DIVIDE & DISSOLVE - Insatiable

This for once is a little review which I actually expected to drop much later. Because even though the new album of Divide and Dissolve - who at this point are pretty much Takiaya Reed with alternating drummers - is already out there since April, my plan was to buy it directly from the merch table in October.

Unfortunately their Hamburg date clashes with another tour, which I heavy-heartedly had to proritize over this body-shaking Sludge guitar devastation/meditation, so I ordered "Insatiable" earlier - and here we are!

DIVIDE & DISSOLVE - Insatiable (green vinyl LP) (2025)

To noone's surprise the album of course confirms that the choice not to experience this sound live onboard the MS Stubnitz again (like two years ago) wasn't an easy one.

It's safe to say that Takiaya Reed, the black half African-, half Native American woman, who lives in Australia, plays Jazz saxophone as well as ridiculously crushing Doom Metal guitar and has also just written her first symphony for BBC, has been defying more expectations by breakfast than most people do in weeks.

However Divide and Dissolve is not a completely unpredictable project, but one which combines a pretty specific concept, which always leaves enough room for little surprises by default. In that spirit "Insatiable" once again fulfills the promise coming with the band's name while still sounding fresh.

There are basically two kinds of Divide and Dissolve tracks:

One often starts "with atmospheric textures, made out of looped soprano saxophone and/or keyboards. Those then suddenly get crushed by droning Doom or dirty Noise Rocks riffs, while the loop still is around somewhere far in the background. The guitar tone is devastatingly crunchy, the interaction with the drums enormously heavy, but also quite loose in a chaotic, very primal way, which in its core is much more emotionally expressive than it even is Metal. And at some point, without a really concluding resolution... it just ends somehow. Sometimes that happens with, sometimes without the resurfacing of the initial loop." And I just stole this whole paragraph from my own review of the last album "Systemic".

The other compositions, which make up almost half of the album's tracklist are interludes, which focus on the keys or saxophone - or even bring in experimentations with Reed's voice, which normally is only active at shows during her long-ass announcements; she's probably one of the most talkative instrumental musicians I've ever seen.

The common factor, the golden thread running through all ten tracks, is that nothing is done in a way, which even when viewed through a niche Doom/Noise or Avantgarde lens, feels like a well-trodden conventional path. No, a Divide and Dissolve album doesn't sound like a Metal band compiling their latest bangers, but much more like a (mostly) instrumental story, a soundtrack, which seemingly rather driven by intuition and the invisible story's momentarily demands than songwriting, flows from scene to scene without even caring for its music-theoretical categorization.

So what's the takeway? Basically everything remains the same, but different - as always. And as long as there's no herd of copycats to be seen approaching from anywhere, that is definitely a good thing.

Atmospheric, eery, immersive, agitative and heavy as a bite of dark matter hidden in your cereals - Divide and Dissolve remain unsatiable.

WV Sorcery with DOPE PURPLE, KAWAGUCHI MASAMI / MIKE VEST / DAVE SNEDDON and SENYAWA

Is it time to praise one of my favorite underground labels (and one of only two with their own section in my record collection) again?

Duh, It's always time for that!

SENYAWA - Membaladakan Keselamatan (Ballads for the Survivors) (Rainforest Ether vinyl LP) (2021/2025)

2021, the same year in which the Javanese Experimental Folk/Drone duo released their masterpiece "Alkisah" (still one of my very favorite albums of that year), also saw a seemingly smaller work from Senyawa. Only released digitally "Membaladakan Keselamatan (Ballads for the Survivors)" featured unplugged live session versions, showcasing that even performed on acoustic guitar instead of Wukir Suryadi's usual self-built electric noise devices their songs are just incredibly strong.
In this context Rully Shabara probably only shines even more as one of the most unique, versatile, expressing, just outstanding vocalists imaginable.

Now WV Sorcerer Productions has finally not only made this gem available in a physical format, but also added four previously unreleased tracks. So now we get a total of sixteen amazing tracks presented with all the love you'd expect from the label with great atmospheric photographs, OBI strip, a lyrics sheet and - if you're lucky enough to get one - in a beautiful blue-greenish vinyl colour.

No, this work really doesn't miss anything. Perfectly wholesome magic from another world.
    

KAWAGUCHI MASAMI / MIKE VEST / DAVE SNEDDON - To Be True, Then The Loop Will Run Forever (Phantom Flame vinyl LP) (2025)

But now let's turn on the amps - for some loud crunchy Noise Rock!

Beyond that there's not really much to say about "To Be True, Then The Loop Will Run Forever", which features three figures from the British and Japanese underground scene just spontanously rocking it out - dirty, distorted, trippy and ecstatic.

The name which pulled me in was Doom/Drone/Heavy Psych master Mike Vest, who plays a lively pumping and always very song-serving bass here.
Drummer Dave Sneddon has cooperated with him on multiple occasions before, so even though they are improvising the rhythm section is sticking together very safely.
Judging from the long and winding album title one could expect Keiji Haino to be a part of this trio, but front and center of the group Kawaguchi Masami has at least worked with the Experimental Noise legend in the past - and it shows that there are some similarities.

So there you have it: Raw Psychedelic Garage Rock with Japanese (I guess) vocals that not only pushes forward, but at times also shows some remarkable depth. Yeah, this half of an hour passes very quickly.

The LP is a joint release by WV Sorcerer and Echodelick Records.

DOPE PURPLE - Children In The Darkness (Purple Galaxy vinyl LP) (2025)

Last but not least, presented by WV Sorcerer and Riot Season Records, we have a new album by the Taiwanese band that's so much better than their cheekily derivated name might suggest. Recorded during a midnight live session the five Psych freaks of Dope Purple, including Mong Tong member Hung Jiun Chi teamed up with two guest musicians (Darren Moore on percussions and voice, Yong Yandsen on tenor sax) to create three splendid epic, loud and trippy Psych excesses.

"New Psyche & Beyond The Body" really milks its steadily growing crescendo, building a wall of crunching bass, noisy shredding and screeching saxophone on a repetitive guitar idea that gets wilder and wilder, always adding yet another level of escalation every time you think they've reached the maximum of batshit crazy. Beware: These guys want to burst your speakers!

The B side of this purple-coloured record begins comparatively laid back with "Night Flying 夜間飛行". Clean guitar and cosmic synths set the mood before the saxophone passionately screams into the relaxed mood, signaling that once again Dope Purple will masterfully build this up to a delicious full Acid Mothers Temple Kraut inferno.

The album ends with the title track. "Children in the Darkness 被遺忘的孩子" is hands down one of my favorite tunes of the year so far - and the main reason I featured this record among my Midyear TOP 15. That beautifully yearning guitar chord progression just goes to all the right heartfelt places, while the other sounds swirl around it so gently like magical winds and butterflies.

Of course Dope Purple cannot help themselves and ultimately shovel a good amount of noisy guitar over this dream. However its aching beauty persists until the end.

And just to end this review by throwing in the odd unexpected reference, the vibe actually reminds me of both "Pleasuredome" and "Sunday Mood" from Austrian Death Metal innovators Disharmonic Orchestra. Yeah seriously, look those up, if you doubt me!

IVAN THE TOLERABLE TRIO - An Orphaned Form

Der Sommer drückt. Du bist müde In der Bude mit Südfenster ist es viel zu heiß. Was tun mit Rest des Nachmittags? - Eine gute Idee ist in diesem Fall immer, sich Musik auf den Plattenteller zu legen, welche die gegebenen Umstände zu einem faszinierend unwirklichen Fiebertraum erhöht.

IVAN THE TOLERABLE TRIO - An Orphaned Form (Purple Blob Goes Interstellar vinyl LP) (2025)

Exzessiver Vielveröffenticher Oli Heffernan aka Ivan The Tolerable (zuletzt hier rezensiert im April mit "Proust, Quartering") hat auch den perfekten Soundtrack dazu parat!

Zusammen mit seinen Trio-Partnern Mees Siderius an Drums und Vibraphon und Elsa van der Linden an Flöten und Saxophon hat der Multiinstrumentalist (Bass, Gitarre, Synthies, feldaufnahmen und mehr) auf "An Orphan Form" zwei großartig entrückende, jeweils schallplattenseitenlange Klangkollagen geschaffen, die unberechenbar zwischen spirituellem Free Jazz, lebhaft wabernder Elektronik und abstrahierten kosmischen Psychedelic Rock-Ideen hin- und her morphen.

Organisch. Formlos. Fesselnd und befreiend. Selbst für ivansche Verhältnisse ist die schiere Masse unterschiedlicher Klangschichten, die sich zu einem halluzinogenen, im positiv neugierigen Sinne verwirrenden Wachtraum vermengen, bemerkenswert. Betont psychedelischer - jedoch ohne dabei corny zu wirken - kann Musik im Grunde kaum sein.

Tja, die Auswahl, welche Ivan The Tolerable-Werke meine größten Lieblinge sind, wird mit diesem Streich auf jeden Fall nicht leichter. Am besten halte ich es so wie mit Miles Davis oder John Coltrane, bei denen für mich im Grunde immer das jeweils zuletzt gekaufte Album (egal aus welcher Phase) mein Favorit ist.

Mit Coverkunst im Stil des goldenen Jazzzeitalters und der Spezialvinyldreifaltigkeit aus Splatter, Blob und Transparenz macht der von Riot Season Records veröffentlichte Tonträger opisch auch etwas her. Wunderbar!

CASPAR BRÖTZMANN MASSAKER - It's A Love Song

Ach ja, da war doch was! Nach über dreißig Jahren erscheint plötzlich neues vom Caspar Brötzmann Massaker! Sollte diese Veröffentlichung nicht eine viel größere Welle machen? - Hmm... eigentlich ja, aber vielleicht auch nicht.

CASPAR BRÖTZMANN MASSAKER - It's A Love Song (LP+CD) (2025)

Warum nicht? - Auch wenn Exile On Mainstream Records dieses Werk schön präsentiert, exklusiv als Kombi aus LP und CD - ist "It's A Love Song" kein wirkliches Album, sondern nur zwei verschiedene Liveaufnahmen eines neuen Stücks namens "All This Violence" plus ein Intro. Auch wenn es Alben gibt, die kürzer als fünfunddreißig Minuten sind, kann ich dies nur als EP, und somit als Appetizer für einen hoffentlich bald nachziehenden Longplayer empfinden. Und der sollte dann aber tatsächlich eine große Welle machen - auch wenn Brötzmann selbst in den Liner Notes erklärt, dass er nie gut darin gewesen ist, seine Musik zu verkaufen.

Was er laut Eigenaussage allerdings kann, das ist Gitarre zu spielen. Und lärmende, grummelnde, kratzende, jaulende und donnernde Gitarre gibt es hier reichlich zu hören. Sie macht trotz der Existenz eines Bassists und einer Drummerin im Grunde gefühlte neunzig Prozent des Songs aus.

Eine Feier des Gitarrenheldentums ist diese Platte allerdings nicht, eher eine Bastardisierung dieser Idee. Nein, dies ist eher von fester Form befreiter Noise Rock. mit einer Prise Geist - und deutschem Akzent in der kurzen Stimmpassage (von Gesang zu reden, wäre etwas übertrieben) - der Einstürzenden Neubauten und der Drone- und Sludge-Ästhetik von Sunn O))) und Sumac, mit denen Brötzmann ja auch schon als Bassist zusammengespielt hat, wie ich 2019 auf dem Roadburn Festival bewundern durfte.

Vielleicht ist dies auch die maximal in verzerrtem Gitarrenkrach aufgelöste Idee von Free Jazz. Wenn man hier versucht, eine konkrete Kategorie anzuwenden, fühlt man sich angesichts des legendären Status' des Künstlers ja ohnehin ein bisschen wie die Wildsau, die sich an der Eiche reibt.
Auf jeden Fall steckt eine Menge treffsicherer Intuition in dieser Musik, die nicht den billigen Weg geht, einfach zu wiederholen, was Werke wie "Black Axis" oder "Der Abend der Schwarzen Folklore" so groß gemacht hat.

Nein, so essentiell wie diese Alben oder der Rest der Massaker-Albumdiskographie kann "It's A Love Song" dann auch nicht sein. Das Potential, sich im Nachhinein als Herold neuer Großtaten zu entpuppen, ist aber zweifelsohne gegeben.

KOENJIHYAKKEI - Live At Club Goodman / KOENJIHYAKKEI - Angherr Shisspa (Revisited)

Ok, dann wollen wir mal sehen, dass ein weiter "no review yet"-Hinweis aus der Liste meiner bisherigen Top 15 Alben des Jahres verschwindet!

KOENJIHYAKKEI - Live At Club Goodman (2CD) (2025)

Dass das japanische Zeuhl-Sextett Koenji Hyakkei ein absolut unfassbares Liveerlebnis bietet, bei dem sich der offene Mund nicht zwischen Grinsen und Staunen entscheiden kann, hatte ich ja bereits Ende Mai beschrieben, als ich das Glück hatte, diesem Spektakel an Bord der MS Stubnitz beizuwohnen.

"Live At Club Goodman" ist nun der (auf der im Vergleich zur Vinylversion etwas umfangreicheren Doppel-CD) in vierzehn Stücken beinahe zwei Stunden lange Beweis, dass der irrwitzig virtuose, stark von Magma inspirierte Mix aus Prog Rock, Jazz Fusion, Klassik, Oper, Punkgeist und traditionellen japanischen Einflüssen und Hirnfick auch dann funktioniert, wenn gar kein Publikum anwesend ist.

Ja, es ist natürlich ein Corona-Release. Aufgenommen im leeren Club im August 2020 während eines Livestreams, zeigt dieses Doppelalbum die Band in kosmisch großartiger Form - die Instrumentalisten und Sängerin AH bringen allesamt mehr als was man sich vorher überhaupt als Maximum hätte vorstellen können - und könnte dazu kaum besser produziert sein. Ich sage mal so: Nicht einmal eine Minute dieser Performance war ja nötig, um mich zu überzeugen, das Ticket fürs Konzert im Mai zu ordern.

Von daher kann das Fazit nur sein, dass "Live At Club Goodman" einfach ein perfekter Einstieg in das mit herkömmlichen Verstandsmitteln kaum erfassbare Schaffen dieser in verschiedenen Formen seit 1991 tätigen Band um Drummer und Mastermind Tatsuya Yoshida ist. 

KOENJIHYAKKEI - Angherr Shisspa (transparent gold vinyl LP) (2005/2025)

Der naheliegendste nächste Schritt in der Erkundung der Diskographie lag für mich in jenem wegweisenden Album, welches viele Kritiker anscheinend als das wichtigste von Koenji Hyakkei erachten. Und u.a. wegen Artworkanpassungen um den Zusatz "Revisited" erweitert, ist dieses Jahr passenderweise eine Wiederveröffentlichung zum zwanzigjährigen Jubiläum von "Angerr Shisspa" erschienen.

Mit OBI-Streifen und gepresst auf durchsichtig orangem (oder goldenem, wenn man so will) Vinyl gepresst, macht diese Reissue optisch auf jeden Fall schonmal etwas her.

Wenig überraschend, da es ja einige inhaltliche Überschneidungen mit dem Livealbum gibt, würde diese kreative Dauerfeuer aus Rockinstrumenten, Keyboards, Bläsern und komplett verrücktem Gesang von mir in einer Punktebewertung anstandslos 10 von 10 bekommen - und ich wäre mir nicht einmal sicher, ob dies ausreicht.
Denn selbst wenn man das Schaffen der übermächtig unantastbaren Magma selbst mit einschließ, wird dieses Album seinem Ruf als einer der besten Zeuhl-Aufnahmen aller Zeiten mühelos gerecht.

Progressive Musik bietet kaum mehr Platz für Eskalation als Koenji Hyakkei hier zelebrieren. Kompletter Wahnsinn in Perfektion.

NEPTUNIAN MAXIMALISM - Le Sacre Du Soleil Invaincu

No, I didn't find much time for release reviews in a while. You only need to go back as far as my Midyear TOP 15, where it say "no review yet" several times, to guess that there's a long line of albums, EPs etc. still waiting for my words of wisdom.

And one of the most monstrous among those (well, until now of course) undoubtly is this three LP live album by Neptunian Maximalism:

NEPTUNIAN MAXIMALISM - Le Sacre Du Soleil Invaincu (3LP) (2025)

In a way I already reviewed this work of the Belgian collective, since I witnessed their Roadburn performance of "Le Sacre Du Soleil Invaincu" in 2024 and later declared it my second favorite festival show of the year.

This album documents the live debut of the same composition in St. John’s on Bethnal Green Church in London in 2023. Structured after the model of three Indian Ragas, of which I honestly completely lack the theoretical knowledge to expand further on, "Le Sacre" fully embraces the dark Drone side of the group, the subcontinental sounds and atmospheres and above all the turtle-like patience to explore every aspect without any haste, from the saz-infused Doom Metal, which more than ever before renders homage to Bong, to prolonged Ambient Indian meditations to Heavy Psychedelic and even Dissonant Black Metal outbursts.

Neptunian Maximalism live at Roadburn 2024

While this of course already is a lot to take in, it's a very different beast than Neptunian Maximalism's other three LP album "Éons" from 2020, where a lot of the overwhelming nature came from the permanent exposure to manifold influences between Drone, Doom, Psych, but also Post Rock, Noise and Jazz.

"Le Sacre Du Soleil Invaincu" in comparison feels less cosmically chaotic, more stylistically restrained... or let's better say focused, because otherwise this choice might be misunderstood as a weakness, which it definitely isn't.

Everything takes its time, the primeval vocals appear relatively seldom but to great effect. No instrument, no idea, no texture remains underutilized, all elements unfold their most vibrant and immersive qualities. The fusion of heaviest Rock setup, Electronic sounds and tradional string and wind instruments under the umbrella of Indian Classical music could hardly be better balanced.

So even though I'm very reluctant to rank the band's all-around maximalist grandiosity - the more I dive into it this performance and album, the more I guess it might actually be their greatest achievement to date!  

Presented in a hard box with all records in separate sleeves graced by excerpts of a wide Tomiyuki Kenako painting reminiscent of "Éons" and an LP-sized booklet, the physical item makes a good shelf neighbour to the vinyl edition of "Éons" as well as the  "Live at Roadburn" box of aforementioned Bong.
And just like that triple album this release absolutely has the potential to achieve the status of a holy grail in Drone Doom (and beyond) for me.

The only thing which annoys me a little - apart from the obvious sheer inconvenience of fitting any album of almost hundred minutes length into my day -, is that the band (or I, Voidhanger Records) could have made it significantly easier to recognize which side you're about to put on the turntable. There surely would have been ways to put in a capital letter on each label without ruining the beautiful artwork.

JOÃO PAIS FILIPE - Teocalli

Wow, in the far back of my head I actually thought I already had an album featuring Portuguese experimental drummer João Pais Filipe in my digital collection. But that was just me confusing him with some fellow countrymen. Probably because that album also had some long tracks and a pretty phenomenal drum sound.But well, let's get to the record at hand, shall we?

JOÃO PAIS FILIPE - Teocalli (LP) (2025)

"Teocalli" was developed as a sountrack to an experimental film and consists of just one ongoing track of forty minutes length. It begins with very headphone-friendly produced hypnotic drums and percussion. And goes on like that. And goes on. Until you don't believe that anything else will ever happen on this album.
And that's ok, because this sounds glorious. I could shelve this between Klaus Weiss' Niagara and The Art Blakey Percussion Ensemble and very much enjoy it as it is.

But then different things do happen! First, after a quarter of the total playing time, while still keeping the Afro-Beat pulse bright bells or tubes (?) are added to sound palette, before they even take the full unshared spotlight. Especially in this part the stereo bouncing of it all is just wonderfully satisfying.

After a whooshing surge Noise the piece returns to pure percussion rite. There are some further pronounced changes of direction during the piece's second half, but it's needless to recount all of them here. IT doesn't make it easier to properly describe the effect of this record anyway. It's a very experimental, but also somehow very direct and easy to instinctively understand album.

It makes me wonder how this must have looked as a live performance. How much was actually played, how much was maybe sampled and manipulated? I really cannot tell. All I know is that this feels psychedelic, vital and visceral, a beautiful zen-like trance on the blurred yet heightened edge of perception.

To underline it once again: This sounds just so enormously satisfying and wholesome. The presentation of the record with a large-size booklet of stills doesn't hurt either. A wonderful release beyond the need of strict categorisation. 

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PURPLE TRAP - The Stone

If you know you know, I guess.

PURPLE TRAP - The Stone (LP) (2023/2025)

I at least knew the label Karlrecords. I also knew Japanese Noise improvisation legend Keiji Haino. And of course i also knew bass player Bill Laswell, who I recently reviewed several times with the return of his trio with John Zorn and Mick Harris, PainKiller.

Rashied Ali, who had played drums with Jazz greats like Sonny Rollins, Pharoah Sanders and both Alice and John Coltrane only seemed familiar via name recognition to me, and if he had already been present somewhere in my music collection, I'm not actively aware of that.

However this was still enough to imagine how this live recording of their trio Purple Trap from December 2005, which Bill Laswell first released digitally for his Bandcamp channel subscribers in 2023, would roughly sound like: Intricate Free Jazz, brute Noise, a masterful balance of chaos which finds and dissolves structure - and musicality too seasoned to bother with seeking validation.

Ali as one of the originators stays closest to the traditional image of Free Jazz, while Laswell fluidly moves between smooth stabilizing lines and more experimental or sick distorted sounds.
Haino, who also delivers some manic vocals, is all over the place between surprisingly sweet and listenable and - much more frequent - parallel dimension rock star mannerism and other delightful Avantgarde dada.

Or in other words: legends at work. It's good. Friends of Free Noise Jazz can't do wrong with this record.

If you purchase the vinyl release don't throw away your download code, because one of the seven tracks is only available digitally!

SARKH - Heretical Bastard

Fünf Jahre nach ihrem Debüt "Kaskade" bringen uns Worst Bassist Records und Echodelick partnerschaftlich in wenigen Stunden (VÖ:7.7.) endlich den zweiten Longplayer der deutschen psychedelischen Post Rock/Metal-Instrumentalisten Sarkh.

Das ist an sich eine uneingeschränkt super Sache - und dennoch wird es allmählich etwas schwierig, dieses Trio zu rezensieren. 

SARKH - Heretical Bastard (LP) (2025)

Liegt's an Rocky? Nein, Rocky ist ein guter Junge! Glaube ich zumindest. Ob es nun erheblich verkaufsfördernd sein mag, dass das Artwork von "Heretical Bastard" von Strandschnappschüssen des vierbeinigen Freundes des Gitarristen geziert wird, sei mal dahingestellt. Das kann ich als Kläffern eher skeptisch gegenüberstehender Katzenmensch ohnehin nicht beurteilen.
Und ob Doggo es gut findet, mit dem Albumtitel in Verbindung gebracht zu werden? Puh, keine Ahnung. Ich bin ja schon froh, dass das Design kein Comic Sans enthält.

Aber ganz egal wie lange ich auch brauche, um mich festzulegen, ob ich das Cover nun brilliant oder bekloppt finde; es ist auf jeden Fall schon irgendwie mutig in seiner auf ästhetische Gewohnheiten scheißenden Unorthodoxie.

Nein, tatsächlich komisch ist für mich als Schreiber natürlich, dass ich Teile dieses Albums schon mehrfach besprochen habe. Vier der sechs Stücke erschienen nämlich bereits auf der "Helios EP", und zwei dann nochmals als Teil der Vierer-Split-Compilation "International Space Station Vol 2".

Das ändert aber natürlich nichts daran, dass Sarkhs u.a. von Russian Circles und Motorpsycho geprägter Sound hier in ziemlich brillianten Kompositionen gepflegt wird, die mich auch nach wie vor nicht langweilen. Und so mag für alte und neue Fans schon ausreichen, "Helios", "Kanawaga", "Zyklon" und "Cape Wrath" nun endlich allesamt auf Vinyl gepresst besitzen zu können.

Ergänzt werden sie durch zwei im Dezember 2024 live (nur mit wenigen Gitarrenoverdubs) aufgenomme Tracks, das erhaben schwebende und krachende "Glazial" und das zwischen himmlischer, weediger und schwarzmetallischer Stimmung alternierende "Autumn To June", die dem Rest des Materials keinen Millimeter nachstehen.

Nein, ganz gleich ob sie eher wie eine Gruppe aus dem Stall von Pelagic, Heavy Psych Sounds oder El Paraiso Records klingen - Sarkh zelebrieren dieses Ding immer geschmackvoll, ohne sich in unnötigen Spielereien zu verlieren, auf höchstem Niveau.

Für Freunde des gepflegten atmosphärischen catchy heavy Riffs gibt es hier eigentlich nur ein Kommando:

Apport!

Gut gemacht! Whoooo's a good boy? Yes, you're the goodest booyyy!

Fuzzti-Haul feat. CAUSA SUI, DAEVAR, FUCKWOLF, GREEN MILK FROM THE PLANET ORANGE, SKYJOGGERS and WYATT E.

It's summer and I'm slow, falling behind with my to-review list again. But then it's also summer and page impressions are slow, too.

But anyway, I have to warm up again at some point, so instead of a proper insightful music review here's my "look what I've got!" from two weeks ago at Esbjerg Fuzztival in Denmark:

CAUSA SUI - In Flux (random colour ecomix vinyl 10" 2LP) (2025)

Ha, busted! You got me! I didn't even buy this in the merch room. In fact for some reason Causa Sui weren't able to bring stuff to sell there. So no, I already had their latest studio album before.

"In Flux" doesn't lay out a radically new path for the instrumental quartet, but pretty much continues right where  last year's "From The Source" or the latest live release "Loppen 2024" left off. There's no twenty+ minutes multi-part Psych Prog epic on here (well, "Astral Shores" at least cracks the sixteen-minute mark), but all in all it's the same perfectly balanced mix of fuzz and wah-wah heavy Stoner Rock, Latin Fusion ease and cool Americana, which - performed by these players - at this point has become such a signature sound, that you could almost talk about Causa Sui by the numbers.

Of course that sounds unnecessarily disparaging. But you know that these numbers are super creative and high, right? So yeah, no doubt that "In Flux" is awesome. Presenting the album in agatefold cover as a double 10" record is the icing on the cake. The vinyl comes in random colours and I got green and teal tones which fit the artwork quite well. Beautiful!

elparaisorecords · Boogie Lord's Revenge

SKYJOGGERS - 12021: Post-Electric Apocalypse (CD) (2025)

I already lamented starting my merch spree a couple of minutes too late, so I missed the last vinyl copy, which Skyjoggers brought with them on their sixty-day tour. But hey, music's the same on the CD! So here comes a sweet thirty-six minutes injection of heavy, crunchy, fast and fuzzilicious Space Rock for fans of Karkara (who had sadly cancelled their Esbjerg show), Slift, "Nonagon" era King Gizzard and their likes.

While the studio recording in all its raw explosiveness cannot even convey the full extend of the Finnish trio's on-stage energy, "12021: Post-Electric Apocalypse" undeniably is a veritable Kraut banger. Hop onto the rumbling Psych'n'Roll express train now!

GREEN MILK FROM THE PLANET ORANGE / FUCKWOLF - Let's Split (裂けても) (LP) (2025)

Let's continue with the last vinyl copy which I could score: It's a colourful Psych Rock split featuring two bands from Tokyo and San Francisco.

Green Milk From The Planet Orange (the band which actually played in Esbjerg) occupies the first half of this LP with a nineteen minutes long live recording of just one track called "Concrete City Breakdown". Just like during the festival listening to this trio feels like a continuation of Skyjoggers, but even wilder, stylistically wider, more skilled and more emotional. And this is not a jab at the former at all; I saw their drummer watching his counterpart here laughing with a wide open mouth.
No, Green Milk are just an unbelievably crazy force Psych Punk Prog'n'Roll with that special spark that feels distincitively Japanese and must have something to do with something in the volcanic water over there. And this recording is a nice raw document of what a show of them feels like.

Fuckwolf spread their creativity over more tracks, presenting six song between two and a half and slightly below seven minutes length. And each one of those shows a different side, from atmospheric analog synth moods to punkish noisy Kraut explosions, from desert hike soundtrack to journeys towards the event horizon and beautiful dreams of love and peace under the burning Frisco sun. Neat.

GREEN MILK FROM THE PLANET ORANGE - Tragedy Overground (CD) (2025)

The highlight of Green Milk From The Planet Orange's show was a new, over twenty-two minutes long Prog piece, and this is the single / EP, which contains it.
After a slow pinkfloydish start "Tragedy Overground" escalates through multiple wild crescendos of burning Prog Punk, Noise Rock (and even small bits with a jazzy vibes, which you might miss as you're hurrying along with this) before finally returing to the opening theme and - of course reprising all the madness that happened before once again in a wild synopsis. It's brilliant, for sure one of my my favorite tracks of 2025 so far!

WYATT E. - Mount Sinai / Aswan (3 colours striped vinyl LP) (2015/2025)

The Belgians for sure brought a lot of merch, including new pressings of some older albums which were missing in my collection. And who can say no to coloured vinyl releases by Heavy Psych Sounds?
I know, normally I prefer my coloured vinyl to have some connection to the artwork, but come on, this pink/yellow/blue thing was just too tempting!

Musically the two instrumental longtracks "Mount Sinai" and "Aswan" already point to the direction the Psychedelic Doom trio would go later, yet they don't add as many electronic, vocal and percussive elements beyond the realm of hypnotic Drone and Doom Metal yet.

On the B side however a certain Near Eastern groove, bass pedal synths and bongos already come into play. And even though Wyatt E. later evolved beyond the sound we're hearing here, it doesn't diminish this earlier work in any way. The aesthetics were already set, this is just the first chapter in a (so far) front to back captivating discography.

Great album and reissue!

WYATT E. - Exile To Beyn Neharot (transparent black and orange splatter LP) (2017/2025)

Well, aren't they economic? Two years after "Mount Sinai / Aswan" Wyatt E. followed it up with another album of two epic tracks, which just reused the same cover, just horizontally flipped. As if the drawing on the inlet wouldn't have been a dope alternative. I guess there was some conceptual meaning behind this decision, making these two sister releases. The new splatter vinyl reissie definitely is nice to look at as well.

The deep Drone, the mystical sounds and Oriental elements, the Krautrock vibes and cosmic Berlin electronics, the undeniable Dead Can Dead influence, they have all entered the temple and are here to stay now. The drum performance gets more advanced, as well as the production of it all. Noone is singing yet, but this is just the step you'd retroactively expect between the debut and "Āl Bēlūti Dārû" in 2022. A flawlessy beautiful hypnotic Doom ceremony.

DAEVAR - Sub Rosa (CD) (2025)

Last but not least - following the Fuzztival running order - here's the latest album from the German trio Daevar. Call it Shoegrunge or call it Dream Doom! Whatever. Dont call it female-fronted, because despite being technically correct that term is somehow dumb and icky. Listen to it and enjoy great songs with catchy melodies and rumbling Stoner riffs!

Yeah.