In our human minds, according to the Law of Contagious Magic as described in The Golden Bough by anthropologist James Frazer, contact between two objects creates an inseparable thread between them. A gift from a dead friend forever holds this magic like a scar reflecting a wound. Similarly, a piece of food that touches the floor is suddenly abject and rotten. Pairing this notion with the Law of Similarity Magic, as described by Frazer, where an object resembling another can share its power, a musical notion can be understood to serve as an unbodied conduit of such magics; an emotional contact between the music and audience wherein such sorcery threads an inseparable seam that, for a time, resemble each other.
Aptly named in reference to the aforementioned book, Stygian Bough, the collaboration between Bell Witch (Dylan Desmond, Jesse Shreibman) and Aerial Ruin (Erik Moggridge) enlivens its unbodied presence resembling both projects as a conduit in its own separate entity.
growing from Moggridge’s recurring contributions to the Bell Witch catalog. Their initial collusion occurring on the debut Bell Witch album Longing (2012) following which, Moggridge would return to guest on both Four Phantoms (2015) and Mirror Reaper (2017). Stygian Bough Volume I was released in 2020, Volume II was released in 2025.
bellwitch.bandcamp.com/album/stygian-bough-volume-i
Following their latest, much-acclaimed album, Sphere (2019), instrumental psych rock frontrunners Monkey3 , the Lausanne-based four-piece has announced a brand new, cosmic studio offering, entitled Welcome To The Machine via Napalm Records.
Once again, Monkey3 envelops listeners in their unique, cosmic auditory haze. Welcome To The Machine not only marks their seventh and most epic, dark and captivating record to date, but will also clearly prove why they are one of the most exciting instrumental rock bands in the modern stoner and psychedelic rock scene.
Welcome To The Machine’s musical themes are inspired by movies such as 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Matrix, Sunshine, Solaris and 1984, while unveiling an intense mankind vs. machines story that instantly launches the listener into deep space. Right from its first tones, the album immediately emerges as a perfect soundtrack to a journey into the unknown. Tracks such as “Rackman” perfectly showcase how Monkey3, who formed in 2001, are one of only a few instrumental bands that know how to tell an enthralling story.
Welcome To The Machine explores as much as it poses questions. It is dark and menacing; evoking melancholic destruction while somehow bursting with hope at the same time, moving between haunting passages and progressive breaks, mesmerizing grooves and colossal riffs.
monkey3official.com
“Patrick Walker’s music stands alone and stands firm at this point, a kind of epic, transportive dirge-rock, methodical, entirely resistant to anything less than a complete kind of engagement. I feel a deep and almost dangerous sense of surrender when I really let this music in, so strong is its emotional pull, so raw and true is the feeling at its center, so ancient-seeming and wisdom-filled is Walker’s gift for writing and singing melody.”
— Hank Shteamer (Rolling Stone)
2024 saw the release of the critically acclaimed new album “Little Weight”.
Arena Vienna / big room / adv 31€ / 19.00h
roadtriptoouttaspace.com 