Look, I’m not even going to pretend to flatter myself here in thinking either I or this site would ever be on this band’s radar whatsoever. Clutch might’ve known who I was when I worked in print media due to the fact that basically I stalked them and their poor publicist, but I cut a different profile these days — literally and figuratively — so yeah. It’s a cute coincidence.

The reference Clutch are obviously making in titling their 12-album/18LP box set The Obelisk comes from their 1995 self-titled second album, the line from the song “Escape from the Prison Planet” that goes, “Rebuild the remnants of the obelisk, one mile from the pyramids” (which actually isn’t where I got the name of this site from, but again, that’s not relevant and neither am I; see above). And certainly that’s what they’re doing here. They’re rebuilding the remnants. Putting 12 albums in the same place definitely counts. I guess that’s everything they’ve done through Weathermaker at any point — I’m not sure as to what is actually going to be in this thing, whether it’s all their studio albums, or some of those minus the major-label stuff that Weathermaker never reissued, but with live recordings, or maybe something new like a comp of the Weathermaker Singles Series or what. I have no idea. None. Don’t ask.

All I know is it’s out April 18 for Record Store Day 2020 as part of an ongoing tradition Clutch have, and that someone sent me the link to a preorder page through Season of Mist in Europe. Apparently Europe is getting 200 of them. No clue as to how many North America might end up with, but I wouldn’t think it’ll be nearly enough.

Clutch US dates for April and May — they’ll also be in South America in April — and they’re in Australia this month and UK/Europe later in the summer. You know how they do. I reformatted everything listed on their site, so here’s that, along with the info for The Obelisk, which I cut and pasted right off the Season of Mist page.

Here it is [UPDATE MARCH 6: New details came down the PR wire. I’ve included them here in place of the info from the preorder page]:

Clutch – The Obelisk

“The Obelisk” is a box set that is comprised of all of Clutch’s Weathermaker Music vinyl releases. There are six double LP’s, three 12″ LPs, and three 12″ picture discs all together in a beautifully designed box set. In addition, the box contains a turntable mat and a square, artist signed lithograph. The rigid box has a magnetic closure and the silver foil is stamped on black Sierra cloth. This is a unique collector’s item and only 1,000 boxes were made for worldwide sales.

The individual 12” vinyl releases are Full Fathom Five (2xLP), Live At The Googolplex (Picture Disc), Jam Room (Picture Disc). Pitchfork & Lost Needles (Picture Disc), La Curandera, Strange Cousins From The West (2xLP),Blast Tyrant (2xLP), Robot Hive/Exodus (2xLP), From Beale Street To Oblivion (2xLP) Earth Rocker, Psychic Warfare, and Book Of bad Decisions (2xLP).

Clutch Live 2020:

Fri, MAR 20 Download Festival 2020 Melbourne Ascot Vale, Australia

Sat, MAR 21 Download Festival 2020 Sydney Sydney, Australia

Sat, APR 4 Big Surf Tempe, AZ

Sun, APR 5 Palms Casino Resort Las Vegas, NV

Tue, APR 7 Mission Ballroom Denver, CO

Wed, APR 8 Silverstein Eye Centers Arena Independence, MO

Fri, APR 10 Irving Music Factory Irving, TX

Sat, APR 11 Ford Park Entertainment Complex Beaumont, TX

Mon, APR 13 Nashville Municipal Auditorium Nashville, TN

Tue, APR 14 Knoxville Civic Auditorium and Coliseum Knoxville, TN

Wed, APR 15 Coca-Cola Roxy Atlanta, GA

Thu, APR 16 Blind Tiger Greensboro, NC

Sun, APR 26 Fabrique Club São Paulo, Brazil

Tue, APR 28 UNICLUB Abasto, Argentina

Thu, APR 30 Club Chocolate Recoleta, Chile

Sat, MAY 2 Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez Mexico, Mexico

Tue, MAY 5 Covelli Centre Youngstown, OH

Wed, MAY 6 Schottenstein Center Columbus, OH

Thu, MAY 7 The Machine Shop Flint, MI

Fri, MAY 8 The Machine Shop Flint, MI

Sat, MAY 9 The Rave / Eagles Club Milwaukee, WI

Sun, MAY 10 DeltaPlex Arena & Conference Center Grand Rapids, MI

Tue, MAY 12 UMBC Event Center Baltimore, MD

Wed, MAY 13 The Rooftop at Pier 17 New York City, NY

Fri, JUL 17 Ramblin’ Man Fair Maidstone, United Kingdom

Sat, JUL 18 Ramblin’ Man Fair Maidstone, United Kingdom

Sun, JUL 19 Ramblin’ Man Fair Maidstone, United Kingdom

Tue, JUL 21 Limelight Belfast, United Kingdom

Wed, JUL 22 The Academy Dublin 1, Ireland

Thu, JUL 23 O2 Academy Glasgow Glasgow, United Kingdom

Mon, JUL 27 ARTmania Festival Sibiu, Romania

Tue, JUL 28 MetalDays Tolmin, Slovenia

Thu, JUL 30 Kostrzy?skie Centrum Kultury Kostrzyn Nad Odr?, Poland

Sat, AUG 1 Gijon Gijón, Spain

Mon, AUG 3 Hard Club Porto, Portugal

Tue, AUG 4 CINETEATRO CAPITÓLIO Lisbon, Portugal

Wed, AUG 5 Open Flair Festival Eschwege, Germany

Thu, AUG 6 Rocco del Schlacko 2020 Püttlingen, Germany

Thu, AUG 6 Eiswiese Rothenburg Ob Der Tauber, Germany

Fri, AUG 7 Into The Grave Leeuwarden, Netherlands

Sat, AUG 8 Rocco Del Schlakko Saarbrücken, Germany

Sun, AUG 9 Taubertal Festival Rothenburg Ob Der Tauber, Germany

Tue, AUG 11 Sziget Festival Budapest, Hungary

Fri, AUG 14 Summer Breeze Open Air Dinkelsbühl, Germany

Sun, AUG 16 Kulturbolaget Malmö, Sweden

Tue, AUG 18 Gröna Lund Stockholm, Sweden

Wed, AUG 19 Sentrum Scene Oslo, Norway

Thu, AUG 20 Liseberg Göteborg, Sweden

Tue, SEP 22 Pukkelpop Festival Hasselt, Belgium

CLUTCH:

Neil Fallon – Vocals/Guitar

Tim Sult – Guitar

Dan Maines – Bass

Jean-Paul Gaster – Drums/Percussion

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www.instagram.com/clutchofficial

www.pro-rock.com

www.youtube.com/user/officialclutch

Clutch, “Evil” Live at Download Fest, UK, June 2019