Brant Bjork is obviously desert rock royalty (dude was a founding member of Kyuss and in Fu Manchu, doesn’t get much more royal than that), but even with that high status he does not rest on his laurels, because this dude is busy. There is no slacker in this Stöner, as Bjork seems to have something from one of his projects dropping seemingly every couple of months.
There is a Stöner live record coming out imminently and then there is this fun little chill desert rock record, Once Upon A Time In The Desert, under the Brant Bjork Trio moniker. This version includes long time collaborators Mario Lalli on bass and his usual go-to drummer for his solo material, Ryan Güt. As I mentioned, Bjork has a lot of material, but I can safely say, for me, this is one of my favourite records he has done in a while.
Why you ask? First off, the overall vibe of this record is excellent and shows that you can be chill and still rock, no need to compromise on one or the other. Second, the production of this record is spot on. The band sounds great and the “desert” feel is ever-present. Bjork’s voice sounds great and the guitar tone is wonderful. Songs like the opener, U.R. Free shows all of this, including a nice and fuzzy fun little riff to kick it off. There is such a groove to the nine tracks on Once Upon A Time In The Desert, just check out Backin’ The Daze for proof. Higher Days too. Love the little riff on this one as well.
Why you ask? First off, the overall vibe of this record is excellent and shows that you can be chill and still rock, no need to compromise on one or the other. Second, the production of this record is spot on. The band sounds great and the “desert” feel is ever-present. Bjork’s voice sounds great and the guitar tone is wonderful. Songs like the opener, U.R. Free shows all of this, including a nice and fuzzy fun little riff to kick it off. There is such a groove to the nine tracks on Once Upon A Time In The Desert, just check out Backin’ The Daze for proof. Higher Days too. Love the little riff on this one as well.
The trio sound so great together on all of the tracks, but my favourite jam moment may be on Down The Mountain. Desert earworms abound on Once Upon A Time In The Desert, as tracks like Magic Surfer Magazine and Sunshine Is Making Love To Your Mind stays with you throughout the day after listening. We get some desert psych too on Rock And Roll In The Dirt, where Bjork shows off some soloing skills. I also love the way the record ends, with some more desert groove with Do You Get Some Fire, which will be a killer live track as well.
I am not sure I would say I am surprised that I love the new Brant Bjork Trio record, but I will say I didn’t think it would stand out to me a so good and his best stuff in a while. Once Upon A Time In The Desert is worth your time, get ready to simultaneously rock and chill out to these nine tracks. 8/10
Daufodt - Glitter (Fysisk Format Records) [GC]
Every now and again I like to just take a random pick to review, as always reviewing the same style of music can get slightly repetitive and you can just think why am I bothering so I have taken a wild grab and gone for the latest release Glitter from Norwegian four piece Daufodt, and I have no idea what to expect.
Title track and opener Glitter is a real eye opener, there are undertones of grunge that mix with sludgy noiscore and the grinding, repetitive music definitely gives you an uncomfortable feeling while listening and the vocal approach lends heavily from black metal and adds a wonderful darkness on top of the challenging musical approach and then on Stemmene I Hodet we get just under 2 minutes of scuzzy, lo-fi punk rock attitude and already we’ve had so many different styles and they have all sounded fantastic!
I am not sure I would say I am surprised that I love the new Brant Bjork Trio record, but I will say I didn’t think it would stand out to me a so good and his best stuff in a while. Once Upon A Time In The Desert is worth your time, get ready to simultaneously rock and chill out to these nine tracks. 8/10
Daufodt - Glitter (Fysisk Format Records) [GC]
Every now and again I like to just take a random pick to review, as always reviewing the same style of music can get slightly repetitive and you can just think why am I bothering so I have taken a wild grab and gone for the latest release Glitter from Norwegian four piece Daufodt, and I have no idea what to expect.
Title track and opener Glitter is a real eye opener, there are undertones of grunge that mix with sludgy noiscore and the grinding, repetitive music definitely gives you an uncomfortable feeling while listening and the vocal approach lends heavily from black metal and adds a wonderful darkness on top of the challenging musical approach and then on Stemmene I Hodet we get just under 2 minutes of scuzzy, lo-fi punk rock attitude and already we’ve had so many different styles and they have all sounded fantastic!
Toxic is a little more straight forward sounding and doesn’t mix 800 different variations together here we get more lo-fi scuzzy sounding punk but its more of an 80’s post punk style that with the extreme vocals added on top really stands out and everything compliments everything else perfectly. Jeg Vil Bare Hjem carries this sound forward and a clearer picture of their sound is starting to form.
This is once again a riotous punk rock blast of anarchic goodness, shame I don’t know what they are singing about, cos Norwegian but once again the vocals are a real high point, Over Ende throws in another 1 minute blast of hardcore punk that is over and done with before you really get a chance to pay attention, on repeated listens you get the full enjoyment of this track and appreciate the way the short, sharp shock tactics break up the album.
Then you are confronted by the monstrous 9:32 beast that is Falske Vekkelser which starts with another 80’s post punk influence and ratchets up the sludge toning to 11 and is full of off kilter feed back and a riff that just gets under your skin and stays there the song builds from about 2 minutes in and has control of you in an almost hypnotic way there are all sorts of weird and wonderful sounds interweaving and fighting for your attention, I usually cant deal with tracks this long but this one just keeps getting better as it goes there is no lull or parts you think could be missed out because all the various bits make this an enthralling listen and if any parts were missed it could sound like a completely different thing which would be a real shame.
Both Verre and (Sote Hunder) Verden Gar Under shake you violently back into life with vicious hardcore punk attacks that has been building and always threatening to be unleashed and now they have it’s a glorious cacophony of noise that jostles you back from the edge of a breakdown that the previous song almost causes, Skjelvet seems to then feel a bit anti climatic, I was just getting into the hardcore groove and this is a dialled back more atmospheric sounding track, its very good sounding but I just wanted more from it?
Myriaden is a bit of a le town, just a couple of minutes of noise and feedback that you would get at the end of a gig put into a song, not needed and a bit annoying to be honest!! Then Klokka for one last time kicks you directly in the teeth and is the final blast of hardcore punk influenced noise and it’s a welcome way to finish what has been a most welcomely brilliant surprise of an album!!
Now I have picked my jaw up off the floor, I can safely say I really was not expecting this randomly picked album to be an absolute triumph! The mix of styles on show here are truly eclectic and all work together in a beautifully grim way to create what is quite frankly a stunning piece of work! If you do yourself one favour this week you will give Glitter all the attention it deserves! Astonishingly brilliant stuff. 9/10
The Flying Norsemen - The Flying Norsemen (Apollon Records) [Rich Piva]
The Flying Norsemen are from Norway. This makes sense. The debut, self-titled, record from these veteran musicians is four epic tracks leaning deep into the proggy and psychedelic 1970s, that sometimes make no sense, in the best kind of way. There is a lot going on in these four songs. Oh, and also it is sung in Norwegian, which makes it even more wonderfully confusing for this reviewer. No matter what the Flying Norseman are saying, I am digging their very out there proggy groove and mind-bending crazy song structures. Get ready for an experience.
All of the four tracks clock in at over eight and a half minutes, and all four tracks go in all sorts of directions, so this is not a casual listening experience, but it certainly is rewarding. The opener, Norseide, has it all. Some great guitar work, keys that help drive the song, a rhythm section recorded exactly how I like it, and the band going all over the place but never scattered. There is a plan here, as crazy as that plan may be.
Now I have picked my jaw up off the floor, I can safely say I really was not expecting this randomly picked album to be an absolute triumph! The mix of styles on show here are truly eclectic and all work together in a beautifully grim way to create what is quite frankly a stunning piece of work! If you do yourself one favour this week you will give Glitter all the attention it deserves! Astonishingly brilliant stuff. 9/10
The Flying Norsemen - The Flying Norsemen (Apollon Records) [Rich Piva]
The Flying Norsemen are from Norway. This makes sense. The debut, self-titled, record from these veteran musicians is four epic tracks leaning deep into the proggy and psychedelic 1970s, that sometimes make no sense, in the best kind of way. There is a lot going on in these four songs. Oh, and also it is sung in Norwegian, which makes it even more wonderfully confusing for this reviewer. No matter what the Flying Norseman are saying, I am digging their very out there proggy groove and mind-bending crazy song structures. Get ready for an experience.
All of the four tracks clock in at over eight and a half minutes, and all four tracks go in all sorts of directions, so this is not a casual listening experience, but it certainly is rewarding. The opener, Norseide, has it all. Some great guitar work, keys that help drive the song, a rhythm section recorded exactly how I like it, and the band going all over the place but never scattered. There is a plan here, as crazy as that plan may be.
Lystens Begjær II is track two and is just as excellent and out there as the first, except you get a bit of Sabbath in this one, and it somehow fits perfectly. I love how the synths and guitar float around together on PoseidJohn and I really love when the pace picks up a bit and the vocals kick in, especially how the background vocals work. So great. The different changes on this one are executed excellently. The heavy psych looms large on Lystens Begjær, with the synths and layered vocals leading the way until the big riff hits and everything falls off the cliff into the cold Norwegian waters.
To say I am surprised at how much I love this is an understatement. I usually struggle with vocals not sung in English but I have zero issues with the Flying Norsemen. Their brand of heavy proggy psych soaked in the 70s and beautifully all over the place is one of my surprise records of the year and another killer debut. 8/10
Paradis - Paradis (Self Released) [GC]
My eyebrows always slightly raise when a band’s PR material claims them to be ‘’highly rated’’ like, by who exactly? This is what I was greeted with for the EP from London metalcore band Paradis, but I suppose that’s a PR’s job to big their clients up and I’m just a miserable old cunt. Aaaaaaannyway, let’s see what it sounds like shall we!?
There is an ominous build up to opener Boneyard and when it does start its what you would expect really, some nice riffs that has the trademark metalcore sound but it’s not really straightforward metal and it has enough bounce and body to make the song a passable effort but I can’t get past the way some of the lyrics are done and the mix is a bit all over the place for me as well.
To say I am surprised at how much I love this is an understatement. I usually struggle with vocals not sung in English but I have zero issues with the Flying Norsemen. Their brand of heavy proggy psych soaked in the 70s and beautifully all over the place is one of my surprise records of the year and another killer debut. 8/10
Paradis - Paradis (Self Released) [GC]
My eyebrows always slightly raise when a band’s PR material claims them to be ‘’highly rated’’ like, by who exactly? This is what I was greeted with for the EP from London metalcore band Paradis, but I suppose that’s a PR’s job to big their clients up and I’m just a miserable old cunt. Aaaaaaannyway, let’s see what it sounds like shall we!?
There is an ominous build up to opener Boneyard and when it does start its what you would expect really, some nice riffs that has the trademark metalcore sound but it’s not really straightforward metal and it has enough bounce and body to make the song a passable effort but I can’t get past the way some of the lyrics are done and the mix is a bit all over the place for me as well.
An ok start that then gets slightly better on Reflections which has some lovely guitar work and is full of grooving earworm riffing that make the song sound better than it should because as before I’m just not getting the vocals the harsh parts all sound good enough but there’s some form of singing added in here and I do not like it one bit, it just sounds annoying and midway it all gets a bit to nu-metally for my liking also and towards the end of the song it just feels like they have run out of ideas?!.
Immortal has a melodic death metal feel to the song to start with but doesn’t take long to re-introduce the standard sounding metalcore you have heard so many times before and its not that its particularly bad or anything it just doesn’t do much for me is all and the atmospherics added into this song are a bit over the top and sound more like Nightwish then Bleeding Through and it does nothing for the sound, Storm is once again just ok, it does have more of a padded out verse and once again has some decent riffs and guitar parts but now I just feel like that’s all I am concentrating on because the rest is just a bit meh?
And I just cannot deal with a mid-song HEY, HEY, HEY!! Walking Aberration is the single and its clear to see why, because it’s the best song on here, everything they have been trying to achieve so far all comes together here and the vocals lead the way, backed up by another nice guitar display and the dark electronics compliment the sound as opposed to just sounding like they were just added in at the last minute and we get to finish on a high!!
As EP’s go this was just ok for me, there were some decent bits but the bits that I didn’t like seemed to outnumber them and I am sure with a bit more focus and thought Paradis could come up with some really good song. Out of the 5 songs on here only really 2 had me interested all the way through and that’s not really what you want with an EP, you expect it grab you from the very beginning and make the most of the short run time, alas here they did not. 5/10
As EP’s go this was just ok for me, there were some decent bits but the bits that I didn’t like seemed to outnumber them and I am sure with a bit more focus and thought Paradis could come up with some really good song. Out of the 5 songs on here only really 2 had me interested all the way through and that’s not really what you want with an EP, you expect it grab you from the very beginning and make the most of the short run time, alas here they did not. 5/10
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