BlackWater HolyLight fuse alt-tuned gloom, heavy psych, gothic drama on new track from upcoming RidingEasy Records debut

"Flat out it’s one of the best heavy psych debut albums you’ll hear in 2018." -- The Obelisk

Portland, OR quartet BlackWater HolyLight share a new track from their forthcoming self-titled debut album today via The Obelisk. Hear and share "Wave of Conscience" HERE. (Direct YouTube.) 

The album's first single, "Sunrise" launched this winter, is available to hear and share via YouTube HERE. 

The notion of "heavy music" is continuing to expand of late, with many intrepid artists finding new ways to incorporate the power of traditional metal into new music, but without all of its trappings. Enter Portland, OR quartet BlackWater HolyLight to further swirl musical elements into a captivating hybrid of emotional intensity. Heavy psych riffs, gothic drama, folk-rock vibes, garage-sludge and soaring melodies all collide into a satisfying whole with as much contrast as the band's name itself. 

"I wanted to experiment with my own version of what felt 'heavy' both sonically and emotionally," says founder and vocalist/bassist Allison (Sunny) Faris. "I also wanted a band in which vulnerability of any form could be celebrated." BlackWater HolyLight -- Faris, guitarist/vocalist Laura Hopkins, drummer Cat Hoch and synth player Sarah Mckenna -- formed upon the breakup of Faris' longtime band and she sought a fresh start. "In my last band I was the only female in a group of 6, so I wanted to see how my song writing and vulnerability could glow taking the drivers seat and working with women."

The band's self-titled debut begins with a simple, almost grunge-like riff as a chorus of voices introduce a melodic line in call-and-response until the band kicks in, slowly building into crescendo like a lost outtake from Led Zeppelin's Houses of the Holy. Elsewhere, "Sunrise" begins with a chorus-drenched post-punk groove until a sonic boom of heavily distorted guitar skree erupts out of nowhere. Nearly as suddenly, the song returns to its lulling core, subtly building the tension until it ruptures completely in a blast of noise. Likewise, "Carry Her" establishes a dark, sparse melody and distinctly thin sounding drums not far removed from early work of The Cure. However, BlackWater HolyLight's penchant for surprise attack finds a sudden shift into a doom-like dirge, colored with eerie synth notes and pounding shards of fuzz. Throughout the album, their songs shirk traditional verse-chorus-verse structure in favor of fluid, serpentine compositions that move with commanding grace. The band expertly, yet subconsciously, incorporates hints of Chelsea Wolfe, Celebration, Captain Beefheart, The Raincoats, The Stooges, Pink Floyd, Jane's Addiction and more to form their unique brand of dark'n'heavy transcendence.

BlackWater HolyLight was recorded by Cameron Spies at Gold Brick Studios and The Greenhouse, and with Eric Crespo at Touch Tourcher Recording in Portland. The album will be available on LP, CD and download April 6th, 2018 via RidingEasy Records. Preorders are available for LP & CD at www.ridingeasyrecs.com and digital at blackwaterholylight.bandcamp.com.

BLACKWATER HOLYLIGHT LIVE:

03/21 Boise, ID @ Treefort Music Festival

04/12 Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios 

Artist: BlackWater HolyLight Album: BlackWater HolyLight Label: RidingEasy Records Release Date: April 6th, 2018 01. Willow 02. Wave of Conscience 03. Babies 04. Paranoia 05. Sunrise 06. Slow Hole 07. Carry Her 08. Jizz Witch On The Web: ridingeasyrecs.com instagram.com/blackwaterholylight

Spiny Normen's unreleased 1978 outsider psych-rock album streaming in full ahead of release via Brooklyn Vegan

"A dark masterpiece." -- Paste Magazine

"A delightfully demented piece of work mixing hard rock, progressive rock, and twisted psychedelia into a darkly entertaining whole. Brilliantly maniacal." -- Classic Rock 

Spiny Normen are streaming their forthcoming posthumous album -- 40 years in the making -- in its entirety starting today via Brooklyn Vegan. Hear and share Spiny Normen HERE. (Direct YouTube and Bandcamp.)

Classic Rock Magazine recently shared "Bell Park Loon" HERE. And, Paste Magazine featured album opener "Arrowhead" HERE.

Spiny Normen is an incredible mid-70's Houston hard rock, progressive, psychedelic rock band (yes, all that and more) that featured mellotron, vox jaguar, crunchy, heavy guitars, flute with echo effects, and lots more. A totally lost relic this album is, recorded at the community college and never released. This band has a very English, dark, mysterious and proggy but very acid drenched feeling to it. 

Vocalist/guitarist Steve Brudniak dishes on the band's founding and this exceptional recording:

Circa 1976, Gerry and I would skip class, smoke whatever scrap of contraband we could scrape together and meet in the high school auditorium where there was a piano and bang out crunchy rhythms.... At home I shoved a mic into the family upright piano and overdrove a cheap recorder and home made echo-plex to get an impressive cacophony. Gerry was playing guitar, listening to Alice Cooper, hair down to his back and about the only Mexican American in a white bread school. He was cool! So when he said one day, "Hey man we should jam some time!" I was stoked. We did, man it was fun! I was soon on the lookout for a keyboard to become legit with. I found the already ancient Vox Jaguar in the Houston paper that had belonged to Fever Tree, one of the original psychedelic bands of the late 60s. I didn't know how famous they were at the time but I bought it for $160 and a Kustom blue sparkle vinyl amp with a speaker that I blew out just right, that made the most beautiful distortion, accompanied by a beloved phase shifter. 

We began torturing our parents in various suburban garages and bedrooms after adding Norman Davis on drums and Steve Koch on bass. Back then it was a Black Sabbath sounding, blues based crunch. Songs like "Carry Your Water" and "Space Age Flyer" were early comps. 

We made a 4-track recording in a local studio around then that our drummer didn't show up to the session for. All of us being Monty Python fans, and the Norman-no-show gave us the name Spiny Normen (with an E) which two more bands have since taken. 

Over the next three years we began to experiment, waaaay off into the beaten path, spending months penning intense, bizarre, surreal and mind affecting pieces influenced by King Crimson, Pink Floyd, film soundtracks, Vandergraaf Generator, and the like along with some bad bad acid trips on my part. I was collecting keyboards ...a melotron (hell yes!) a single key play moog. Gerry was adding echoes, early guitar synth and tons of pedals. I learned the flute. New bass player Bruce Salmon and a try at another vocalist Bob Riley and various drummers, my favorite being Robert Winters, were in and out. In we went with a hired stand up bass player and a little Gerry Diaz engineering knowledge to the Alvin community college 8-track recording studio and just played like psychedelic Mozarts. Timpani, live effects, sound effect records, backward echo, violin bow on guitar and plenty of echo. Gerry and I on vocals now. What came out was still, to this day, in my humble opinion, some very complex, untouched territory, holy-what-the-? stuff. We were all about 19. 

It didn't last long and we were way behind and way ahead of our time. I'm so ffffn thrilled though at 54 to see what this world of open-ended listeners will think of Spiny Normen now. The 19 year old Steve is getting his dream fulfilled. Gerry and I still experiment here and again with guitar and theremin in an effort called Psylobison. Just as touched, but its not going to give you such bad dreams.

Spiny Normen will be available on LP, CD and download on March 2nd, 2018 via RidingEasy Records. Pre-orders are available at RidingEasyRecs.com.

Artist: Spiny Normen Album: Spiny Normen Label: RidingEasy Records Release Date: February 23, 2018 01. Arrowhead 02. Wrecko Wild Man Ride 03. Carry Your Water 04. The Monkeyweasel 05. To Meet the Mad Hatter 06. The Bell Park Loon 07. In The Darkness of Night 08. The Sound of Younger Times On The Web: ridingeasyrecs.com

Ralph White (Bad Livers) & Steve Marsh (Terminal Mind, Evil Triplet) share warped Americana track from forthcoming album

"Their musical friendship seems to shine through in their folk stylings, with guitars counteracting, then swinging back into balance. ." -- Austin Town Hall Austin musicians Ralph White (Bad Livers) and Steve Marsh (Terminal Mind, Evil Triplet) share a track from their forthcoming full length collaboration Two Distinguished Gentlemen today via Austin Town Hall. Hear and share "Ledge" HERE. (Direct Soundcloud.) A slice of New Weird America, Two Distinguished Gentlemen, rooted in folk & blues, steeped in psychedelia (including an entrancing take on King Crimson's "I Talk To The Wind"), is the electroacoustic melding of two of Austin's long-time idiosyncratic musicians, Ralph White and Steve Marsh. 21st-century troubadours, Ralph and Steve cycle through heartbreak, loss, protest and spiritual renewal. Ralph White - voice, fiddle, fretless banjo, fretless guitar, kalimbas, accordion Steve Marsh - voice, electric 2x4, electronics, treatments, theremin, foot stomps Two Distinguished Gentlemen will be available on cassette, CD and download on February 23rd, 2018 via Self Sabotage Records, a division of Super Secret Records. Pre-orders are available HERE.

Artist: Ralph White & Steve Marsh Album: Two Distinguished Gentlemen Label: Self Sabotage Records Release Date: February 23, 2017 01. Gun Barrel Polka 02. Zen Dog 03. Spin Cycle 04. Ledge 05. Snakebird Messenger 06. I Talk To The Wind 07. Bouldin Oaks Blues 08. Little Birdy 09. Over The Ledge On The Web: selfsabotagerecords.bigcartel.com

Death Wheelers share 'bikespoitation' themed "I Tread On Your Grave" from upcoming RidingEasy debut album

Canadian heavy rock instrumentalists The Death Wheelers share the title track to their forthcoming full length debut I Tread On Your Grave today via CvltNation. Hear and share "I Tread On Your Grave" HERE. (Direct Bandcamp HERE.)

Heavily inspired by the aesthetics and ethos of bikesploitation movies such as The Wild Angels, Werewolves on Wheels and Psychomania, The Death Wheelers seek to glorify this unsung era of movie making through their sordid sounds. Taking musical cues from rock's greats such as Davie Allan, The Cramps, Motörhead, The Stooges and Grand Funk Railroad, the Death Wheelers perpetrate the tradition of heaviness by making zero compromises when it comes to laying down the groove. Through their bare bone, stripped down, jammy approach of their very own brand of sleaze n' roll, this instrumental Canadian quartet pushes the listeners to their deepest, filthiest carnal/sexual desires. 

I Tread On Your Grave is more than just an album -- it's devised to serve like the soundtrack to a wild B-movie in your mind, following this truly awesome plot synopsis:

Decimated in 1972 by local authorities, all members of The Death Wheelers, a notorious motorcycle club, have been buried at the Surrey cemetery. But the time has come and they have risen for their last ride. They're back from the grave and they're hungry for blood! Nothing can stop this gang of living dead from recruiting new members as they travel coast to coast to find the filthiest, nastiest, trashiest individuals to join their ranks. Their goal, assemble a legion of 13 "discycles" (disciples+cycles) to seek revenge on the pigs that dismantled the club and send them to their graves. The cycle of violence continues...

Yes, please! Their debut LP, a sonic desecration dedicated to the dead, is an ode to the earlier days of rock 'n' roll when lust and danger were an integral part of the scene and culture. This violent offering of pure aural aggression, recorded full band with no bells and whistles or studio trickery, is a testament to what The Death Wheelers stand for: rawness and power. 

I Tread On Your Grave will be available on LP, CD and download on May 11th via RidingEasy Records. Pre-orders are available at RidingEasyRecs.com.

Artist: The Death Wheelers Album: I Tread On Your Grave Label: RidingEasy Records Release Date: May 11th, 2018 01. I Tread On Your Grave 02. 13 Discycles 03. Roadkill 04. Sleazy Rider Returns 05. Deaf Wheelers 06. Black Crack 07. Moto Vampiro 08. Purple Wings 09. Backstabber 10. RIP (Last Rie) 11. Moby Dick 1 On The Web: ridingeasyrecs.com facebook.com/thedeathwheelersband

TAL NATIONAL album out today, U.S. tour starts 2/22. African psych-polyrhthmic Afropop band on FatCat Records

"Searing, soaring guitar lines, vocals that alternate between mournful and celebratory, and rhythms that elevate the soul... Tal National reminds us that there's something deeper to its music than any genre slot or critical assignment could hope to capture." -- PopMatters "This release has the same charge as the early entries of Ali Hassan Kuban or Konono No. 1, both who set the bar for raw energy. It's an aggressive blend of prog - precise, raw guitar leads and over-the-top waves of polyrhythms just daring you to sit still." 9/10 -- Exclaim! Niamey, Niger band Tal National release their third album for FatCat Records, Tantabara today. Hear and share Tantabara via Spotify, Bandcamp and YouTube.  Tal National kick off U.S. tour dates February 22nd. Please see dates below.  Watch & share "Akokas" official VIDEO YouTube.  Tal National is a band built on bringing people together. Their home country of Niger is split into a wide variety of cultures and ethnicities -- Songhai, Fulani, Hausa, and Tuareg voices all vie for attention under their national banner, and all are represented in the vast membership of Tal National's ranks. This gives the band's music its own particular mash of ethnomusical touchstones, from the bounce of kora, highlife and afrobeat, to the dusting of Tuareg Blues and the roiling boil of Hausa percussion -- they are truly their country's best cultural emissaries.  Gearing up for their third album for FatCat, Tal National look back on a fertile period spent honing their sound and touring the US several times -- leaving audiences sweaty and stunned time after time. They've laid down incredible sets at WOMAD and Roskilde, bringing the same intensity and jubilance to the festival set as they would a crammed club, converting the staunchest wallflower into a dancer for the night.  At their core, that's Tal National's intent, to make the people dance. Performances at their Niamey nightclub (yes, they operate their own nightclub) are regularly raucous 5-hour non-stop dance parties for 300 people a night. With Tantabara the band continues their ongoing quest to translate that energy to tape, bottling the party for personal use.  In 2013 the band's FatCat debut was released to wide critical acclaim: The NY Times placed it on their year end Top Ten and other publications followed suit -- The Guardian, The Independent, Mojo, Vice, The Wire, and others all sang exuberant praises. NPR, KEXP and WBEZ hosted frenetic live sessions. Two years on, their follow-up only cemented their status, adding shouts from Pitchfork, Afropop Worldwide, FADER, The Quietus and The Boston Globe to the fray. Though with each heaping of praise they all seemed to echo NPR's assessment that "there's no way you won't dance to this one!" Tantabara is the latest installment of Tal National's attempt to make a global audience dance.  The album was recorded in their hometown of Niamey, Niger, again with Chicago engineer Jamie Carter at the controls. The band have always carved a huge sound out of limited resources, which means using a remote recording rig in a dusty makeshift studio and working with minimal recording equipment and musical instruments on the verge of disrepair. This all adds to the band's communal spirit, though, and opening their home up as a studio means that everybody gets to be involved in the process. Over the 8 tracks on Tantabara, there are 8 different vocalists -- 7 of whom are full time members of the band.   They are a self-described "rock band," though their vision of rock may push well past what the West fences in around that term, and guitarist Almeida finds as much inspiration in trance as he does in rock's embrace. The grooves are the backbone of the album, and the intent is to create a trance-state that overwhelms conscious thought and lets the listener be surrounded by the energy and emotion of Tal National.  Brimming with the band's complex, intense spirit, the album is a continuation of the balance of tradition and innovation that have driven their previous albums. It's a joyous celebration and euphoric epiphany all in one complex package. We'd expect nothing less at this point from Tal National.  Tantabara is available on LP, CD and download on February 9th, 2018 via FatCat Records. Orders are available HERE.  TAL NATIONAL TOUR: 02/22 Marlboro, NY @ The Falcon 02/23 Brooklyn, NY @ Littlefield 02/24 Boston, MA @ House of Blues 02/25 Portland, ME @ Space Gallery 02/27 New Haven, CT @ Cafe Nine 03/03 Rockland, ME @ The Strand Theatre 03/17 Baltimore, MD @ Creative Alliance 03/18 Charleston, WV @ Mountain Stage 03/23 Knoxville, TN @ Big Ears Festival 03/24 Atlanta, GA @ Smith's Olde Bar

Artist: Tal National Album: Tantabara Label: FatCat Records Release Date: February 9th, 2018 01. Tantabara 02. Belles Reines 03. Entente 04. Duniya 05. Akokas 06. Pama 07. Trankil 08. Aminiata On The Web: talnational.com fat-cat.co.uk/press/artist/tal-national  facebook.com/TalNational

MARRIAGE + CANCER stream forthcoming debut early, "like 'In Utero' Nirvana meets Drive Like Jehu and Jesus Lizard'

"A perfect example of the Portland, OR quartet’s compelling merging of In Utero-era Nirvana’s raw emotional intensity with Drive Like Jehu and Jesus Lizard’s musical prowess and melodic contortions." -- New Noise Magazine

"An absolute beast of a noise-rock sound... A furious pummel of post-hardcore. It's gnarly, brawny stuff and it kicks some serious ass." -- Treble 

Portland, OR quartet Marriage + Cancer are streaming their forthcoming full length debut ahead of release today via Echoes & Dust. Hear the full album HERE. (Direct Soundcloud.)

Treble launched album opener "Command + Comply" HERE. New Noise Magazine hosted the gut wrenching "Honor, On Our Knees" HERE. And, CvltNation previously shared the first track, "God is Tan" HERE. 

Marriage + Cancer are a quickly rising noisy melodic band from Portland, OR. Their heavy, driving, chaotic sound has captivated audiences in the Pacific Northwest, grabbing the attention of Austin label Self Sabotage, who jumped to release the band's full length debut. The album was recorded LIVE at vocalist/guitarist Robert Comitz's Stop/Start Studio, engineered by Billy Anderson (Sleep, Melvins, Neurosis) and mixed by Brent Asbury (Pinback). 

Marriage + Cancer sounds off from the jagged recesses of domestic landscape, their self-titled debut letting out a bellicose & harrowing howl into today's political & social voids. Rising from the ashes of K Records band Nucular Aminals, vocalist/guitarist Robert Comitz reformed the band under its new moniker, shedding the former's organ grinding & jaunty goth riffs for a heavier approach ranging from the thumping bass of album opener "Command + Comply" to the early-Sonic Youth-esque riffing of "Gound" to the rhythmic expanse of "View From A Cross." 

The band is comprised of Comitz (who also plays guitar is Ssold [w/ members of Get Hustle, Rabbits]), guitarist Jay Mechling, bassist Christian Carmine (also currently in Marmits, previously in Fist Fite) and drummer Chase Hall (also of The Swan Thief). 

Marriage + Cancer will be available on LP and download on February 9th, 2018 via Self Sabotage Records, a division of Super Secret Records. Pre-orders are available HERE. 

MARRIAGE + CANCER LIVE:

02/10/18 Portland, OR @ Tonic Lounge - album release party

Artist: Marriage + Cancer

Album: Marriage + Cancer

Label: Self Sabotage Records

Release Date: February 9, 2017

01. Command + Comply

02. God is Tan

03. Honor, On Our Knees

04. Headache

05. Six Feet + a Box

06. Flora + Fauna

07. Gound

08. Thirteen Stairs

09. View From a Cross

On The Web:

facebook.com/marriageandcancer

marriageandcancer.bandcamp.com

selfsabotagerecords.bigcartel.com

Watch video for Sean Morales (James Arthur's Manhunt) solo debut w/ heavy friends via Post-Trash

"A wild 8-song collection that's all over the map musically: power pop, proto-punk, garbled Krautrock, indie rock, Fat Possum blues, and more." -- Big Takeover

"Morales doesn’t stand still or stagnate in one genre, which gives Call It In an added charm. While others have attempted it only to suffer from a critic(al) identity crisis, here, it’s just charming." -- Ghettoblaster

Austin songwriter Sean Morales premieres the video for the title track off of his solo debut Call It In today via Post-Trash. Watch and share HERE. (Direct YouTube.) Morales, who also plays in James Arthur's Manhunt, enlisted the help of several local scene luminaries to complete the project, a frenetic 8-song album that explores a variety of styles. Hear & share the album in full via Soundcloud. Sean Morales is a family man from Austin by way Norfolk, VA. He began writing the songs for Call it In while living alone in Houston, then started shaping the songs with wife and drummer, Erica Barton (also of Super Secret artists Faceless Werewolves), after moving back to Austin. Sean then reached out to Jonathan Horne, a brilliant Jazz-bent guitarist known for his work with Young Mothers, Ichi Ni San Shi, and Knest and other heavy friends from the Austin rock'n'roll underground like Orville Neely from OBN IIIs, Bryan Schmitz from the Golden Boys, and James Arthur from the band Sean regularly plays bass in, the blistering psych damaged James Arthur's Manhunt, to bring whatever they had on them at the time; be it laughter, Clubtails, or scorching guitar. The recording was expertly helmed by Stuart Sikes who's recorded cornerstone works by The White Stripes, Cat Power, and Loretta Lynn. Call It In is an occasion to celebrate the ease of life. It's an inviting debut that calls you over for a sundown evening of bourbon on the porch and unfolds into unexpected conversational turns. There is an alien familiarity in this record that resembles a solo night drive through blabber and smoke to arrive at a familiar room to find that Alex Chilton, Wreckless Eric, and the members of Amon Duul are already in the house, waiting for Junior Kimbrough to play. It's something that could have conceivably happened at some point, but it's still a dream. Sean made his first record with more mission than vision, by that we mean that this record is a comfort to those of us who think about records almost as friends we like to catch up with. Call It In will tell you the lowdown and take you to some unexpected places. Call It In is available on LP, CD and download as of January 12th, 2018 via Super Secret Records. Physical orders are available HERE.

Artist: Sean Morales Album: Call It In Label: Super Secret Records Release Date: January 12, 2018 01. Video Life 02. Call It In 03. Bring Me Home 04. Whispertime 05. Problems 06. Slummertime 07. We've Been Apart 08. Party 1 On The Web: facebook.com/singharpy supersecretrecords.com/bands/sean-morales

MARRIAGE + CANCER premiere new track from forthcoming debut, "like 'In Utero' Nirvana meets Drive Like Jehu and Jesus Lizard"

"A perfect example of the Portland, OR quartet’s compelling merging of In Utero-era Nirvana’s raw emotional intensity with Drive Like Jehu and Jesus Lizard’s musical prowess and melodic contortions." -- New Noise Magazine

Portland, OR quartet Marriage + Cancer premiere a new track from their forthcoming full length debut today via New Noise Magazine. Hear and share the gut wrenching "Honor, On Our Knees" HERE. (Direct Soundcloud). 

CvltNation recently launched the first track, "God is Tan" HERE. (Direct Soundcloud)

Marriage + Cancer are a quickly rising noisy melodic band from Portland, OR. Their heavy, driving, chaotic sound has captivated audiences in the Pacific Northwest, grabbing the attention of Austin label Self Sabotage, who jumped to release the band's full length debut. The album was recorded LIVE at vocalist/guitarist Robert Comitz's Stop/Start Studio, engineered by Billy Anderson (Sleep, Melvins, Neurosis) and mixed by Brent Asbury (Pinback). 

Marriage + Cancer sounds off from the jagged recesses of domestic landscape, their self-titled debut letting out a bellicose & harrowing howl into today's political & social voids. Rising from the ashes of K Records band Nucular Aminals, vocalist/guitarist Robert Comitz reformed the band under its new moniker, shedding the former's organ grinding & jaunty goth riffs for a heavier approach ranging from the thumping bass of album opener "Command + Comply" to the early-Sonic Youth-esque riffing of "Gound" to the rhythmic expanse of "View From A Cross." 

The band is comprised of Comitz (who also plays guitar is Ssold [w/ members of Get Hustle, Rabbits]), guitarist Jay Mechling, bassist Christian Carmine (also currently in Marmits, previously in Fist Fite) and drummer Chase Hall (also of The Swan Thief). 

Marriage + Cancer will be available on LP and download on February 9th, 2018 via Self Sabotage Records, a division of Super Secret Records. Pre-orders are available HERE. 

MARRIAGE + CANCER LIVE:

02/10/18 Portland, OR @ Tonic Lounge - album release party

Artist: Marriage + Cancer

Album: Marriage + Cancer

Label: Self Sabotage Records

Release Date: February 9, 2017

01. Command + Comply

02. God is Tan

03. Honor, On Our Knees

04. Headache

05. Six Feet + a Box

06. Flora + Fauna

07. Gound

08. Thirteen Stairs

09. View From a Cross

On The Web:

facebook.com/marriageandcancer

marriageandcancer.bandcamp.com

selfsabotagerecords.bigcartel.com