Earthless “Black Heaven” Album Review + Music Video + Links…

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Earthless

Black Heaven – Vinyl // CD // DD // Bundle Packages

Nuclear Blast Records – Released March 16th, 2018

Terry “The Ancient One” Cuyler

A Journey into Black Heaven

Line Up:
Mario Rubalcaba (drums)
Isaiah Mitchell (guitars & VOX)
Mike Eginton (bass)

Review:
Greetings music heads this is that old sonic wave rider The Ancient One and I want to tell all of you about  San Diego’s heavy psyche rock trio Earthless and their upcoming album Black Heaven. Originally signed to the independent record labels  Gravity Records  and then Tee Pee Records, Earthless has been Blowing minds since 2001 with their own brand of almost entirely instrumental heavy-psych rock that many of other great musicians/bands credit as inspiration in their own music. To date they have released a slew of split albums with the likes of Witch, Danava, Lecherous Gaze, Premonitions 13, Radio Moscow, and Harsh Toke. This is accompanied by 2 live albums and 3 studio albums with their 4th “Black Heaven”, the subject of this review.

Band Pic

Released on March 16th, 2018 on the Nuclear Blast record label with songs that have more vocals than all their previous releases combined, Black Heaven is a leaner meaner Earthless album . Though I cannot be certain because I don’t have any contacts in Nuclear Blast Records or Earthless  I suspect the band’s association with the Rock Giant is why the bands latest album have significantly shorter songs.  Is this a bad thing, absolutely not!!  Isaiah has a fantastic bluesy voice that is also on display with his other band Golden Void.

 

While the 40 minute album is broken into six tracks, to me it all seem to blend together into two parts with interlude track “Voit Rush” acting as sort of a road sign telling me were I am at in the journey. What catches my attention most about Black Heaven is that more than half of the songs have guitarist Isaiah Mitchell also taking up the microphone as vocalist. Which I think he does a bang up job at. Yet for all that has changed Earthless has remained true to their original mind-bending blend of krautrock and Japanese heavy-blues rock with still some of the freshest and finest Riffs, meanest basslines and Cosmic Drumming on this great Universe!!

Link to buy Album, Bundles and more…

http://shop.nuclearblast.com/en/products/sound/cd/cd-digi-ts-xxl/earthless-black-heaven-baseball-shirt-cd-digi-poster.html

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ELARA “Deli Bal” Album Review + Stream…

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ELARA

Deli Bal – Vinyl // CD // DD

PysKA Records – released May 1, 2017

Reviewed by Zachary “+Norway+” Turner 

 

Lineup:
DANIEL WIELAND – Bass & Vocals
FELIX SCHMIDT – Guitars & Effects
MARTIN WIELAND – Drums & Percussion

Tracklist:
1/A1                Deli Bal 8:32
2/A2                Amida 12:48
3/B1                Quarantania 7:51
4/B2                Harmonia 17:15
5/CD/Digital BONUS  Trimenon 09:41

Review:

ELARA or, as it is stylized on the record, [Elara Sunstreak Band] are a modern “power trio” from Germany. This is how the band describes themselves; [the band] “is the psychedelic journey of three friends for whom music isn’t a quick commodity but the expression of a positive attitude of life. Here, pressure encounters hypnotic sounds and lyrical depth.” Which is from their Bandcamp and the psyka-records.com shop.

 

 

The album art is very reminiscent of a bunch of band posters and album art from the 1960’s and 1970’s.

Track 1/A1: ‘Deli Bal’
A quick Google search will give you a translation of the album’s Turkish title; “Mad Honey,” which is a hallucinogenic type of honey found in the rhododendron flower. (Which is shown on the cover)

The title track is the heaviest out of the bunch and the structure shows you how the rest of the album will be. It starts off with a sample (after the buzzing from the amps) we get the slow beginning of our journey through our music induced trip. The music slowly builds until 2:18 then the drums bring us into one of the heaviest parts of the album. We get a few shredding’s of the guitar interspersed with words until we get to around 7:50; wind is introduced and the music begins to slow down again the guitar drones out and we move into…

Track 2/A2 ‘Amida’
This track is a back and forth track, it starts off slow, then speeds up, then slows, then speeds up. It is slow in doing it so it is not jarring when it does but it is a constant tug and pull of speed and tempo. This track is also where the organ comes in, really giving me a feeling of the Acid Mothers Temple Collective. As this song is wrapping up, it does the same as the last track (But with the organ this time.)  Amida is also in Turkey (it is called Diyarbakır now) I think this is where the face on the cover comes from. It is very similar to the Amitābha sculptures. Amidah is a Jewish Prayer.

Track 3/B1 ‘Quarantania’
This song’s structure is close to the first, with less shredding, and ends with an effect that sounds like a tape being slowed.  Quarantania is also called The Mount of Temptation (it said that is where Jesus was tempted by the Devil.) I think that this is what the mountains and rocks are on the album cover.

Track 4/B2 ‘Harmonia’ (My favorite track)
This song is steadier in its tempo and speed and uses the influence of psychedelic rock. The ending sounds like it could loop around and be the beginning of the first track.   There isn’t much that I could find that relates to this track on the internet or the album cover.

Track 5 ‘Trimenon’ (Bonus Track)
Musically it is like Harmonia but in a condensed time. The guitar reminds me of some Middle Eastern music. A direct translation from German is Trimester. In Greek it can either mean 1) of three months or 2) a space of three months.

Live Band Pic

ELARA are toeing the line of being Metal on the shorter songs and more Progressive and Psychedelic on the longer tracks. The album gives me a very 90’s feel but as of writing this I cannot name the reason. The music itself is very similar to Sludge metal with a focus on more of a Classic/Progressive Rock feel (‘Harmonia’ showcasing that). In the heavier songs the music is very Tool-like. That focus on Rock during the slower passages is what (in my opinion) keeps the album from being metal. At points the music reminds me of some of the music from Acid Mothers Temple Collective. Vocally Daniel Wieland reminds me a lot of Scott Kelly (from Neurosis) or the guys from Mastodon. Yes, the music sounds stoner-y but it is more progressive as they even give a nod of their collective cap to Pink Floyd.

My only complaint about this album is the lack of a lyric sheet or lyrics available on the internet.  If you are a novice and just starting in the field of progressive music this should not be your first stop but wouldn’t be a terrible choice for a fourth or fifth experience as their music lends itself to a more sophisticated ear.  If you consider yourself an Audio Aficionado – “Deli Bal” is a MUST BUY!!!!

Take a listen here and buy a copy; CD and/or VINYL

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Clan “Carnivores” Album Review + Stream…

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“Eat ‘M’ Alive!”

Clan

Carnivores – Digital Download

Self Released – June 19, 2017

Reviewed by Terry “The Ancient One” Cuyler

 

Hey all I got some music for you all to Rock ‘n’ Roll all night to from a power trio of rockers out of the UK’s Norwich calling themselves Clan. It’s been awhile since I last heard about Clan , but Matt , Ben, and Matt haven’t been just laying about. Since 2013 when they released their “Self Titled” EP, Clan has been hard at work.  They released a highly acclaimed sophomore album in 2014 called Witchcraft available in physical formats on Kozmik Artifactz Records.  On April 2017 they released a single Haunt Your Ghost as a teaser to get us all amped up for Carnivores.

I first heard Clan back in 2013 and instantly found myself singing along to their righteous rock/doom/blues sound like I had been listening to them for years and the feeling was no different when I gave Carnivores a spin. Since their S/T EP and Witchcraft album it seems to me Clan has grown musically.

Rather than rush to create their 3rd album or make up for a lack of material by potting previously released tracks on it as was done on Witchcraft the band took its time with Carnivores and gave fans a 10 song album of all new material. I have also noticed a slight change in sound as the songs are less bouncy and have a more heavy blues feel. Overall the album seems to have a dark theme about how people prey on one another; providing relevance to the album name.

 

Pro Band Pic
Clan: Left to Right – Ben Giller(Drums), Matt Rabong(Bass), and Matt Pearce(Guitar & Vocals)

A band with a versatile sound in a live show I think Clan would go over just as well with the Black Keys audiences as it would with Bikers, Wolfmother and those that attend the Maryland Doom Fest. What can I say Clan is just good Rock ‘n’ Roll. My favorites from Carnivores are ‘Burning,’ ‘Bodies Jackal,’ ‘Haunt Your Ghost,’ ‘True Believer,’ ‘Sleep In Salt,’ and ‘White Spider.’  This album is slammed with killer hits!!  If your looking for kick ass rock then Clan might be what you were looking for.