Nova Koloso is a heavy psych, alternative rock band from Baltimore, Maryland. The group formed during the pandemic by brothers Mark and Tom Colegrove. With Tom on drums and Mark covering everything else, the duo produces a fast paced blend of progressive psych rock, with plenty of jamming and layering of all kinds of groovy guitar sounds and catchy keyboard tones, topped off with grungy vocals. Their Self-titled first release was released in 2021. Now, the group is back with their second psychedelic offering, Hallucinate Your Faith. In it, the group draws from the best elements of their debut (a brilliant, cross-instrumental harmonic sound, catchy leads, hooky vocals, tight musicianship) and beefs it up with a killer mix. Nova Koloso will call out to fans of psych rockers like King Gizzard as well as alt rockers like Smashing Pumpkins.
For Hallucinate Your Faith, the brothers enlisted the aid of former band mate, Ken Moore, on bass. The album was mixed and mastered by Steve Wright at Wright Way Studios. Clocking in at 38 minutes, its eight songs are on the shorter side, though the band includes lots of great leads and progressive interludes, as well as a nearly eight minute closing track.
1. Hallucinate Your Faith 3:54 2. Whatever You Want To 5:42 3. New Recruit 4:04 4. Dead Tongue 4:25 5. Night Surf 4:20 6. Washout 3:57 7. Salamander 4:03 8. The Mastermind 7:40
On vocals, guitars, and keys, Mark’s propensity for orchestrating harmonized layers really shines throughout the album. Catchy keyboard tones are layered in, like on the grungy Hallucinate Your Faith and the hooky Whatever You Want To. There are flowing, psychedelic guitar patterns and lots of cool effects, notably on tracks like Night Surf and Salamander. Listen for cool, Middle-Eastern sounding guitar leads on Whatever You Want To and New Recruit. The vocals are melodic and catchy, with an edgy 90’s grunge sound.
Tom holds thinks down solidly on drums, with metronomic exactness and a tendency for driving beats. Listen for some cool, odd-time drumming on Dead Tongue, as well as tricky, creative patterns on The Mastermind. Moore’s bass is a great addition to the album, with a thick, beefy tone. His bass sound really stands out on the opening and closing tracks. Additional musicians include Fiona Crowley, who provides some nice backing vocals on Whatever You Want To and Washout, and Jenny Rae Mettee, who takes over bass on Night Surf.
You can find Hallucinate Your Faith on Bandcamp. Digital download is $9 with CD’s available for $15, but copies are going fast. The band is active on social media.
Sunrise on Slaughter Beach was released on September 16, 2022
Rarely do bands stand the test of time, especially with the original lineup of studio members, but Maryland’s Clutch is one of them. Nearly 30 years since their release of Transnational Speedway League in 1993, Clutch’s lineup of Neil Fallon (vocals), Tim Sult (guitars), Jean Paul Gaster (percussion), and Dan Maines (bass) are still rocking hard, touring the world, and releasing new albums on their own Weather Maker Music label. September saw the release of Clutch’s 13th album, the highly anticipated Sunrise on Slaughter Beach. The album is Clutch’s grooviest, most ambitious and diverse album in recent years, and with the addition of some firsts such as theramin and backing vocals, proves that Clutch is still as innovative and creative as ever. It follows Book of Bad Decisions which was released in 2018.
Slaughter Beach is made up of 9 songs, clocking in at a brisk 33 minutes. It was recorded in Baltimore, MD at the The Magpie Cage Recording Studio,produced and mixed by Grammy nominated Tom Dalgety,with additional engineering by J Robbins of The Sword production fame, who also provided theramin. According to Fallon, “Sunrise on Slaughter Beach is a weird record. It was, by and large, a studio creation. It reminds me a lot of Jam Room in that regard. Under normal circumstances we may not have entertained the idea of using vibraphones, theremin, or backing vocals (thank you Deborah Bond and Frenchie Davis!). But as they say, necessity is the mother of weirdness.” And like Jam Room, the album is noticeably groovier and heavier on the lower end than recent releases.
1. Red Alert (Boss Metal Zone) 2:45
2. Slaughter Beach 3:41
3. Mountain of Bone 4:23
4. Nosferatu Madre 3:27
5. Mercy Brown 5:15
6. We Strive for Excellence 2:55
7. Skeletons on Mars 4:10
8. Three Golden Horns 3:26
9. Jackhammer Our Names 3:08
Personnel: Tim Sult, Jean Paul Gaster, Neil Fallon, and Dan Maines
Red Alert (Boss Metal Zone) opens the album with some seriously groovy, odd time sections that hearken back to Elephant Riders days. Slaughter Beach is a headbanger that introduces a nice slow groove with some killer guitar hooks and a Strange Cousins from the West vibe. Listen for Sult and Maine’s middle-eastern style bass/guitar lead. Mountain of Bone features lots of cool changeups and a krautrock feel, with a hypnotizing, spaced out guitar riff that breathes over Gaster’s and Maine’s machine-like rhythm. Nosferatu Madre has a nice shuffley feel with a slower tempo. Listen to that killer bass tone and a great drum sound, some beautiful backing harmonies, and some of Fallon’s trademark Spanish lyric references.
Mercy Brown has another bluesy shuffle, and listen for Sult’s trademark wah and phaser work on the guitar. The song lyrics reference the Mercy Brown vampire incident which took place in Rhode Island in 1892. We Strive For Excellence is a hooky, high octane ride; a Fu Manchu type track that would fit right in on a skate video. Skeletons on Mars is another high energy track with sci-fi lyrics and some spacy guitar layers. Fallon’s references to Greek figures and geographic points on Mars would fit right in on 2004’s Blast Tyrant. Three Golden Horns has a groovy intro, and some tongue in cheek references to Roland Kirk and jazz music. Listen for Gaster’s vibraphone, a Primus style guitar lead, and some sick changeups at the end. Jackhammer Our Names marks a lower key ending for the album, with some of Fallon’s trademark, stream of consciousness lyrics with religious references.
Sunrise on Slaughter Beach is available on Clutch’s merch page: CD for $10, vinyl for $22, cassette for $13, and digital download for $5. The band is currently supporting the new album with a fall tour of North America, Europe, and the UK. The band is active on their website and social media.
TOUR DATES
OCT 4 The Van Buren – Phoenix, AZ
OCT 5 Regent Theater – Los Angeles, CA
OCT 7 Aftershock 2022 – Sacramento, CA
OCT 8 Knitting Factory Concert House – Boise, ID
OCT 9 Roseland Theater – Portland, OR
OCT 10 Showbox SoDo Seattle, WA
OCT 12 The Depot – Salt Lake City, UT
OCT 13 Fillmore Auditorium – Denver, CO
OCT 14 Uptown Theater – Kansas City, MO
OCT 15 Val Air Ballroom – West Des Moines, IA
OCT 16 Concord Music Hall – Chicago, IL
NOV 11 O2 Academy Glasgow – Glasgow, United Kingdom
NOV 12 O2 City Hall Newcastle – Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom
NOV 13 O2 Academy Leeds – Leeds, United Kingdom
NOV 15 University of Exeter Great Hall – Exeter, United Kingdom
NOV 16 Brighton Dome – Brighton, United Kingdom
NOV 18 Capitol Hannover – Hanover, Germany
NOV 19 Helldorado Festival 2022 – Eindhoven, Netherlands
NOV 20 Markthalle – Hamburg, Germany
NOV 22 Huxleys Neue Welt – Berlin, Germany
NOV 23 Neue Theaterfabrik – München, Germany
NOV 24 Arena Vienna – Wien, Austria
NOV 25 Culture Factory – Zagreb, Croatia
NOV 26 Fabrique – Milan, Italy
NOV 28 Sala Apolo – Barcelona, Spain
NOV 29 Sala Riviera – Madrid, Spain
DEC 2 Le Bikini – Ramonville-st-agne, France
DEC 3 Transbordeur – Villeurbanne, France
DEC 5 X-tra – Zurich, Switzerland
DEC 6 LKA Longhorn – Stuttgart, Germany
DEC 7 Batschkapp – Frankfurt Am Main, Germany
DEC 9 Live Music Hall – Cologne, Germany
DEC 10 Bataclan – Paris, France
DEC 11 Ancienne Belgique – Brussels, Belgium
DEC 13 O2 Academy Bristol – Bristol, United Kingdom
DEC 14 O2 Academy Birmingham – Birmingham, United Kingdom
DEC 15 O2 Apollo Manchester – Manchester, United Kingdom
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