Tag Archives: Psychedelic

Events, News, Releases, Videos

FACES OF THE BOG: Chicagoland’s psychedelic sludge masters to officially release debut album Ego Death on DHU Records

Initially conceived in a dingy rehearsal space in Humboldt Park during the fall of 2011, Faces of the Bog have fast become one of the underground’s most celebrated secrets following the self-release of their debut album Ego Death late last year.

For the Chicagoland quartet, their own unique interpretation of sludge has never run neatly alongside preconceived notions of how this kind of music should be played. Choosing to ignore convention and instead, power brutal riffs headfirst into psychedelically heightened grooves, relying on atmosphere and mood to create melodic textures they are a band constantly pushing the envelope. “Ego Death is a revelation. I’ve been longing for a band to step up and challenge the existing music scene and the way Faces of the Bog do it is so exciting.” (OUTLAWS OF THE SUN)

Produced and engineered by the band and Sanford Parker (Voivod, Yob, Wreckmeister Harmonies, Bloodiest) at Electrical Audio and Decade Music Studios, Ego Death hit pretty damn hard for an “independently put-out” album. Released digitally and on CD in October 2016, Metal Injection was quick to praise its, “existential ride of psychedelic waves and auras [and] collection of bangin’ sludge jams,” all of which journeyed the same sonic highways shared by the likes of Pink Floyd, Tool and Neurosis. Going one further, they described it as a record packed with, “a fascinating range of psychedelic sludge and hints of doom and acid tones.”

“It’s truly amazing these days when an underground band from a US city like Chicago can release an album completely on their own,” explains guitarist/vocalist Trey Wedgeworth. “We’ve been amazed and humbled by the feedback we’ve received all over the world. Fans from places like Germany, Norway, Portugal, Brazil, Australia, and Russia have all reached out to us to give their kind words to what we’re doing.”

It was while playing a handful of shows last year with pacific north-westerners Mother Crone that the band were introduced (in a roundabout way) to the good work of Nederland-based record label, DHU Records.

“Mother Crone ran into some transportation issues while out on tour and we were fortunate enough to be able to help some good dudes in need,” says Wedgeworth. “They more than repaid the favour by putting us in touch with Robert Black at DHU Records. DHU is a DIY label that releases limited edition vinyl packages for some of the heaviest bands in underground music today, so we quickly forged a great relationship and are completely ecstatic that he’s now rereleasing Ego Death on vinyl.”

Ego Death will get an official vinyl release on 22nd September through DHU Records but can be streamed and purchased digitally through Face of the Bog’s Bandcamp page here.

Watch and share The Making of Ego Death video here and preorder here.

Live:

5th Aug – Cold Shot – Appleton, Wisconsin (w. Atalla and Black Road)
11th Aug – Reggies – Chicago, Illinois (w. Castle)
4th Oct – Liars Club – Chicago, Illinois  (w. Disenchanter and Swamp Ritual)
2nd Sept – Beard Metal Fest – Custer Park, Illinois (w. Pale Horseman, Starless and DeepSpacePilots)

News, Releases

Brooklyn-based doom trio Mountain God to release new album

Artificial Head Records is thrilled to announce the signing of Brooklyn-based trio Mountain God and with it the release of their debut album Bread Solstice.

Formed in May 2012 by guitarist/vocalist Ben Ianuzzi and drummer Ian Murray, along with former Alkahest members Nikhil Kamineni and Jon Powell, as one of 2017’s most exciting new prospects Mountain God’s time is almost upon us.

Experimenting with raw concoctions of doom and ’70s psychedelic influences, their commitment to channeling ill feeling, heavy rock, deep meaning and dark subject matter is unwavering. In 2015 Mountain God followed the release of their five-song EP Experimentation On The Unwilling (2013) with the sprawling concept track ‘Forest Of The Lost’; a devastating, doom-infused laudation of distorted sludge, ambient noise and stoner rock. Rolled out to crushing effect, The Obelisk fittingly noted that, “Their particular brand of atmospheric sludge has only become more visceral over the last couple years, and as expansive as their 2015 single-song Forest Of The Lost EP is, its churn still seems to stir the guts.”

Following the departure of Powell and Murray, Thera Roya drummer Ryan Smith was drafted in as the trio set to work recordings that would form the basis of Bread Solstice, their full-length debut and first outing for the Houston-based record label Artificial Head.

“While some of the songs date all the way back to 2013, we didn’t begin rehearsing them regularly until Summer 2015,” explains guitarist Ianuzzi. “We started out demoing, writing, and tearing apart the ideas until we had things we liked. We definitely wanted to push the envelope with more nuanced effects and fewer 4/4 time signatures.”

Around this period the band also became a steady fixture on the NYC metal scene performing shows with the likes of Ufomammut, YOB, Primitive Man, Naam and Kings Destroy. Threatening spaced out and progressive paeans in the mold of Wolves in the Throne Room, Neurosis and Candlemass, as angry and complex a beast as Bread Solstice is it’s also deeply immersive and hypnotic in its atmospheres. Much like their early EPs and recordings, while creeping keyboards swell on tracks like ‘Unknown Ascent’, elsewhere riff-heavy tracks like ‘Nazca Lines’ and ‘Junglenaut’ hammer down hard with an iron fist. As Artificial Head founder Walter Carlos points out:

“I just knew I wanted to work with the band on a release. Their music reminds of the sludge and experimentation of bands such as Skullflower, Splintered, and Ramleh. Big, crushing emptiness with grinding tempos. Their new album, Bread Solstice, continues in that epic darkness.”

Bread Solstice will be released on vinyl/digital on 24th March 2017. Stream and share new song ‘Karmic Truth’ below:

News, Releases

Austin psych rockers Sweat Lodge confirm release of debut album this August

“Roll one, light up, and do as Sweat Lodge would do: Burn it slow and take it in.”
Consequence of Sound

Ripple Music is pleased to announce the official release of Talismana, the long-awaited debut album from one of America’s most exciting and downright badass psychedelic metal bands, Sweat Lodge.

Charged by Consequence of Sound earlier this year with the task of turning in one of the ‘20 Most Anticipated Metal Albums of 2015,’ the Austin, TX outfit have made good on their promise with a record that delivers more than you could possibly ever ask from it. Pillaging and plundering some of the most explosive eras of hard rock, heavy psychedelia and proto-metal with a conviction and execution rarely found this side of the millennium, in short, Sweat Lodge’s potential is one that knows no bounds.

Seizing on the southern grooves of Fu Manchu, Saint Vitus and the blues-driven majesty of 70s legends Mountain and fellow Texans ZZ Top, across Talismana – riff after punishing riff, howl after soulful howl – the vintage sound of rock ‘n’ roll reigns supreme, sparked through an engine of uncompromising youth. As anyone who witnessed the band’s debut TV appearance on Last Call With Carson Daly in March will testify, charismatic front man and vocalist Cody Lee Johnston’s ability to bring it on home is hypnotic. Backed by the gnarled bass fuzz of Austin Shockley, the Bonham-esque drum play of Caleb Dawson and guitar interplay of Javier Gardea and Dustin Anderson, the band will be unstoppable in 2015 and Talismana an essential record for fans of the genre.

Talismana by Sweat Lodge will be released on 7th August on Ripple Music

News, Releases

Terminal Cheesecake return with Cheese Brain Fondue: Live In Marseille

“One of the eighties most sonically unhinged bands of all time.”
The Arts Desk

“A delirious carnival of head music interrupted by nightmarish sound collages; a manic parade celebrating both the surreal and psychopathic, with a cast of characters ranging from serial killers to sex toys, circus freaks to a children’s choir and naked hippies.” The Quietus

Formed in East London in 1988 as the brainchild of Gary Boniface (The Purple Things, The Vibes), Russell Smith (A.R. Kane, MARRS), bassist Mick Parkin and drummer John Jobbagy, Terminal Cheesecake are one of England’s greatest musical oddities.

Like Pink Floyd and Hawkwind before them, as chief exponents of unmerciful, head-frying psychedelia, deranged dub and electronica, over a career spanning five albums – Johnny Town-Mouse (1988), VCL (1989), Angels In Pigtails (1990), Pearlesque Kings Of The Jewmost (1992) and King Of All The Spaceheads (1994) – they stand out as a remarkable anomaly.

In part influenced by the likes of Pussy Galore, Big Black and Butthole Surfers, they are an essential entry into the folklore of decidedly English eccentricity and experimentation with a legacy that has lived on over the years through a devoted coterie of fans, chaotic live shows and visionary records. Most notably, and indeed more recently this year, with the twenty-fifth anniversary of their seminal album Angels In Pigtails, released in 1990 on Kevin Martin’s (GOD/Ice/Techno Animal/The Bug) Pathological Records. An album that went some way to expunging the impure mash and disorder of previous releases to create a rich vista from otherworldly instruments, emerging sample technology and even greater psychosomatic depth. All to devastatingly brilliant effect.

Over the course of their trajectory the band adapted to several line-up changes before going on to release three more albums before disbanding in 1995. In 2013 however, they returned after a twenty-year hiatus with Russell Smith coming back into the fold, joined by guitarist Gordon Watson, original drummer John Jobbagy, Head of David’s Dave Cochrane on bass and new vocalist Neil Francis from Manchester’s equally exceptional Gnod. Retreating to the idyllic surroundings of Smith’s home in Bordeaux, the new five-piece line-up rehearsed for a number of outstanding shows in France and the UK, including Oxford’s Supernormal Festival and London’s Corsica Studios.

This August, with guitars placed firmly back at centre stage and a new lease of life running rife through their ranks Terminal Cheesecake release their first record in over twenty years. A live album (of all things!) that dusts off and reawakens the likes of ‘Johnny Town-Mouse’, ‘Bladdersac’ and ‘Herbal Spaceflight’ and puts forward new material as audible evidence of their peculiar, psychedelic and experimental potency.

“Personally, I have been a fan of the band since their first record on Pathological, and I connected with some fellows who were also deep into all things Terminal Cheesecake, so we traded live recordings,” explains Artificial Head Records’ Paul Chavez.

“There was something very dark and sinister about their sound. But also something maniacal and whimsical.  I couldn’t stop listening and ultimately found their first two releases a few months later. As time rolled on I connected with the band and kept bugging them about new or unreleased material. Finally, when I heard about the upcoming live release I kept prodding that it should be on my label… and here we are.” Cheese Brain Fondue: Live In Marseille will be released on 11th August on the Houston, Texas-based label Artificial Head Records.

Cheese Brain Fondue: Live In Marseille will be released on 11th August on the Houston, Texas-based label Artificial Head Records.