Category Archives: Uncategorized

Torche from Miami, Florida came together in 2004 when vocalist/guitarist, Steve Brooks (ex-Floor member), met up with Juan Montoya (also an ex-Floor member), Jonathan Nuñez and Rick Smith (who also played in the grindcore bands Shitstorm, Tyranny of Shaw, Adore Miridia, and the screamo band Tunes for Bears to Dance To). The band began to make noise together almost instantly and liked what they created. In 2005 they released their self-titled debut album on Robotic Empire and began gaining attention.

Next the band began to tour across America with other bands, such as Mogwai, Isis, Pelican, Black Cobra, Baroness, Jesu, The Sword, Stinking Lizaveta, Harvey Milk, Boris, and High on Fire. Frontman, Steve Brooks describes the band’s sound as “mostly a combination of everything we listen to collectively as a band. We take what we like from what we grew up on and use it as creatively as we can. I think the meshing of different sounds comes naturally just because we all have different musical backgrounds, yet have a ton of common interests.” 2008 marked the released of the band’s second offering. “Meanderthal, ‘ which met with critical acclaim, including a top ranking from Decibel Magazine who ranked the album #1 on their Top 40 Extreme Albums of 2008.

In late 2008 Juan Montoya left the band, a move credited to musical differences. Steve Brooks said: “He is an amazing guitarist, but we are just not on the same page… but Torche will still carry on as a 3 piece band.” The band continued to tour as a trio as Brooks said they would touring with acts such as Harvey Milk and Coheed and Cambria. In 2010 the band put out the EP, ‘Songs For Singles” on Hydrahead Records and in early 2011, it was announced  that Andrew Elstner (Riddle of Steel, Tilts) will be joining Torche.
Their first joined effort, “Harmonicraft” was released in 2012.

‘Restarter’ was released in 2015 and is the first record for independent metal powerhouse Relapse Records.

This is a record that is simultaneously hum-able and heavy that will just as easily appeal to fans of Dinosaur Jr and Sonic Youth as it will Melvins and High On Fire-heads. But what truly sets TORCHE apart from their peers is their ability to use top-notch songwriting and soaring, harmonic vocals to create records that are heavier and louder and hookier than anyone else out there.

torche.bandcamp.com

Prototyper from Vienna, Austria are 1% Stoner/Sludge/Doom & 99% badass.

Their latest effort “Cities” was released in 2014.

prototyper.bandcamp.com
Arena Vienna / small hall / adv 16 € / doors 19 € / 20.00h

Arabrot has been an outsider on the Norwegian music scene since their beginning in 2001. During the first few years they received little recognition from the glossy establishment in their homeland, but Arabrot carved their own path and quietly built a reputation among music fans in Europe as a daring and uncompromising live band. Today, Arabrot is one of Europe’s defining underground bands.

Arabrot first recieved widespread recognition with the Steve Albini produced third album, The Brother Seed (2009). Following this album, Arabrot went into a creative blaze the succeeding years. For instance, they did live scores at silent film showings (“Faust” from 1926 in Trondheim, “Häxan” from 1922 at Øyafestivalen, “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” from 1920 and “Die Nibelungen” from 1924 at Verdensteatret in Tromsø) and did commissioned work for the highly regarded Henie Onstad Kunstsenter.

In the middle of all this, Arabrot produced the exploratory EPs AbsoluteNegativism, I Rove and Mæsscr, two albums under the Nernes Skagen moniker, as well as two stand out albums: The gargantuan Billy Anderson-produced double album REVENGE and the needle-sharp Solar Anus, again featuring Steve Albini as a producer. For Solar Anus, they received the Norwegian Grammy in the metal category.

Arabrot’s flourishing lyricism adds an unmatched depth. Macabre renditions of classic works like the Bible and Dante’s Inferno meet philosophical themes derived from the historical avant-garde. The existentialism of Camus and Sartre; the surrealism of Bataille and Lautréamont; the eroticism of Henry Miller and de Sade; the romantic writings of Coleridge, Poe and de Quincey; mystic thinkers such as Aleister Crowley and Jorge Luis Borges, oppositionals like Féderico Lorca and of course Norway’s chief contrarian Jens Bjørneboe all make their way into Arabrot’s unique character.

2014 saw the release of their latest EP “I Modi”.

norwayratrecords.bandcamp.com

TarLung is a doomed Sludge Metal band from Vienna, Austria. Formed in 2013, TarLung worship the riff, breaking down amps and phlegmatic heaviness, bowing to bands like Church of Misery, Electric Wizard and Black Sabbath as well as Crowbar, Melvins and EyeHateGod.

tarlung.bandcamp.com

Arena Vienna / Dreiraum / adv 14 € / 20.00h

USA Out Of Vietnam have paired with Aurora Borealis and New Damage Records to release their auspicious debut Crashing Diseases and Incurable Airplanes.

Their musical influences are both transparent and widespread, and include black metal, doom, drone, minimalist composition, sludge, noise, post rock, shoe-gaze, dream pop, nineties psychedelia and classic seventies radio dial pop. Particularly transparent is this love of pop music, dense seventies-style production, and harmonized vocals that swerves around hairpin turns. If you really wanted to try to harness this slippery eel you could say that the band’s sound is as equally informed by the stacked production and pop savvy of Jeff Lynne’s E.L.O. as it is by the crushing heavy drones of Sunn O)))).

On their debut, USA Out of Vietnam proudly boast of their love of lush harmony and infectious melody but also like to push past the 3 minute traditional pop format with 10 minute epics – psychedelic, in the truest sense of the word.

With over 15 guest musicians appearing on Crashing Diseases and Incurable Airplanes (including Montreal singer/songwriter Patrick Watson who contributes treated vocal loops on two songs here), their debut is vast in it’s scope, and abundant with rich sounds. Brass sections elbow up to detuned and distorted Marshall stacked guitars, spoken word sections appear in unlikely spaces, vocoder vocals appear within breaths of angelic choir vocals, vintage synth and sampled noises hover over lush string sections while a piano beds down with crushing Swans-style pummeling. The lyrics across the album mirrors the sound that surrounds them, with themes grasping towards redemption that search for a sliver of light hiding in the darkness.

Crashing Diseases and Incurable Airplanes slowly reels the listener in as opposed to attacking them with ballast and decibels. USA Out of Vietnam have created an enveloping and vivid piece of work – but flush that incense and peppermint flotsam out of your head because USA Out of Vietnam insist that this trip is for real.

“USA Out Of Vietnam is a four-piece Montreal band that doesn’t fit neatly into any one specific genre. They combine elements of psych pop, prog rock, and drone pop so effortlessly that the resulting music is equal parts brilliant and confounding. The five track album is a heavy journey through various experiments with sound, making it a truly original project.” – Noisey

usaoutofvietnam.bandcamp.com

Arena Vienna / Dreiraum / adv 12 €  / doors 14 € / 20.00h

For those who don’t know:

The Melvins have been a band for over 30 years…

The Melvins have done a shit load of albums…. How many is a shit load? No one really knows.

http://www.discogs.com/artist/87652-Melvins

The Melvins have four members.

King Buzzo… Longest surviving and only original member left. When they get around to replacing him there will be no original members!

Dale Crover... Long standing drummer and part time guitar player. Dale likes his booze in a High Ball glass.

Jared Warren… Bass player, singer and part time drama geek. Jared also plays in the band Big Business.

Coady Willis… Drummer. Coady has a funny story about trying to play a gig in leather pants. Ask him, it’s funny as shit! Coady also plays drums in Big Business.

www.themelvins.net
Big Business is a loud rock band from sunny Los Angeles. They tour, make records, and pretty much do whatever they want. But they do it CLASSY.

bigbigbusiness.com

Arena Vienna / big hall / adv 26€ / 19.00h

One of current rock’s most captivating figures and a devilishly talented musician in her own right, Jex Thoth is a quiet enigma floating airily through a thicket of oversharers. There isn’t a ton of information about her out there, and this willful silence has led many to style her as one that likes to keep people guessing.

The band that would come to bear her name first materialized in 2007 under the Totem moniker and released one EP before switching over to Jex Thoth. So far, the band’s discography features six statements (including a split with the legendary Pagan Altar), culminating in 2013´s mesmerizing full-length Blood Moon Rise which was produced by Randall Dunn (Earth, Sunn O))), Black Mountain).

Embracing all that is good from the past and shuttling it defiantly into the future, Jex Thoth ‘s alchemical sound reveals a reverence for bands like Pink Floyd, Amon Duul 2, Jefferson Airplane, and Black Sabbath, while still managing to conjure a unique sound style that is very much their own.

After six successful European tours and six releases, Jex Thoth have completed US tours with Agalloch and Windhand and a European tour with Blues Pills.

http://www.jexthoth.net

Savanah is an austrian Stoner Rock Trio from Graz, formed in 2014. After their first show in june they played several concerts including supports for bands like Karma to Burn, Black Cobra, Seven That Spells, Black Rainbows and Acid King. In february 2015 the first song of their upcoming debut EP Deep Shades (Stone Free Records)
was released and gained airplay on radio FM4, 3NRG and others.

The band takes influences from Doom, Desert and Psychedelic Rock to create their unique sound, once described as aggressive Stoner with a deafening bass and powerful riffs. Energetic Live-Performances are part of the bands character and attitude.

www.facebook.com/Savanahmusic

Poster artwork by Irrwisch
www.facebook.com/Irrwisch.Artdesign

Arena Vienna / Dreiraum / adv 14 € / doors 17 € / 20.00h

CHRISTIAN MISTRESS return with To Your Death, an 8-song excursion in pure American heavy metal. Marked by the powerful vocals of Christine Davis and the rich harmonies of guitar duo Oscar Sparbel and Tim Diedrich, CHRISTIAN MISTRESS have honed their craft resulting in a vital entry to the genre.  Simultaneously relevant and anachronistic, CHRISTIAN MISTRESS serves the song, the art, and the listener with ‘To Your Death’ ignoring the line drawn between past, present and future.

www.christianmistress.com

Led by ripping pro skater and rip-roaring guitarist Justin “Figgy” Figueroa, HARSH TOKE are equal parts atmospheric and anarchic, merging raging, blind fury musicianship with unprecedented white-knuckle volume abuse. Tense and surreal, HARSH TOKES’ songs slowly build from hallucinatory haze into grand overtures of noise and feedback; a cosmic buffet of pounding, pummeling and punishing planes of sound. Heavy. Cosmic. Kinetic.

HARSH TOKE explore sound and space through music. On the San Diego Acid Rock band’s debut album “Light Up and Live”, loud, heavy guitars, swimming bass lines and smashing drums warp to full throttle, working together to launch the group’s “Haze Maze” of unapologetic psychedelic-blues into interstellar overdrive. “Light Up and Live” was recorded by Brian Ellis (also of the prog-rock band ASTRA) and mastered by Carl Saff (Earthless, OFF!, Unsane).

www.facebook.com/theHARSHTOKEgoons

After having deeply explored the different aspects of Crowley’s philosophy on their previous releases “Iao Sabao” and “Lucifer Leviathan Logos”, Norwegian occult heavy metal band MAGISTER TEMPLI returns with its second full length, “Into Duat”, in which they focus thematically on some of the central myths and gods of the Egyptian Mythology.

As in their 7’’ “Nyarlathotep” from 2014, the band has moved even further away from their doom-inspired beginnings, towards a more open-minded musical experience strongly based on filthy traditional heavy metal. Heavy guitars, intense drumming and authoritarian, preaching vocals are key ingredients.

“Into Duat” was recorded in Oslo between Evil Octopus and Sorcerer studios, with former band member Simon Aarset as technician.

www.facebook.com/pages/Magister-Templi/102129379880020

The Gods of Rock have seen fit to bestow upon the masses a reincarnation of the psychedelic force previously known as The Socks.
Comprising the same lineup, this incarnation of reverberation that goes by the name of Sunder is destined to sell out stadiums throughout the world, splitting heads through the ears with their brand of thunderous, heavy rock.

Signed to Crusher Records in Europe and Tee Pee Records in the States, SUNDER is poised to leave their mark the world over.

Julien Méret’s vocals have both the zeal of a prophet and the desperation of a false one. As he proselytizes to the masses, it’s impossible for any person to end up anywhere but on their knees. Then, praying for mercy, a wave of fuzzed out guitar tone crushes the mind and leaves nothing but chaos.

Jessy Ensenat may as well be playing with your bones as he leaves you seizing on the ground with the power of his drums. Vincent Melay will remind you what it was all for, as his rhythmic bass lifts your soul to immortality.

Finally, the vocals, farfisa, and mellotron of Nicolas Baud will give you a taste of your own funeral as you join him to piss on your own grave.

The Socks were of Lyon, France. Sunder is of the world and it is with the sounds of Sunder that the shores of the world will be plundered.

Debut album expected by the fall of 2015.

www.facebook.com/officialsunder

Arena Vienna / Dreiraum / adv 14€ / doors 16€ / 19.00h

For fifteen years RoToR have been crafting their dry as a bone instrumental sound merging 90s Stoner Rock and 70s Space Rock. From Berlin, founded 1998. First as a trio, now a quartet. Four studio albums and a live album. The fifth chapter now: “5” is the title of the new album, which is due in September via Nois-O-Lution. 8 songs, 43 minutes.

The heavyness of Stoner Rock benefits on RotoR’s “5” from colours and facets ultimately gaining elegance and airiness. Contrasts meet: Stoner and Psychedelic, Kraut and Progressive make encounters and collapse. RoToR’s music has become more sophisticated, more transparent, more diverse, before suddenly the ton-weighing head-shaking part kicks in to take the listener to far away sound-worlds…

For a band of their status we know surprisingly little about RoToR. The band has reached a state of independence by deliberately refusing common marketing strategies. This has allowed RoToR to go their own way with integrity, to keep on keeping on.

www.rotorotor.de

Arena Vienna / Dreiraum / adv 14€ / 20.00h

Following a well-received appearance at the South by Southwest in 2005, The Sword signed with Kemado Records, who issued the band’s debut album “Age of Winters” in February 2006. Comprised of mainly Cronise’s early material , the album sold roughly 100.000 copies earned the group a significant fan base and led to touring with Lacina Coil, Trivium, Nebula and Lamb of God.

The Sword subsequently released a split EP with the Swedish doom metal band Witchcraft, which included a Led Zeppelin cover, and released their sophomore album “Gods of the Earth” in April 2008. Like its predecessor, the album was well-received by critics and fans, and was their first charting album reaching No. 102 on the Billboard 200. In support of the album The Sword embarked on their ‘Gods of the Earth Tour’ with support provided by Machine Head and Clutch.

Taking their musical inspiration from a more science fiction base, the Sword’s third full-length album “Warp Rider” was a concept album with a hard rock focus. The album debuted at No. 47 on the Billboard 200 and the band supported Metallica, for the third time, on a number of their Australian and Asian tour dates. In 2010 drummer Trivett Wingo departed the group and was replaced by Kevin Fender on tour and later by Santiago “Jimmy” Vela III. The band combined fantasy and metaphysics on their fourth studio album “Apocryphon” in 2012, which peaked at No. 17 on the Billboard 200.

The Sword will release their new album, High Country, worldwide through Razor & Tie on August 21^st. Recorded in Austin, Texas, the album was produced by Adrian Quesada and mixed by J. Robbins. High Country features 15 new compositions and will be released on CD and double vinyl formats.

Arena Vienna / big hall / adv 25 € / 20.00h

The HEAT dudes have been around in several bands for the last years, among them names like The Hara-Kee-Rees or Samsara Blues Experiment. So you bet they definitely know how to rock out and roll over with their hefty dose of Blues-drenched mixture of early Sabbath, Zeppelin, Jerusalem, whatever… Pull a name from your Classic Hard Rock collection, they have it all. The real deal.

Driving tracks like ‘Siamese Smile’, ‘Free World’ and ‘Barbarossa’ pack unabashed guitar spectacles atop big drum fills, rolling bass lines and Patrick Fülling’s archetypal strutting vocal front, often over extended compositions that run the gamut of twentieth century rock history.

Bursting with shuffling bluesy boogies and dark, introspective moments that owe a sizeable riff or two to Deep Purple, Wishbone Ash, Atomic Rooster and Jerusalem Labyrinth is an unstoppable force for fans of British prog, hard US rock and NWOBHM.

heatberlin.bandcamp.com

Glitter is bigger than satan!

Travelin Jack is a Hard Rock Band from Berlin that is mostlyinspired by Rock Music of the 70s, such as Slade, AC/DC, Deep Purpleand UFO, with a profound love for glitter and high power performances.

travelinjack.bandcamp.com

The sound of JOY has been described as “a spaced-out sonic groove-ride” and “outer reach freak out,” but that hyperbole alone doesn’t do justice to the group’s measured mode of attack. JOY puts a premium on establishing both structure and dynamics, its kaleidoscopic flurry and full-throttle riffage is anchored by both subtle detail and surprising textural depth. Record Collector says that JOY “take the blues about as far out as they can stretch ’em and they’re far more psychedelic than a band like Blue Cheer ever was, even in their most lysergic moments,” a claim that can be debated by those whom have seen JOY share the stage with acts such as Dead Meadow, Harsh Toke, Hot Lunch, Sacri Monti and at last year’s well-documented west coast tour with psychedelic giants (and new labelmates) Earthless. Prepare to fall under the spell of JOY!

www.facebook.com/JOYBANDOFFICIAL

Fresh from the filthy sewers and dark basements of Amsterdam, Death Alley deliver heavy punked-out proto-metal in spades. The band, revolving around former The Devil’s Blood guitarist Oeds Beydals and ex-members of Gewapend Beton and Mühr, mainline an unorthodox cross contamination of The MC5, Captain Beyond, Blue Öyster Cult, Motörhead and Black Sabbath, defining good ol’, rock ‘n’ roll played with metal finesse and a pitch black psychedelic soul cherry on top.

Indeed, Death Alley‘s gnarly shake appeal combines ingenious but blistering guitar parts with the intensity of drumming that justifies the present-day existence of John Bonham’s Vista-Lite drum kit. The unique swinging rawness is topped off with high-strung, husky vocal energy dying to be unleashed.

www.deathalley.nl

Arena Vienna / Dreiraum / adv 10 € / doors 13 € / 20.00h

When the cult sludge Buzzov-en act called it a day, bass player Dave “Dixie” Collins teamed up with guitarist Dave “Shep” Shepherd and founded Weedeater in the harbor town of Wilmington about the year 1998. Their crushing and massive first full-length ‘…and Justice for Y’all’ (2001) aswell as the follow up “Sixteen Tons” (2002), both produced by the legendary Billy Anderson created an immediate buzz, while critics were struggling to put a tag on their sound.

After some detours of Dixie Dave, who played shortly with Bongzilla and Sourvein, third album ‘God Luck and Good Speed’ hit the world in 2007 and shifted the band’s focus slightly towards the stoner side. The latest full-length ‘Jason… the Dragon’ got delayed when guitarist Shep lost a toe due to an incident with his favourite shotgun. When the sludge driven album finally came out in 2011, shows in the US and Europe cemented the band’s reputation as a fierce live entity.

Weedeater finally return with their long-awaited fifth full-length ‘Goliathan’. Their new album marks the crossroads where true Southern rock and metal meet raw humour, old religion, as well as weed and whiskey.

‘Goliathan’ embodies the band’s trademark shuffle and swagger at their fullest. Syrupy slow riffs are buoyed by canyon-deep bass and some of the hardest-hitting drumming since Keith Moon. Full-on bruisers such as “Cain Enabler”, “Claw of the Sloth”, and the aptly-named “Bully” demonstrate that ‘Goliathan’ is delivering a vintage Weedeater and the soon-to-be gold standard of Southern sludge metal.

The band comments in an indisputable way regarding their new album, which was recorded , with their long-time engineer Steve Albini (HIGH ON FIRE, NEUROSIS, NIRVANA, HELMET): “In terms of ‘Goliathan’ the listeners should prepare themselves for what may possibly be one of the best five Weedeater records to date!”

www.weedmetal.com

Led by visionary frontman Steve Austin, Today Is The Day reigns as one of the most unique and influential bands of the past two decades. The band’s violent and anthemic style, which blends metal, noise, psychedelia, and rock, has won worldwide acclaim ever since the debut album, Supernova, first hit in the early 90s. Nine studio albums have been released on such labels as Amphetamine Reptile and Relapse — including modern-day classics like Willpower, Temple of the Morning Star, and In the Eyes of God — and the band’s changing lineup has included such musicians as Brann Dailor and Bill Kelliher, who would later go on to form Mastodon. Today Is The Day has toured the world with Motorhead, Helmet, The Melvins, Morbid Angel, Converge, Napalm Death, Neurosis, Eyehategod, Unsane, Coalesce, and many more. Steve Austin has also made a name as a producer, helping create seminal albums for Lamb Of God, Converge, From Ashes Rise and more.

Last year “Animal Mother” was released via Southern Lord Records.

As per the album title, Austin offers, “Animal Mother means the embodiment of the prophetic gift of the shaman; it is the shaman’s visionary power, which is able to penetrate the past and future.”

Early this year the frontman warned the public that the album is “a fifteen-song rampage of bloody carnage fueled by hate, love and vile, raw emotion,” continuing,

“I feel it is my finest work to this date. It is the most complex and HEAVY record we have ever made. This is real — no bullshit Protools crap; just pure violent energy and real band songwriting in the middle of the woods in Maine. It lies somewhere between Temple of The Morning Star and In The Eyes of God, and Jeff’s playing is beyond incredible. I was determined to push the limits in complexity, musicianship, and creativity as far as we could and I feel we have put together a record that narrates the horror and pain that we have been living through.”

www.todayistheday.us

Arena Vienna / Dreiraum / adv 12 € / doors 15 € / 20.00h