This is a site where I post reviews of CDs, DVDs, LPs, and concerts. I have been writing music reviews on and off since 1984. I ran a heavy metal fanzine from 1984-1988 called Metal Madness and have been a staff writer for Aural Innovations for many years. I have also contributed to Chrohinga Well (RIP), Bad Acid (RIP), Lowcut (RIP), Roadburn and a number of other zines as well. I recently moved to Portugal so please request the new address and do not send any music to Denmark anymore. Tak..
It had been three
years since I last played with Syreregn. I had seen them play a couple of times
in between, when Freddy from Fuzz Manta was briefly in the band. The new guitar
player Casper is really cool and great for the band. Sabine and I arrived with
all my stuff for the soundcheck at 17 as agreed but only the other special
guests, the people running the place and some from the Landsyn band had
arrived. It was probably after 17:30 before Syreregn showed up but all went
very smooth with the set up and soundcheck and then Langsyn used the same
backline and did a soundcheck and all was ready to go. We tried out 1½ songs at
the sound check and it was cool. I could have been louder in the monitor but
Casper felt like he was getting blasted since we shared a monitor.
There
was only about 20 people when Langsyn started about 20:50. Not many of their
friends or fans, it seems as most all these people were here for Syreregn.
Rasmus (Causa Sui, ØSC) and his friend Christoffer showed up and Janne from my
work as well. Langsyn apparently had been around for a wile and released a
record in 2010 but only in the last 5-6 months got back together again. They
sing all their songs in Danish and are really inspired by the 60’s beat music
like Steppenvulve, and also Bob Dylan (a lot). They had a lot of good songs and
people seem to enjoy their short set.
It
did not take too long for us to change over and we were on stage before 10. I
did not play the opening Overture or Hvem ved Hvad. Next, we would play the
entire new record, which I played on 3-4 songs. There was also Mattias joining
on hand drums and a sax player on three songs as well. We started with Skabt
værk with all the guests and this became a cool jam right away. This is realy
blues rock but I seem to find my place to make it more like cosmic blues rock.
Thor he writes really excellent songs. Going Under is a classic hard blues rock
with a great guitar solo. Marana Tha (they used to call it Østen) is a long
Indian inspired track in D that I really enjoyed playing on. Psykedelic Baby is
their new like radio hit, and I only made a few space sounds at the chorus but
people were really into this one. Hypnokongen the band has made a cool video
for, see the link below. Mirror Mirror is another older song and everyone came
bacak and this was a long 10min+ jam… Great show.. I had a fantastic time but I
had to run before the last band as I promised I would come to a 50th
birthday party of a friend. Great night and go check out this excellent new
album, which will be out next month on the Bilocation label in Germany…
Set List: Overture, Hvem ved Hvad, Skabt Værk, going Under, Marana tha,
Psykedelic Baby, Hypnokongen, Mirror Mirror
So when did Glitter Wizard first start and how did you get recruited?
Glitter Wizard was formed by
Wendy Stonehenge in Santa Cruz about 8 years ago. Wendy moved to the bay area a
year or two later and visited an oracle. She took his blood and read his tarot,
it was foreseen that Doug Graves and Fancy Cymballs shall be recruited to play
synthesizer and drums respectively. Filling in the rest of the band were
Gayngel on guitar and Arthur Tea on Bass. Gayngel eventually sprouted his wings
and flew to the gay heavens. Lorfin Terrafor soon replaced him on guitar. This line-up
released the first Glitter Wizard 7 Inch (Black Lotus b/w Witches Limbo) and
the Solar Hits LP. Shortly after the release of the LP Arthur Tea left the band.
The oracle visited me in a dream; her head rose out of flaming church and spit
tongues of fire at me as I lay tied to the ground. She burned off the ropes,
setting me free. My only debt to her was to join Glitter Wizard as their new
bass player and thus Kandi Moon was born.
How
does the band go about writing songs?
For most of the early material Wendy wrote the songs out on bass and would
bring them to the band. Wendy has a certain idea for how the song will go but
the band members write all of their own parts. If we get too off base Wendy
will guide us in a particular direction but we are never told specifically how
or what to play. As long as it is within the chord progression of the song it
is up to us. Recently, Lorfin Terrafor has been sharing the song writing duties
with Wendy. Similarly he will bring songs/riffs written on guitar to the band
and we will write our parts accordingly. The structure of the song is always up
for debate and can be altered. Some parts may be added or deleted depending on
the feel of the song. Things always sound different when you add three more
instruments and vocals to it. I contributed the song “Sunlit Wolves” to Hunting Gatherers and helped write most
of “Space”. It seems as we grow as a band the song writing process has become
more collaborative and will continue in that manner.
Clearly,
the band has a great sense of humor.. How did Hunting gatherers title and artwork concept come to life?
As with many of the things
involved with the band, both of these were Wendy’s brainchildren. Whether he
consulted the oracle again I do not know. He could have also been very horny at
the time.
You
just completed a crazy European tour.. can you tell me some of the stories, the
highs and the lows….
This was quite an endeavor.
One that has given us much joy and much stress. A definite highlight was
playing Roadburn, probably one of the greatest festivals that I have had the
honor to be a part of in my musical career. We played last at Stage 01 on the
first day of the festival to a raucous crowd. The show was wild and it was hot
as hell in there. The feeling was electric in that room and I think we rose up
and delivered and excellent performance. We played an awesome show in Kassel,
Germany the day before with Swedish/Norwegian shredders Brutus and partied all
night. Those guys rule! Another highlight was playing with our American buddies
Carlton Melton in Liege, Belgium at La Zone and raged all night. That was a
great show, Carlton Melton are an amazing band and seem to get better all the
time. We hit a rather large bump in the road in Vicenza, Italy. The bump was in
the form of a SAAB hatchback and the van was totalled. We were stranded in
Vicenza for three days and had to cancel the Vicenza, Budapest and Croatia
shows. Luckily the promoter Eric and his friends helped us get all of our gear
to a safe place and arranged a hotel for us. Our driver Simon, had to take the
train to Lithuania to grab a new van and after a couple days of not knowing
whether or not we would be able to continue the tour we were on the road again.
We played a rager in Berlin at White Trash and picked up some cocaine so we
were partying all night. The recording of our set was ridiculously fast and the
sound guy chose not to put anything in the PA except for the keyboards and
vocals and nothing in the monitors. We sang like deaf kids and the instruments
sounded like shit but people seemed to like it, so fuck it. The next night in
Bayreuth, Germany was a really fun show this awesome promoter Peter put on at
this squat/skate park/venue. We played really well and a good amount of locals
came out and were ready to party. The night didn’t end so well for me
specifically. All tour I had refused to skateboard claiming that I would hurt
myself. After we had packed up I headed to the green room to do a final double
check for any left behind gear. I had to walk through the skate park to get
there and my hammered brain decided I was going to skate the park. Bad idea. I
ate massive shit skating this quarter pipe and was pretty sure I broke my ankle
or leg. Lorfin and the rest of the band seemed to believe that I had only
sprained my ankle. I have a high tolerance for pain and when you’re drunk and
the pain is excruciating that is a very bad sign. They carried me to my hotel
room and my girlfriend, Alejandra, nursed me through the night. The next day we
had a 9 hour journey to Copenhagen. Mind you we have a completely full van, so
I had to sit up normally with my feet on the ground for 7 hours, I got to put
my foot up for 2 hours while we were on the ferry, and then back to the car for
another hour. The only pain killers I had were some IB Profin. We pull up to
the venue and the band goes in to check in. Alejandra checks my ankle and it
has swollen to the size of my thigh. I can barely keep my eyes open at this
point because I was in so much pain. We head to the hospital, I was hoping to
get some pain pills or a splint and play the show. The doctor takes one look at
my leg and sends me up to get an x-ray. Turns out I broke my tibia in two
places and my fibula, both of which are clean fractures and the only thing
holding my foot to my leg was skin and muscle. He told me that I would not be
playing at Heavy Days in Doom Town that evening and that I would need surgery.
The band had to play the set without me, but thankfully Dr. Space sat in on
modular synth and Doug playing some of my bass parts on synth. Wendy also
played bass on “Summertime”. I just listened to the recording yesterday and am
damn proud of the dudes, they pulled it together and played a badass set at a
doom festival with no bassist! All in all I spent 7 days in the hospital and
needed 4 hours of surgery with 13 screws to piece my leg back together. I have
been heavily medicated since then and am currently healing at Dr. Space’s place
in Copenhagen. The positive thing is that Denmark has socialized healthcare,
even for dumb foreigners like me, my operation and stay in the hospital were
completely free. I’m a dumb lucky son of a bitch.
How
many new songs did you play on the tour and what are they called?
I
think we played four new songs, “Death of Atlantis”, “UFO LSD”, “Fungal
Visions”, “Circle of Kings” and a cover of Rainbow’s “A Light in the Black”
that was new to us and quickly became one of my favourite songs to play.
I love this new one Death of Atlantis… it seems to be
much more complex and almost like prog rock, comments?
This
song truly unleashes our love for bands like Uriah Heap and is a good example
of the direction the band is headed. We have a couple new songs on deck
including “Smokey God” that take you on an epic journey, rarely repeating
itself throughout. I think we are progressing as a band and accordingly our
song writing and song structure are progressing. I am excited for the new
record and am looking forward to what we will come up with next.
Tell
me about your other band that you have with Lorfin, the guitar player from
Glitter Wizard?
Lorfin and I play in another
band Buffalo Tooth under the assumed names of Sean Grange and Greg Downing.
Lorfin plays drums, I play guitar and sing and our bassist Eric Kang fills out
the three piece assault. I would describe our sound as everything badass with all
the fat cut off. We have released two 7 Inches, our sold out S/T debut and a
split with SF prog\shoegaze shredders Creepers out on Under the Gun Records.
Better snag that one quick, because it is almost sold out as well. Our debut
full length, Gardeners of the Devil’s
Lettuce, will be out on Captcha Records by the end of the summer.
What other bands do the
other guys play in as well….
Every member of Glitter
Wizard has played in tons of bands, Doug Graves has by far the longest roster
of any member. As far as current projects go I think Buffalo Tooth is the only
one still active. Doug and Fancee are in the process of starting new projects.
Recently Fancee played in an outfit called Iron Witch and Wendy played in a
band called Fruit Stripe Band, but I believe both are not active anymore. Wendy
and Doug also play in a Hawkwind cover band called Ad Hawk and Doug has played
in a Devo cover band called Mongoloid for years, both bands are amazing cover
bands.
It seems that the people in
Europe are much more into the Glitter Wizard than the US, what do you think??
It seems that Glitter Wizard
gets more love in Europe, we definitely sell a lot more merch, get paid more
and people seem to be a little obsessed at times. We had two guys in Gdynia,
Poland that drove two hours just to see us! That’s insane, no one would even
drive 45 minutes in the states to go see us, not even our friend’s haha. We
also had opportunities to play several festivals on this tour, something that
has never been offered us in the states. I think Glitter Wizard likes playing
Europe more anyway, maybe the states can just fuck off. Too many entitled
pricks. When we played Roadburn, the next day we went to get paid and Walter
(Mr. Roadburn) heard that we were there and came down to personally thank us
for playing, told us how much he loved our record and that he would love to
have us back. Holy shit!!! That is amazing!!! He doesn’t need to say anything
to us, he runs fucking Roadburn but he did because he actually cares. Touring
Europe made us feel like we were actually doing something important whereas
playing in the states you end up feeling like a piece of shit slacker cause
that is what everyone is telling you that you are.
Greg at Roadburn...borrowed from the site..... www.roadburn.com
You guys only have toured on
the west coast of the USA or only in California (and now Europe)…
We have toured the full west
coast and the furthest we ventured east was to play Reno at a shithole called
Jub Jub’s Thirst Parlour a place I will never go to or play at again. We might
do a more extensive tour of the U.S. it all just depends on how things work out
with booking and what not. The Space Booking Agency says that they are
interested in setting up a tour for us so we will see how it works out. Until
then I need to heal my broken leg so it won’t be for some time.
Do you think you guys will
start recording the next record later this year?
That is the plan, we just need
to write about two to three more songs. Lorfin and Wendy say they have a couple
on the back burner so hopefully we can begin recording in the fall or winter.
Will you try to get back to Europe next year?
Without a doubt, this was
the best tour we have ever been on and I can imagine the next European tour
will be even better. Ricky from Sound of Cobra/Swamp booking is an awesome dude
and we would love to work with him again. Europe also knows how to party and
really appreciates music, I can’t wait to come back.
The link below is the tour diary the band wrote if you want to read more.. This is a great band it was so cool to play with them as well. Please support the band!
F/I
are a Milwaukee, WI based band that have been releasing strange and cool
psychedelic, electronic and space rock music since 1983. My friend Doug Walker
(Alien Planetscapes) was very good friends with these guys and had all the old
stuff and recorded me loads of their early electronic stuff and live gigs, so I
have heard most of their material. It is actually quite a few of the same folks
for the last many years keeping this going. The albu features 7 spaced out
instrumental tracks with a lot of really cool guitar by Brian Wensing and
Richard Franecki. Side A starts off with Fade to Orange. This has some hand
drums, nice acoustic guitars, and freaky sounds to start this record off. OnOff
is a sort of Hawkwind (blanga track) inspired track at least the way the guitar
and bass are played in this one, letting the far out synth sounds be the most
interesting stuff happening. A Medley of Kaleidoscopes ends side A. This track
has a heavy bass line, some flute and some nice lead guitar (panned to the
right side) and minimal drums and percussion (as they are mixed way to the
back). This is a really great track with a long guitar solo section at the end.
Side B starts with Fade to Purple, as short track with some cool layers of
synths and a nice spacey wah guitar with minimal percussion but it quickly
fades out after maybe 3 mins and into Gazing at the Nothing Box which starts
with a freaky sounding synth, almost disturbing as it gradually gains it’s feet
after a shaky start. This track is one of the more wild and intense with some
highly effected guitar and synths that really get into your head. Far out..
Incense and Kerosene features Richard on the sitar and this track features some
cool modular synths sounds as well and some nice bass playing. Keep the Third
Eye Open finishes off this psychedelic record. This track sounds like it would
fit in an old sci fi movie. If you like F/I you will dig this. If you have not
heard them before and are curious and like strange instrumental guitar and
synthesizer experiments try to give this a shot. This record pressed in only
200 copies and hand numbered so check out the web site as this is certain to be
rare one day..
Zagreb,
Croatia based psychedelic rock band, Fjodor are back with their first proper
release. I have seen this band a few times and my band also played with them in
Croatia. Super nice people and a very cool band. This record is basically one
long trip split into two parts, so get ready…
Side one starts slowly with some synth, bass and drums before the guitar
kicks in and things start to take off as Alojsa drives the pace. The band
spaces out for a time and there are some really nice synthesizers before the
band head into some really high intensity space rock and the rejse (travel,
trip) begins.. The next melodic section has some really cool bass and drums by
Mirko and Alosja. Dusan also compliments with a more dreamy synth line. Just as
you are about maximally spaced out, they kick it up into high gear again and
take off into the space rock again. Ivan plays some killer guitar but is mixed
a bit too low for my taste. I really like the last section a lot as well. Great
interplay between the bass, drums and then Fripp-King Crimson like guitar and
into a super psychedelic piece. Wow.. Very cool dynamics on this side of the
record. Same kind of vibe that Pyramidal, Arena, Øresund Space Collective get
into with these long jams.
Side two the band slowly brings
you in with a slow fade in of some nice melodic guitar, smooth bass and some
spacey synths as Alosa works the drums slowly up and the intensity rises. A
repetitive guitar riff that has a pretty hard edge takes the band into an
almost progressive rock like work out with a lot of intense drumming before the
band breaks out and the spacey synth sounds flood the soundscape and it gets
really tripped out. Eventually Ivan just lets loose with some crazy guitar as
well and the intensity rises to a near boiling point. They come down and there
are some really nice delay guitar parts for an extended section before the trip
ends with just drums… Excellent record.
Great work guys..
Purple
Hill Witch are a young three piece band from Oslo, Norway. They have previously
released a 7” picture disc on the Church Within label and now their debut full
length record. I saw the band play a really cool set of traditional early 80’s
NWOBHM inspired material so I looked forward to hear this record. The band
played many of these songs at the show. Queen of the Hill starts things off
with a slow groove that will remind you or either SLEEP (if you are really
stoned) or Witchfinder General (Black Sabbath) if you remember the early 80s!
These young kids really play well together and the long instrumental part in
the middle is very cool with some repetitive stuff but also some cool guitar
while still maintaining the intensity. Karmanjaka is a slower track but it has
a nice guitar riff and he sings in a sort of hypnotic fashion. Astral Booze
really reminds me of Witchfinder General, with both the vocals and guitar
sound. The band played this one live as well and it includes a small wah bass
part and also a good guitar break before returning to the stoney groove.
Aldebaranian Voyage starts with an NIB like bass line and a nice guitar solo
before the main riff kicks in. There are several short guitar solos in this
cool instrumental track and great bass playing as well. Final Procession speeds
things up again but keeps the sound and vibe totally in the early 80s. The
Landing mixes up the pace a bit and Kristian plays a ripping solo. The title
track and name of the band ends this album in a slow 80’s style doom but this
is the most diverse song on the album with some spacey delay guitar and a
harmonica section. Great song. The band really reminds me a lot of Witchfinder
General (all the good things about the band) and occasionally throws in a bit
of Angelwitch vibe. I think the band was really great live so for sure check
them out and this album if you like the NWOBHM style of doomy music.
Radio
Moscow is back and this is the first full length record with the new line up
(the rhythm section left for Sweden and joined Blues Pills). Let’s just say
that Parker has a lot of energy still left in his blues soul to spill out into
a hard rocking psychedelic blues rock record. I was a little disappointed that
both tracks form the Volcom records 7” appear here (Rancho Tehama Airport and
Sweet Lil Thing) and not more new music but damn, they are both great songs.
The record has a slightly less raw sound production than the last album, which
is fine. There are still lots of panning guitars and some effects to make quite
an intense psychedelic experience. So
Alone starts things off with a killer riff and groove and solo before the
vocals kick in. The track ends with an amazing psychedelic guitar solo with
cool panning and effects. Rancho Tehmama
Airport (from the 7”) is a bit slower at times and more melodic but still some
mean ass guitar parts and riffs. Death of A Queen like So Alone starts off with
a cool fucking jam before the real song takes over. This is a really awesome
Jimi Hendrix inspired track with a great guitar solo with some cool effects.
The entire band rocks! Sweet Lil’ Thing (from the 7”) is an acoustic track but
still down and dirty sound, slide and vocals. These Days takes the energy level
back up and another cool riff and groove kicks in. It is cool how for each song
he tries out a different effect pedal and sound. Now flip the vinyl over and
Bridges kicks in with a cool wah guitar riff with a mid pace. This track has
some double tracked guitars making it quite psychedelic leading into the
acoustic guitar section and then he plays some lead guitar over the top. Damn
cool song. Gypsy fast Woman Parker adds an effect to his voice in this really
smooth but still hard edged track. Parker really turns up the heat on the
guitar with some blistering sections mixed into the cool smooth flow of the
song despite the intense drumming. Got the Time is a short but really intense
track. Before it Burns is a wah guitar track with some quite psychedelic parts
and intense playing from all in the band. A few really cool effects are added
here and there and some cool double tracked parts that make this one o the more
wild tracks and he plays an sitar guitar like part as well. Awesome track.
Stinging is another track featuring acoustic guitar and a nice way to bring
things down. The lyrics are clearly about his old band mates and other
important matters in his life. I think you can safely say that RM have developed
a signature sound now. They reuse the same grooves and the vocal phrasing and
dynamics but still manage to sound fresh and dynamic. Another great record but
nothing really new..
The very cool
Greek Label, Cosmic Eye is back with another band I have never heard of from
Germany.. Like the Fjodor record, this one is also just one long trip split
into two parts (20 and 16mins each). Strap yourself in and prepare for a spacey
trip. The A side begins with some slow growing electronic sounds, gradually the
bass and drums drive a slow growing rhythm of spacey guitar lines and floating
synthesizers. Don’t be impatient, just relax and glide with the band, it is
this kind of music. The guitar slowly gets more complicated while he maintains
the repetitive and main riff but still leaving himself room to explore. It
almost gets a bit doomy and stoned out like BONG at the end, super spacey
stuff. Electric moon can also go in this direction. The end of the side brings
it down again with some more synthesizers that dominate. Cool stuff. Flip the
record over and we have a slow fade in of all the instruments minus the drums
to start. The synthesizers, playing a very cool spacey lead for the first many
minutes and then the guitars slowly lead the slow moving direction in another
way as he plays a very slow solo with some nice delay and other cool effects.
It slowly gets a bit heavier and the synth line that started it all off returns
as it glides down to its final landing place… Nice journey guys. I enjoyed it…
The
Italian four piece stoner rock band, Void Generator is back with their 5th
release. The CD features 7 tracks ranging from 3½ to 9½ mins. I think I have
reviewed all of the bands releases and this one has a different sound
production and feel compared to any of their other records. This one starts off
with the 8min track Behind the Door, it features a heavy distorted guitar line
and a spoken word like vocal for the first part. This track really gets great
when the guitar break kicks in around 5 mins for an extended guitar solo in the
far right channel while the band just keeps the cool groove flowing.. Awesome
track. Synapsex is a more organ based track again with a heavy fuzzed out
guitar in the left and the organ mainly in the right. No solos on this one.
Master of the Skies is a mid-paced slightly doomy 9½ min track. The vocals
remind me of someone, Chris Goss and Master of Reality, that is who. A slow
simple groove for most of the track, around 5½ mins Gianmarco goes for a slow
solo, with a Colour Haze like flavour to it, style wise. It has a long slow
fade out. What are you Doin’ features bass player Sonia on acoustic guitar (according
to the sleeve but it is hard to hear where?) and starts off with keyboards
before the main guitar riff kicks in and a totally different style of singing
is presented on this track. The organ is like in 60s horror film which gives
this track a totally different feel. Hidden Orbit makes the return of the heavy
distorted guitar. Universal Winter features acoustic guitar and is a really
beautiful track to fill the space between the heavy numbers. Global Cluster
ends this album. I really like this one as it is quite stoned and has the same
vibe as the opening track and a nice long guitar solo section but they cut it
off very abruptly just as I was totally into it. This is quite a different
record from where the roots of this band started. Glad to see them progressing
and not just doing the same thing.
This
is a very interesting book if you like Iron Maiden. A lot of things have been
written about this band over its nearly 40 year history but before this book, I
think it was pretty difficult to dig up what happened in the year before the
first album, when everything exploded for the band! Some of the songs like
Wrathchild are as old as 1976!
Iron
Maiden has always been Steve Harris’s band and always will be. He has written
the vast majority of all the bands material and also did in the early days,
perhaps even more so. A lot of people were in and out of the band for various
reasons; not being good enough players, not dedicated enough, too serious
enough, etc…. It was very interesting to hear how intertwined the early Iron
Maiden was with Samson. It was not just the Bruce Dickenson who came from the band
but also that their drummer Thundersticks, also played drums in Maiden and
could have had the job instead of Clive Burr but choose not to. Also, different
guitar players from Samson also played in Maiden.
A
large part of the success of Iron Maiden came from the true dedication and hard
work of the management team, which still works with the band today. These guys
were very focused, very professional, also they took risks but they worked hard
for the band, for the band’s vision and made one of the largest successes out
of the band in rock and roll history. This is clearly something so many bands
lack today, someone who is willing to take a risk, work really hard for a band
to help them and make it succeed.
Anyway,
you will learn a lot of cool stuff about the early days and how Dianno was
really a punk but liked the aggressive metal, while Steve hated punk rock but
clearly allowed some of that energy to enter into the early Maiden via Dianno.
There are not many pictures, a few ticket stub scans, concert ads, etc.. but a
complete gig list from 1975-1983, line up info, discography and some cool short
half page essays by Metal heads that were around at this time (including some
of my old friends, Bob Nalbandian and Jim Powell), which I found pretty
interesting. I could have easily been one of the people interviewed as well as
I had a HM fanzine called Metal madness in 1984-1988. I saw the band twice on
the Killers tour, met Steve Harris in 1981 in El Paso at the hotel, have fully
autographed ticket stubs from the 1980 tour, loads of old Maiden stuff
(programs, etc..).. I was a huge fan…. Cool book..
Timemazine
is a great magazine dedicated to psychedelic music. They usually have a CD and
a limited edition 7” coming with the magazine, which is the case this issue.
The CD features some cool and also unreleased music by some of the bands in the
zine. The 7” is by a band that is new to me called Manticore’s Breath. Some of
the interviews features in this issue include The Standells, Craig from Lamp of
the Universe, The Pancakes, Children of the Mushroom, The Roaring 420’s, The
Dead End Alley Band, Primevil/700 West, Afterglow and a few others. The
interviews are all very interesting and quite in depth. I always learn so much
from them. A lot of excellent record reviews as well. I highly recommend this
mag if you are into psychedelic music. The Mantcore’s Breath 7” is really good
as well and comes in two different colours of vinyl.
I
finally got this in the mail. They had several colours and I managed to get one
of the gold ones, which was made in only 70 copies and you also get the CD. All
the bands except White Hills provide 2 songs per side. The total time for this
release is only 50mins so some sides are pretty short. Naam starts things off
with an ambient remix of their track Skyscraper from their album Vow. It is
pretty psychedelic and spaced out. Thickening Web is a longer instrumental
track that is really psychedelic with some good dynamics. White Hills is next
with We’ve got Blood like you’ve Got Blood, one of the very oldest White Hills
tracks from a rare CD-R but this is a new remix version with some instruments
that were not on the original. I have most everything by White Hills but not
this so I can’t tell how different this from the original. This track is a very
psychedelic synthesizer drone track with some drums for 11mins. The original is
8 mins. Black Rainbows now bring the fucking rock back with Viper Tongue! Minor
Monster Galaxy Message is a mostly instrumental track with some super cool
guitar including slide and lots of delays and later some cool synths and
effects. This is the best track on the record for sure. Awesome stuff. The
Flying Eyes start off the last side with Golden Grey. This has a quite spacey
guitar and organ, much more spacey than anything I had ever heard by these
guys. Evil Little Leslie, borrows a bit of the riff from the classic Spoonful
to make a dark, groovy, moody song. This
is a pretty cool record. If you are in the mood for laid back psychedelic space
outs, go for the first record. If you want to hear some more rocking
psychedelic stuff go for the 2nd record… A beautiful gatefold
release..
It
has been many years since I heard a new Astralasia record but this is quite
different from the more commercial stuff the band was doing when I last heard
their material. This album features two long and two short instrumental tracks
and two shorter tracks. It also comes with an additional 7” record with two 7
min tracks. The first track is very dreamy with a repetitive synth line. There
is some guitar that comes in as well but it is almost entirely synth based.
Track 2 has a long build but then drums (computer) and some nice guitar kick in
as the tempo, which was built on a slow bass drone, is thrown to the side and a
cool track develops, but is still mainly synth based. It eventually ends after
15mins with some acoustic guitar and synth drones. The third track, features
some really cool space guitar, ala Steve Hillage style, amongst a sea of
floating synths and simple programmed beats. Beautiful… Track 4 has a pretty
psychedelic start and is very dreamy and floating with a lot of stuff happening
as it starts to grow (real flute or synthesizer?)… As this track grows, there
is some really cool slide guitar with delay played to compliment the computer
drums and synths. There is some lightly sung stuff going on under some windy
static towards the end of this track as it gets quite strange. Next are the two
tracks from the 7” record. This is the desert starts with some beautiful piano
and harmonica to set the mood. This is a super cool track with some great
guitar as well. The flip side again features some great spacey delay guitar and
is the most uptempo or close to what you could say rock track on the record
with what sounds like real bass although it is probably also done with
computers like the drums. A pretty cool release.
Dopelord
are a polish stoner doom band. I recently caught there concert at the Heavy
Days in Doomtown festival and it was one of my favourite bands this year. I
managed to pick up their debut vinyl (got one of the last copies) and this new
full length that they just released in April 2014. The band is a four piece
with two guitars, bass and drums. This album features 5 tracks starting off with
Addicted to Black Magick. “Come to the Sabbath” a bit cliché chorus but what
the hell, as the mix of doom and stoner rock, in an excellent sound production,
including some effects on the vocal here and there and a cool guitar solo. Next
up is what I would call their tribute to Electric Wizard, Preacher Eletrick,
which sounds exactly like EW, could even be a cover song and I just don’t know
it. Great guitar solo in this song. Acid Trippin’ is next a very doomy track
with some more fuzzy effected and spaced out guitar with slide. I love the
really cool groove they get going at the end of this one. Green Plaque is by
far the fastest track on the CD and it starts off with a cool bass line. This
is probably the most psychedelic track as Mroka plays some very cool guitar
parts as the rest of the band keep the very heavy vibe alive. Pass the Bong,
ends this stoner worship record in fine fashion with a long track with good
grooves. The stoners in the world will love this one.. Fire it up!
The
Finnish band, MPH is back with their newest and most ambitious release to date.
It was recorded between Feb 2012 and 2014. This is a monster double CD and
features a lot of really heavy but also atmospheric stuff with some spoken
words samples, minimal vocals, but some and just two long trips in around 2hrs.
It is very hard to describe a 60min track, but just go with the flow of the
slow building guitar drones, space sounds and eventually you are released after
about 10mins, the bass, drums and everything starts to take off into a massive
distortion field of repetitive, almost industrial dark music. By 16mins, the
sounds has dissolved into an eerie spacey zone, where little oxygen escapes..
By 25min you are in this sort musical trip that Dark Buddha Rising and BONG
create, doom drone space… by 35mins you
have reached a very peaceful place with a nice melodic guitar riff and a
keyboard solo is played for a while as it all slowly builds, very slowly and at
the 37min mark, the return of the monster space doom riff but then is all
starts to go into a really bad psychedelic trip and start to feel really
dangerous, you are getting lost, losing touch with reality.. Eventually, the
BONG like atmosphere returns with a cool flangy sound over the entire
soundscape at the mid 40 min time point. The song fades almost entirely out and
then returns with a short heavy section before a pretty psychedelic ending with
lots of spacey guitar parts and keyboards. That was a crazy 67mins of your
life.. Phew… Do you dare the 2nd CD right in a row??
CD2 is a bit shorter, 58 mins and starts in a
similar way as the first CD, but a bit more noisy and intense but with a really
cool shimmering synth sound as it all starts to grow. 8½ mins in, the BONG riff
kicks in but then a lot of other stuff starts taking you into this nightmare
realm again where demons sing, dance, prepare for feasting… the intensity dies
down around 15mins and a really cool riff starts up at 22½ mins that takes the
entire track and vibe in another more beautiful direction as it also has some
nice floating sounds complimenting it by the keys and other guitar.. It stays
without doom but deep in space well into the 40min mark, closing in on the end
of the dark psychedelic trip…
Agusa
is a new band from Malmö, featuring members of Sveriges Kommuner &
Landsting, Kama Loka and Hoofoot. The band is lead by Kommun2 record label
owner Tobias Petterson. Tobias plays the bass and is joined by
Jonas on organ and synthesizers, Mikael on guitar and Dag Strömkvist on drums (they have a great new drummer now).
The album is almost entirely instrumental except for one track and will take
you back to Sweden in about 1975! The album starts off with Uti vår Hage and
some beautiful organ and guitar. It quickly builds a really nice melodic and
dynamic theme of lush organ, dynamic drums and a cool groove. A low mixed vocal
also comes and goes. Fantastic organ and guitar solos and the sort of Swedish
folk theme comes and goes. Great track. Melodi från St. knut ends side B and
has a similar style melody as the first track but Mikael plays a fantastic wah
guitar solo on this track while the rest of the band maintains that great 70s
prog feel and groove. Cool song. Flip
the record over now and you will hear Östan om solen, västan om Måne.. It
starts slow and spacey, with some vocals in the background as it all slowly
builds up and the killer riff and groove finally kicks in and off we go! This
could be my favourite track on the record.. Stioen genom Skogen brings back the
forest organ Swedish music with another beautiful track! The vinyl version of this record
has really fantastic artwork by Peter Wallgren, who has done many covers for
artists from the label.. I really love this record and it has been fun to play
live with the band as well. Peace..
HDDT is back with its 3rd
edition and another great and very unique music program. While a few of these
bands played at Roadburn and the Desert Fest, this line up is really different
and also diverse but heavier… The organizers have done an amazing job and
remember this is do it yourself (DIY) festival, all volunteers run, organized,
etc… real amazing dedicated people pulling this together. The booklet has a lot
of great info and also explains the ethic of the festival and the organizers
motivations. One must really congratulate them on this. Great descriptions of
all the artists who create the posters, t-shirt designs, gallery displays, etc. There over 10 artists given detailed descriptions and involved this year, which included making some super cool imagery in the rooms and in the courtyard. Also, each band is given nearly a half page in the booklet with a picture and
good description of the band. On the excellent website you even get the
discography!
May 1st
21 I arrived at Loppen a bit too
late to see the artwork displays upstairs next to the restaurant. I got my
press card and wristband and started running into people from all over Europe
that I have met. Very cool to see people again. A decent amount of Roadburn
people. My friend, Jens, was spinning the cool records (The Golden Void,
Hawkwind, US Christmas, etc..) and getting people ready for the Swedish Space
rock band, Yuri Gagarin that were to
start things off at 22. I have the bands vinyl record and while I dug the songs, the sound production was not that great so I was curious to see them live..
YG
hit the stage right at 10 and blasted us with 4 nearly 10min each tracks. 3
were from the record and one was an untitled new track. It was really loud and
powerful. The synth guy has two old Soviet era synths from the 80s (I think).
Cool heavy looking… They really rocked the place with high energy space rock
and some great lead guitar by the guy on the right. He broke a string and took
5mins or more to change while everyone stood around not knowing what to do.
Usually, people are in a hurry to get the show going again but not this guy. He
was ready when he was going to be ready. The next track the other guitar player
broke a string but thankfully, he just left in the middle of the song and they
just kept on and he came back before the song was over and was playing again.
See the track below. They had to cut the
set short by one song due to the delay. This is a really great band. I loved their powerful space rock. I can't wait to see them again and they were also really nice people. Great set.
Set List: First Orbit, Untitled
new song, At the Center of all Infinity, The Big Rip
Switchblade are normally a duo but they
had the organ player, Per, who plays with Candlemass and Spiritual Beggars on
the organ and this for sure made things more interesting. The band played heavy
repetitive stuff with heavy almost but not quite doom guitar riffs. I only saw
and filmed the first track but it seemed like they just repeated the same theme
over and over again in like 3 min intervals 4x… no real organ and certainly no
guitar solo. I was really bored but this was also the description. At least the
organ or guitar player could do some solos to mix it up.. Anyway, people were
engaged and seem to be into it, so they must have an audience. It was too late
for me so I missed the heavy US duo, Evil Twin. I had to work the next day and
the Friday was a full schedule with bands starting at 17..
May 2nd
The buses were quite delayed and
I barely got there in time to see Oranssi
Pazuzu from Finland. There was already a good amount of people around and
the room got pretty packed. Damn, these guys were really LOUD… Bass was like
Conan or something to start but not the rest… I was standing with my friend
Jacob near the front. Sound was amazing. This is a very difficult band to
describe. Lots of cool spaced out synthesizers stuff, two guitars (not typical
metal sound, one was a telecaster!), bass and drums. The vocals are in the
intense black or death metal style but the music was anything but. Intense but
with lot of very interesting guitar parts and twists and turns.. I was blown
away by this. Very psychedelic.
Set List: Vino Verso, Uraanisula,
?, Thysä Temppeu, Olen Aulaissut uuden, Ympyri on viiva tomussa
Vidunder (Sweden), are a band from Malmö, who has some releases on
the Crusher label. They are very young and since they played here last in
Copenhagen, they have added an organ player with a cool old vintage Leslie
speaker. The room was totally packed and the band play well but unfortunately,
they don’t really offer up anything new for me as they just sound too much like
Graveyard, the way he sings, the guitar lines and sound. I really keep hoping
that they will develop more.. It will take them time to get out from under this
influence and now with the organ player they could really jam and develop these
songs. We will see.
Dread Sovereign (Ireland), was a three piece with a lot of
attitude. This was heavy doom metal rock and the band even did a Venom cover
(live like an Angel, Die like a Devil! The crowd really loved them. I was also totally
sucked into the vibe and enjoyed their entire set. I shot a video of one of the
songs.. Heavy Metal Lives!!!!!!!!
Leechfest was so packed in the dødsmaskinen that I could not even
get into take a picture. The music was super intense… phew…. Abysmal Grief from Italy, were a huge
surprise for everyone and I heard many thought this the best band of the
festival. They were a four piece group that played this uptempo hypnotic doom
rock with a lot of crosses on the stage, candles, the guitar player even had a
priest thing around his neck! The singer was really into it and intense and
played this organ in the style of the old Goblin soundtracks for the Argento
movies. I really liked them as well but after 4 songs they lacked variation.
Nearly every song was quite similar, in the style he sang, the way he played
the organ, etc.. Still a very cool band..
The US band Taurus had to cancel
their show due to pregnancy advancement and a Swedish band called Noctum (recently signed to Metal Blade)
filled in and man, they were excellent. They really took me back to the 80’s
with great songs that reminded me of Angelwitch or Mercyful Fate at times and
other great NWOBHM bands. The place was also packed the people were totally
banging their heads.. The band was super tight.. They ended their set with a
cover of Crystal Ball by Candlemass! It went down well. A huge surprise as
well.
Noctum
LOSS
LOSS was next but I did not see much of them as Glitter Wizard was having a crisis as
their bass player broke his ankle very seriously and was in the hospital so
they either had to play without him or cancel the gig. They had planned to
cancel but I spoke to them about Doug playing some of the bass lines on the
Andromeda and I could help out with the space sounds and so they decided to
play anyway! It was not planned at all but what the hell, I played with Glitter
Wizard and it was fucking fun. I knew a lot of their songs. As the band went to
go change into their costumes, I made some crazy synth improves for like
10mins.. People seem to dig it.. The
place was pretty packed with people and the energy up front was totally crazy
how people were going wild for these guys. I could not hear the guitar player
that well but I tried not to play the sounds over the vocalist. The singer,
actually played bass on the last song which was a long crazy jammed out track.
I think the whole concert was about 35mins or so….
Set List: Fungal, Worship the
Devil, Snow Crash, Motorider, Circle, Mirror Man and Summertime.
I was pretty blasted by the time
this was all over so I only heard one song from the Dwellers in Twilight. Room was filled and it sounded great..
Day 3
I was pretty damn tired to start
this day and had a short nap after lunch and headed out at 15:20 and I was
hoping to get there in time to see and record my friend’s band, Demon Head and we made it. It was their
7” release party and they had been playing quite a bit so were really tight and
had developed some cool stage presence since the first time I saw them, which I
think was their 2nd gig ever! They clearly have their local fans but
I hope some of the foreign people could make it this early to see them lay down
their early Pentagram influenced style of music. Thor is really coming a long
and developing a lot as a lead guitar player as this is something they really
need. Great grooves, cool songs, people were into it. I filmed the song that is
their new single.
Set List: Undertaker, Ventilate,
Revelations of April, Ride the Wilderness, Book of Changes, Demon Head, Master
of Confusion, Worthless slave to the Night, Sinister Purpose
Next up was Isole from Sweden. They were a four piece where both guitar players
and the bass player all did lead and harmony vocals, which is pretty unique.
They rhythm guitar player did most of the clean, early Candlemass style singing
while the bass player, did the more angry stuff. A really classic doom metal
style and sound but sadly the hall only had about 100 people but they were into
it and played 100% for whoever was there. There were some die hards up front
that new all their words as well…
Dopelord from Poland were next in the small hall and this was
described as stoner doom with a spacey edge and that was exactly what it was. The
room was packed and the band had their own projector with a movie and images
that they showed onto the black backdrop. There was a lot of stoners and smoke
for these guys and they totally delivered the goods. I thought they were
awesome. The sound guy could have mixed the lead guitar player, who played all
the cool parts a bit louder though. They played one song from their debut album
but all the rest of the songs were from the new one that just came out in
April. I will review it in a few weeks. Anyway, they were great and ended the
set with a really stoned some in which the entire band smoked a joint and then
kicked into their track called Pass the Bong!
Set List: UFO, Addicted to Black
Magick, Ghost, Acid trippin’, ?, Pass the Bong
The US band, The BODY was next, a duo that plays super intense stuff. I heard
they blew everyone away at Roadburn. Place was pretty packed but I needed an
ear rest so I sat outside and heard them and spoke to some different people
from Sweden and Holland.
Witchsorrow (UK), a band from the Rise Above label, were here
playing their first ever show in Denmark. I was not sure what to expect but
they were really good. Especially the main set. They are a three piece with a
female bass player and intense drummer. The guitar player was also a really
good singer for this style of music and passionate. He also occasionally played
some ripping solos but a bit too few. They had excellent dynamics. The last
song they played was a new one and it was a bit boring actually and too long. I
think people were really into it before then, but still a great show.
Set List: Aurora Atra, God curse
Us, Trial of Elizabeth Clarke, Love, Freezing Moon, Mysteries
Graves at Sea was next in the big
hall and the place was the most packed I had seen for any band at the festival
and the sound was massive. They are a really intense band with a powerful
singer, some killer guitar riffs and just pounding bass and drums and very
fucking angry! This kind of stuff I can only handle in small doses but the
people were totally into as they got blasted for an hour. Phew…
Nightslug played a super loud sludge show in the packed small hall.
I was outside chatting with TJ, the singer from Sourvein, who stayed at my
place some years ago when the toured with Church of Misery. Really nice
people..
Sourvein was next and then it would be Skepticism from Finland but I was just too damn tired to see the
rest so Steve and I headed home.
Day 4
The Copenhagen Record fair is
today so on the way to the festival I had to take some record to the dealers.
Me with the Sourvein Guys
14:30 Arrived early so I had some
time to chat with the guys in Sourvein, go see the artist displays in the
gallery they created at the local library. Lou (Halfway to Gone, Sourvein, and
5 Horse Johnson) was a super cool guy and he actually has diabetes and takes
the medicine that the company I work for makes and it has changed his life he
said! We had some great conversations as he is really tight with the guys in Monster Magnet all their music projects.
16 Whitehorse from Australia hit the stage at 4 and there was not that
many people at the festival yet but a decent crowd. This is one hell of an
intense band. The singer looks fucking mean and angry and has a powerful voice.
The bass, drums and guitar are just powerful heavy riffing stuff and one guy
making strange white noise sounds from time to time. The bass player he was
getting some real stretching exercise and he would jump-lunge forward with the
intensity of the music. Phew.. Powerful, intense, heavy as hell…
17 Purple Witch Hill was a totally new band for me from Norway. They
have a new record (June 2014) and a 7” out on the Church Within Label. Young
kids but nice. The guitar player and singer reminded me of James Hetfield, the
way he looked, not sung. The band really took me back to 1980-1982 era of the
Neat Records when I used to listen to the NWOBHM 7”s in my bedroom. He room was
pretty filled up and they played a solid set. I think their main weakness is the
vocals but he is not bad, just really learning how to find his way to project
his vocals. They had a lot of good songs and nice dynamics. They finished their
set off with a cover of Witchfinder General.
Set List: Karmansaka, Queen of the
Hill, Astral Booze, Untitled, Alchemy, Aldebaraniad Voyage, The Final
Procession, Doomsday Calling, Witchfinder General
18 OF the Wand and the Moon are a Danish band with strings, acoustic
guitar, keyboards, etc.. This was a very nice change and I think people liked it
a lot. They have played around in Copenhagen but I had never seen them. I could
see that had made several records and a DVD. The drum rhythms were very
interesting and they had a laid back vocal and they started quiet but really
grew in intensity but the songs were all quite short.
Set List: A Cancer called love,
Here’s an Ode, Tear it apart, Sunspot, A pyre of black sunflowers, Absence, lost
in Emptiness, Lucifer, My Black faith, I Crave for You, We are Dust, A Tomb of
Seasoned Dye, The Lone Descent
19 Goatess are a cool stoner rock band from Sweden featuring Christian
(Lord Vicar, Terrafirma and others) on vocals. I saw them at Roadburn and
really liked them a lot but for them that was not a very good show, while today
they felt it would be much better. They were insanely loud to start with and
the bass was just so massive you could not hear the guitar. I was recording
right behind the mixer guy and we talked about it and I ended up going up and
telling the bass player he had to turn down his amp as the sound guy could not
turn the guitar up anymore at the soundboard. Eventually, the sound balanced
out and they did a great show. They played one new song at Roadburn called
Shadowland but they played one more new one today and that was great. People
really dug it.
20 Sabbath Assembly was next and they did not have Jex Thoth of vocals
but the lady from hammer of Misfortune. She was intensely tattooed and also
played the bass. This band had a really cool and interesting vibe but sadly
their music did not evolve enough for me or a lot of people as they had a big
crowd to start but it got smaller and smaller as people did not stay engaged. It
is very nice music. I liked the tubular bells that the drummer played with
small hammers.
21 The Graviators are a Swedish band I have been following and also
corresponding with since the early days of the band but had never seen live. I
was really up for seeing these guys and they did not disappoint. This was the
last night of their 2 week tour and they were pumped! I am not sure what the
set list was but it was great. A lot of diverse songs and intense vocals, great
guitar solos and use of effects and the last song they dedicated to me and it
was long jammed out track, a bit like
Grand Funk! Awesome concert..
22 Baby Woodrose were a very cool and different choice for the
festival and great that they come out and support the event. I was wondering if
they would go for a more heavy set and sure enough they really did. In fact,
this was one of the best Baby Woodrose shows I have ever seen. Guf was totally
in the zone and played killer psychedelic guitar! He writes such cool songs and
is a great singer and frontman.. People were totally into it as they jammed out
on several songs starting with Here Today.. What a concert.. Awesome sound as
well.
Set List: Information Overload,
What a burn, Disconnected, Let yourself Go, Here Today Gone Tomorrow, Nothing
is Real, Volcano, LCD, Light up, Did you get what you want, A child of a few Hours, Born to Lose
Uzala
23 Uzala are a three piece from the Idaho in the USA. I spoke with the
guitar player on several times and he was really cool and was at the festival
for most of the days. They also have a female singer that also plays guitar and
very intense drumming. I don’t know who to describe them but some sort of acid
metal. She sings really well, one of the best female voices we had at the
festival. It was very loud and intense so I heard most of the show from
outside. People dug it for sure.
Windhand
24 Windhand, is a band that I have heard a lot about and I heard their
show here last year was great. I missed them at Roadburn and was hoping to hang
in there and see them this time and I did manage to catch a few songs before
heading home after a great festival. The room was packed for them and they had
a huge wall of sound and channel a vibe like Electric Wizard, whom, so many
bands try to emulate these days but they have a charismatic female singer. The
first two songs of the set sounded nearly identical. They next, they took it
down a bit. The lead guitar player on the right played some cool solos. I am
sure I would have dug it more if I had stayed for the whole show…..
Well,
that was it for Heavy Days in Doomtown 2014.. I think it was a great success
once again. A great vibe, excellent diversity of bands all playing really well
and the same cool community and environment that draws people. There were
certainly less people this year but still at least 500 people so if everyone
went into the main hall, it was totally packed. If there were finance issues,
they should probably just try to be stricter about people bringing in their own
beer and wine, as the prices are really cheap anyway. Congrats to Daniel and
all the organizers for putting on this killer festival… Awesome…
