Saturn's Husk - The Conduit (2020)

 

And here we go again! Three long years have passed since the last full length release of Maree Noire! The Conduit has been brewing for all of this time in our minds and under our fingers, pressing against those fretboards and clenching drumsticks in our fists. It's been a long ride for us, as both our bassplayer and I had our kids born during this time, marriages happened, renovations and moving appartments, as well as new jobs and responisbilities gained. All of that kept pushing the release date further and further. But it has finally happened, and in early 2020 we went down to Hodila Studio in Valmiera, recorded the tracks live and overdubbed them, and our drummer mixed and mastered the whole thing almost solely on his own (and boy are we grateful! :D).

All of those things happening in our lives are imprinted in this record, bringing you an hour of an instrumental psychedelic doom/sludge journey. The album focuses on the inevitability of death and its necessity in birth of something new. For one thing to come into existence, something else must die, and allow that thing into existence, allow it to come through all those stages in its development, both personal and cultural, only for it to finally perish leaving just dust behind.

We hope you will enjoy listening to it, as much as we enjoyed playing and recording this. 

https://saturnshusk.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/saturns.husk

https://www.instagram.com/saturns.husk/

https://soundcloud.com/saturnshusk

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaKpWtCMhqmfhpQJXHlLcYQ

https://open.spotify.com/artist/6rkgoy8xCCC2FQG2VPuH3W?si=3Awxnb61TLCHANRFXNQQkQ

Saturn's Husk - Marée Noire

Reviving this blog one more time for a little update. A couple years have now passed, and I'm glad to announce that we've gained some experienced, did some live shows, and now, managed to release our 2nd album - Marée Noire. And it's now better, heavier and more interesting structure-wise. That's what I believe, and at the end of the day, that's for you to judge! After giving it a listen of course, mofos!

It's a bit of a concept album in it's general idea. Think of it as a journey, a voyage into the great ocean,. A hunt for the great beast.  A bucnh of men searching for their purpose. Only to be eventualy defeated because of their own arrogance.

Either way, listen, enjoy, comment, and if you like it - support. The album is free to download however!

Saturn's Husk

Hey, so, as I thought it would happen, eventually I moved to actually writing and playing music, rather than just listening and reviewing.

So here's our first effort. We are a doom/sludgy band with a slight taste of psychedelia. We released our first album just prior to New Year. It is a completely DIY record we've recorded at our home studio with Regnar, our bassist, and Armand, our drummer/effects/mastering guy. Hopefully, you will enjoy this!

Those who buy, will also get to enjoy a bonus track, very suitable for drunken parties :D It is bit different from what the rest of the album is like. Anyway, enjoy!

Here goes: https://saturnshusk.bandcamp.com

Kingston Wall

I haven't been writing in a while, I know. But I wasn't able to not share this band with you people, that still stumble upon this page. It's a Finnish psychedelic prog rock band from the 90's called Kingston Wall. Sadly - they are split and soon after their guitars/vocals guy, Petri Walli, committed suicide, perhaps because of spiritual problems or the inability to live without the band. Not long before jumping out the window in Helsinki hotel, he made a trip to Goa. You can only speculate, was the trip a last-place-to-visit, or the last attempt to find peace with inner self...

But in the end, we are left here with 3 beautiful albums full of brilliant passages, ideas and melodies. It's the kind of music you put on and listen through the whole album to really make it unravel. Honestly - this is of best progressive rock I've ever came across. Enjoy.

Petri Walli (guitars, lead vocals), Jukka Jylli (bass, backing vocals) and Sami Kuoppamäki (drums, percussion)

WFA: Good day, earthlings.

Here to leave this tasty piece of space off of Monke3's upcoming album "The 5th Sun". Album will be out on 25th of October. The album can be pre-ordered here: http://shop.napalmrecords.com/monkey3. That's it for today!

Album: Causa Sui - Euporie Tide (2013)

So I've finally got my hands on the latest Causa Sui album review. And man, I gotta say it's looking to be my favorite album of theirs so far! Seems to be a next step in the bands music development. Really glad that they kind of went away from the uber-psychedelic messes they sometimes did. That was exactly the thing that was putting me off of these guys. I mean sometimes when I was putting these guys on in the background, I'd eventually find my self kind of nervous and edgy, and then realize that it's them going into this weird trip. That's usually when I'd turn 'em off. This album was the first one I could listen to from beginning to the very end without skipping or turning it off completely. It's a lot more hippy and mild, thus a lot more approachable and listenable.

So for all of you psychedelic rock lovers: Attached is a youtube video of the whole album, that's the only way to listen to it, the way I see it - go through the whole thing. I kind of never divided it in separate tracks and perceived it as a whole.

http://cavernsofdust.blogspot.com/2013/05/causa-sui.html
http://www.causasui.com/
http://www.last.fm/music/Causa+Sui
http://www.youtube.com/artist/causa-sui
https://myspace.com/causasui
http://www.discogs.com/artist/Causa+Sui

Wench

And today's greetings come to you from Sydney, Australia with a pretty damn cool stoner metal band with a touch of southern rock - Wench. I've been returning to these guys for a while now. If you're looking for catchy driving riffs and harsh but cool vocals - you've come to the right place. These guys do it all, and they do it good. We had quite a long argue with a friend of mine about whether these guys are interesting or not, and whether the compositions are cool or just plain boring. So apparently these guys aren't for everyone. To me though, the catchyness of it and cool moves they make really makes it. At any rate, sadly, since their last (and first) release one of the band members died and the band has been in kind of a stale situation. But their first release seems really promising, and I hope they'll get back on track. As of the music itself - I found first 3 tracks pretty golden, with rest being more of a filler. Then again it's me.

Check them out your self and let me know what ya think:



http://wench1.bandcamp.com/

Fungal Abyss

Good day. I finally had a good night sleep and am not practically shutting down on my keyboard. There is a big trip planned this weekend. Far into the countryside, with guitars, jembes and a thing to inspire... So in a light of this, I remembered this one band from Seattle. That band is Fungal Abyss. It is a fucking dimension of tripjam psychedelic rock. The music is pretty great as ambient setting or a meditative, crazy trip into the space of your mind. With tracks lengthy, spanning from 10 to almost 30 minutes. Their first album is claimed to be recorded under the influence of the psyclobe fungi and was entirely jammed, with no overdubs or edits made. Can't say that they are musical geniuses, but for all I know - they produce some pretty fucking outstanding jams, somewhat reminding me of Causa Sui, sometimes a more psyched-out Samsara Blues Experiment and similar. They're definitely something I'd see live.

Guys have released 2 albums so far, one of which I actually got on a fucking cassette tape, lol! And another one is on it's way. Shows aren't really frequent and are limited to Seattle, as far as I know. Well, that's what you get with underground bands. So go check 'em out on bandcamp and the tube, and go see them live if you're in Seattle... Do share about the live show though!

http://fungalabyss.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Fungal-Abyss/131109423634563
http://www.last.fm/music/Fungal+Abyss
http://www.discogs.com/artist/Fungal+Abyss

Earth

Good day, comrades! In case all of this time you've been hiding in a tank or some underground bunker, I would like to familiarize you with a legendary drone/doom/stoner band Earth. These guys can be called pioneers of the genre, and are named to be a major influence on SunnO))). But, unlike SunnO))), Earth make their music more sci-fi and positive, and it is mostly instrumental. Some times you get lost in those drones and transported to another planet, sometimes into a growing forest... I've found their music to be very suitable for programming work, as it sets this good trail of thought and concentration (which today I don't have for shit).

Earth started out in the 1989 and is led to this day by guitarist Dylan Carlson. The band changed quite a bit of members, but the lead always stayed the same. There was a split that lasted since 1998 to 2003, when the band reformed and continued on writing great stuff, and stayed true to the sound they do. The uniqueness of it is completed by the signature sound of a beautiful telecaster, deep and reverbed tones and the mix of some country, folk and jazz ideas in their music. A fun fact: on "Sunn Amps and Smashed Guitars" there is a demo track where Kurt Cobain does the vocals, who is also featured as a vocalist on the "Divine and Bright" and "Extra-Capsular Extraction", doing backing vocals on the track "A Bureaucratic Desire for Revenge".

So here's some music, comrades. My favorite album would be "And the Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull":

http://www.thronesanddominions.com
https://www.facebook.com/thronesanddominions
http://www.last.fm/music/Earth
http://grooveshark.com/playlist/Earth/89860110

Vista Chino

There was a lot of shit going on with the attempt of reforming and reviving the Kyuss. And I do mean shit, with all the law suits and everything. Now that it all finally settled down, and imo settled pretty favorably both for guys and good memory of Kyuss as it was, Vista Chino had emerged. Vista Chino is John Garcia, Brant Bjork, Nick Oliveri and Bruno Fevery. First things first: this is not Kyuss, and you sort of have to forget about Kyuss while listening to it. Yes you can hear the influence but it's sort of a whole different start here. And of course a new guy (Bruno Fevery), who toured with Kyuss Lives!, on the guitars instead of Josh. The music on the debut album of Vista Chino sounded to me like a blend of Kyuss, Unida, Brant and some other stuff. We can argue long about whether the album is inspired or not, but I must say it kind of grows on you. Frankly first time I've listened through it, I was all like 'meh...', but then I sort of went for another one, then another one and started noticing the cool details and digging certain tracks. I must give it - it has it's own charm and I'm kind of happy that guys took on with trying to make something of their own rather than just trying to go under Kyuss name and kind of not doing what Kyuss was all about. I would hope that by the next release they will polish the sound and get more familiar with it them selves.

So it's a pretty cool listen and really advised to you desert rock fans, but takes few repeats until you really get into it. Rocking my head to it right now, and realizing I like it even better with every damn listen! Something really cool and warm undergroundish about the guys them selves that makes me keep following their projects. The whole album can be checked out here: http://grooveshark.com/#!/profile/VISTA+CHINO/24407195. Here are some of favorite tracks right here:

http://grooveshark.com/s/Sweet+Remain/5eaPyr?src=5
http://grooveshark.com/s/Acidize+The+Gambling+Moose/5eaPYL?src=5

http://www.vistachinomusic.com/
https://www.facebook.com/VistaChinoMusic
https://soundcloud.com/vistachino
http://www.last.fm/music/Vista+Chino

Brant Bjork

So hey everyone. This one I recently really got hooked on. A project by an ex-Kyuss drummer Brant Bjork. If you are looking for some proper desert chill-out moods - you found your thing. He does very awesome laid back stuff, with cool rhythms and hooks here and there. I must warn you though this music isn't really meant to be listened to on it's own. It's more of an awesome mood setter for parties or a general laid back background music. Should be pretty fucking good for a long drive in a car... Mmmmhh, yeah... Anyway, some of the stuff he does sounds pretty unique in a sense of the vibe you get. It's really positive and funky in that sense.

Brant formed the band and remains active with it since 1999 when he released the first album - "Jalamanta". This started him with his own sound, that you can hear the most in Kyuss amongst other bands he participated. And since then there were 7 solo albums and 2 albums of Brant Bjork and the Bros. All of the albums have some cool tracks to offer, with my personal favorites now being "Born to rock" and "Somewhere some woman". Yes in most of his work you can feel the lack of some spark, which was provided by Josh Homme  in Kyuss for instance, with whom they've wrote most of the music for the band, but yeah, those times are gone and those guys just really worked like magic together, really balancing each other out. Josh Homme isn't doing too good on his own with his band either in my opinion. Music wise...

So anyway, stay tuned and check some of this out:

http://www.brantbjork.com/index.php/ (autoplays music)

http://www.last.fm/music/Brant+Bjork

https://myspace.com/brantbjork

http://www.youtube.com/artist/brant-bjork

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/brant-bjork-mn0000933927

WFA: Light at the end of the tunnel

Hey everyone! Here to notify that blog ain't dead. It's been a long month so far with vacation and tons of shit to do. Hopefully this weekend I'll post some stuff - got something stashed out for those of you who are into Kyuss and Arcazas... Well and actually a whole bunch of other bands. So it's just about getting my self to sit down and actually do this =)

Anyway, keep tuned in. Here's something to give a listen to while you wait:

WFA: Proper mood...

Third month of existence of this blog is coming to it's end. And here's some proper mood for today:

Crown Larks

Hey there guys! As I've promised, here comes a post to brighten up the Monday morning with mellow and sometimes crazy tunes. Today's topic is an interesting and rather original experimental psychedelic rock band from Chicago. Crown Larks were formed in 2012 and since have released an album. Their sound ranges from spacey jams to funky jazzy parts to quiet acoustic mellow moments. And as I am fool for sax in psych music, I can't not mention the nice feel it adds to it. So together it all creates some nice moods, that sometimes even have this homely-cozy tinge to them. Take for example 'Aquarium' or 'Blue Lobsters', that kind of make me crave to go out to the summerhouse, jump into the hammock and put this on while chilling with some nice book. It gives off that authentic old school psychedelic rock feel.

The band's sound is said to be inspired by such artists as Soft Machine, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Galaxie 500, Boredoms, Syd Barrett, Moonrises, and CAVE. The bands album Catalytic Conversion is available through bandcamp on CD, tape cassette or as a name-your-price digital download. So dig in, psych lovers, this one is a really nice roll down your lane.


http://crownlarks.tumblr.com/
http://crownlarks.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/CrownLarks
https://soundcloud.com/crownlarks

WFA: Almost there!

Hey everyone! Sorry for the hold up with posts, had some stressful shit happening here last week. But there are some posts coming soon. Most probably tomorrow! For now I'll try and make it worth you while with these two:

Album: All Them Witches - Extra Pleasant EP

Well, it's raining like hell out here, and out in Nashville it's hot as hell appearantly. And that there was the part of inspiration for this fresh EP by one of my currently favorite bands - All Them Witches. This album started raw and bluesy from the first notes! They've actually took it even more of an blues direction, and that was precisely what was necessary at the moment.

The bandcamp page states that the album was recorded on a 4-track cassette tape using two mics, hense the nice raw, somewhat garage sound. Must warn you though - this here is to be enjoyed on your headphones! It opens up with a nice and very true-blue "Salesman" with nice vocal effects, airy guitars and bright drums, ending in nice Floydesque riffs. Your best rainy-day companion! The second track now goes on into this brilliant jammy vibe that gives off the heat it was recorded in. At points reminds me of the more desrtish/bluesy jams of Causa Sui, without the overly intense parts that weren't exactly my cup of tea. "Sludger" was a weird but on-spot sounding piece, yet I don't really get why it was there as a separate track... I guess to cut the last song in a way that you don't necessary need to go through the extra-long intro, which the track has anyway. But frankly I wasn't too big of a fan of that last one, "Swallowed by the sea". Yes, it does have great drumming on it, some nice riffs, but it just doesn't work with the kind of production guys went for.

Overall, I'd say the EP is successful. I really digg the groovy parts of it, which are the guys' strongest parts as usual. The production is pretty cool, and first 2 tracks I found right on! And you can get it for only $4 (or more), which is totally cool considering my bum-ass budget (and lately I've been stumbling on a lot of $10-15 albums, that weren't really worth it. Again, considering my bum-ass budget). So yeah, dig in, drop out and enjoy some bluesy jams from All Them Witches!



http://allthemwitches.bandcamp.com/
http://www.facebook.com/allthemwitches

Tangerine Stoned

Italy has its own weird relationship with music. Or is it me that has weird relationship with Italy? To be honest - the Italian bands that I find interesting can be counted on the fingers of one hand (feel free to correct me in the comments). Thankfully there's another band that made the list. Tangerine Stoned was formed in mid 2011 to bring us some tastes of 60's psychedelia. And you can hear The Doors, Frank Zappa, some Pink Floyd in there as soon as you turn their first and currently the only album on. So one thing you have to get over is - yes, it does sound a lot like the Doors. But the overall execution is quite nice, plus guys throw in some variety to it. I've found the "L'Urlo della Strega" track to be really laid back and quite original, and maybe the band should explore that direction. Oh and that ending keys solo on Dirty Ceiling is just something.

Overall I can say that they have a pretty cool psychedelic sound, musically it all sounds on spot. So guys are definitely good musicians. Definitely a something to check out on a sunny day. One thing they should do though, is try and find something more of their own, because frankly I can't stop thinking to myself: "Call me a damn ass-goblin if they don't sound too much like The Doors". That kind of keeps you from really enjoying the music and diving into it. Will have to return to them by their next release and see where they've taken it!

The band is getting ready to tour the Europe, so check 'em out, see if you'd go see them live:

http://moonlightrecords.bandcamp.com/album/tangerine-stoned-tangerine-stoned
https://www.facebook.com/TangerineStoned
http://www.last.fm/music/Tangerine+Stoned

Sasquatch

Time to return to some proper stoner / desert rock. And again we are in Los Angeles, CA, among palms and frying in the midday sun. So came into existence Sasquatch! The trio of Keith Gibbs (guitar/vox), Rick Ferrante (drums) and Jason Casanova (bass) (and 2001-2007 bass player Clayton Charles) bring you the bashing sounds of fuzzed out stoner rock in it's pure form, and those guitar tones that Mojave amps give out make you just trip out into the desert. The bands music had been featured in many movies, tv shows and games, such as Jersey Girl, Bam's Unholy Union, Supernatural, Viva la Bam, NHL 2005 and American Chopper. With every album the quality of their sound progresses and takes on new levels of fuzz and mass. So far it's been 3 albums and although not all of their songs bare the power, they all bare the atmosphere of that classic dirty bar rock n' roll.

A great listen, so check it out now:

http://store.sasquatchrock.us/album/iii
https://www.facebook.com/sasquatchrocks
http://www.last.fm/music/Sasquatch
https://myspace.com/sasquatchrocks
http://grooveshark.com/playlist/Sasquatch/83389484

Charts and Maps

Another gem I wanted to share with you today is Charts and Maps. Formed in Los Angeles and sadly broken up band has a distinctive and pretty unique psychedelic jazz-rock sound. Combined with elements of math and post rock influences it creates a very interesting listening experience, taking you to the streets of a big city, somewhat taking you back to the jazz times. The bright tones and sax layers make it all very stylish. This band was claimed to be one of the most interesting live experiences of the LA underground scene. And it is best represented in their only full-length album - "Dead Horse" (2011). Makes me think I'd give things to witness them on stage.

Little is known of their actual history, mostly just other projects they've played. Such Heard of Elephants, The Nocturnes, Random Patterns and Woolen. Sadly non of these bands didn't get me to experience that feeling Charts and Maps do. Random Patterns sometimes get close and is overall a nice listen non the less.

Here are some of the favorite songs and some links:

http://chartsandmaps.bandcamp.com/
http://www.last.fm/music/Charts+and+Maps
https://myspace.com/chartsandmaps

Sweet Smoke

Hey guys! Yeah, it's been a while, I know... Had to take care of some things (like my head for instance). The times of this band were also quite a while ago. So let us go on a trip to the end of the 60's and the beginning of the 70's, times of changes and rise of psychedelic rock scene, when it really started shaping into something powerful. The band I'm talking about today is Sweet Smoke. Some of you might know the band, me - I just stumbled upon this gem few months ago. If you are looking for some nice and chilled out tunes, with flutes, acoustic guitars, violins, sax, cellos and piano interludes - well this is the thing you are looking for. This is some classic psych nicely mixed with jazz. Perfect relaxation music!

Sweet Smoke was born in mid 60's in Brooklyn, NY. After playing an audition gig in a bar, they were offered to play in the Caribbean. Guys took the offer, quit the schools and went on. What followed was months of extensive playing every night for hours and hours, and so the band solidified in a sense. Their sound acquired shape... Soon after, they've decided that going back to Brooklyn wasn't an option, and after some debates they've moved to Germany to live as a commune. There they record and release their first effort called "Just a Poke" (1970). Filled with soothing melodies and the feels of summer, sun, lying around on the grass, by a river and embracing life as it is... Truly a hippie sound.
During later years the band had taken a pause from making music, and most of the members took off on a road trip to India, where they've stayed for a year, in Ashram, learning meditation and chanting. It had greatly impacted their next album, released in 1973. "Darkness to Light" was the last actual album (except for the live record, released later on). More instruments have been incorporated and the band grew by 2 more members.

Band members are alive to this day, and sometimes gather for some laughs and jams. Taste the sound of freedom for your selves:

http://sweetsmokeband.com
https://www.facebook.com/sweetsmoke
http://www.last.fm/music/Sweet+Smoke
http://www.youtube.com/artist/sweet-smoke?feature=watch_video_title