MYTHIC SUNSHIP - COSMIC RUPTURE FROM NEW ALBUM UPHEAVEL

The psychers Mythic Sunship are back with a new album on January 12, titled Upheavel with cover art by Jakob Skøtt and mixed by Jonas Munk of Causa Sui! With the quality freedom fuzz stamp of El Paraiso Records, check out the first advance..

NEITHER GOD NOR MASTER - EP1

Introducing my new favorite doom act, Neither God Nor Master a female fronted occult quintet from South Brooklyn.

The beautiful contrast between the celestial godlike vocals and the dark heavy instrumentals conjured with Sabbath worship riffs & grooves produce a powerful witchcraft that will consume your soul and capture your mind.

Casting a wicked spell, it's just a matter of time until this cult grows and takes over the whole scene!

YAWNING MAN LIVE IN EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND

Yawning Man

PSYCHO LAS VEGAS 2018 - FIRST BANDS ANNOUNCEMENT

The first batch of bands announced for next year's edition of Psycho Las Vegas includes some heavy titans such as Witchcraft and High On Fire among others.

Psycho Las Vegas

2018

KOZMIK ARTIFACTZ CHRISTMAS GIVEAWAY

Looking to treat yourself or your loved ones this Christmas with some quality music!?

I suggest you to shop with Kozmik Artifactz not only because they have a wide and excellent choice of records but also because you'll be entering their giveaway for a chance to win 10 Kozmik or Oak Island Records of YOUR choice!

Multiple purchases = multiple entries... so shop around! 

 Bilocation Records Store

THE LUNAR EFFECT - WOMAN OFFICIAL VIDEO

Brand new video and single of british psych bluesy quartet The Lunar Effect upcoming album 'The Calm Before The Calm".

LEE VAN CLEEF

Art by Maarten Donders

Lee Van Cleef - Spaghetti Jams leevancleefjams.bandcamp.com

CRYPT TRIP & FOGG LIVE AT SATURNALIA FESTIVAL

Crypt Trip
FOGG 
Saturnalia Festival

SLEEP LIVE AT PSYCHO LA VEGAS

 

Sleep live at Psycho Las Vegas.
by Sally Townsend Photography

VINNUM SABBATHI - HEX II LIVE IN MEXICO CITY

Mexican fuzzonauts Vinnum Sabbathi live in Mexico City!

STEINSOPP - HYPERCARBOLATION SESSIONS

Fresh bag of raw psilocybin jams!

Norwegian Fungal Heavy Psych band Steinsopp, have just released this compilation of various improvised jams from their practices sessions recorded live with mobile phones through 2017.
Not to be consider a new album just something for the shroom fiends out there looking for some floating, drone-y, raw & gritty space rock.

ALPINE FUZZ CLUB LIVE DEBUT IN MEXICO CITY

A while back I told you about Alpine Fuzz Society, a supergroup/side project formed by Mario Rubalcaba (Earthless), Paul Marrone and Parker Griggs (Radio Moscow). Well, they have just made their debut live show last weekend in Mexico City and heres some footage of the gig with Isaiah Mitchell as special guest...

GRAVEYARD LIVE AT LAV - LISBOA AO VIVO (PHOTO REPORT)

The return of swedish retro rockers Graveyard to Portugal on their first gig at the capital... Live at LAV - Lisboa ao Vivo promoted by Prime Artists and captured by our photo handler Rodriguez.

You can check the full album here.

J MASCIS' GUITAR MOVES

J Mascis may not talk much... but he sure has some sick guitar moves! Check the frontman of Dinosaur Jr. (and backman of Witch) in the latest episode of the show hosted by Matt Sweeney...

JIMI HENDRIX BY ADAM POBIAK

Gold foil Jimi Hendrix print created by Adam Pobiak Posters to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Axis: Bold as Love Lp.

ROADBURN 2018 ARTIST IN RESIDENCE - EARTHLESS

Stoked to finally see the Roadburn Festival heading back to their psychedelic roots...
Not only they have given artist residence to Earthless, which means they will be performing multiple sets during the weekend but also confimed is a huge San Diego Takeover featuring HARSH TOKE, SACRI MONTI, JOY and PETYR... a bit like a S.D. AllStar Game.
Expect jam sessions a-plenty, especially when you throw their Japanese counterparts into the mix; Kikagaku Moyo / 幾何学模様, Minami Deutsch / 南ドイツ and Damo Suzuki.

The Re-Stoned new album announcement

Art by Alexander Zhelonkin

The return of the reptilian fuzzers!
The Re-Stoned, the russian psychedelic orchestra of lya Lipkin, drops their new album "Chronoclasm" in about a month via Oak Island Records. Check the teaser below...

The Black Wizards - Freaks and Geeks live at Sabotage Club, Lisbon

Face melting fuzz!

Portuguese vintage band The Black Wizards performing "Freaks and Geeks" from their sophomore album What the Fuzz! live at Sabotage Club in Lisbon!

Saw them the day after in Caldas da Rainha, where they wrapped the latest euro tour, but the place was just too small for so much talent... it`s a world class act that belongs in bigger stages! No wonder they were recently announced for DesertFest Berlin and Desertfest London...

By the way, I was so stoned & fuzzed out after the gig, that I left my brand new grey band shirt outside at the plaza, if anyone found it... fuck it, wear it proudly! 😜

by Henrique Montalvão

Petyr - Satori III live at Jam in the Van

Check out San Diego's newest ambassadors, PETYR performing their cover of Flower Travellin Band "Satori III" and jamming the fuck out of that van!
by Jam In the Van Live at Desert Daze in Joshua Tree, CA

Elder's Floating World

Elder
Art by Adrian Dexter

All Them Witches on a mission in Tennessee!

The band was invited for a tour at Jack Daniel's distillery in Lynchburg and tried to capture the spirit of 142 years of American whiskey tradition.
About a month later the quartet returned with a brand new song titled "Go and Seek" about the whole experience...

"Sounds of Lynchburg" is the mini web series that follows the band closely on this journey.

CB3 - From Nothing To Eternity

Trippy stuff coming soon by CB3, an instrumental psych rock trio from Stockholm, Sweden with cosmic jams mixing heavy psych and krautrock with lynchian soundscapes inspired by the likes of King Crimson, CAN and NEU!, reminding me also a lot of the early work by another Scandinavian experimental project called Pharaoh Overlord.

"From nothing to eternity" drops January 12, with a limited edition cassette on a collaboration between Lazy Octopus and Eggs in Aspic with artwork by Robin Gnista Art & Design.

Elephant Tree live at Blue Moon Festival

Elephant Tree
Blue Moon Festival
by Jörg Steinhauer

The 420 mileSTONE has been reached!

Spindrift Live in Europe

SPINDRIFT bringing out the big guns in England!

Sun of Man - III

The return of the mighty Sun of Man, from Australia.
A 12 minutes jam of blissful heavy psych jazzy kraut sounds.

J Mascis Reverb Shop

J Mascis Official Reverb Shop

Space Imperialist!

 

Art by Adam Burke

Dukes Veda - Tuesday Blues

Dukes Veda

Sleep`s Memorabilia

If you arent a pothead stay home!

SLEEP

Radio Moscow + Kaleidobolt live @ RCA Club, Lisbon [Gig Review]

 Quite the turned out for a Sunday evening with the house packed and excited for some fuzz emanating from the Heavy Psych gathering that went down in Lisbon at RCA Club with the power trios Kaleidobolt and Radio Moscow!

  Invited to be the supporting band of this “The Drifting Tour” the Finnish act Kaleidobolt stormed the stage like they were headlining it... Holy smokes! I bet I was one of the few present who were familiar with band and even I was surprised with so such a raw and heavy load discharge.

 Starting with “Steal my Thunder” (which was a personal requested, thanks dudes!), going energetically through songs from both records (Self Titled and The Zenith Cracks) throwing in the middle one best drums solos I ever witnessed, and I´ve seen quite a few, closing it with the grand finale “Showdown”... and that's just what it was, a gnarly showdown of electrifying guitar riffs, flaming bass lines and blazing drum grooves! Honestly the night could I´ve end right there that everybody would be going home happy...

 A quick drive by through the merch table to grab 180 grams of the new Radio Moscow`s hazy stuff with the merch handler who had a fistful of €10 bills, there for no change for me, ending up giving me a discount on the record. And as if that wasn´t enough, I got my copy signed my Mr. Paul Marrone (drums)... Don´t like to push my luck, but the dude was standing next to me and there was a pen laying around, so what a hell!

  

 It´s with really high spirits that Radio Moscow came along, picking right where Kaleidobolt left and pushing even further the sonic boundaries of the place. First time seeing the band with this formation and the difference is quite noticeable... it´s no longer Parker Griggs` band if you know what mean, now it´s a real fucking thigh power trio! The performance, presence and sound on stage have all improved with the trio based in San Diego, California distilling heavy psych and delta blues for almost 2 hours going through the new material and classic jams all with the same drive and energy. With this renowned rhythm section consisting of Anthony Meier and Paul Marrone (from Sacri Monti, Cosmic Wheels, Psicomagia and Birth fame) the virtuoso guitarist has more room and freedom to explore and unleash all his potential with hazy licks and electrifying solos that left the crowd pretty wild.

 A sweaty and memorable night of great fun with two gnarly bands and a dirty sex doll named Maria Ana! Here´s a couple of videos from the gig taken by our friends over at Caleidoscópio Radio

MOONDOG SESSIONS - Jesus The Snake

Pink Floyd live at Pompey Jesus The Snake live at Conimbriga!

In a trippy joint venture between the most exciting collectives coming out recently from Portugal in the fields of music and video production, a new series is born...

Moondog Sessions, a new project creating and capturing mystic live performances, is the brainchild of the video art collective Flaming Acid and promotional company Lizard!
Inviting the young proggy band Jesus The Snake to convene at the ancient roman ruins of Conímbriga producing a mind blowing experience.

SonicBlast Moledo 2017 Review

Fear and Loathing in Moledo do Minho - A Savage Journey to the Heart of the Heavy Psych Dream.

Friday morning and everything is set for a weekend of fun and great music... the annual pilgrimage to Moledo do Minho for the notorious Heavy Psych rendezvous called SonicBlast is finally upon us and we hit the road burning the 300 km of asphalt separating us as fast as we can. Me, my brother Rodriguez and Bernie (fictions name), a friend who decided to tag along without a ticket even though the fest was already sold out...
And why Bernie, some may ask!? Well, remember that classic 90s movie titled “Weekend at Bernie`s” about two guys strolling around with a dead`s man body... enough said! 

Planning our arrival in time for the young heavy psych band Holy Mushroom from Spain, but I was only able to hear them from the outside as I waited for my turn on the chaotic ticket booth to get my press credential... things would move smoothly if they were only taking care of the wristbands instead of also dealing with the drinks tokens, just a though! Grabbed a beer in a hurry on my way to the pool stage only to be stopped by the security saying I can´t come in with it... Fuck! By the time I managed to get in, the show is over and the next band is already setting in... So unfortunately, can´t say much about their gig but from what I´ve heard they delivered some fine trippy jams to the lucky ones already inside. No biggie, pretty sure they´ll be returning soon...

I´m back on the move as there´s still the camping issue to take care... with tales of crappy conditions and an overcrowded camping site, we kinda stumble up on a private one near the church and looked no further. With shadow all day, private W.C. and only a few meters from the site, it was a no brainer... we payed up and settle down like three kings!
Bernie was trying to buy a ticket from a Spanish girl over the Facebook, spending the last 3 hours trying to make a money transfer to an IBAN with a missing number as I left them to go see Black Bombaim, the last band on the pool stage for the day... but the first one for me!

Black Bombaim

The psycher trio from Barcelos, regulars at this fest, presented themselves this time accompanied by a sax player for a collective meltdown through the by now famous jams fueled by an acid guitar, the grooviest bass lines around and pounding drums with a touch of free jazz brought in by the sax that would go on frenetic duels with the guitar solos. As much I see them live, and has been quite a few, this band never ceases to amaze me with they’re quality and thirst for experimentation and new ways of expanding they´re sound. The stellar performance left me all pumped out for an evening that would still bring The Well, Monolord and Elder.

The Well

Opening with their classic “Mortal Bones” the power trio The Well coming from Austin, Texas gave us an outstanding performance distilling their doomy blues laced with Tejas Psych. Dancing with sun as it was coming down, the band seemed possessed on stage as they go through their set comprised of songs from they´re 2 LPs. Brighten even more by the sun rays, the gig was hitting the boiling point pretty fast to the pleased crowd and band who was so excited to be in Portugal right now in particular and outside of the US in general during these past weeks of the fascist wave going over their country.

Yuri Gagarin

Yuri Gagarin were hitting the stage next with they´re cosmic space rock and a one way ticket to the next galaxy. With a slow start as if the engines were firing one by one, we took off as soon as the sun went down… With their logo now glowing behind them and the light effects kicking in, the performance went from good to great. A feast to the senses and a recommended experience for all the space travelers... it´s such a fun ride!

 

Monolord

 

  

From Sweden, Monolord came to slow things down a bit with the signature spine bending doom. Saturated fuzz and dragged riffs, deep bass lines and smashing drums were served quite well to the thirsty and famine crowd. The heavy trio, for the first time in Portugal just like most of these bands, didn´t fool around and leaved it all on stage with a crushing set...

Elder

 

It was time for the first headliner of the fest, now a quartet and dwelling further and further into proggy ambiances and atmospheres, Elder delivered a much anticipated performance. As fan of their early work the only thing I can point out is about the set comprised almost of their last two albums but despite that the band from Boston put out a great show in overall. I was enjoying myself so much that only snapped out of it when a buddy tapping me on the shoulder holding a friend on a mushroom trip collapsed in his arms asking me for help to deal with the situation. Oh man what a circus... he regained consciousness as the first chords of the closer “Gemini” were ringing and I remember saying to him: “hold on my friend... We´re coming home!”.

Too wasted and tired to stick around for The Cosmic Dead we headed out to the tents for a much needed and deserved rest.

Did I tell how nice was our camping? This dude slept like a baby and had the best camping night in years... Fresh and fully recharged we stroll down to the villa for the vital morning coffee. It´s funny to see the contrast of the locals with the festival goers as we go looking for options to lunch earlier in order to catch Vinnum Sabbathi at the pool. We were back at camping getting ready to head for the gig and Larry finally managed to score a ticket from a staff member... hahah, the look on his face as he had totally lost any hope of getting in!

Vinnum Sabbathi

Already by the pool under a blistering sun, the Mexican quartet Vinnum Sabbathi gave the best gig I´ve seen on this stage. Solid performance with their instrumental doom filled with spacey elements and samples, serving as a great departure to the trippy day ahead. It was the last stop of they´re first Euro Tour and they went out with a bang! Great deliver by all members specially the drummer... the dude is a fucking beast!

Blaak Heat

Delayed by a sketchy sound check and suffering from that later, the Franco-American band Blaak Heat were on next presenting their new EP Arabian Fuzz. Exotic psychedelic rock with middle eastern influences was on the menu and the setting by the pool was perfect... but by the time they started the place was already too crowded so I couldn´t see the stage and the crappy sound was ruining what would have been a truly nice set featuring even a drabuka player!

Crowd at the Pool Stage

I was not too worried about it because I knew I would catch them on the road again later on and certainly have a better experience... which I did! Just had the most wonderful Sunday matinée on an old primary school in Pisões, Alcobaça with them, around ten more people and a dog! It was epic... but I´ll talk about that another day! Besides, as soon as Virginia Monti, (lead singer of Dead Witches) walked in with that gnarly outfit, she pretty much stole the show and all the attention... sorry friends, but you just can´t compete with that!

Grabbed another beer, enjoyed their last song from the balcony and headed back to tent.

The Machine

We´re approaching the golden hour with the sunset effect as The Machine were hitting the stage. As the well-oiled piece of psychedelic engineering that they are the Dutch trio came back to SonicBlast for another trippy ride through their now vast catalog of technological advanced jams. Really nice set which included a brand new song and some of their classics in a fuzzed out performance by one of the local’s faves as they´re were put on fire with a blazing show.

Outside a full fleshed skate sesh was going down with high spirits and lots of fun around... I sat for a bit while I enjoyed my 4th bifana of the day and went in as Acid King were already cooling things down with their very special kind of Doom!

Acid King

The American trio besides being known by their massive riffs and powerful transitions they also have that amazing and smoothing voice... Lori S., gives this band such a unique power to captivate an audience so easily! Between fresh material and classics such as Electric Machine, Red River or 2 Wheel Nation everybody was left quite ecstatic with such a gnarly show and quite buzzed for what would be coming next.

Colour Haze

The band that everybody was waiting, me personally for almost 10 years, to see live on this shores was Colour Haze... though this day would never come! That´s why I went to Keep it Low Fest in Munchen in 2015 to get some of the magik directly from the source. Loved both shows but they were two different experiences... if the first was more intense because of the sweaty 2h set on a packed club this in one Moledo was more liberating by the open air setting even though they only played around 70 minutes! Opening with She Said going through Aquamaria, Skydancer, Transformation and closing beautifully with Temple, apologizing for not coming sooner but promising to be back next year somewhere in between, it was magical to see the musicianship of the German power trio on stage and the technique of each member... specially the guitar virtuoso Stefan Koglek as the crowd went totally wild with such deliver.
I just wish they would spend more time on the road then on the studio... 

Hum.. in case anyone is wondering about Bernie... he pissed his pants on the overflowing WC potties just before the gig and had to go change, found him mid concert at the bar when I went for a refuel and he remained with us for the rest of the night...

Orange Goblin

To tell you the truth I wasn´t expecting much of Orange Goblin since I´m not a big fan of their latest work, but you couldn´t ask for a better ending show then the one the British veterans gave. Goddamn it... going through their classic songs like a heavy metal blitzkrieg it was kinda the last assault to our hazed and inebriated minds and beaten bodies! These dudes know what they're doing and have been doing it for a very long time and it shows as soon as they step on a stage. Not only by how good they sound but how well the front man Ben Ward interacts with the crowd... the beast that knocks down cold brewskies with a couple of zips must be one of the nicest guys in our scene!

We sticked around a bit for Dead Witches, but sleazy covers of Electric Wizard and the dramatic dances by the front-woman wasn´t convincing anyone… so after one last stop by the merch area spending the last few euros we had left , it was time to head back to our tents and proceeded to fully collapse.

This was without any doubt the best edition of the festival ever and the fact that it sold out for the first time only proves that statement! Happy and thankful for the organization and staff who put all the hard work not only this year but for the past six, helping this amazing festival to grow so naturally. Now I believe in order to maintain the balance and harmony between the locals and festival goers, there´s always room for improvement… specially the infrastructures for those attending like more WCs and cleaned more regularly; the pool stage is getting too small after a certain hour for us to enjoy the gigs perhaps it´s time to take the party to the beach, and so on…
 
I just want this fest to keep going strong for as many years as it can since it´s the only one bringing all the great bands that everybody wants to see live...
LONG LIVE SONICBLAST!