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Quarterly Review: Tia Carrera, Inter Arma, Volcano, Wet Cactus, Duskwood, Lykantropi, Kavod, Onioroshi, Et Mors, Skånska Mord
Posted in Reviews on July 4th, 2019 by JJ Koczan
Day four. I should've known we'd hit a snag at some point in the week, but it happened yesterday afternoon when Windows decided I desperately needed some update or other and then crapped the bed in the middle of said update. I wound up taking my laptop to a repair guy down the road in the afternoon, who said the hard drive needed to be wiped and have a full reinstall. Pretty brutal. He was going to back up what was there and get on it, said I could pick it up today. We'll see how that goes, I guess. Also, happy Fourth, if America's your thing. Let's dive in.
Tia Carrera, Visitors / Early Purple
They had a single out between (review here), but the two-song LP Visitors / Early Purple is Tia Carrera's first album since 2011's Cosmic Priestess (review here). The Austin, Texas, three-piece — which now includes bassist Curt Christianson of Dixie Witch alongside guitarist Jason Morales and drummer Erik Conn — haven't missed a beat in terms of creating heavy psychedelic sprawl, and as the side-consuming "Visitors" (18:32) and "Early Purple" (16:28) play out, it's with a true jammed sensibility; that feeling that sooner or later the wheels are going to come off. They don't, at least not really, but the danger always makes it more exciting, and Morales' tone has been much missed. In the intervening years, the social media generation has come up to revere Earthless for doing much of what Tia Carrera do, but there's always room for more jams as far as I'm concerned, and it's refreshing to have Tia Carrera back to let people know what they've been missing. Here's hoping it's not another eight years.
Visitors / Early Purple by Tia Carrera
Tia Carrera on Thee Facebooks
Small Stone Records on Bandcamp
Inter Arma, Sulphur English
I can't help but think Inter Arma's Sulphur English is the album Morbid Angel should have made after Covenant. And yes, that applies to the harmonies and organ of "Stillness" as well. The fourth full-length (third for Relapse) from the Richmond, Virginia, outfit is a beastly, severe and soulful 66-minute stretch of consuming, beyond-genre extremity. It punishes with purpose and scope, and its sense of brutality comes accompanied by a willful construction of atmosphere. Longer pieces like "The Atavist's Meridian" and the closing title-track lend a feeling of drama, but at no point does Sulphur English feel like a put-on, and as Inter Arma continue their push beyond the even-then-inventive sludge of their beginnings, they've become something truly groundbreaking in metal, doing work that can only be called essential to push forward into new ground and seeming to swallow the universe whole in the meantime. It's the kind of record that one can only hope becomes influential, both in its purpose toward individualism and its sheer physical impact.
Inter Arma on Thee Facebooks
Relapse Records website
Volcano, The Island
So you've got Harsh Toke's Gabe Messer on keys and vocals and JOY guitarist/Pharlee drummer Zach Oakley on guitar, and bassist Billy Ellsworth (also of Loom) and Matt Oakley on drums, plus it seems whoever else happened to be around the studio that day — and in San Diego, that could be any number of players — making up Volcano, whose debut, The Island (on Tee Pee) melds Afrobeat funk-rock with the band's hometown penchant for boogie. The songs are catchy — "10,000 Screamin' Souls," "Naked Prey," "Skewered," "No Evil, Know Demon"; hooks abound — but there's a feeling of kind of an unthinking portrayal of "the islander" as a savage that I can't quite get past. There's inherently an element of cultural appropriation to rock and roll anyway, but even more here, it seems. They make it a party, to be sure, but there's a political side to what Afrobeat was originally about that goes unacknowledged here. They might get there, they might not. They've got the groove down on their first record, and that's not nothing.
The Island by VOLCANO
Volcano on Instagram
Tee Pee Records website
Wet Cactus, Dust, Hunger and Gloom
Sometimes you just miss one, and I'll admit that Wet Cactus' Dust, Hunger and Gloom got by me. It likely would've been in the Quarterly Review a year ago had I not been robbed last Spring, but either way, the Spanish outfit's second long-player is a fuzz rocker's delight, a welcoming and raucous vibe persisting through "Full Moon Over My Head," which is the second cut of the total five and the only one of the bunch under seven minutes long. They bring desert-jammy vibes to the songs surrounding, setting an open tone with "So Long" at the outset that the centerpiece "Aquelarre" fleshes out even further instrumentally ahead of the penultimate title-track's classic build and payoff and the earth-toned nine-minute finale "Sleepy Trip," which is nothing if not self-aware in its title as it moves toward the driving crescendo of the record. All throughout, the mood is as warm as the distortion, and Wet Cactus do right by staying true to the roots of desert rock. It's not every record I'd want to review a year after the fact; think of it that way.
Dust, Hunger & Gloom by Wet Cactus
Wet Cactus on Thee Facebooks
Wet Cactus on Bandcamp
Duskwood, The Long Dark
A follow-up EP to Duskwood's 2016 debut long-player, Desert Queen, the four-track The Long Dark is a solid showcase of their progression as songwriters and in the capital-'d' Desertscene style that has come to epitomize much of the UK heavy rock underground, taking loyalism to the likes of Kyuss and topping it off with the energy of modern London-based practitioners Steak. The four-piece roll out a right-on fuzzy groove in "Mars Rover" after opening with "Space Craft" and show more of a melodic penchant in "Crook and Flail" before tying it all together with "Nomad" at the finish. They warn on their Bandcamp page this is 'Part 1,' so it may not be all that long before they resurface. Fair enough as they've clearly found their footing in terms of style and songwriting here, and at that point the best thing to do is keep growing. As it stands, The Long Dark probably isn't going to kick off any stylistic revolution, but there's something to be said for the band's ability to execute their material in conversation with what else is out there at the moment.
The Long Dark by Duskwood
Duskwood on Thee Facebooks
Duskwood on Bandcamp
Lykantropi, Spirituosa
Sweet tones and harmonies and a classic, sun-coated progressivism persist on Lykantropi's second album, Spirituosa (on Lightning Records), basking in melodic flow across nine songs and 43 minutes that begin with the rockers "Wild Flowers" and "Vestigia" and soon move into the well-paired "Darkness" and "Sunrise" as the richer character of the LP unfolds. "Songbird" makes itself a highlight with its more laid back take, and the title-track follows with enough swing to fill whatever quota you've got, while "Queen of Night" goes full '70s boogie and "Seven Blue" imagines Tull and Fleetwood Mac vibes — Flutewood Mac! — and closer and longest track "Sällsamma Natt" underscores the efficiency of songwriting that's been at play all the while amidst all that immersive gorgeousness and lush melodicism. They include a bit of push in the capper, and well they should, but go out with a swagger that playfully counteracts the folkish humility of the proceedings. Will fly under many radars. Shouldn't.
Lykantropi on Thee Facebooks
Lightning Records website
Kavod, Wheel of Time
As Italian trio Kavod shift from opener "Samsara" into "Absolution" on their debut EP, Wheel of Time, the vocals become a kind of chant for the verse that would seem to speak to the meditative intention of the release on the whole. They will again on the more patient closer "Mahatma" too, and fair enough as the band seem to be trying to find a place for themselves in the post-Om or Zaum sphere of spiritual exploration through volume, blending that aesthetic with a more straight-ahead songwriting methodology as manifest in "Samsara" particularly. They have the tones right on as they begin this inward and outward journey, and it will be interesting to hear in subsequent work if they grow to work in longer, possibly-slower forms or push their mantras forward at the rate they do here, but as it stands, they take a reverent, astral viewpoint with their sound and feel dug in on that plane of existence. It suits them.
Wheel Of Time by Kavod
Kavod on Thee Facebooks
Kavod on Bandcamp
Onioroshi, Beyond These Mountains
Onioroshi flow smoothly from atmospheric post-sludge to more thrusting heavy rock and they take their time doing it, too. With their debut album, Beyond These Mountains, the Italian heavy proggers present four tracks the shortest of which, "Locusta," runs 10:54. Bookending are "Devilgrater" (14:17) and "Eternal Snake (Mantra)" (20:30) and the penultimate "Socrate" checks in at 12:29, so yes, the trio have plenty of chances to flesh out their ideas as and explore as they will. Their style leans toward post-rock by the end of "Devilgrater," but never quite loses its sense of impact amid the ambience, and it's not until "Socrate" that they go full-on drone, setting a cinematic feel that acts as a lead-in for the initial build of the closer which leads to an apex wash and a more patient finish than one might expect given the trip to get there. Beyond These Mountains is particularly enticing because it's outwardly familiar but nuanced enough to still strike an individual note. It's easy to picture Onioroshi winding up on Argonauta or some other suitably adventurous imprint.
Beyond These Mountains by ONIOROSHI
Onioroshi on Thee Facebooks
Onioroshi on Bandcamp
Et Mors, Lux in Morte
Whoever in Maryland/D.C. then-four-piece Et Mors decided to record their Lux in Morte EP in their practice space had the right idea. The morose death-doom three-songer takes cues from USBM in the haunting rawness of "Incendium Ater," and even though the 19-minute "House of Nexus" comes through somewhat clearer — it was recorded to tape at Shenandoah University — it remains infected by the filth and grit of the opener. Actually, "infected" might be the word all around here, as the mold-sludge of closer "Acid Bender" creeps along at an exposed-flesh, feedback-drenched lurch, scathing as much in intent as execution, playing like a death metal record at half-speed and that much harsher because they so clearly know what they're doing. If you think it matters that they mixed stuff from two different sessions, you're way off base on the sound overall here. It's patch-worthy decay metal, through and through. Concerns of audio fidelity need not apply.
Lux in Morte by Et Mors
Et Mors on Thee Facebooks
Et Mors on Bandcamp
Skånska Mord, Blues from the Tombs
When Sweden's Skånska Mord are singing about the deep freeze in album opener "Snow" on the Transubstans-released Blues from the Tombs, I believe it. It's been seven years since Small Stone issued their Paths to Charon LP (review here), and the new record finds them more fully dug into a classic rocker's take on hard-blues, rolling with Iommic riffs and a mature take on what earliest Spiritual Beggars were able to capture in terms of a modern-retro sound. "Snow" and "Simon Says" set an expectation for hooks that the more meandering "Edge of Doom" pulls away from, while "The Never Ending Greed" brings out the blues harp over an abbreviated two minutes and leads into a more expansive side B with "Blinded by the Light" giving way to the wah-bassed "Sun," the barroom blueser "Death Valley Blues" and the returning nod of closer "The Coming of the Second Wave," stood out by its interwoven layers of soloing and hypnosis before its final cut. It's been a while, but they've still got it.
Blues From The Tombs by Skånska Mord
Skånska Mord on Thee Facebooks
Transubstans Records website
Tags: Austin, Beyond These Mountains, Blues from the Tombs, California, Cervia, Commune Records, Duskwood, Duskwood The Long Dark, Dust Hunger and Gloom, Et Mors, Et Mors Lux in Morte, Inter Arma, Inter Arma Sulphur English, Italy, Karlstad, Kavod, Kavod Wheel of Time, Lux in Morte, Lykantropi, Lykantropi Spirituosa, Maryland, Onioroshi, Onioroshi Beyond These Mountains, Perugia, Relapse Records, Richmond, San Diego, Sk?nska Mord, Skånska Mord Blues from the Tombs, Small Stone Records, Somerset, Spain, Spirituosa, Suances, Sulphur English, Sweden, Tee Pee Records, Texas, The Island, The Long Dark, Tia Carrera, Tia Carrera Visitors Early Purple, Transubstans Records, UK, Unsigned bands, Virginia, Visitors Early Purple, Volcano, Volcano The Island, Wet Cactus, Wet Cactus Dust Hunger and Gloom, Wheel of Time, Wombat Booking, Örkelljunga
Friday Full-Length: Graveyard, Graveyard
Posted in Bootleg Theater on May 24th, 2019 by JJ Koczan
Even though it came out three years later, Graveyard's 2007 self-titled debut was the album that showed retro heavy didn't just belong to Witchcraft. Yeah, I know that's an easy narrative and there were other bands out there at the time digging into the heavy '70s sound for inspiration, but frankly, not at this level, and even Graveyard's fellow Swedes had begun by then to pull away from the proto-doom rock of their first outing by '07. The two groups were further linked by a common lineage in Norrsken, with guitarist/vocalist Joakim Nilsson and then-bassist Rikard Edlund having played in that outfit alongside Witchcraft's Magnus Pelander from 1996-2000 and produced several demos and singles as well as appearing on the tributes Bastards Will Pay: A Tribute to Trouble (discussed here) and Blue Explosion: A Tribute to Blue Cheer (discussed here) in 1999. But not only were Graveyard on the earlier end of Sweden and greater Europe's retroist movement, and not only did they play a significant role in putting it into motion, but they showed there was more to it than Pentagram worship.
I'll readily admit that the first time I saw them, in 2010 at Roadburn Festival (review here), I didn't get it. I'd heard the self-titled, then three years old after coming out in the States on Tee Pee and in Europe on Transubstans. They were too cool-looking for me. Everything just seemed too perfect, it felt like a put-on for cool kids that just didn't sit nearly as well with me as falafel I went outside and ate instead of watching them through the open doorway of the old Green Room at the 013 in Tilburg. I was wrong, of course. Not that Graveyard weren't fashion-conscious in a way that even Witchcraft would never be and that Germany's Kadavar would raise to yet another level, but I just got a mistaken impression. It was the end of a long weekend. I was tired. So it goes. Those more clued in to what Nilsson, Edlund, drummer Axel Sjöberg, guitarist Jonatan Ramm and guitarist/vocalist/keyboardist Truls Mörck were creating in terms of vibe dug it plenty. The problem, in short, was me. As ever.
By then, Graveyard were already due for a follow-up to Graveyard that wouldn't arrive for another two years. That long stretch between a first album and a second one would crush a lesser band
looking to capture some audience share, but with Graveyard, it seemed only to let the nine-song/39-minute long-player — crafted with a focus on vinyl, which was rare in 2007 — simmer as a burgeoning social media word-of-mouth spread its legend. Graveyard became a thing you knew if you were in the know, and their boogie blues rock was perfectly suited for building a cult following. Capping with the mega-hook of "Satan's Finest," the album was a clarion to the converted that wasn't to be missed, and whether it was the shuffle in Sjöberg's snare on "Thin Line" or the swapping out of lead vocals for side A closer "Blue Soul" and side B's "As the Years Pass by the Hours Bend" and the bass/percussion arrangement in the penultimate "Right is Wrong" that seemed so distant from the rush that began the album on "Evil Ways," there was so much to dig about what Graveyard were doing that even if you got sucked in by the vintage-style production of the whole outing, you were still only getting part of the story. It was at least as much about the band's songwriting and performance, if not more so, than the aesthetic they so purposefully donned to present it.
"Evil Ways" and "Satan's Finest" — the start and the finish — were powerful enough in themselves, and managed to embrace cliché enough to be fun while other tracks took a more emotionalist direction that, in hindsight, foreshadowed some of Graveyard's and particularly Nilsson's delving into soul-driven fare on subsequent offerings. But the self-titled's more raucous moments, on the short side B leadoff "Submarine Blues" or the bouncing-down-stairs rhythm of "Lost in Confusion," as well as the fluidity in "Blue Soul," were a new branch of heavy rock springing up right in front of the listener, and they were received accordingly. I don't think it's a hard argument to make that Graveyard became one of the most essential heavy rock bands of this decade in the wake of this debut, and what they've gone on to accomplish in the years since — signing to Nuclear Blast to finally release the landmark sophomore full-length Hisingen Blues (review here) in 2011, followed on a quick turnaround by 2012's Lights Out (review here), touring the universe and then releasing 2015's more mature Innocence and Decadence (review here) and 2018's Peace (review here) — is matched by an elite few who might still be considered underground acts.
When Graveyard announced they were calling it quits in 2016, it seemed fair enough. After four records, they'd never hit a snag, and as they'd taken on a more modern production sound and toured hard for about half a decade, it was understandable they might have burnt themselves out. The breakup didn't take, and when they got back together, with Oskar Bergenheim on drums in place of Sjöberg (since of Big Kizz) and Mörck back in the band on bass instead of guitar, with Ramm and Nilsson as the remaining founders, the revamped rhythm section changed the character of the band. That was evident on Peace, though the songwriting was consistent and arguably the broadest it had ever been. I don't know what the future holds for Graveyard, except perhaps more touring — they announced last week they'll be on the road with Clutch in Europe for a quick run this December — and headlining festival gigs if they want them, but listening back to their self-titled, it's astounding how vital and assured this band was of what they were doing.
There are no shortage of acts out there who aim toward and eventually capture some sense of individuality. Who you put on and immediately know what you're listening to. Graveyard would prove identifiable by the time the three and a half minutes of "Evil Ways" were done and wherever they've gone in terms of their sound, they've never lost that. While of course the context of their career since helps, I don't think you can really look at their debut as anything other than a pivotal moment for this generation of heavy rock.
As always, I hope you enjoy.
Gonna keep this quick if I can. A plug:
Today at 1PM Eastern is The Obelisk Show on Gimme Radio. It's the first time it's airing in its new timeslot. I hope you get the chance to listen, and if you do, I hope you dig it. Please, if you can check it out, I'd very much appreciate it. I should be in the Gimme chat for it as well if you want to say hi.
Then later on tonight, The Patient Mrs., The Pecan and I are flying to Ireland. It's been a hell of a week. We loaded and brought a truckload of stuff — including CDs, the packing of which was a task both mentally and physically — to the house in New Jersey where we'll be living by the end of this summer, on Tuesday. We were there for Wednesday hanging out with family and whatnot, then came back north yesterday to Massachusetts so The Patient Mrs. could go to a farewell work party, and today we have a bunch of running around to do and packing to go on this trip, which is one of the last things she has going for Bridgewater State University: a study-abroad excursion to Ireland with another professor and 15 students. I'm going basically so she doesn't have to be away from the baby for two weeks, though it means flying on a red-eye with an 19-month-old, stuffing him onto a bus multiple times and sleeping in the same room with him, which we haven't done in a little over a year. It's going to be… interesting. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous about all of it.
Fortunately, we're bringing his headphones. He has a little pair of blue wireless over-ears that The Patient Mrs. bought on Amazon. I loaded a micro-SD with the Beatles catalog and it's an immediate calm-down for him. He can be in the midst of an absolute shit-fit and you put the headphones on him and it snaps him out of it. It's astounding. Dude loves it. I just have to make sure he doesn't get to "Revolution 9." I don't think children should be exposed to such horrors.
The plan though is to stop in and visit Slomatics though while we're in Belfast, so I'm looking forward to that, and I may hit a record shop somewhere along the way. We'll see. I don't really know. I haven't even looked at shows as compared to our itinerary or anything, mostly because I have no idea what our itinerary is. I'm really just along for the ride and the child-care on this one.
Because I love flying so much.
But it's Ireland until June 6, then back to MA, then down to Jersey to see Solace with a bunch of other badass bands on June 8, then back to MA June 13 for more dental work — the saga continues! — then south to NJ, then further south for Maryland Doom Fest, then up to CT for a bit to cover babysitting my niece and nephew, and somewhere in there maybe we're going to redo the kitchen in NJ before we actually move in? Oh yeah, and the place in Massachusetts goes on the market today, so if this place sells we'll have to be out by some appointed closing date, then actually sort finances with buying the house in NJ and do that, finish packing — ugh, vinyl — and actually move. It's a ton of shit, and completely overwhelming. That's what it is.
All you can do is keep your head down and keep working.
But putting my head down, I notice on the baby monitor that The Pecan is up. Coming on 6AM, so that's fair. Gonna go grab him and start the day. Laundry to do and whatnot.
Have a great and safe weekend. Forum, radio, merch at Dropout.
The Obelisk Forum
The Obelisk shirts & hoodies
Tags: Graveyard, Graveyard Self-titled, self-titled, Sweden, Tee Pee Records, Transubstans Records, Örebro
Skånska Mord Release Blues from the Tombs May 17; New Song Streaming
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 26th, 2019 by JJ Koczan
Swedish heavy rockers Skånska Mord released their self-titled EP in 2014 on Transubstans Records, but it's been seven years since their last full-length. Their second LP, Paths to Charon (review here), came out in 2012 on Small Stone full of '70s-via-'90s vibes, and this Spring they'll issue Blues from the Tombs as a long-in-the-making third album.
Time has not dulled their affinity for classic heavy, as the posted track "Blinded by the Light" demonstrates. You can hear that, of course, at the bottom of this post, beneath the album info for Blues from the Tombs, which was posted by the label on thee social medias.
Have at it:
SKÅNSKA MORD – new album BLUES FROM THE TOMBS out May 17 on VINYL & CD from TRANSUBSTANS RECORDS
Five years after their self-titled release on Transubstans Records, SKÅNSKA MORD return with yet another hard-hitting release, promptly named "Blues From The Tombs".
The unique sound that makes SKÅNSKA MORD stand out in today's scene is present on every track on the new album. While other acts may focus entirely on creating either heavy blues soundscapes, or paying their tribute to the progressive rock bands of the 70's, SKÅNSKA MORD is not afraid of mixing the two in their own manner. "Blues From The Tombs" is delivering heavy grooves as per the band's high standard, while enthusing the listener with tempo changes, incredible solos, tight rhythm sections together with the strong voice of Janne Bengtsson. From the doomy elements of "The Coming Of The Second Wave" to the dynamic psychedelia of "Sun", there is only one thing to conclude; if you enjoy listening to music with the same passion as these guys are playing it, then this album is for you.
Skånska Mord is:
Jan Bengtsson
Petter Englund
Patric Carlsson
Patrik Berglin
Thomas Jönsson
https://www.facebook.com/skanskamord
http://www.transubstans.com/
Skånska Mord, "Blinded by the Light"
Tags: Blues from the Tombs, Sk?nska Mord, Skånska Mord Blues from the Tombs, Sweden, Transubstans Records, Örkelljunga
Quarterly Review: Hornss, Khemmis, Fox 45, Monolith Wielder, No Man's Valley, Saturna, Spotlights, MØLK, Psychedelic Witchcraft, Moon Coven
Posted in Reviews on December 26th, 2016 by JJ Koczan
2016 ends and 2017 starts off on the right foot with a brand new Quarterly Review roundup. The first time I ever did one of these was at the end of 2014 and I called the feature 'Last Licks.' Fortunately, I've moved on from that name, but that is kind of how I'm thinking about this particular Quarterly Review. You'll find stuff that came out spread all across 2016, early, middle, late, but basically what I'm trying to do here is get to a point where it's not March and I'm still reviewing albums from November. Will it work? Probably not, but in order to try my damnedest to make it do so anyway, I'm making this Quarterly Review six full days. Monday to Monday instead of Monday to Friday. 60 reviews in six posts. Sounds like madness because it is madness. Let's get started.
Hornss, Telepath
San Francisco trio Hornss debuted on RidingEasy Records with 2014's No Blood No Sympathy (review here) and further their raw genre blend on Telepath, their half-hour follow-up LP delivered via STB, melding heavy punk and metallic impulses to a noisy, thick-toned thrust on songs like "Atrophic" and the bouncing "Sargasso Heart" while opener "St. Genevieve" and the penultimate "Old Ghosts" dig into more stonerly nod. The latter track is the longest inclusion on the record at 3:26, and with 11 cuts there's plenty of jumping between impulses to be done, but the trio of guitarist/vocalist Mike Moracha, bassist/vocalist Nick Nava – both formerly of desert punkers Solarfeast – and drummer Bil Bowman (ex-Zodiac Killers) work effectively and efficiently to cast an identity for themselves within the tumult. It's one that finds them reveling in the absence of pretense and the sometimes-caustic vibes of songs like "Leaving Thermal," which nonetheless boast an underlying catchiness, speaking to a progression from the first album.
Telepath by HORNSS
Hornss on Thee Facebooks
STB Records store
Khemmis, Hunted
Easily justifiable decision on the part of Denver's Khemmis to return to Flatline Audio and producer Dave Otero (Cephalic Carnage, etc.) for their second album, Hunted. No reason to fix what clearly wasn't broken about their 2015 debut, Absolution (review here), and on the 20 Buck Spin Records release, they don't. A year later, the four-piece instead build on the doomly grandeur of the first outing and push forward in aesthetic, confidence and purpose, whether that's shown in mournful opener "Above the Water," the darker "Candlelight" that follows, or the centerpiece "Three Gates," which opens as muddied death metal before shifting into a cleaner chorus, creating a rare bridge between doom and modern metal. Khemmis save the most resonant crush for side B, however, with the nine-minute "Beyond the Door" capping with vicious stomp before the 13-minute title-track, which closes the album with an urgency that bleeds even into spacious and melodic break that sets up the final apex to come, as emotionally charged as it is pummeling.
Hunted by Khemmis
Khemmis on Thee Facebooks
20 Buck Spin on Bandcamp
Fox 45, Ashes of Man
In addition to the outright charm of titles like "Doominati," "Coup d'étwat," "Murdercycle" and "Urinal Acid" (the latter a bonus track), Rochester, New York's Fox 45 offer fuzzy roll on their Twin Earth Records debut full-length, Ashes of Man, the three-piece of Amanda Rampe, Vicky Tee and Casey Learch finding space for themselves between the post-Acid King nod of "Necromancing the Stone" and more swing-prone movements like the relatively brief "Soul Gourmandizer." Playing back and forth between longer and shorter tracks gives Ashes of Man a depth of character – particularly encouraging since it's Fox 45's first record – and the low-end push that leads "Phoenix Tongue" alone is worth the price of admission, let alone the familiar-in-the-right-ways straightforward heavy riffing of "Narcissister" a short while later. Very much a debut, but one that sets up a grunge-style songwriting foundation on which to build as they move forward, and Fox 45 seem to have an eye toward doing precisely that.
Ashes of Man by Fox 45
Fox 45 on Thee Facebooks
Twin Earth Records on Bandcamp
Monolith Wielder, Monolith Wielder
Double-guitar Pittsburgh four-piece Monolith Wielder make their self-titled debut through Italian imprint Argonauta Records, bringing together Molasses Barge guitarist Justin Gizzi and Zom guitarist/vocalist Gero von Dehn with bassist Ray Ward (since replaced by Amy Bianco) and drummer Ben Zerbe (also Mandrake Project) for 10 straightforward tracks that draw together classic Sabbathian doom with post-grunge heavy rock roll. There's a workingman's sensibility to the riffing of "No Hope No Fear" and the earlier, more '90s moodiness of "Angels Hide" – von Dehn's vocals over the thick tones almost brings to mind Sevendust on that particularly catchy chorus – but Monolith Wielder's Monolith Wielder isn't shy about bringing atmospherics to the Iommic thrust of its eponymous cut or the penultimate "King Under Fire," which recalls the self-titled Alice in Chains in its unfolding bleakness before closer "Electric Hessian" finishes with a slight uptick in pace and a fade out and back in (and a last sample) that hints at more to come.
Monolith Wielder by MONOLITH WIELDER
Monolith Wielder on Thee Facebooks
Argonauta Records website
No Man's Valley, Time Travel
The stomp and clap intro "The Man Who Would be King" casts an immediately bluesy hue on No Man's Valley's debut album, Time Travel (LP release on Nasoni), and the Netherlands-based five-piece seem only too happy to build on that from there. It's a blend outfits like The Flying Eyes and Suns of Thyme have proffered for several years now between heavy psychedelia and blues, but No Man's Valley find a niche for themselves in the dreamy and patient execution of "Sinking the Lifeboat," a highlight of the eight-track/33-minute LP, and bring due personality to the classic-style jangle-and-swing of "The Wolves are Coming" as well, so that Time Travel winds up more textured than redundant as it makes its way toward six-minute piano-laden finale "Goon." Once there, they follow a linear course with a post-All Them Witches looseness that solidifies into a resonant and deeply engaging apex, underscoring the impressive reach No Man's Valley have brought to bear across this first LP of hopefully many to come.
Time Travel by No Man's Valley
No Man's Valley on Thee Facebooks
Nasoni Records website
Saturna, III/Lost in Time
Barcelona classic rocking four-piece Saturna seem to avoid the boogie trap when they want to, as on the more rolling, modern heavy groove of "Five Fools," and that keeps their World in Sound/PRC Music third album, III/Lost in Time, from being too predictable after the opening "Tired to Fight" seems to set up Thin Lizzy idolatry. They dip into more complex fare on "Leave it All," somewhere between Skynyrd leads, Deep Purple organ-isms topped with a rousing hook, but keep some shuffle on songs like "Disease" and the earlier "All Has Been Great." Highlight/closer "Place for Our Soul" seems to be literal in its title, with a more subdued approach and harmonized vocal delivery, and listening to its more patient delivery one can't help but wonder why that soul should be relegated to the end of the album instead of featured throughout, but the songwriting is solid and the delivery confident, so while familiar, there's ultimately little to complain about with what III/Lost in Time offers.
III / Lost in time by Saturna
Saturna on Thee Facebooks
World in Sound website
MØLK, Hate from the Bong
Especially with the title of their second EP set as Hate from the Bong, one might be tempted to put Belgian outfit MØLK immediately in the same category of malevolent stoner/sludge metal as the likes of Bongripper, but frankly they sound like they're having too much fun for that on the five-tracker, reveling in lyrical shenanigans on the politically suspect "Stonefish" and opener "Methamphetamine." Make no mistake, they're suitably druggy, but even Hate from the Bong's title-track seems to keep its tongue in cheek as it unfolds its post-Electric Wizard echoes and tonal morass. That gives the five-piece an honest vibe – they're a relatively new band, having released their first EP in 2016 as well; why shouldn't they be having a good time? – to coincide with all that thickened low end and vocal reverb, and though they're obviously growing, there isn't much more I'd ask of them from a debut full-length, which is a task they sound ready to take on in these songs.
MØLK on Thee Facebooks
MØLK on Bandcamp
Psychedelic Witchcraft, The Vision
Italian cult rock outfit Psychedelic Witchcraft have proven somewhat difficult to keep up with over the last year-plus. As they've hooked up with Soulseller Records and reissued their Black Magic Man EP (review here), their full-length debut, The Vision, and already announced a follow-up compilation in 2017's Magick Rites and Spells, the band consistently work to feature the vocals of Virginia Monti (also Dead Witches) amid semi-retro '70s-style boogie, as heard on the debut in cuts like "Witches Arise" and "Wicked Ways." At nine tracks/34 minutes, however, The Vision is deceptively efficient, and though they're unquestionably playing to style, Psychedelic Witchcraft find room to vary moods on "The Night" and the subdued strum of "The Only One Who Knows," keeping some sonic diversity while staying largely on-theme lyrically. To call the album cohesive is underselling its purposefulness, but the question is how the band will build on the bluesy soulfulness of "Magic Hour Blues" now that they've set this progression in motion. Doesn't seem like it will be all that long before we find out.
Psychedelic Witchcraft on Thee Facebooks
Soulseller Records website
Spotlights, Spiders EP
Following the heavy post-rock wash of their 2016 debut album, Tidals, Brooklynite two-piece Spotlights – bassist/guitarist/vocalist Sarah Quintero and guitarist/synthesis/vocalist Mario Quintero – return on the quick with a three-track EP, Spiders, and set themselves toward further sonic expansion. The centerpiece "She Spider" is a Mew cover, electronic beats back opener "A Box of Talking Heads V2" and the spacious closer "Joseph" is a track from Tidals remixed by former Isis drummer Aaron Harris. So, perhaps needless to say, they hit that "expansion" mark pretty head-on. The finale turns out to be the high point, more cinematic in its ambience, but still moving through with an underlying rhythm to the wash of what one might otherwise call drones before becoming more deeply post-Nine Inch Nails in its back half. How many of these elements might show up on Spotlights' next record, I wouldn't guess, but the band takes an important step by letting listeners know the potential is there, adding three wings onto their wheelhouse in three tracks, which is as efficient conceptually as it is sonically immersive.
Spiders EP by Spotlights
Spotlights on Thee Facebooks
Spotlights on Bandcamp
Moon Coven, Moon Coven
This self-titled second full-length from Malmö, Sweden-based Moon Coven begins with its longest track (immediate points) in "Storm" and works quickly to nail down a far-reaching meld between heavy psych and riffy density. Issued through the much-respected Transubstans Records, it's a nine-track/50-minute push that can feel unipolar on an initial listen, but largely avoids that trap through tonal hypnosis and fluid shifts into and out of jams on cuts like "The Third Eye," while centerpiece "Haramukh High" provides a solidified moment before the organ interlude "The Ice Temple" leads into the mega-roll of finisher "White Sun." What seems to be a brooding sensibility from the artwork – a striking departure from their 2014 debut, Amanita Kingdom – is actually a far more colorful affair than it might at first appear, and well justifies the investment of repeat visits in the far-out nod of "Conspiracy" and the swirling "Winter," which goes so far as to add melodic texture in the vocals and notably fuzzed guitar, doing much to bolster the proceedings and overarching groove.
Moon Coven by Moon Coven
Moon Coven on Thee Facebooks
Transubstans Records
Tags: 20 Buck Spin, Argonauta Records, Ashes of Man, Barcelona, Belgium, Chrononaut Records, Colorado, Connecticut, Denver, Fox 45, Fox 45 Ashes of Man, Hate from the Bong, Hornss, Hornss Telepath, Horst, Hunted, Khemmis, Khemmis Hunted, Liège, Lost in Time, Malmo, Molk Hate from the Bong, Monolith Wielder, Monolith Wielder Self-titled, Moon Coven, Moon Coven Self-titled, MØLK, Nasoni Records, No Man's Valley, No Man's Valley Time Travel, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, Psychedelic Witchcraft, Psychedelic Witchcraft The Vision, Saturna, Saturna Lost in Time, self-titled, Soulseller Records, Spain, Spiders, Spotlights, Spotlights Spiders, STB Records, Sweden, Telepath, The Netherlands, The Vision, Time Travel, Transubstans Records, Twin Earth Records, World in Sound Records
audiObelisk Transmission 060
Posted in Podcasts on December 22nd, 2016 by JJ Koczan
https://archive.org/download/aOT60/aOT60.mp3
Consider this your usual disclaimer that, like any of this site's coverage of year-end whatnottery, this podcast is by no means attempting to capture all of 2016's best tracks. It is, however, over four hours long, and frankly that seems like enough to ask. If you decide to take it on and sample what I found to be some of the best material to come down the line over the last 12 months, please know you have my thanks in advance. For what it's worth, it was a lot of fun to put together, and that's not always the case with these.
But about the length. I've done double-sized year-end specials for a while now. It's always just seemed a fair way to go. And the last few at least have been posted the week of the Xmas holiday as well, which for me is of dual significance since it just so happens four hours is right about what it takes to drive from where I live to where my family lives, so when I look at this massive slew of 34 acts, from the riff-led righteousness of Wo Fat and Curse the Son to the crush of Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard and SubRosa to the psychedelic reaches of Zun and Øresund Space Collective (who probably show up in podcasts more than anyone, oddly enough), I also think of going to see my family, which has become my favorite part of the holidays.
Whatever associations you might draw with it, I very much hope you enjoy listening. Thanks for taking the time.
Track details follow:
First Hour:
0:00:00 Wo Fat, "There's Something Sinister in the Wind" from Midnight Cometh
0:09:35 Greenleaf, "Howl" from Rise Above the Meadow
0:14:57 Elephant Tree, "Aphotic Blues" from Elephant Tree
0:20:49 Brant Bjork, "The Gree Heen" from Tao of the Devil
0:26:27 Sergio Ch., "El Herrero" from Aurora
0:29:44 Child, "Blue Side of the Collar" from Blueside
0:35:31 Geezer, "Bi-Polar Vortex" from Geezer
0:43:59 Zun, "Come Through the Water" from Burial Sunrise
0:49:27 Baby Woodrose, "Mind Control Machine" from Freedom
0:54:11 Curse the Son, "Hull Crush Depth" from Isolator
0:59:31 Borracho, "Shot down, Banged up, Fade Away" from Atacama
Second Hour:
1:05:50 Scissorfight, "Nature's Cruelest Mistake" from Chaos County
1:09:19 Truckfighters, "The Contract" from V
1:16:30 Spidergawd, "El Corazon del Sol" from III
1:21:24 Fatso Jetson, "Royal Family" from Idle Hands
1:26:13 Worshipper, "Step Behind" from Shadow Hymns
1:30:57 Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard, "Y Proffwyd Dwyll" from Y Proffwyd Dwyll
1:39:42 Druglord, "Regret to Dismember" from Deepest Regrets
1:46:34 Moon Coven, "New Season" from Moon Coven
1:52:03 Gozu, "Tin Chicken" from Revival
1:59:49 Year of the Cobra, "Vision of Three" from …In the Shadows Below
Third Hour:
2:06:53 The Munsens, "Abbey Rose" from Abbey Rose
2:14:56 Lamp of the Universe, "Mu" from Hidden Knowledge
2:21:26 1000mods, "On a Stone" from Repeated Exposure To…
2:26:45 Church of the Cosmic Skull, "Watch it Grow" from Is Satan Real?
2:30:43 Vokonis, "Acid Pilgrim" from Olde One Ascending
2:37:35 Slomatics, "Electric Breath" from Future Echo Returns
2:43:02 Droids Attack, "Sci-Fi or Die" from Sci-Fi or Die
2:47:20 King Buffalo, "Drinking from the River Rising" from Orion
2:56:51 Comet Control, "Artificial Light" from Center of the Maze
Fourth Hour:
3:06:37 Øresund Space Collective, "Above the Corner" from Visions Of…
3:22:51 Naxatras, "Garden of the Senses" from II
3:33:14 SubRosa, "Black Majesty" from For this We Fought the Battle of Ages
3:48:23 Seedy Jeezus with Isaiah Mitchell, "Escape Through the Rift" from Tranquonauts
Download audiObelisk Transmission 060
Tags: 1000mods, 1000mods Repeated Exposure To, Baby Woodrose, Baby Woodrose Freedom, Bad Afro Records, Black Bow Records, Borracho, Borracho Atacama, Brant Bjork, Brant Bjork Tao of the Devil, Century Media, Child, Child Blueside, Church of the Cosmic Skull, Church of the Cosmic Skull Is Satan Real, Clostridium Records, Comet Control, Comet Control Center of the Maze, Curse the Son, Curse the Son Isolator, Droids Attack, Droids Attack Sci-Fi or Die, Druglord, Druglord Deepest Regrets, Elephant Tree, Elephant Tree Self-titled, Fatso Jetson, Fatso Jetson Idle Hands, Geezer, Geezer Self-titled, Gozu, Gozu Revival, Greenleaf, Greenleaf Rise Above the Meadow, Heavy Psych Sounds, King Buffalo, King Buffalo Orion, Kozmik Artifactz, Lamp of the Universe, Lamp of the Universe Hidden Knowledge, Lay Bare Recordings, Magnetic Eye Records, Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard, Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard Y Proffwyd Dwyll, Moon Coven, Moon Coven Self-titled, Napalm Records, Naxatras, Naxatras II, New Heavy Sounds, Ozium Records, Profound Lore Records, Ripple Music, Salt of the Earth Records, Scissorfight, Scissorfight Chaos County, Seedy Jeezus with Isaiah Mitchell, Seedy Jeezus with Isaiah Mitchell Tranquonauts, Sergio Ch, Sergio Ch Aurora, Slomatics, Slomatics Future Echo Returns, Small Stone Records, Snake Charmer Coalition, South American Sludge Records, Space Rock Productions, Spidergawd, Spidergawd III, STB Records, Stickman Records, SubRosa, SubRosa For this We Fought the Battle of Ages, Tee Pee Records, The Munsens, The Munsens Abbey Rose, Transubstans Records, Truckfighters, Truckfighters V, Unsigned bands, Vokonis, Vokonis Olde One Ascending, Wo Fat, Wo Fat Midnight Cometh, Worshipper, Worshipper Shadow Hymns, Y Proffwyd Dwyll, Year of the Cobra, Year of the Cobra In the Shadows Below, Zun, Zun Burial Sunrise, Øresund Space Collective, Øresund Space Collective Visions Of
Moon Coven Release Self-Titled LP on Transubstans Records
Posted in Whathaveyou on December 6th, 2016 by JJ Koczan
So although the PR wire info below lists it as coming soon, it seems like Moon Coven's self-titled sophomore outing is actually available to order now — as in right now, today — through Transubstans Records. The Swedish psych outfit offered up their debut, Amanita Kingdom, in 2014, and seem to have posted the self-titled earlier this fall, at the start of November, for at least partial streaming. It's streaming in full now, as well as available via name-your-price download on Bandcamp, but after checking out the roll of album-centerpiece "Haramukh High," you may indeed find yourself craving the full experience. You won't hear me argue against that impulse, at very least.
You can dig into the vibes of the full stream below and see where you're at with it, but in my experience there are few around whose tastes are as reliable as Transubstans. When they get behind something, it's almost never happenstance.
Goes like this:
Transubstans Records: OUT SOON: MOON COVEN – S/T
Almost three years after the critically acclaimed debut album, "Amanita Kingdom", MOON COVEN returns! Stronger and heavier than ever. Expect a psychedelic journey to the unknown grounds of your brain while experiencing a healthy dose of the deadliest sludge out there. The band comes back with their self titled effort and it's clear they've taken their ambient ambitions to a whole new level. Prepare to become dazed, prepare to be strung out. Prepare for MOON COVEN!!
01 Storm (listen)
02 Old Ground
03 Conspiracy
04 New Season
05 Haramukh High
07 The Third Eye
08 Ice Temple
09 White Sun
MOON COVEN is a five piece Heavy/Psychedelic/Rock band from Malmö/Stockholm, Sweden, with roots in Jönköping. Heavy distorted riffs meets harmoniously floating vocals that results in dreamy music with a hypnotic effect. MOON COVEN offers a paradoxical but satisfying musical landscape, it is massive and delicate at the same time.
Moon Coven is:
https://www.facebook.com/mooncoven/
https://mooncoven.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/transubstans
http://www.recordheaven.net/
Moon Coven, Moon Coven (2016)
Tags: Malmo, Moon Coven, Moon Coven Self-titled, self-titled, Sweden, Transubstans Records
Ponamero Sundown Call it Quits
Posted in Whathaveyou on August 11th, 2016 by JJ Koczan
Swedish heavy rockers Ponamero Sundown have decided to call it a day. Hung up their spurs. Punched out. Insert other cliche for not being a band anymore here. Their disbanding was announced via Thee Facebooks, and they took care to dub it a "hiatus" and leave open the possibility of playing together again if the timing and offer were right for a farewell show. As of now, so far as I know, nothing is planned.
Based in Stockholm, Ponamero Sundown released three albums during their time together. The latest of them was Veddesta, which came out last year on Transubstans and Ozium Records. Their third full-length, it was preceded by 2011's Rodeo Eléctrica (review here) and their 2009 debut, Stonerized (review here), both of which were also issued by Transubstans.
They leave having recently posted the track "Black Widow" to mark their 10th anniversary as a band. Originally recorded in 2007 and reportedly a regular feature of live sets, the song was included as a bonus cut on the CD version of Veddesta and brings up a lot of the strengths they showed throughout their tenure in songwriting and energetic execution. New projects from members are reportedly in the works, so when and if I hear of anything, I'll pass word along.
Until then, best of luck to the dudes who used to be Ponamero Sundown. Here's their announcement, short, sweet, and Band-Aid-esque:
It's time to release the clutch and move on…
So from today we're on a hiatus until further notice.
There's no bad blood, musical differences or anything, just life itself.
If any festival or similar would like to book us one last time we would be open for that. Other than that some of us got other plans…
Thanks for the support over the years! Much love to you all!
Cheers and stay fuzzed!
Anders, Peter, Nicke and Robban
https://www.facebook.com/ponamerosundown/
http://ponamerosundown.bandcamp.com
http://www.transubstans.com
http://www.recordheaven.net
http://oziumrecords.com
Ponamero Sundown, "Black Widow"
Black widow by Ponamero Sundown
Tags: Ozium Records, Ponamero Sundown, Stockholm, Sweden, Transubstans Records
The Obelisk Radio Adds: Burning Saviours, Soldat Hans, Olde, Holy Grove, Persona and Dungaree
Posted in Radio on December 5th, 2014 by JJ Koczan
I try to do these every week. I'd like to, ideally, but it seems to be more like when folders and zip files clog up my desktop enough to really get on my nerves. Fair enough. A full 20 records joined the playlist today, including a couple wintry classics from Anathema that either were overlooked by me or wrongly left out, plus the new Witch Mountain album, and some other recently-reviewed and otherwise-written-about stuff. It's actually a pretty killer list. If you're into it, or if you want to see what else has been added lately or what was played today, check out the Playlist and Updates Page. I spend an embarrassing amount of time there. Here are a few more reasons why.
The Obelisk Radio Adds for Dec. 5, 2014:
Burning Saviours, Unholy Tales from the North
The unheralded heroes of Sweden's retro heavy movement return with their first full-length since 2007. Their fifth outing overall, Burning Saviours' Unholy Tales from the North follows a series of four singles released between 2012 and 2013 (recently compiled by I Hate Records and released under the title Boken Om Förbannelsen) and finds the Örebro four-piece reveling in '70s-style doom once more, albeit with a rawer and less directly '70s-style production. That is, it's not as directly fuzzed as their self-titled debut was nine years ago, when it was pretty much them and Witchcraft digging on classic Pentagram alone, but still presented in the same spirit, a strong opening trio of "They Will Rise Tonight," "And the Wolves Cried Out" and "Your Love Hurts Like Fire" creating a lasting impression somewhere between early metal (think Rocka Rolla-era Priest) and the heavy rock that preceded it. Two Swedish-language tracks, "Ondskan" and "Lyktgubben," end each side, and at 28 minutes, it's a quick runthrough, but shows easily that Burning Saviours — since 2010 the lineup of guitarist/vocalist Mikael Monks, lead guitarist Jonas Hartikainen, bassist Fredrik Evertsson and drummer Martin Wijkström — remain vital in their approach, cuts like "Inside My Mind" and "The Sons of the North" exploring metal's roots effectively and organically while crafting something new, if familiar, from them. Burning Saviours on Thee Facebooks, at Transubstans Records.
Soldat Hans, Dress Rehearsal
Swiss newcomers Soldat Hans seem to be embarking on an admirably ambitious journey with their self-released debut, Dress Rehearsal, the title of which hints at their thinking of it as a demo, but for which the extended four tracks included serve to craft a sense of ambience that marks it unmistakably as a full-length. Engrossing in its atmosphere, patient in its construction and impeccably conceived, Dress Rehearsal plays out lengthy builds fluidly and takes listeners from minimalist drone and slow unfolding to massive, feedback-caked sludge, and then back again, sounding natural in the process and brilliant for both its pummel and restraint. None of the four cuts — "Meine Liebste; Sie zerbricht sich" (15:21), "Esthère (im bronzefarbenen Licht)" (13:34), "Zikueth! Zikueth!" (18:25) and "Liefdesgrot" (15:08) — really departs from a bleak, moody feel, but there are shifts throughout, as "Esthère (im bronzefarbenen Licht)" moves from the linearity of the opener to brooding post-rock and jazzy exploration before hitting its own wash of viciousness. To have a band take such control of their sound on their first outing is remarkable, and the longest and farthest ranging of the tracks, "Zikueth! Zikueth!" provides Soldat Hans their shining moment, theatrical but not overdone, melodic early and raging late, hypnotic in the middle, as classic as it is avant garde. They close out with another maddening payoff in "Liefdesgrot," and while in the future I'd be interested to hear them take on structures as wide-ranging as what they bring sonically to Dress Rehearsal, if this is just practice, I can't wait for the show to start. Soldat Hans on Thee Facebooks, on Bandcamp.
Dress Rehearsal by Soldat Hans
Olde, I
If you were to go by their sound alone, I don't think there's any way you could come out of hearing burly five-piece Olde's Hypaethral Records debut long-player, I, and not imagine they were from Virginia. In fact, they come from Toronto, but the aggro Southern metal they purvey on the album's eight bruising tracks would be right at home in the heart of sludgeland, full as it is of steady rolls — Sons of Otis drummer Ryan Aubin provides trailmarking thud — the from-the-chest growling from Doug McLarty and lumbering riffs, songs like "Heart Attack" and "Changelings" in the tracklist's midsection readily crossing the line between sludge and doom, all mudhole stomp, metallic affiliation and violent groove. There's atmosphere at work, but it comes out through the aggression portrayed, and ultimately, I has about as all the ambience of having your teeth kicked in. And yes, that counts the variation on the theme in the closing "Perimeter Walk," the more echoing guitar, farther back vocals, and so on. With a crisp production behind it, Olde's debut knows precisely the kind of beatdown it wants to deliver and sets about its task with brutal efficiency. Olde on Thee Facebooks, Hypaethral Records on Bandcamp.
I by OLDE
Holy Grove, Live at Jooniors
Recorded at some point between then and now at Joonior Studios in Seattle, Washington — I'm guessing more toward "then" — the 2014 outing Live at Jooniors from Portland four-piece Holy Grove is only two songs, but even one would be enough to serve notice of their warm tonality and the bluesy vocals of Andrea Vidal, who pushes her voice to its reaches on "Holy Grove" and still manages to nail the emotional crux. Honestly, that would probably be enough to carry "Holy Grove" and the following "Nix" on its own — sold; I'm on board — but I won't discount the fuzz in Trent Jacobs' guitar or bassist Gregg Emley's fills in "Nix," or the seamless shift drummer Craig Bradford leads between subdued verses and the tense chorus of "Holy Grove." As far as serving notice goes, Live at Jooniors does so and then some, and without sacrificing sound quality as so many underground live recordings do. Seems to me a 7″ release wouldn't be out of order, but Holy Grove seem more intent on getting together their full-length debut, which if they can bring to the studio the vibe they create in just 13 minutes on stage, is going to be something to look out for indeed. Learn the name, because you'll hear it again. Holy Grove on Thee Facebooks, on Bandcamp.
Live at Jooniors by Holy Grove
Persona, Persona
Buenos Aires instrumental four-piece Persona formed in 2004/2005, but their newly-released self-titled appears to be their first LP, preceded by a 2012 EP. If the better part of the intermittent decade was spent jamming, it doesn't seem to have hurt the band, who present nine plotted but flowing tracks that keep some loose sensibility to them while following a course of classic heavy and fuzz rock. The lineup of guitarist/bassists Lucas Podestá and Santiago Adano, guitarist Gustavo Hernández and drummer Esteban Podestá touch here and there on more metal tendencies, as on "Los Perros" and the brief "Cortina," but that's no more out of place than the proggy exploration of "Cuna de Fantasmas," a King Crimson-style noodling underscored by subtly engaging snare work and giving way to a heavier push. The lead guitar on "Cazador" provides a particularly engaging moment of payoff for the album's first half, but there's enough variety throughout that Persona's Persona offers a range of satisfying moments. Still room for the band to develop their style, but they obviously have the will and chemistry to do so. Persona on Thee Facebooks, on Bandcamp.
Persona by Persona
Dungaree, Climb out of the River
I'll give it to Hungarian four-piece Dungaree based on their moniker alone. It's simple, fun to say, and it evokes the rebelliousness of a bygone time. Their debut release, a three-song EP dubbed Climb out of the River, is likewise sharp-dressed, with a grunge-style production that pushes the dudely vocals of László Gergely to the fore ahead of Horváth T. Zoltán's guitar, Balogh Attila's bass and Dencs Dominik's drums to result in a sound that comes across to my American ears more akin to commercial hard rock than underground heavy, though in my experience the line in Europe and particularly Eastern Europe is both less distinct and less relevant. The tracks are short, straightforward, hard-hitting and catchy, with "Climb out of the River" a strong opening hook, "Dream Again" pushing into metallic guitar chugging in its breakneck chorus, and "Right Words" toying with a lounge boogie — snapping fingers and all — that assures the listener that although Dungaree have their sharp corners, they're not about to take themselves too seriously either. Might not be for everyone, but shows a strong foundation of songwriting, and I wouldn't ask any more of a first outing than that. Dungaree on Thee Facebooks, on Bandcamp.
Climb Out Of The River EP by Dungaree
Six releases, and a pretty varied bunch at that. It's still really just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what went up to the server. I always like putting stuff on there — it's like casting a fishing lure, except maybe without killing? I don't know. More like tossing a fish in the ocean maybe and not knowing when it will swim by the boat again. Or maybe I just (re)watched Jaws recently and have aquatics on the brain.
Either way, we've passed the two-year mark since the stream went online and I'm very happy with how The Obelisk Radio has turned out. Special thanks to Slevin for all the work he's put in over that time in helping me with hosting and making it go, and thank you as always for reading and listening.
Tags: Burning Saviours, Burning Saviours Unholy Tales from the North, Canada, Climb out of the River, Dress Rehearsal, Dungaree, Dungaree Climb out of the River, Holy Grove, Holy Grove Live at Jooniors, Hungary, Hypaethral Records, I, Live at Jooniors, Olde, Olde I, Ontario, Oregon, Persona, Persona Self-titled, Portland, self-titled, Soldat Hans, Soldat Hans Dress Rehearsal, Sweden, Szeged, Toronto, Transubstans Records, Unholy Tales from the North, Unsigned bands, Örebro


text:
Kushion
Kushion nightclub will not reopen following two-week licence suspension
The Bath Street venue was ordered to stop trading on Friday, September 13 following nine serious incidents alleged to have taken place within and had been due to relaunch at the weekend.
Catherine Hunter
A failed Glasgow nightclub didn't reopen this weekend following a two-week licence suspension.
Kushion, on Bath Street, was ordered to stop trading on Friday, September 13 following nine serious incidents alleged to have taken place within the nightclub including an attempted murder.
Glasgow City Council's licensing board told the club, owned by G1 Group, that after the suspension they could only reopen until midnight once staff had completed appropriate training.
Kushion nightclub ordered to stop trading for two weeks after series of police incidents
Following the temporary closure, a dad who had booked an 18th birthday party for his son and 19 friends on Saturday, September 14, was told by the club they would not be able to host the party.
Gordon Ford was told by a member of staff at 6.30pm the previous night that Kushion was having "licensing issues" and that the party would be relocated to The Shimmy Club at no extra cost.
Mr Ford had already paid £250 for the group and to secure a booth but on arrival only eight members were allowed entry to Shimmy and the other 12 were charged £7 entry each. He has asked to be reimbursed.
It has since emerged that Kushion will not reopen and bosses have been told they can reapply for their 3am licence.
This will only be granted if the licence holder can show there has been a significant improvement in the way the premises operates.
The earliest their licence could be fully reinstated is Friday, October 11 when the licensing board meets next.
Donald Macleod, chairman of Glasgow's licensing forum, said: "A late night licence is a privilege not a given. It has to be earned."
Kushion has been asked for comment on both situations.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Steelers vs. Giants: Ben Roethlisberger ponders draft class he shared with Eli Manning
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger wonders if the quarterbacks selected in the 2004 NFL Draft could go down in history as the best group of quarterbacks selected in one draft.
By Tim Blank Nov 1, 2012, 12:05pm EDT
Share All sharing options for: Steelers vs. Giants: Ben Roethlisberger ponders draft class he shared with Eli Manning
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger wonders if the quarterbacks drafted in 2004, which includes the New York Giants' Eli Manning, the San Diego Chargers' Philip Rivers and the Houston Texans' Matt Schaub could be remembered as the greatest class of quarterbacks in history:
"And all four quarterbacks -- Matt Schaub, Philip (Rivers), myself and Eli -- that were drafted there. I hope we can play well enough that one day they talk about us as maybe the best quarterback draft class of all time."
Roethlisberger was selected at No. 11 in that draft. Manning was originally drafted by the Chargers with the No. 1 overall pick, but the Giants selected Rivers with the No. 4 pick and orchestrated a trade that brought Manning to New York. Schaub was drafted in the third round by the Atlanta Falcons and was traded to the Texans in March 2007.
Not all of the quarterbacks drafted that year had great success. J.P. Losman was drafted by the Buffalo Bills at No. 22. But if you look at the fact that both Roetlisberger and Manning have combined for four Super Bowl championships, 2004 may even eclipse the quarterback class of 1983, which included quarterbacks such as Dan Marino, Jim Kelly and John Elway.
Steelers vs. Giants: Isaac Redman's career day leads Pittsburgh past New York
Taylor earns AFC honor for performance vs. Giants
Ben Roethlisberger ponders 2004 draft class


Struggling is nothing new for a soldier. This is especially true for an IDF soldier who has to struggle daily against the true and present dangers of terrorist attacks and the very real constant threat of war.
But for some, the struggle doesn't stop with the call to arms in order to protect their beloved homeland. They struggle with day-to-day living as well. A combat soldier's pay in the IDF is only 1,616 NIS (about $420) a month. A rear unit soldier gets only half that.
As a result, many soldiers, especially those from impoverished or broken homes, have no real means of support. When a soldier gets married, the additional financial burden for making even the simplest of weddings can be a near-impossible task.
"This is one of the reasons why Karmey Chesed created the Aid for IDF Soldiers fund," Aryeh Weingarten, director of Karmey Chesed, said to Breaking Israel News. "There is a lot of work needed to help Israeli soldiers. So many soldiers don't have a functioning home to go to when they are off-duty as they lack basic necessities like an oven, or even beds. Some do not even have food to eat."
This is why the story of Eitan (pseudonym) is so special. Born in the Samarian city of Shiloh to a well-to-do family, they were suddenly hit with hard times. Eitan's father lost his business, and he was forced to work at menial jobs. Maintaining his family became a near impossibility.
Eitan's natural positive attitude helped him through these very hard times. Despite struggling at home, he succeeded in school and during his service in the Israeli army.
However, his family could not continue to support him, and when Eitan got engaged he had no means to make a humble wedding and up his home.
"I, like so many of my fellow soldiers, met my wife in the army. But without family support and with such a small income, I had no idea how to establish my new family," Eitan told Breaking Israel News. "I was really in trouble until I heard about Karmey Chesed."
Eitan called Weingarten, who ensured him that Karmey Chesed would help get him the apartment furnishings he lacked along with needed appliances. "This help took a great load off of my life," smiled Eitan. "I am grateful to the open heart of the people at Karmey Chesed."
According to a recent study, an estimated 20,000 soldiers are forced to desert their Israeli army service due to the need to support their families. Many of them come from poverty-stricken and broken homes or single-parent homes. Many made aliyah (immigrated to Israel) by themselves or with their families from poor countries, such as Ethiopia or Russia. Because of their situation, many are in debt and find themselves with frozen bank accounts, and at times cannot even afford to pay their rent.
Karmey Chesed does all it can to assist as many needy citizens of the Holy Land on a daily basis with minimal overhead expenses. Please join Karmey Chesed in supporting the IDF fund and other welfare projects by donating here.


For more than 50 years, the Havergal Gators and Bishop Strachan Bobcats competed in their annual exhibition game, competing for the vaunted Hewitt Cup. This year, the Bobcats won, 7–1.
The gloves are off in a battle for prime time ice that has some young female hockey players saying they're getting shut out at many of Toronto's arenas.


text:
Elon Musk's satellite internet 'STARLINK' could be coming to Australia sooner than we think
By Julian Price
7:48pm Oct 12, 2020
Starlink, Elon Musk's $10 billion satellite internet project, has been registered in Australia and could be here by next year.
Starlink is essentially a constellation of thousands of satellites orbiting earth with the aim of providing low-cost, high-speed Internet anywhere in the world.
Rumours are swirling after registered Australian company TIBRO AUSTRALIA PTY LTD changed its name to STARLINK AUSTRALIA PTY LTD.
Starlink is Elon Musk's $10 billion satellite internet project. (Supplied)
Reddit user, Softwareaur, discovered the change and shared it to reddit, saying the SpaceX subsidiary just came out of "stealth mode". Another user cleverly pointed out the TIBRO is ORBIT backwards.
The TIBRO name change is seemingly happening across the globe, "Pretty much the same sequence of events happened in Canada," said Softwareaur. "Be on the lookout for a TIBRO in your country."
TIBRO was successfully granted a telecommunications license by ACMA (Australian Communications and Media Authority) on August 7 this year.
Starlink satellites almost offer full coverage over Australia, the majority of the country floating around 96-98 per cent, with Darwin slightly behind at 94 per cent. Coverage in Tasmania is sitting near perfect at 99.9 per cent.
There's currently 775 Starlink satellites in orbit, a rocket recently launching 60 into space on October 6. SpaceX ultimately aims to have 12,000 plus small satellites around the globe by completion.
Starlink is currently undergoing beta testing in the US and Canada, there's hints a public beta could be offered in the coming months.
If it successfully launches, Starlink could be going head-to-head with the NBN and 5G.
SpaceX has satellites registered with ACMA. (Supplied)
There's yet to be an official announcement regarding Starlink in Australia.
Starlink satellite data shows Melbourne sitting at 99.7 per cent of daily coverage. (Sebsebmc)
Property News: How to transform your home without renovating - domain.com.au


Energy use is a primary concern for most home and business owners these days. Energy costs are sure to rise in the coming years, so how can the average person make a dent in these expenses? One of the best ways to save money is by replacing your old Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) equipment with energy efficient heating and cooling systems. In some parts of the country, as much as 70 percent of utility costs are consumed by heating and air conditioning. Obviously, you can save significant energy and money by upgrading to more energy efficient heating and cooling systems.
It is helpful when discussing these issues to have some knowledge of the terminology used in assessing energy efficiency. Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio (SEER) is the method used to rate the efficiency of cooling equipment. By law, the minimum allowable SEER is 13 for newly manufactured equipment. Heating Seasonal Performance Factor (HSPF) is the rating used to indicate the heating efficiency of heat pumps; the current minimum is 7.7 HSPF. Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency (AFUE) is how furnace efficiencies are measured; the lowest AFUE offered by most manufacturers is 80.
It is crucial that you choose equipment that is correctly sized for your cooling and heating installation. HVAC industry research has shown that most equipment is oversized for the majority of conditions. For instance, you may need a 3.0-ton air conditioner when it is 100 degrees, but this is too much equipment when it is 10 degrees lower. HVAC technology has become more advanced in the last several years, and now it is possible to purchase systems that have dual capacities and can operate at more than one output for both heating and cooling. This is a major accomplishment and allows you to select equipment that has the ability to match the conditions more exactly. The result is greater comfort and better energy efficiency.
The industry standard for determining the equipment size needed is the Manual J Heat Load Calculation. A professionally trained HVAC contractor is capable of performing this procedure. It is done by creating a digitized version of your home using sophisticated software which provides the information required to determine the proper equipment size.
When choosing which equipment to install, it is always advisable to have a variety of options on your proposal so that you can compare pricing, efficiency and features. With reliable information, you can make a decision that can save you money for years to come.


text:
Q: How to clear Laravel route caching on server This is regarding route cache on localhost
About Localhost
I have 2 routes in my route.php file. Both are working fine. No problem in that. I was learning route:clear and route:cache and found a small problem below.
if I comment any one route in my route.php file and then run below command
php artisan route:cache

This will keep the route disabled because the route list is in cache now. Now, go to route.php file and try to remove commented route and then try to run that enabled url. still it will show 404 because I need to remove cache by using below command
php artisan route:clear

So far everything is understood in localhost. No problem in that.
After deploying on shared hosting server on godaddy
Question : How can I remove the route cache on server?

A: If you want to remove the routes cache on your server, remove this file:
bootstrap/cache/routes.php
And if you want to update it just run php artisan route:cache and upload the bootstrap/cache/routes.php to your server.

A: If you are uploading your files through GIT from your local machine then you can use the same command you are using in your local machine while you are connected to your live server using BASH or something like.You can use this as like you use locally.
php artisan cache:clear

php artisan route:cache

It should work.

A: For your case solution is :
php artisan cache:clear
php artisan route:cache

Optimizing Route Loading is a must on production :
If you are building a large application with many routes, you should make sure that you are running the route:cache Artisan command during your deployment process:
php artisan route:cache

This command reduces all of your route registrations into a single method call within a cached file, improving the performance of route registration when registering hundreds of routes.

Since this feature uses PHP serialization, you may only cache the
routes for applications that exclusively use controller based routes.
PHP is not able to serialize Closures.

Laravel 5 clear cache from route, view, config and all cache data from application
I would like to share my experience and solution. when i was working on my laravel e commerce website with gitlab. I was fetching one issue suddenly my view cache with error during development. i did try lot to refresh and something other but i can't see any more change in my view, but at last I did resolve my problem using laravel command so, let's see i added several command for clear cache from view, route, config etc.
Reoptimized class loader:
php artisan optimize

Clear Cache facade value:
php artisan cache:clear

Clear Route cache:
php artisan route:clear

Clear View cache:
php artisan view:clear

Clear Config cache:
php artisan config:clear

A: you can define a route in web.php
Route::get('/clear/route', 'ConfigController@clearRoute');

and make ConfigController.php like this
   class ConfigController extends Controller
{
    public function clearRoute()
    {
        \Artisan::call('route:clear');
    }
}

and go to that route on server example http://your-domain/clear/route

A: If you want to clear the route cache on the server, open the terminal provided by hosting providers (e.g., GoDaddy, NameCheap) and run these commands:
php artisan cache:clear
php artisan route:clear

if you're not able to find the terminal then you can create a route to clear the cache on the server:
<?php

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Artisan;

Route::get('/clear-cache', function () {
   Artisan::call('cache:clear');
   Artisan::call('route:clear');

   return "Cache cleared successfully";
});

You can check this example

A: I recommend you to use php artisan optimize instead.
optimaze performs the following tasks:

*

*Configuration cache successfully cleared.

*Configuration cache successfully cached.

*Routes cache successfully cleared.

*Routes successfully cached.

*Files successfully cached.
Also, you have it in one command.

A: Clear Cache On Shared Host Without Artisan Commands
How to Clear Route Cache from Browser
 Route::get('/route-cache', function() {
     $exitCode = Artisan::call('route:cache');
     return 'Routes cache cleared';
 });

How to Clear Config Cache from Browser
 Route::get('/config-cache', function() {
     $exitCode = Artisan::call('config:cache');
     return 'Config cache cleared';
 });

How to Clear Application Cache from Browser
 Route::get('/clear-cache', function() {
     $exitCode = Artisan::call('cache:clear');
     return 'Application cache cleared';
 });

How to Clear View Cache from Browser
 Route::get('/view-clear', function() {
     $exitCode = Artisan::call('view:clear');
     return 'View cache cleared';
 });

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Ontario Tech researchers show Special Olympics participation reduces risk of depression in young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities
A breakthrough research study by Faculty of Health Sciences researchers at Ontario Tech University shows an indisputable mental health benefit, including a reduced risk of depression, among young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) who participate in Special Olympics programming.
Leading the pack again: Ontario Tech tops among province's universities for year-over-year percentage growth in applications
For the second consecutive academic recruitment cycle, Ontario Tech University is posting province-leading numbers for growth in overall applications for Fall enrolment. Following the January 12 deadline for Ontario high school students to apply to an undergraduate program at an Ontario university, the Ontario Universities' Application Centre (OUAC) says Ontario Tech again leads the province in a key metric.
Ontario Tech retains designation as one of Canada's Research Universities of the Year
Ontario Tech University's impressive reputational trajectory for top-notch research continues with a fresh distinction as one of Canada's Research Universities of the Year for 2022.
The Eppel Family: Building innovation and boosting communities
Jeno Eppel, past President of EHC Global, and his family, made a generous gift in 2020 to support Ontario Tech University. In recognition of their significant contribution, valued at $540,000, the Eppel Family Technology-Enhanced Learning Studio in Shawenjigewining Hall was officially unveiled on January 16, 2023.
Driving onto the world stage: The Ontario Tech Project Arrow story
Canada's Automotive Parts Manufacturers' Association (APMA) selected Ontario Tech as the lead academic institution for Phase 2 of Project Arrow, an all-Canadian engineered concept funded by the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev). The Arrow's ambitious deadline was met, and the APMA's brainchild made its global debut January 5, 2023 at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, the world's the most influential tech event.


text:
KsTU Organises a Seminar for Its Academic Staff on Digital Learning
In response to the effects that COVID-19 has had on physical teaching and learning, Kumasi Technical University (KsTU) has held a day's seminar for its lecturers which was dubbed "Integrative Approach to a Well-Defined Digital Transformation Strategy to Teaching and Learning in Higher Education". This was meant to further equip lecturers on the latest distance learning techniques as a new way of teaching ahead of the resumption of full academic work. The seminar, which was held on Wednesday, December 8, 2021, at the University's Great Hall, was expected to make teaching and learning as efficient and productive as possible.
KsTU is ready to engage in a hybrid or blended pedagogy of e-learning and conventional physical interactions as contemporary learning solutions to meeting higher educational demands of all learners and those disadvantaged by geographical boundaries.
The Vice-Chancellor of KsTU, Ing. Prof. Osei-Wusu Achaw who graced the occasion encouraged the lecturers to be innovative and make use of the numerous available IT tools in achieving their various academic exercises. He said, "Management was pursuing reforms to facilitate e-learning, including building the capacity of lecturers in the area of Information and Communication Technology and the provision of tools to enhance academic work outside the classroom." He further expressed his appreciation to the Deans, Heads of Department and the other lecturers for participating in the programme and urged the participants to work diligently to acquire new skills for academic continuity.
Dr. Josephine Larbi-Apau, an e-learning Management Consultant and guest speaker of the seminar said the fundamentals of teaching and learning were changing, therefore, educational institutions like KsTU needed to align themselves with the change to deliver effective results.
In engaging stakeholders, Dr Larbi-Apau urged the University as a whole to develop policies to structure online and distance learning in the University. She emphasised that online and distance education are taking the centre stage of modern teaching and learning around the world. This has become the preferred mode of education for students as it gives them the flexibility to access education wherever they are, and it also opens them up to diverse cultures of the world. "E-learning is gaining ground in Ghana after the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020 and institutions have started moving towards that direction, therefore, we can also do it" she emphasised.
The participants applauded Management for putting together the seminar to equip them sufficiently for the task ahead. Some of them noted that distance and online education had become the alternative and the surest step to improve enrollment.
Picture: A section of the audience during the seminar
Public Relation Office
KsTU Undertakes a Hybrid-Waste-To-Energy Project to Control Ghana's Energy, Sanitation Problems
Newly Appointed Deans, Directors and HoDs Undergo Orientation
KsTU Students Grabs Gold at World Skills Competition
IRID Initiates Collaboration with Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence In ICT


TruVizion and Remote Spectrum products impress judges and score high in the annual cable technology rankings.
Alpharetta, GA (September 20, 2016) — ZCorum, a leader in diagnostics tools for broadband providers, announced that TruVizion and Remote Spectrum have received 4 Diamonds out of 5 in BTR's 2016 Diamond Technology Reviews. The BTR award program recognizes top products and solutions available to the cable industry. The submissions are rigorously judged by a third-party panel of cable telecommunications engineering experts, including Engineering executives from Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks, Suddenlink Communications, Comcast, Charter and Cox. Criteria included unique technology or application thereof, innovation, ease of use, efficiency, reliability, and contribution to profitability.


text:
Compensation and Overtime: Paystubs After Getting Fired and Locked from Company Email
Paystubs After Getting Fired and Locked from Company Email
ceeeffoh
My question involves labor and employment law for the state of: CA
OK. This is not about my company, but about a friend of mine.
She worked at some place, and was terminated. That is another topic, but now she wants to get all of her pay stubs. Apparently they were emailed to her company email, and she never bothered to print it out. When she was terminated she could not access the company e-mail system anymore, so she does not have access to her paystubs.
She requested her company to send it to her and the company, citing CA Labor Code 226, says there is no obligation to send the pay stubs to her, and to get that she has to pay a few hundred dollars to do so.
Is it legal for the company to act like that? I don't think it is legal, but wanted to be sure.
Taxing Matters
Re: Paystubs After Getting Fired and Locked from Company Email
Quoting ceeeffoh
California Labor Code section 226 requires the employer to provide paystubs to the employee when the pay is made, which the employer apparently did by e-mail. It was up to her to print them, forward them to her personal e-mail, copy them, or whatever when she got the. Employees should always keep their own copies of the paystubs and look at them carefully to ensure there are no mistakes. If they don't do that when they get paid they can get screwed later if there were mistakes they did not catch.
That section also does give her a right to inspect the records the employer has, but if she wants copies she has to pay for the reasonable cost of the company to provide them, which means paying for the cost of an employee to retrieve them, print or copy them, etc. Whether the fee the company proposes to charge her is reasonable in this instance depends on the details, like how many records she asked for, how much time and effort it will take an employee to do it, etc.
pg1067
her pay stubs . . . were emailed to her company email, and she never bothered to print it out.
That was none too smart.
Did you or your friend read LC 226?
In particular, subsection (b) states as follows: "An employer that is required by this code or any regulation adopted pursuant to this code to keep the information required by subdivision (a) [i.e., pay stubs] shall afford current and former employees the right to inspect or receive a copy of records pertaining to their employment, upon reasonable request to the employer. The employer may take reasonable steps to ensure the identity of a current or former employee. If the employer provides copies of the records, the actual cost of reproduction may be charged to the current or former employee.
I find it hard to believe any employer who knows enough to cite LC 226 would say that "there is no obligation to send the pay stubs to her." What exactly did the employer say? Please quote it (with any names or other identifying information removed).
I clarified it with the ex-employee in question, and she said she wanted to have paper copies of the paystubs which were originally in pdfs, and they said they have to charge a few hundred dollars to print physical copies. She should have been more precise about her requests, but if she did she would have saved the pdfs to begin with.
I wonder if the employer can charge for the pdfs, though. It is not reproducing the copies...
llworking
It really depends on what she is really asking for. If she is asking for a year's worth of pay stubs a few hundred dollars is obviously way over the top. If she is asking for 20 years worth of pay stubs that is an entirely different story.
However, if the employer sent them to her employee email, odds are the employer could resend that email/forward that email to her personal email.
Slander: Suing Over a False Email Sent to an Employer to Get Me Fired
By tdelme in forum Defamation, Slander And Libel
Resignation: Can My Former Employer Send Out a Company Wide Email About My Suspension
By JustJJ in forum Employment and Labor
Defamation: Company Sent Out Email Stating Grounds for My Dismissal
By genesis in forum Defamation, Slander And Libel
Computer Crime: Company Will Not Disable My Email
By johneeo in forum Criminal Charges
H Visas: H1B Transfer Without Paystubs - Transfer from Company A to B Before Joining
By chints94 in forum Visas for Business, Tourism and Family


As part of our continued Counsel Connect development, I started implementing the online payment service "Pay Now" provided by Sage Pay. Unfortunately, things went bad a few days into the initial prototype.
After the extensive sign-up process I was presented with the technical documentation for implementing the online payment gateway and their secure SOAP endpoint calls and functions for debit order processing and other things. At this point in time I'm only interested in online card transactions, and so I immediately started looking through the SOAP endpoint for the relevant functions. It wasn't there.
<input type="hidden" name="Budget" value="Y"> // Budget facility being offered?
If it's not immediately obvious, the first hidden input (m1) is supposed to hold my service key. This is the ONLY piece of data in this entire thing that identifies me, as Counsel Connect, to Sage Pay. And it's right there in the open for anyone to see if they care to press F12 to view the source. Hell, you don't even need to know the shortcut key; "view source" has been on the right-click menu for Windows users since Netscape Navigator.
What's the next very obvious vulnerability? Yes, you can edit the amount (the p4 input) to your liking, and it is completely out of my control that you can do that, or to what you can set it. All this basically means that you, as a user of Counsel Connect, can pretty much initiate the payment transaction in any state that you fancy.
I would suggest when posting the data the URL should have the HTTPS at the start: action="https://paynow.sagepay.co.za/site/paynow.aspx"
This raised a cacophony of alarm bells to me, since it was obvious that this person had no understanding of the issue raised, or any appreciation that they have vulnerabilities. Also, so far this only covers the initiation of the process. The hand-off at the end is also a concern. On their configuration pages I can set up URLs that serve as callbacks which presumably they will call with all the relevant information in the open (i.e. as url parameters). This is another failure, since it's entirely feasible that a user can fake (or manipulate) a successful request (given access to the initiating POST) which will force my system into a processed-payment flow if I don't do any additional checking against the SOAP endpoint (which is, thankfully, possible).
I was called by their technical director, and while conceding that I indeed raised valid vulnerabilities, I was instead offered an explanation about the limited use of my service key, and the mitigating function calls available in the SOAP interface to verify the transaction status. That's not good enough. An analogy here is my bank telling my I don't have to worry about keeping my card pin number secret, as long as I keep my daily limit low and I call them when I suspect fraud. It doesn't fly. It leaves me, the customer, open to be unknowingly complicit to fraud which can only be mitigated by retrospective checks. This completely breaks the nature of 100% automated straight-through processing towards which I'm working. Any human intervention is too much, and every check that needs to be done is another possible point of failure. Additionally, having access to the actual values that constitutes the contents of an HTTPS call gives the competent attacker a massive advantage towards identifying correct decrypted bytes while guessing keys, and from there it's a simple leap to decrypting the entire process and launching man-in-the-middle. This is not a hard problem to crack any more, and OpenSLL has been the subject of much controversy and bugs in the last year or so, with the last two really big vulnerabilities only recently patched. Furthermore, this coming from a representative of one of the biggest payment providers in South Africa, and a player even in international markets, speaks volumes about the proliferation of internet crime and calls into questions this provider's attitude towards combating and preventing it.
So, what is a better architecture for this? There are two major options here. Firstly, they can extend their SOAP endpoint so that all the communication is initiated and handled on my server side, away from the user, and I simply capture the required details (card number, cvc etc) from a form that I build, and pass it on to the SOAP endpoint for processing. Problems with this method is that I then need to become PCI-compliant since I'm handling card numbers. The second problem is that my own web-request handlers are subject to waiting for web-requests to complete; also something to be advised against.
The second option is to only initiate the payment flow via the SOAP endpoint. I would basically pass all the relevant details (service-key, amount, transaction reference) from my server-side, away from my users, to a SOAP function. This will leave the initial request handler dependant on another web-request, but you have to start somewhere. Their SOAP endpoint then returns a single-use, timed transaction-key with which I can then seed a simple web form with a single hidden input field (the value of which means nothing to any user or criminal). When that form is then POSTed, that transaction-key identifies me and my associated transaction details on their side, and the process carries on as it currently does.
The second option is clearly superior. It leaves Sage to handle all the sensitive stuff inside their form-flow, but the transaction initiation is secure and out of reach of fiddly hands. I'm not sure who came up with their current architecture's initiation flow, but it certainly does not stand-up to even a small amount of scrutiny, and is actually laughable**.
As for the hand-off; a similar strategy should apply. A hand-off token should be the only thing sent back in the callback (and there shouldn't be separate callbacks for success and failure), my system should then retrieve the transaction state using said token and my service key. This token is never exposed to any users, and so they cannot manipulate the hand-over. Basically, you never push sensitive data. This is a basic security concept.
At this point you might note that I can still do the POST call server side as suggested in my initial email, and accept the Sage HTML page in their response manually and then return that as my controller result directly instead of injecting it via JS. Yes, that would allow me control of the initiation, but it doesn't address the poor service architecture design, and it doesn't address the additional processing and web-requesting required at hand-off at the end. It also doesn't address the vulnerabilities that's so obvious in their actual documentation example which would be followed by junior programmers without questioning it.
After inquiries I found that PayU implements the above suggested solution almost verbatim. PayGate still hasn't responded to my request for documentation at the time of publishing, but PayFast seems to have the same implementation problem as Sage. So before I take the plunge and sign up with another provider, I need to seriously evaluate the technical implementations of the providers considered. If you need to implement an online payment solution I suggest you do the same. This is really important since South Africa has recently been crowned the cyber-crime capital of Africa (not surprising since we're also the biggest economy on the continent), but we've been in the top ten in the world since at least 2012, and third since 2013. Security is no joke.
*you'll note that I mention a JS-based work-around. This could be implemented for the p4 input too, but it's not a sustainable solution anyway.
**as proved when reciting this story to my friends.


text:
Top 10 of the last 10: Best football games of the decade
What were the best high school football games of the last 10 years? We've got the list
Top 10 of the last 10: Best football games of the decade What were the best high school football games of the last 10 years? We've got the list Check out this story on newsleader.com: https://www.newsleader.com/story/sports/high-school/2018/10/04/football-games-rankings-riverheads-galax/1522519002/
Patrick Hite, Staunton News Leader Published 4:06 p.m. ET Oct. 4, 2018 | Updated 11:35 a.m. ET Oct. 11, 2018
Riverheads' Landon Diehl slips out from behind a teammate as he runs the football during the Group 1A football championship in Salem on Saturday, Dec. 12, 2015. Riverheads lost to Galax 7-6.(Photo: Mike Tripp/The News Leader)Buy Photo
We asked you, the readers, for a list of the best high school football games you've seen involving area teams over the last 10 years. And we got plenty of suggestions.
Then a committee made up of News Leader sports writers Tom Jacobs, Ron Hartlaub, and Patrick Hite, News Leader alum Chris Lassiter and ESPN 1240's Leland McCray took your suggestions and narrowed it to the top 10.
Thanks to everyone for participating. We'll debut one game a week. This week our No. 4 game.
Riverheads' Hunter Allen stands stoic with his teammates as they lift their helmets after their Group 1A football championship game in Salem on Saturday, Dec. 12, 2015. Riverheads lost to Galax 7-6. (Photo: Mike Tripp/The News Leader)
Just Short: Dec. 12, 2015 — Galax 7, Riverheads 6
Teams couldn't stop Riverheads' offense all season. The Gladiators were averaging 42.7 points a game heading into the Group 1A state championship game Saturday, Dec. 12, 2015. They had played, and won, 13 games to that point.
In nine of those games, Riverheads scored 40 or more points. And fans were expecting more of the same in the title game against Galax. That wasn't the case.
Riverheads was scoreless until the final play of regulation. The Maroon Tide didn't exactly light up the scoreboard, getting a first-quarter touchdown that held until that final play.
Galax's Terrell Hundley is brought down by Riverheads' Landon Diehl during the Group 1A football championship in Salem on Saturday, Dec. 12, 2015. Riverheads lost to Galax 7-6. (Photo: Mike Tripp/The News Leader)
All things equal, Galax coach Mark Dixon believes Riverheads' Robert Casto will always win the game. But on this particular Saturday, Dixon thought he had an edge on defense.
"We had unbelievably strong and athletic kids," Dixon said. "And, probably that year, we were stronger than they were physically. And that's why we were able to hold up."
Dixon said the plan was to make every running play Riverheads ran bounce to the outside. He didn't want the Gladiators running straight ahead. The speed of Galax could chase Riverheads' players down on the outside. That was Dixon's thinking. And it worked.
With 1:23 left in the fourth quarter, Riverheads fielded a punt and started the drive at its own 27. Garrett Campbell then completed a 24-yard pass to Landon Diehl, getting Riverheads to midfield.
The play that may have saved the day, at least temporarily for Riverheads, was a juggling catch by Tyler Smith that went for 43 yards to the Galax 6.
Riverheads' Tyler Smith manages to hold onto the ball for a 43-yard pass completion that set up the Red Pride with a first-and-goal at the 4-yard line during the Group 1A football championship in Salem on Dec. 12. Riverheads, however, would eventually lose 7-6 to Galax. (Photo: Mike Tripp/The News Leader)
Three plays, and a Riverheads' penalty, later, the Gladiators finally scored. Campbell rolled right and hit Taz Miller in the end zone for an 8-yard score as time expired. Riverheads trailed 7-6 and had a decision to make — kick the extra point and go to overtime or go for two and the win.
Casto went for two.
When asked this week if he was surprised at the time that Riverheads went for the win, Dixon said he was.
"I was really surprised," said Dixon, a former offensive lineman for the University of Virginia and the Miami Dolphins. "I thought that he would kick the extra point, but now that I know Coach better ... it took me awhile, but now we're buddies."
Dixon said one thing he has learned about Casto is that he is always prepared for every situation, including the one in front of him back in 2015.
"Now that I know him, I'm like, he's going to go for two every time because he's worked on it," Dixon said. "But at that time, I was like, he'll kick the extra point."
Campbell rolled right again on the conversion play and, under pressure, tried to hit Smith on the right side of the end zone. The ball was just out of Smith's reach and Galax survived.
"Definitely the last minute is what I remember way more than any other part of the game," Dixon said. "It was just such a swing of emotions. I thought we were going to win it. Then there was a moment there when I just thought, 'How did we lose it?' And then all of a sudden there was jubilation, 'Wait a minute, we won it.'"
The win was the first state football championship for Galax, which entered the game on a nine-game winning streak after starting the season 1-4. Galax had lost a state title game in 2011 on the last play. It felt good to win one on the last play four years later.
"It was a heck of a last play," Dixon said. "It seemed like it took an hour."
Next week: No. 3 on our list of the Top 10 of the last 10.
No. 5: A last-minute drive doomed Draft is at No. 5 on our list
No. 6: Third time a charm for Hornets was No. 6 on our list
No. 7: They just needed a Chance was No. 7 on our list
No. 8: A heartbreaker was No. 8 on our list.
No. 9: A battle of unbeaten teams checked in at No. 9 on our list
No. 10: A classic upset made it to the No. 10 spot on our list
Geiman named Wilson girls cross country coach
Verona is a hotbed for the sport of cornhole on Thursday nights
Bair new MBU men's soccer coach
Want to be a better cornhole player? Here's some tips from area players
Lionel Moomau inducted into Babe Ruth Southeast Region Hall of Fame
Waynesboro's James Washington on ESPN in national cornhole tournament


They arent doing CART or IRL any more... but do you blame them? Its a mess! F1 is a joke now too, its so high dollar. So aside from Nascar, Le Mans is the next highest grossing road racing out there. You could argue they should get into WRC, but last time they did that FIA changed the rules so they couldnt compete.