My monthly article, “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door”, published in Burst Magazine.
Issue 19, July 2014 features Rory Gallagher, pg. 12-14.
See full issue here: http://afternoiz.com/burst/item/7211-july-2014
Tag: Helen Marie Joyce
Josh Homme article and QOTSA ‘…Like Clockwork’ album review
Rockwave Festival Day 4
On a typical Tuesday evening in early July, with temperatures reaching a scorching 34 degrees celcius and after a full day’s work, I could think of nothing better to do than to make my way to TerraVibe, pumped up for listening to some quality music. An irritating fact of this year’s Rockwave festival (apart from it’s overall incongruous choice of acts) was that half of it was held on weekdays, and I regretfully was unable to be at the grounds for the start of day 4. Mahakala, Tardive Dyskinesia, Acid Death, Opera Chaotique, Chaostar, I’m sure you all did a good job despite the lack of people and the undying sun.
The mesmerizing Dead Can Dance were on my ‘Unmissable Acts’ list; even if they were playing in a cave or on the top of a cliff somewhere, I would not hesitate to attend. Actually, the setting of a (fenced!) cliff top with a view of the vast sea at sunset would be an excellent choice for a venue; perhaps I should put a suggestion in for future consideration.
Septic Flesh, whom I had seen once before, are one of the few Greek bands that have achieved world acclaim in their field, Symphonic Death Metal, so paying my respects to them for that.
Monophonics, the groovers, the funkers, the soul shakers, I was psyched to see, I had not had the chance to see them on their last visit to Athens nine months ago, and boy did they funk our world.
Craig Walker, ex member of Archive, I admit I was entirely indifferent to begin with, so his act had the best chance out of making a good impression from a clean slate. Let’s see how that went.
The Tale of Santa
Once upon a time, in a land of ice and snow and reindeer, two twin boys were born to a broken mother and a caring father. Their mother was a sad figure, depressed, and full of sorrow; she neglected her children, feeling nothing but pity for them and disgust for herself. The death of her baby daughter a few months before the twins were born had cost her her soul. She would listen to them cry, bawling out in hunger, and she would turn a blind eye, looking out the window at the frozen, white landscape. Her condition became worse as the days went by, with nothing her husband could do to help reverse the sickly process of her mourning. He could only contribute by offering an alleviating substance, an amnesiac that made her forget her woe by stewing rare violet mushrooms he found in the forest surrounding their cottage. Yet in the winters, there were none to collect and the husband felt helpless to watch his wife on her bad days. Little consolation did he find in caring for the boys.
SPIRITUAL BEGGARS @ Kyttaro, 11.10.13 with Full House Brew Crew, Six for Nine, Drunk Motherfuckers.
Arriving at the venue, regrettably later than scheduled due to horrendous traffic, Drunk Motherfuckers were already laying out some of their usual quality stoner riffs. The sound blasting out of the amps was overwhelming, a combination of playing at Kyttaro that is a shoe-in venue, and the perks of opening for a band with nearly 20 years of music on their resume. Drunk motherfuckers played some of the old, with the usual excitement even more so than the time I last saw them. They also played some new stuff, closing their set strictly after 35 minutes of down tempo’ed hard stoner rock, with riffs that were free and unhinged keeping the crowd on their toes as the tone changed to sludge in some cases, hints of Sabbath and then back to their signature Drunk n ‘Roll desert ramblings. These guys are good to listen to, drunk or sober. Continue reading SPIRITUAL BEGGARS @ Kyttaro, 11.10.13 with Full House Brew Crew, Six for Nine, Drunk Motherfuckers.
Mahakala, Black Hat Bones, Forsaken Memoriam, Burn the Sun @ Six D.o.g.s, 29/06/13, Athens, Greece
On Saturday G.U.M (Greek Underground Music) presented the first of (what we assume to be) more fests, consisting of four bands that roughly played between 40-50 minutes each. Two, I knew already: Mahalaka have been high profiling my musical preferences for some time now, and having released their new concept album two months ago, I could not resist paying close attention to the occult thematology which I find mischievously engaging. Black Hat Bones I had seen once before, receiving their promo four track teaser (from their upcoming album) in late 2011. The album is still under construction two and a half years later. The other two bands Burn the Sun and Forsaken Memoriam were new additions to my Greek band database. Continue reading Mahakala, Black Hat Bones, Forsaken Memoriam, Burn the Sun @ Six D.o.g.s, 29/06/13, Athens, Greece
ORANGE GOBLIN, Stonebringer live @ AN Club, 14/11/13, Athens, Greece
This would be the second time I was going to see the Orange Goblin psych-up the AN Club stage; I remember their last appearance at that same small venue just over a year ago and it was literally ground-breaking, so this is what I expected to experience again. They are monoliths in Stoner Metal and have been active since 1995, and one of the first bands that introduced me to the Stoner scene. In my book, these Brits combine as much Doom as Stoner metal requires. The opening act was Stonebringer, a band whose journey I have followed over the past year and it is always a pleasure to see them play. Word on the street was that Orange Goblin did not want to share the crummy backstage restroom with the local opening act.
Continue reading ORANGE GOBLIN, Stonebringer live @ AN Club, 14/11/13, Athens, Greece
Gracias Mr. Garcia – BURST Magazine Issue 12, December 2013
Anyone who is into the Stoner rock tempo and riff style would inexcusably remiss in not knowing the name and voice of John Garcia. Pioneering vocals in a music genre he and his Kyuss band buddies developed, made Garcia a legend somewhere through the 90’s. His voice in forever linked to the Desert rock sound, and used by vocalists thought the years until this day s a vocal guide in order to re-enact the sense of a Desert rock scene, trying to make their own sound as close to the original vision as possible. Continue reading Gracias Mr. Garcia – BURST Magazine Issue 12, December 2013
Helen Marie Joyce 