You might recall a couple weeks ago when I posted the stream of Danish metallers Rising‘s debut full-length, To Solemn Ash, in its entirety. Well, the album got a pretty killer response from people saying they dug it, so I beat down the doors at Exile on Mainstream and begged for some copies to give away.

Lo and behold, sitting on my desk right now are a whopping FIVE digipak CDs, just waiting to go out the door. If you want one — and I think you do — just leave a comment to this post.

Now, if you’re wondering where the entry form is that I used for the last few times, I’ve spent this whole week deleting an onslaught of spam from the King Giant contest. Safe to say the robots know we’re here. So in an effort to avoid some of that, Slevin suggested comments instead.

You don’t have to say much of anything in the comment, just make sure your email is included with your name so I have a way to tell you you’ve won. If you want to leave your address there, you can, but if you’re iffy about it, that’s fine too. Doesn’t affect me picking the winner either way.

And if you need an immediate refresher course as to Rising‘s potent blend of heavy riffs and melodies, I’ll kindly refer you to the Bandcamp player below:

Winners will be picked next Wednesday, Feb. 15. Happy commenting, and thanks to Rising, Earsplit PR and Exile on Mainstream for making this happen. To Solemn Ash is available now. For more info, check out Rising‘s website or the label’s website.

For this week’s Wino Wednesday, I have the absolute thrill of hosting the first track premiere from Heavy Kingdom, the new collaborative album from Wino & Conny Ochs. Ochs, a German singer-songwriter whose aptly-titled Raw Love Songs was released last year by Exile on Mainstream, toured with Wino following the issue of his own acoustic debut, Adrift, and the two reportedly hit it off creatively as well as personally. As is often the case when it comes to Wino, an album was imminent.

And Heavy Kingdom, which will be out on Exile on Mainstream Jan. 30 in Europe and March 13 in North America, captures the emotionality in both songwriters’ work. Most of its tracks are pretty bare-bones, however, so there’s an element of rawness that seems to convey the basic nature of the collaboration. They wrote them together, they play them together. Wino & Conny Ochs, as a unit, isn’t about showing off the prowess of one player or another, but about two artists who respect each other working in tandem to create something new and whole.

The album succeeds in that, and is at times almost embarrassingly honest. As a representation of the material as a whole, it’s fitting to unveil the title-track first, since it hones both that honesty and the rawness of approach that so much of Heavy Kingdom is built on. Like the collaboration itself, it deals in duality and effectively bridges seemingly disparate elements into something natural and engaging.

Please enjoy Wino & Conny Ochs‘ “Heavy Kingdom” on the player below:

Heavy Kingdom is due out Jan. 30 in Europe and March 13 in North America on Exile on Mainstream. Special thanks to Earsplit PR and Exile on Mainstream for letting me host the track. For more on the release, check out the label’s site here and Wino‘s official page. If you’d like to see a bigger version of the cover, click here. Happy Wino Wednesday.

The album came out last autumn in Europe, but is just today finally seeing its North American release, and to celebrate, Danish metallers Rising and their label, Exile on Mainstream, have been kind enough to let me stream the band’s debut full-length, To Solemn Ash, front to back. It’s a record that runs the gamut of modern heavy, sounding on a song like “Passage” as the poppiness of Mastodon‘s The Hunter might have had it not been so overly processed and reminding of Entombed‘s deathly grit on “The Vault.” The 10 tracks are catchy and heavy in equal proportion, balancing brutality and melody with precision and a feel that is neither amateurish nor contrived.

Interplay between bassist/vocalist Henrik W. Hald and guitarist/backing vocalist Jacob Krogholt is a central source of melody, the latter bolstering the rough, lower register of the former with harmonic shouting that fits well alongside the subtle complexity of the arrangements. Later track “Heir to Flames” works in Leviathan-esque acoustics, but by the time closer “Seven Riders” thunders its stop-start riff upside your skull, even the Torche-worthy chorus feels like one more tool serving to enhance the crushing sound.

Rounded out by Jacob Johansen‘s steady pulse on drums, Rising‘s first record is remarkably assured in its aesthetic, heavy as fuck and delivered with authority. Please feel free to find that out for yourself by streaming To Solemn Ash on the player below.

Introducing the band and the album, Hald says:

“Hello everyone! We are Rising, a heavy metal three-piece from Denmark. Back in October, we released our debut album To Solemn Ash in Europe via Exile On Mainstream. Now the time has come to make it available to the States. We are super excited about our album being released on another continent and hope to follow up with a tour one day. You can stream the entire album right here on The Obelisk. Enjoy and stay heavy on the heavy!”

Rising‘s To Solemn Ash is available now from Exile on Mainstream. For more info, check out the band’s site or the label’s store.

Okay, so maybe my timing on Wino Wednesday was a little off, or I might have gotten this press release in time to make it coincide with that, but what the hell. I’m pretty sure no one’s going to moan about it when the news is that Wino has a new record coming out. It’s a two-man collaboration with German singer-songwriter Conny Ochs, with whom Wino toured in Europe for his acoustic album, Adrift.

One can only hope that, like that album, Exile on Mainstream decides to do a wood-box edition of Heavy Kingdom. No details yes or no on that yet, but here’s what the PR wire has to say:

The folks at Germany’s avant-rock source Exile on Mainstream Records are thrilled to report that the final master for Heavy Kingdom, the anticipated collaborative album by Wino and Conny Ochs has arrived at label headquarters, and the final details on the album’s release are being finalized.

The legacy of Scott “Wino” Weinrich in the world of heavy music is indisputable and ever evolving, and here he teams up with Conny Ochs, a songwriter so pure and honest in his output that he seems to be the perfect partner for the straightforward Weinrich. The two met for the first time in 2010 when Conny was supporting Wino on his acoustic solo tour promoting his acclaimed solo album, Adrift. Through music they discovered a very similar approach to life and art, and a shared wisdom in creating music. It really seemed like two souls becoming one after they got to know each other. Together the two wrote, performed and recorded an incredible set of soulful tunes that speak for themselves, as well as a Townes Van Zandt cover. The artwork contains drawings by both Weinrich and Ochs, and follows the dedicated and deeply personal approach of the whole album.

Heavy Kingdom Track Listing:
1. Somewhere Nowhere
2. Heavy Kingdom
3. Dust
4. Vultures by the Vines
5. Dark Ravine
6. Traces of Blood
7. Heavy Kingdom Jam
8. Highway Kind
9. Dead Yesterday
10. Here Comes the Siren
11. Labour Of Love

Heavy Kingdom will be released throughout Europe on Jan. 27, 2012 and in North America sometime in March, a final release date to be confirmed in the weeks ahead. Stay tuned for tracks from the record to be released in the near future, as well as the details on a month-long European tour being finalized for March and April.

It’s virtually impossible to make it through Negative Liberty, the second full-length by five-piece instrumentalists The Winchester Club, without a Godspeed You! Black Emperor comparison coming up somewhere along the line. I don’t think it’s a bad thing, as there are certainly worse bands out there to take inspiration from, and to their credit, The Winchester Club put a particularly British grayness into the mood of the five component tracks of Negative Liberty, and they don’t sound like they’re ripping anyone off, but the influence is there and is fairly prominent. That said, the sprawl of the opening three cuts on Negative Liberty – which encompasses 40 of the album’s total 51 minutes – is bound to be driven by the various personalities of the players involved, and it is. That, coupled with the two-guitar/two-bass, xylophone-inclusive arrangements The Winchester Club have on offer, indicates that the push of a song like “R.D. Laing (Little Chemical Straightjackets)” isn’t so much to exorcise influences as to explore a sonic space. Other tracks, working in a scope that’s impressive despite being largely consistent atmospherically, follow suit, and Negative Liberty proves more than a collection of aimless instrumental jams or extended builds.

By way of an example, opener “Fuck You Buddy” reaches its apex approximately halfway through its 12:58 runtime, and the last five and a half minutes of the song are more of a contemplative investigation of the after-effects of that apex. Xylophone notes launch the track and album, but it soon takes on a different live, incorporating a Londoner’s melancholy in its striking bass work from Harry Armstrong (also guitar/vocals in End of Level Boss) and/or Elana Jane, both of whom are credited in the album’s liner. The latter also shares xylophone duties with drummer Tim Spear, who founded The Winchester Club along with guitarist and Chineseburn bandmate Jerry Deeney and guitarist Jonathan Morgan. Guitars are prominent but not really dominating throughout Negative Liberty – that is, nothing on the album is exclusively riff-led – and as “Fuck You Buddy” bleeds into the acoustic start of “The Lonely Robot” (12:41), I’m more drawn to the warmth in the bass sound than to the loneliness of the guitar notes, however melodically engaging they might be. Like all the material here, “The Lonely Robot” takes its time developing, but ultimately hits its high point even earlier into the proceedings than did “Fuck You Buddy.” That’s not a critique or putting down the structures The Winchester Club are working in. Quite the opposite. As someone who hears a lot of instrumental bands, it’s refreshing to have one come along not hell-bent on marching to the heavy part, instead getting it out of the way so the music can breathe. With the humming undercurrent of amp noise in the later parts, “The Lonely Robot” sounds full and complete, but still manages to hold onto that walking-alone ambience.

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Seeing its North American release July 26 is Eklectric, the third album from British riff-loving noisemakers End of Level Boss. For anyone who’s followed the band since they were formed by ex-Hangnail guitarist Heck Armstrong and released their Prologue debut in 2005 — like the new one, on Exile on Mainstream — it’s an interesting record because Armstrong has basically remade the whole band.

Lead guitarist Roland Scriver (formerly of Sloth) came aboard for 2007′s Inside the Difference Engine, but the rhythm section is entirely new, which means Armstrong is the only remaining original member. Fear not, however, End of Level Boss‘ nuanced technicality and righteously heavy tonality remain in tact, as the track “Thee Absurd” from Eklectric shows.

Special thanks to Exile on Mainstream for letting me host the song. I get kind of a Soundgarden meets AmRep vibe from it. See what you think and let me know. Here it is followed by some info from the label’s website:

After a quiet period End of Level Boss returned to the fray in 2011 with their third album, Eklectric, released via Exile on Mainstream Records. Continuing in their all-consuming search for twisted riffs, the London-based band returned to the analogue domains of Earth Terminal Studios, England, (the same location used for their highly acclaimed 2007 release, Inside the Difference Engine) during the dying days of 2010. Bringing in a completely new rhythm section [Peter Theobalds (ex-Akercocke/Gonga, also of Obiat) on bass, and Neil Grant (ex-RAAR) on drums] the band have unleashed an angrier, dirtier sound, recorded live to tape across four short winter days.

Having recruited ex-Sloth guitarist Roland Scriver for lead guitar duties on their previous album, this third incarnation of EOLB have uncovered a mutual need to blend the familiar with the bizzare, resulting in the first End of Level Boss album to be written collectively, through intensive jam sessions, by the entire band.

End of Level Boss, Eklectric:
01. As the Earth Forgets Us
02. This is Not the Way it Was
03. Mouth of Hats
04. Thee Absurd
05. Senescence
06. Thud
07. Blueshift
08. If Not All
09. Lost in the Etalon
10. Red Grey Eye

He might be the single most pivotal figure in American doom. Scott “Wino” Weinrich, in a career that’s lasted more than 30 years and is only showing signs of speeding up, has assembled the greatest pedigree in heavy music that doesn’t belong to someone with the last name Iommi. From his years in outfits The Obsessed and Saint Vitus to his ongoing involvement with the supergroup Shrinebuilder, Wino has left a stamp on the genre that — try as many might — simply cannot be duplicated.

And yet, it’s not his legacy that he wants to talk about. In our interview last week, there was some discussion of the “old days,” of course, but it was more about the work of others with whom he’s played, or been friends with — and what was coming next — that really seemed to be what was driving him most. The love of the music. What the hell other reason could there be? There’s no glamor in it. Who the hell cares if a bunch of bearded dudes say, “Cool riffs, bro?” If you don’t love Heavy, you go do something else. You certainly don’t make it your life’s work.

Next month, Volcom Entertainment will release the LP version of Wino‘s first solo acoustic album, Adrift (review here; CD available on Exile on Mainstream), and if you’re unfamiliar with the man’s doings in any of the above bands, or Shine/Spirit Caravan, The Hidden Hand, Dave Grohl‘s Probot, Victor Griffin‘s Place of Skulls or his innumerable guest spots and contributions to others, let it say something that after 30 years, he’s still pushing himself into new territories.

There was a lot to talk about and limited time, but in the Q&A below, Wino discusses the experience of writing and recording Adrift following the death of bassist Jon Blank of the Wino band (also featuring drummer Jean-Paul Gaster of Clutch), the origins of his new, two-guitar outfit, Premonition, where some of the drive to keep starting over comes from, his deep and abiding respect for his fellow players, the status of the Spirit Caravan reunion that bassist Dave Sherman alluded to some while back on this site, and much more.

It was a very conversational interview, as you can see for yourself after the jump. Please enjoy.

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The fourth album from Dutch rock masters Astrosoniq, Quadrant, hit me like a face-bound roundhouse. The Wizards of Oss treat common notions of genre like water treats a screen, passing through and back on different sides of different lines, showing individual personality in their music like few active bands the world over in either the heavy rock underground or any other style. They are — and I don’t use this word lightly — unique.

As it was my first experience with the band, listening to Quadrant inspired me to traipse my way through the Astrosoniq back catalog for a still-in-progress series of Buried Treasure posts (here and here). So far what I’ve learned in so doing is that the willingness to toy with stylistic conventionalism Astrosoniq display on their latest album is hardly new to the band; they’ve been doing it since their Son of A.P. Lady debut in 2000.

All the more reason, then, to want to talk to drummer and founding member Marcel Van de Vondervoort, who not only contributes electronics (and drums, obviously) to Quadrant, but also produced and mixed the album in his own Torture Garden Studio. In the email interview that follows, he sheds light on Astrosoniq‘s processes, his own in writing and in the studio, the neurological condition that’s forced him to relearn how to drum using just his hands, and just how he managed to get something coherent out of the track “Zero,” on which Astrosoniq is joined by the entire band Zeus, one act in the left channel, one in the right.

You’ll find the complete Q&A after the jump. Please enjoy.

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The only thing I don’t like about Wino and Scott Kelly touring together performing solo acoustic sets (as opposed to when they tour together as part of the same band in Shrinebuilder) is that they’re playing New York on The Patient Mrs.‘ birthday. And 2011′s a big one. Curse you, satisfying and longstanding loving relationship!

But just because I can’t nerd out doesn’t mean you can’t. This came down the wire the other day, so it might be old news by now, but here’s the US release info for Wino‘s acoustic album, Adrift, and the tour dates:

Answering the call from his friends and supporters to record an acoustic solo album following the sudden and tragic passing of friend and bandmate Jon Blank, who appeared on Wino‘s Punctuated Equilibrium album in 2009, Scott “Wino” Weinrich set to work on his most personal and powerful recording to date. Adrift is a revealing alternative view of this underground legend’s personality and history. Stripped down to the bare minimum — just his voice and his guitar — the songs on Adrift follow classic American songwriting ideals offering a compelling mixture of emotion and storytelling.

Adrift Track Listing:
01. Adrift
02. I Don’t Care
03. Hold on Love
04. Mala Suerte
05. Old and Alone
06. Iron Horse/Born to Lose
07. Suzanes Song
08. DBear
09. Whatever
10. Shot in the Head
11. O.B.E.
12. Green Speed

Adrift is set for official release on respected German label Exile on Mainstream Records March 8th, 2011, in North America, the label now distributed domestically by E1 Entertainment. A limited edition vinyl version of the album featuring extended liner notes and more is to be released in the US on January 18th by Volcom Entertainment.

Wino will hit the road Stateside this February on a short acoustic tour, rocking alongside longtime friend, and also Shrinebuilder bandmate, Scott Kelly (Neurosis). The tour will be in support of the upcoming split 7″ between Wino and Kelly, to be released early in the year by Volcom, as well as the Adrift album. Sponsored by BrooklynVegan, the tour will venture through California, Texas, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland and New York, showcasing both legendary artists each in solo, acoustic mode.

Wino/Scott Kelly February 2011 Tour:

02/05 Viper Room, Hollywood CA
02/07 Casbah, San Diego CA
02/08 Emo’s, Austin TX
02/09 Abbey Pub, Chicago IL
02/10 Great Scott, Allston MA
02/11 Sonar, Baltimore MD
02/12 Mercury Lounge, New York NY

I vaguely recall hearing about it when Dutch stoner progressives Astrosoniq released their fourth full-length, Quadrant, in Europe last year on Spacejam Records, but it’s not until now that German imprint Exile on Mainstream (the difference being American distribution) is putting it out that I’m actually getting to experience the album. And what an experience it is. One of the year’s biggest surprises, as far as I’m concerned. As someone all but completely unfamiliar with Astrosoniq’s past work, hearing the five-piece’s ability to blend genres and transcend any given sound on Quadrant is like stumbling on an Egyptian tomb. You know, if Egyptian tombs held killer riffs and adventurous songwriting instead of jewels and mummies and the like. Okay. Maybe that’s not the best comparison.

Nonetheless, the “Wizards of Oss,” as they are cleverly known, stun right from the opener of Quadrant, “Faustian Bargain,” which blends Hawkwind synth and psych swirling courtesy of keymaster Teun van de Velden and drummer Marcel VdVdV (actually van de Vondervoort) with the natural acoustic guitars of Ron van Herpen and the gorgeous, subtly-layered vocals of Fred van Bergen… at least until the song kicks into heavy rock hyperdrive, putting bassist/backing vocalist RJ Gruijthuijzen to excellent use thickening the song and contrasting Quadrant’s softer beginning. The tone is immediately set: anything goes so long as it’s original, and what’s genuinely most impressive about Astrosoniq is that the experimentation, the delving into different sounds (there’s a section toward the end of “Faustian Bargain” that sounds like it could have come off an Ayreon record), is all completely under the control of the band. At no point on Quadrant, even when they bring in numerous guest performers, do they lose sight of structure or songwriting as a focus. The result is that Quadrant is a spellbinding listen.

Admittedly, some of the experiments don’t work as well as the others. The Ministry-style dissonant guitars on second track “Cloud of Decay” are brilliant and an excellent complement to the industrial stomp call-and-response chorus with an Al Jourgenson-style voice answering van Bergen. That track also makes the best use of rhythmic chains I’ve heard since Johnny Cash’s “Ain’t No Grave (Can Hold My Body Down),” but it has to be noted that the vocal layer behind van Bergen in the call of the call-and-response sounds like Dr. Claw from Inspector Gadget. Maybe that’s what Astrosoniq was going for; it wouldn’t really be surprising considering everything else they throw into the mix on that song and elsewhere, such as the immediately following “As Soon as They Got Airborne,” which launches back into space rock sampling, synths and acoustics and similar vocals to the beginning portion of the opener. Van Herpen shows off on more than one solo throughout the 14-minute track (longer by eight minutes than its next closest companion), hypnotizing listeners as he leads the jam in and out again of heavy territory until the song goes electronica before devolving into an old sci-fi sample for its closing two minutes or so. Amazing that in this mix Astrosoniq manages to squeeze not only the memorable timeline, repeated with regularity, but a catchy chorus as well. Three tracks and you’re 24 minutes into the 57-minute album, but there’s still plenty of journey in the remaining seven songs.

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Among the favorite four-letter words of doom and stoner heads out there, “Wino” has to be high on the list. For almost 30 years, Scott “Wino” Weinrich has built a legacy unequaled in underground rock and metal. Just because it’s fun to run down the list: The Obsessed, Saint Vitus, The Obsessed (again), Spirit Caravan, The Hidden Hand, and most recently his own Wino solo band with J.P. Gaster of Clutch and the now-departed Jon Blank, the doom dream-team supergroup, Shrinebuilder, and his new jam project Premonition. He’s nothing if not prolific, and on Adrift (Exile on Mainstream), which he issues under the Wino banner, he presents his fans with his first acoustic album ever. Needless to say, if you’re a fan of Wino in any incarnation of his playing, Adrift is required reading.

Drum-less, bass-less and featuring only sporadic electric guitar, this is the raw Wino, and Weinrich’s songwriting is at the fore. The opener “Adrift” sets the tone for the record with a deeply personal, intimate vibe and classic feel, fulfilling both the function of opener and title track in embodying the mission of the album and starting it off in a way that provides listeners with an instant context for what follows. A folk ballad, it’s just one of the several song structures Weinrich works within on Adrift, and he follows it with the 12-bar blues of “I Don’t Care.” His voice, long a trademark in the sundry bands he’s fronted, is tenser than a lot of the kind throwaway Appalachian or Delta blues players, but he handles it well and the album’s first electric guitar solo, which fades the track out at the end, covers a lot of ground.

“Hold on Love” was an advance track on MySpace and a good choice by whoever picked it, either Weinrich or Exile on Mainstream, because after only listening to it once online and putting on the album for the first time, I immediately recognized it and remembered the double-tracked vocals of the chorus. Another storytelling song, it’s one of the most complete tracks on Adrift, and where some of the ultra-bare arrangements on the album feel like they could have been fleshed out or at very least would have been were this not Weinrich’s first exploration of the medium, “Hold on Love” is complete in every sense, soulful and sincere. Another, more mournful electric solo keeps the energy established in “I Don’t Care” alive as “Mala Suerte” comes on with what are probably the “heaviest” sonics Adrift has to offer.

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Well, it’s not the first time it’s happened, and I’m sure it won’t be the last, but Scott “Wino” Weinrich has just made my day. The legendary doom guitarist/vocalist of The Obsessed, Saint Vitus, Spirit Caravan, The Hidden Hand, his Wino solo outfit and most recently the epic supergroup Shrinebuilder (sometimes it’s just fun to list the bands) has announced that he’ll be releasing his first-ever acoustic album in the Fall via Germany‘s Exile on Mainstream, who are now streaming the track “Hold on Love” at their MySpace.

The album is called Adrift and the first pressing comes in a limited-edition wood box. Life doesn’t get much cooler than that. Here’s the news from the label, as submitted to me by none other than doom brother Mike Hanson, aka Zodiac Lung:

Following fan’s requests and advice from friends Wino has now recorded his first ever acoustic record called Adrift to be released on Exile on Mainstream in September 2010. About time you say? Fair enough. More news will follow soon!

Wino will be presenting the material that for sure is his most personal and intense to date live in a very intimate atmosphere in Fall 2010.