut, You Catch Fire. From there, it’s pretty easy to hear the metallic vibe beneath their stoner-punk aesthetic. It comes up again in the breakdown for the later “Hell on Two Wheels,” but it’s there anyway, adding an aggressive edge to the record, which at 53 minutes has plenty of room for the breadth of the rocking highlight centerpiece “Flavor of the Weak” or the depth-charge of the penultimate “Starmageddon” – a few more screams there amid spit-out hardcore shouts – but it’s the meld of these with the party-pit vibe of “Daughter of a Holy Man” and “Irish Flu” that makes You Catch Fire effective in taking cues from some of the West Coast’s heavy methods – some Red Fang, some Queens of the Stone Age — and presenting them with a definitively East Coast punch.
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 30th, 2015 by JJ Koczan
As previously announced, Amsterdam proto-whathaveyou rockers Death Alley will release their debut album, the righteously-titled Black Magick Boogieland, May 19 on Tee Pee Records. The thrash/punk four-piece boasts ex-members of cult-rock forerunners The Devil’s Blood and underrated cosmic doomers Mühr (seriously, fucking listen to Mühr), but Death Alley has nothing if not a sonic personality of its own, flooded with choice riffs and classic metal and heavy rock ideals. We didn’t know much about the album before, other than that it was happening, and details have started to come down the PR wire with things like the tracklisting and cover art.
That cover art, which you can see below, pretty much says it all. Dig it:
DEATH ALLEY to Release Debut Album Black Magick Boogieland May 19
Amsterdam Speed Rock Heavyweights Sign to Tee Pee Records
Amsterdam’s heavy, punked-out, proto-metal outlaws DEATH ALLEY will release the full-length album, Black Magick Boogieland, on May 19 via Tee Pee Records. The album is the highly anticipated debut from the underground band featuring former The Devil’s Blood guitarist Oeds Beydals and ex-members of Gewapend Beton and Mühr.
DEATH ALLEY plays rip roarin’, heavy music that delivers a kick ass new take on an old school RAWK, mashing Motörhead and Black Sabbath to create a blistering, raw sound. The band’s music delivers relentless energy and maximum attitude! Black Magick Boogieland burns from start to finish, as super-charged guitars, electrifying leads and a raucous punk attitude race full throttle down a highway to hell.? DEATH ALLEY blasts non-stop, full-throttle, fast-n-furious rock action? that flies a giant middle finger in the face of poseur posturing. Thank the gods of heavy music, you’ve just met your new favorite band.
“It’s thrilling to release our first full-length on Tee Pee, to become part of a family of bands whose music inspires us and with people we know well,” says DEATH ALLEY front man Douwe. “It’s about time Tee Pee opens the gates to the Black Magick Boogieland.”
The sound of DEATH ALLEY has been described as “Rock ‘N’ Roll played with metal finesse and a pitch black psychedelic soul”. In 2013, DEATH ALLEY released the limited 12″ split single, “Peter Pan Speedrock vs. Death Alley”, which announced the group’s formation with a vengeance. The band’s debut 7″ — Over Under b/w Dead Man’s Bones — dropped last year via Van Records and was hailed as “a serious musical Rock ’N’ Roll statement.” DEATH ALLEY followed the release of the 7″ with an appearance at the 2014 Roadburn Festival and month-long European tour.
DEATH ALLEY Black Magick Boogieland Track listing: 1.) Over Under 2.) Black Magick Boogieland 3.) Bewildered Eyes 4.) The Fever 5.) Golden Fields of Love 6.) Stalk Eyed 7.) Dead Man’s Bones 8.) Supernatural Predator
