CENTIPEDE - Sarnath

Centipede, a three piece stoner metal band from Helsinki. I hadn't heard of them before this promo was sent to me but according to their bandcamp page they've been EPing for a few years now. Sarnath is their debut album. I didn't know any of this stuff before I pressed play. I like to listen to my albums the way I like to see my movies: knowing as little as possible going in.

DROWN - This is the first single from the album so I've not only heard it, I've been listening to it quite a bit lately. Just a good heavy mid-tempo romper with some nice propulsion. Vocals are more coal than diamond which suits the tone here. Good song.

THE UNSPOKEN - Tempo gets turned up here. Driving tune. Yeah, this one's likely to generate a speeding ticket or two. My ex got two speeding tickets which resulted in her licence getting suspended. The first time was when I put on a Motorhead CD. The second time was when she was alone and the Motorhead CD came on the disc changer. This doesn't sound like Motorhead but it builds up that chugging momentum in a powerful way. Very good tune.

FROSTBITE - More of the same. Nice chugging riff then a slow down for the chorus. Next song will be critical to see if the whole album is samey or not. I'm reserving judgement til then.

ABYSSAL - Downshifting here for a spell. Almost a "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" feel at the front of this one. One of two short, 2+ minute ditties. Sounds like an interlude. Nice change of pace actually. I don't normally dig interludes but this one actually adds to the album overall. Good creeping around an abandoned house vibe to it.

BLACK MEAD - Getting that samey vibe. I mean, they're all good songs, but Centipede doesn't give you any different looks. Which is rare for a Finnish band, they're usually all over the map. This band kind of reminds me of something I reviewed once for Stoner HiVe but I can't remember what it is ... it'll come to me ...

BEACON OF THE PROFANE - Grande, is the band I was thinking of and it was a review for Sludgelord. It's good stuff, but a bit too samey to truly enjoy the album as a whole, cohesive work. As much as I like these songs, you end up feeling like you've just listened to the same song 8 times over so it's unsatisfying. This one was a short, fast number.

MIDWINTER WOLVES - And here we come back down to earth a little with a slow intro ... and then the big straight ahead heavy rock moves. See, this is ironic. I know they don't mean to, but this band is shoving my musical tastes back down my throat. Oh, the verse is a slow down and the chorus whips things back up into midtempo territory. Anyway, I make it quite clear to everybody that knows me that I don't like the slow songs, but I'm finding myself pining away for more songs like this one. More tempo changes or something, anything! I think another part of the problem might be how consistent every instrument sounds in terms of tone. I don't know. I like the songs on the album, but listening to it in one sitting may be redundant. This makes for some excellent mix-tape / playlist fodder. I think you have to take this band piecemeal, but you'll be more than happy to do so.

SARNATH - And now we come to the title track. The big finish. Let's see what you got ... Nice beginning, floor tom and bass gives the intro a cavernous feel here. Yeah. Okay, fuck yeah, this is what I was talking about. The verse kicks in and for the first time in roughly 30 minutes I feel like I'm listening to a whole new song. This is good stuff, arguably the most doomy song on the album, it feels bigger and more fleshed out than the other tunes. The other tunes are a good time but this is the song you settle down with.

So there you have it, a good album, I rank them all as 5-star songs, yet paradoxically it's a 3 star album. Again, until the last track and the brief mid-album interlude, you feel like you've got one song on repeat when the album is taken in all at once. But break it up, spread it out and listen to it one song at a time on playlists or whatever and I guarantee you'll get a longer shelf life out of this thing.

Sarnath will be available March 4, 2016, a little over a week from now.

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R.I.P. - In the Wind

Cover artwork by Adam Burke.

Take the Steppenwolf classic "Born to Be Wild", dip it in Motörhead, drape it in Saint Vitus and cast it in the reaper's image and you begin to understand the level of badassery that R.I.P. is wielding.

I used to watch the show Sons of Anarchy; the first couple seasons were great. But the thing that always struck me as odd about the beloved biker drama was the largely acoustic folk soundtrack. I can understand the exciting juxtaposition of hauling ass down the highway with a soft or slow song playing to provide a kind of mental drag to make you feel like you're going even faster than you actually are, but come on.

When I'm watching the show I'm not on a hog and I'm not feeling the wind. The show could have used some sonic thrust to convey that cruisin' with attitude and authority thing the directors seemed to be going for. At the very least pick a better theme song, "2 Wheel Nation" by Acid King would have been a nice start. "Ridin' through this world ..." has been the butt of too many of my jokes over the years to take the music of S.O.A. seriously.

Which is the long way around to say that THIS, 'In the Wind', the debut album from self-styled West Coast Street Doom outfit R.I.P. is what the show's been missing.

There are only a handful of true bikersploitation hard rock bands in the pleasantly crowded underground heavy scene and R.I.P. may be the best of them. The concept is fairly straight-forward: take the tone of classic doom and rocket propel it with stomping drums, throbbing bass, broken beer bottles and police sirens until the hand gripping the accelerator moves forward, slowly but surely and the pavement tears.

Nowhere is this ethic more apparent than on the chugging "Smoke & Lightning" and the galloping "In the Wind Part 2", although picking standouts here is futile. And don't bother comparing this trio to Black Label Society. That's like comparing the real life Angels to Samcro.

In my limited personal biker experience, the older bikers that I know still listen to classic rock and the younger ones listen to rap of whatever's on the radio. This is unacceptable. But you and I can help. Inform your local bikers that R.I.P. exists, commandeer the stereo and dam the amplifiers with West Coast Street Doom! No doubt there will be groans of protest and maybe a hurled bottle or two, but once the wind gets moving through the speakers a calming sense of rightness will settle over the affair. Three songs into 'In the Wind' and you may have just re-established a sense of order in this mad, mad, mad world.

When TV bikers cruise to a folk rock backdrop and their real-world counterparts do their thing to a rap soundtrack, there's just a littler something off with the world. R.I,P. and you and I are here to set things aright, alright?

'In the Wind' will be released on March 18 by Totem Cat Records.

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LOTHORIAN - Beyond the Astral Mind

I found out about Lothorian through Acid Cosmonaut Records, who released their 'Welldweller' EP almost exactly 3 years ago. I reviewed it. I liked it, I'm not going to say I absolutely loved it, but one thing stood out to me and that was the promise of this band. Their potential was enormous.

It was around that time that a youtube teaser video was circulating for a full-length album called 'Mørke' that never came to fruition. I don't know the full story behind the abortive effort but the band went through some line-up changes and one can only hope, various sexual preference and lifestyle changes along the way. I'd also like to imagine that the band has dealt with heavy personal issues such as balloon addiction and standing trial for "flying a kite whilst not sober" to get to this point.

This is the first we've heard from them since then, and it's also their first full-length album. So, what's is going to be then, eh? Do these Belgian droogies live up to their potential or do they fall like eggy weggs and go splatty wat on the paving?

I decided to share my first impressions of the album, unvarnished, unedited and written "live" as I listened for the first time ...

Witchcunt - Don't know how you can expect to get away with calling a song "Witchcunt" in today's shitty political atmosphere but I like it! Lothorian is already getting on my good side by showing some balls early on. Tone-setting screams and a horrific, evil riff. Nice. This is turning out to be an instrumental and that's alright. The way I remember it, Lothorian's Welldweller EP was split between instrumentals and vocals, one after the other, back and forth. Let's see if the trend continues... This is a fucking killer song, by the way. Very spookhouse atmosphere, like an over the top haunted house from some silly late-80s horror movie.

Blackhand - Starting out strong with some pounding bass drums and floor tom. Ah, there's some vocals. Different from the last time. Actually sung this time, no affectation. That's always a plus in my book.

As the Void Absorbs All Light - Another fast start with the drums. This guy's doing overtime here! I'll have to look up his name. Come to think of it so is the guitar with the almost, but not quite blackened tremelo picking. Bit darker, slower and heavier than black metal picking but in that same ball park. This is a damn good band, man. And, just as I suspected, another instrumental.Three songs in and we're really establishing a cinematic feel. Little more lively than say, Cult of Occult which feels Hammer-ish to me. This feels a little more like Monster Squad, The Burbs or The Gate because of the Draculan riffs and faster tempo drums. And yes, I know I just made up the word Draculan. Just try and stop me! And that word specifically refers to a cape-wearing Dracula.

Eternal Smoke Cloaks the Night - I'm gonna be severely disappointed if there aren't vocals in this song. Not because I don't like Lothorian's instrumentals (I'm starting to prefer them), but because it would shoot gaping holes in my sequencing theory. Right on cue. Little throatier this time than last. Another kick ass song with a solid, doomy riff and interesting drums. It makes such a huge difference when drums don't just sit there but actually do something. When I played drums, I wasn't that great, but I wouldn't just hold a backbeat, in my mind I was playing riffs of my own. I'd add little asides, not just as fills, but consistently so that they became part of the "beat", which was more than a "beat", it was a riff. In my mind anyway. This drummer seems to share a similar philosophy. This guy is awesome, an early candidate for drummer of the year. What's his name? I'm gonna look it up ... Jurgen. Yeah, this guy kicks ass, man. Again, this is a great band. No last names though. Fame is for the weak-minded.

March of Time - Low, slow start. Let's see if my theory gets shot down here. We're into the middle of the album now so if there was a time to change things up, this would be it. 2/3 of the way through and there hasn't been much development here. This is more of a moody interlude than the previous instrumentals. I'm starting to get the impression that the way they write instrumental and vocal songs is different. The instrumentals are more simplistic and monolithic. We'll see about that later ...

Forbanned - This is off to a killer start. Simplistic riff and pounding drums for that Conan / Witchsorrow feel. Two totally different bands but they both do similar moves. Vocals pop in to keep the sequencing streak alive. A streak that extends all the way back to 2013. Longest song on the record here at nearly 9 minutes and it may just hold up as thee standout cut. Also a bit of a Goya vibe. Aha! There's the drop out I was waiting for. No way you sustain that pace for 9 minutes and nowhere to build up from that fast start. They've just said fuck it and changed things up completely. Another killer part here. Fuck man, this record's gonna make my end of the year list ... Another change up and it's got a bit of a drunken swagger to it. And then revved back up to a crazy riff-thing. Damn skippy, that was another great tune.

Solitude - Well, that was the most logical place for the vocals to come in and they didn't. Again, another instrumental with a riff that's a little more caveman-ish than their vocal songs. For the instrumentals, does the guitarist write those at home and then bring them to the band later and the vocal tunes are jammed out and therefore more complicated? Oooh, curveball. There are vocals here after all. Interesting. This is another excellent tune. Just a doomy riff and heavy hitting drums. Whoa, real whirlwind going on here in the bridge. Hurricane winds blowing through this song. Now a real funeral doom / blastbeat tug of war at the end. Disgusting.

Soothsayer - Three songs in a row with vocals. Nice tempo change here in the bridge. And a doomy path leads the way back. Fucking awesome song. Once again the drummer is the real hero here. I may be a little biased as a former drummer, but still. Oh my fuck! Awesome tempo changes here! Alright, every song so far has been awesome, but this one is really getting my goat and sacrificing it to some subterranean fiend. This is it, this is the song I would play for someone who's never heard Lothorian before. Oh, that fucking riff! And they come out of it leaving you wanting more. Now that's what I call a killer fucking tune!

Dance of Death - And we end on the shortest song on the record. I'll be shocked if there's vocals here. Absolutely gobsmacked as my British friends might say. Actually, they'd probably throw the word cunt in there to spice things up because the British are cool that way with their vulgarity. Killer, dare I say iconic doom riff, may be a call back to the intro. I don't know, I'll have to go back and replay it, my memory's not THAT great. I've just been force-fed a table full of amazing doom riffs so you'll have to forgive me.

And it's over. Well, I'm not just satisfied here, I'm positively stuffed. That's a great record and yes, fans of Goya will find a lot to love and salivate over on 'Beyond the Astral Mind'. Like I said, Lothorian prove themselves here to be a great band, not just with the riffs but by keeping things moving, keeping it interesting the whole way throughout. Jurgen is my new hero.

This definitely has the potential to be an end-of-the-year candidate. The only 4-star tune was March of Time, all the rest were 5 star boner-makers. The rest was just one amazing riff after another.

Going back I noticed that "Witchcunt" was a little call-back to the opening song on their first EP, "Witchunt".

The best part is the album is available for #freeload on bandcamp!

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SERPENT - Nekromant

Quick note: This is an edited version of the review which appeared at #11 on the January 2016 Doom Chart. (Doom Charts on facebook)

Can you believe this shit? If you took any one of these nine songs and threw it onto commercial rock radio it would blow up the #1 spot overnight. Now, I have a rough idea of how commercial radio works, it’s not a truly organic process, money pays for plays so if there’s no money backing a band you’re not going to hear them on the radio. I get that. But ever since ‘Songs for the Deaf’ came out I’ve been waiting for the big Stoner Rock take over of rock radio and it hasn’t happened. Could this simply be about bands like Fu Manchu and sHeavy not having enough money behind them to break out or have the money people given Stoner Rock the stone cold shoulder? Conspiracy is afoot, I say!

Why do some bands make it big and others don't?

Monster Truck has gotten their names out there as have The Rival Sons to a much lesser extent, but they’re only peripherally part of the stoner rock thing at best. I think the appeal of Rival Sons is their image. It’s cute to see colorful costumes prance around on stage like pirate-themed icecapades.

Heavy metal went wrong when it started taking its image too seriously instead of just existing. It takes about two minutes for affected vocals and face paint to become quaint no matter how tough or dangerous some of these guys try to be in their promo shots. Artifice and affectation are by definition not genuine and no matter how fickle the public seem, no matter how facile their tastes appear to be, people want “authentic” art, they crave genuine art.

The more metal bands tried to cross over the line of decency and step into dangerous territory the more ridiculous they looked. How can you take a band seriously that looks like Kiss after being stood up for a date and left on a street corner in the rain? For that reason it’s been impossible for the general public to take anything even remotely related to metal or even heavy guitars seriously for the past 15 years or so. The last time they gave it a chance it was Nu Metal. To the buying rock radio public it’s “fool me once face painters shame on you, fool me twice and I’ll never be able to explain those old photos to my future children”. So why would the money people take a chance on something like that?

If only they knew about Serpent!

Serpent doesn’t go in for that phoney-baloney crap, they just plug in and let ‘er rip. Here’s what they’ve got going for them: good vocals with no bullshit affectation, killer riffs and an unobnoxiously heavy sensibility. Not to overstate the importance of this band but they could … possibly … save rock and roll from the dustbin of history. We’re so fractured into our little subgroups within the rock and metal community that it’s like we’re all speaking different languages trying to continue to build and maintain this once shiny tower we call Rocking Out and having an awesome time. We could use a new Guns & Roses to unite the hard rockers, or at least get them out of the closet, even if it’s just as a gateway drug to some whole other thing. Serpent could be that band. Let’s be relevant again. Let’s be cool again, rockers. Hell, Serpent could save the world if only the cultural gatekeepers would let them.

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MAGIC CIRCLE - Journey Blind

Quick note: This is an expanded version of the short review which appeared at #20 on the January 2016 Doom Chart. (Doom Charts on facebook)

When I was a toddling little scamp headbanging to Motörhead and Quiet Riot records in my uncle’s basement suite I truly felt that this was the way life was meant to be. That this was the way life was ALWAYS going to be and that clearly metal was the only musical option out there that made any kind of sense. Well, a Madonna, a New Kids, a Brittany and a pair of Justins later and I wonder what’s wrong with the world. The radio comes on and the sky darkens, birdsong turns ominous and hidden intentions grow behind every smile.

And then Magic Circle appears.

I don't think it's entirely accurate to slap the doom label on this band. There are elements of epic doom, but I also hear early power metal and an attacking style not commonly found in today's doom with it's sepulchral turpitude. The 'Journey Blind' is more uplifting than that. Don't get me wrong, I crave sepulchral turpitude, but Magic Circle is an exotic treasure within doom's dusty war chest.

In a way Magic Circle becomes a referendum on what doom is, because it seems that any band that doesn't feature wall to wall blastbeats gets slapped with the label. I suppose that doom is more than Iommian riffing at torpid tempos under tales of witches and infernal congress. In a way, doom is the most conservative subgenre of metal, arguably the most conservative genre of music of any kind. Doom it seems, is anything that sounds old and heavy. 'Journey Blind' is a jacked up long-lost metal album from the mid-80s, before the ghetto-ization of metal into subgenres, back when metal was metal and inked jeans and studded leather were kings among fabric. 'Journey Blind' parks you right square in stall 8 of the heavy metal parking lot.

No, Magic Circle doesn't sound like Priest, Motörhead or even Quiet Riot, but they tap into that never forgotten world of unapologetic metal-ness to leave you ‘bangin shamelessly and all seems right with the world again.

And when the ‘Journey Blind’ ends, the sky is still dark, the birdsong still mocks with portents of evil and a killer still hides behind every smile, BUT … when life hands me lemons I can then say, “oh yeah, fucking lemons huh? Give ’em here!” I then proceed to make deep, angry eye contact and suck at those lemons with such virulence that it becomes unbearably awkward for my life’s opponents and they back away slowly.

And that’s how to win with Magic Circle.

'Journey Blind' was released on DD/CD on November 20, 2015 and on vinyl January 15, 2016 by 20 Buck Spin Records

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HIGH PRIEST OF SATURN - Son of Earth and Sky

This review was originally published on the magnificent Outlaws of the Sun webzine on January 9, 2016:

An intriguing and somehow ominous 2011 demo led to high expectations for this Norwegian quartet's first album. When it was eventually released, I remember one main criticism was that it was too one-dimensional and slow. So how did High Priest of Saturn respond on their follow-up?

By maintaining their carefully crafted identity, that's how. But don't be too hasty to judge, haters. You just don't know the band that well yet. Hopefully they aren't going anywhere anytime soon, so you might as well get used to them.

A careful listen suggests the band's familiar range of tempo is more dream-like than plodding, HPOS wrings every last drop of psychedelic essence from their creative cloth. While some doom bands

'Son of Earth and Sky' is an introspective album, the listener is carried along on a magic carpet through long instrumental passages made majestic through the use of Ole Kristian Malmedal's trademark organ. One lazy comparison you tend to see thrown at this band is to the likes of Blood Ceremony. Now, that's some pretty good company to keep but the comparison is totally inept here. Ole Kristian never treats the organ as a lead instrument, rather it's the smooth-running engine that powers the proverbial magic carpet on its psychedelic flight. While the instrument was right up front on the demo, it's now relatively subdued in the mix conjuring subliminal thoughts and moods.

If you're new to the band and you're looking for a place to dive in, look no further than the deep end grooves of "The Warming Moon" as the standout track here. I can't help but feel the band has hit it's stride here with their second full-length. High Priest of Saturn will never be known as a savage band, they have found a particular niche all their own of contemplative moonlight nights in ghostly congress. 'Son of Earth and Sky' is a succubal massage but don't expect to find any happy endings here.


'Son of Earth and Sky' will be released on February 26, 2016 by Svart Records.


Post-Script: A commentor on the Outlaws of the Sun webzine wanted to know if the vocals on this record were distorted like on the band's last LP. I replied: "I thought the demo vocals were smothered in echo, then I heard the LP and they were absolutely drenched. The production has kind of hit on a mid-point, where they're still echo-y but it isn't as pronounced as on their self-titled LP. Fairly thick echo but not necessarily distorted this time around."

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CONAN - Revengeance

Quick note: This is an expanded version of the short review which appeared at #25 on the January 2016 Doom Chart. (Doom Charts on facebook)

Like a marauding warlord, the band Conan has never lost ground but have only added new territory with every album. In the case of their upcoming full-length, the band's third, that newly gained territory consists of increased percussive dimension. This is the result of new rhythm section Chris Fielding (bass) and Rich Lewis (drums).

Now, I had no problem with the work that Phil Coumbe and Paul O'Neill did on 'Blood Eagle', I did give the album a perfect rating after all. It was straight-forward and to the point the way you would imagine a direct assault would be from the band's namesake. 

But it's also true that as the stories of Robert E. Howard's iconic character progressed, he learned to use his skills as a thief on the battlefield. As time went on, the raging barbarian became an astute field general. 

The same is holding true for headman Jon Davis. Where once a battlecry and full-on sprint across the open field with broadaxe held high would suffice, the band finds itself in new territory, looking before they leap and thinking themselves around corners. Once the enemy is met however, the attack is just as deadly and decisive as ever.

Where ‘Horseback Battle Hammer’ documented a beast awakening into a violent world, foggy and lumbering, ‘Revengeance’ is a final shaking off of the cobwebs. Jon Davis and his band are capitalizing on lessons learned through 10 years of musical conquests to stunning effect. The battle rages on, this time the tactic is guerilla warfare which gives the band a new, progressive tinge. And they're still one of my favorite bands.

‘Revengeance’ will be released on January 29 by Napalm Records.

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