Psycho Las Vegas 2017: Live At the Hard Rock Hotel And Casino, Las Vegas


Before you sink your teeth into this, let me make a quick disclaimer for those of you looking for a standard review. This ain’t it. If you want to read, ad nauseam, about each band that played, who was good, who wasn’t, what songs they played or how many bands are “female fronted,” have female members or where any of these bands are from I can guarantee you a quick internet search will get you your fix somewhere. If you are looking for someone to tell you what any of the bands sound like, look like or act like then here is a novel idea, buy their music, go to a show and form an opinion for yourself. No offense intended to anyone writing something like that or looking for that kind of thing but you won’t find it here because I don’t feel like writing something everyone else has or will. (Offense intended to anyone still finding some ridiculous need to write or read about bands being “female fronted.” Fuck off.)

Oh, also there will be naughty words.Continue reading


Psycho Las Vegas Adds Mastodon As A Headliner


Psycho Las Vegas 2017 will be taking place from August 18th-20th at the Hard Rock Hotel And Casino Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada. The initial lineup seemed to feature every band ever, but now they’ve added Mastodon as the final headliner, and it’s officially one of the sickest bills ever created. Continue reading


Cult Of Luna Kicks Off US Tour With Kylesa


Cult of Luna Fall US TOur 2015 admat

Cult of Luna will kickoff their brief fall tour tour tonight, co-headlining with Kylesa. Joining for the 9-date cross country jaunt will be Minsk, Subrosa and InAeona. This is the first tour of the US since Cult of Luna released Vertikal (Indie Recordings) in 2013 and promises to be an “event” worthy concert experience. Kylesa will use these dates as the warm up to the release of their new album Exhausting Fire, due out from Season of Mist on October 2nd. 

cultofluna-vertikalII

Cult of Luna – Kylesa tour dates:

Sept 01: Gramercy Theater – New York, NY*

Sept 02: Cafe Campus – Montreal CAN*

Sept 03: Mod Club Theater- Toronto, CAN*

Sept 04: Reggies- Chicago, IL*

Sept 05: Rickshaw Theater- Vancouver, CAN**

Sept 06: Neumo’s – Seattle, WA**

Sept 07: Star Theater – Portland, OR**

Sept 08: Slims – San Francisco, CA**

Sept 09: The Observatory, Santa Ana, CA**

*with InAeona

**with Minsk

**with Subrosa


Cult Of Luna And Kylesa Book US Tour For This Fall


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Cult of Luna has booked a brief fall tour, co-headlining with Kylesa. Joining for the 9-date cross country jaunt will be Minsk, Subrosa and InAeona at different stops.

Cult of Luna – Kylesa tour dates:

Sept 01: Gramercy Theater – New York, NY*

Sept 02: Cafe Campus – Montreal CAN*

Sept 03: Mod Club Theater- Toronto, CAN*

Sept 04: Reggies- Chicago, IL*

Sept 05: Rickshaw Theater- Vancouver, CAN**

Sept 06: Neumo’s – Seattle, WA**

Sept 07: Star Theater – Portland, OR**

Sept 08: Slims – San Francisco, CA**

Sept 09: The Observatory, Santa Ana, CA**

*with InAeona

**with Minsk

**with Subrosa


Unmothered – UMBRA EP


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For those who stopped paying attention to Mastodon when they started getting all proggy and had the nerve to feature twerking in their music videos, help is at hand from Austin, Texas power-trio Unmothered who churn out some seriously hefty sludge on new EP UMBRA (self-released), a blink and you’ll miss it slice of blackened southern riffs, pummelling tribal drums and angry, snarled vocals.

Featuring a mere three tracks, UMBRA is presumably stop-gap release before the trio get their arses in gear and record a new full-length. They already have one long player to their name in their self-titled 2012 effort, and fans of the dark, sludgey tones captured on that release will be all over this like a hillbilly on fresh road kill.

Opening track ‘Magnetar’, named after a neutron star with an extremely powerful magnetic field wields a seriously catchy riff that stops and starts between booming percussion fills before the band march off into the unknown with some vaguely Minsk-esque tribal effects giving things a primitive and primal feel.

Next track ‘Huntress’ is thankfully nothing like the lame mainstream wannabes of the same name, but instead features a selection of pounding riffs that fellow Southern grizzlies Black Tusk would sell their most potent moonshine for. Keeping still to this one is pretty much impossible so it’s probably a good thing it only lasts for just over two minutes.

Last up is the gradually building crush of ‘Scarp’ which toys around with a menacing discordant riff for a couple of minutes before wandering off into the swamp, replete with ominous background percussion, stark melodies and muffled spoken word before everything finishes in a blaze of glory that harks back to the glory days of Remission-era Mastodon.

Not content to blindly recycle the usual clichés of their genre but at the same time not straying too far from the path, Unmothered know it’s the riffs that matter and they have plenty of big dirty ones for you to cop an earful of.

 

7.0/10

Unmothered on Facebook

 

JAMES CONWAY


Desertfest UK: Various Venues, Camden, London UK


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These days the London borough Camden is mostly just a tourist trap; full of tourists, and overpriced beer. It is, however, still home to some quality venues, and is the perfect place to let Desertfest UK take over for a weekend of stoner rock in all its forms. Special thanks go out to Jessica Lotti Photography for sharing her images of the weekend with our readers.

Saturday:

Opening the proceedings over at the Electric Ballroom is Icelandic trio The Vintage Caravan. Boasting some decent rock star shapes on stage, front man/guitarist Óskar Logi Ágústsson clearly has an affinity for the late 60s/early 70s, delivering a boogie-filled set full of riffs and jams Jimi Hendrix and Cream would be proud of. A nearly full Ballroom is bouncing long before their set is over.

Over at the Jazz Café’s Prog stage, London five-piece Sumer aren’t afraid to show off their love of Tool. Clearly a talented bunch with a talent for combining thick riffs, vocal melodies and subtle dynamics all into one crunching ball. Unfortunately, while they fill the stage with numbers there’s not a lot of stage presence. But their debut album, The Animal You Are, is well worth checking out if you like your post/progressive metal.

The Black Heart boasts not only the best range of beers and ales Desertfest has to offer, but also the sweatiest venue. A tightly packed and perspiration–drenched throng squeeze in for the excellently-named Jeremy Irons & The Ratgang Malibus. The Swedish quartet deal in retro-psychedelic stoner and deliver an enjoyable set of classic rock, but their secret weapon is the wailing vocals of Karl Apelmo. Not a million miles away from the Scorpion Child’s Aryn Jonathan Black, he lifts decent music to something a lot more impressive.

Next up are Ten Foot Wizard, who deliver one the best sets of the weekend. Sporting some glorious Hawaiian shirts, the Mancunians take an already hot and sweaty venue into even wetter territory with their blend of dirty, fuzzy riffs and good time rock’n’roll. The band clearly know how to have fun on stage and that translates into one of the liveliest crowds of the entire festival. Mixing riffs of Clutch and early Queens of the Stone Age with a dirty groove of Alabama ThunderPussy, chuck in some megaphones, Theremin solos and songs about tits, and you’ve got a winning combo. TFW are a hoot and far better than their (fairly decent) debut record Return to the Infinite suggests.

Brant Bjork And The Low Desert Punk Band, by Jessica Lotti Photography

Brant Bjork And The Low Desert Punk Band, by Jessica Lotti Photography

After such a party, returning to the cool and spacious Ballroom for Brant Bjork is something of a comedown. The set is full of quality tunes drawn mainly from his latest album, Black Power Flower, but the chilled out desert rock vibe, combined with a fairly static performance from Bjork – with his Low Desert Punk Band in tow – is kind of underwhelming. Bjork’s solo material is severely under-rated, but the former Kyuss drummer’s laid back style fails to really the get juices flowing.

Brant Bjork And The Low Desert Punk Band, by Jessica Lotti Photography

Brant Bjork And The Low Desert Punk Band, by Jessica Lotti Photography

 

Sunday

Opening Sunday is Belgian psychedelic rockers Moaning Cities at The Purple Turtle. Sporting funky dance moves and the only sitar of the weekend, this Belgian outfit combine hypnotic atmospheres with 60s psychedelic pop and still manage to make a lot of noise. Trippy, intense, loud, and not a bad way to start the Sabbath.

Over at Koko, we’re treated with back-to-back instrumental bands with Karma in their name, but very different approaches. German four piece My Sleeping Karma do their best to create an atmosphere; employing eerie visuals [which unfortunately didn’t seem to be working right for much of the set] with soundscapes that create a nice audio-visual experience that’s easy to get lost in. It’s almost the opposite of Karma to Burn’s approach. The US power trio only deal in thunderous noise, punching their way through sonically crushing set that pounds your eardrums repeatedly for 60 minutes. There’s no subtly, but it is invigorating and gets and keeps the crowd’s attention throughout. This is how instrumentals bands should be done; Guitarist William Mecum is a one man riff machine that’s few on words but has stage swagger that makes up for the lack of verbatim, while drummer Evan Devine is an absolute powerhouse.

Karma To Burn,

Karma To Burn, by Jessica Lotti Photography

 

It’s not all quality however. Despite hailing from Hampshire, XII Boar really, really wish they were from the deep south of the US. The trio’s bland brand of cowboy metal is a concoction of groove, whiskey-soaked “YEAAAH!”s and unsubtly-recycled Pantera riffs. The kind of racket you’d expect at a keg party in a Bam Margera video, it’s really, really, really dumb fun at best, and a poor man’s Hellyeah at worst. The Underworld, meanwhile, has been wasted as stage dedicated to originally NWOBHM bands such as Quartz and Angel Witch along with a bunch of thinly-veiled tribute acts. Londoners Amulet fall unashamedly into the latter category. Sporting tight denim, bad moustaches and the Iron Maiden riff-book, Amulet definitely aren’t cool, but they clearly don’t care. An over-abundance of enthusiasm and a decent selection of riffs & solos ripped off from the likes of Maiden, Diamond Head and Angel Witch means by the end of the set it’s hard to dislike them. Painfully original, but harmless fun.

Back at the Purple Turtle, there’s a double bill of Doom. Despite some initial sound troubles, Sweden’s The Order of Israfel combine classic Black Sabbath-esque 70s doom with an almost Thin Lizzy-like appreciation of twin leads and guitar solos to create something evilly epic on a medieval scale. The Wounded Kings, by contrast are a bit of a let-down. Despite being chronically heavy on riffs, they’re surprisingly light on songs. They might be able to rattle the foundations of the building with the same kind of Earth shattering reverb as Electric Wizard, but vocalist George Birch is lost in the mix and things never really go as far as entertaining.

Sleep, by Jessica Lotti Photography

Sleep, by Jessica Lotti Photography

 

It wouldn’t be a proper stoner festival without the riffs of the mighty Matt Pike, and with Sleep he delivers spades of them. The stoner legends were under-appreciated during their original run but a rammed Koko goes crazy for ‘Dragonaut’, while new song ‘The Clarity’ get a rapturous response. More involved in their own playing than the audience, the band stomp through barely ten songs with no encore in an hour and a half set, but there no complaints. The likes of ‘DopeSmoker’ and ‘Holy Mountain’; manage to be both crushingly heavy, yet at the same time hypnotizing. An appropriate ending for a weekend of Black Sabbath-and-bong worshipping.

Sleep, by Jessica Lotti Photography

Sleep, by Jessica Lotti Photography

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WORDS BY DAN SWINHOE

PHOTOS BY JESSICA LOTTI PHOTOGRAPHY


FESTIVAL PREVIEW: Desertfest UK


desertfest uk flyer

With Roadburn having just ended last weekend, the season for European music festivals is here Joining the ranks of it’s better known sister festival in Germany, Desertfest UK is fast becoming one of the best events in the world. The event will take place from April 24th-26th at stellar venues in London such as: The Electric Ballroom, Koko, The Underworld, The Black Heart, The Jazz Cafe and the Purple Turtle Especially if you pray to at the altar of the riff almighty, the subsonic tones of sludge and just a rocking good time in general, this fest is for you. The weekend passes are already sold-out, further proving the attraction these line-ups will bring.

Friday kicks things off in the early afternoon with up and comers Torpor leading off. Likely the best afternoon band of any day of the fest will be Floor at the Electric Ballroom. Following them will be The Atomic Bitchwax, and headliners Electric Wizard and the mighty Red Fang. The Underworld is host to grimmer acts such as Dopethrone, Agrimonia, Black Cobra, Minsk, and Noothgrush. Also not to be missed on Friday are comeback kings End of Level Boss. They are always super fun live!

Saturday has a super doom and sludge infection in the form of Vintage Caravan, Sex Swing, Pale Horse, Black Pyramid, Lo Pan, Anthromorph, Obake, Ten Foot Wizard, Hang the Bastard plus Brant Bjork And Low Desert Punks. EyeHateGod continues their return to Europe, promising another brutal set.

Adding to the awesomeness of Saturday is the fests first prog stage, led by Amplifier, Sweet Billy Pilgrim, I am The Morning, Landskap and others. This is really momentous for the fest and hopefully it becomes a regular thing in years to come.

Sunday will bring things to a boil with more underground bands Amulet, Quartz Cancer, Sallie, Witch Hazel, SSS, The Wounded Kings, and Angel Witch amongst many others. Of course the headliner Sleep might be half the draw for the weekend, as well as Ufomammut, Karma To Burn, and Acid King. With official after show every night of the fest, this promised to be a non-stop jamming party the whole time.

Desertfest UK on Facebook

Desertfest UK on Twitter

 


Album Streaming: Minsk – The Crash and The Draw


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Minsk is streaming their new album The Crash & The Draw in its entirety, out April 7, 2015 via Relapse Records, below.

The album was produced by the band and Sanford Parker (Twilight, Voivod, Eyehategod, Yob etc.), mixed by Parker and mastered by Collin Jordan (Eyehategod, Indian, Wovenhand, Voivod etc.) with additional vocal tracking by Scott Evans (Kowloon Walled City, Old Man Gloom, Floor etc.) and further tracking, editing, and mixing by Kevin Rendleman and Aaron Austin.

The band has upcoming European tour dates which can be found here.


Minsk Streaming “When The Walls Fell”


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Midwest avant sound voyagers Minsk is streaming “When The Walls Fell,” off their new album The Crash & The Draw, out via Relapse Records in North America on April 7th, 2015, April 3rd, 2015 in Germany, Benelux and Finland and April 6th, 2015 in the UK and rest of the world here.

The Crash & The Draw was captured by the band alongside Sanford Parker (Twilight, Voivod, Eyehategod, Yob etc.), mixed by Parker and MINSK at Hypercube and mastered by Collin Jordan (Eyehategod, Indian, Wovenhand, Voivod etc.) at The Boiler Room with additional vocal tracking by Scott Evans (Kowloon Walled City, Old Man Gloom, Floor etc.) at Antisleep Audio and further tracking, editing, and mixing by Kevin Rendleman at Trash Rocket Audio and Aaron Austin at We Know Who You Are.

The band has booked a string of April European dates.

Apr 09: Roadburn Festival – Tilburg (NL)
Apr 10: Doom Over Leipzig – Leipzig (DE)
Apr 11: Hafenklang – Hamburg (DE)
Apr 12: Cassiopeia – Berlin (DE)
Apr 13: Hydrozagadka – Warsaw (PL)
Apr 14: 007 – Prague (CZ)
Apr 15: P.M.K. – Innsbruck (AU)
Apr 16: Feierwerk – Munchen (DE)
Apr 17: Freakout – Bologna (IT)
Apr 18: Lo Fi Club – SoloMacello Fest – Milano (IT)
Apr 19: Le Romandie – Lausanne (CH)
Apr 20: Escape B – Paris (FR)
Apr 21: La Scene Michelet – Nantes (FR)
Apr 22: La Peniche – Lille (FR)
Apr 23: FZW – Dortmund (DE)
Apr 24: Desertfest – London (UK)
Apr 25: Kavka – Antwerp (BE)

Minsk on Facebook
Relapse Records on Facebook