JJ from The Obelisk

ROLLS THE RIVER to Release Debut Single "Love of Driving" Nov. 7 One might recognize Dan Kirwan from noisy New Jersey heavy rockers Pyre Fyre, and I’m pretty sure Victor Marinelli was in ’90s-era alt-rockers Half Hour to Go, but Rolls the River would seem to have l...

@jjkoczan.bsky.social at The Obelisk has the skinny on Rolls The River debut track "Love of Driving", out this Friday!

Krautrock? Check.
Psych? Check.
Name that river? 🕵️

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REVIEW & FULL ALBUM STREAM: Abanamat, 'Abominat' Heavy psych/prog rockers Abanamat release their second album, Abominat, on Oct. 17 through Interstellar Smoke Records. It is the Berlin four-piece’s follow-up to a well-received 2023 self-titled debut...

EXCLUSIVE PREMIERE! ABANAMAT's new album is streaming now, only on The Obelisk thanks to @jjkoczan.bsky.social

"Abominat" is out this Friday on Interstellar Smoke Records

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ABANAMAT Announce 'Abominat' Out Oct. 17 There was some Bandcampy underground buzz around Abanamat‘s 2023 self-titled debut (review here), and where traditionally that would give momentum to a band’s next release — two years isn’t that long,...

@jjkoczan.bsky.social at The Obelisk has the dirt on the new ABANAMAT album, out October 17 on Interstellar Smoke Records!

"...a progressive twist on heavy exploration...sinewy Earthless twisting"

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Wolvennest to Release Procession 2LP Oct. 17; "Décharné" Streaming | The Obelisk The new single from Wolvennest, who are no strangers either to subtlety or texture, sonically-speaking, doesn’t hit you all at once and doesn’t give away its linear build, but it’s kind of like flood ...

@jjkoczan.bsky.social shares the details on the upcoming release of Wolvennest...

Read the full article here:

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@consouling.bsky.social #musicpr #publicrelations #DisciplinePR

There's a cool blog feature on Ampwall, so I just posted a bunch of words about the song "Doom Folk Fury," which is streaming at the Obelisk now. So come follow Buzzard on Ampwall (link here) and follow the Obelisk (link in comments) @jjkoczan.bsky.social @ampwall.com ampwall.com/a/buzzarddoo...

NOVEMBER FIRE to Release New Single '2025' Sept. 19 When I lived in New England, the fires in November were from people burning leaves in metal drums in their back yards. It smelled nice and felt like something people where we were in Massachusetts had...

Thanks to @jjkoczan.bsky.social at The Obelisk for sharing the scoop on the new @november-fire.bsky.social two-songer!

"... swirling darksludge... Imagine you’re at a gig and somebody hands you this tape. Right on."

Nuff said. "2025" drops September 19th

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THE OBELISK QUESTIONNAIRE: Christopher Thomas Elliott of Buzzard The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short o...

Excited to share new music soon, but in the meantime here are some words of mine courtesy of the Obelisk Questionnaire and @jjkoczan.bsky.social theobelisk.net/obelisk/2025...

VIDEO PREMIERE: Doomsday Profit, "Sin Eater" North Carolinian sludge metallers Doomsday Profit will release their second, self-titled album on Sept. 19. That’s just under a month away, but as they premiere the video for “Sin Eater” below, they n...

"Doomsday Profit is less a vision of a better future than a glimpse of the cold realities under the microplastic’ed sheen of today."

Hugest thanks to @jjkoczan.bsky.social for a detailed & thoughtful album review, as well as a premiere of the video for "Sin Eater"!

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VIDEO: Buzzard, "Fever Breaks" “Mount Din” is the second new track from Massachusetts solo outfit Buzzard in as many months, and like “Fever Breaks” (posted here), it’s a heavied-up take on some of the ideas that songwriter/sole-de...

Thanks @jjkoczan.bsky.social for the thoughts on "Mount Din," a new song with lyric video, available on the Sixth Configuration from Santa Sangre. Eventually the song will be on streaming or vinyl bonus track or something. #metalsky #doommetal #lyricvideo #doommetalsky
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When public media disappears, so do the stories that bring us together.

With federal funding eliminated, millions may lose their last trusted source of news and connection.

If that matters to you, now’s the time to act. Donate: n.pr/458sOhq

Nacelle Unveils Waves 3 and 4 of Planned STAR TREK Action Figures, Including the Complete Original Series Crew and More! The Nacelle Company has announced their next two waves of STAR TREK action figures — including the full Original Series crew, Captain Proton, Ben Sisko, "Sub Rosa" Crusher, and more!

In a different timeline, I have preorders in on all of these.

The thing about Ozzy dying is that it's a tragedy and he had such an amazing life and his work impacted so many people and Donald Trump is in the Epstein files.

R.I.P. Ozzy Osbourne, 1948-2025 The Godfather of Heavy Metal, Ozzy Osbourne, has passed away at the age of 76. His family confirmed his death in a statement on the BBC: “It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we hav...

Mourning the loss of metal's greatest frontman.

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TAR PIT to Release 'Scrying the Angel Gate' Aug. 1 The three-and-a-half-minute “Coven Vespers” is the first single to come from Tar Pit‘s new album, Scrying the Angel Gate, and I thought it was going to be streaming yesterday but can’t find it. Noneth...

@jjkoczan.bsky.social at The Obelisk has the scoop on the new Tar Pit album and its devilish doom set to arrive Aug 1st on Transylvanian Recordings!

The first single & music video "Coven Vespers" lands this Thursday. Invoke the rites and ready the sacrifices

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VIDEO: Buzzard, "Fever Breaks" With lines like “From the cells of Louisiana to El Salvador/Gilded techno robber barons screw the working poor,” and, “You angry fools in Magastan get the future you deserve,” the question becomes whe...

Thanks @jjkoczan.bsky.social for the reflections and insights regarding Buzzard generally and specifically "Fever Breaks," which is available exclusively here for purchase to benefit Palestinians: songsofresistance.bandcamp.com/album/songs-...

#metalsky #protestsongs

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PSALM Premiere 'In Darkness... Have Mercy' EP in Full; Out Tomorrow Upstart doom rockers Psalm present their second EP, In Darkness… Have Mercy, tomorrow, July 15. Based in Las Vegas (and maybe also California?), the three-piece of bassist/vocalist Jon “Fro” Torres, g...

RELEASE DAY! Psalm's new EP "In Darkness... Have Mercy" is out now and streaming everywhere. Dig it and be doomed:

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“better to bite the hand than lick the boot,” said Frog “Boots are not a good lunch,” Toad agreed. “I will never be that hungry.”

Summer 2025 Quarterly Review Archives - The Obelisk

I did a Quarterly Review this week, which is this silly thing where I take 50 releases and break it down to writing about 10 per day, Monday to Friday, so it all gets covered. If you check any of it out, I hope you find something you like. Thanks.

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SUMMER 2025 QUARTERLY REVIEW: Day 3 Day three marks the halfway point of this Quarterly Review, unless I decide to sneak in an extra day next Monday. We’ll see on that, but things are moving pretty well so far, so I might just be conten...

Bifter's "First Impressions of Hell" featured on @jjkoczan.bsky.social's The Obelisk's Summer Quarterly Review!

"...a torrential, ferocious offering that hits you on multiple levels before you even realize what’s happened"

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IN THIS HOUSE OF MOURNING to Release 'Enlevement' Aug. 8 Wrought in desolation and extremity of purpose, In This House of Mourning‘s Enlèvement will be released on Aug. 8. The band — who stylize their name all-lowercase, because when the music is so dark do...

in this house of mourning featured on The Obelisk, where @jjkoczan.bsky.social will be hosting an exclusive premiere of the album's first single "Scent" this Friday!

The new album "Enlèvement" drops Aug 8, a punishing vision of extreme metal, death doom, and more

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SOLACE Mark 25 Years of 'Further' w/ New Remaster Aug. 22 is the release date here, but we’re talking about a record that came out 25 years ago, so I’m not sure how precise we need to be. Further (discussed here), counterintuitive to its title, was t...

We've been coming to the same party for 25 years and in most ways is that depressing. Not in this way though.

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VIDEO PREMIERE: Nyte Vypr, "Necrotic Prayer" Welcome to the weirdest shit you’ll likely see/hear today. Nyte Vypr is the Los Angeles-based avant techno solo-project of Collyn McCoy, also known for his work in Circle of Sighs, playing bass in Uni...

'I’m saying now is a time to get weirder, not quieter. This should help'.
Big thank you to JJ Koczan and The Obelisk for the video premiere of 'Necrotic Prayer' by Nyte Vypr, who released their monolithic album 'Plutonic' on Owlripper last month.
@jjkoczan.bsky.social
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ALBUM REVIEW: Black Helium, 'The Animals Are Coming' I’ve yet to hear a Black Helium release that didn’t make me think the psychedelic revolution wasn’t right around the corner. From 2018’s Primitive Fuck (review here) right on through to The Animals Ar...

Here's me doing that thing where I like a record and I'm like hey I like this record maybe you should too blah blah blah. If you listen to the album, I hope you dig it.

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Thanks to @goodboypr.bsky.social and @jjkoczan.bsky.social for this fine recommendation. Great work of Hexecutioner! The mix of the smashing drums, the grooving bass, these awesome guitar riffs and tone is: boooom! 🚀 and the vocals make me shiver slightly and enchants me! Fav track: Rogue.

HEXECUTIONER Premiere 'Tornit' LP in Full; Out Tomorrow Tomorrow, May 30, Seattle’s Hexecutioner self-release their second album, Tornit. And from the first takeoff after the initial sample at the beginning of “Skookum” — a quick “Did you hear that?” — the...

EXCLUSIVE PREMIERE! Hexecutioner's new album Tornit is streaming now at The Obelisk ahead of its release, get your hands on some filthy riffs and dig @jjkoczan.bsky.social's excellent review! Tornit lands everywhere tomorrow

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ALBUM REVIEW: Witchcraft, 'Idag' The Swedish word idag is ‘today’ in English, and that’s exactly where Witchcraft meet you. It’s not to be confused with yesterday or tomorrow. Since their founding in 2000 by guitarist/vocalist Magnus...

Feels good to like a Witchcraft record.

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Slumbering Sun share official video for "Together Forever", launch US tour May 30th Music publicity services.

Slumbering Sun share official video for "Together Forever" via @jjkoczan.bsky.social & The Obelisk.

US tour starts May 30th:

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RUFF MAJIK Call it Quits, Sort Of Admittedly, I’m not getting “band is done forever” vibes off Ruff Majik‘s somewhat vague breakup post. Some bands lay it all out — this is what happened, who what where when, etc. — but Ruff Majik fou...

So it goes.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Pelican, 'Flickering Resonance' Whatever else its eight component songs might be ‘about’ in terms of subject matter, Pelican‘s Flickering Resonance is about love. The long-running Chicago instrumentalists’ first album in six years s...

Just posted a review of the new @pelicansong.bsky.social album 'Flickering Resonance,' which is out now.

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FRIDAY FULL-LENGTH: Clamfight, 'Clamfight' This is out today. It is Clamfight’s fourth full-length and very much a self-titled in the tradition of a band declaring themselves as a group. It’s self-released, and it comes seven years after their...

I'm 'don't feel the need to couch being happy for and proud of my friends in critical pretense' years old.

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