Review...LA OTRACINA - 'The Aquarian Wind'

It would seem, that this Brooklyn collective, travelled across vast desert landscape - drank the waters of some mystical lake of enchantment and upon their return, released their latest offering, The Aquarian Wind, and, played at the mighty Roadburn Festival in Tilberg. Firmly establishing themselves in a modern age of 70’s inspired, cosmic, heavy psychedelia.

The album in its entirety, has a traveling kind of feel to it, with each track documenting the varied paths to which the journey may lend itself. Our trip begins with ‘Voyage To Heldonia’ opening with an erratic episode of drum rolls, as if signaling to take your mark.  Then the bass kicks in and the Voyage begins.  A warm bass guitar and gentle drum taps set the pace of the opening track, soon followed by the curious finger tips of guitarist Philippe Ortanez.  The track flows like water, exquisitely recorded with the soft ssssshhhhimmer of the cymbals existing beneath a current of saturating reverb, exposing subtle waves of feedback.

‘Lost In The Sunrise’ takes the listener along a different road, introducing vocals to the ensemble from drummer Adam Kriney.  Once again, the drums along with some sweet sunburnt fuzzy desert bass lines, effortlessly hold the track in place, confidently spiraling off at their own discretion.  There is a gentle sound of single guitar notes, ringing out with the occasional glimpse of a dusty chord. Permanently on the cusp of braking into the menacing chorus riff, followed shortly by shredding guitar tones cloaked in wah and lush 70s fuzz. After a second chorus the heavy improv jammin’ continues, and rightly so. It sounds fuckin’ sweet.

‘California Orange Sunshine’ bares a strange schizophrenic melancholy. This is a relatively short instrumental meandering that would well soundtrack a moment of ritual confusion within an old psychedelic occult horror film.Emerging from the bass and percussion intro of ‘Cornfield’ come swirling effect laden strikes of the guitar that flourish into a lead melody line, gradually bleeding into the free from and progressive vibes familiar to each member of the band. One of the many great aspects of La Otracina, is the moments of improvised jammin’ the unrehearsed freedom of this band is something that has become somewhat lost in todays musical realm in comparison to that of their predecessors.

’Forgotten To Be Free’ has a heavy proto-metal feel to it, similar to that of pentagram.  Dark bluesy guitar riffs and slow heavy drums accompanied by colossal bass rumblings and Mr Kriney bashing out some more high pitch vocals.  We began our trip with an astral wave of psychedelia, only to finish with a final tale of triumph, charged with awesome valve driven 70’s doom riffage.

La Otracina were formed by Adam Kriney in 2003 and has since evolved into a gargantuan psychedelic cosmonaught - evoking spaced out grooves and artistic improvisational tendencies on a platform of sun kissed 70’s desert prog. This band is not to be overlooked.

Words by Dan S.

La Otracina Bandcamp

Interview with...BONGRIPPER

Many many moons ago, I stumbled across a dismal and relatively dormant band myspace page with a depressing grey background and an image of a Mountain Goat as a profile picture, despite this gloomy simplicity, the bands name was Bongripper. I glanced over at the music player only to find an 80minute gem, 'The Great Barrier Reefer' (2005).  Since then I have maintained an interest in these four doom slingers from Chicago and had the pleasure of seeing them play at this years Roadburn Festival in Tilburg.
We got in contact with Bongripper to find out about their recent experiences, this is what they said.


BS - Did you expect Satan Worshipping Doom to get the response it got and how has it changed the life and progression of the band?
Nick - We had no real expectations during the almost two year writing process, but it did feel like a new direction for the band.  This was the first time we were intentionally writing for a 2LP and the first time releasing any material on vinyl.  We wanted to take the different styles and influences of earlier work, but in a more focused and punishing way.  The goal was to make a album that had 4 separate parts while still retaining the journey aspect of a cohesive full album.  I think this formula allowed more people the chance to get into the music now that we didn’t have the straight noise and drone sections like on previous albums.  It also allowed us to write shorter tracks for the “Sex Tape/Snuff Film” 7” and the upcoming tracks for the splits with UZALA and HATE.

BS - Has the success of the album made any difference to your gigging opportunities?
Dennis - Yes, and no. On one hand we got to play Roadburn this year, and we have played on some bigger shows that have come through the Chicago area. On the other hand we are still a unsigned band, with no label support or booking agent. So that can limit some of our gigging opportunities.

BS - We attended the mighty Roadburn festival this year and it was a fuckin’ life changer, how was it for you guys?
Dennis - Well, I can’t speak for everyone in the band, but it was probably the best musical experience of my life up to this point. Not only were the shows, and festival as a whole, amazing, but everyone involved with the festival were amazing. From Walter, Jurgen, Marisa, Steph, Boris, the bands, to the fans. Everyone involved made us feel right at home. It was truly an awesome experience.

BS - How did it feel when you were first asked to play? 
Dennis - I had to read the e-mail a couple of times. I was in a bit of shock. We had a feeling that we might be asked, but I wasn’t going to assume anything. I also remember feeling very proud. Like I said earlier we are an unsigned band, so we do almost everything from setting up shows, to selling/ shipping our own records. So for us to get that opportunity was a lot of hard work paying off.

BS - How did you find the European crowd in comparison to the response you get back home?
Dennis - Well, i think the biggest difference I noticed was that the European crowd seemed to be a bit calmer, and not in a bad way either. I remember walking onto the stage for the first set at roadburn, and when I looked out into the crowd, everyone seemed to be very relaxed, maybe it was the heat, and in the middle of hanging out with really good friends.

BS - Since 2005 you seem to achieved quite a lot, generating a more enthusiastic response with each release as well as some pinnacle moments on the road, what do you expect the future may hold for Bongripper?
Nick - It has been amazing that we have reached as many people as we have.  We do not send our albums for review to magazines or websites.  We put out records ourselves and we are lucky that people are passionate to spread the music to their friends.  As for future releases, we already have our music recorded and ready for the splits with HATE and UZALA so we are currently writing for the next 2LP.  It is hard to say how the music will compare to previous releases, but we are aiming to put together a devastating doom album that will empty your colon and your prick.  No one left dry.

There you have it, thanks again to Nick and Dennis from Bongripper for answering our questions. Here is a track from their latest release:

Words by Dan S.

Gig: LIMB / BLACK MOTH / THRONE

Come gather round children and witness the day of the holy Sabbat. We here at the Big Spaceship sect are very proud to present a juicy night of psychedelic doom-vibes.

LIMB
Make sure you have acquired the relevant talismans for this daemonic group of heathens, for you will need every kind of protection (especially ear) against the evil forces emanating from the sound of this band. It is Limb's first time out of their lairs into the northern promised land of Leeds and they surely must be preparing well to meet the demands of Leeds' ghastly gig goers.
Limb hail from London and play dirgey sludge ridden doom for fans of Weedeater, Acid King and Electric Wizard.
Download their demo for free here:
http://limbtheband.bandcamp.com/

BS Gig: ANTA / FCOLOSSUS / MHG / CLEFT

Traversing through the realms of the unknown, Big Spaceship uncovered something of a rare find. While meandering through Equine star sector I, an anomalous green moon appeared instantaneously. With the nature of its spontaneous appearance, the crew on the Big Spaceship were imediately urged to explore...this is what we found...

HAMMERS - 'Vardogr' (2012) : A Review

HAMMERS are a group of musicians hailing from Manchester with an original approach to creating brutal crust-laden hardcore. I wanted to include 'metal' in the synopsis, but as soon as I use the words hardcore and metal together my whole body cringes. It is crusty in that it projects gritty bass, low guttural voice and stampeding tempos.. all driven along in an adventurous early Dischord-era style where technical prowess and unpredictable structures aren't sneered upon.

The first track 'Casting Spells' oozes dark feedback(y) mess all over my ears, before spitting out a pristine sounding riff that instantly cuts through the layers of vicious feedback...From black metal to early Baroness in the flip of a switch. The titles of this album almost remind me of the chapter names of some prophetic book out of the middle ages; encouraging a bewildered sense of awe. A similar feeling most have experienced through attempting to read 'Dante's Inferno' when they were 17...intriguing nevertheless.

The kind of head-nodding (cause there are 'kinds') it gets out of me is a kind of blend between the focused jarring approach induced by math rock and the head-down-to-the-ground shake techniques regularly seen at your local thrash gig. Its easy to say Hammers envelop many styles in their music, it is hard to determine exactly how due to the fluency of it. A track that sticks out to me lasts a timely :23 secs named 'Endoteric'. Mainly because I have a great big mushy soft spot for grimy doom but secondly for that chord at the end of the riff; sounds like an orchestra of electric bass guitars all playing the same note in a massive expansive auditorium.

BS GIG 07/07/12: CANAYA // EL SCHLONG // BEARS KILLING BEARS // SEVEN HEADED COBRA

CANAYA

Leeds groove metallers Canaya return to the ship's helm for a night of pure, adrenaline fueled music. Steadily chipping away at the UK's metal scene, they have built a solid undercurrent of buzz with their self-produced EP 'Alignment of Dying Planets' including a melee of live shows, some of which are attainable online; check this feed out hosted by eccentric rockers HIMSELF in an undisclosed venue....
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/himselflive
The debut EP, 'Alignment Of Dying Planets' was released in 2010 to great reviews in Rocksound (8/10), Big Cheese (5/5) and received heavy rotation on Total Rock Radio.

'What the industry has it's sights on' - Metal Hammer

'Alignment Of Dying Planets' is twenty minutes of unremitting ferocity. It’s an aggressively potent EP, the kind of record that will have you smashing yourself across the temple with a hammer afterwards for relief.' - Szikora Press

'Combining a voice with the caustic power of Norma Jean with some seriously Mastodon-esque riffs, Canaya’s EP is a violent twenty-minute pole-axe to the temple.' - Heavy Blog Is Heavy

www.facebook.com/canayauk
www.myspace.com/canayauk
www.youtube.com/canayauk
www.twitter.com/canayauk
www.canaya.bandcamp.com

WOOLGATHER ART PRIZE with us, BIG SPACESHIP!

Hey folks, been a long time been a long time been a long lonely lonely lonely lonely lonely time, BUT we're back now so its fine.
We are lucky this year to be collaborating with the lovely lot at WOOLGATHER art collective for their opening and closing nights to their art prize competition/exhibition. In case you're wondering what the Woolgathering people are about, feel free to visit their site. In a nut shell, they are a creative, hard working bunch of absolute nutcases who graduated from Leeds Met 2 years ago and have been plugging away at their forever expanding collective of artists since then. I was there at the last years one and had an awesome time. If you start saying 'Oh, well I don't know much about art and I always feel undermined intellectually whenever I even mention the word art' ... don't fret, this is a 'for the people, by the people' affair in that YOU decide who wins and thus YOU make your own opinions about the work on show down there Plus, they'll be plenty of drinks, performances and music to sink your teeth into as well. All the more reason to head down!
So, what will we be doing? Well I'll tell you. This year, Big Spaceship will be booking the bands and supplying both evenings with lush and wonderful sounds that will massage your earholes to the peak of auditory ecstasy. So, if you want to come down to sample the visual delights and be surprised by the musical ones or vice versa... I urge you to come down to what used to be the LOFT in Leeds Town Centre near the Bus Station on Friday 11 May and Friday 1 June. For details of the venue and how to get there visit here. Oh and one more thing, it is FREE!

So, here is the list of musical acts over the two days: