When I first heard of this weed-based tribute to Cannibal Corpse I was somewhat annoyed that I hadn't come up with the idea myself. It is a funny twist that I actually prefer the music of Cannabis Corpse to Cannibal Corpse, and The Weeding EP is a perfect and concise sample as to why I love this band so much compared to the latter (and before I spark off any purists; I am aware that Cannibal Corpse's early output is somewhat untouchable, but if we put Cannabis Corpse up against the majority of the stuff that Cannibal Corpse has churned out over the last decade or so, then I believe I have a valid case, not that this is about slating Cannibal Corpse at all).
Satan's Satyrs play dirty, dingy rock and roll tinged with that punk attitude that everyone loves so much (amirite?). The guitar tone here is off the chart, transporting you right to the heart of Fuzz City USA. We lose a bit of clarity in the overall production sound, which is a bit muddy, and the drums have this strange treble-heavy density to them (which is rather intruding at first but you get used to it), almost as if they are being played in another room away from you, but if anything, this just adds to the charm of the record, which is a highly enjoyable, mirky romp through witch/doobie burning excellence.
"Electric Witchwhipper" is probably my favourite track, and is just totally dripping in sleaze, making me want to dive into a swimming pool filled with 80s exploitation films (ouch!). Check it out below.
Kong Saves is the debut EP from new South Wales based doom metal / stoner outfit Kong Lives, featuring members of Tradish and the recently (sadly) defunct Desalvo. Kong Saves treads firmly on the ethereal yet groove-laden side of doom, rarely falling full force into the pits of sludgy despair. The trippier, more laid back parts remind me of Germany's Samsara Blues Experiment, whilst the more full-on, distorted passages are akin to The Inside Room-era 40 Watt Sun mixed with something altogether more Slabdragger (yeah fuck it I'm going with that statement haha).
Track 4 features backing vocals from Judas Cradle's very own Sam Wall, which is a nice addition to the nihilistic blast of doom. The fitting artwork was pen(cilled?) by long-time illustrator and once PUS vocalist Bvrzerk, and the amazing studio production was carried out by Newport's Rhys Bryant (who has recorded the likes of Grand Collapse and Pizza Tramp, among others).
You can stream the whole thing at the group's Bandcamp page, so check it out below.
So today ("today" being a month or so before you all see this post) I was casually browsing through The Graveyard (what I call iTunes on my PC since Spotify came along) and I stumbled across this forgotten relic; it had completely slipped my mind that Sleep had done a $neaky little EP for Adult Swim, and top it off, I find out this shit came out in 2014! 2014!!?? Holy fuck...
Anyways, on with the review! At first The Clarity strikes me as a bit of a self-parody with lyrics like "the dealer is my refuge" and "back patch / Iommic life complete", and that doesn't do much to add the reek of cashing in that this one-track EP gives off (go peep the price of the vinyl for this shit, and also the prices for those ridiculous Sleep action figures and pillows. What is this, fucking Kiss or something? I'm just surprised it wasn't released on green wax and limited to 420 copies).
That being said however, Sleep are rather well known for spacey riffs and silly lyrics about smoking weed, so really, I shouldn't complain. Musically, this release treads the middle ground, and somehow ends up sounding like an inoffensive mashup between Om and High On Fire, rather than like a genuine Sleep song. That might sound rediculous, but have a genuine think about that statement for a second.
It just seems to me that everybody involved with Sleep is now so far removed from it musically, that revisiting it with the hope of reviving it for future releases seems like a bad idea. It is incredibly sad that Sleep's legacy only truly began posthumously, but with Om and High On Fire being fantastic bands in their own right, I can't help but think that Sleep should be left where it belongs: sleeping.
Bloodlung were a sludge band from South Wales who called it a day a year or so ago. As a result, free copies of their Roach album filtered out and
I got given one at band practice when Judas Cradle used to rehearse at One Louder studios in Newport. I don’t usually listen to metal
stuff in the car on the way home because a.) I’m usually sick of hearing
guitars by that point and b.) I’m deaf as fuck too, half the time. I’m glad I
threw this on the car stereo though, although it did make me feel a bit awful
that I’d been so ignorant to this band existing in the first place.
Doom is literally everywhere now but there’s no-one really
repping sludge in South Wales except Hogslayer (not to my knowledge – but
then again, I am an idiot) so Bloodlung are a welcome change. It's gutting that these guys broke up as this album is pretty fucking ace and it's a shame to see talent disappear but what can you do? At least they dropped this before they fucked off ;)
Acoustic Wizard is, perhaps unsurprisingly, an acoustic tribute band to Electric Wizard. I could never in a million years have expected this to work, but fuck, it totally does. If anything this project proves that there is real weight to the riffs that Electric Wizard have pioneered, rather than them being yet another crap band playing really slowly and smothered in distortion.
I guess this is one of those things where I really can't say that much and you just have to listen to it to believe that it actually exists. If you're not a fan of Electric Wizard though, I would definitely give this a miss. There used to be a Bandcamp full of this shit, but perhaps Jus'n'Co (or maybe Rise Above) got to them before us and shut 'em down...Who knows? There's always Youtube.
Without getting too cringe there is something magical about Om's music. Perhaps it's the chanting, trance-like rhythm of the majority of their songs, or perhaps it's the seemingly perfect balance that Al Cisneros strikes between riff and distortion. Either way, Om can turn a 20 minute song into what feels like one of those daydreams that has lasted only seconds but in your head you have traversed entire worlds. "Shit, how long have I been out?"
I've recently started a new job with a lot of early starts, and as much as I love grindcore and death metal, it quickly became apparent that half 5 in the morning is not the time to listen to something that is so aurally abrasive. This continues to give me ample opportunities to catch up on genres that I usually push to the side, and whilst I feared that listening to Om would put me back to sleep whilst tanning it down the M4 and result in my fiery death, I actually just caught up on a band that I forgot existed and had a banging time listening to something that wasn't intentionally trying to blow my head off.
Windhand are a doom band from the USA that play the kind of heavy fuzzy as fuck doom with washed out vocals that everyone loves. Whilst some people will read that as Windhand being some sort of second rate Electric Wizard, the reality couldn't be further from the truth.
Opener "Orchard" sums up the overall feel of the album with massive fuzzy riff following massive fuzzy riff while vocalist Dorthia Cottrell's haunting voice helps lull you into an almost trance-like state (which also makes the album being named after the perfect drug from Brave New World far more apt). There is a nice acoustic break about halfway through (which you would think is jarring but it actually fits really well and I'd like to hear more of it in the future) before it's back to the fuzz which ends with my personal favourite song, "Cassock".
The massive (in both sound and length) "Boleskine" follows, and even at 30 minutes it seems to end too soon. Sometimes you really do just want to listen to the same riff over and over again for about 10 minutes because it's so good. Eventually, it fades and all that is left is the sound of wind and you're left wondering where the last 75 minutes went.
Coven are one of those bands that time forgot. They are pretty much entirely responsible for creating the occult rock genre (along with Black Widow) and had they been around today they would probably be huge, but since their debut came out in 1969 there was a lot of negativity around their lyrical themes. Instead, they were dropped from their record label and had their debut album taken out of circulation.
The main question with albums like this is are they actually worth listening to or are you just trying to be more elitist than the people around you? Luckily enough, the music more than holds up to the band's reputation. Powered by Jinx Dawson's excellent vocals, Coven cover all the topics that occult rock is still using today - namely witches, satan, demons, satan and witches. The opener "Black Sabbath" creeps and crawls along with a sermon-like quality, "Wicked Woman" gallops along with psychy guitar flourishes and "Pact With Lucifer" shows just how impressive a vocalist Coven have but every song on the album stands out for different reasons.
However, one thing which I think dates the album is the last track. "Satanic Mass" is a 13 minute recording of an actual satanic mass and while I can appreciate that 46 years ago people might have found it scary it just sounds cheesy listening to it today and there is no need for it to be 13 minutes long. But still, since it's just a recording and at the end of the album I don't feel it detracts from the overall quality of the album. Just skip it and enjoy one of the finest rock albums around.
I'm getting the most incredible Om-meets-Earth vibe off these guys. If that fact alone doesn't make you want to check 'em out, then let me tell you a little bit more about Queen Elephantine. Interestingly, the band are from Hong Kong but are now located in New York City and Scarab is their 4th record.
Crawling around behind the abstract sleeve art is a minimalistic yet lush soundscape consisting mainly of vast instrumentation - be it conventional or otherwise - led by a rumbling bass and twinkling sitar. These landscapes of aural annihilation are dotted with sparse, achingly melodic vocal passages. From the 8 minutes of "Veil" to the 18 minutes of "Crone" and the two other epics alongside them, Queen Elephantine put on an extremely impressive show into the experimental side of the doom / stoner genres (although it almost feels criminal to restrict the band to such titles).
Another long-awaiting comeback that paid off by the truckload! Eyehategod have been brewing their self-titled return for nearly 14 years, so it was understandable that fans were getting a bit itchy. But, like I said, the wait paid off. This album is absolutely fucking incredible. You've got the classic Eyehategod vibes as if they never went away, but they've given them a cleaner, modern spin. You could argue that the mud and sludge surrounding Eyehategod's music is what gives it most of it's charm, and previous to hearing the new self-titled I would have completely agreed with you, but the sound on this record is just too damn good to worry about the lack of dirgy production.
For the first time, Eyehategod has the clarity to reach a wider metal audience, for better or worse. I think it'll do them a world of good, as this thing is absolute riff machine. There are no bad tracks per se but "Trying To Crack The Hard Dollar" and "Nobody Told Me" are absolutely glorious. Those riffs, though! Those riffs! Daaaaaaaaayum.
This is the last Eyehategod release to include contributions from drummer Joey LaCraze who sadly passed away before this album was released. I've seen this band live countless times, and they were always crazy heavy and super tight even though they always seemed to play whilst absolutely fucking wasted. R.I.P. Joey! At least this record is a fitting epitaph.
I’ve really been jamming the guts out of this album for the
last few weeks. Fistula mix sludgy, messy doom a la Eyehategod with elements of
crust and hardcore punk. I personally think that any genre of metal can be
vastly improved by adding musical elements of (or just the spirit of) crust
punk (Darkthrone’s The Cult Is Alive being a prime example; a vicious bastard
of an album that followed a long string of tired recordings, ironically
containing zero amounts of crust punk).
Fistula resembles the haunting downtuned bogscapes of Lines
In Wax favourites Dragged Into Sunlight with their repetitive, sinister riffs accompanying
long, eery passages of sampled vocal monologue usually revolving around drugs,
drug abuse and the problem with cops (boy, can’t we all relate to that one). If
I had to sum up sludge in one song to an ‘outsider’, opening track “Smoke Cat
Hair and Toe Nails” couldn’t go far wrong as a perfect example. The opening
riff just melts my face every single time – it’s just so nasty.
“Pig Funeral” is probably the highlight of the record for
me; a seething upbeat hate anthem towards the powers that be, that slows down
to a chug for more horrendous sampling to unfold. I’m digging this template –
fast songs and nasty slow passages accompanied by samples. Bonza! “Interlude”
takes this sampling-feast to the very edges of sanity; droning on and on and on
before “Goat Brothel” caps off the entire thing like a shotgun blast to the
forehead; effectively putting you out of your sludgy misery with a dose of punk
attack.
Fukpig bring their haunted crusty d-beat mind-melt to this 10" with Kroh; a confusing clean vocals 'n' super heavy doom combo act. I believe both bands share the same guitarist, but I could be wrong. The guitar tone is really similar by both bands though, even if musically they are completely different. Fukpig bring us three tracks of blackened punk madness, my favourite of which must be "The Prisoner", although opening track "Docile Subjects" brings all the synth creeping in the universe. Kroh lament us through two sludgy hymns of stonery goodness, my favourite of which has to be "Retribution", that although with a softer vocal has a bit more punch to it all round.
I believe that this is quite a collectable now; not that many of these 10"s were made and like all Fukpig vinyl (this is no exception), it has a habit of disappearing very quickly. Self-released under Devizes Records - also home to both bands.
Weedeater's Sixteen Tons is a beer and whiskey soaked southern-tinged romp in sludgey doom metal. The guitar tone is literally the audible equivalent of a Louisiana swamp; a thick bog of rumbling riffs and plodding rhythms. I first got into Weedeater when I saw them at Hellfest nearly five years ago (bloody heck) and they were so heavy that I fell asleep. Granted, it was probably the monumental amount of people within the tent who were blazing up on that sunny afternoon that helped push me into festival lethargy, but Weedeater were one hell of a band to be lulling me into sleep.
And I've been a fan ever since. I've always preferred the later stuff (God Luck & Good Speed, Jason...The Dragon) but you can't fault this earlier album either. The one before it isn't so heavy but the thick sludgey tunes really come into their own on Sixteen Tons. I suspect that if Electric Wizard came from New Orleans it wouldn't sound much different to this. Another lovely little thing about Weedeater is when they throw in the odd instrumental that isn't as heavy or sludgey as the other songs (album closer "Kira May" as an example), which really helps break up the endless mud.
I believe that all Weedeater recordings are now classics of the doom and sludge genres. It doesn't get much better than this.
Boasting one of the greatest (yet simplest) guitar tones that I have ever heard, Dead Meadow's turn of the century debut dreamscape of a record is a fantastic trip through a stoned, lush world of 60s and 70s influenced rock music. The opening track, "Sleepy Silver Door", is quite simply one of the greatest things ever put to tape. It's one of my favourite stoner-related tracks, with simple yet amazing riff, beastly guitar solo and epic lyrics: "Can't find a key to the sleepy silver door / I'm washed up on the shore of reality".
If you are prepared to wade through a swamp of steaming rock music, viewing life through the lens of a grainy outdoor camera that the BBC used in the 80s, I strongly recommend you some Dead Meadow. It is the perfect music for a serene low-dose trip on nature's finest psilocybin-rich fungi, to traverse forests and mountains - potentially barefoot - pondering the wonders of nature and generally just feeling really good about yourself and everything around you.
Blood Ceremony's self-titled is one of my go-to feel good "doom metal" records (I use the term doom like that because I find that this isn't miserable enough to fall under the doom tag proper, although it does incorporate a lot of elements from that genre). As mentioned elsewhere on this website recently, my distain for the explosion in female-fronted edgy rock music continues to grow, but let's fuck all that trend-jocking shit for a minute and focus on Blood Ceremony.
Imagine mixing Black Sabbath, Jefferson Airplane and an enormously illegal quantity of opiates at a smoky blues club, and you're on the right track here. Songs about witches, covens, toads, wizards and smoking "black drugs from Saturn's bong" are abound, as is trippy flutework, masterful guitar sweepery and enough synthesizer alchemy to make Gary Numan prick up his ears. The opening song, "Master Of Confusion" is totally classic, and should be on the playlist of anyone with an inclination towards this type of stuff. The flute solo on "I'm Coming With You" is insane, and my favourite track is "Hop Toad", which is also mainly flute-driven.
I'm lucky enough to have caught these guys (and gal) live twice in the last 3 years, and I wouldn't hesitate in a heartbeat to go and watch them perform again. Stellar stuff! You can stream this on Spotify, buy it on CD or even take out a second mortgage to buy the Rise Above vinyl version, if you have a big enough hipster beard to qualify for that.
When I first went to Roadburn festival in 2011 I was in waaaay over my head with my bands-I-know to bands-I've-never-heard-of ratio. I'm not saying I didn't have a wicked time (I went again the year after) but I spent a lot of time high, watching shit I'd never even heard of. Black Pyramid was one of those bands, whom I espied briefly through the packed doors of the second stage in Tilburg's 013 venue. When I came home I wrapped my lugholes around this album, which by some strange coincidence turned out to be bloody fantastic.
Black Pyramid are a good bunch, aye. They seem to mix driving, monumental rock in the vein of Mastadon with the slower, crunchy doom metal vibe. The result is a unique but refined sound that is somehow both all-go and stoned as fuck. The music isn't exactly challenging, but Black Pyramid present a take on the metal template which I enjoy very much. Guitar widdly-widdly-ness is present, but often in small, manageable chunks or catchy-as-fook hooks, like at the end of "Visions Of Gehenna". My favourite tunes here are the pacy "Twilight Grave", the stoned "Worm Ouroboros" and the epic as fuck closing track, "Wintermute".
The band do have other material but in my opinion none of it tops this shit. Check out "Wintermute" below - a seething masterpiece that takes a few minutes to kick in, but stick with it!
PS - I found out whilst writing this review that Black Pyramid are no more - gutted!
The Killing Jar is quite possible one of the crappiest names for an album I've ever come across, but let's not let that tarnish things here. Black Moth are a dirty rock and/or roll band with stoner and doom metal influences. They've been around for a few years now but I hadn't heard of them until they were announced for Temples Festival this year. I was too smashed to watch them (story of my life) on the day but they did make my "check out everyone playing Temples" list on Spotify, from where I then migrated to checking out their entire album.
The Killing Jar is a brilliant record, combining raunchy swagger with heavy guitar riffs and a rocking pace. The vocals provided by Harriet Bevan are equal parts teasing, powerful and even cheeky. It's like somebody put the sounds of Kyuss and Blues Pills into a blender, along with some essence of garage rock. Opening track "The Articulate Dead" is a corker, and was even a single release for the band (on 7" too), but my favourite tracks are the hat-trick of "Chicken Shit", "Blind Faith" and "Plastic Blaze", which are towards the end of the album.
This record was put out on both CD and vinyl by the New Heavy Sounds label, whose small roster includes fellow stoner/doom influenced rockers, Throne. But yeah, check out Black Moth, they rule.
Hate sound absolutely nothing like what I expected. Being totally unfamiliar with them, I should really have looked them up before buying this record, but Bongripper's name alone carried enough weight to seal the deal for me. This split spins at 45rpm, so it is unfortunately very short, but hey - give me quality over quantity any day of the week.
So like I said, Hate sound nothing like I anticipated. Splitting with Bongripper made me assume that they would be slow and heavy by default, but I couldn't have been more wrong. Hate do have a few slower songs, but mainly play lightening fast sludgy hardcore. Imagine Eyehategod meets Converge at a grindcore all dayer and you should get the picture.
Bongripper contribute one long track; the elegantly-named "Fisting". Whilst not as brutal or punishing as the title suggests, it is still groovy, downtuned and heavier than the weight of the entire ocean. Maybe it isn't the best place to start with Bongripper, but longtime fans should be more than happy with the material on display here. A perfect soundtrack for the ripping of bongs, as the name suggests.
There are 400 copies on black and a limited run of 100 on a smokey wax. This record is still available at the time of writing. You can get it directly from the band's mail order at Great Barrier Records, or fairly cheaply on Discogs.
These
old Sabbath records are everywhere in abundance and picking one up is
retardly easy because they are so cheap. Any metalhead worth his salt
should appreciate the first four Sabbath records, in my rather
elitist and useless opinion. This is Sabbath record number three, and
is still lodged firmly in the category of "Good Sabbath",
thank holy fuck. As far as I'm concerned, Sabotage onwards things
start to go a bit pear shaped. As soon as Dio came into the picture,
well that's another story for another time. I can literally feel the
backlash of various opinions and arguements as I type this!
Master
of Reality opens with one of my favourite Black Sabbath songs, "Sweet
Leaf". At the price this comes at these days this record is
worth buying on this song alone. Whatever your opinion on da 'erb,
there is no denying the sheer excellence and rifftacularness of this
track. It is chilled out and heavy as fuck at the same time,
something we are (thankfully) used to thanks to the stoner and doom
genres of today but back in it's time it was something else entirely,
just like the whole Sabbath sound. Closing side A is "Children
of the Grave", another Sabbath favourite of mine, percussion
heavy and almost progressive in parts. Side B sexplodes into the
acoustic "Orchid" before giving way to another Sabbath
favourite. "Lord of this World".
I
could go into every single song but then that would be a bit boring I
think, especially on the subject of Black Sabbath. Sometimes I feel a
bit dickish reviewing albums that have been out for years, so
considering Master of Reality was out in 1971 and the world and his
fucking cat have heard this album please excuse me if I don't go into
too much depth. Classic shits, classic songs. If you haven't heard
this then...well your on the wrong website ha ha!
