Euarthropodia is that most wondrous of albums. One of those that has the ability to make your imagination run rampant and whisk you away to another world. The Austrian four named Grey Czar have outdone themselves and Euarthropodia will surely strike a chord in every progressive rock enthusiast’s heart. We jotted down many words on what this album has made us see and feel, which you can read HERE, but perhaps you should not take our word for it. Perhaps you should just press play. Right now!
Cause we are honored to present to you the FULL ALBUM PREMIERE for Euarthropodia by Grey Czar. Out on Argonauta Records and Octopus Rising this is an album filled with fragile butterfly riffs and robust bee like solo’s, industrious organ trooping it out for every HiVe creature, turning the album into a testament to the beauty and despair of evolution…
We love Temple Fang and have probably said so many times. Journalism is never objective and music journalism even less so. And when it comes in the form or a blog that professes its love for so many albums so many times, you know it will always be that: the celebration of everything good and true in the heavy underground. In the eye of its beholder, your writer of service. But since there is no such thing as objectivity in writing, we usually just come out with it immediately. State the obvious and take it from there. We love Temple Fang! And we love the new album The River, longform free rock in its most purest form. Featured to day, the second single The Radiant. The most accessible, easiest to grasp, (read: shortest) track on the album. I loved that they came out swinging with the almost twenty minutes long The River single. And I guess it felt like a righteous poetic bookend to follow it up with the shortest track on the album. Which drops on April 25th through Stickman Records and will surely cause a psychedelic free rock tsunami of love…
TEMPLE FANG premiere "The Radiant" video single from upcoming studio album "Lifted From The Wind"
Due out on April 25th via Stickman Records!
"There’s an engaging hook delivered in harmonized layers, and with “The Radiant,” Temple Fang position themselves among Europe’s finer prog-psych." JJ Koczan (The Obelisk) about Temple Fang's new single "The Radiant"
April 25, 2025 will see Amsterdam prog-psych spearheads Temple Fang release their much-awaited, new album, entitled "Lifted from the Wind", via Stickman Records. Coming on CD, Vinyl and in Digital formats, the pre-sale is available at this location!
Following a previously-released first single - the epic 18minutes album opening track "The River" - today, the heavy psychedelia rock collective has shared a music video for their latest single "The Radiant".
Forming in 2018, Temple Fang really started hitting their stride in 2019 with, amongst many others, two highly acclaimed Roadburn shows and appearances at many festivals and clubs across Europe. Having no release out yet and thus creating much anticipation to what their recorded output would end up like. With alternating lead vocalists, two wildly harmonizing guitarists, a powerhouse of a rhythm-section, and armed with truly psychedelic compositions fueled by their exposure to South American plant-medicine, the band took the heavy-psych underground by storm and seemed to be gearing up to bottle this magick and commit it to their studio debut. And then 2020 happened.
During the pandemic the band stayed as active as possible, appearing on whatever live-streams they could, resulting in well received appearances on Eurosonic and National Dutch Television, creating even more buzz. A string of seated shows followed, whatever it took to keep playing.
Losing their original drummer, the band continued on with a replacement post-covid, putting out a half live/half studio album (Fang Temple 2021), an EP (Jerusalem/The Bridge 2022), multiple live albums (Live at Merleyn 2020, Live at Freak Valley 2023, Live at Krach am Bach 2024), and playing a seemingly endless string of shows from Oslo to Milan, hitting many festivals in between. Roadburn, Desertfest Berlin, Sonic Blast (twice), Palp and countless others were exposed to the magick of this true free rock n’ roll phenomenon, leaving audiences stunned and clamouring for more.
Fast forward to 2025 as Temple Fang is ready to release "Lifted from the Wind" on Stickman Records. A record they themselves consider to be their true debut studio album. On this sprawling double record, released on the only label they would give up their independence for, Temple Fang appears, for the first time in their existence, fully formed.
Fierce and strong, hard rocking yet elegant, with 20min+ psych freakouts and prog ballads side-by-side, Temple Fang truly delivers on the promise they’ve always held, to really stretch the possibilities of what it means to be a rock band in 2025. With spectacular wild-man Daan Wopereis as a full member on the drums, Temple Fang now can deliver on their commitment to really rock, to blow your mind AND tear your heart out. Rock n’ Roll as a means to attaining spiritual freedom. Mind-bending riffs, triple vocal harmonies, dubbed out bass and groovy yet hard hitting drums, ecstatically rocking and truly psychedelic, Temple Fang delivers it all with LOVE. Longform rock for fans of Motorpsycho, The Grateful Dead, Hawkwind and Hendrix!
In support of "Lifted from the Wind", Temple Fang have been confirmed to return to Roadburn, to play this year’s Spark on Wednesday, 16 April, and will embark on an extensive European tour this Spring. Find all upcoming live dates listed below!
"Lifted from the Wind" Tracklist:
1. The River 2. Once 3. Harvest Angel 4. The Radiant 5. Josephine
Love For Loud is Els Bruinewoud
and she manages to create a lovely space over in Amsterdamn for
heaviness to flourish. A labor of Love, and a labor for Loud it
definitely is! There are more great dates already set throughout the
year, the awesome Vinnum Sabbathi for instance will be playing August 12th together with Witchrot!
But below is the list of cool bands stopping over in April! And that will be something spectacular! This weekend, April 13th, the one and only Acid Mammoth will be doing a one off special night, a special night filled with an incredibly long set. A once in a lifetime experience! It will be gigantic! Gargantuan! Mammoth! Acid Mammoth!
And if you are travelling to Amsterdamn for that wild night, maybe better make a weekend out of it. Cause the evening before there is a stunning bill of An Evening With Knives and Resurrect Tomorrow tearing up the place! Not to be missed either...
Grey Czar – Euarthropodia Argonauta Records / Octopus Rising – 2025 Rock, Metal, Prog, Stoner Rated: *****
Shimmering memories of bronze lamps in alcoves, burning sesame oils, sending up coils of smoke and flickering shadows across palace walls that are meant to last for eternity. But every civilization is forever in decline and even though the spirit rebels against it and moves to build ever larger structures to repel the coming of the end, this decline is inevitable and crucial. Cause it will also mean rebirth. Decline and rebirth is the concept around which the brand new album Euarthropodia by Austrian quartet Grey Czar has been built. The imagery they evoke will be entirely up to the listener, but lost civilizations, ancient lore, majestic many legged beasts, winged creatures and giant insects will surely be a part of them. The compositions are purposeful and pristine, ensuring all prog rock and prog metal enthusiasts will feel a flutter in their hearts, as riffs stand firm or stomp ever forward, ready to trample whatever opposition they come across. Which is what Grey Czar seems to have been growing towards, ever since that first self-titled release from 2012. Still the four same comrades, trooping it out for their destiny. Euarthropodia is full of copper air and breathes antique love. Whether you hear it in that extra punctuated organ push of Insects Took Over or the way the vocals wash over the compositions, minorly touched by a second or third set of voices. And as the story continues throughout the album, you can feel decades glide by, as some tracks lean more towards sixties production or seventies rock, classic metal and towards the end even more eighties toned. It’s a wonderful extra touch that makes it even easy for the listener to get lost inside the world of Euarthropodia.
Opening with Eschaton, a short build that quickly enfolds its grand plan towards a sharp and salty push, with something akin to audio illusion, for there seems to be so much more breathing room between the different instruments and notes, it’s almost impossible to still sound so forceful and determined. Strained vocals give that extra air of classic prog rock and when the track has seamlessly transitioned into the second track Withered World, the main vocals get a bigger podium before Grey Czar thunders on. Thunder that becomes grainy and thick, even grittier than in that opening track. Insects Took Over follows with a minor jazz touch, this thick veiny bass, lovely key work opening the ball and that organ than pushing the track ever forwards. And by then you start to hear that minor touch of Ian Astbury color in the main vocalist’s voice. Another smooth transition already leads you to center piece Trooping For Euarthropodia, lead by a forceful wind, determined to drench the listener in all its prog rock glory. And where you can feel the propelling energy of Trooping For Euarthropodia deliver that rotational noise, the next track is actually called Ballad Of Propellerheads and gives more of a glide and layered descent, almost like a mercurial cascade down a river canyon. Which transitions with propeller sounds into Queens Of The New World, grand overture opening, pulling away the curtain, while the memories of all that was lost may not have been washed away, yet the sounds of a new day have arrived. Even more spring time sounds open following Nutritional Protocol, which soon turns a darker corner. Steadily building towards a passionate ending, not explosive, but heartfelt and gripping. Arthrobotic Liberty, explodes out of the gate, is touched by another retro organ push and a rising and falling sensation that almost feels like an arcane ritual. Feelings of chronic remorse riddled throughout the track and so classic in all its elements. Final track Aeon has that most eighties of effects, key work and production, almost Victorian in its execution, profoundly impressing and absorbing as it moves through its different scenes.
In all Euarthropodia feels like a dazzling feat of storytelling, using tried and true prog rock, metal and even minor stoner rock methods in such a way that everything feels brand new and vibrant. Even those vintage touches from the different eras, turning it all ageless and reverberating across space and time. Grey Czar manages to evoke atmospheres, images and emotions with seemingly carefree melodic gestures and riff hungry rhythms. There is no shortage of push or pull and the overall unfiltered texture turns the Euarthropodia into something coarse and grained. And it is this story, this one lost musical poem about decline and rebirth that got stuck in the shell and through all the lost civilizations, all the eras gone, slowly turned into a pearl…
And you can hear that pearl in all its glory on Stoner HiVe this upcoming Wednesday! That’s right, tune in, this Wednesday, the 9th of April for the FULL ALBUM PREMIERE of Grey Czar’s Euarthropodia !!
Another Monday morning coming down… It was high living with concerts in abundance and a first dance with the High Desert Queen. That’s right! The Texas four finally came to my hometown to level the Effenaar venue together with Gnome and Greenleaf. They opened the ball with an amazing set, shocked and awed the audience, still managed to feel like a warm embrace and left many floating off into the night later on. Si senor, it was a good night! And a good week all round, except for the part where Google decided to flag something they probably did themselves as suspicious behavior and locked my accounts. Hence, no chance to update the little old blog for 48 hours. This meant we only premiered that devious Slow Draw single, published that wild Uranus Space Club review by Ronny Dijksterhuis and put up the post about the March Doom Charts. I’m pretty sure we can do more this week! And get ready for Wednesday, when we have the honor to premiere the full Euarthropodia album by Austrian Grey Czar! What a release that is!
“I have climbed highest mountains I have run through the fields Only to listen to you…”
~ probably misheard U2- lyrics
The journey of a thousand albums
begins with listening to one… Welcome to the March 2025 edition of the
Doom Charts. It hasn’t happened that often, and we probably did not
mention it explicitly back then. But as of now… We will. We have a tie!
So, it feels only right to also blurb about Number 26, right? And since
we jotted down a few lines about Number 26, we reckon we should also
mention that on Number 41 lands ÖFÖ AM – OCTOPUS VULGARIS.
A grand instrumental stonerrock and metal album that will surely strike
a chord with many of you out there. Hell, probably all of you. The
total number of albums that received votes, no less than 226… And one
carried over from last month… Go feast your ears on the forty below! You
don’t see your favorite? Lets us know!
Welcome to Doom Charts,
representing some of the finest bloggers, journalists, radio,
podcasters and reviewers from the heavy underground around the globe.
Each month, our critics submit their picks for the best new doom,
sludge, metal, stoner, psychedelic and heavy rock albums. The results
are compiled and tabulated into the chart below. This is a one-stop
shop for the best new albums in the world…
Uranus Space Club - Space Pleasures Self-released - 2025 Psychedelic Rock, Space Rock Rated: *****
A rock band without guitars? Using keys and saxophone as the lead instruments? Poland's own galactic travelers Uranus Space Club dare to take that route. Not only to show that it's possible, but also to prove it can be a really heavy affair. They already surprised the rock world with their 2021 debut 'Another Planet, Another Love'. That was obviously - or at least partially - a tongue in cheek reference to the rock and roll tour cliché true rock stars (ahum) have a different love in every town they come across, just displayed on a grander scale, because, well, these four stellar musicians aren't limiting themselves to planet earth to win over new souls and partake in the very important scientific research of testing how much weight and pressure each combination of mattress and slatted frame can handle during different positions and activities, relative to the amount of people involved in said activities.
That's basically what it comes down to. Space exploration in its purest form while keeping both feet firmly on the ground - one eye closed for drifting off in concentration mode and the other half open to catch glimpses of the jazz greats that came before them. This rocks, funks, breaks and shakes in total freedom. On 'Children of the Spice' for example, the saxophone and keys are engaged in an expressive, sensual dance, swirling around each other endlessly, carried by a foundation of distorted bass and heavy drumming with a hot, steaming jazz theme enhancing it even further. And before you think, why are you reviewing this album for Stoner HiVe?, let me clarify that Uranus Space Club rocks big time no matter what they do or which exit they take on the highway from here to the outer regions of the galaxy. To make sure you get it, song titles like 'Funk Sabbath' and 'Lo-Pan's Bong' leave no doubt where part of their inspiration comes from, even if you have to dig deep sometimes to uncover them. The second half of 'Sizzling Grooves' is such a moment when the bass lays down that typical doom-laden, head-nodding Birmingham groove that comes into full fruition when the bass and keys counter-join the melody. And the aforementioned 'Funk Sabbath' is exactly what it pretends to be: a perfect morphing of funk and stoner/doom. Furthermore you gotta dig the sax introduction to 'Lo Pan's Bong' before it settles into a swinging groove the source of inspiration for the title is so well-known for, even though Uranus Space Club gives it - as expected - their own, almost unrecognizable little twist. And to close the circle on how this review started: one song is called 'The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress'. It's a brooding, slightly discomforting track that at times has got contrasting speeds happening at the same time with the drums playing a jazzy pattern, the bass settling into a sped-up funky bass line and the keys and saxophone playing some drawn-out notes and melodies. At other times it creates a smooth, soothing atmosphere picturing attempts at engaging in extraterrestrial lovemaking with moons and stars alike. A constant fight before the weird and wonderful madness of 'VoidRacerz 2137' warps you to the future with a showcase of power and a rush of adrenaline with fast and complex sonic wizardry and a sheer wonderful ending to match (in Uranus Space Club's book anyway). It makes 'Space Pleasures' not only a pleasure to listen to and a joy to travel along with, but also an absolute masterpiece of progressive instrumental space rock.
