Posts Tagged ‘Occult Rock’

Album of the day: Jess and the Ancient Ones – Astral Sabbat

Posted on Friday, February 8th, 2013

Lovingly pinched from Last Rites: There has been an incredible resurgence of occult rockers with female frontwomen… that pretty much goes without saying (and yet, there I go). The recently / allegedly departed Dutch outfit in The Devil’s Blood was an exemplary go-to over the last few years, and when I interviewed mainman SL a year ago, he revealed much.

One thing we discussed was the drive / purpose of like-minded souls, and he seemed dubious of certain entities. His short list included Blood Ceremony, Jex Thoth, and even Ghost. However, to be clear: he expressed a great deal of respect for the latter, but in all cases, he does not understand why any of those bands do what they do.

That very lingering sentiment — plus an unnamed colleague ripping on Jess and the Ancient Ones in some long lost Facebook feed, and the fact that I’d already been digging on awesome releases by Castle and Royal Thunder, with a promising Witch Mountain not far on the horizon — all generated apathy altogether. Plus, their first two tunes sounded similar to Christian Mistress, who’d just unleashed the powerful Possession barely three months prior. So basically, I was like… why bother? Even if one of the Demilich dudes plays rhythm.

Honestly, when you cycle back to the JATAO s/t debut, some memorability creeps out of every song, but it doesn’t stick on an ‘album’ level. Yeah, ‘Sulfur Giants’ holds its own (even at a twelve-minute length), and unexpected twists like the lowly Western American twangs of ‘Devil (in G minor)’ made for satisfying returns. But it was in places like ‘Come Crimson Death’ where they faltered, trying to portion out appetizers of retro doom across a buffet-size palette, and I’d excuse myself early.

So what does JATAO intend to prove with this EP? Well first, they are clearly pointing further back to the ‘60s this time; second, they want to illustrate their developing talents as composers. Each of the three songs highlights a unique aspect of the group’s identity, with wildly varying durations, including their shortest and longest to date.

Continue reading: Last Rites – Reviews: Jess and the Ancient Ones – Astral Sabbath

Tags: Album of the day, Astral Sabbat, Jess And The Ancient Ones, Last Rites, Matt Longo, Occult Rock, Svart records
Posted in 2013, Album of the Day, Roadburn Recommended | 1 Comment »

Jess and the Ancient Ones: Astral Sabbath Video Released

Posted on Monday, February 4th, 2013

‘Astral Sabbat’, the first ever official video from Finland’s occult rockers Jess and the Ancient Ones, can be seen below. Astral Sabbath, the new EP, will be released on February 22 via Svart Records. In related news, Jess and the Ancient Ones have been confirmed for Roadburn Festival 2013 on ...read more

Album of the day: Bloody Hammers – Bloody Hammers

Posted on Wednesday, January 30th, 2013

Lovingly pinched from Meatmeadmetal: We’ve covered / complained about certain sub-genres of metal swelling up to the point of gruesomeness and having to search extra hard to find the good bands because there are so effing many of them. We kind of said that last week when discussing grindcore and ...read more

Album of the day: Riti Occulti – Riti Occulti

Posted on Saturday, January 12th, 2013

Lovingly pinched from MetalasFuck: The dominant distorted bass is chunky, rich and filthy. The suffocating groove it drags behind it is infectious, conjuring images of darkened smoky rooms full of shuffling swaying bodies. A synthesizer lingers behind, developing a psychedelic edge to the blackened morass, leaving sparse space for the ...read more

Album of the day: Head Of The Demon – Head Of The Demon

Posted on Thursday, January 10th, 2013

Praise for Head of the Demon‘s Self-Titled from San Francisco’s aQuarius Records: Look out! Lurching, lumbering, mesmerically repetitive and rambling, doomed-out blackened metal comin’ at ya here, from Stockholm, Sweden, brought to us by a label that sure knows their hard-to-pigeonhole, psychedelic “occult rock” heaviness (The Ajna Offensive, who most ...read more

Castle: Quality Footage Posted Online

Posted on Wednesday, December 26th, 2012

Quality video footage of Castle‘s May 12 performance at Turbinenhalle  in Oberhausen, Germany can be seen below, courtesy of Heavy Metal Home TV. Signed to Ván Records, Castle have created quite a buzz with their energetic live shows and their extremely well-reviewed albums In Witch Order and Blacklands. The lineup ...read more

Year of the Goat: New Album Available For Streaming

Posted on Friday, December 7th, 2012

Listen to Year of the Goat‘s Angels’ Necropolis in its entirety, courtesy of Vpro 3voor12, Holland’s major media network. “After listening through it becomes clear that Year Of The Goat are band on a mission, they deliver their songs with perfect timing. If this is a sign of things to ...read more

Album of the day: Year of the Goat – Angels’ Necropolis

Posted on Wednesday, November 28th, 2012

Lovingly pinched from MetalMouth: Having released two heavily successful E.P’s, Year Of The Goat are here to raise hell, literally. This is a band who take the best of 70′s / 80′s rock…(Sabbath / Blue Oyster Cult), and shape it into something that is modern, something that is dark, something ...read more

Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats to Play Jus Oborn’s Curated Roadburn 2013 Event

Posted on Monday, October 1st, 2012

We are very psyched to announce that Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats will make their live debut in mainland Europe when they bring their far-out psychedelic sounds to Roadburn 2013 as part of Jus Oborn‘s The Electric Acid Orgy at the 013 venue in Tilburg, Holland on Friday, April 19th. ...read more

Atlanta’s Royal Thunder To Play Roadburn 2013

Posted on Monday, October 1st, 2012

We’re extremely pleased to welcome Atlanta heavy hitters Royal Thunder to Het Patronaat in Tilburg, Holland on Thursday, April 18. Following up on the critical acclaim their debut Relapse Records’ full-length, CVI received, Royal Thunder bring their uniquely heavy, enthralling, and enveloping rock to European shores for the first time. ...read more