Legend of the Seagullmen are Danny Carey – drums (Tool) Brent Hinds – guitars (Mastodon) Jimmy Hayward – guitar (Director – Jonah Hex) David ‘The Doctor’ Dreyer – vocals Zappa Meets Zappa’s Peter Griffin – bass Chris DiGiovanni – synth // keys
Hello friends this is the Ancient One and recently I found myself having a flashback to some of the crappy music that MTV tried to force feed music fans in the 1980’s. Specifically the music of A Flock of Seagulls. Yes I hated that band. So when my friend “Matthew Thomas” Messaged me and said “Hey Ancient One you gotta listen to these guys called Legend of the Seagullmen.” I had a name association flashback and like a punch drunk boxer that hears a distant bell, I flew off the handle and responded with a stream of profanity in all caps about how I despised that band. Thankfully I kept my cool and looked up their website…
When I eyeballed the Legend of the Seagullmen’s website I was still a little hesitant but the Ancient One isn’t one to knock any music till he hears it first. While some may automatically look into who a band is before listening I try not to do that so I can keep any personal bias out of my listening experience so I skipped looking up the press release that was used to hype the band to the audience, and instead followed the link I was given by “Matthew” to the album. From the moment I hit play to the end of the album I found myself entertained by the Legend of the Seagullmen’s with some amazing, eclectic rock.
Hooked like a fish, I had to know more about this band that calls themselves Legend of the Seagullmen. In their description on Bandcamp and their band page Legend of the Seagullmen states “ Legend of the Seagullmen is a genre destroying super-group crafting conceptual rock ‘n’ roll hymns of epic proportions.” What I managed to learn from their Bandcamp page is the band is made up of Tool’s Danny Carey on drums, Mastodon’s Brent Hinds on guitar, the director of films such as Jonah Hex Jimmy Hayward on guitar, Zappa Meets Zappa’s Peter Griffin on bass, Chris DiGiovanni on synth/keys & David ‘The Doctor’ Dreyer on vocals. Seeking more info about the front man I searched the web until I came across an article in the The mighty Rolling Stone Magazine that said “The Seagullmen concept is the brainchild of three brothers, Frank, Chris and David Dreyer, who have put on appropriately theatrical concerts and made movies about the band’s long-running legend in recent years” Which is as far as I could seem to get with details about him. Well no matter I loved the music.
I could easily heap praise upon Legend of the Seagullmen’s Danny Carey, Brent Hinds, and Peter Griffin because they are the three most well known musicians but would be unfair to the band as a whole. They also have a guitar playing film director Jimmy Hayward, a keyboard playing Production Manager from Blue Sky Animation Studios Chris DiGiovanni and a mysterious vocalist David ‘The Doctor’ Dreyer are able to take their place on stage and in the studio with them and not embarrass themselves is quite a feat in itself.
If I were to describe the music I’d say it’s a wonderfully cheesy Rock ‘N’ Roll meets, Spaghetti Western meets, Nautical Adventure movie. Some of my favorite tunes on this are…all of them!! I recommend listening to this gem straight through like being at a Drive-In Movie Theater watching a double feature of kick ass B movie re-runs. This is definitely an album I’d recommend.
Line Up: JE (VOX, Guitars)
SLI (Guitars)
MEI (Bass)
C.RIP (Drums)
SEB (VOX)
Previous Releases:
2010 – S/T Black Space Riders,
2012 – Lights In the New Black,
2014 – D:REI,
2015 – Refugeeum
2016 – Beyond Refugeem
Musical Influences: Black Sabbath, Motörhead, Deep Purple, Pink Floyd, Thin Lizzy, The Chameleons, David Bowie, Bauhaus, Tom Waits, Slayer, Motorpsycho
Hello once again friends, this is The Ancient One and today I’d like to tell you about some out of this world music by a Quintet of space rockers from Münster, Germany called the Black Space Riders. In 2008 founding members JE, SLI, SAQ and C.RIP sought to give the music world music that could truly be called PSYCHEDELIC SPACE ROCK and created what they call a “NEW WAVE of HEAVY PSYCHEDELIC SPACE ROCK”. After listening to their current Album AMORETUM Vol. 1 released January 26th, 2018 and with their past releases I gotta say the band and their style of rock are aptly named.
What I enjoy most about the music is the detached far away sound. To create their take on the psychedelic space rock sound Black Space Riders seems to have combined desert rock, electronic music, a bit of 80’s new wave and some Post Punk with powerful vocals with anthem-like lyrics on the 2 most recent albums. If I were to compare them to anyone I’d say that I’m often reminded of Pink Floyd, and David Bowie with a harder edge.
When I first gave AMORETUM Vol. 1 a spin I was really not impressed with the first song however what followed changed my mind as I quickly realized Lovely Lovelie was a cornerstone for the rest of the album to be built on to give the listener a good starting point. It’s also a play on words. Lovely Lovelie – Lovely Love Lie get it. I didn’t because maybe I am a Doofus. Also its not a single song in a collection of songs that are put together simply because the sound fits with the occasional filler song to make the album longer. Rather its part of an album with a theme created by Black Space Riders. Although theme albums are nothing new to me, Black Space Riders may quite possibly have delivered a Magnum Opus with this one!
Refusing to be swallowed by the darkness AMORETUM Vol. 1 is the follow up to their July 2015 album “REFUGEEUM”that came out when it seemed the world had gone mad with fear and hate in Europe. Continuing to rage against that darkness with in us all Black Space Riders have mounted up and released AMORETUM Vol. 1 which is about conflict and seeks to inspire us to overcome our dark side. Specifically the conflicts between fear, hate, and rejection, darkness on the one hand, and love, empathy, and care light on the other. This album and band seem to be very relevant with acute razor-like lyrics that seek for positivity and rejecting hate…universally!! The superb musicianship by these veteran rockers shine with each new release and is again evident with Amoretum Vol. 1
Rather than bore you all to death with a track by track description of all the songs I am going to provide you links to my favorites on YouTube and Bandcamp and let you decide for yourselves.
Track Listing with Lyrics
LOVELY LOVELIE
Get back to your beds, hide in your hole
You lovers collapse while facing your fall
A paradise will no longer exist,
peace and love can no longer resist
Erupting fear breaking the wall
Lovely lovelie
Our garden, destroyed, taken by storm
We‘re bringing the harm, the hideous swarm
A love so deep, now determined to die,
wrapped and muffled by hate
Get back to your beds, here comes the storm
Lovely lovelie
Get back to your beds, hide in your hole
A love so deep, now determined to fall
Get back to your beds, facing your fall
Erupting fear tearing down every wall
Get back to your beds, hide in your …
Lovely lovelie
Lovely, lovely lie …
Another Sort of Homecoming
The times were terrifying
and coldness wrapped me up
I‘d been sent to see, to seek, to save
A long way to the top
How they turned their lives
into a mellow mass:
how they shed their feelings and their souls
forgot about the past
So, day by day
I denied my moaning heart
and repelled temptation, brave and strong,
to join and fall apart
Now it‘s time to change
My longing growing strong
Leave this place and coming home again
is what I really want
GO! Time to return to my ground
GO! I have to leave these souls I found
GO! Time to rest under the shield
GO! Energy!
Another sort of coming home
SOUL SHELTER (Inside Of Me)
Bringing back the sunshine
Remembering the light
A place attacked from outside
I keep this place inside
Inside of me, inside of me
Garden of completeness
A warm and tender light
A place attacked by darkness
Don‘t hide this place inside
Soul Shelter – Inside of me, inside of me
Soul Shelter – Inside of me, inside of you
Silent is the inside
All quiet now and clear
Knocking from the outside:
denial, hate and fear
Soul Shelter – Inside of me, inside of me
Soul Shelter – Inside of me, inside of you
MOVEMENTS
Just a glimpse of something lost,
flickering in my mind
Like a memory from the past, echoing
Ground control, lost control, no control
In a place where I belonged:
echoes from the past
In a time I called my home, wandering
Ground control, lost control, no control
How I missed the ones I loved,
moments passing by
Still I‘m waiting for the call, remembering
Ground control, lost control, no control
Movements
Comes a time, comes a time of reunion
Comes a place, comes a place of communion
Comes a time, comes a time of affection
Comes a place, comes a place of attraction
Comes a time, comes a time when we meet again
Comes a place, comes a place where we meet again
Comes a time, comes a time when we love again
Comes a place, comes a place where we live again
Stop and rest – consider and remember
Stop the quest – rethink and now remember
Rest, remain – and realize amazing
grace, retain – the echoes of your living
Go and see – now realize the beauty
Go and turn – now realize the grace
Go, return – get hold of all the beauty
Go and feel – compassion to embrace
Movements
Comes a time, comes a time when we meet again
Comes a time of reunion
Comes a place, comes a place where we meet again
Comes a place of communion
Comes a time, comes a time when we love again
Comes a time of affection
Comes a place, comes a place where we live again
Comes a place of attraction
Realize the grace
Realize the beauty now
Echoes from the past
Passion to embrace
Movements
COME AND FOLLOW
Follow me, take my hand
Don‘t look back, just trust my way
Follow me, leave this place
I will take you far away
Watch my shades: familiar shape
with sweetest taste of the unknown
Bite into tender doom
Worship and adore my throne
Beautiful but treacherous
Rotten to the bone
Serpentine but sensual
A queen of hearts dethroned
Now you love, now you know:
adoration brings the light
Idolize, now you‘re lost
I take you to the other side
Beautiful but treacherous
Rotten to the bone
Serpentine but sensual
A queen of hearts dethroned
Come on follow me into the darkness
Come and follow me, follow my love
Come on follow me, beauty is transforming
Come on follow me into the dark
FRIENDS ARE FALLING
Open your arms after closing your thinking for ages
Missing the trust that you lost on your way to the stars
Fighting the hating has taught you to hate for ages
Remind you your mission was based on a vision of love
Open your mind to the memory of love and affection
Missing your friends who vanished while you‘ve been
away
Yearning for turning to someone so close and familiar
Remind you your mission was based on a vision of faith
Falling, friends are falling
Falling and lost in a vision of trust
Falling but lost in my vision of trust
Open your heart to some gratitude,
kindness and friendship
Empathy melting the ice that‘s enclosing your soul
Yearning for turning to someone so close and devoted
Remind you your mission was based on a vision of trust
Falling, friends are falling
Falling and lost in a vision of trust
A vision of love and a vision of trust
Open your heart after closing your spirit for ages
Missing the feelings you lost on your way to the stars
Fighting the hating has taught you to hate for ages
Remind you your mission was based on a vision of love
Falling, friends are falling
Falling but lost in a vision of trust
My vision of faith and my vision of trust
Falling but lost in my vision of trust
Falling for ages, falling from the stars
FIRE! FIRE! (Death Of A Giant)
Facing the past, deeply crooked for ages
Annual rings of a life, witnessing hope
Murder and death, lovers and birth, closely entwined
The battle of darkness and light, observer of life
Here on the hill, bound in hostile surroundings
Cracks in the bleeding wood: scars and remains
Here all alone, shelter and symbol of freedom:
a giant, so massive and old: gentle but strong
Tearing down to the ground
Burning heat, smoking coal
Fire! Fire!
Burning down to the ground
Timber heart, holy wood
Fire! Fire!
Facing the day, changing the soul of perception
Father of life, father of fire and death
Cold is the night , warm is the shine of the torch
The Death and Resurrection of Krautrock: Omega – LP // CD // DD
Sulatron Records – Released: Jan 18th, 2018 on DD // CD & LP Feb. 23, 2018
Reviewed by Mike Hackenschmidt
Line Up:
Blake Fleming – drums
Jeremy White – bass, vox
Gordan Tomić – guitar, vox
Niko Potočnjak – guitar, synth
Review: Why are we here? Mankind has been asking this question for a very long time, with some interesting replies. But have you ever drilled the question down a little deeper? Why am I herehere? Like why am I here writing this on a Sunday morning? Why are you here reading it? WTF does this have to do with Seven That Spells? I promise, there is a point.
And as if a gift from the gods, here’s how Seven That Spells describe their answer on their Facebook page:
Beyond. We are the dogs of western Jazz society looking for dope.
Modern, aggressive psychedelic wall of sound incorporating poly-metrics and occasional Viking funeral rites; hailing from the 23rd century where rock is dead, Seven That Spells returned in time where its still possible to change the tragic course of the boring history.
LOL. I swear I didn’t know they had that up before I posed the question in the first paragraph. In fact, that wasn’t even the point I was going to make – but isn’t it just a little creepy since they claim to be from the future? Like they read this and responded. Perhaps what I was going to say was too boring?
Well now that the course of history is changed, let’s dive into the album. First and foremost, Omega is part 3 of a 3 part series. It started with “AUM” then “IO” and finally “Omega”. I mean, I assume it ends here.
Interestingly, each album follows the same structure. It begins with a track called “In”, which is numbered to identify which part it is in the series. It’s followed up by the title track, which pushes close to 20 mins in each case. That’s followed by 2 more tracks and each album closes with “Out” (simply “Out”, Out II, Out III). Despite only having 5 tracks, these are all full length albums. Though this review is meant to only focus on “Omega”, it’s hard to ignore the previous 2.
Seven That Spells Mastermind, Niko, with his Sword and Sonic Boom!!
Stylistically speaking this is Krautrock. If you’re like me and never even heard the word, I’m not going to explain what it is. Someone has already done this on Wikipedia so I’m just going to hyperlink. And despite STS’s best efforts to railroad me in another direction, I’m going to share why I’m here here. See, I’m into metal – not necessarily mainstream but let’s say the better known genres like black, symphonic, death etc. And here on Taste Nation LLC, we tend to dig a little deeper. Matt Thomas keeps throwing me these strange, lessen known acts from sub-genres I’ve never heard of that stretch my knowledge and more importantly, my comfort zone. I’m forced to think: not outside the box; there is no box. The answer of why am I here here is essentially Seven That Spells. This is my theory on what it’s all about… and I could be wrong, there’s always that possibility too. But here goes…
Traditional music is meant to take you out of your head. The idea is the catchy beat and rhythm take over your brain waves connecting neurons associated with emotion making you feel happy, sad, angry etc. Once overcome with emotion, thought is no longer prevalent. We dance and sing or jump and mosh and just have a crazy good time without really thinking too too much about our troubles at home or work… frustrations with the significant other… kids struggling in school… fuck I think I need to get the brakes done… my boss wants me to do all the work while Dave jerks off in the corner… etc. Music is supposed to wipe all that away. If it’s any good, that’s what it does. But this Krautrock (at least I believe) is intended to do something different.
Instead of taking us out of our heads, it’s my belief that The Death and Resurrection of Krautrock trilogy intends to instead drive us back in. We’re not supposed to dance and sing (not yet). Hell, when there are lyrics it’s hard to decipher what’s being said. But we’re not supposed to dwell on our troubles either. To me, this is a guided tour of the vastness of our insides. We get brought “In”. The music takes us on a tour with a spacey, psychedelic vibe. Where it takes you, exactly, I believe is personal. I end up in space marveling at the wonders of gravity, light and time awed by the immensity of what we don’t know. It’s easy to get dragged in and not realize how much time has passed. Track 4 – “Future Lords” breaks things up a bit with a catchy little beat. If you’re deep enough in, as you should be by now – the urge to dance in your new found plane may overcome you. The mood shift is grounding but the atmosphere is still spacey; we’re still on the inside.
Finally, we’re guided “Out”. It’s a nice smooth journey, nothing too jerking or jarring, just a gentle guide from the inner recesses of our minds back to the land of the living, the plane of the physical where we can perhaps spend a prolonged period of time out of our heads, worry and care free.
Taste Nation is Honored to Premier Louisiana’s Electric Age’s New Lyric Video “Silent King” from their Acclaimed Debut Album “Sleep of the Silent King” on Italy’s Argonauta Records.
The Video was edited & mixed by Gryphus Visual!!
Additional Information and Links: Electric Age – “Silent King” From Album “Sleep of the Silent King”
Review:
Hey Tasters this is your old friend “The Ancient One” and today’s flavor is psychedelic space rock from Kal-El, the fuzzed-out step children of hard rock and heavy metal. Founded in Norway in 2012 by members of Theatre of Tragedy, Six Eyes Lost and Desspo, the band Kal-El quickly got to work rehearsing for its debut and formed a sort of family / domestic following doing gigs throughout their native country Norway’s many venues. On November, 28th, 2012 Kal-El self-released it’s 1st single called “Dark Moon Voyage”, quickly followed by their debut full length album “Pakel”released May 26th, 2014 on Wyrmhole of Death Records which was followed by“Ecosphere,”released on Setalite Records on August, 22nd, 2015. And now after two years of hard work Kal-El is preparing to release it’s 3rd album “Astrodoomeda”on Aug 25th, 2017 Argonauta records.
As a lover of heavy metal, hard rock, doom, psychedelia, and space rock I refuse to review stuff if I am not feeling it. So rather than saying oh what a great album I researched Kal-El’s past music before I even listened to the advanced copy of “Astrodoomeda.”What I discovered through their music videos and overall band concept is they put on one hell of a show.
Listening to the album “Astrodoomeda”was like smoking a bowl and watching the old black and white episodes of Buck Rogers, Flash Gordan, or the animated movie Heavy Metal. Musically this band is tight!! Liz lays down some gnarly bass grooves that blend with drummer Bjudas’s beats that create smooth rolling rhythms, and other times rolling thunder as Roffe plays fuzzed out psychedelic leads that Cpt. Ulver uses to give his vocals an even more spaced out sound.
Besides the title track, ‘Astrodoomeda’, some of my favorite tracks ‘MOTHERSHIP’in which you see the sonic blast coming from Bjudas’s drums in the band’s video. I also enjoyed ‘LUNA’, ‘STARLIGHT SHADE’and the band’s cover of the Kyuss song ‘GREEN MACHINE’. While I think lovers of Black Sabbath, Monster Magnet, Nebula, and Kyuss are naturally going to love this album, fans of Greenleaf and Horisont might want to check this out too .
Line-Up: Tom Polzine – Guitar and Vocals Roger Marks – Bass and Vocals Zach Wheeler – Drums and Vocals
Drew Harakal – ‘Guest’ Organ/Synths
Additional vocals on ‘Mothership’ provided by Kim Auch and Kevin Dempsey
Previous Releases:
“Howling Giant-s/t” EP (January 2015)
Review:
It didn’t make sense to review these as separate releases as you have to hear the opus in it’s ENTIRETY to get the full impact of the complete tale of the “Black Hole Space Wizard” and seeing as ‘Part 2’ has just been unleashed, following ‘Part 1’ that was launched August 16th, 2016.
After hearing Howling Giant’s first EP, I was floored and hoped for more that would be as heavy, if not even MORE so as the last notes of ‘Camel Crusher’ had hinted at. As I am before you, this pair of releases deliver even more than previously hoped for, heaped in macro-bass, slamming riffs, splitting cymbals and strong, clear vocals that will guide you throughout this journey, into the deepest outreach of the infinite cosmos of “Part 1” and back into the forgotten realms of the Earth Goddess of “Part 2”. We are advised by Howling Giant that “For greater riff-sensation, listen to these songs at maximum volume.” Smoke ’em if ya got ’em, crank it up and hit ‘play’…
“Part 1”
‘Mothership’ opens with a strong riff amid cymbal washed before the full body hits 20 seconds in and already the power is palpable before we hear “She’s our Mother…” and we are truly off and running as we hear that “The life we’ve built has come undone” and are beckoned to open up our mind… this is not the end. Loopy and soaring to the last staggered, fading note that leads directly into ‘Exodus:Earth’ with it’s slower tempo intro as “We rise into the black skies…” in this tale of traversing the atmosphere and beyond. Breathe deep and hold it in as riding the crescendo of true stoner/doom/sludge filled measures of headrush inducing guitar outbursts that take you even further into the expanses before your mind’s eye, even as the ghost of War Of The Worlds echoes in your mind, soaring further and further into the blackness and the when the needle sharp frenetic notes of ‘Dirtmouth’ hit, it is the perfect wake-up from. Hyper-speed and crushing in weight is the only way to describe this four-minute plus outburst, complete with time-shifts galore to make even the strongest necks snap along in tempo, and when you hear the scream that “The Wizard Lives!!”, you know it’s true, and then, sudden dead stop.
The silence seemed immense until the sound of a screaming wind fades in as if to mirror the return of consciousness as whispered breathing gives way to a footstep close as the power chords permeate the air as ‘clouds Of Smoke’ rumbles in, “Stranded here in this ocean of sin…” and the desolation seems to loom beyond the horizon before you, languishing in the fact that you would “Rather be anywhere but here…” as the solo rips your heart from your chest before your eyes, even as “Up in clouds of smoke, let it go, just let it go…” and as you take all of this in, even as the notes climb beyond sight as the keys fade slow as your eyes close once more.
“Part 2”
‘Henry Tate’ comes on full gallop, complete with the spoken meanderings of Kublai Khan wafting in and out through the plethora of musical might being flexed here as the mix is even MORE lush and thick through what is an insane instrumental stroll. ‘The Pioneer’ opens with the plush bass line suiting a tome of this strength, as “My mind begins to melt, my soul strives to break free…” and another soft fade out greets you. ‘Visions’ opens, slow and blues-filled in tone and progression, and when the opening solo progression rises up, it is as haunting as ever as the body of the song gels over “Besides the embers of my fire…” and we are cast into another dream of “whipping winds that fortel a storm” that can be smelled in the air.
The acoustic track ‘The Forest Speaks’, is a soothing composition complete with soft horn sounds that permeate the air in a ‘softness’ not present before this is the ultimate precursor into ‘Circle Of Druids’ where we are told we have gone too far before the power chords hit again, giving even more of the lush heaviness I have come to expect over the course of these songs that have lead me here knowing “You must ascend…” and rise indeed on the hooks and time shifts.
‘Earth Wizard’ is the absolute culmination of all points traversed up to this moment and serves as the bookend to tie it all together and does it incredibly well. Over seven minutes long, Polzine, Marks, Wheeler and ‘guest’ Harakal put 200% into this song, as they have seemingly done with every other song included in this opus and does not disappoint in any manner.
Switching studios between Part I and Part II helped Howling Giant bring the process closer to home for these guys but the continuity between is flawless and if I have to say this record has done one thing for sure… left me wanting, no, scratch that, NEEDING more!! Grab these two, listen to them as a single release and climb aboard for a journey you have not experienced before. Share it with every mind you encounter and support them live if you get the opportunity… keep it LOUD!!
