Photos by Wayne Edwards.
© Wayne Edwards
Photo Gallery: Bassists, Part 1
Stoner
Vitskär Süden, The Faceless King (Ripple 2022)
Los Angeles doom tripper foursome Vitskär Süden unleash their new album, The Faceless King.
Vitskär Süden create a measured kind of progressive rock that is encompassing and immersive. You can feel that on their first album, but on the new one the effect is far stronger. I will talk about it a little here, but truly you must listen to it to know what it is. The band is Martin Garner (bass, vocals), Julian Goldberger (guitar, keys), Christopher Martin (drums), and T. J. Webber (guitar).
The saga begins with “The Way,” told in two parts. Imagine a renaissance fair and think about what might be going on around the edges of it. The dark edges. The risky edges. The misty edges. Slow to middling in pace, with a beating heart propelled by, well, we cannot be sure. Quiet with an underlying expansive power. Thrumming, pulsing. At the wrap you are pretty sure it is not truly over. Next is “Archdiocese Of Worms,” which is louder and more directly menacing. It is more upfront about the threat, you might say, than the earlier movements. The whispering is still there, the quiet singing, yet here it takes a more determined stance. “Voices From Beyond The Wall” is positively dreamy by comparison.
“Shepherds On The Roadside” is a long song, a solid bridge. The bigger story to me from side two is the shorter next song. “Bonedust And Dark” rests on evil, dark whispers and a beautiful Floydesque guitar opening. My favorite track on the album, its resonance is more than aural and physical. Sit with the lyrics for a minute, these words that are spoken as the music begins … “Enveloped by nebulous shadow of sin / Flame and avarice spat from a serpentine tongue / Now lost to the endless dunescape of bonedust and dark / Allow these whispers, these incantations / To usher this dying ember back from The Deep / Back to the world of men.”
“The Broken Crown” brings the story to a close, places the body down and lets it be. And again, here again, it does not seem like the end. This is music you get lost in, not in the sense that you do not know where you are but in the manner of being integrated into its presence while you listen. This kind of thing does not happen with most music. Recommended.
The Faceless King is out now through Ripple Music. Listen.
Links.
Vitskär Süden website, http://vitskarsuden.com/
Bandcamp, https://vitskarsuden.bandcamp.com/album/the-faceless-king-2
Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/vitskarsuden
Ripple Music, https://music.ripple-music.com/landing
© Wayne Edwards
Captain Caravan / Kaiser, Turned To Stone Chapter 6 (Ripple 2022)
Captain Caravan and Kaiser split vinyl sides on Turned To Stone Chapter 6.
A new chapter in Ripple Music’s Turned To Stone series of splits is always something to look forward to. On the latest, Chapter 6, you can get your fuzz on with Norway’s Captain Caravan and Finland’s Kaiser.
Captain Caravan started in 2015, releasing their first full-length album three years later. They play a heavy brand of stoner music with plenty of fuzz and a charging rhythm. A good example of this is the first track of the five they contribute to the split, “Down.” It is a raucous affair, and is followed directly by the groovy number, “Sailors.” “Painted Wolf,” on the other hand, has a more measured pace. “She Can” casts a bluesy tinge and the closer, “Void,” will bring out the wicked in you. All five tracks are killers and, when it is done, you’ll want to drop the needle at the start and hear all five songs one more time before flipping the record over.
Kaiser has been around for about ten years, laying down trippy stoner vibes all the while. They put out an early EP, and then their debut long-player 1st Sound (2018). The music on the new split is excitingly variegated. The set opens with “Howl,” which is a thinker with an intriguing intro. “Fire” follows and it is a two-and-a-half-minute rocker that stomps and rages. “Black Sand Witch” has a doomier feeling to it and at the same time maintains considerable momentum. There is also a blistering lead guitar break in there. The final piece is the epic “Phoenix,” in three movements. Running over nine minutes, this song is very different from the others while still containing familiar elements. It is entrancing, bewitching, beguiling.
Turned To Stone Chapter 6 is out now through Ripple Music, and we highly recommend it. Check the links below to see if any of the physicals remain. There is always digital, no matter what. At Bandcamp, you can subscribe to Ripple Music and get all their new releases plus a massive tome of back-titles, too. It is the best deal in heavy music, and you will find out about new releases in time to grab the ones you want on vinyl or CD, and listen to it all on digital, too.
Links.
Bandcamp, https://ripplemusic.bandcamp.com/album/turned-to-stone-chapter-6
Captain Caravan website, https://www.captaincaravan.com/
Captain Caravan Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/CaptCaravan/
Kaiser Bandcamp, https://kaiserfuzz.bandcamp.com/music
Kaiser Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/kaiserfuzz
Ripple Music, https://music.ripple-music.com/landing
© Wayne Edwards
Witchfinder, Endless Garden (Mrs Red Sound 2022)
Hazy stoner doom band Witchfinder cast out their new EP into the world, Endless Garden.
Just a few years ago in France, Witchfinder began creating music with hallmarks of doom, sludge, and heavy psych. Leaning toward the stoner end of the room, they released two full-length albums, a self-titled one in 2017 followed by Hazy Rites in 2019. There is a new long-player on the horizon, and meanwhile they offer Endless Garden. Witchfinder is Clément Mostefai (vocals and bass), Stanislas Franczak (guitar), Thomas Dupuy (drums), and Kevyn Raecke (keys).
There are two long tracks on the new EP beginning with “Eternal Sunset.” Any song that runs nearly eleven minutes will have some change-ups, or an arc, or both. Here we have a quiet opening, reflective music establishing space to expand into. Guitars and keys arrive in due course. There are moments that seem like self-contain songs themselves, and other, longer stretches that feel like a movie soundtrack. The vocals are spacey, almost cavernous at times, adding depth and mystery. The hallmarks of riff-driven stoner rock never stray too far from focus.
“The Maze” starts with a wandering bass, paired with a guitar that looks in a different direction. The mood here is darker than on the first song, instilling trepidation in the listener. The vocals offer what seems like a warning, or at least a sinister tale to put you on your guard. Decisive plodding appears, and is like a marching force on a mission; they will not be swayed. There is a sudden, violent shift at the end, an abrupt black metal moment that signals the conclusion of the conflict.
The band has planned a full-length album for later in the year. These two songs will hold us over until then. It is also a rewarding enterprise to listen to Witchfinder’s earlier albums in the interim. Recommended.
Mrs Red Sound will release Endless Garden on Friday, June 3rd. Bandcamp is a good stop when you are looking for this music.
Links.
Bandcamp, https://witchfinder.bandcamp.com/
Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/witchfinderdoom
Mrs Red Sound Records, http://mrsredsound.com/
© Wayne Edwards
Sergeant Thunderhoof, This Sceptred Veil (Pale Wizard 2022)
British stoner metal band Sergeant Thunderhoof stomp the terra again with This Sceptred Veil.
Sergeant Thunderhoof has been around for nearly ten years, and in that time they have released three previous full-length albums, an EP, and a split. It was that split I heard first, actually, Ripple Music’s Turned to Stone, Chapter 2: Masamune & Muramasa where they shared a side with Howling Giant. I was captivated by the more-than-twenty-minute song and since have sought out more at every opportunity. This Sceptred Veil is the best music they have produced to date, as far as I am concerned.
There are nine tracks on the new album. “You’ve Stolen The Words” is a wakening. The heavy fuzz arrives almost immediately, conveying the distant mercurial voice, ever melodic and punctuated now and then with exceptional exertion. This is desert stoner music but high plains, I must insist, with mountains near enough by to have an influence. I can feel melancholia in the song.
“Devil’s Daughter” comes next, and it is a little more actively probative, and, additionally, oracle-like. The riffs conceal the solemn thunder leeching from the dark grey clouds edging nearer, largely unnoticed atop the foothills in advance of the spiritual lead guitar line. Fantastic. And then with not a moment to gather yourself, “Absolute Blue” surrounds you with its silken folds. The first three songs establish the necessity that the next six songs be heard.
The album is marvelous – a wondrous, heavy fuzz presence that pulses and undulates and lifts you away. “Foreigner” is filled with power and “Woman Call” is extra bluesy. Every song makes important and impressive use of guitar, and still “Show Don’t Tell” stands a bit apart on that front. The final passages are “Avon & Avalon Parts I & II,” together running over eighteen minutes – could be a full album side. These two deserve a separate review unto themselves (but sadly will not receive it here). Coming where they do in the set, the impact is significant as the story emerges and the mysticism unfolds. This album is amazing, and I hope it reaches the ears of all the people of the earth. Highly recommended.
This Sceptred Veil is out on Friday, June 3rd through Pale Wizard Records.
Links.
Bandcamp, https://sergeantthunderhoof.bandcamp.com/album/this-sceptred-veil
Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/sergeantthunderhoof
Pale Wizard Records, https://palewizard.bigcartel.com/
© Wayne Edwards
Cities Of Mars, Cities Of Mars (Ripple 2022)
Heavy fuzz doom trio Cities Of Mars self-title their third long-player.
Sweden’s stoner doom band Cities Of Mars began in 2014, releasing an EP, Celestial Mistress, a couple year later. The music falls squarely in the land of doom, but the subjects and trajectories of the compositions align with the stars. Joining their first two full-length albums, Temporal Rifts (2017) and The Horologist (2019), the new record continues the sure-footed journey. The band is Danne Palm (bass, vocals), Johan Kuchler (drums, vocals), and Christoffer Norén (guitar, vocals).
“Before The Storm” is a beautiful spacey opening for the album. Patient, building slowly, the song introduces an ethereal voice signaling the beginning of the journey and, importantly, the need for it. Gentleness gives way to heavy doom guitar riffs on “Towering Graves.” The vocals are still mysterious but much more menacing now. The massive riffs continue on “The Prophet,” growing tall enough to block out the dim setting sun on the red planet.
“Song of a Distant Earth” is an acoustic piece; a mood shift before the devastating “A Dawn of No Light.” The tempo picks up and the rhythm is more assertive, and the lead guitar freer in its explorations. “The Dreaming Sky” has a forlorn quality to it. Harmonizing vocals and melancholy guitar lines waken suppressed feelings. “Reflected Skyline” is an airy piece, and sad, too, in my hearing.
“The Black Shard” is the twelve-minute final word on the album. In some ways you could see it as a reinterpretation of the ideas earlier expressed. You could also see it as a furthering of those notions. It is an exceptional piece and, if nothing else, you should listen to this one. It has many powerful moments, and regular returns to altered pace, attitude, and sentiment throughout. Much like the album in its totality. Recommended.
Cities Of Mars is out now through Ripple Music. Bandcamp is always a good place to pick up the goods.
Links.
Bandcamp, https://ripplemusic.bandcamp.com/album/cities-of-mars
Website, http://www.citiesofmars.se/
Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/citiesofmars
YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCavaUFPTEDKYjAxJ8Qapbeg
Ripple Music, https://www.ripple-music.com/
© Wayne Edwards
Wo Fat, The Singularity (Ripple Music 2022)
The seventh album from Texas stoner doom band Wo Fat is a world of its own, The Singularity.
Wo Fat hit the ground running with their first album The Gathering Dark (2006). It is legendary now, and it set the stage for a blistering run of records including Psychedelonaut (2009), Noche del Chupacabra (2011), and The Black Code (2012). The band plays psychedelic stoner doom rock that sounds like it was anointed by the cosmos. The new album is another chapter of astonishing guitar-based music that beguiles the listener and holds them in its sway.
The new album has seven big tracks, with a run time averaging over ten minutes each. You can hear “Orphans of the Singe” in the distance. As the music gets closer, you bend toward it and fall in. Down the rabbit hole. This is desert groove jam music; sounds that way to me. There is magic here, the kind that coalesces from nowhere just as the sun is disappearing beyond the horizon. Incredible jams over inspired rhythm. And then some.
I don’t know how it is possible to be so engaging over such a range with this level of endurance. It just keeps getting better as you listen. Skipping ahead a couple of tracks (about twenty minutes or so), “The Unraveling” claps its sinewy hands on you and gives you a good shaking. It is an up-tempo, high energy push. “The Witching Chamber” follows and you feel enchanted but not inveigled. Riffs bigger than the Mississippi is wide form an encampment where you could live for the rest of your days if you wanted.
How could there be more? Then the title track queues up and you know that you are still in it and the journey is not over yet. “The Oracle” ends the set on a sixteen-minute parable of psychedelic swamp doom that has no peer and faces no rival. The musicians have a breathtaking command of composition, improvisation, instrumentation, and elevation. I feel bad for anyone who has not heard this album yet. Highly recommended.
The Singularity is out now through Ripple Music. Check them out on Bandcamp or the Ripple site. What you should really do is subscribe to Ripple Music on Bandcamp – if you had done that, you would have The Singularity already.
Links.
Website, https://wofat.net/
Bandcamp, https://wofat.bandcamp.com/
Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/wofatriffage
Ripple Music, https://www.ripple-music.com/
© Wayne Edwards
Ruby The Hatchet, Live At EarthQuaker (Magnetic Eye Records 2022)
Ruby The Hatchet drops a 7-inch teaser – Live At EarthQuaker – anticipating a new album later this year.
Love at first listen is the way I would describe what I think of Ruby The Hatchet. The first music I heard from the band was Valley of the Snake (2015) and it sent me down the rabbit hole to find everything else that existed by them. The music is lush psychedelic rock, heavy and smooth and soulful. Jillian Taylor’s vocals are haunting and unforgettable, and the guitar-driven environment is one of a kind. The most recent long-player was Planetary Space Child (2017) and that one also still gets heavy rotation at the Shardik Media offices, I can tell you.
The new record has three songs. Two of the tracks are early versions of songs that will be on the upcoming album emerging later this year, and they were recorded live in Akron, Ohio at EarthQuaker Devices – that’s the maker of the pedals Ruby The Hatchet and so many other bands use for tone and effect. The third is a cover of the Uriah Heep standard “Easy Livin’.”
“1000 Years” opens quietly and has a steady build with endearing plateaus. The guitar line is a somber affair, urging drama toward the end. “Primitive Man” is a trippy number that lays on the smooth and rolls up a few rapid punches for you, too. Apparently, these are initial versions of songs that will be on the upcoming album, but they sound finished to me – more great Ruby The Hatchet music.
“Easy Livin’” popped up in 2019 as a stand-alone single. You know the song and, while you can probably imagine what it might sound like when Ruby The Hatchet sings it, the real thing is even better. It is nice to have this take wrapped in with the two new tracks.
Live at EarthQuaker is out now through Magnetic Eye Records in CD, vinyl, and digital. Ruby the Hatchet is on a mini tour right now, bookending with shows opening for Candlemass. See them whenever you can, and make sure you get to Las Vegas this year for Psycho Las Vegas as their performance is certain to be a highlight.
Links.
Website, http://www.rubythehatchet.com/
Bandcamp, https://thehatchet.bandcamp.com/
Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/rubythehatchet
Magnetic Eye Records, https://us.merhq.net/us/Artists/Ruby-The-Hatchet/Ruby-the-Hatchet-Live-at-Earthquaker.html
Ruby The Hatchet at EarthQuaker, https://www.earthquakerdevices.com/ruby-the-hatchet
© Wayne Edwards
Weedevil, The Return (Abraxas Records 2022)
Weedevil presents dark stories told in doom on their first full-length album, The Return.
From São Paulo, Brazil, Weedevil is Flávio Cavichioli (drums), Lorraine Scar (vocals), Dani Plothow (bass), Paulo Ueno (guitar), and Bodão (guitar). The records show that the band has been releasing material for only a couple of years, with two EPs and a live album already out. The Return is their first long-player, and it is solid through and through.
The new album includes five huge slabs of doom. First up is “Underwater.” It is a steady heavy beat that seems at first slightly softened by Scar’s vocals until you realize what she is singing about. The music matches the desperation of the narrative and complements the turn towards dark power that occurs. “The Void” follows and grinds on you like pyramid stones being dragged up a ramp, forcing down the weight of history and reality on your being.
“The Return” has a deep-seated witching feel to it. To wit, “Offer me green grass and accursed men’s head / I will keep the beast away, if I’m well fed.” The circumlocution reinforces the powerful chant and the spell sinks ever deeper in. On “Isn’t A Love Song” the approach is more melodic but the messaging does not stray far from grim tidings, even with the beautiful piano in the finish.
The final track is “Genocidal.” It has an impressive tall-wall presence in the guitars and a creepy, disturbing whistling at the front. As with every track, Scar’s vocals are a center point, and a place of return. This song is the most determined, grimmest conclusion in a set that has been full-force doom all along. It is a welcome end that has you turning back to start at the beginning and experience it all over again. Recommended.
The Return emerges on Friday, April 8th in digital through Abraxas Records, with vinyl to follow from DHU Records.
Links.
Bandcamp, https://weedevil.bandcamp.com/album/the-return
Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/weedevildoom
DHU Records, https://darkhedonisticunionrecords.bigcartel.com/
© Wayne Edwards.
Spiral Skies, Death Is But A Door (AOP Records 2022)
Radio-friendly heavy psych band Spiral Skies release their second album, Death Is But A Door.
Centered in Stockholm, Sweden , Spiral Skies is a band of mystery. They released an EP in 2015 called A Queendom To Come, and their debut full-length album, Blues For A Dying Planet (2018), attracted good notices. Their musical style is an amalgam of 1970s and 1980s European rock themes combined with a light version of heavy psych, perhaps designed to reach a broader audience than a heavy stoner vibe likely would. The band is Frida Eurenius (vocals), Dan Svanljung (guitar, key, didgeridoo), Jonas Lyander (guitar), Eric Sandberg (bass), and Daniel Bäckman (drums).
There are nine tracks on the album, starting with “The Endless Sea” which begins sweetly then turns toward the aggressively dramatic before you have a chance to get fully settled in. The shifting landscape in this composition signals what is to come. Not every song plays with this much variety, but a good deal of ground is covered throughout the set. “Into The Night,” for example, is a peppy, radio-friendly song, and a diversion from its predecessor. It reminds me a little of some of the music by Demon I used to listen to in the eighties, except more lyrical and, well, better.
“Time” is a track to look out for as it has nice lead guitar work. The closer, “Mirror Of Illusion,” is quiet and reflective, and it turned out to be a favorite of mine as well. The music is very listenable. Frida Eurenius’ voice is beautiful to hear, and the compositions are engaging and approachable. The guitar-driven light stoner vibe is just the ticket when you are in that place in your head. Recommended.
Death Is But A Door is out through AOP Records on Friday, March 25th. Links below.
Links.
Bandcamp, https://spiralskies.bandcamp.com/
Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/spiralskies
AOP Records, http://www.aoprecords.de/
© Wayne Edwards. All rights reserved.
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