BlackWater Holylight – Page 2

Blackwater Holylight’s new album is due October 22nd, but the first single is out now.

Portland, OR band Blackwater Holylight announce their forthcoming third album Silence/Motion on RidingEasy Records today, sharing the lead single “Around You.” Hear & share “Around You” via YouTube, Spotify and Bandcamp.)

The band also announce tour dates with former RidingEasy labelmates Monolord in Europe in November-December, followed by North American shows with All Them Witches. Please see all dates below.

Empty surrounds all of me. It’s a poignant line from the third album by Blackwater Holylight that encapsulates the search for self when suddenly everything has changed. There’s a theme of processing vast personal trauma throughout Silence/Motion that eloquently — both lyrically and musically — and simultaneously embodies the crushing emptiness, sorrow, strength and rebuilding of recovering from personal devastation.

“There was so much grief both in the world and interpersonally during the process of creating Silence/Motion,” says vocalist/bassist Allison “Sunny” Faris. “The four of us gave one another more space to be ourselves, to experiment with each other’s ideas and to be gentle with one another more than we ever have before. So, we knew this tenderness would manifest in extremely honest arrangements, and I think that you can hear that throughout the record.”

Curiously, considering the dark times in which it was created, this is the band’s most melodic and catchy music so far. Blackwater Holylight, as the name suggests, is all about contrasts: It’s a fluid convergence of sound that’s heavy, psychedelic, melodic, terrifying and beautiful all at once. And, Silence/Motion finds the band honing those contrasts, letting ideas and moods fully develop from song to song, rather than filling every song with a full range of their capabilities. It allows the band to go fully prog-rock here, and simply stay hushed and intimate there. There’s a new confidence to the band in how seamlessly they wield their stylistic amalgam.

“Writing this album was extraordinarily difficult emotionally, however it did come to fruition fairly quickly,” Faris says. “In the past, the theme of vulnerability has always been a big player and it definitely showed up full force while writing this album.”
Blackwater Holylight recorded the album as a four piece: Faris on vocals and guitar (on “Silence/Motion”, “MDIII”, “Around You” and “Every Corner”) and bass for the remainder, Sarah McKenna on synths, Mikayla Mayhew on guitar (and bass when Faris plays guitar) and drummer Eliese Dorsay. New second guitarist Erika Osterhout will perform the songs with them live. For Silence/Motion the band chose to work with a producer for the first time, bringing in A.L.N. (of Mizmor, Hell) to produce, along with recording engineer Dylan White — who also helmed their previous album Veils of Winter (2019) — at Odessa Recording Studio in Portland, OR. Guest vocals on album opener “Delusional” are by Bryan Funck (Thou.) Mike Paparo (Inter Arma) and A.LN. (Mizmor, Hell) lend guest vocals to album closer “Every Corner.”

Silence/Motion opens softly with interwoven folky single note guitars over an ominous sounding drone for the first minute, akin to moments from Pink Floyd’s Echoes. Suddenly an irresistibly head-nodding, groovy droptuned riff kicks in with the drums and it’s a full on blackened rocker with soaring synths and Funck’s witchy whispers over the top. “Who The Hell,” the track quoted above, takes proceedings into a Krautrock direction, centered around McKenna’s arpeggiated synth loop and Dorsay’s tom-tom triplets, while 16-note guitar strums add tension as Faris wearily sings, “So tell me who the hell would want to live this way — so afraid/ To feel this void, to dwell in it… I can’t describe this pain I wear/ It suffocates and you left it here.” It’s an incredibly powerful 6 minutes. The title track delivers the 1-2-3 punch of the album’s brilliant opening trilogy. It starts with lightly plucked acoustic guitar, plaintive piano chords and Faris’ voice gliding so softly it sounds more like a Mellotron. The song builds slowly toward crescendo, led by a swinging tom pattern, that abruptly switches back to a heavier version of the opening melody.“Silence/Motion” is about digesting and healing from sexual assault. As Faris explains, “It is an ode to the juxtaposition of feeling paralyzingly blank and and like your entire life is moving through you simultaneously.” Elsewhere, Black Metal guitars collide with dreamlike melodies. “Around You” brandishes a hopeful, hummable synth melody and shimmering shoegaze guitars like throwing down a gauntlet. In the end, it becomes undeniably clear just how completely into their own Blackwater Holylight has come.

“The analogy is that with our first record (Blackwater Holylight, 2018) we were getting into to the car and buckling up,” Faris says. “The second (Veils of Winter, 2019) we were turning the car on, and with this third we have kicked into drive toward our destination. Our destination is a bit mysterious and has the ability to change from day to day, but we’re on our way.”

Silence/Motion will be available on LP, CD and download on October 22nd, 2021 via RidingEasy Records.

BLACKWATER HOLYLIGHT LIVE 2021 – 2022: 11.18 – Oberhausen (DE) – Kulttempel / *11.19 – Utrecht (NL) – DB’s / *11.20 – Nijmegen (NL) – Doornroosje / *11.21 – Antwerp (BE) – Zappa / *11.22 – Bristol (UK) – Exchange / *11.23 – Glasgow (UK) – Stereo / *11.24 – London (UK) – Underworld / *11.25 – Manchester (UK) – The Bread Shed / *11.26 – Dunkerque (FR) – 4 Ecluses / *11.27 – Paris (FR) – Petit Bain / *11.28 – Toulouse (FR) – Rex/ *11.30 – Madrid (SP) – Caracol / *12.01 – Barcelona (SP) – Boveda / *12.02 – Annecy (FR) – Brise Glace / *12.03 – Aarau (CH) – Kiff / *12.04 – Vienna (AT) – Arena / *12.05 – Dresden (DE) – Chemiefabrik / *12.06 – Berlin (DE) – Zukunft am Ostkreuz / *12.07 – Hamburg (DE) – Bahnhof St. Pauli / *12.08 – Copenhagen (DK) – Stengade / *12.09 – Gothenburg (SE) – Pustervik / *12.10 – Stockholm (SE) – Debaser Strand / *12.11 – Malmö (SE) – Babel / *12.12 – Oslo (NO) – Youngs *
* w/ Monolord
01.21 – Dallas, TX – Trees # / 01.22 – Austin, TX – Mohawk # / 01.23 – San Antonio, TX – Paper Tiger # / 01.24 – Phoenix, NV – Crescent Ballroom # / 01.27 – San Diego, CA – Belly Up Tavern # / 01.28 – Los Angeles, CA – The Regent Theater # / 01.29 – San Francisco, CA – The Fillmore # / 01.31 – Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom # / 02.01 – Vancouver, BC – Commodore Ballroom # / 02.02 – Seattle, WA – The Showbox # / 02.04 – Salt Lake City, UT – Kilby Court / 02.05 – Denver, CO – Gothic Theater # / 02.06 – Fort Collins, CO – Aggie Theater #
# w/ All Them Witches

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[Thanks to Dave at US / THEM Group.]

Psycho Las Vegas 2021 recap: Day One

I wasn’t sure what to expect at the 2021 Psycho Las Vegas music festival. I’d bought tickets to the 2020 festival, but that was, like everything else, cancelled due to the pandemic. I kept the tickets in hopes that most, if not all, of the bands would return. Most did, but there were some absences that were bummers (Windhand, Mephistofeles, and Boris in particular). There were also additions that were quite welcome (Osees, Frankie and the Witch Fingers, Thievery Corporation).

I also had no idea what to expect in terms of healthy safety measures and how I, my wife, and people in general were going to react to be at a music festival again, or even in a casino and among large groups of people again. Nonetheless, we took our vaccinated bodies to Sin City and were happy to discover that the airplane, airport, and all businesses in Nevada are under a mask mandate.

My guess is that 70% of festival crowd was masked nearly all the time. The only person I heard complaining about it was Glenn Danzig (more on that later). The biggest health hazard complaint I had was due to the stunning amount of smokers. I’ve been gone from festivals for so long that I’d forgotten how many people smoke at them, let alone in casinos. Plus, marijuana is legal in Nevada, so the stank of the sticky-icky was everywhere. It’s illegal to smoke it in public, but the odds of you getting cited for it are slim to none.

The festival opened on Thursday, August 19th, with the “Psycho Swim” kick-off party. The festival is held at the Mandalay Bay Casino Hotel, and the “Psycho Swim” is at their Daylight Beach Club – where the security didn’t allow you to bring in a wallet chain or even gum. The pool was full of metal fans, psych-weirdos, music nerds, and, yes, some sexy people.

Everyone is sinking in this pool because the festival was so metal-heavy.

No, we didn’t get into the pool. It was too crowded by the time we got there, and we were mainly there to see bands for the first time in almost two years. The first was Here Lies Man, who opened the entire festival with their groovy, Afro-doom riffs.

For the record, I was the only one in the crowd with a Here Lies Man shirt (which I picked up from them at the last Levitation Music Festival in Austin). I got to thank many of the HLM members after the show, and J.P., the bassist, was kind enough to give me his set list.

It was their first show in two years. This would be a repeated theme from nearly every band we saw over the weekend. All of them were excited to be playing a live show in front of a crowd again.

Up next were Blackwater Holylight, who started off their set by saying, “Okay, we’re going to play some depressing songs for you.” Their doom-psych was appreciated by the crowd, and their upcoming album should be pretty good – judging from the songs they played from it.

Blackwater Holylight were perhaps the only band all weekend who appropriately dressed for the desert heat.

We left for a little while to enjoy some air conditioning and lunch at an Irish pub in the shopping center that connects Mandalay Bay and the Luxor (where we stayed for about half the price of a room at Mandalay Bay). I recommend the turkey burger. We returned in time for Death Valley Girls‘ set, which was the best of the night. They played a wild set of mystical psychedelia. Lead singer Bonnie Bloomgarden, seeming to draw power from the moon, wore a red dress that made her look like a ghost from a Dario Argento movie and a belt that looked like she won it in a professional wrestling match with a cyborg from the year 2305 (and, for all I know, she did). There were a few times when I wasn’t sure if she was wiping sweat from her face or tears from being so happy that they were performing their “first show in about three hundred years,” as she put it. Guitarist Larry Schemel was on fire as well, unleashing some heavy riffs throughout the set. I chatted with him afterwards for a moment, and thanked him for coming out to the festival. He thanked me and said, “This feels weird. It’s our first show after so long…It’s bizarre.” He also gave me his set list, which was a surprise gift.

“Look at the moon!” – Bonnie Bloomgarden (in red dress) points out her cosmic guide for the evening.

It was a good start to the weekend. We had good music, good food, everyone was being cool about each other’s health (the resorts had plenty of hand sanitizer stations and free masks), and we had plenty of time to sleep in the next day.

Up next, dirty metal, psych-rock, stoner metal, electro-goth, shoe gaze, and…bossa nova?

Keep your mind open.

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Blackwater Holylight announces March U.S. west coast tour.

“This quartet has been burning up stages all around their hometown, fueled by their abrasive blend of doom metal, psych rock, goth and a tangy soupçon of pop music… They landed a spot on the 2018 Best New Band poll in alt-weekly Willamette Week, but could quickly take over the world.” — Paste Magazine
“They mesh elements of doom, Krautrock and atmospheric indie into one bewitching rock whole.” –Classic Rock Magazine
“A greasy, sun-baked rock jam calling back to the genre’s classic days while showcasing a heavy doom edge that gives it a modern spin.” 6 Best New Songs Right Now — Revolver Magazine

Portland, OR quintet Blackwater Holylight announce March 2020 headlining tour dates today, while also releasing a new video. The clip is a dramatic art short film set to the song “Jizz Witch” from the band’s 2018 self-titled debut album. Watch/share the video via YouTube HERE. Please see current tour dates below.
Blackwater Holylight released their acclaimed sophomore album Veils of Winter (RidingEasy Records) in October 2019. Hear/share Veils of Winter: YouTube, Bandcamp, Spotify.

Keep your mind open.

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Top 30 albums of 2019: #’s 20 – 16

We’re into the top 20 albums from the year that I heard and reviewed. Let’s do this.

#20 – Blackwater Holylight – Veils of Winter

Blending goth, psychedelia, and doom, Blackwater Holylight crafted one of the coolest and creepiest records of the year. Witches coven vocal harmonies and cosmic horror synths roll along like fog across a moor and draw you into what at first sounds like the end of your mortal coil but turns out to be a pretty neat party.

#19 – Khruangbin – Hasta El Cielo

Khruangbin’s Con Todo El Mundo was already amazing, but then they released this dub version of it, and it’s just as good. It’s richly layered and probably the best chill-out record of 2019.

#18 – Comacozer – Mydriasis

Be sure to check out these guys if you’re a fan of dwarf star matter-heavy stoner metal. Comacozer’s Mydriasis consists of only four tracks, but they add up to enough time for a full album. They take delight in exploring long jams, cosmic highways, and hanging out with ancient gods.

#17 – King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard – Infest the Rats’ Nest

Speaking of heavy, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard decided to release two albums this year. The first was Fishing for Fishies (#26 on this list), and the second was this thrash metal album. Like “Fishies,” it’s also heavy on environmental themes and even heavier on shredding. They pretty much did it as a lark and it ended up being one of the best metal albums of the year.

#16 – Chromatics – Closer to Gray

Everyone was expecting the long-awaited (and long since destroyed) Dear Tommy, but we got Closer to Gray instead. It’s pretty much a giallo film soundtrack with plenty of sexy synthwave, Ruth Radelet’s haunting vocals, and a stunning cover of “The Sounds of Silence.”

The top 15 are coming up later today. Stick around!

Keep your mind open.

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Levitation Austin 2019 recap – Day Three

We would spend about twelve hours in downtown Austin on the third day of Levitation Austin 2019. We had tickets to see a lot of bands, and it was the busiest day of the festival for everyone involved.

We began at, once again, Barracuda, where the RidingEasy Records showcase started off the afternoon. We missed the opening of Warish‘s set due to having to eat lunch beforehand at a nearby Thai restaurant. We knew we’d need fuel for the day. Warish was blaring on the inside stage, making my wife say, “There’s nothing ‘ish’ about it!” Their cover of Nirvana‘s “Negative Creep” was solid and much-appreciated.

Next up, and outside, were Here Lies Man, whose last two albums have been in the top ten of their respective years for me. They put on a groovy set to a crowd that was loving their heavy “Black Sabbath plays Afrobeat” sound and the warmer weather.

My wife became a fan of Blackwater Holylight after we went back inside to see their set. It was a cool, trippy, and sexy mix of psychedelia.

She also appreciated the killer set by The Well, who were among the band’s I was most excited to see at the festival. They threw down one of the best sets I’ve seen all year. It was hard-hitting, solid groove stoner-doom metal and a great mid-day lift.

We kept that theme going with Acid King, who flattened what little was left of the outside stage by now. It was great to see and hear these legends live. They still shred.

It was a quick walk to Stubb’s BBQ to see the Black Angels and John Cale. The Black Angels put on another fine set. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve seen them live now, and they never put on a bad show.

“I think we’re more excited than you are,” said the Black Angels’ lead singer, Alex Maas, before John Cale took the stage to play tracks that ranged from fun to creepy and covered his solo work and Velvet Underground cuts. The Black Angels joined him and his band onstage for an encore performance of “Sister Ray” that was a thrill for everyone on stage and in front of it.

The Black Angels (left) and John Cale and his band perform “Sister Ray.”

As cool as that was to see and hear, we still had more sets to catch. We zipped back to Barracuda to see Night Beats and Cosmonauts. Night Beats were first, with Danny Blackwell rocking his awesome hat as usual, and they put on a great show on the outdoor stage. Blackwell is a gunslinger with his guitar. I’d almost forgotten how much he shreds.

I’d heard good things about Cosmonauts’ live sets, mostly that they were guitar onslaughts. That description wasn’t far off, because they shook the walls of the building and were a great end cap to a long, wild day.

We were exhausted by the time we got back to the garage apartment we were renting in Austin, but it was a fun day. The next would bring death by audio.

Keep your mind open.

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Review: Blackwater Holylight – Veils of Winter

Mixing power doom riffs with shoegaze, psychedelia, and, for all I know, mystic rituals carved onto pillars in Atlantean ruins, Blackwater Holylight‘s second album, Veils of Winter, is another fine, mysterious, heavy album from them.

The opener, “Seeping Secrets,” is doom metal perfection, and those doom metal riffs continue onto “Motorcycle” – which even puts into krautrock beats and synths. “Spiders” is so close to post-punk grooves that I kept expecting to hear a saxophone solo in it. We get spooky house synths instead, which is even better.

“The Protector” seems to be about some sort of forest spirit that is an absolute beast if crossed. The heavy drums and fuzzed guitars sure seem to indicate this. The haunting vocal harmonies on “Daylight” are counterbalanced by war hammer bass and drums. “Death Realms” has a foreboding title, but it’s a lovely track with some of the brightest guitars on the record and dreamwave-like synths. It’s a great example of Blackwater Holylight‘s love of musical contrasts and toying with the listener’s expectations.

“Lullaby” has a hypnotic, repeating three-note structure that builds into a lush, trippy track with a neat fuzzy punch near the end. The album’s closer, “Moonlit,” combines psychedelia with Middle Eastern rhythms and more fascinating vocal harmonies.

I’ve tried to figure out what “veils of winter” could be. The first image that came to mind was a winter day with a cloudless sky and bright sun but bone chilling temperatures. The sun is a veil over the cold. Another was a moonlit winter night over a snow-covered landscape with the moonlight reflecting off the snow to push back the veil of the surrounding dark.

I could also be reading far too much into the album’s title, but those images that came to my mind seem fitting for Blackwater Holylight’s music. They veil and unveil their musical influences throughout Veils of Winter whenever the mood strikes them. It becomes mysterious, thrilling, and sometimes chilling.

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Blackwater Holylight take us into “Death Realms” with their new single.

Portland, OR quintet Blackwater Holylight have shared the second single from their forthcoming sophomore album Veils of Winter (RidingEasy Records). Hear and share the pop-hook laced “Death Realms” via YouTube and Bandcamp.

The band previously dropped the immediately classic lead track “Motorcycle” via YouTube and all streaming platforms last month. Blackwater Holylight hit the road later this month, supporting Thou for a handful of Southern dates, followed by the full US with former RidingEasy label mates Monolord in November. Please see complete dates below.

Blackwater Holylight, as the name suggests, is all about contrasts. It’s a fluid convergence of sound that’s heavy, psychedelic, melodic, terrifying and beautiful all at once.

As a heavy band, their songs aren’t anchored to riffs, but rather riffs come and go in waves that surface throughout the band’s meditative, entrancing songs. It’s a hypnotic sound, with orchestral structures that often build tension and intrigue before turning the song on its head — not by simply getting louder or heavier, nor by just layering elements. They expertly subvert the implied heaviness of a part, dissecting it and splaying the song’s guts out to seep across the sonic spectrum. Now, having toured extensively following the band’s wildly-successful breakout self-titled debut in 2018, Blackwater Holylight has honed their sound and identity to a powerfully captivating beast. Their live set is all about the slow build, seeming to combine the melodic tension of early Sonic Youth crossed with the laconic fever-dream blues of the first Black Sabbath album and wiry experimentation of post-punk and krautrock. The lineup on this album is Allison (Sunny) Faris (bass/vocals), Laura Hopkins (guitar/vocals) and Sarah McKenna (synths), with new guitarist Mikayla Mayhew and drummer Eliese Dorsay fleshing out their sound in exciting ways.

“The process of this album was vastly different from our first record,” says Faris. “One, because we recorded it over the course of a few weeks, whereas the first record was over the course of about a year. And two, this album was a true collaboration between the five of us. Each of us had extremely equal parts in writing and producing, we all bounced ideas off each together, and we all had a say in what was going on during every part of the process.”

“One of our favorite things about this album is that because it was so collaborative, we didn’t compartmentalize ourselves into one vibe.” She continues. “It’s heavy, psychedelic, pop, shoegaze, doom, grunge, melodic and more. The whole process was extremely organic and natural for us, we were just being ourselves.”

Veils of Winter opens with fuzzed-drenched, drop-tuned bass and baritone guitar leading a dirge riff on “Seeping Secrets.” Faris’ lilting and funereal vocals drop in, adding to the mournful atmosphere until a short turnaround progression hints at changes to come, as Faris and Hopkins harmonize eerily and the tune suddenly turns into a krautrock charge. “Motorcycle” kicks off deceptively with a heavy grunge riff building up for about 40-seconds before the song abruptly shifts gears into a synth-led post-punk harmony, sounding something like Lush meets Syd Barrett era Pink Floyd. “Death Realms” is perhaps the poppiest track, based around soaring shoegaze guitars and interwoven light vocal harmonies. Soft piano notes, occasional woozy whammy bar dives and a driving tom-tom beat solidify its hooks. “Spiders” is a creepy-crawly guitar riff and counterpoint keys, while “Moonlit” explores prog-structures with a shredding guitar solo crescendo. The penultimate track, “Lullaby” is exactly that, a lulling, expansive tune exemplifying Blackwater Holylight’s genre smashing sound as it subtly moves across a vast sonic landscape atop a hypnotic 6/8 beat and repetitive 3-note motif. Throughout the album, their songs shirk traditional verse-chorus-verse structure in favor of fluid, serpentine compositions that move with commanding grace.

Veils of Winter will be available on LP, CD and download on October 11th, 2019 via RidingEasy Records. Pre-orders are available at www.ridingeasyrecs.com.

BLACKWATER HOLYLIGHT LIVE 2019: # 09/28 Gainesville, FL @ The Atlantic # 09/29 Pensacola, FL @ Chizuco # 10/10-13 Lake Perris, CA @ Desert Daze Festival 10/24 Portland, OR @ Star Theater – Album release show 11/05 San Diego, CA @ Brick By Brick * 11/06 Tucson, AZ @ Club Congress * 11/07 Albuquerque, NM @ Sister * 11/09 Austin, TX @ Barracuda – Levitation Fest – RidingEasy Stage 11/10 Lafayette, LA @ Freetown Boom Boom Room * 11/11 New Orleans, LA @ One Eyed Jacks * 11/12 Atlanta, GA @ 529 * 11/13 Asheville, NC @ Mothlight * 11/14 Richmond, VA @ Camel * 11/15 Baltimore, MD @ Metro Gallery * 11/16 Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church * 11/17 New York, NY @ Saint Vitus * 11/20 Chicago, IL @ Reggie’s * 11/21 Indianapolis, IN @ Black Circle Brewing * 11/22 St. Louis, MO @ Fubar * 11/23 Lawrence, KS @ The Bottleneck * 11/25 Denver, CO @ Marquis Theater * 11/27 Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom * 12/05 Seattle, WA @ Neumos ^ 12/06 Eugene, OR @ WOW Hall ^ 12/07 Portland, OR @ Bossanova Ballroom ^ # w/ Thou * w/ Monolord ^ w/ Yob

Keep your mind open.

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Blackwater Holylight take us on a “Motorcycle” ride ahead of their new album – “Veils of Winter.”

“An ambient blend of psychedelic vintage poppy hooks and crushingly heavy sludge.” — Metal Hammer

“They mesh elements of doom, Krautrock and atmospheric indie into one bewitching rock whole.” —Classic Rock Magazine

Portland, OR quintet Blackwater Holylight announce their forthcoming sophomore album Veils of Winter (RidingEasy Records) today, sharing the lead single. Hear and share the immediately classic hooks of “Motorcycle” via Bandcamp and YouTube.

Blackwater Holylight hit the road hard this Fall, supporting former RidingEasy label mates Monolord throughout the US in November, as well as Thou in September, plus a handful of hometown shows. Please see complete dates below.

Blackwater Holylight, as the name suggests, is all about contrasts. It’s a fluid convergence of sound that’s heavy, psychedelic, melodic, terrifying and beautiful all at once.

Now, having toured extensively following the band’s wildly-successful breakout self-titled debut in 2018, Blackwater Holylight has honed their sound and identity to a powerfully captivating beast. Their live set is all about the slow build, seeming to combine the melodic tension of early Sonic Youth crossed with the laconic fever-dream blues of the first Black Sabbath album and wiry experimentation of post-punk and krautrock.

The lineup on this album is Allison (Sunny) Faris (bass/vocals), Laura Hopkins (guitar/vocals) and Sarah McKenna (synths), with new guitarist Mikayla Mayhew and drummer Eliese Dorsay fleshing out their sound in exciting ways.

Veils of Winter will be available on LP, CD and download on October 11th, 2019 via RidingEasy Records. Pre-orders are available at www.ridingeasyrecs.com.

BLACKWATER HOLYLIGHT LIVE 2019: 08/24 Portland, OR @ Star Theater w/ Kadavar, Danava 09/23 Tallahassee, FL @ The Bark # 09/24 Tampa, FL @ The Blue Note # 09/26 Miami, FL @ Las Rosa’s # 09/27 Orlando, FL @ Will’s Pub # 09/28 Gainesville, FL @ The Atlantic # 09/29 Pensacola, FL @ Chizuco # 10/24 Portland, OR @ Star Theater – Album release show 11/05 San Diego, CA @ Brick By Brick * 11/06 Tucson, AZ @ Club Congress * 11/07 Albuquerque, NM @ Sister * 11/09 Austin, TX @ Barracuda – Levitation Fest – RidingEasy Stage 11/10 Lafayette, LA @ Freetown Boom Boom Room * 11/11 New Orleans, LA @ One Eyed Jacks * 11/12 Atlanta, GA @ 529 * 11/13 Asheville, NC @ Mothlight * 11/14 Richmond, VA @ Camel * 11/15 Baltimore, MD @ Metro Gallery * 11/16 Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church * 11/17 New York, NY @ Saint Vitus * 11/20 Chicago, IL @ Reggie’s * 11/21 Indianapolis, IN @ Black Circle Brewing * 11/22 St. Louis, MO @ Fubar * 11/23 Lawrence, KS @ The Bottleneck * 11/25 Denver, CO @ Marquis Theater * 11/27 Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom * # w/ Thou * w/ Monolord

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Blackwater Holylight’s new album due this October.

File this under: Best News You’ve Read Today.

Doom / psych / goth rock band Blackwater Holylight announced they’re in the process of recording a new album due this October. Their self-titled debut album was one of my favorite debut records of 2018.

They’re also embarking on a European tour after a couple dates in the western U.S., so catch them if you can. I hope these ladies hit Austin’s Levitation festival in the fall.

BLACKWATER HOLYLIGHT LIVE: 04/16 Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge w/ R.I.P. 04/20 Los Angeles, CA @ Psycho Smokeout Festival 04/26 Linz, AT @ Stadtwerkstatt 05/01 Bristol, UK @ The Lanes 05/02 Newcastle, UK @ Trillans 05/03 London, UK @ DesertFest 05/04 Liege, BE @ La Zone 05/05 Berlin, DE @ DesertFest 05/08 Malmo, SE @ Plan B 05/09 Stockholm, SE @ Undergangen 05/10 Gothenburg, SE W Truckstop Alaska 05/11 Esbjerg, DK @ Esbjerg Fuzzfestival 05/13 Oldenburg, DE @ MTS LP Store 05/14 Berlin, DE @ Zukunft 05/15 Vienna, AT @ Aerena Beisl 05/16 Olten, CH @ Coq’D’or 05/17 Innsbruck, AT @ PMK

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Top 30 Albums of 2018: #’s 20 – 16

We’ve reached the top 20!

#20: Diagonal – Tomorrow – My wife doesn’t really like shoegaze music. She just doesn’t get it. This record, however, made her say she might grow to like shoegaze. I can’t write a better recap than that.

#19: Blackwater Holylight (self-titled) – This debut from these dark psych rockers has sexy goth touches, doom riffs, and psychedelic flair that made it high on my list this year.

#18: Neko Case – Hell-On – Case’s latest is another beautiful record of masterful songwriting, sometimes heartbreaking lyrics, and plenty of folk, Americana, and outlaw touches.

#17: Shopping – The Official Body – This post-punk fun-fest is poppy, peppy, and punky. It’s fun from beginning to end.

#16: Terminal Mind – Recordings – Speaking of punk, this reissue of rare material from Austin, Texas punk legends Terminal Mind was a great time capsule from the Regan administration and full of anger, chugging riffs, and trashing of authority figures.

Keep your mind open.

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