Hour of Power: BEST VIDEOS OF 2013

Here are my 14 favorite videos released in 2013.  It was hard culling a great list down to a single, essential hour of videos because there were at least two hours worth of memorable ones.  These are the ones I like best.  I've run them down in chronological order of release and I'll give my reasons for liking each one as we go here ...

1. Frankenstein Pays The Rent (The Mangled Dead / Hate Humans) - Just a fun, campy, no budget video.  The best moment is when the monster rides by the bus stop on a skateboard and takes the guy's obviously fake hand off as he goes.
2. U Turn (The Quartet of Woah! / Ultrabomb) - There's nothing flashy about this video, just four guys jamming on a sound stage.  What makes this video stick out for me is the rambunctious energy of the guys in the band.  Impressive performance.
3. Bruce Lee (Indian Handcrafts / Civil Disobedience For Losers) - There's no disliking this video, that's just all there is to it.  A good retro feel here for this faux chop sockey flick.  The Canadian duo actually make a good job of it acting the parts too.
4. Torn Apart (Valient Thorr / Our Own Masters) - This video puts a smile on my face.  Valient Thorr sit in cubicles, long hair, beards and tattoos in button up shirts and ties acting freaked out by the office worker whose decided he's had enough.  Guys quietly peaking over a sea of cubicles makes me LOL as the kids say (Lucas laughs).  Good conclusion to the storyline too.
5. Dune (Beastwars / Blood Becomes Fire) - This was just an amazing animated video.  Visual stunner here, Beastwars are quickly developing a reputation as having excellent visual representation of their work to go along with the amazing music.  Astronauts and dinosaurs, what more needs be said?
6. Sons of the Soil (C.F.A. / Managed By The Devil, Brought To You By The Grace Of God) - This was another fun, silly video.  The Tacoma trio do the Dorf thing here and hilarity ensues.  Good energy and a lot of good fun.
7. Waiting for Saturn (Bison, Bison / ST) - It's kind of a toss up between this and "Bruce Lee" for my favorite clip of the year.  This video is a tribute to John Carpenter's They Live complete with alien masks and extended fight scene.
8. Goodbye Gemini (Blood Ceremony / The Eldritch Dark) - This one gets the nod for the nice retro flavor here.  It really feels like an obscure occult horror film from the seventies with the poor image quality and vintage clothing.
9. Shrouded (The Body / Christs, Redeemers) - This was one of the most enigmatic videos I've ever seen, if for no other reason than the song this video supports isn't really all that musical.  It's just a whole lot of static, but it creates an incredibly intense atmosphere and it all builds to the stunning conclusion.  Feels like a found footage snuff film.
10. The Bearded Fool (Old Man Wizard / Unfavorable) - Here we go with another fun one.  The guys in Old Man Wizard have shot (or are shooting?) a video for every song on their six track debut album and they're all different.  In this one OMW get their medieval thing on meeting the dastardly challenges of dread witches and piss poor video editing.  It's mad, brilliant stuff.
11. Branch Davidian Compound (Cold Blue Mountain / ST) - This one I just liked the concept.  The band gets together and jams in a house.  The camera voyeuristically watches from outside the window in moments here and there creating a cool perspective.  What seems normal from the inside, seems strange from the outside.
12. Slave the Hive (High on Fire / digital single) - This was a strange one indeed, just a strange concept.  A Jacob's Ladder feel to this one with anthropomorphic bunny's etc. substituting for the demons in the psych ward.  Cute when animated, the stuff of nightmares in live action.
13. Palm Reader (Castles / Fiction or Truth?) - Nothing too flashy in this one, yet again.  What I like about this video is the energy and enthusiasm of the band.  Walking down a Belgian back alley in business suits, the band headbangs, air guitars and air drums to their own song which may seem egotistical to some, but I like the idea that the band isn't too cool to totally geek out about their own creation.  It makes me enthusiastic about their music, because they are.
14. Wasted Wails (Hydromedusa / digital single) - This was just brilliant.  VHS shot for that genuine retro feel, the concept is nothing special, just the band jamming in a green room with psychedelic images projected behind them, but the video has two thing going for it: it's got a great soundtrack and a good vibe.

Hour of Power 09/07/13 (playlist)

1. Waiting for Saturn (Bison, Bison / ST) 2012
2. The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here (Alice in Chains / The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here) 2013
3. What's Haunting You (Bloody Hammers / Spiritual Relics) 2013
4. Wash His Bones (Dead River / ST EP) 2013
5. Glanshammar (Steak / Corned Beef Colossus) 2013
6. Halfway There (Soundgarden / King Animal) 2012
7. Ain't No Sunshine (Black Label Society / Unblackened) 2013
8. Solitude (Black Capricorn / single) 2013
9. Lucifer Takes the Crown (NYMF / From the Dark) 2013
10. Blues Pills 'Devil Man' EP Trailer 2013
11. Devil Man (Blues Pills / Devil Man EP) 2013
12. Searching [live] (Three Seasons / Understand the World) 2012
13. Shadow of the Season (Screaming Trees / Sweet Oblivion) 1992 'classic video'

2012 Chronicle (Year in review) part 8 - Best of August

August 2 - Pitch Black Forecast (Burning In Water, Drowning In Flame)

August 3 - Lemonparty (The All-Seeing)

August 3 - RED DESERT (Damned By Fate) - Melodic downtuned and fuzzed out rock and roll riffs with excellent hooks.  What you're looking at here is a Top 10 album of the year, so it is revealed.  I've lived with this album for months and its many terrific tracks have become staples of the daily hour long commute to work mix.  Very few albums grabbed me for as long or as hard as this one has.  And it has one of the best album covers of the year.  It's a winner all the way around.  What's not to like?  See my previous write-up of Red Desert.  Get it here on Bandcamp.  Highlight include "Devils Curse" and "Lust Queen".  Rating 4.5/5

August 5 - Atragon (Vol. I)

August 8 - Hyne (3000)

August 11 - Salem's Pot (Sweeden)

August 12 - DOPETHRONE (III) - It is something to behold listening to this Montreal based three piece run through riff after riff of the grooviest, doomiest shit you will ever smoke ... er, hear.  The death metal vocals may be a turn off for some, but the riffs will bring one and all back, every time.  This band is something special.  Get it here.  Highlight include "Hooked" and "Devil's Dandruff".  Rating 4/5

August 14 - Slow Mover (ST)

August 18 - Tsepesch (Demo)

August 19 - MARA (Demo) - This Swedish four piece released one of the year's best demos.  They play Doom / Stoner / Sludge, in that order.  They can haul ass and play slow all at the same time (it has to do with vocals and crash symbol).  They could use a little love (or at least 'like') on Facebook.  Get the demo for free here.  Highlight include "Greed" and "Possessed".  Rating 4.5/5

August 24 - MEXICOMA (Supervoid) - Swedish six-piece stoner rockers Mexicoma brought their triple guitar attack out of hiding and returned with their second release.  This 4 song EP unleashed one of the catchiest songs of the year in "Mortified".  No joke, that song gets caught in my head at least once a week.  Get it here, if you dare.  Highlight include "Mortified" and "Room 101".  Rating 4/5

August 24 - VINUM SABBATUM (Bacchanale Premiere) - This Finnish quintet dropped the vintage rock and roll album that no one was expecting after establishing their sound as traditional doom.  Well, the album is more along the lines of proto doom.  There's still plenty of doom and thunder, but filtered through a Deep Purple lens so to speak.  Indeed that DP sounding organ is a big part of this album's sound and one of the main reasons I found it so addictive.  The album is extremely hook heavy as well and the A5 digipack CD packaging is just great, it comes with lyrics printed in the booklet to boot.  Any way you look at it, it's a killer package.  Get it here.  Highlight include "Earthrise" and "Tombstone Rider".  Rating 4.5/5

August 28 - ADMIRAL SIR CLOUDESLEY SHOVELL (Don't Hear It ... Fear It!) - The Shovell's impressive debut proves that the UK hard rockers don't make cooped-up compositions.  They let their children wander free, to laugh and spread their wings, to explore inner and outer space while ever remaining tethered to a late 60s early 70s framework.  Get it here.  Highlight include "Killer Kane" and "Red Admiral, Black Sunrise".  Rating 4.5/5

August 28 - NIGHTSTALKER (Dead Rock Commandos) - Greek stoner rock legends Nightstalker made their Small Stone record label debut with 'Dead Rock Commandos' and aced it.  10 good songs full of memorable riffs and lasting hooks.  Just a solid, solid album.  If you like rock, you'll like this.  Get it here.  Highlight include "Dead Rock Commandos" and "Go Get Some".  Rating 4/5

August 29  - CAPTAIN CRIMSON (Dancing Madly Backwards) - Seems my fingers are stuck typing about this band the way the songs are stuck in my head.  I've said it before and I'll say it again: one of the catchiest albums of the year.  Solid, steady driving hard rock that veers off into controlled chaos.  Wonderful stuff.  Get it here.  Highlight include "Dancing Madly Backwards" and "Lonely Devils Club".  Rating 4.5/5

August 30 - BISON, BISON (ST) - This was one of the first reviews I did and the band were very supportive.  Great guys.  Their 6 song EP challenged me and re-taught me the value of embracing the unexpected.  Terrific 3-piece stoner rock from Portland with traces of indie rock and many other styles on display.  Hunt them here.  Highlight include "Sweetish" and "Rivertown".  Rating 4/5

August 30 - Black Magician (Nature Is The Devil's Church)


August 31 - AT DEVIL DIRT (Chapter II "Vulgo gratissimus auctor") - Chilean duo At Devil Dirt have one of the best guitar sounds on the market today (rivaled only perhaps by Conan).  It's deep and mossy.  It will tear your skull apart.  The drums shake mountains and crash lightning.  The multi-tracked vocals smell sweet but spit poison.  At Devil Dirt have found an identity and exploit it for all its worth, 11 equally good songs of heavy fuzz and catchy harmonized melodies.  Read my original review of this terrific album here.  Get it here, and read the press clippings on the page while you're at it ;-).  Highlight include "I Am An Ugly Skin" and "Let It Flow".  Rating 5/5

Best Album From August 2012:
'Chapter II "Vulgo gratissimus auctor"' by AT DEVIL DIRT

Best Song From August 2012:
"Mortified" by MEXICOMA

Hour of Power 11/03/12 (playlist)

Highlights from the week of 10/28/12 - 11/03/12

1. Mammuten (Mamont / Passing Through the Mastery Door)
2. Cosmic Ark (Mos Generator / Nomads)
3. Why Dontcha (West, Bruce & Laing / Why Dontcha)
4. Colossus (Mount Fuji / ST)
5. Black Coven (Pale Divine / Painted Windows Black)
6. The River (Octopus / Restless Night)
7. Lost Highway (Wo Fat / The Black Code)
8. Prince of Fire (The Wandering Midget / From the Meadows of Opium Dreams)
9. Path Through the Forest (The Factory / Path Through the Forest)
10. Crows in Swine (Red Fang / single)
11. Sweetish (Bison, Bison / ST)
12. On Love (Skip Bifferty / The Story of Skip Bifferty)
13. Gospel of Mary (Vinum Sabbatum / Bacchanale Premiere)

Weekly Mail Bag 10/29/12 - 11/02/12

A look at what came in the mail this week with quickie reviews ...

Bison, Bison - ST - Already reviewed this one but the actual CD came through the mail today.  I ordered it October 14, so it only took about two weeks and a bit to come in.  Not too shabby at all.  It came with a couple of stickers, one of which had a nice little hand written note (thank you).  Again, at only $7 on their bandcamp page, this package is well worth picking up.  Support a very good new band.  Highlights include "Sweetish" and "Waiting for Saturn". Rating - 4/5

Black Sabbath - Technical Ecstasy - Never owned this album, til now.  Only ever listened to it in one sitting, once before.  The kind of album that improves if you forget who's doing it.  Not exactly Sabbath's finest moment, but not as bad as initially thought, this album finds Sabbath toying with their brilliant sound to mixed results.  But after all, it's still Sabbath. Highlights include "It's Alright" and "Back Street Kids". Rating - 3.5/5

Bonzo Dog Band - The Doughnut in Granny's Greenhouse - Their second and best album, the Bonzos were always more than a novelty act and this album proves it.  Getting slightly away from the pure comedy songs, and more into straightforward songwriting.  I've listened to this album a lot and it hasn't gotten old yet.  First time I've had it on CD though.  Highlights include "We Are Normal" and "Humanoid Boogie". Rating - 4/5

Electric Light Orchestra - ST - This is an album that truly stands alone in the canon of rock.  Basically when The Move decided to become a string quartet (with drums) they made this album, which sounds nothing like ELO's later stuff (or anything else really).  Eleanor Rigby's got nothing on this.  Highlights include "Look At Me Now" and "10538 Overture". Rating - 4.5/5

Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera - ST - This band took forever to grow on me but once they got their hooks in me I couldn't fight it.  They're catchy, intelligent, sometimes funny and nearly every song on here is a standout.  They fluctuate between the wimpier and more muscular side of British psychedelia, but when they do rock, they rock pretty hard. Highlights include "Flames" and "Mary Jane". Rating - 4/5

The Factory - Path Through the Forest - I can't honestly recommend this one or claim that it's worth the money for any but the biggest music dorks.  At 7 tracks (one an alternate mix / 6 songs) 24 minutes and $14 it's not worth it.  But it does feature two of the greatest singles of the original psychedelic era, which sure satisfies me. Highlights include "Path Through the Forest" and "Try a Little Sunshine". Rating - 4/5

The Gods - Genesis - Though their constituent members would go on to join The Rolling Stones, Uriah Heep, Jethro Tull, among others, this band actually offers a surprisingly wimpy sound.  Very much on the light side of British psychedelia, there's still some pretty good songs here.  I can't say it's for everyone though. Highlights include "Farthing Man" and "Looking Glass". Rating - 3/5

Led Zeppelin - II - I mentioned last week that I never had this album, because I've never needed it.  It's one of those cultural artifacts that's always around.  Somebody's got it at the house or in the car, and now I do.  Every song's a classic.  As much as I love 'Houses of the Holy' and 'Physical Graffiti', this is their best album.  Highlights include: "What Is And What Should Never Be" and "Thank You".  Rating - 5/5

Monster Magnet - Monolithic Baby! - Monster Magnet never disappoints.  Okay, maybe they have, but I'm over it now and  making up for lost time.  The first half of this album is balls to the wall rock.  But what starts off rocking hard eventually falters and stumbles into second act problems.  And there were programmed drums here as I was originally worried.  Highlights include "Slut Machine" and "Supercruel". Rating - 3.5/5

Mos Generator - Nomads -  Came in via Ripple music with a nice handwritten thank you note, which is much appreciated, a sampler CD (thanks!), a sticker, and a printed and folded 'zine style flyer of other releases.  It's little extra goodies like this that really make it worth supporting the actual small labels (who do appreciate your support) than going right to Amazon.  Thanks a lot guys, much appreciated. Review to follow.

Octopus - Restless Night - One of the truly underrated albums of the original psychedelic era (probably because it came out too late (1971), this album features some of the best hooks you're likely to hear.  The single "The River" b/w "Thief" is one of the greatest singles of all time and the album cover is amazing.  The rest of the album is pop psych in the Badfinger vein.  Highlights include "The River" and "Thief". Rating - 4.5/5


Pale Divine - Painted Windows Black - Another Soggy Bog of Doom Traditional Doom Special discovery.  This is a high powered album from a band at equal strength when playing fast or slow: compare "Nocturne Dementia" to "End of Days".  But I don't like the virtuosic guitar gymnastics ... I love them.  Highlights include "Black Coven" and "Nocturne Dementia".  Rating - 3.5/5


Skip Bifferty - The Story of Skip Bifferty - Another band that took a while to grow on me, but once they did, they became one of my favorite 60s bands.  Reminds me of Spencer Davis Group and Plastic Penny, and just as hooky, they were also quite heavy for their time.  At two discs and 40 tracks it's a worthy package.  Many great songs here. Highlights include "On Love" and "Money Man". Rating - 4/5

Vinum Sabbatum - Bacchanale Premiere - My most played album from October actually only came in the mail November 2 and it's a beautiful package.  Similar dimensions to the Serpent Venom CD, it comes with lyrics which helps me out a lot.  This is a terrific album that uses the Hammond organ and keyboards to great effect and reminds me a lot of Deep Purple.  This is a surefire Top 20 of the year album.  Highlights include "Earthrise" and "Tombstone Rider". Rating - 4.5/5

West, Bruce & Laing - Why Dontcha - A band with so much heavy metal royalty (Leslie West, Jack Bruce, Corky Laing) they didn't even have to name the band, Why Dontcha is one of my favorite proto-metal albums of the 70s.  The title track alone is worth the price of admission.  Musically, they strike a good balance between Cream and Mountain - Highlights include "Why Dontcha" and "The Doctor". Rating - 4/5

Hour of Power 10/27/12 (playlist)

Highlights from the week of 10/21/12 - 10/27/12

1. Anxiety Puke / Lovelessness (Bison B.C. / Lovelessness)
2. Looking Glass (Ichabod / Dreamscapes from Dead Space)
3. Hallucination Bomb (Monster Magnet / Mastermind)
4. Red God (Beastwars / ST)
5. Dying Earth (The Sword / Apocryphon)
6. Doom Rock Glazik (Stangala / Boued Tousek Hag Traou Mat All)
7. Waiting For Saturn (Bison, Bison / ST)
8. Passage (Zosimos / ST)
9. Never In My Life (Mountain / Climbing)
10. Known Depressant (Ice Dragon / split 7`` single w/ Fellwoods)
11. Purple Sage (Kadavar / ST)

Bison, Bison - ST

Bison, Bison is a hard driving stoner rock band whose singer's subject matter and lazy and slightly mournful vocal delivery displays an influence of mid 00s indie rock, most evidently on the album opener "She Says".  Far as I know it's the only metal song I've heard all year that mentions dancing, at least in a social context ("she says that I can't dance").  It can be a bit jarring at first, but probably only because of genre-limiting expectations.

The band rocks hard and doesn't let up from beginning to end, crashing and banging through track after banging track.  "Rivertown" slows things just a bit, but still offers plenty of crash and bang and establishes a nice groove over which a sing-song-y chorus is lazily chanted.  Though it strays slightly from a good formula, it`s probably the standout track on the CD.  Other highlights include "Waiting for Saturn" and "Sweetish" which is built around a great 70s riff which recalls both drug-era Aerosmith and Black Sabbath`s "War Pigs" and is can`t miss.  There`s a nice psychedelic rush of swirling guitars and atmospherics leading back into the main riff towards the end of the track which makes for a great closer and leaves the listener excited for what`s to come from this band in the future.

By the time a half hour has passed the band has established a unique voice that the listener will want to revisit.

At $7 on their bandcamp page, the CD version of the album makes "The Price is Nice" list and is worth picking up.

Reminds me of: Black Pyramid (Beresky era), Black Sabbath, Summoner, Sweet Love

My Rating: 4/5



From: Portland, Oregon

Genre: Stoner, Hard Rock

Tracklist
1). She Says (4:07)
2). Blood & Sand (2:42)
3). Waiting for Saturn (4:18)
4). Concave (5:20)
5). Rivertown (6:33)
6). Sweetish (7:06)
Total Run Time: 30:00

Release Date: August 30, 2012

Suggested listening activity for fellow non-stoners: Rolling down hills in shopping carts

Hour of Power

Highlights from the week of 10/14/12 - 10/20/12

1). Mark of the Beast (Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell / Don't Hear It ... Fear It)
2). Lonely Devils Club (Captain Crimson / Dancing Madly Backwards)
3). An Alternative to Freedom (Witchcraft / Legend)
4). Rivertown (Bison, Bison / ST)
5). Damn the Sky (Beastwars / ST)
6). The Lost Art of Bong Rips (Goat Bong / Goat Worship and Sodomy)
7). Hell's Heroes (Venomous Maximus (Beg Upon the Light)
8). Earthrise (Vinum Sabbatum / Bacchanale Premiere)
9). Levitation (Down / Down IV)
10). Lord of Desolation (Bedemon / Symphony of Shadows)