The 9C Files: Sykofant’s Red Sun EP
At Nine Circles we go on and on about the Norwegian metal scene thanks to teeny, tiny signifiers like the birth of second wave black metal and labels like Pelagic leading the post-metal charge. But did you know there was, and is, a massive progressive rock scene there, too? It’s true; even Bandcamp thinks so! If I’m not here writing about trad and stoner metal, chances are I’m chasing down prog by the likes of bands like Wobbler and Tusmørke. But out of the crop of fresh blood peeking out across the country Sykofant has been one of my favorite bands to don the tag. Too many bands forget the “rock” part of the genre, content to rest on the laurels of the 1970s UK pioneers who built the genre. Sykofant never forget, and their new EP Red Sun is another testament to that fact.
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(Un)Focused Definition Ep. 79: Listin’…
Hello. I’m knee deep in building out lists for end year and have – at age 52 – a pajama party I have to go to tonight. So lots to prepare (my wife is insisting the dirty sweats and John Coltrane hoodie I slept in will NOT suffice for a social event) which means this is another quick playlist while I get stuff ready, build more lists, and figure out next week’s queue of 2025 releases to get in here. It’s not necessarily end of year contenders, although they MIGHT be included (I won’t say); they’re also not necessarily new stuff that’s come in the door recently (although there most certainly will be those as well), and I think that’s a large enough word count for an introduction, so let’s do this.
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sunn O))): Eternity’s Pillars (2025)
BWOOOOOOWWWWWMMM! How a band like sunn O))) can basically take that feeble attempt at onomatopoeia and twist it into something so hypnotic, so mesmerizing and frankly…beautiful is beyond me. Such is the case with Eternity’s Pillars, the new EP/single from the band’s recent signing/partnership with Sub Pop Records. Unhurried and as intentional as ever, the band doesn’t so much rip as thrum their way through three massive tracks that spill molten love all over you.
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Agriculture: The Spiritual Sound (2025)
Welcome to an experiment. As I write this, my brief take on The Spiritual Sound, the phenomenal sophomore LP from California’s Agriculture, I’m actually listening to their self-titled debut – an album I really, really did not care for. Summoning the joy and fervor the new album gave me while revisiting a debut I found anonymous and cowering behind a wall of bricked production, I began to identify fragments of the things that would fully bloom two years later. I won’t say I’ve come around yet, but man: what a giant leap this album takes – and lands – successfully.
I think.
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Kadavar: I Just Want To Be A Sound (2025)
This was supposed to be a different review. But I watching a review on YouTube for the latest from German psych/stoner/prog rock band Kadavar for their just-released second album of 2025, Kids Abandoning Destiny Among Vanity And Ruin and we needed to pivot. Not to review that album – the vinyl doesn’t come out until January – but to address the other album the band released this year, the one a lot of critics and content creators rolled their eyes against and fretted and squawked about the change in direction. And yeah, sure: I Just Want To Be A Sound is a bit jarring if you came expecting more of the deep stoner and ’70s rock worship Kadavar have embraced to varying degrees of success since their debut. A few more listens, though, reveal a real sense of adventure and a fine ear for hooks that recall both ’90s and ’00s rock/pop hybrids even as they remain tether to their flared, bellbottom roots.
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Hiromi: Out There (2025)
Similar to my last review, the where’s and how’s of my discovering the indelible virtuosity of jazz pianist Hiromi are lost to the fog of age (and probably weed, who are we kidding?). Maybe it was during my heady exploration of the fusion and jazz rock coming out of Japan in the ’70s, but however the path was laid, I’m so glad it led me to Out There, her latest album and collaboration with her full band unit Sonicwonder. It’s a heady mix of styles, exuberant and joyful and packing so much excellence in the performance aspect once I put it on, it’s hard not to let it replay over and over again.
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Consuming the Tangible 