An Interview With Psychedelic Doom/Stoner Metallers TERRA BLACK

Doom/Stoner Metallers TERRA BLACK release their spellbinding new album this Friday and we're excited to host the exclusive album premiere which you can listen to in full from this link.

The record is a great mix of Psych, Doom, Stoner, and Cosmic based sounds that's quite different to their acclaimed debut album All Descend. This record allows TERRA BLACK to move their music into great Spaced Out heights whilst keeping an epic Occult Rock groove that has massive amounts of distorted psychedelic momentum to truly standout from the crowd.

I caught up with the band to discuss the evolution of their music and the making of the new album.

Hi folks. Thanks for doing the interview. How are things with you today?

We’re great, thank you for having us.

For those not in the know, can you give us a brief history of how the band came together and where you are today?

The band was formed in 2020 by Ezgi, Denice, and Sophie. We released our first single in early 2021, shortly after Isak joined the band. We spent the following years playing live, mostly around our hometown of Gothenburg, Sweden, and later released a second single.

After that, we reached a point where we felt the need to take full control of our music and the way it was recorded. So, instead of handing the process over to someone else, we started setting up microphones, getting our gear together, and figuring it out ourselves. That process eventually became our first full length album, All Descend.

We’ve also had some great gigs along the way, including appearances at metal festivals such as Gefle Metal Festival and House of Metal. It was at House of Metal in Umeå where we met Max Malmer from Bone Bag Records, the record label we’re now signed to.

How would you describe your own sound?

The short version is stoner/doom. However, we find it hard putting our music into one specific label, since what is Terra Black is the mix of crushing, bass-heavy doom riffs with clean, delicate vocals, creating an eerie contrast. The lyrics can move from grotesque and unsettling to poetic and beautiful, and that tension between heaviness, fragility, darkness, and beauty is a big part of what makes it feel like Terra Black.

Your new album is Mirage and we’re premiering (premiere link) it today at Outlaws of the Sun. What can people expect from the album, particularly as it’s quite different from your previous album?

Heaviness without aggression, drone riffs and mystique. But it also depends on the listeners’ state of mind. We think you can expect to be immersed in something quite interesting if you’re open to it and get a different experience depending on the surroundings. Our new album consists of songs that, of course, can be enjoyed separately, but it’s constructed in a way to really draw you in and keep you on a journey throughout the album.

There is a strong sense of atmosphere and a kind of journey running through it too, with heavy cosmic interludes alongside your occult, doom, psych and stoner rock passages. Can you tell us more about the concept behind the album and how that developed?

The concept with something of a timeline or a journey gradually became clear while writing the songs and getting a sense of the overall mood. Compared to our debut album, All Descend, this new one felt a lot darker and less philosophical, rather down to earth and quite visceral.

The Gathering was set to be the opening track pretty much right away, and that’s where the journey starts. It is inspired by the old Norse blót, a ritual offering meant to reach the forces beyond the human world. The serpent connects different realms: life and death, above and below, the known and the unknown. It also reflects the darkness within us: fear, mortality and everything beyond our control. The song is about confronting these things rather than escaping them. The blót becomes a surrender to fate and to the ancient forces beneath existence.

Although it can also be interpreted as something destructive springing into existence, that causes the world to suffer and eventually kills everything that we see as life. But is there something else, outside the limits of physical existence, waiting to be discovered?

While the theme of the album is obviously apocalyptic, not made less clear with tracks like Maze and Ruins, it really is about the personal experience and what it does to the listener. We wanted to make something immersive that awakens something real, whether it’s fear, hope or an existential crisis.

Was this a hard album to write and record for?

We wrote and recorded the songs during a period of about three years, so the album was certainly a slow burner. This approach gave us a lot of time to listen to the mixes, think about the album as a whole and really work together without any pressure or deadline (our Google Drive folder for the album is named “Album 2024”, didn’t really work out too well).

To us, this was probably an essential component in creating something more complex with a thematic thread and not “just” a collection of songs. So, the brief answer would be yes; we would even go so far as to say that the recording style influenced what songs we wrote.

Recording live, in our opinion, gives the songs so much more life, even if it means accepting a few unfixable mishaps. Doing it in such a small space will introduce a lot of microphone bleed and, in our case, some quite nasty boominess. Even so, the tracks came out balanced, we think, but foremost, it has that live feel to it. The vocals were added in post, though. There are a few cases of guitar dubbing, but the production was kept as sparse as possible, not to take anything away from that live session.

What is the creative process within the band? Do you write the music together, or do certain people within the band take the lead?

The way we create music hasn’t changed. We’re a considerate group with different musical backgrounds and sometimes different preferences, but we always tend to find a good middle ground through open discussion. It’s certainly a collective effort and it will continue like that.

We really do like contrasts and, in a way, contradictions. Some lyrics could be seen as almost disgusting (looking at you, Spawn of Lyssa) and others much more poetic and beautiful. We don’t really think about the balance between these elements when writing songs; rather, the riff gets a pass if it “feels Terra Black”, and that’s a bit hard to pinpoint.

Looking at Mirage alongside All Descend, how do you feel your sound has developed, and do you have a sense of where Terra Black might go next?

The sound has gotten a lot darker, heavier and quite a bit more sinister. It does feel like we’ve found our musical space with Mirage, although All Descend was a clear step towards this place. Something so practical as better gear has also made a huge difference. Being able to blast the room with (literally) glass-shattering guitar tones does influence how you perceive the music.

It’s hard to say where we’re heading, but judging by the new songs starting to form, it won’t stray far from what you hear on Mirage. With Terra Black, we hope we’re heading towards a place where music could be an even bigger part of our lives, since that’s what we live for.

Words by Steve Howe and TERRA BLACK

Thanks to Sheltered Life PR for the promo.

Mirage is available to buy now on CD/DD/Vinyl via Bonebag Records.

Links

Bandcamp | Facebook | Spotify | Instagram | Apple Music

An Interview With Doom/Sludge/Stoner Metallers EARTHBONG

Doom/Stoner Metallers EARTHBONG are preparing to release their fourth album Salutations To The Cultivators and it's shaping up to be their heaviest and most impressive record to date. Taking a more Psychedelic and Spaced Out sound for this record which allows EARTHBONG to still be themselves for a collection of stunning melodies and PISSED OFF Doomed Out Aggression when the times call for it.

EARTHBONG's previous albums have been warmly and lovingly received by the Doom, Sludge and Stoner Metal community and this record will be no different. 

I was given the chance to catch up with the guys and it's been a long time since we last featured them. So read on for a great interview with the mighty EARTHBONG

Hi guys. Thanks for doing the interview. How are things with you today?

You’re welcome, thank you for having us! We’re doing good, trying to make the most out of the time before the release. We’re planning a video shoot for the 2nd single, if everything goes according to plan it’s gonna be a great video. Besides from that we’re preparing for the shows in October and November and work on some new ideas already.

For folks not in the know, can you give a brief history of how the band came together and where is it today?

Selly: We started the band because we all wanted to do something doomy. I knew tommy over some friends of my earlier music project, and I knew he would be perfect to work with on some slow stuff. I think I met Claas at our first jam with Tommy. The vibe instantly felt really good to me and if I remember correctly, we wrote maze crawler at that first session. 

A few weeks after that SLEEP played a show in Hamburg and we all went there. After the show we were really hyped to continue with our own project, and we agreed to follow the smoke towards the riff-filled land and chose a similar sounding path as an inspiration for our own band (even though it was not yet clear that it would become one).

Over the years we grew more confident about what we want in our sound, how to write songs and how to accomplish things together as a band. Also, our workflow became a bit more planned I would say.

Claas: Absolutely agree on the “more planned” part. Tommy and I met shortly before we started with Earthbong and started another band called Kombynat Robotron with which we’re pretty active too. Ever since we started these bands we wanted to play shows, write songs, go on tour and all that stuff that you do when you’re in a rock band. 

And we’ve been doing this with two bands for over eight years now, so I think it’s kind of a natural process to get a bit more professional over the years. At least we’re trying to do that. We’re working with pøj pøj, a berlin-based booking agency for about a year now. Until that point we did everything ourselves and it’s a great thing to have someone taking care of booking because that is a large part of what being in a band is about when you want to play shows.

How would you describe your own sound?

Selly: Our sound could maybe be described as a mix of Sleep and Electric Wizard with more noisy and psychedelic aspects. Add a little bit of black/death spice to that and you get close.

Claas: Would be a shame to not quote Mike Scheidt here who once said: “They’re a Bongzilla-Sleep-Milkshake. But they get it. They are their own thing.” I think that sums it up pretty good.

Where did the name “EARTHBONG” originate from.

Selly: I was making jokes with a friend about all the names of the stoner space and we were like “what would be heavier than a bong mixed with the earth?” Also there is a way to smoke weed through a hole in the ground. We call it smoking an "Erdloch" which means basically earthhole. It wasn't that far for us to come up with Earthbong after that thought.

You have your amazing new album “Salutation to the Cultivators” due out for release in October 2026. What can people expect from the album as it’s quite different to your previous albums.

Selly: It is a bit different but not so much as you couldn't recognize our style of making music.
People can expect a slow, hazing and heavy experience like our previous records, but I think we made some noticeable improvements in our songwriting skills.

So in a way this is the natural progression of our sound. I wouldn’t say we planned it that way but we’re happy with the result.

I would say it’s heavier, thicker and more menacing but also showing a different side to the band especially with the Post-Doom and Psychedelic aspects. Was that something you’ve always wanted to do and did this feel like the next stage to take for your creative evolution as a band.

Claas: Thank you! As doom band we’re always trying to make our riffs as heavy and menacing as possible, glad to hear that it worked! I think what Selly said before about the new album being “the natural progression of our sound” is a pretty good description though. Because you mentioned the psychedelic aspects: We’ve always been experimenting with long build-ups and psychedelic parts in our music because we want to create songs that we would enjoy listening.

You named the album “Salutations to the Cultivators” after the classic “Giza Butler” track by the legendary SLEEP. Why did you choose that name for the album.

All: When we wrote the songs we felt like the inspiration for the riffs came from different directions within our genre. The main-riff of Bug felt like something that Conan would do, whereas Third Eye had a more Electric Wizard-like feeling and Herbal Saints is more Sleepy. We thought that it’d be nice to salutate not only to the cultivators of the weed but also to the cultivators of the genre. It’s our way of honoring these great bands.

I recently read that you feel that this is your most accessible record to date. Can you elaborate on that description. As I feel this record features some of your heaviest songs to date.

All: Maybe it is not the most accessible album for people who are not into that kind of music, but apart from the heaviness most of the songs on the new album are built like classic songs with variations of the good old verse/chorus/verse scheme. Compared to our approach to songwriting on our previous albums we felt like we were writing pop music sometimes.

The album does have a more progressive and cinematic feel. Was that another thing that you guys wanted to try differently for this album.

Claas: In terms of songwriting and sound I think that’s the result of playing together for more than eight years, constantly playing shows, working on new ideas and also on our equipment and sound. We wanted the new album to be a bit different from our previous albums because we didn’t want to get stuck and repeat what we already did. 

For the recording we’ve been working with our friend Felix Margraff (who also recorded the latest Kombynat Robotron album btw) for the first time and I think he’s to be credited for the cinematic feel too. Except for the vocals and some additional guitar layers we recorded everything live and Felix did a great job capturing our live sound in that room.

Your albums have had a great response within the Doom/Sludge/Stoner Metal community. Has this surprised you at how your music has been received and appreciated by the wider underground scene.

All: There were definitely some surprises over the years (the event that led to the next question is a great example for that!). To me it feels as if the response we got from the doom community grew with every album and with our efforts to be known to a bigger audience.

We put a lot of work in this band over the past eight years, not only in the music itself but also in our artworks and merch, having a recognizable social media presence, networking etc. pp. – if we hadn’t done anything and still got the same amount of attention from the community, we’d be more surprised. 

That doesn’t mean that I think because of all the work we put in this band we deserve the attention and that we’re taking everything that happened to us for granted – on the contrary. But with the knowledge of everything we did to get that attention I’d say thankful might be a better fitting word.

I love the quote that Mike from YOB said about you guys - "they get it”. Did that blow your minds when you heard about that quote.

Claas: It totally did! I remember that morning when I woke up to a message from Tommy that said “Mike Scheidt talked about us in a podcast?!”. Like, we’re just a bunch of guys from northern germany playing slow riffs, how did he even find us?

Looking back, would you change anything about your previous albums?

Claas: Looking back on One Earth One Bong I sometimes think that if we took some more time with finding our sound the album could be much heavier and therefor somewhat “better”. If we took more time in finding a label and understanding how releasing an album actually works that could’ve helped with reaching more people from the start. But we really wanted to make an album and get it out into the world and didn’t give a shit about the rest. I mean, the band was formed in May, we recorded OEOB in October and released the album in december so that was a pretty fast start.

But in the bigger picture looking back on everything we did so far I don’t think I’d change anything because I like to think of life and art as a process and I enjoy listening to bands that keep evolving rather than listening to bands who seem to do everything just right from the start and I enjoy looking back on what we did some years ago and contemplate what led to the changes we’ve made over time.

Was this a hard album to write and record for.

All: The first versions of Third Eye and Bug were recorded in 2023 so we’ve been sitting on them for a while and only had to do some minor adjustments when we prepared for the recording session. Some parts of Herbal Saints also existed for ages but it took us a lot of time to find the right frame for them. But in general I’d say the creative process of writing songs isn’t something we’re struggling with. 

Time is the limiting factor because we’re all working full- or part-time, Selly and Tommy are both in long-distance relationships and Tommy and I are busy with Kombynat Robotron too. The recording itself wasn’t hard either. So far all our albums have been recorded live in a weekend session. We arrived at the studio on Thursday evening, set everything up, spent Friday recording the songs and did vocals and additional guitars on Saturday. It’s always great to do the additional stuff on Saturday because we usually end up with adding some last-minute ideas we never thought about before.

The artwork is excellent. Who designed this artwork and how much involvement did you have within the final design(s).

All: Thank you! The artwork for Salutations to the Cultivators was designed by our dear friend Rino Pelli. Rino did the artwork for all our studio albums and for most of our merch. He is a great artist and illustrator who has also worked for bands like Have a nice life, Black Wing and our friends in Olgod, Eremit or Purple Dawn.

We have a group chat where we discuss ideas. Usually we start with a rough idea, sometimes we even try to draw something ourselves. Then Rino comes up with some sketches that we discuss and then he does something that we love. Then he spends some weeks thinking about it and sometimes he redraws everything because he isn’t satisfied with the texture of the smoke and when he’s finished it looks just great! Thank you Rino!

You’re teaming up with The Lasting Dose Records for this release. (Along with Evil Noise Recordings who you’ve worked with previously). How did you join forces with The Lasting Dose Records. One of my favourite underground labels.

All: We know Jan and Sabine for some years now, originally through our mutual friends and now label-mates Daevar with whom we played some of their first shows back in 2023.

TLDR is also home to our friends Ultrablut. When Jan and Sabine were playing in our hometown Kiel with Grin last year, I just asked Jan if he’d be interested in releasing our next album and he said yes.

Did you have any other offers from different labels to release the album.

All: Nope, we didn’t. But we didn’t try to find another one that hard after we knew that The Lasting Dose is up for it. But: If you’re reading this and you’re running a label in the USA and want to work with us for a US-release of Salutations to the Cultivators and maybe our earlier records too – get in touch with us!

Can you advise if you’ve played or currently playing in other bands so folks can check out your other musical projects.

Claas: Hehe, I’ve mentioned Kombynat Robotron a couple of times before, that’s a Kraut/Noise/Psych band where Tommy plays drums and I play bass. We still have some shows left this year including Rockpalast Festival and Keep It Low in Munich and we’re playing a UK-tour in April 2027 with the Kombynat.

Tommy also has an ambient/drone solo project called Fungal Dimension and he plays drums in a psych/jam band called Minerall with Marcel/Speck on guitars and Dave/Sula Bassana on bass

Which bands, artists or albums inspired you all to pick up a musical instrument and to become a musician.

Selly: In my Childhood I had basically no contact with Rock or Metal. Probably my most direct exposure would be ace Ventura 1 with the scene with Cannibal corpse but my childmind could not comprehend what was happening. When I turned 11 I changed schools and got a lot of new friends who showed me stuff in the Punkrock and Metal Genre. 

Also Tony Hawks Proskater opened up new Horizons for my musical growth. But still, I think Slipknot (especially with the Iowa Record) made me want to play metal music myself really bad. It took a few years but with the tender age of 14 I could borrow a bass of a friend and I joined a metal Project. With no skills but a lot of enthusiasm.

Claas: When I was about 12 or 13 most of my friends played instruments and I thought that was really cool and of course wanted to be cool too so I told my parents that I wanted to play guitar and formed a band with friends shortly after that. My older brother was into punk rock and my bandmates were into Nirvana so this is where I started.

Tommy: I started listening to my father's classic rock records at an early age and was fascinated by Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, Steppenwolf, and the like.

So, rock music was a part of my life from early on. When my older brother eventually brought home a Metallica CD, I got hooked on heavy metal. From there, the music got progressively heavier and more aggressive, eventually leading me to drone and doom metal.

In addition to playing in various school bands that covered rock and metal songs, I had a cool drum teacher who showed me just how heavy jazz can actually be.

Sleep's 'Dopesmoker' album is 95% responsible for my drumming style in Earthbong, that is something I cannot deny.

What are your high points and low points with EARTHBONG or your musical career in general?

All: High points: At our very first show in November 2018 with Eremit the power in the venue went out and through the smoke we heard someone yell: “That’s not music! That’s just sick!” I think that set the tone for everything we’ve been doing since then. Of course the australia tour we played with our friends Lucifungus in April 2025, playing ReykjaDoom Festival in Iceland, and generally being in a band with friends for so long and playing heavy riffs to people who enjoy heavy riffs!

Low points: The thing about low points is that they usually become great stories after some weeks. At least so far we didn’t have bad experiences that didn’t turn into great stories.

What is the creative process or setup within the band? Do you write the music together or do certain people within the band do that?

Claas: I get most ideas for riffs when I’m noodling on my guitar at home. Usually I record these ideas and when a riff is “ready” I bring it to the rehearsal and show it to the others and we jam on it and Selly and Tommy add their ideas to it. We record all new ideas with a zoom recorder so we can listen to them at home which helps a lot because you can listen to an idea like it’s not your own and think about what it needs to become a song you’d enjoy. 

Sometimes it takes only a couple of weeks until a new song is ready, sometimes we have an amazing riff but no idea how to make a song out of it and then it takes months or even years until we eventually get back to is and combine it with something we came up with recently.

What is the local Heavy Metal scene like in your home town of Kiel, Germany. Does this allow you to perform gigs on a regular basis and do you have a local scene that you're actively involved with?

All: Kiel has an active music scene, but it feels like the metal, punk and stoner communities tend to stay within their field and don’t go to shows of other genres that often. Despite having a university and some cool venues it’s been getting really hard to get people in Kiel to go shows, especially after Covid. We’re just an hour away from Hamburg and we’ve played Hamburg way more often than we played Kiel. 

In the past there was an association with which we organized shows for heavy bands and I did the booking for a club in Kiel once but all that fell apart due to different reasons and at the moment we’re not that much involved in our local scene. Tommy and I have been thinking about organizing a couple of shows for bands we like but at the moment we don’t enough time for it.

Will you be performing any gigs to promote the upcoming album locally or further afield.

All: We’ll celebrate the release of Salutations to the Cultivators in Oslo at the legendary Hostsabbat Festival on October 24th and we’ll play Hamburg (MS Stubnitz) on November 19th, Berlin (neue Zukunft) on November 20th and Munich (Black Mantra Festival) on November 21st. In Hamburg and Berlin we’re playing with our friends Frost, Pisse & Elend, an antifascist black metal duo that’s also from Kiel. Their singer/guitarist Feli did some vocals on Third Eye and already joined us live – let’s see what happens in Hamburg and Berlin!

Before you go, do you have any words of wisdom for your new and potential fans out there.

All: Just the usual: Keep supporting the underground, go to see bands live, buy merch and LPs directly from the artists, buy presale tickets of possible, be kind to each other aka don’t be a dick and worship the riff! Thank you very much for having us, thank you very much for reading all this if you did and thank you for listening to our music!

Words by Steve Howe and EARTHBONG

Thanks to Purple Sage PR for arranging the interview.

Salutations To The Cultivators is available to buy now on CD/DD/Vinyl via The Lasting Dose Records

Links

Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram

An Interview With Blues/Stoner Rock Artist - Max Tovstyi

Today I'm interviewing Blues/Psych/Stoner Rock artist Max Tovstyi who has been involved with a lot of great and different musical projects over the years which has spread across the Blues Rock/Stoner Rock underground scene.

Max has just released his latest EP with one of his acclaimed musical projects THE HEAVY CRAWLS where he shows a diverse mix of Psych, Blues, Garage, Stoner Rock and Folk Rock. Max has never been afraid to showcase his love of different forms of music to whatever he releases. 

I wanted to catch up with Max for a long time and I've glad that he agreed to do this epic interview. Read on to discover more about one of the most hard working individuals within the underground rock scene today.

Hi Max. How are things with you today. Thanks for doing the interview.

Thanks for having me, Steve, I am your long time fan!

You’ve had quite a long and varied career within the Heavy Rock scene. Writer, Performer, Band Member, Producer, Sound Engineer and Solo Artist. Apologies if I've missed anything out but you’re a man of many talents. Where did your musical journey begin?

I went to music school at the age of 6 and to be honest I hated it! My dad runs a record store and we always had thousands of records and CDs in our house. He is also an autograph / memorabilia collector and visits roughly 50 shows annually so it’s a no brainer we always had rock and roll playing at home, after my parents divorced I was able to get some of his collection and this is when I knew I love rock and blues, I quit piano and violin and decided to pick up guitar instead. But when I moved to Kyiv for studying in college this is when I formed my first band and we started rehearsing, getting first gigs (including paid ones!) and even doing original music.

What was your first “true” exposure for you in the scene?

I think the fact that several of my bands had female drummers made a stood out from the rest of the bands, mostly because The White Stripes were big back then too. I remember I had to bands at the time The Red Sterns (duo) and Turnaround (power trio). While Turnaround was sort of Cream, Zeppelin, Blue Cheer, Sabbath inspired band where I played with professional musicians, The Sterns got more gigs because we were a two piece with a 16 year old girl on drums (she was killing it!) and we started playing big venues and even played live on TV, she quit because she decided to go to college and quit music but this is where I figured the crowd loves girls better than bearded guys (LOL).

My next project was a two piece psychedelic rock THE CRAWLS. Again, it was just me and a female drummer but this time it was more stoner heavy rock inspired by the bands like Dead Meadow, Radio Moscow, Black Keys. We started touring right away, we had lots of live TV and radio performances, interviews and we were invited to many festivals, also got signed by Nasoni Records and I had my first vinyl release on this legendary German record label.

What was your working background before entering the working world of music?

Honestly, since I graduated from college I never really worked anywhere but music. I had some McDonald’s experience when I was a rookie and needed extra cash and later I spent a year working as a translator in an international postal office in Kyiv but starting 2010 I decided to borrow some money from friends and start my first rehearsal space / recording studio and this is also when I started promoting shows and performing full time myself (with my early bands and solo).

What inspired you to become a musician. Which artists inspired you to pick up a musical instrument.

As I said, my parents made me go to a music school which I hated. All my friends were playing video games (it was big in the late 90s!) or football (Americans call it soccer and I still can’t accept it haha) but I had to learn violin and piano. Eventually, at the age of 13-14, my love of rock music started to form. My first real love was The Doors, Pink Floyd and believe me or not Atomic Rooster (Death Walks Behind You really shifted my brain). Just months later it was also Led Zeppelin (still my no 1 band), The Stones, Deep Purple and so on. Of course all the guitar greats like Jimi or SRV.

Did you face a struggle making a name for yourself when first starting out within the scene with your work with multiple different projects you’ve been involved with.

Oh yes, nothing comes easy. We played lots of free shows or shows that paid just a little, had to promote ourselves in any way possible but eventually the fan base started to grow. I always had several bands at the same time as I had music that (in my mind) was fitting to this particular band and then the next song will be definitely a better fit for the other project. It was easy for me since I gambled on not working after getting my Master’s degree and I was spending all my time in my rehearsal space. When it was slow and no clients I was just rocking on my own just learning drums or recording demos.

What did you think was your first real “breakthrough” and “breakout” moment when people started to take notice of your work?

I’d say when we did No Time Left for fun with The Crawls and all of the sudden it was everywhere (TV, radio). I uploaded it on social media and someone said he could do a free music video for us for “gas and pizza money”. That video got like 30.000 views in the first few months and we had so many offers to play shows and we didn’t have any more songs at the time. So we did an album real quick and it was released by Nasoni and we also had some offers from Ukrainian labels as well. The next year we played Zaxid festival which, at the time, was the largest in the country. Also this is where I smashed a guitar on stage and threw it in the crowd. I felt like a proper rock star!

You’ve been involved with different musical projects over the years such as The Heavy Crawls, Crawls, Lucifer Rising and your different solo projects. What have been your most favourite and least favourite projects you’ve been involved with.

I liked all of them, I don’t think I have most and least favorite ones, I would still say The Crawls because of how fast the things worked for us, also it’s fairly easy and more fun to split the pay into two people rather than 3-4 ha ha.

Who have been your favourite artists that you’ve worked with over the years?

It was a lot of fun playing with Uli Jon Roth. He was a very nice and polite guy, a very skilled guitarist as well, damn he can play guitar for sure! Also he has Hendrix’s black strat and I am a huge Jimi fan.

You’re originally from the Ukraine which is going through a terrible time at the moment. Are you family and friends OK at this moment in time. Did you leave Ukraine before the conflict started. Do you have dreams and aspirations to go back to visit or even perform in your home country one day.

Well to be honest my family is not okay but they don’t want to leave or can’t leave. Lots of countries have stopped accepting new refugees (for example US stopped it in 2024) but in most cases people don’t want to leave their property and not everyone speak other languages than Ukrainian, most people are educated (everyone in my family and my wife’s family) and they can’t accept the fact they may have to work in a grocery store or a coffee shop just to be able to pay the bills.

The winter will be very tough, Russians are constantly targeting power plants so people have like 4 hours of electricity available daily. I still remember the night Russians attacked, it was a cold February day way below zero… My band went on a tour, we didn’t cancel a single show from our 9 cities run, most of the time we would perform in basements and bomb shelters as it was the only safe way. Honestly, felt surreal, once we were driving and saw a jet plane slicing the clouds, and also heard sirens and explosions on the horizon. 

Ukraine has such a rich musical history which I admire how you’ve incorporated into some of your current musical projects. Does that make you feel more connected to your homeland?

Yes, I believe Ukrainian music is very underrated. Sadly it was always banned by the Soviet government. I am very proud of my Dearest Mother of Mine cover. It took my nearly 3 years to finish this track.

Can you recommend some great Ukraine Artists and Bands that we can all check out. 

My favourite singer is Kvitka Cisyk, she could’ve easily been another Joni Mitchell or Joan Baez, killer voice. I know the Ukrainian metal scene is widely respected in the world so definitely check out Stoned Jesus or 1914 to name a few. I also love Chervona Ruta by Volodymyr Ivasiuk. Also late 80s Vopli Vidoplasova and blues-reggae-rock Braty Hadiukiny. I used to cover songs of both of these artists.

You’ve just released your new EP under The Heavy Crawls name. How did that project came about and what can people expect.

Well some of those songs (blues ones) didn’t make my previous solo album Songs From The Desert and we were playing them live with The Heavy Crawls so it seemed appropriate to include them in this EP. Dearest Mother Of Mine was played by the band at the Marquee Theatre. We have never played any Ukrainian songs in the history of the band but we knew it would be a huge crowd and I wanted to show how beautiful Ukrainian music is. Even though 99% of the crowd didn’t speak Ukrainian, that song was the highlight of the night! People can expect that we play these songs live and I sincerely hope they will like them! 

The EP is perhaps inspired by your love of the Blues. Was this a hard or easy record to make.

Every song but Dearest Mother of Mine was recorded in like 1-2-3 takes and that was it. I am not saying they were easy or something, they just came easy, very naturally. DMoM took me about 3 years, I felt like on a mission to represent Ukrainian culture and folk and make it a classic rock epic tune in the style of Zeppelin (who were famous for turning blues or folk tunes into heavy rock). Overall it was a very easy process.

Looking back on your career, are there any decisions that you’ve later regretted which you could change?

That’s a great question, I do have some regrets I guess but what I’ve learned is you should not look back. I do regret having arguments with some musicians and I admit somehow it was my fault, but today it doesn’t matter anymore. I am 37 and I realise the time is passing by real fast. I believe some things should’ve been done sooner, I used to think I always have more time. Some people say I shouldn’t have to go to Arizona as it’s not a very musical oriented state but I still have hopes we can make it one!

What have been your personal highlights and setbacks during your time when creating the music you love.

Highlights when my album is appreciated by fans and friends, when the label says “we’re gonna release it!” and setbacks when something comes underappreciated. But tbh I always have high expectations, not gonna lie!

You perform over 200+ gigs a year all over the place. This must be quite time consuming for you to do especially with the other projects you’re currently involved with. How do you manage to find the time to do this.

Well it’s 365 days a year, so 200 shows (or let’s say 207 in 2025) is like 60%. The rest I spend on getting those shows, writing new music or learning new covers etc. Also, the Arizona heat is brutal! It takes all the stamina just on the way to the venue and load in procedures.

Do you have a basic / advanced gear setup when performing live. Can you give an actual rundown of what your live setup is when performing live.

Hell yeah! I have several different amps, different guitars, pedals and mics depending on the PA I am going to use at a particular venue. My high end setup is my Marshall JTM45 and OX BOX along with my pedalboard and a bunch of guitars. I typically use this at bigger venues like casinos or festivals. For bar gigs I play most shows straight into the amp (which is either Hot Rod Deluxe Limited Edition or vintage 1976 Pro Reverb with a tube screamer on top). Honestly, both rigs sound good!

If you could give any words of wisdom to your younger self or someone wanting to start a career in music , what would it be?

Take it seriously, don’t argue with venues but also don’t let them bend you over, respect the dress codes and show pro attitude, follow the rules of the venue and work on your following. When you record a song or an album, think of marketing, for some reason people are ready to spend money on studio time but eventually have the release unnoticed. And don’t lowball yourself when you negotiate about the show. I know it sounds great you're getting paid a little something but if this bar sees you take less than anyone they may book you more but you will always be a cheap performer for them and you will be stuck in this position forever.

What bands / artists are impressing you the most today. Any great acts that folks should look out for?

My favorite modern group is Tedeschi Trucks Band, they can shred. The great young guitarist Marcus King, he is a virtuoso for sure. I also liked The Black Keys recent album Peaches. 

What is the creative process or setup for you when creating music? Do you write the music together or do certain people within the band do that?

Honestly, in most cases my bandmates never wanted to collaborate so I typically do everything myself or sometimes some of the guys are playing but they don’t feel like co-writing, honestly I don’t know why. Back in Ukraine my bandmates have always come up with some ideas but Americans seem to be enjoying just learning a song that has already been written. If I am about to write a song it starts with either a riff or a melody or a vocal line that is stuck in my head.

If it’s stuck there I know it must be any good then! For example I had this “You’re lighting me up” line and this is how I wrote Fuel or when I went to LA I had this “Coming to LA” chorus, with Who Do You Want Me to Be I had this little melody you hear at the beginning of the song and I was thinking what words would match it and so on. 

Before you go, do you have any words of wisdom for your new and potential fans out there.

Support local music, buy records and please don’t make AI prevail! Appreciate live bands and let’s keep blues and rock n roll alive! Peace!

Words by Steve Howe and Max Tovstyi

Links

Official | BandCamp

Introduce Yourselves: Nominal Anomaly

What Is the Name of Your Band?

The band is Nominal Anomaly, a single individual passion project

What Is the genre of music you play?

The genre is difficult to pinpoint. Best I could offer is Grunge Metal, as their is some of that old 90's song structure with blues / rock influence. Some songs blend more into Punk Metal. I'm a conglomeration of the 90's mostly.

Can you give a brief history of the band of how it came together and where it is today?

A buddy and myself had a band of 2 back in the late 90's early 2000s called Ark of Kaos. Never made much more than a demo tape, and ended there as people do. I quit drinking about 3 years ago, got bored with the typical drinking hobbies, and picked the guitar back up after a near 20 year hiatus. Started recording about a year later, and releasing music soon thereafter. Early 2026, released the first full album Swamp after several EP's and singles. Currently working on next year's album. Mostly just studio stuff, but a long term dream would be to play live with a band.

What can people expect from your music?

I try to write the songs with catchy rhythms, grooves, or melodies. It's fun in a metal type of way. The lyrical content is a bit here and there, building an odd background of weird lore, but mostly metaphoric to point at reality and be critical or bring emphasis to something. Swamp itself was built during a time of transition personally, so leans deeper into mental health

What is the best release that folks should check out from your band?

The album Swamp. BTW, Oblique, Therapy are a couple tracks from Swamp as a personal favorite

Where can people find you on Social Media?

www.nominalanomaly.com
https://www.facebook.com/NominalAnomaly
Nominalanomaly.bsky.social
https://www.instagram.com/thenominalanomaly/
https://mastodon.social/@NominalAnomaly

Introduce Yourselves: ROTTERDAM

What Is the Name of Your Band?

Rotterdam

What Is the genre of music you play?

We play a mix of Doom, Stoner Metal, Grunge and alternative

Can you give a brief history of the band of how it came together and where it is today? 

Formed in 2020 by lifelong friends Brenden Massa (vocals, bass) and Wyatt Slanec (guitar). The lineup was later rounded out by drummer Ian Poole, formerly of the viral Deathcore band Defiler. 

After pouring the highs and lows of the past few years into their music, the band headed to Earthtone Studios in Sacramento, CA, to record with engineer Patrick Hill (King Woman, Oromet). 

The result — Falling In Vertigo — was released in March 2026.

What can people expect from your music?

People can expect a journey of light and heavy sound, melodies and emotions from beginning to end

What is the best release that folks should check out from your band?

Our debut album- Falling In Vertigo

Where can people find you on Social Media?

LinkTree

AIWASS REDUX: An Interview With Blake Carrera From Psych/Doom/Stoner Metallers AIWASS

Psych/Doom/Stoner Metallers AIWASS rocked my world back in November 2021 when I was blown away by their 2021 debut album Wayward Gods. As that record perfectly bridged the COSMIC GAP between the likes of SLEEP, Black Sabbath, Monolord and King Buffalo. They added an edgy and seedy quality to their music whilst creating their own unique style of LOW & SLOW riff based worship.

The main mastermind behind AIWASS is Blake Carrera who has been the constant member of AIWASS since it's formation but along the way. Blake contacted me recently to discuss the upcoming REDUX version of Wayward Gods that's he's recently soon which we'll discuss further in greater detail with this interview. 

Blake is quite candid here which I'm truly grateful for. As this is a brilliant and superbly honest interview which Blake also discusses his current working relationship with the amazing Grant Husselman (known for his work with ALL THEM WITCHES and KING BUFFALO) who is now part of the AIWASS family and brings a sense of grounded realism to the band when compared to Blake's daring psychedelic ideas.

You can find out more with this great interview.

Hi Blake. Thanks for doing the interview. How are things with you today?

Hey Steve! Thanks so much for taking the time to talk to me. Things are great - too many moving pieces in life, but that’s how it goes! Just got back from playing a gig in Dallas with Temple of the Fuzz Witch so riding a bit of a high. Excited to chat.

I know you’ve answered this question before in our last interview. Can you tell folks not in the know, can you give a brief history of how the band AIWASS came together and where it is today?

Around 2019 or 2020, I was going through a lot of things - loss, grief, anger…boredom even. I had taken years away from music. I had a band here and there but nothing ever really came of it. Then I started making some songs that felt like they were about to burst out of me - my attempt at making the music I in particular wanted to hear. Things honestly started snowballing and eventually I had some singles, an EP, and the first album, “Wayward Gods.”

I moved from Flagstaff, AZ to Phoenix, AZ and started a live band. We played some great shows with some great bands - Monolord, Hippie Death Cult, etc. That lineup didn’t work out for a variety of reasons, most of those reasons I’m happy to let rot in their graves. I went through a lot of things, moved to Texas, released “The Falling.”

That album did well, but I found something lacking. I tried several go-arounds at forming a new lineup. Eventually, I declared a “hiatus.” To be completely honest, I wasn’t planning on coming back. But there was a demand to do so - not just external, but internal. I had to make Aiwass music. It’s what is inside of me. A few months back I put together a new lineup and here we are, playing live again - fresh sound, fresh songs.

How would you describe your own sound?

That’s a complicated question, Steve. Early on, songs like “The Sun Devil,” were very stoner-adjacent/stoner-influenced. As time went on, they became more of a psychedelic doom sound like you hear on “Wayward Gods.” Eventually, that reached its climax with “The Falling.” Aiwass is constantly evolving and I don’t plan for that to stop.

The layers of clean vocals have been replaced by a pretty intensive scream. The drums are real now (I programmed them for years). Overall, the “psych-doom” has been replaced with a more “blackened” doom or sludge sound. The main throughline, however, has been battles with my mental health and spirituality. 

I became aware of your great music through your amazing 2021 debut album Wayward Gods which we’ll be discussing for the majority of this interview. Looking back, were you pleased how the album was received by the underground scene overall. As it was released during the time the world was still adjusting to getting back to normal after COVID.

Thanks for the great question, Steve. I was definitely pleased by how “Wayward Gods” was received. I’ll be brutally honest - I was surprised anyone even listened to it! You have to remember, I was a young, grieving, tortured man in his 20s with no clear direction, no clear choices. My mother had just passed away, a lot of things were frankly going horribly for me and continued to do so for several years.

That album was my drug, my release. It felt like a way to talk about what was going on in my head without paying a therapist. I just definitely didn’t expect the reaction - the reviews were great, the Doom Charts placement was above anything I could have expected, sales were good. I was very much stunned. But it also - and I don’t think this is uncommon - made me much hungrier for more. Much more critical of my own work. That’s probably why I’m still making music 5 years later.

Why did you call the album “Wayward Gods" as it's anything but that.

It was a hard album to name, to be quite honest. The original title was something like “The Equinox of the Gods,” which is a Crowley reference just as the name of the band is a Crowley reference. That just felt a little clumsy on the tongue for a first album. I started brainstorming, asking myself questions, like, “what does this album mean?” and “what do I want people to understand?”

Well, wayward means essentially difficult to predict - generally because of unusual behaviour. Not only did that describe my lifelong battles with health and mental health - it also described to me the nature of the universe. I thought about how the gods in the Thelemic system are impossible to predict, how they keep you on your toes. That reminded me of some of my battles with mental health. The gods aspect of the title? Well, Crowley said every man and woman is a star and I like to think a star is just the visual manifestation of a god, or whatever you want to call nature or power. The short answer is…it just made sense to me in my head.

Was that a hard album to write and record for.

Unbearably so. I had no idea what I was doing. I doubted myself. I hated myself. I was going through horrible turmoil. My mom had just died, my longtime partner had left me. It was about as bad of a time as you can go through. But the album was…my salvation. My way to talk about what was going on and feel my way through the darkness. When it comes to songwriting, the songs just kind of fell out of me. But the process was dark. Painful. Something I both don’t want to forget, as it has made me who I am, but would definitely like to forget more often.

What inspired you when making the album during that time.

With everything going on in my life, I needed some kind of…perhaps the word is salvation or direction maybe, but I don’t think either is actually adequate. I guess I needed a reason to hope. Music was that to some extent, but so were the ideas of various thinkers I was reading at the time. Crowley, as you can tell from the name of the band, was number 1 for me, but so were Nietzsche, Schoppenhauer, Jung, Freud, and others. Musically, my inspiration has largely come from my favorite bands (Mizmor, Hell, Thou, Yob, Neurosis, the list goes on) but also from very different genres like classical music (especially Beethoven). I yearn for epic heaviness at all times. 

I’m touching upon Wayward Gods as you’re planning to release a new “REDUX” version. Can you give us more details of that? - As I love that album.

To be frank, the genesis started with my producer and mixing engineer, Grant Husselman. I was starting to work on album #3 and Grant said that he was probably done with mixing and producing for the foreseeable future. I was pretty devastated, as the only person I trust to do what he does is Grant. However, there was one trump card in my back pocket with Grant, which is the fact that he didn’t get to work on “Wayward Gods.” In fact, how we met was him reaching out about saying he loved the album. I mentioned to him after a few months of poking and prodding that I wanted to do a redux where we redid everything but the guitars. And I mean everything. It took a few weeks, but suddenly I had a producer again and I also had a redux to work on.

What can people expect from the “REDUX” version?

The shortest answer is that it’s the best of the old meets the best of the new. It has everything that made the original version so special and so loved, but it has a better sound. It’s more thought out. I re-recorded new bass lines, Grant played drums, I recorded new clean vocal lines as well as the screams that I’ve been moving towards. We even started brainstorming new sounds, new ways of getting the message across. It’s very much “Wayward Gods,” but more geared towards the sounds I’ve always enjoyed but may not have had the knowledge or creativity yet to actually do myself. 

When did you decide to do the “REDUX” version and are you not happy with the original version?

It must have been about a year ago? Maybe even less. Grant and I move fast. The lack of happiness isn’t necessarily the issue with the original recording. A lot of people love that album and I’m glad it brings joy to some people. But it wasn’t the album that was in my head. It was the album I knew how to make in 2019 or 2020. The albums that I can make now are more advanced, more primal (which says something considering how that album sounded), more…brutality. I want the joy of beauty and the sadness of destruction in these songs. I think this particular version encapsulates not just what Aiwass has been and will be, but also what it should have been from the beginning. 

Is the REDUX version closer to the original version you had outlined for the album.

Very much so! I heard Mizmor and Hell when I was a graduate student - that would’ve been 2016 or 2017. I wanted to make one man blackened doom. I got about halfway there. I didn’t know how to scream. I never would’ve sang if I’d known how to do the vocals I wanted! At the same time, I always heard angelic choirs - fallen angels. In some ways, “The Falling” was the utmost limit of those choirs. This redux says, “here’s a choir, but here’s also the demon that they’ve fallen towards.” It’s way closer to what I would have done then if I’d known how to, while simultaneously being informed by my taste in 2026.

When is the “redux” version being released and in what formats?

We shall see. The plan is later this year or perhaps at the beginning of next year. We aren’t working with a label at this moment - we’re not against it per se, but we only want to work with someone who believes in what we’re doing. Moreover, we want it to make sense for both sides creatively and, to a lesser extent but still importantly, financially. If this redux ends up on vinyl, amazing - I would love that. If we end up just releasing it on Bandcamp and ten people spend a few bucks on it and enjoy it, that’s fine - mission accomplished either way. All I really want is for people to hear the album I wanted to make years ago. 

I’ve seen the artwork for the new REDUX version and DAMN. Brilliant artwork. Who designed the artwork. And did you give the artist some rules to go by or did you let them go on their own creative tangent.

I am a man who has seen curses and blessings, but the biggest blessing is my fiance, Caitlyn (@caitlynjk_art on IG). She designed the cover in conjunction with our friend, Shelby (@dickyvallencourt on IG), who is on the cover. I mostly just let them go wild and think of what would work best after listening to some loose mixes of the redux. Shelby has been a friend for years and was game to honor the original cover while also doing something fresh and exciting.

I think she really did an incredible job capturing the Thelemic nature of this album, about what I was trying to say. Caitlyn took that material and designed a beautiful, multifaceted cover. I did my best to stay out of her way and the result was rewarding, as it was better than anything I could have thought of. 

Does the new artwork fully align to the new version of Wayward Gods.

That’s a good question. I’m sure if you told someone it was a “blackened doom” album, they might say it was a little pretty. But I also think these songs are a little pretty if you listen closely. My goals of empowerment, of freedom,  my love of the natural, the profane, and the sacred - I think this cover says a lot more about what I wanted to convey than the original did. Ultimately, the original album was my way of coping with what was in my head through the teachings of Aleister Crowley - this new cover shows someone who isn’t yet sure of the future but is aware of the power of the present, and I think that’s a message I’d love to cling to and that Crowley might have as well. 

You’ve been working with Grant Husselman for a while as he’s provided drums on some AIWASS releases. And he’s working on producing the new version of the album. How did that collaboration come together? Grant is known mostly for his amazing work with All Them Witches and King Buffalo.

You’re talking to a miserable bastard with incredible luck. Grant actually reached out after the first recording of “Wayward Gods.” Told me, essentially, that I could write great songs and play them well but I needed someone who knew how to mix (I mixed the first version - he was right). We started a friendship and a working relationship that’s gone on for years and part of the reason it works is the honesty we have with each other.

He’s willing to tell me when I’ve fucked up. He’s willing to tell me when I need to redo it all. He’s willing to tell me when a song needs to head to the junkyard. It’s not just that he takes the sound in my head and creates it without me telling him - it’s that he does it with love and incredible attention to detail. I’ll be the first to say Grant can be an asshole, but it’s that brutal honesty that brings out the best in a musician. I’m a very lucky musician that I get to work with him.

Will you be working with Grant in the future on new releases?

Easiest answer of the interview - yes. Grant is a part of the Aiwass family, the Aiwass sound. Not only is he essential to creating the sound in my head - he’s also a groomsman in my wedding. I’m sure I could have success working with someone else, but it doesn’t really interest me if Grant isn’t along for the ride.

What does Grant bring to the overall AIWASS sound?

I think Grant is the missing ingredient to the stew. We’ve spent so many years talking over things - be they musical, personal, political, whatever - that at this point there’s a silent communication. If I send him a demo and he says nothing, I know something is probably missing. If I send him some stems and he takes his time, I know i have some problems. He’s the gatekeeper.

He lets me know when my ideas are working and when they aren’t. At the same time, he never tells me how to do something or what direction to go. He just helps me to think of the right path to take. On a less macro level, Grant is responsible for the sound, the vibe, the atmosphere. He takes my raw insanity and polishes it into a rock you could sell in a crystal shop. He also does an incredible job of not going too “modern” - he’s aware of the sonic landscape and knows what fits.

What was working with Grant like on Wayward Gods. Did he provide any helpful hints and advice for you during these sessions?

Despite the fact that I didn’t work with Grant on the original, we’ve talked about this album so many times that the Redux only felt natural. His advice was everything once we got going though. I wasn’t even going to re-do the bass until Grant told me it sounded like I’d recorded through a potato. I knew a lot more what I was doing this time so it was a lot less of the technical aspect you might expect.

He was like a therapist–producer-engineer hybrid. He always asked, “What are you really going for here? Don’t tell me what you think, tell me what you feel.” Things like that. It was helpful. Sometimes you feel manipulated or guided when someone else comes in, but Grant helped me find the things I’d always wanted to do.

What are your high points and low points you've experienced within your musical career so far?

I don’t like to think of high and low points when it comes to this beautiful nightmare that is Aiwass. Highs? All of it, even the lows. Touring, writing, recording, playing live. Meeting people all over the country, the world. Hearing new sounds all the time and being able to be influenced by them and put them into action. Lows? All of it, even the highs. The collapse of the first lineup was definitely hard. But the whole thing is a cathartic exercise. None of it is pleasant per se. It’s just all necessary. 

We all know that Austin, Texas has a vibrant and huge Rock/Metal scene. However, does this allow you to perform gigs on a regular basis and do you have a local scene that you're actively involved with?

Luckily, Aiwass has an incredible new lineup. They’re eager to show what they’ve got and I’m eager to keep hitting the stage with them. It’s a constantly evolving life form, Aiwass as a live entity that is. Luckily, the Austin scene is incredible. The venues are really accommodating, really supportive.

We’ve been able to enmesh ourselves in that relatively quickly and hopefully it will only keep growing. Texas and more specifically Austin are my home and have been about half my life. I plan to keep it that way. I want to of course play all over the state, the country, the fucking world for that matter. But it’s important to me to support the area I live in. We have some really great shows coming up and couldn’t be more excited. Fuck keeping Austin weird. Keep it heavy.

Will you be performing any gigs to promote the upcoming album locally or further afield.

Who knows about further afield. We’ll see what happens. But you can be pretty confident that, in the coming months, you’ll hear versions of the redux songs live. Our goal is to bring fresh takes to somewhat older “classics” in the catalog. We want to bring this to as many places as we can. You know where to find us. 

Before you go, do you have any words of wisdom for your new and potential fans out there.

Listen closely, listen deeply, listen with an open heart. Love strongly, hate passionately but with a clear conscience. And do as thou wilt shall be the whole of law. 

Words by Steve Howe and Blake Carrera

Links

Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram