Josefus-Dead Man & SXSW   Before we get to Josefus, and their classic, Dead Man, a precursor album of hard rock that was seemingly lost except to an informed group of fans and enthusiasts, I have a story to tell. As full time resident of Austin, I am now entitled to complain about SXSW.The first few years we were living here during the winter-spring season (and returning to New York for the remainder of the year), we’d “do” SX—take in some shows, go to a few panel discussions and just walk the scene. I’m told, like everything else here, that it was “way better”... Read More

Blackwater Park- Dirt Box  An early hard rock release from Germany featuring an English singer, Blackwater Park is familiar to Opeth fans because it is also the title of an album that may represent Opeth’s peak as a metal band (before Opeth eventually turned to more naturally voiced, progressive rock sounds). Beyond name-checking this early band, I don’t recall much similarity to the Opeth album but admittedly, it’s been a while since I played Opeth’s Blackwater Park. This record, by contrast, is more straight ahead hard rock of the heavy variety; original pressings on BASF are... Read More

Orne –Tree of Life   Ever listen to “doom prog”?  Tree of Life by Orne is a beautiful, dark journey that manages to avoid some of the clichés of the genre but shines in unexpected ways. Orne is an offshoot of the doom metal band Reverend Bizarre and started life as Mesmer. By the time of this release in 2011 (on Black Widow Records of Italy), Orne seems to have captured their muse, delivering a moody, delicate brooding sound without too much sameness. The album is very atmospheric—you let it play, rather than “listen” to it. The spoken word bit at the beginning of the album... Read More

Cargo    This Dutch hard rock outing was originally released in 1972 on Harvest in the Netherlands as Cargo and consisted of four tracks. At the time of recording, the band was originally known as September. Various reissues have included “bonus” tracks. The most current reissue on vinyl (2017) is on the Pseudonym label (which appears to be identical to that label’s 2012 reissue); it contains the original four tracks, with a handful of demo tracks that were allegedly unreleased, spread over two LPs.   Although the original album is a known collectible, and priced accordingly,... Read More