Gandalf the Green |

Podcast Transcript: I’m The Purlenaut and you’ve landed on the Sonic Sofa, your home for stoner rock reviews and podcasts. Hop on over to thesonicsofa.blog to read all the words and hear all the sounds. This month, we’re checking out music by Valley of the Sun, Gandalf the Green, and Brant Bjork. Become one with the Sofa, and prepare for blast off.

Valley of the Sun is a stoner rock band from Cincinnati, Ohio. The group produces driving desert rock with melodic vocals. Their riffy songs are known for being upbeat and positive. Their new album, Old Gods, will be released on May 24th through Swedish label, Fuzzorama Records. Here’s Means the Same.

Gandalf the Green is a three-piece psychedelic doom band from Huddersfield, England. The band produces heavy, fuzzy, riff-centric music, with strong psychedelic vibes. Their new single, A Billion Faces, was released on March 28. It was recorded in Dec, 2018 in Phipps Hall at the University of Huddersfield. Get ready for some heavy stuff. Here’s A Billion Faces.

Brant Bjork is a multi-instrumentalist from Palm Desert, California. His newest album, Jaccoozzi, was released on April 5, and is being advertised as a sort of lost album. The album was recorded in 2010, but immediately shelved. Bjork had gone to a house in Joshua Tree, CA to record material for his next solo album, but personal life changes as well as feeling burned out from extensive recording and touring caused him to change his plans. Bjork decided to scrap his original project and focus on creating improvised jams. This whole track plays like a psychedelic surf song. Here’s Oui.

Thanks for listening to the Sonic Sofa podcast. Check out the Sonic Sofa on mixcloud.com/purlenaut. Please support the bands by buying their music. If you have music or an artist that you think should be featured on the blog or podcast, contact The Purlenaut at thesonicsofashow@gmail.com. Go in peace and rock on, Sofanauts.

Gandalf the Green is a three-piece psychedelic doom band from Huddersfield, England. The band produces heavy, fuzzy, riff-centric music, with strong psychedelic vibes.

Their new single, A Billion Faces, was released on March 28. It was recorded in Dec, 2018 in Phipps Hall at the University of Huddersfield and is a follow up to their September 16 release, King of the Ashes. It’s a long song, clocking in at 13 and a half minutes.

The composition contains three sections, separated by brief pauses. The guitar and bass are fuzzy and tuned low and the drums sound huge. Flint’s voice has a yell-like quality: aggressive without sacrificing melody, much like vocals on Elder’s self-titled album or Sleep’s Dopesmoker.

The first section opens with a dark and deep bass melody which is soon complemented by surprising clean guitar tones and drums. Soon, the song builds into a heavy, chugging headbanger.

After the first part fades and the second sections opens, the band explores the riff with a groovier feel featuring plenty of delay, wah pedal, and overdrive. The beautiful harmonic plucks on the guitar set the tone for the song. Flint’s vocals return briefly for a chorus reprise before things venture off into more exploratory jamming.

The third section of the song is completely instrumental and very heavy. It again explores the same heavy riff from the beginning, but this time in a more urgent, intense fashion, like a stomping, doom march. The song slows down until it sonically unravels into a wall of screams and feedback, bringing the song to a dramatic end.

The song can be purchased on Bandcamp. Also, check out the song and concert dates below.

Tour dates

April 21 Red Halo Live Sound – Manchester, England

May 5 Brewery Tap – City of Bradford, England

May 18 The Fenton – Leeds, England

Tag Archives: Gandalf the Green

The Sonic Sofa Podcast: Valley of the Sun, Gandalf the Green, and Brant Bjork

A Billion Faces, the heavy new single by English metal band, Gandalf the Green