For some reason I can't explain, I keep reading Skraeckoedlan's name as Snackadolodon which makes me think of a Doritos-obsessed dinosaur or something, and while I suppose that is probably actually a-okay for a Swedish stonerrock band, I'm not sure that's the image they're going for. Anyhow, regardless of however you want to say their name and what images it may conjure, I can say for sure that these dudes bring the heavy with confidence and competence, just like you'd expect from anything -related. Nothing musically groundbreaking mind you, but I must say that I very much appreciate hearing a band like this singing in Swedish as opposed to repeating the same old tired desert/driving/party clichés so many others of their ilk wallow in. And if they are repeating the same stuff på Svenska, I remain blissfully ignorant.
It's clear from the offset that this album is something unique. After all, when you have so many tracks in which beauty and madness share a simultaneous space, there's no denying that there's a creative genius at work here. As it happens, we have two creative geniuses in collaboration on this album: Norway's Svein Egil Hatlevik (here under the guise of Zweizz) and the sadly departed US-chaos merchant Joey Hopkins (of Midget Factory fame). The two met online a few years ago and promptly put their maniacal heads together to come up with eleven tracks of unclassifiable weirdness that have culminated in this self-titled opus. There's so much going on here that it's impossible to take in on one listen, from the Commodore 64-industrial barrage of "dWill 2 dPower" to the off-kilter ABBA-esque musings of "How we ate the flesh", this is an album that commands respect. Track of the album is "The goat", which kicks off with a cybersheep chorus followed by something that sounds like a bizarre reimagining of the "Alien" soundtrack. The album also benefits from a wealth of guest appearances from Carl-Michael Eide (Virus, Aura Noir), Kristoffer Rygg (Ulver), Torgny Knutson Amdam (Amulet) and Ingrid Aarvik Berge (Norma Sass), to name a few. To the untrained ear most of this might sound like random incoherence. In actual fact, it's one of the best lessons in controlled chaos that you're ever likely to find. This is a whole new level. This is lounge music for lunatics. - John Norby
Sebastian Hess of has started a new industry mixer event in Göteborg called "Indie After Work" where music biz types can gather and chat and make connections and maybe even check out a few potentially up-and-coming bands. The next event will happen in November I'm not sure if the acts scheduled to perform are confirmed yet, but you can check out some tunes via SoundCloud or get more info at Facebook.
John is pretty much dead on in his assessment of the new Iron Lamb. The fact that these reputably talented dudes are wasting time playing C-grade punk/metal/rock'n'roll must mean that they are having too good a time at it to self-reflect. They occupy the nebulous musical crossroads where those three genres meet and everything turns to garbage; many have tried to navigate these waters and many have failed. Iron Lamb are no different and we, the listeners, lose.
will be releasing a series of limited edition LPs starting with a split featuring Huntsville and Splashgirl, both of which also have full-length albums of their own out now on the label. Anyhow, said split will contain previously unreleased material and only 200 copies total will be made for sale. More info and preorder details: https://www.hubromusic.com/
Zweizz & Joey Hopkins