Bow down, people. Just
bow down. If extended, repetitive,
droned-out krauty stoner prog a
la Circle is your thing, then
this disc definitely for you,
surprise surprise. Sheer hypnosis.
Utterly mesmeric. Sounds
sooooooooooooo gooooooooooood. It's
hard to think of these guys as
just a band, the music here seems
produced by some organic force.
It's a living thing really. A
throbbing monster of an album.
Just like their sister band
Circle, of which they're all
members, Finnish psychsters
Pharaoh Overlord have built a
discography (they're up to six
albums now, counting this one)
that somehow maintains a core
identity yet always does
something different each time out.
They started off with the stoner
rock riff mantras of #1, then
went to the mostly subdued
noirishness of II, followed that
with the live-and-raw Battle Of
The Axehammer, then came back
with the krautrockingly Circle-like
diversions of #3, all before
delving into the absurdly
headbanging metallisms of #4 that
even added vocals to their
previously instrumental lineup.
So, now what? What next? A second
live album, this time called Live
In Suomi Finland, recorded in
Helsinki in May of 2006. On it
the regular Pharaoh Overlord
lineup of Jussi, Tomi and Janne
is augmented by two more Finnish
friends, and special guest Hans
Joachim Irmler of legendary
krautrockers Faust! His electric
organ grind here adds an extra
dose of distorted drone to the
proceedings.
Of the two live PO discs this is
definitely the best sounding. It's
not as raw and blown-out as
Battle Of The Axehammer, it's got
better fidelity, but if anything
it's even heavier!! Perhaps its
the additional "remixing"
credited to Irmler, whatever
magic he worked in later in the
Faust studio definitely makes
this more than "just" a
live album.
There's five tracks here, though
it's a very continuously flowing
disc... starting with the
infectious riffery of "Black
Horse" (which has appeared
previously only in another live
version on Battle Of The
Axehammer), followed by two
totally new tracks, "Tutankharmony"
and "Zero Gravity" that
relax the volume and mood a bit
with a sense of smokey, improv
mystery. Then they launch into
"Skyline", the heaviest
cut from II, before winding up /
blowing out with a quarter-hour
rendition #1's "Mangrove".
An incredible 50+ minutes all
told. Boy, we wish we'd been
there! Too bad SF-Helsinki
flights aren't quick or cheap... http://www.aquariusrecords.org/
BLACK HORSE simple
heavy guitar drums and bass!
Like Bloodrock or Lord Baltimore
with no vocals. A weird monster
sound, I was expecting white guy
jazz but this isn't that! Same
riff whole song so far with noisy
keys and effects on top! Okay,
this is a Circle side project,
sounds better the longer I listen!
TUTANKHARMONY more of the same,
almost same riff, but sounds
great! Can't let a song get in
the way of a great riff! These
guys are probably badass live!
ZERO GRAVITY goes straight from
one song to the next! Reminds
me of Agitation Free but more
simple rock music! SKYLINE
heavy metal funk beat! A little
too Spinal Tap for me!?....starts
to sound ok after 4 minutes of
exact same riff!! Cool, dude!
My wife says it sounds like a
stuck record and she has a point!
Maybe now that I don't drink so
much this kinda music can't make
sense to me?! On second listen
this album is high and mighty,
maybe a little awe inspiring?
At 9:15 the riff changes up a
little!! MANGROVE a 14:22 new
drum beat, it's completely
different now! Strange whirring
noise, more heavy metal guitar!
I probably would've really dug
this 15-20 years ago! It would
be somewhat fresh then!...7
minutes in starting to get into a
deep space groove, sounds pretty
freakin' great actually!!...finally
it's over...see, I shouldn't have
to say that!!?! http://terrascope.co.uk
(...) Thank Satan that Pharaoh
Overlord's Live in Suomi
Finland (Vivo) has nothing to
do with any of that. In fact, it's
easily the group's most
substantial, approachable effort
yet. Taped in Helsinki in spring
2006, the set catches the core
personnel of Lehtisalo, guitarist
Janne Westerlund, and drummer
Tomi Leppänen (all of whom
double as members of Circle) on a
scorching date, augmented by
extra guitarists Pekka
Jääskeläinen and Julius
Jääskeläinen plus Hans Joachim
Irmler of Faust on creaking,
whooshing organ. The expanded
lineup and crisp but cavernous
production brighten Pharaoh
Overlord's minimalist formula of
simple, endlessly repeated,
stoner-cum-Kraut riffs. The
instrumental ensemble wisely
omits material from the
aforementioned #4 and
instead revisits the choicest
selections from its earliest
studio albums. A pair of
previously unreleased tracks are
included, as is the definitive
version of "Black Horse,"
a swaggering behemoth that
initially appeared on Overlord's
first concert document, 2004's
enjoyable but lo-fi Battle of
the Axehammer. On par with
the best of Circle's canon, Live
in Suomi Finland is the
perfect elixir for discriminating
palates who prefer to consume
their stout, psychedelic sludge
without frivolous cock-rock cream.
(...) By Jordan N. Mamone / http://www.dustedmagazine.com
CD TYGODNIA / GAZETA
WYBORCZA
KONCERT W
HELSINKACH
Jeden długi ciąg
stonerrockowego transu
Założycielem
zespołu jest Jussi Lehtisalo
wcześniej znany z fińskiej
grupy psychodelicznej Circle (kiedyś
sam z przekorą nazwał ją
"najnudniejszym zespołem
rockandrollowym na świecie").
To już szósta płyta Pharaoh
Overlord, pierwsza wydana przez
polską wytwórnię Vivo. Na tym
zarejestrowanym przed rokiem w
Helsinkach koncercie gościnnie
pojawił się sam Hans Joachim
Irmler z niemieckiej grupy Faust,
legendy kraut rocka (to on
również wyprodukował ten album).
Płyta trwa 50 minut i choć
podzielona jest na pięć
utworów, to tak naprawdę
stanowi jeden długi ciąg
stonerrockowego transu. Gitary
są tak ciężkie, że niemal
dotykają ziemi. Prosta, leniwie
rozpędzająca się sekcja
rytmiczna. Hipnotycznie
zapętlone riffy. Orientalne
motywy. Brudny, szorstki blues.
Słyszalne wpływy hipisowskiej
psychodelii połączone z
amerykańską muzyką pustynną
spod znaku Kuyss. Oszczędna
okładka nie daje nam niemal
żadnych informacji na temat
zespołu, w internecie trzeba
długo ich szukać. Pozostaje
muzyka. Tylko tyle i aż tyle.
MARCIN BABKO / GAZETA WYBORCZA
Prosto z
egzotycznej Finlandii przybywa
masyw mroźnego dźwięku
przesterowanych gitar. Mówią,
że stoner... mówią, że
postrock... W sumie jest racja i
tu i tu, bo z jednej strony mamy
tutaj typowe ściany gitar jak u
Queens Of The Stone Age, tyle,
że odarte z piosenkowej formy.
Forma jest raczej post. Zresztą
wystarczy spojrzeć na listę
utworów i porównać z czasem
trwania. 5 kawałków w 50 minut
to prawie jak Godspeed You! Black
Emperor. Otwierający płytę,
dziesięciominutowy utwór z
jednym, powtarzającym się
mantrowo riffem miażdży jak
czołg. Jak The Melvins
połączone z Neurosis. Surowo,
chłodno, bez wokalu. I żeby
było zabawniej - tak już jest
do końca. 2 i 3 są jakby
połączone w jedną, długą
suitę, w której coś tam niby
się dzieje, ale tak naprawdę
niewiele. 4 to w tych
okolicznościach zaskakujący
riff w stylu Pantery, ale,
ponieważ znów zapętlony w
nieskończoność, przywodzi na
myśl znów bardziej
hipnotyzujące numery Melvinsów.
Ostatni najciekawszy - ponad 14
minut, ale coś tam mieszają.
Aby krótko podsumować: nie
zdziwiłbym się, gdyby w USA
dystrybucją zajął się Ipecac.
Bo to jest bardzo patton`owska
płyta. Czyli nie dla wszystkich.
Ja osobiście mam ambiwalentne
odczucia zwłaszcza co do faktu,
że płyta jest koncertowa. Nie
słychać w związku z tym zbyt
dobrze barwy przesterów i ginie
gdzieś w tym wszystkim perkusja,
ale z drugiej strony z
pewnością muzycy dali się
trochę ponieść... Bartek
Adamiak / http://muzyka.gery.pl/
Stretching to five long
unnamed tracks, Pharaoh Overlord's
live
collaboration with Jochen Irmler
of Faust is squarely in the
locked-groove style of their
alter-ego Circle. Their take on
stoner rock
is less one of Black Sabbath
worship, more of extended riffs
taken to
extremes, overwritten by Irmler's
droning, occasionally snarling
organ
work - and sometimes that sounds
so reedy it's forgiveable to
assume
that there's a deeply-placed
saxophone honking away in the
increasingly
dense mix.
There is a neat variation of mood
across the session, with a couple
of
milder melodic sections
intervening to provide soothing
rest breaks.
Other tracks are not for the
faint of patience, with time soon
pummelled
into submission by single-minded
drumming and the thick,
enveloping fug
of distortion made increasingly
intense, like doom metal sped up
- but
without the need for muttering
about Satan. Richard Fontenoy www.planbmag.com
It's been a
while since we last listened to
some stoner rock, but Pharaoh
Overlord is a straight shot in
the heart. This big band contains
members of Plain Ride, Avviko and
Hans Joachim Irmler from Faust.
"Live In Suomi Finland"
doesn't much information, other
than that it was recorded in May
last year in Helsinki. It's one
blast of guitar noise. The cover
doesn't give much information as
to who plays what, but I imagine
one plays drums, one bass, one
keyboards, thus leaving three
others to play guitars. Loud
guitars, fed through distortion
pedals, but always there to keep
the solid concrete and above all
thick wall as solid as possible.
Despite the fact that there are
five separate tracks to be found
here, it's best to see this as
one long session that has been
cut for easy sake (?) into five
smaller parts. Like good stoner
rock there is seemingly no end to
this journey, even when it lasts
fifty minutes. At times it lacks
all sort of refinement and things
are on the edge of distortion,
but that's of course part of this
all freak out music. Certainly
something to experience live, but
also on CD it sucks out all the
energy. A true blast. (FdW) www.vitalweekly.net
Oh yes, the
indestructible Pharaoh Overlord
are back, and they're ready to
rock. This gorgeously packaged
disc is a recording of a live
show that the Circle side-project
played in 2006 and it shows the
ever-reliable band on top form,
rocking the crowd into next year.
This is classic metal as classic
metal should sound - cheesy riffs,
bad phasing effects, pounding
percussion and occasional Eastern
influences, and for that it
deserves all the praise that is
lavished upon it. You know the
musicians are all great players,
but this is where they can let
their hair down and just rock out,
and over the course of 50 minutes
that's exactly what they do.
Sludge, doom, classic rock, call
it what you will - these Finnish
chaps are re-animating what we
all love about Sabbath and
Zeppelin and making at least some
of us (well, me) take notice. By
the time the disc comes to a
close you'll wonder why the hell
you weren't at the gig, okay you
might not be in Finland but that's
hardly an excuse, there are cheap
flights aren't there? What's that
you say, carbon emissions. oh
well, fair enough, we'll just
have to wait until the Overlord
manage to make their way to dear
old Blighty then won't we. Loud,
proud and lots of fun - who said
Fins were quiet eh? Recommended. http://www.boomkat.com
 Mocna rzecz!
Minimal-noise-rock rodem z dość
egzotycznej muzycznie Finlandii,
objawiony w naszym rodzimym
wydawnictwie Vivo pozostawia
naprawdę znakomite wrażenie.
Zarejestrowany w trakcie koncertu
materiał imponuje bowiem nie
tylko potęgą brzmienia i
wrzącą ekspresją, ale także
szlachetnym ascetyzmem,
wyrażającym się w świadomym
ograniczaniu środków wyrazu -
sprowadzonych tu do absolutnego,
rockowego minimum. Oszczędna,
lecz nad wyraz transowa motoryka,
zbudowana z repetycji bardzo
prostych struktur rytmicznych
oraz surowe, chropowate i
szorstkie brzmienie instrumentów,
ujawniają całą charyzmę
prostych, niemal bluesowych
riffów, przywodzących na myśl
głównie rockowych minimalistów
japońskiego undergroundu, Ohkami
No Jikan, Musica Transonic czy
Mainliner, eksplorujących od lat
z powodzeniem zbliżone
estetycznie regiony muzyczne. W
najlepszych momentach Pharaoh
Overload brzmi niemal tak, jakby
na scenie, dość nieoczekiwanie
jamowali wspólnie Faust z
Fushitsushą (z czasów
pierwszego Double Live). Nie
powinna więc nas dziwić
gościnna obecność Hansa
Joachima Irmlera, wspomagającego
Finów muzycznie i produkcyjnie!
Weteran krautowego undergroundu
bez większych problemów musiał
wszak rozpoznać w muzyce
Pharaoha idee rytmiczne i
brzmieniowe, które przed niemal
40 laty krzewił jakże
skutecznie Faust. Podsumowując,
mamy tu wyśmienity koncertowy
album, czerpiący wprost z
rockowego idiomu, wolnego od
stylistycznych i gatunkowych
naleciałości. Zaskakująco
świeża muzyka!
Dariusz Brzostek / GAZ-ETA
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