“A nihilistic listening experience” – The Quietus 

"Brings forth the tangential and historical relationships between industrial and its 'sister' genres like coldwave while splicing them with influences that range from shoegaze to black metal." -- Heavy Blog Is Heavy

"Long-standing darkness merchants... brooding, Katatonia-esque gloom." -- Metal Injection

Experimental duo CROWN share a new single from their forthcoming sophomore album on Pelagic Records today via Heavy Blog is Heavy. Hear and share "Shades" HERE. (Direct YouTube.)

Metal Injection previously hosted "Illumination" HERE. (Direct YouTube.)

The End Of All Things is for CROWN what Kid A was for Radiohead: an album that nobody was expecting from them.

Dark and moody; bleak and sublime; airy and crushing; mesmerizing and engrossing; bold yet unerring; strident, danceable and suffocating, all at the same time. An album oozing with tasteful, fragile hook lines flirting with the abyss they are hovering above, encapsulated within an ingenious major production, provided by one half of CROWN himself: David Husser has worked as a sound engineer, producer and musician all across the globe with artists like Alan Wilder of Depeche Mode or at Peter Gabriel's Real World studio, and has toured with his industrial band Y Front alongside Rammstein in the 90s. Paul Kendall (Mute Records, NIN, Nick Cave) said about David: “a distorting diamond... we have collaborated on a number of projects and I have been amazed by his ability to teach an old dog new tricks. He is simply the best recording engineer I have ever met.”

The other half of CROWN is founding father and vocalist Stéphane Azam, who has worked as live sound engineer for French blackgaze pioneers Alcest for years. Stéphane's low, soothing voice on The End Of All Things comes as a complete surprise to anyone familiar with the band's previous 2 records, which featured mostly screamed vocals – a fact showcasing the immense versatility of the musicians at work here.

Furthermore, In contrary to previous efforts, there are (almost) no vocal guest appearances on The End Of All Things – 'almost', because Karin Park of Årabrot lends her beautiful voice to closing track “Utopia.” David pushed Stéphane from the start of the writing and recording process to do all the vocals himself, for the sake of coherence: he wanted the band and the album to have one single “captain of the vessel. Stéph sings with a very low voice now, and it was a challenge to make space for that sound- and production -wise, we had to find some kind of relief in the low register. It took us pretty long to find what we consider the right recipe to make it work”, Husser explains.

Crown started out in 2011 as 2 men and a drum machine, and their debut album instantly got them an invitation to the prestigious Roadburn Festival in 2013, and a record deal with Candlelight Records. The duo's early sound was defined by hissing electronics, soaring heavy guitars and the absence of “real” drums, touching on industrial metal acts like Godflesh, Ministry or Killing Joke. The End Of All Things is clearly a departure from that sound in almost every imaginable way.

“Life is change, it’s the only thing we can always expect”, says Husser. “It's the same with music. I personally feel offended when a band just regurgitates their own ideas and delivers a copy of the previous album, over and again... I want to take risks and let myself in for adventures and ventures into new territories, otherwise it wouldn't be art anymore.”

The End Of All Things is a seminal album, which could well turn into a new 'Shape Of Heavy Music To Come'. Get involved.  

The End Of All Things will be available on LP, CD and digital on April 16th, 2021 via Pelagic Records. Pre-orders are available HERE

Artist: Crown

Album: The End of All Things

Record label: Pelagic Records

Release Date: April 16, 2021

01. Violence

02. Neverland

03. Shades

04. Illumination

05. Nails

06. Gallow

07. Extinction

08. Fleuves

09. Firebearer

10. Utopia

On The Web:

crownritual.com

crownritual.bandcamp.com

facebook.com/CROWNBAND

pelagic-records.com

"The looming riffs evoke the early King Woman EP Doubt, and the cadence of Green’s vocals call to mind those of Pallbearer’s Brett Campbell.." -- Audiofemme

"A doom communion." -- CvltNation

"More riffs than you're going to know what to do with." -- Metal Injection

Brooklyn, NY trio Reverend Mother recently announced their name change from Priestess, and today the band unveils the first track from their upcoming S/T EP via Metal Injection. Hear and share their cover version of Fuzz's "Let It Live" HERE. (Direct Bandcamp and Spotify,)

CvltNation recently shared the name change news with a short, eerie video shot on Super 8 film that features some of the band's upcoming EP. Watch and share HERE. 

Brooklyn three-piece Priestess has reincarnated as Reverend Mother, due to put out their first S/T EP under the new moniker in Spring 2021. They are still led by songwriter and Black Sabbath enthusiast Jackie Green, who cut her teeth as a guitarist in local bands like Evil Daughter. 

Despite the name change, the band remains steadfast in their devotion to doom metal and psychedelic rock, with the EP offering up the same looming riffs, skuzzy reverbs, and haunting vocals Green has studied and refined to make her own. 

“A raw, bluesy track dripping with dark psychedelia, with a strut reminiscent of PJ Harvey circa To Bring You My Love or The Kills’ first couple records.”  -- Treble

"Laid back, groovy and psychedelic... rambles along with shoegaze vocals and a sly guitar that weaves in and out of the track in a way that almost feels improvised." -- Glide Magazine

Austin, TX band The Living Pins share a new track from their forthcoming Freaky Little Monster Children EP -- their first release since their single debut in 1996 -- today via Glide Magazine. Hear and share "Downtown" via Glide Magazine HERE. (Direct Bandcamp.)

Treble recently hosted the lead single "Raven" HERE.

Brian knew his time had come. With clubs shuttered and parties postponed, this most recent iteration of The Living Pins — guitarists/vocalists Pam Peltz and Carrie Clark, joined by Brian the Drum Machine — groove through these crazy times with a full tilt swagger from the back room of an Austin house. 

Carrie is an inductee into the Austin Music Hall of Fame as the frontwoman for Sixteen Deluxe (Trance Syndicate, Warner Bros. Records). Pam is a published photographer and the producer of two Daniel Johnston songs, “Ain’t No Woman Gonna Make a George Jones Outta Me” and “Casper” on Daniel’s Continued Story album.

The Living Pins originally formed in 1996 during the heyday of iconic Austin clubs such as Liberty Lunch, Electric Lounge, and The Hole In The Wall. Pam and Carrie met as co-workers at Wheatsville Food Co-op and continued in the tradition of employee bands including the likes of Ed Hall, Cherubs, Sixteen Deluxe, Pong, Palaxy Tracks, and Cotton Mather. The original Living Pins line-up included Kathy Ziegler (Morningwood) and Leslie Petit (Bunny Stockhausen) and this incarnation of the Pins appeared on the 1998 Wheatsville band compilation The Wheat Album, with their cover of the T. Rex song, “Spaceball Ricochet”, produced by John Croslin (Spoon, Guided by Voices).

Now, the Living Pins are back as a two-piece with Freaky Little Monster Children -- their new fledgling baby bird EP of glam-psych-guitar explosions. Primordial 1990s Austin, meets 2000s oversaturated festival hangover, meets 2020 lockdown mind-melt champagne fountain.  

“We’ve never been to the Rites of Pan Festival at Jajouka, but something like that goes on in the back of our heads all the time.” —The Living Pins

Freaky Little Monster Children was mostly recorded late on Friday and Saturday nights during the lockdown of Fall of 2020, in the empty lobby of Splinter Group, an East Austin artisan collective. “Fingers crossed the power tools stay silent during the next guitar overdub,” was the mantra. Facemasks and headphones were the main accessories. Jeff Copas (Sixteen Deluxe, Mule Ear Productions) engineered and produced the EP plus added some sweet keyboard and percussion details. And special guest, Matt Devine (Medicine, Permanent Green Light, Possum Dixon), played his Mick Taylor-esque endless guitar solo on “Jaguar” from a different time zone out in L.A.

EP personnel:

Carrie Clark: vocals, guitars, tambourine

Pam Peltz: vocals, guitars, bass

Brian, the Drum Machine: beats

Jeff Copas: production, keyboards, percussion

Matt Devine: lead & rhythm guitars on “Jaguar”

Freaky Little Monster Children will be available for download on April 9th, 2021. Pre-orders are available HERE. 

"The looming riffs evoke the early King Woman EP Doubt, and the cadence of Green’s vocals call to mind those of Pallbearer’s Brett Campbell.." -- Audiofemme

"A doom communion." -- CvltNation

Brooklyn, NY trio Priestess, a favorite live act in the local scene, today announce their official name change to Reverend Mother. The band has shared the announcement via CvltNation along with a short, eerie video shot on Super 8 film that features some of the band's upcoming EP. Watch and share HERE. 

Brooklyn three-piece Priestess has reincarnated as Reverend Mother, due to put out their first S/T EP under the new moniker in Spring 2021. They are still led by songwriter and Black Sabbath enthusiast Jackie Green, who cut her teeth as a guitarist in local bands like Evil Daughter. 

Despite the name change, the band remains steadfast in their devotion to doom metal and psychedelic rock, with the EP offering up the same looming riffs, skuzzy reverbs, and haunting vocals Green has studied and refined to make her own. 

On The Web:

instagram.com/reverendmother_bk

reverendmother.bandcamp.com

priestessbk.bandcamp.com  

twitter.com/reverendmother_

"Low, slow, crunchy and crushing. Crank it up as loud as your speakers will go." -- Metal Injection

"Exhibits mastery with good riffs, tone and fat-as-f*ck drumming while also claiming its own distinct space in the world of doom." -- CvltNation

A holy mountain of riffs, thunderhorse rhythms and tune-in-drop-out vibes.” — Invisible Oranges

Stockholm, Sweden based trio Spelljammer are streaming their forthcoming album Abyssal Trip in full starting today via CvltNation. Hear and share Abyssal Trip HERE. (Direct YouTube and Bandcamp.)

Metal Injection previously shared title track "Abyssal Trip" HERE. Invisible Oranges recently hosted the video for "Lake" alongside an in-depth interview HERE. (Direct YouTube.)

“The vastness of everything is something that I think about a lot,” says Spelljammer bassist/vocalist Niklas Olsson. And it certainly shows in both the expansive, sludgy sounds and contemplative lyrics of the Stockholm, Sweden based trio. Following a 5-year break between their previous album, Ancient of Days — perhaps fittingly spent pondering said vastness — Spelljammer is back with an album that perfectly bridges the band’s earlier desert rock leanings and their later massive, slow-burning riffs. 

Abyssal Trip (note: carefully re-read that album title) takes its moniker from the perpetually dark, cold, oxygen-free zone at the bottom of the ocean. The 6-song, 44-minute album fittingly embodies that bleak realm with rumbling, oozing guitars intercut with dramatic melodic interludes. The songs take their time to unfurl, making them even more hypnotic. Likewise, the lyrics take a poetic approach to establishing the sonic scenery.

“The lyrical themes we address, like the ultimate doom of man, and the search and longing for new and better worlds, are still there,” Olsson says. “The concept of something undiscovered out there in vast emptiness is pretty much always present.” 

The recording process for Abyssal Trip differs from previous releases in that the band — guitarist Robert Sörling, drummer Jonatan Rimsbo and Olsson — opted to capture the performances while holed up in the mental bathysphere of a house in the countryside near Stockholm. “The songs benefitted from the relaxed environment of being away from everything,” Olsson explains. Indeed, the album sounds confident and meticulously arranged, afforded by the band’s isolation. Sörling mixed the album and it was mastered by Monolord drummer Esben Willems at Berserk Audio.

Album opener “Bellwether” begins dramatically with a very slow, nearly minute-long fade in of rumbling distortion setting the stage for heavily distorted bass and guitar plucking out the lugubrious riff for another minute and a half before the drums begin, and likewise equally as long before vocals gurgle to the surface. “Lake” abruptly shifts gears, opening with an unusually fast gallop before rupturing into thundering doom that soon drops into a clean-tone Middle Eastern melodic breakdown. The title track serves as the album centerpiece, opening with ominous film dialogue about blood sacrifice that launches into pummeling, detuned guitars rumbling over gut-punching drums and howling vocals hearkening to the proto-sludge of Pink Floyd’s “The Nile Song.” The dynamic relents briefly for a slow building clean guitar melody before all instruments lock into a jerking riff topped off by a trilling Iommi style lead. Throughout, Abyssal Trip is, just like its title suggests, an epic tour through desolate zones which yields much to discover. 

Abyssal Trip will be available everywhere on LP, CD and download on February 26th, 2021 via RidingEasy Records. 

"Straightforward, no-nonsense rock." -- Metal Injection

"A raunchy rock'n'roll fire." -- CvltNation

"Crackles with live energy...Loud, belligerent and Effin' Gnarly." -- Invisible Oranges

Bloomington, IN quartet Wenches (ex-members of screamo/noise band Racebannon) are streaming their forthcoming debut album Effin' Gnarly early starting today via Invisible Oranges. Hear & share Effin' Gnarly HERE.

Metal Injection recently shared the "Bad Man" video HERE. (Direct YouTube.) Outburn hosted “Mama, Wake Up” HERE. CvltNation recently shared "Mama, Wake Up" HERE. 

Assembled from broken bits and leftover chunks of various known and unknown groups in the punk, metal and post-hardcore world, Wenches hail from Bloomington, Indiana in the heart of the Midwest. Described by No Echo as “raw, no bullshit...undiluted rock realness" and in the vein of proto-punk bands like MC5 and The Stooges, the debut album Effin' Gnarly is slated for a February 2021 release. 

Tracked at Russian Recording (Built to Spill, Tortoise, of Montreal) and mastered by James Plotkin (Sunn O))), Pelican, Earth, ISIS), the band portrays the album as “high-energy screaming hard rock played the only way long-haired punk metalheads know how. "After a rotating door of bassists and drummers, the band has finally landed on what hopes to be a lasting lineup. Effin' Gnarly follows a previously sold out 3-song "demo" cassette and precedes the release of a limited edition 7" single entitled State Fair Hair. 

Effin' Gnarly will be available on LP and download on February 26, 2021 via Master Kontrol Audio. Limited edition cassettes will be released by Small Hand Factory. Pre-orders are available HERE. 

Artist: Wenches

Album: Effin’ Gnarly

Record Label: Master Kontrol Audio 

Release Date: February 26, 2021

01. Mama, Wake Up

02. Truck Stop Tank Top

03. Bad Man

04. What’s Next To The Moon

05. My Lady’s On Fire

06. Break Up To Make Up

07. Six To Midnight Man

08. Slip Slidin’

09. 100,000 Years

On The Web:

www.wenches.rocks

facebook.com/wencheswencheswenches

instagram.com/mstrkntrl

"Remember when indie rock sounded all grimy, corroded and metal-sludgy -- the last thing you'd hear in a commercial or being played at an arena show? Warish do. It's music to the ears of anyone who wants to damage their ears." -- Rolling Stone

"Warish totally rules... An awesome mixture of punk energy, biker rock fuzz, and grunge growl." -- Kerrang!

"Sludgy and punk-y at the same time, with an Iggy and the Stooges meets Misfits vibe, plus a bit of stoner rock and metal mixed in, as well." -- Consequence of Sound

Southern California trio Warish share a new single from their anticipated sophomore full length, Next To Pay (RidingEasy Records) today via Consequence of Sound. Hear and share "Seeing Red" HERE. (Direct YouTube and Bandcamp.)

Revolver Magazine recently shared the video for "Say To Please" HERE. (Direct YouTube.)

With a name like Warish, the San Diego noisy punk-metal trio assured listeners they were in for a maniacal bludgeoning from the get-go. But the band has never been as dark and bitingly vicious as the wholly ominous Next To Pay. The band’s mix of early AmRep skronk, dark horror rock and budget doom antipathy is taken to a whole new level on this 13-song invective. 

“‘Next To Pay’ is about a sense of imminent doom, everyone is going to die,” vocalist/guitarist Riley Hawk says. “It’s not the happiest record, I guess.” To say the least. On the title track opener, Hawk screams through shredded vocal chords with the tuneful rage of Kill ‘Em All era James Hetfield and the seething desperation of Kurt Cobain. 

“This album is more of an evolution, it’s a little more punk-heavy,” Hawk says of the group quickly founded in 2018. “We figured out what our sound was.” And with that evolution comes a change in the lineup. Original drummer Nick (Broose) McDonnell plays on about half of the songs, while new drummer Justin de la Vega brings an even tighter urgency to the remaining, more recent tracks. Bassist Alex Bassaj joined after the debut album was recorded and here showcases muscular and melodic low end previously missing. Riley Hawk is also the pro-skater son of Tony Hawk. 

Inspired by early-Nirvana, The Misfits, The Spits and Master of Reality-era Black Sabbath, Next To Pay keeps things heavy and pummeling at all times. The guitars are heavy and powerful, though decidedly not straightforward cookie cutter punk; more like Greg Ginn’s and Buzz Osbourne’s wiry contortions, and occasionally drenched in chorus effects. The rhythms bash right through it all with aggressive force ensuring that nothing gets overly complicated. Warish’s cover of 80s Dischord Records punks Gray Matter turns the emotive flail of “Burn No Bridges” into a Motorhead style basher. 

Next To Pay will be available on LP, CD and download on April 30th, 2021 via RidingEasy Records. Pre-orders are available HERE.

Artist: Warish

Album: Next To Pay

Label: RidingEasy Records

Release Date: April 30, 2021

01. Next To Pay

02. Another No One

03. S.H.M. (Second Hand Misery)

04. Burn No Bridges

05. Say To Please

06. Seeing Red

07. Destroyer

08. Woven

09. Scars

10. Ordinary

11. Superstar

12. Make The Escape

13. Fear and Pride

On The Web:

instagram.com/warish.usa

facebook.com/Warishband

ridingeasyrecs.com

“A raw, bluesy track dripping with dark psychedelia, with a strut reminiscent of PJ Harvey circa To Bring You My Love or The Kills’ first couple records.”  -- Treble

Austin, TX band The Living Pins announce their forthcoming Freaky Little Monster Children EP today, their first release since their single debut in 1996. Hear and share lead track "Raven" via Treble HERE. (Direct Bandcamp.)

Brian knew his time had come. With clubs shuttered and parties postponed, this most recent iteration of The Living Pins — guitarists/vocalists Pam Peltz and Carrie Clark, joined by Brian the Drum Machine — groove through these crazy times with a full tilt swagger from the back room of an Austin house. 

Carrie is an inductee into the Austin Music Hall of Fame as the frontwoman for Sixteen Deluxe (Trance Syndicate, Warner Bros. Records). Pam is a published photographer and the producer of two Daniel Johnston songs, “Ain’t No Woman Gonna Make a George Jones Outta Me” and “Casper” on Daniel’s Continued Story album.

The Living Pins originally formed in 1996 during the heyday of iconic Austin clubs such as Liberty Lunch, Electric Lounge, and The Hole In The Wall. Pam and Carrie met as co-workers at Wheatsville Food Co-op and continued in the tradition of employee bands including the likes of Ed Hall, Cherubs, Sixteen Deluxe, Pong, Palaxy Tracks, and Cotton Mather. The original Living Pins line-up included Kathy Ziegler (Morningwood) and Leslie Petit (Bunny Stockhausen) and this incarnation of the Pins appeared on the 1998 Wheatsville band compilation The Wheat Album, with their cover of the T. Rex song, “Spaceball Ricochet”, produced by John Croslin (Spoon, Guided by Voices).

Now, the Living Pins are back as a two-piece with Freaky Little Monster Children -- their new fledgling baby bird EP of glam-psych-guitar explosions. Primordial 1990s Austin, meets 2000s oversaturated festival hangover, meets 2020 lockdown mind-melt champagne fountain.  

“We’ve never been to the Rites of Pan Festival at Jajouka, but something like that goes on in the back of our heads all the time.” —The Living Pins

Freaky Little Monster Children was mostly recorded late on Friday and Saturday nights during the lockdown of Fall of 2020, in the empty lobby of Splinter Group, an East Austin artisan collective. “Fingers crossed the power tools stay silent during the next guitar overdub,” was the mantra. Facemasks and headphones were the main accessories. Jeff Copas (Sixteen Deluxe, Mule Ear Productions) engineered and produced the EP plus added some sweet keyboard and percussion details. And special guest, Matt Devine (Medicine, Permanent Green Light, Possum Dixon), played his Mick Taylor-esque endless guitar solo on “Jaguar” from a different time zone out in L.A.

EP personnel:

Carrie Clark: vocals, guitars, tambourine

Pam Peltz: vocals, guitars, bass

Brian, the Drum Machine: beats

Jeff Copas: production, keyboards, percussion

Matt Devine: lead & rhythm guitars on “Jaguar”

Freaky Little Monster Children will be available for download on April 9th, 2021. Pre-orders are available HERE. 

"Opens with a dusty tremolo guitar sound, like a grungier Duane Eddy, with vocalist Christopher Goett showcasing a voice that’s uncannily similar to Echo & the Bunnymen’s Ian McCulloch. It’s fuzzy, hard-driving rock ‘n’ roll at heart." -- Treble

"A tight 34-minute dose of post-punk, shoegaze, and neo-psychedelia that evokes low-shutter-speed nocturnal journeys through desert canyons and winding coastal highways." -- New Noise Magazine

Los Angeles quartet Blackout Transmission are streaming their forthcoming debut album today via New Noise Magazine. Hear and share the full album Sparse Illumination HERE. (Direct Bandcamp.)

Echoes & Dust previously shared "Since She Guided You Away" HERE. Treble hosted lead single "Portals" HERE. Outburn shared "Heavy Circles" HERE. Spill Magazine launched "Sleepwalking Again" HERE. 

Los Angeles-based post-punk shoe-gaze band Blackout Transmission summon a psychoactive rush of sound on their debut long-player Sparse Illumination out February 19, 2021 via Etxe (et-CHAY) Records.

The album has an artful intentionality and natural cadence to its composition. The meditative, atmospheric opening track “Once There” dovetails into a catchy, Bad Seeds meets Bunnymen groove of “Since She Guided You Away” wherein questions of mortality and the afterlife collide. The late-night romantic pursuit of “Tactile Responses” summons sultry Wire and Public Image Limited vibes while incorporating beautiful, bowed-like choral guitar effects. Side A flows to conclusion with the shimmering, and faster-paced, “Heavy Circles” oscillating between driving, frenetic moments and textured, ethereal passages.

Side B launches with the intoxicating and gauzy, “Verdant Return” that features jaunty melodies and blooming choruses juxtaposed with a biting, confrontational lyrical narrative. The hypnotic groove of “Pacifica” eases off the gas pedal with a psychedelic coastal exploration crossfading perfectly into “Portals” a late-night driving track replete with Storm In Heaven textures and propulsive energy framing desert-evening ruminations about space and time. “Sleepwalking Again” closes the album reflecting upon exhausting, widening income inequality and social movements with a simmer- to-a-boil composition that conjures the more reflective moments of Unwound and early Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.

Bright and gleaming at times, warm and meditative at others – Sparse Illumination effectively creates a seamless, lysergic journey filled with potent lyrics coupled with a rush of multi-chromatic textures anchored by magnetic bass grooves and feverish drumming.

Christopher Goett (Silo Halo), the main creative force of Blackout Transmission, had a growing body of work since his return to Southern California after a decade in Washington, DC. He attributes reconnecting with longtime friend Adam D’Zurilla (Sleepmask, Dreamland) as a catalyst to further explore and refine those ideas.

Arrangements were rounded out with the addition of Kevin Cluppert on bass and Anthony Salazar (Teenage Wrist) on drums culminating with the band playing out in late 2019 and harnessing their live chemistry as they entered the studio in early 2020.

A good portion of album was recorded at Dream Machine in Long Beach and produced by Scott Holmes (Highlands) with Goett. “Scott pushed me in the best way to reimagine elements of my approach” says Goett, “as such we captured the vibe and feel that I was seeking with these songs.” The pandemic forced Goett to finalize many of his overdubs at his home studio in Los Angeles (Twin Dragon West) as well as birthing two additional tracks included on the LP.

Collectively, the eight tracks on Sparse Illumination combine for a tight 34-minute dose of post-punk, shoegaze, and neo-psychedelia that evokes low-shutter-speed nocturnal journeys through desert canyons and winding coastal highways.

Sparse Illumination will be available on LP and download on February 19, 2021 via Etxe Records. Pre-orders are available HERE. 

"Low, slow, crunchy and crushing. Crank it up as loud as your speakers will go." -- Metal Injection

"Exhibits mastery with good riffs, tone and fat-as-f*ck drumming while also claiming its own distinct space in the world of doom." -- CvltNation

A holy mountain of riffs, thunderhorse rhythms and tune-in-drop-out vibes.” — Invisible Oranges

Stockholm, Sweden based trio Spelljammer share the first video from their forthcoming album Abyssal Trip today alongside an in-depth interview with Invisible Oranges. Watch and share "Lake" video HERE. (Direct YouTube.)

Metal Injection previously shared title track "Abyssal Trip" HERE. (Direct YouTube, Bandcamp and Spotify)

“The vastness of everything is something that I think about a lot,” says Spelljammer bassist/vocalist Niklas Olsson. And it certainly shows in both the expansive, sludgy sounds and contemplative lyrics of the Stockholm, Sweden based trio. Following a 5-year break between their previous album, Ancient of Days — perhaps fittingly spent pondering said vastness — Spelljammer is back with an album that perfectly bridges the band’s earlier desert rock leanings and their later massive, slow-burning riffs. 

Abyssal Trip (note: carefully re-read that album title) takes its moniker from the perpetually dark, cold, oxygen-free zone at the bottom of the ocean. The 6-song, 44-minute album fittingly embodies that bleak realm with rumbling, oozing guitars intercut with dramatic melodic interludes. The songs take their time to unfurl, making them even more hypnotic. Likewise, the lyrics take a poetic approach to establishing the sonic scenery.

“The lyrical themes we address, like the ultimate doom of man, and the search and longing for new and better worlds, are still there,” Olsson says. “The concept of something undiscovered out there in vast emptiness is pretty much always present.” 

The recording process for Abyssal Trip differs from previous releases in that the band — guitarist Robert Sörling, drummer Jonatan Rimsbo and Olsson — opted to capture the performances while holed up in the mental bathysphere of a house in the countryside near Stockholm. “The songs benefitted from the relaxed environment of being away from everything,” Olsson explains. Indeed, the album sounds confident and meticulously arranged, afforded by the band’s isolation. Sörling mixed the album and it was mastered by Monolord drummer Esben Willems at Berserk Audio.

Album opener “Bellwether” begins dramatically with a very slow, nearly minute-long fade in of rumbling distortion setting the stage for heavily distorted bass and guitar plucking out the lugubrious riff for another minute and a half before the drums begin, and likewise equally as long before vocals gurgle to the surface. “Lake” abruptly shifts gears, opening with an unusually fast gallop before rupturing into thundering doom that soon drops into a clean-tone Middle Eastern melodic breakdown. The title track serves as the album centerpiece, opening with ominous film dialogue about blood sacrifice that launches into pummeling, detuned guitars rumbling over gut-punching drums and howling vocals hearkening to the proto-sludge of Pink Floyd’s “The Nile Song.” The dynamic relents briefly for a slow building clean guitar melody before all instruments lock into a jerking riff topped off by a trilling Iommi style lead. Throughout, Abyssal Trip is, just like its title suggests, an epic tour through desolate zones which yields much to discover. 

Abyssal Trip will be available everywhere on LP, CD and download on February 26th, 2021 via RidingEasy Records.