A Monday that feels like a Sunday, thanks to a national holiday and a different kind of morning… An amazing and emotional night with Masters Of Reality and Alain Johannes last Thursday and a great evening filled with four bands yesterday. New Dutch bands Enma and Alternator opening up for Ruff Majik and Monkey3. And all of them delivering the goods! And thanks to my lovely wife, the Ruff Majik four got to crash reasonable comfortable on my living room floor… I hope it was reasonable at least… Just like I believe they weren’t too weirded out by that way too long story we wrote about Ruff Majik, there last album Elektrik Ram, the new single What A Time To Be A Knife, (which they played last night) and their touring life… A quieter week is forthcoming, so perhaps we can get more HiVe work done? We’ll see. But we did mention the new video by Coilguns and Horseburner last week. And ofcourse jotted down some words about the awesome new High Noon Kahuna album and breathtaking new Maragda. Be sure to check those out and be sure to check out the others in the Most Listened Last Week list… They all kick serious ass!
Maragda – Tyrants Spinda Records – 2024 Rock, Prog, Psych Rated: *****
Their self-titled debut album was released in October 2021 and we were honored to premiere that very first Maragda album. It told the tale of a civilization named Maragda, which sought refuge below the earth after a catastrophe and forgot all about the surface after being there for many years. It told the tale of rebellion against oppression and the search for truth and light. That fight continues in some shape or form on their new album Tyrants. “In the new musical journey, the band immerses listeners in introspective themes ranging from self-imposed limitations to the fight for values, love, hope, and farewells.” Moments of krautrock, garage and space rock are still there to help tell their story, but you can also use the cliff notes and state this is one hell of a powerful prog rock album! Prog rock, with psychedelic touches of course, we wouldn’t want you to think we would forget mentioning that genre. But it’s prog first and prog last. And if you are still as in love with their debut album as I am, you know the Barcelona, Spanish three have this very transportive style, dotted with all kinds of other tidbits. The manner in which Marçal Itarte (bass/vocals), Guilem Tora (guitar/backing vocals) and Xavi Pasqual (drums) color in all their compositions make it easy for you to dream with your eyes open. There are these highly natural, world music, folk and flamenco missives scattered throughout the album, it makes their universe become this living and breathing entity. Immediately, during opening track Tyrants, you can feel the pulse of the album, the heartbeat, the propellent, the energy that is about to burst outwards. And then there are those more scorching and obliterating moments, which other bands usually implore to sear parts of the composition to such a degree it becomes difficult not to drown in all that sound. The Maragda three use that ability in such a way that it makes the song blossom and give it even more color. And instead of drowning, you feel like flying. Just listen to second track Skirmish to have a taste of that feeling. But there are almost forty-five minutes of this wonderful prog rock adventure to experience, and if you hear the delicate opening of Endless turning into that stop motion, riff heavy, darkened rocker you know that the Tyrants album will deliver everything and all to every heavy rock loving fiend. Tyrants is full bodied, exuberant and its complexity easy to enjoy and to get lost in. And I will be losing myself in this for months… Or years… Or the rest of my life…
We’re honored to present to you the Worldwide Premiere for two singles by Spanish progrockers Maragda! We loved their The Reckless / Evil Seed single and we adored their self-titled album from 2021, so we could not be happier to present to you the two brand new singles! And not just those two singles; we also get to premiere a live session! That’s right, Maragda is on fire and is releasing two tracks called Skirmish and My Only Link. AND, a twenty minutes long live session, featuring those singles and the earlier released title track Tyrants. Besides those three tracks there will also be a five minute long interview at the end of the video. Out on May 8th through Spinda Records the Barcelona three have woven another brilliant tapestry of prog, psych, garage and kraut elements. It will once again enchant the listener and take them on a journey through the fantasy universe created by Maragda!
So, in conjunction with MoreFuzz, Outlaws Of The Sun, RockZoneMag and Doomed Nation we give you Skirmish and My Only Link and the Siete Barbas Studio LIVE session!
Skirmish and My Only Link:
Siete Barbas Studio LIVE session:
From the PR Wire:
"SKIRMISH" + "MY ONLY LINK" IS THE NEW DOUBLE SINGLE BY PSYCH ROCKERS MARAGDA
The second album by the Barcelona-based band Maragda will be titled 'Tyrants' and will be released on May 8, 2024, via Spinda Records - pre-orders are now available. After teasing the title track last month, today they unveil a double single comprising the songs "Skirmish" and "My only link", presenting them in both studio and live versions, with the latter extracted from the live session they recently recorded at Siete Barbas Estudios. Melodies, atmospheres, compositions of great complexity, and a garage attitude are the main components of 'Tyrants'.
This way, Maragda continues to unveil this highly anticipated album, which serves as a follow-up to their successful self-titled debut album (2021, Spinda Records) and the live EP "The Reckless / Evil Seed" (2022, Spinda Records). In this new musical journey, the band immerses listeners in introspective themes ranging from self-imposed limitations to the fight for values, love, hope, and farewells. All of this unfolds in a hypothetical fantasy universe, where psychedelia and progressive rock continuously merge, adding nuances of other styles like garage.
For the creation of the album "Tyrants", Maragda embarked on a creative journey that took them to the Big Snuff Studios in Berlin, where they collaborated with studio engineer Richard Behrens, renowned for his work with bands like Kadavar and Elder. Subsequently, the mastering was handled by acclaimed engineer Peter Deimel (known for his work with bands like Motorpsycho) at the Black Box Studios in France, solidifying a successful collaboration that began with their debut album.
In the visual department, the band has once again partnered with Error! Design studio (known for works with Explosions In The Sky, Russian Circles, Mastodon) for the album's graphic design, ensuring a cohesive and captivating aesthetic experience for their followers.
TRACK-LIST 1. Tyrants 2. Skirmish 3. Endless 4. My only link 5. Sunset room 6. The singing mountain 7. Godspeed 8. Loose
PRE-ORDER: 22 march 2024
RELEASE DATE 8 May 2024
'Tyrants' will be available on May 8 through Spinda Records, although it can be pre-ordered in CD and vinyl formats. The vinyl edition will be part of the 'Trippy Series' from the Andalusian label, alongside acts such as Viaje a 800, Moura, The Silver Linings, Empty Full Space, or Moundrag. It will be limited to 400 copies on white vinyl with orange splatters and 100 copies on standard black vinyl.
LIVE SHOWS May 04 | Tenerife (ES) @ Volcano Fest May 17 | Madrid (ES) @ Madrid Psych Sessions June 8 | Barcelona (ES) @ Sala Upload (release party) more to be announced
Maragda – The Reckless / Evil Seed Spinda Records / Nafra Records – 2023 Rock, Prog, Psych, Garage, Stoner Rated: ****
I thought something might be wrong with my socials. For when I went to look for the Facebook page for Maragda, to put as a link underneath these few words about their latest single The Reckless / Evil Seed, it looked like they only had 85 followers?!? That is simply not possible! And then we found out they lost control of their earlier page… So, everyone out there, visit their page and give them some love! Cause everyone I know fell in love with their self-titled progressive and psychedelic masterpiece from 2021. We wrote quite some words about it, which you can read here. Or you can just continue reading up about The Reckless / Evil Seed, cause we’re already pretty late writing this one up. For they released these two tracks early June. But as you know, there’s so much great stuff released on a daily basis, we can’t cover it all, or on time. We simply try to do our best. And so does the trio from the Barcelona area in Spain called Maragda. The Reckless starts the single, it’s a rush forward, a smash ‘n grab beginning that reminds of metal love, speeds like garage and glides like a psychedelic smoke swirl. Especially that guitar, furiously riffing when it all begins and after a while wailing out, wilding away and going all out freak. Sublime stuff! Evil Seed continues this two-track single’s enchanting beauty, the vocal melodies and the harmonies really stand out on this one. Grungier, this track bounces back from all the walls around you and give it that rounded atmosphere. Something they also excelled at on their self-titled album. Choppier drums, floating vocals, throbbing bass work and electrifying guitar, Evil Seed gives you all you need. And these two tracks do give you two sides of Maragda, both of them adding to the kaleidoscopic poetry of these three individuals. Delightful and it once again warrants everyone falling in love with Maragda…
Maragda – Maragda Spinda Records/Nafra Records/Necio Records – 2021 Rock, Psych Rated: *****
We were honored to deliver the International Premiere for the self-titled debut release of the Spanish trio Maragda. Are we therefor biased? Probably so. But as you crazies that follow the HiVe know, we are always biased, subjective and prejudiced. We love what we love and we dig what we dig because it does something to us. And we honestly and really just want to share that experience with you all. Or better yet, hope that you experience something along the lines of what we experienced when listening to a certain album. Cause that is what it is all about for us! Well, Maragda did a whole fucking lot with us! They managed to capture a lightning bolt and turn it into music. They created the whole Sistine Chapel down their in the darkness of the underworld from which they came; from which they burrowed, from where we heard the clang and clamor of revolt. For… “While there is life there is hope. I beg to assert... that as long as a man's heart beats, as long as a man's flesh quivers, I do not allow that a being gifted with thought and will, can allow himself to despair.” Indeed, it’s like the three from Barcelona managed to capture the essence of the Jules Verne book. Which is of course and adventure and a tale of discovery, but also of mankind and of our spirit and soul. And they do this with so much passion and belief, one cannot help but falling in love with Maragda. For they effortlessly combine kraut rock elements with garage, fuzz with prog and give it all this sanctified aura. Complex, wild, yet groovy and always returning some form of hook. Sparkling and direct, the riffs compound and build, testing limits of second track The Calling, while opener The Core As A Whole explodes, and then seems to pull back and float along all that burst from the explosion. What a welcome… Well, the rest of the album is just as elegant, intricate, interesting and complete… And just listen to Crystal Passage, damn, another Verne quote applies: “I dream with my eyes open.”
We returned yesterday from a family visit on the British Island… Wish was amazing, even though we had to mess the best line-up of Desert Fest Antwerp ever and Dirty Sound Magnet that played a venue near my home town. But we returned just in time to wish our very own Reek Of STOOM a very happy birthday. But not in time to be able to post that Most Listened To Last Week post we just did, but normally do on Monday. Dominated ofcourse by Maragda and Redscale! Those two album we were so honored to be able to do an International Premiere for. Both albums are stunning and I hope all of your went over to the blog and pressed play and now know that we are not just going overboard with the accolades again but that they really and truly are amazing…
And because Madman Tony Maim suddenly fired up his Black Insect Laughter blog again, we immediately went and checked out the albums he posted about. Like that manic Kowloon Walled City about which he wrote: “Kowloon Walled City have carved out an impressive slab of hardcore/sludge/noise rock that is full of dirty, distorted tunes of disgust, regret and thoughtful anger. Feeling slightly less chaotic than past records, the band are not scared to strip away walls of noise to reveal passages of stark intensity which rely on vocals and picked guitar to set the scene before blasting out a barrage of atmospheric noise and aggression. Great production has melded the instruments into a massive force that sounds unstoppable - if there is any justice in this shitty world, this is a body of work that stands out in an overcrowded genre and which other bands will be measured against.” So go check it out! And check Black Insect Laughter blog out, cause the Madman has scribbled down some other mad ravings about other albums as well!
We are extremely honored to present to you the International Premiere of the self-titled debut album by Spanish, trio Maragda! A wild and raw trip into the unknown released on Spinda Records together with Nafra Records and Necio Records. Perhaps you have already been hooked by that first single Hermit? Or the one that followed: The Calling? Either way, the album is a sure fire way to get your Maragda love all fired up! Cause the heavy psychedelic garage, the intense stoner moments and that wild pounding fuzz are all one can possible need to set ones heart ablaze! It might even cause you to incite a revolution!
“This record tells the story of Maragda, a civilization that took refuge underground after the Great Disaster. Many years have passed now, and the memory of a life on the surface has completely faded. People live under the oppression of a totalitarian government, The Core, when suddenly a strange voice speaks inside their minds. After this call, a group of rebels launches an expedition through The Unknown, willing to discover the secrets of Maragda”
