Review From Thy Demons BE Scribblin

When I hear nest I think bugs, and I freakin' loathe bugs. However, while spinning this I forget about bugs and consider breaking out the 'green', calling in sick (it's perfectly fine three times in three months just don't call in when you're actually sick, that's the trick!) and lounging at a nearby park balanced precariously on a hammock (does anyone here know how to properly construct one to OSHA standards?). Obviously when someone mentions doom and Sweden in the same sentence Messiah Marcolin,Snowy Shaw and the beyond hugely influential Candlemass come to mind (*Nope Kongh comes immediately to Feind’s mind!). This however is different, envisage distorted guitars and tracks that last forever but “go nowhere fast” (SOD anyone?) This isn't at all a negative comment because let's face it sometimes you just need to shut everything out and take time to relax. This is a perfect band to drop everything to, there's always tomorrow.
If only life was played out at this pace.

Review from Doomed & Stoned

Sweden! What is up with you, hommie? You’re putting out some rocious riffs lately! Introducing NEST: “Two brothers from Stockholm and a Frenchman playing primitive doom.” For some reason, siblings and cousins make some of the best bands (thinking Mothership, Zirakzigil, others). What you can expect from Nest’s self-titled debut is dark, murky underworld of heavy, low ‘n’ slow riffage, with wicked, monastic and sludge vocals. Great stuff! Wax coming from Tribunal of the Axe Records in November!

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Swamp Witch; the culmination of psychedelic substances, occult practices, and band members interest in dark, strange, and trippy music originally devised with the sole intent to commit and record ritualistic extremities through heavy music only for the night of 9/9/09. In the aftermath, members found themselves pressed to continue the slow-burning drudgery sparked that September ninth into the months that followed, leading to shows, recordings, band members towing themselves out of the smog from Central Valley, CA into Oakland (and Arcata, respectively) and finally, the vinyl release that recollects the original material of that night of the ninth; "Gnosis". 

The punishing, murky layers pertruding from the 2011 "Gnosis" recordings (via Earhammer) drip with the trance ladden, drug induced efforts of 70's psychedelia compressed into the claustrophobic toil and painful repetition of 90's sludge. This concept of "Gnosis" actually seems more akin to H.P. Lovecraft's ideas of psychosis and derealization as the only thing the feeble human mind can experience when confronting truth (cosmicism), as opposed to gnosis in the classic, transcendental sense of the term. In other words, it's fucked up. 

While Gnosis was being released through tape, and finally, vinyl, Swamp Witch had already begun preparing material for what was to become "The Slithering Bog". To help achieve this, former drummer Dirk V took up second guitar duties and helped further emphasize the psychedelic undertones heard in Gnosis, while collaborator Adam T. took on drums. The end result of almost two years writing proved worthy, as warped landscapes and fungal textures resting somewhere between dream-like and sleep paralysis culminated into "The Slithering Bog" recording of late 2014 (again by Wilkinson). After seeing a tape release in 2015 through bandmate Jimmy's Transylvanian Tapes, the collection of nightmare rituals that made this release so necessary and bizarre has finally oozed its way onto vinyl thanks to Tribunal of the Axe Records. Currently, the band has added Bog Oak guitarist Phillip Gallagher to handle drums, and will be promoting their release around CA's Bay Area this year.

RECORDING INFO: 

Recorded July 2014 at Earhammer Studios Oakland, CA by Greg Wilkinson. Mastered by Justin Weiss at Trakworx in SF, CA.

FORMATS:

Released 2015 on cassette via Transylvanian Tapes. 2016 vinyl release from Tribunal of the Axe.

Bädr Vogu is a sludge/doom/crust metal band hailing from Oakland, California that was formed in late 2009. Armed with a strong DIY ethic, they have steadily built an underground following in the States through incessant touring and a spattering of releases including a self-released demo (2010), a full-length (Exitium 2011), a split LP with Seattle based death/crust outfit Wilt (2012), and a tour tape/demo titled Agglomeration MMXIV released through Transylvanian Tapes (2014). They have also established a sizable following in Europe from the release and distribution of their debut album through the Spanish death/doom label Memento Mori. This has all led up to the release of their second studio album, entitled Wroth, which will be released July 16th 2016 on cassette, and on 2xLP courtesy of Tribunal of the Axe Records.

Bädr Vogu arose out of mutual friendships in the Bay Area heavy music scene and set out with the intention of creating music that would stand up to the high level of talent and integrity existent in the region's underground music scene. They are influenced by local luminaries such as Noothgrush, Dystopia, Neurosis, Sleep/Asbestos Death, Stormcrow, and Brainoil; but they also deftly infuse their sound with the bluesy swagger of the American South, conjuring forth the swampy sounds of Eyehategod, Weedeater, and Buzzov-en. Their brutal concoction is then encased in a solidified crust of filthy death/doom that has an underlying punk/hardcore backbone.

Bädr Vogu is comprised of Sean Sokol on vocals/samples, Bryce Shelton and Leo Buckley on guitars, Justin Wonder on drums, and Chris Tanti on bass. These native Californians have had a long, incestuous history of involvement in the underground music scene in the Bay Area and have been involved with numerous other groups such as Hotblack Desiato, World Eater, Agenda of Swine, Hazzard’s Cure, Ordo Obsidium, Dolph Lundgren, and Nik Turner’s Hawkwind, to name only a few.

Their new album, Wroth, cohesively blends their strongest points into a massive and uncompromising slew of songs that they feel are their most compelling and ferocious to date. Wroth was recorded in the Spring and Summer of 2015 at Earhammer Studios in Oakland by Greg Wilkinson. Amidst writing and recording, Bädr Vogu has remained diligent in maintaining a consistent touring schedule on top of playing out locally. They have done two full US tours and a plethora of smaller regional trips up and down the West Coast and the Southwest. With the release of the new album immanent, they plan to tour extensively in support of its release both in the United States as well as in Europe in the immediate future.