With their signature crushing emotional weight in tow, French post-black metal forerunners Alcest return in 2012 with their third album, Les Voyages de l’Âme. The eight-track record, the title of which translates to “the journeys of the soul,” keeps its focus musically on Alcest’s well-developed melodic wash, toying with blastbeats, screams and other black metal genre conventions in the interest of exploring the kind of head-down melancholy that brought such notoriety to past efforts Écailles de Lune (2010; half-review here) and Souvenirs d’un Autre Monde (2007) and placed Alcest multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Stéphane “Neige” Paut at the head of a melodic movement championed by the label Prophecy Productions and acts like Les Discrets, Arctic Plateau and Lantlôs, of which Paut is also a member. Along with drummer Winterhalter (also of Les Discrets), who joined in 2009, Paut has long since established the sonic course of Alcest as a band. Indeed, even on the two extended tracks of 2005’s Le Secret EP, it seemed a specific aesthetic was driving Neige’s songwriting, and that has remained true and consistent across the ensuing releases – in conjunction with a steady touring schedule, that consistency is part of what has allowed Alcest to attain the profile they have. At times, it has felt like that adherence to aesthetic has trumped the actual songwriting in the creative process – songs have been more about the mood they generate or add to – and where that might also be the case given the overall affect of Les Voyages de l’Âme, there’s no question that the third full-length has Alcest’s most directly memorable material to date.

As compares to the relatively jagged guitar sound of Écailles de Lune, Les Voyages de l’Âme seems to have more in common with Souvenirs d’un Autre Monde in terms of its production. Neige’s guitar, bass and keys come through clearly and smooth, and right away on opener “Autre Temps,” it’s apparent that Alcest had definite structural ideas going into this album. “Autre Temps” was chosen as the lead-off single/video cut, and rightly so with its balance of catchy wistfulness and gracefully unfolding melody. The vocals are prominent without being overbearing, and play a considerable role in making the chorus so ethereal. Guitars are layered in acoustics and electrics, and Winterhalter’s drumming maintains a metallic percussive edge without sounding out of place amid the song’s gradual build. As ever for Alcest, “Autre Temps” evokes a feeling of longing and a contemplative kind of classical sadness. “Là Où Naissent les Couleurs Nouvelles” follows and revives the black metal screams that “Percées De Lumière” from Écailles de Lune explored, in this context using them to complement the melody in the chorus and eventually take the fore. Winterhalter adds blasts, and were the guitars not so unabashedly gorgeous and the melody not still so prominent, “Là Où Naissent les Couleurs Nouvelles” would essentially be traditional black metal. It’s not, and the song’s later minutes emphasize a propulsive post-rock feel, capping the nine minutes with fading guitar that brings on the title-track’s headphone-worthy density. Squiggly guitars serve as a chorus amid more subdued, lower-register verse vocals, and the initial sway breaks after three minutes to embark on Les Voyages de l’Âme’s most effective musical and vocal build, on which both Neige and Winterhalter contribute to a vast, stirring sprawl. Side A wraps with the winding verses of “Nous Sommes l’Emeraude,” a fitting (if short addition) to Alcest’s worship of nature and the passage of time within it.

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It is as caustic as it is melodically rich, and Agape, the third album from post-black metallers Lantlôs, masterfully blends melancholic solipsism with gripping aggression. Released like the French/German duo’s second album, .Neon (2010), through Prophecy Productions, Agape is best understood through the lens of collaboration. Lantlôs brings together Alcest’s Stéphane “Neige” Paut on vocals and multi-instrumentalist Markus “Herbst” Siegenhort, and each has a pivotal role to play in the overall atmosphere of Agape, for which Felix Wylezik also handled session drum work. Herbst, who also comprised the one-man black metal outfit of the same name and drummed for Impavida, is the driving figure behind the music of Agape’s five tracks, and is more concerned overall with setting a mood and an atmosphere than executing verses and choruses in succession. The songs are linear for the most part, or cyclical in some way, but even when parts repeat, they do so having changed somehow, so that the lushness of the melody behind the distortion at the beginning of closer “Eribo – I Collect the Stars” changes as the song develops and moves into and out of its ambient stretch. Long breaks find Herbst experimenting with guitar, bass and keys, as on opening cut “Intrauterin,” in which underwater guitar lays on top of far-off melodic echoes, or “Bliss,” which splits itself from the blasting of its first half to proffer winding-smoke jazz in its second, Wylezik adding personality to each tap of his ride cymbal in a way that wholly justifies his presence alongside Neige and Herbst.

As for Neige — who has seen the profile and cross-genre appeal of Alcest rise over the course of its two (soon three) full-lengths – his vocals will no doubt surprise many who approach Agape expecting something similar to the soft, wispy melodicism of his recent work. The slow, doomly march of “Intrauterin” is made all the more abrasive by his deep-seated screams, and though the song opens with two solid minutes of manipulated noise, there’s little to prepare the listener for either the heaviness of Wylezik’s crashes or the whine in Herbst’s guitar once the track actually gets going. Neige comes right in as well and sounds like his throat is trying to tear itself from his neck, and for the next two minutes, Lantlôs emit blackened doom of terrible ferocity, taking a pause after 4:30 as fading feedback gives way to the aforementioned melodic break. Around 7:45, they revive the plod and Neige reenters with screams, but the melody line skillfully interwoven, and it’s less a switch back and forth than a joining of the two sides into a cohesive and complementary whole – much like the band itself. At 9:52, “Intrauterin” is the longest song on Agape (immediate points there), and does a decent job of laying out the scope of the album, but “Bliss” immediately expands and somewhat works itself against those expectations by launching from the guitar line into a flurry of d-beat sub-blast drumming and drawn-out screams that seem to set up the slowdown that arrives at 1:23.

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I rolled into the office a little bit ago like, as a friend once put it, “a bag of bashed assholes.” I don’t even know what that actually means, but it somehow fits the utterly demolished feeling of this morning. If e’er I was a warrior, this was the weekend for it, and as I sat here, thinking I’d put on Sungrazer or something else peaceful to start off the week on a quiet note, the self-punishment instinct kicked in, emasculated me by calling me a vulgar word for ladyparts, and hit the Deathspell Omega. So here we are.

Being the Enslaved fan I am, and having only a vague, dabbler’s interest in black metal, I feel like I have my quota for the progressive end of the genre filled, and so I haven’t delved into bands like Deathspell Omega and Blut Aus Nord as much as I should have. I figure there’s time. Either way, the nine-minute madness of “Devouring Famine/Apokatastasis Pantôn” is like the cup of coffee I’m too tired/lazy to actually get up and get.

It was three shows in a row over the last three nights — Friday was Cortez/Mighty High in Brooklyn, Saturday was The Atomic Bitchwax/Black Cobra/The Sword/Kyuss Lives! in Jersey, and last night was The Body/Zoroaster/Black Cobra in Brooklyn — and over the next three days, I’ll have reviews of each, plus pictures. Because that’s how I roll. A warrior on the weekend. There should be some kind of clever phrase for that.

This week is also special because I’ll have a Q&A posted with Tony Reed. Now, if you’re paying attention, you’re probably thinking, “WTF, mate? Isn’t Tony Reed the dude from HeavyPink? Nepotism!” You’re not wrong. Tony Reed is in HeavyPink and I put out the HeavyPink 7″ on The Maple Forum — but, it just so happens that Tony Reed engineered the recording of the new Saint Vitus album, which is due in March, and in the interview, instead of talking about his own musical projects, we talked exclusively about his time in the studio with Wino, Dave Chandler, Mark Adams and Henry Vasquez. A chance to speak to the cat who put the first Vitus record since 1995 to tape? You’re fucking right I’m running that.

Getting posted tomorrow is also a track from cult doomers Uzala, and that’s definitely worth sticking around for, as is the inevitable album review from Dala Sun to come later in the week. I’ll get to those live reviews first, though, and depending on if I have it in me Thursday night to hit up Pilgrim at the St. Vitus Bar, I might have that review on Friday.

Thanks to everyone who has thus far left a comment on the Top 20 list, especially the depth of insight offered by critiques such as, “what a shitty list.” Always glad to foster a discussion.

Hope you had a great and safe weekend. See you back here in a couple minutes.

…And in case you’re wondering, yes, it does feature children running in the forest.

Actually, it features children running in the forest and some pretty thickly laid-on imagery about the journey of life, but it also features the new song, “Autre Temps,” which is the first single from French post-black metallers Alcest‘s upcoming album, Les Voyages de l’Âme (translated: “The Journeys of the Soul”), set for release in January.

“Autre Temps” is available as a vinyl single now via the master purveyors of the artfully wistful, Prophecy Productions. Check that out here if you’re so inclined, and please enjoy the clip for the song below:

With a hometown show in Bordeaux tomorrow night (Nov. 12) to mark a limited 180 gram vinyl release, French heavy psych trio Mars Red Sky will embark on their latest European tour in support of their self-titled debut full-length. The album, in short, is a fuzz masterpiece. In the new European tradition, it melds heavy-weighted tonality with a laid back, natural vibe that comes through in hazy riffs and sweet melodicism. It is every bit the product of the desert sunshine in which it was created.

The band — guitarist/vocalist Julien Pras, bassist/sometime-vocalist Jimmy Kinast and drummer Benoit Busser — uses straightforward verses and choruses to build pyramids of undulating riffs and grooves. They did record in the desert, traveling to Spain‘s Bardenas in the south of the country and soaking in all of the atmosphere the mostly-barren landscape had to offer. As Pras describes in the interview below, part of the idea came simply from the need for isolation.

And though Pras (also an accomplished solo artist and a member of Calc) is described by Kinast as the “brains of the operation,” each member of the band has a distinct role to play in creating the sound. Without Busser‘s insistent bass drum and deft snare work, “Way to Rome” would fall flat in its militarism, and as they form the crux of Mars Red Sky‘s aesthetic, Pras‘ and Kinast‘s tones are majestic and consuming all at once. I reviewed the album in August and it’s been on a short list of releases to which I keep returning. Though the songs are simple, they lose none of their appeal with repeat listens.

As such, I was thrilled to be able to send Pras some questions for the following email interview. In it, he discusses how Mars Red Sky came together, the process by which the songs on Mars Red Sky were created and the assemblage of effects and amplifiers that results in such engrossing tones, the appeal of the contrast between the instruments and the vocals, and much more.

Complete Q&A (plus the tour dates) can be found after the jump. Please enjoy.

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Released earlier this year on Night Tripper Records, White Season is the debut from French (since relocated to London) psych rock foursome Soul Manifest. Led by guitarist/vocalist Romain Daut, the band work their way through a smattering of semi-retro influences, and though I wouldn’t be the first to relate their sound to the already-influential Swedes in Graveyard, there’s more happening on White Season than copycatting the moves of others. Soul Manifest – thanks in large part to the organ contributions of Harry Backhouse – carve out an identity that’s at once familiar and still nuanced. The interplay between Daut, drummer Karen Jones and bassist Sammy Deveille, both of whom also share vocal duties, introduces an engaging songwriting process that’s bound to win (or have won, since as I noted, the album’s been out for a while already) Soul Manifest some friends. Classic heavy prog is a decent place from which to start an understanding, but a more modern take à la the new school of European psych (My Sleeping Karma particularly) is woven in as well, so that White Season works as a blend of styles within the genre. There are parts of eight tracks/39 minutes that are more easily read than others, but by and large, the record is accessible, cohesive and diverse without being overly indulgent or showy in terms of performance.

Again, a big part of Soul Manifest’s personality as presented here comes in Backhouse’s organ. From the launch of opener “Dead Man” to the genuine organ solos on “White Season (Part I),” “Devil’s Meeting” and the for-all-intents-and-purposes closer “The Light” – where they’re set against Daut’s guitar for the album’s best duel – it’s Backhouse that separates Soul Manifest most from the horde of retro clone acts. That’s not to say Daut’s guitars or the grooves put to tape by Jones and Deveille don’t have their role to play, just that it’s the keys that wind up the most distinctive element. White Season opens strong with “Dead Man” and “White Season (Part I)” as a duo, but it’s not until later that the full breadth of their personality becomes clear. The acoustic-led “Do We Have the Same View” finds Daut no less confident on vocals for the change in approach on guitar and the lack of platform for the swagger he brings in elsewhere, and the darker beginning of “Devil’s Meeting,” which rounds out side A of the vinyl, adds a surprising turn that brings to mind the likes of Black Widow, Coven or any of the other ritualistic prog acts lurking around the early part of the ‘70s. True to the form of those bands, the actual sound Soul Manifest work with on “Devil’s Meeting” doesn’t conform to what we’d now expect from a track with that name, keeping instead to a bluesy progression that lets Daut’s solo shine around the song’s halfway point, maybe also touching on some of the same country/western feel that Astrosoniq play with from time to time. He and Backhouse trade leads and it works well, showing also that neither is so wrapped in ego as to try and dominate the other.

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A Parisian bass/drum duo making their debut on the French label Improvising Beings, Ehécatl recorded their self-titled full-length in Los Angeles and hone in on a sound almost purely in homage thematically to the Aztec god the band (and album) is named after. The record is six atmospheric songs ranging from three to just under eight minutes – the intro aside – and begets an almost immediate sonic comparison to Om. Vocalist/bassist Thomas Bellier and drummer Timothée Gacon are both members of the Scott Reeder-produced outfit Blaak Heat Shujaa, and while there are some points of commonality between the two bands, Ehécatl is expressing a different idea almost entirely than was the other act, despite a shared semi-jam feel and apparent penchant for black and white artwork. Bellier, who plays guitar in Blaak Heat Shujaa, moves to bass for Ehécatl, and his vocal delivery comes right from the Al Cisneros canon. The main distinguishing factor of Ehécatl, then, is the Aztec theme, which works well within the sound. Most songs are titled in Spanish (lyrics in English), and while one could probably ramble on at length about the certain degree of cultural imperialism at work in any such release as this, it doesn’t strike me as being an especially productive method for explaining Ehécatl’s ethic, which is to meld Bellier’s obvious desert fetish with a cultural schematic not as often explored in psychedelia as, say, the vague interpretations of Hinduism one might run across on any number of releases.

The two players make for a crisp rhythm section, and it’s clear that Bellier and Gacon’s time touring with Yawning Man in Blaak Heat Shujaa was not without some measure of conveyed influence. There’s no guitar to ring into infinity à la Gary Arce, but on the three longer pieces that make up the bulk of Ehécatl – “La Canción del Dios Ehécatl,” “The Wrath of Tepeyollotl” and “Tenan” all top seven minutes – there’s a spacious vibe that can’t be ignored, and that works invariably to the album’s favor. Complex rhythms on “La Canción del Dios Ehécatl,” on which Bellier also adds Aztec flute, give an immediate Latin American feel, and it should be telling that the first lines of the song and album are, “Feathered and sacred.” Right away, the thematic construct is laid bare, and with the “El Entierro de Los Nahuas” intro preceding, shamanistic chants set the tone for the spiritual exploration to come. The sound with just the two players is no emptier than it should be for its lack of guitar, and Gacon proves a remarkably creative percussionist, on both his kit and the added drum sounds he soon brings to “The Wrath of Tepeyollotl,” which works well set directly against “La Canción del Dios Ehécatl.” One expects the second track to get heavy, to “kick in” at some point, but though some of their rhythms have a kind of immediacy to them, Ehécatl is more patient sound-wise than to just open up into a heavy part. Nonetheless, “La Canción del Dios Ehécatl” does have its payoff, but there’s no grand tonal change from Bellier and it winds up being Gacon’s cymbal crashes that provide the necessary rush to convey the overall direction of the song. Likewise, he underscores the tension in Bellier’s vocals and bass line in “The Wrath of Tepeyollotl” with starts and stops that add fluidity where otherwise the track might sound awkward.

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Caked in a foamy, lysergic head, the Sun and Moon split between French and German psychedelic trios Glowsun and Electric Moon practically floats into the ears. It’s just five tracks, but both bands jam their way to just below 42 minutes on the limited 180 gram Sulatron Records vinyl. Longtime followers of European psych will recognize the name Dave “Sula Bassana” Schmidt from acts like Liquid Visions, the underrated Weltraumstaunen, Zone Six and that bearing his nom de plume. Prolific as ever, he handles guitar in Electric Moon – who’ve also released two limited CD-Rs this year – and is the man behind Sulatron Records, while Glowsun’s guitarist, Johan Jaccob, is responsible for the art, which is no less colorful than the music contained on the record. The two bands mesh incredibly well together, one being entirely instrumental and the other being mostly instrumental and the both of them reveling in spaced-out, heavy jams. A relatively consistent production between the two bands only makes the transition smoother, and as much as Sun and Moon is a great way to be introduced to the methods of either band, it also makes it easy to appreciate how well they play off each other.

The subdued bass of Glowsun’s Ronan Chiron opens “Death’s Face,” following some spooky backwards whispers presumably from Jaccob, who handles vocals for the band when there are any to handle – which there aren’t here. An immediate trippy tone to the guitar work comes through with back and forth effects play, and it skirts the line between lyrical and annoying in the song’s beginning, but is nonetheless well woven into the overall context of the track, the structure of which is not completely open despite feeling that way. Glowsun keep to progressions of fours, and launch into a heavier, fuzzier, more directly-riffed movement in the song’s second half, Jaccob answering his earlier noodling with an engaging solo as drummer Fabrice Cornille adds a finality to each start and stop behind. Cornille’s snare is high in the mix, but rather than sound abrasive or overly bright, it gives the listener something to hold onto as the shorter “Lost Soul” goes further into stonerly groove and crunch. Jaccob’s guitar leads begin to take the place of vocals in Glowsun’s middle cut, but the vibe of Sun and Moon is such that it hardly matters. If you’re going to go with it, but the time you’re halfway through “Lost Soul,” you’ll be lucky to be aware enough of your surroundings to appreciate Chiron’s excellent fills or the subtle technicality the band puts into its winding finale, leading directly into the jungle samples that open “Monkey Time.” In listening to the animal sounds before the guitar kicks in, I can’t help but be reminded of what Orson Welles gave as his reason for putting a loud squawking parrot halfway through Citizen Kane (if you’ve seen the movie, you know the bird I’m talking about). He said it was there to wake people up. The monkey noises of “Monkey Time” have that effect somewhat, but everything Glowsun have presented so far has been so natural-sounding, it’s easy to read them as an extension of that. The jam that ensues only seems to underscore the point.

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I’ll admit I’m posting this news in no small part because of the cleverness of the video below, but it’s still cool as well because Mars Red Sky‘s self-titled debut is one of the warmest and thickest heavy psych records I’ve heard this year. Takes all the riffy and all the heavy and caps it with dead-on melody that’s never over the top, but just a perfect mix. Of all the albums that have come and gone from my player since August when I reviewed the CD, it’s been a constant. Perfect for vinyl.

Plus, for anyone lucky enough to be in Europe this November, they’re starting a tour one month from tonight in Germany that’ll be worth adjusting your travel plans. I left the month second in the dates below for that continental flair. Check it out:

The French psychedelic/stoner power trio Mars Red Sky is about to release their excellent self-titled debut achievement as the 180g vinyl. The record is due to be released on Nov. 12 and is a limited edition of 500, comes with a bonus tracked called “The Ravens are Back” and includes a download code. To preorder this amazing album check the links below:

http://marsredsky.bigcartel.com/product/pre-order-lp-debut-album-vinyl-tote-bag-free-shipping

Besides, the band is about to kick off to the European tour this November, check the dates below and don’t miss a chance to experience stoned psychedelia at its best.

17.11 (D) FREIBERG Dipol
18.11 (PL) POZNAN Reset
19.11 (PL) WARSAW Chwila Da Klub
20.11 (PL) LUBLIN Tektura
21.11 (UA) KIEV Guitar Bar
23.11 (UA) KALUSH Velzha
24.11 (HU) BUDAPEST Roham
25.11 (CZ) PRAHA GreenDoors Café Na p?li cesty
26.11 AVAILABLE D, CH
27.11 (FR) PARIS La Maroquinerie
30.11 (ES) MADRID Wurlitzer Ballroom
01.12 (ES) ZARAGOZA Arrebato

So they’re a French band with a Spanish name that sings in English – got it? Really, that’s just the start of the semi-confused/confusing elements at play with Strasbourg five-piece Los Disidentes del Sucio Motel. Their debut album, Soundtrack From the Motion Picture (released via Deadlight Entertainment), is to a movie that doesn’t exist, follows a context-less narrative structure and boasts numerous guest appearances throughout, culminating in a hidden bonus track cover of a remade “We are the World” – they turned it into “We Rock the World” (yes, really) – that has no fewer than 15 singers on it. The record is 12 tracks, 13 with the bonus, and 64 minutes of desert rock primarily derived from Queens of the Stone Age and Kyuss, and moves into and out of stoner ‘70s biker movie clichés with all the grace of an antelope.

It’s also a lot of fun.

Ultimately, that’s what saves Soundtrack From the Motion Picture. There are a few flubs as regards the tracks, but even those are upbeat, and when Los Disidentes del Sucio Motel hook into a catchy desert rock chorus, they do it right. Of course, they’re also pretty much doing it exactly how Josh Homme would – in addition to being one of the best songs on the album, “Chapter II: Revenge Is A Dish Best Served Cold” is also so much out of the Songs for the Deaf playbook that it could almost count as a cover – but I don’t think they’re trying to pass any of this material off as being completely original. Rather, the cumbersomely-nicknamed band – Francky “The Ice Screamer” Maverick on guitar/vocals, Bobby “The Big Bear” Maverick on bass/vocals, Johnny “The Devil” Maverick on guitar, Billy “The Mad Guy” Maverick on drums and Sonny “The Magic Finger” McCormick on keys/vocals – lightheartedly groove their way through opener “Sir Dany Jack,” the accented-English chorus of “You’ve gotta rock/You’ve gotta ride/You’ve gotta roll and do it all the time” being completely heartfelt and endearingly free of irony. The band members may be playing characters, but it’s pretty clear they put some time into the songwriting, silly though the results might be. “All Alone”’s second half is right off Welcome to Sky Valley, and “Not Folk” follows a quirky Homme-y start-stop pattern that’ll be familiar right from the guitar intro.

“Chapter II: Revenge Is A Dish Best Served Cold” is like-minded, but with a fuller sound and more interesting vocal interplay, that come out especially in some post-hardcore screams that show up again on “Oogie Boogie Drive in Burger” later on, and of course on “We Rock the World” as well. “Brotherhood” is the shortest of the bunch at 3:26 – nine of the 12 are between four and five minutes long – but one of the most effective riffy grooves – the guitars really dialed into the compressed Dave Catching production-style crunch – and it’s a catchy, unpretentious chorus that Los Disidentes del Sucio Motel do well with, taking a step back from some of the purported craziness on the other tracks to just ride the riff. “Beauty Among the Crowd” ends the first half of the album with guest lead vocals from Chrys Caridy, back-ups from Mary Schoenbock and another Queens of the Stone Age guitar line underscored by organ sounds from “The Magic Finger,” whose nom de guerre, if you didn’t notice before, is the best of them all.

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Making their home in the rich dirt of France’s Bordeaux region, the trio Mars Red Sky specialize in gorgeously-toned and natural-sounding fuzz that comes on huge and overwhelming, but is rife also with engaging melody and psychedelic flourish. Guitarist Julien Pras (also Calc) is like the non-evil distant cousin of Electric Wizard’s Jus Oborn, the massiveness of his sound and his ability to turn a simple melody into something memorable come across immediately on Mars Red Sky’s self-titled full-length debut (Emergence). Preceded only by a 7” called Curse, the album is going to be the band’s first exposure to most listeners, and I’m hard pressed to think of a finer opening statement. In 39 minutes, Mars Red Sky – Pras, plus bassist Jimmy Kinast and drummer Benoit Busser – affect the kind of perfect laid back atmosphere that Dutch peers Sungrazer have been able to harness, blending Hendrix fuzz, Sabbath riffs, Kyuss’ keen sense of desert sun, Dead Meadow’s subdued melody and a rolling low end groove into a brew both inviting and heavy. Whether it’s Pras‘ sweet, high-pitched croon on “Strong Reflection” or “Way to Rome,” Kinast’s bluesy David Eugene Edwards-style vocal on “Marble Sky” or overdriven tone on “Falls,” the album is a riff worshiper’s dream and easily one of 2011’s best debuts.

They work in a few different modes. The aforementioned “Strong Reflection” opens the album and is one of its strongest tracks, boasting a straightforward structure and setting up the rest of Mars Red Sky’s tonescape. Pras’ vocal works surprisingly well over the guitar and bass, adding a lighter air to the verses, and the chorus, “But when I go upstream/I’ll meet you in a dream/And when I try to land/Please let me hold your hand,” is both sweet and catchy, Busser keeping a steady march underneath and transitioning between parts with capable but not overdone fills. Right away, groove is central to Mars Red Sky. Kinast’s bass plays a large role throughout the album, first filling out the guitar-less verse of “Strong Reflection” and providing heft across the board, but also keeping the flow going during Pras’ solos. The beginning of “Curse” reminds a bit of Colour Haze, but Mars Red Sky eschew airy spontaneous jams in favor of a shuffling groove that’s faster than that of the opener, but loses nothing of the tonal richness. Their adherence to structure throughout the album lends a sense of coherence to the listening experience, a feeling that you don’t mind going where Mars Red Sky take you because you know they’re in control. And they are. That said, the songs strike an excellent balance between the two sides – structured and open – and don’t come off as formulaic or more predictable than they should be.

“Curse” is the shortest track on Mars Red Sky at 4:04, and varies from the other material mostly in its pacing and in substituting the laid back feel of the first track with a more active vibe. The slow unfolding of “Falls” restores the softer touch Mars Red Sky prove so adept at throughout, building ever so slightly to another fuzz-fronted riff exploration, this one the first of the record’s two instrumentals. Kinast hits the wah to cut the bass through underneath Pras’ lead and Busser keeps steady hits on the ride cymbal, and if the purpose of the track – which caps in an undulating, moaning riff and tom hits – is to secure the listener’s full attention and confirm what the first two tracks stated, then it’s a purpose met. The intro to “Way to Rome” echoes Hendrix at his softest, but the song soon takes off on a mid-paced riff-centered groove with another landmark chorus, the stripped-down, “Ride/The dark horse/Through the fire/Through the storm,” reminding of how much can be accomplished when a band has a firm grip on the essentials of songwriting. Pras nails a solo after 2:40 with Kinast again driving home the groove on bass, and before you even realize the song is the album’s centerpiece – and worthy of its placement – you’re hooked by the repeated verse lines, “As we’re sent to die/On our way to Rome,” etc. Hard to pick between “Way to Rome” and “Strong Reflection” for which is the high point of Mars Red Sky, but both make a considerable argument.

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A little while back, I reviewed the Falling Down II various artists collection put out by the French ‘zine of the same name. I’ve made my opinions on reviewing comps well known over the course of however long it’s been at this point, but Falling Down II was noteworthy because it was almost exclusively previously unreleased material from bands like Ufomammut, White Hills and U.S. Christmas, and the news came in the other day that the next installment, Falling Down IIV, is being prepared.

Mathematically, the Roman numeral still works out to three, so it’s right even though it’s wrong (you’d usually see it as III and not IIV, which is two before five: three via a longer route), but more important than being a stickler for accurate portrayal of ancient numbering systems is the list of bands involved. Still tentative as far as some artists are concerned, but the folks behind the comp sent over a list of who’s already on board and it looks like it’s going to be another win. Here are the names, followed by a trailer from the YouTubes:

The first confirmed bands are:

Mouth of the Architect (US)
Karma to Burn (US)
Julie Christmas (US)
Terra Tenebrosa (SWE)
Year of No Light/Mars Red Sky (Special Collaboration – FR)
Hopewell (US)
Rosetta (US)
Black Sun (SCO)
Ahkmed (AUS)
Vanessa Van Basten (IT)
Sendelica (UK)
Ayahuasca Dark Trip (PER)
Ocoai (US)
The Winchester Club (UK)
Planning for Burial (US)
Vespero (RUS)
Rorcal (CH)
Ethereal Riffian (UKR)

Available in 2012, all the tracks will be unpublished. Only unpublished tracks: this is our main priority.

Good for Parisian upstarts Blaak Heat Shujaa, whose self-titled debut has been welcomed by my tired old ears many times since the two parties met. They seem to have made something of a splash with their live shows, and starting next Friday, they’ll be embarking on a European tour with Yawning Man. Not too bad. Now if only we could get either act to do a show in the US, we’d be all set.

Meantime, here’s the news, straight from the Shujaas themselves:

We’re extremely proud to announce that we will be touring Europe with desert rock legends Yawning Man this coming June. Here are the dates:

17.06 Sinister Noise Club Rome, Italy
18.06 Villa Soleluna Latina, Italy
19.06 Tago Mago Massa, Italy
20.06 Aerosol Lab Villanuova sul Clisi, Italy
21.06 Arena Wien Vienna, Austria (w/ The Entrance Band)
22.06 Graf Hugo -Feldkirch, Austria
23.06 Immerhin Würzburg, Germany
24.06 Nouveau Casino Paris, France (w/ Karma to Burn)
25.06 TBC (Gaswerk Winterthur, Switzerland, w/ Karma to Burn)

Rest assured, I haven’t a clue what their name means, but as they’re instrumental, I’m not counting on ÖfÖ Am for wordsmithing anyway. The French trio, who reached out to me only hours before I got the first of several emails recommending I check them out, specialize in an energetic and lightly punk-influenced (listen to the drums on “Goodbye Charles”) heavy groove rock. They’re not strictly stoner, but they’ve definitely heard Kyuss and Karma to Burn seem to have left a mark, tonally as well as ethically.

That’s not a bad thing, and neither is the vitality so evident in the songs of their debut long-player, The Beast Within: A Journey in the Life of Öctaman. To be fair, there are some voices on the album — some gang chants, a spoken intro to the Faith No More-esque “Montée Religieuse” — but it’s the guitar, bass and drums (and on that track, some righteous guest keys) that are meant as focal points. They keep their material quick and to the point and earn almost as much respect for the punningly-titled “The Wieding Present” — the cover for the record is by Alexander Von Wieding — as for the music itself. Hard not to appreciate that.

It’s a big universe and it’s full of cool music. If you’ve the time and the inclination, the Montpellier three-piece do an awful lot of talking for a band with so few words. Check them out on Thee Facebooks or via the Bandcamp player below harvested from their page:

Oh yes they’re a new world samurai… and although how a group of people could come together and be a single samurai eludes me, I think you get the point. The point is that the impetus behind French four-piece Denizen seems to be to binge on older Clutch‘s style and then purge themselves in the form of their new Whispering Wild Stories full-length. The songs are energetic and just the right amount of sloppy, the cover has owls on it who look like they’re about ready to do battle, and they cover “Sunshine of Your Love.” That’s good enough for me.

Some kindly representative from Denizen posted the link to their Bandcamp page on the forum, and since the songs were just the thing to pick me up from my afternoon’s doomed rut, I figured I’d pass them along. Thoroughly unpretentious, but a little snotty in the punk rock tradition, and still riff-led enough to call it stoner, Whispering Wild Stories is a fun fix. I don’t think I’d make an heirloom out of it (okay, I’ll stop with the Clutch references), but there’s good times to be had, so go ahead and have them: