2013 Chronicle (Year in review) part 8 - Best of July 2013

July 1 - Chili Cold Blood (And Now the Dawn)

July 2 - Pyres (Year of Sleep)

July 5 - GOATESS (ST) - Pure psychedelic doom.  The sum of Swedish quartet Goatess's debut was greater than its parts and made for one of the best debut records of the year.  Then again, it wasn't entirely unexpected as I can't see legendary vocalist Chritus being involved in anything that isn't great.  Original review here.  Get it here. Highlights include: "Eyes of Zamiel" and "Devil's Wind".  Rating 4/5

July 5 - TOMBSTONE (Where the Dead Belong) - Though the official release date for this one is in January, the album was available for streaming only for months, it wasn't made available to download until this date.  In the end, it was a terrific collection of stoner blues riffs in the Church of Misery mold and a light years leap forward from their 2012 debut EP.  Original review here.  Get it here. Highlights include: "Werewolf" and "No Tomorrow".  Rating 4/5

July 6 - Black Majik Acid (ST)

July 6 - Ride Into the Sun (ST mini-LP)

July 8 - Corsair (Alpha Centauri)

July 9 - DIRTY STREETS (Blades of Grass) - The long awaited follow-up to this Memphis trio's excellent 'Movements' album displayed a soulful veneration of Sam Cooke, Otis Redding and the J.B.'s while still sounding like back country cousins to the Black Keys.  Original review here.  Get it here. Highlights include: "Blades of Grass" and "Truth".  Rating 4.5/5

July 9 - EARTHEN GRAVE (ST) - What's not to love about this one?  Ex-Trouble man Ron Holzner, world-class violinist Rachel Barton Pine and a great vocalist in Mark Weiner help make Earthen Grave's debut on Ripple Music a winner.  Guitarists Jason Muxlow & Tony Spillman pile on the riffs like mashed potatoes while Barton Pine pours on the gravy.  This album would be a stand out any year in any era.  Original review here.  Get it here. Highlights include: "Earthen Grave" and "Death is Another Word".  Rating 5/5

July 9 - SHROUD EATER (Dead Ends EP) - Florida sludge metal trio Shroud Eater ripped faces on their third official release.  Power packed doom grooves and aggressive vocals set a tone that sticks to you like a sweaty t-shirt in a mosh pit.  This five song EP proves why Shroud Eater are among the leading [piercing] lights of Southern Sludge.  Get it here. Highlights include: "Tempest" and "Sudden Plague".  Rating 4.5/5

July 16 - PHILIP H. ANSELMO & THE ILLEGALS (Walk Through Exits Only) - Pantera / Down / Superjoint Ritual, etc. frontman Phil Anselmo's debut solo album was a remarkable work from a lifelong metal fan who simply wanted to add to his beloved music without repeating anything that had been done before.  No small task.  Well, the results speak for themselves as Phil Anselmo crafted a stunningly good metal album that simply defies subgenrefication.  It's all the more remarkable considering the 40-something year old had never really written music before.  That's not to downplay the contributions of his backing band, called 'The Illegals' for this particular release.  Get it here. Highlights include: "Walk Through Exits Only" and "Battalion of Zero".  Rating 4.5/5

July 16 - Trouble (The Distortion Field)

July 18 - BORRACHO (Oculus) - D.C.'s resident stoner rock kingpins crushed with their first substantial offering of new material since 2011's critical darling 'Splitting Sky'.  Reduced to a power trio, the band nevertheless delivered a free-flowing album that is not only a worthy follow-up to their debut, but arguably surpasses it.  Get it here. Highlights include: "I've Come For It All" and "Empty".  Rating 4.5/5

July 21 - Fangs of the Molossus (ST)

July 21 - Sumeru (ST EP)

July 23 - CURSE THE SON (Psychache) - 'Psychache' was up for streaming on bandcamp for as many as 7 months before it was finally made available for download to the public on this date.  It took a hot minute for the album to catch on, but when it did it wouldn't let go.  Hands down Ron Vanacore's riffs and vocals and drummer Michael Petrucci's groovy-infested syncopation made this one of the year's top notch doom records.  It was later still pressed to vinyl and released by STB Records.  Original review here.  Get it here. Highlights include: "Spider Stole the Weed" and "Goodbye Henry Anslinger".  Rating 4.5/5

July 23 - MISS LAVA (Red Supergiant) - 'Red Supergiant' was actually released late in 2012 and flew completely under the radar until Small Stone Records caught wind of it, re-mastered it for more depth and re-released it on this date.  This is where you go when you're looking for a full album's worth of relentless stoner grooves.  Original review here.  Get it here. Highlights include: "Ride" and "Desert Mind".  Rating 4.5/5

July 24 - Wicked Inquisition (Silence Thereafter)

July 26 - Dozer (Vultures EP)

July 30 - HOLLOW LEG (Abysmal) - Florida sludge metal quartet Hollow Leg upped the ante in a major way on their second album, providing some of the most memorable moments in the genre all year.  They did this with riffs, memorable lyrics and bone splintering power grooves of atomic blowback proportions.  Seriously, don't let this one fly under your radar.  Original review here.  Get it here. Highlights include: "Ride To Ruin" and "Abysmal".  Rating 4.5/5


Best Album From June 2013:
'Psychache' by CURSE THE SON

Best Song From June 2013:
"Abysmal" by HOLLOW LEG

PARANOID Thoughts:

I've prepared a Top 20 Albums on the Rise list as a companion piece to last night's Top 20 I didn't listen to enough.  Most of the albums on this list I only just caught on to recently or was too busy focused on other albums to devote an appropriate amount of attention to until just recently, and some of them are re-discoveries of albums that simply slipped past me.  Basically, I'm trying to give as many deserving albums a share of the spotlight as possible.  These are all albums on the way up my lists ...

(Deep breath...) The Top 20 Rising Albums That Probably Would Have (or at least Might Have) Made the Top 100 of 2013 List if it was Published Two Months Later (now, exhale ..!):
1). Subrosa - 'More Constant Than the Gods'
2). Arrowhead - 'Atomsmasher'
3). Motörhead - 'Aftershock'
4). Blackwitch Pudding - 'Taste the Pudding'
5). Black Majik Acid - ST
6). Sangoma - 'Diviner'
7). Gaggle of Cocks - 'Low Class Trendsetter'
8). Bayou - ST
9). Zemial - 'Nykta'
10). Eye - 'Second Sight'
11). Fuzz - ST
12). Slasher Dave - 'Spookhouse'
13). Bardo Pond - 'Peace on Venus'
14). Stoned Cobra - 'High & Mighty'
15). Cokegoat - 'Vessel'
16). Doomriders - 'Grand Blood'
17). Earth Witch - 'Earth Bound' EP
18). Foghound - 'Quick, Dirty & High'
19). Ride Into the Sun - ST mini-LP
20). Djinn & Miskatonic - 'Forever in the Realm'*

*Looks like this project may now be defunct according to bassist Jayaprakash Satyamurthy.

Hour of Power 10/05/13 (playlist)

1. Hail to the Haze (Iron Man / South of the Earth) 2013
2. Lotus Jam (Beelzefuzz / ST) 2013
3. Turn the Tide (Spiritual Beggars / Earth Blues) 2013
4. Be Like You (Bite the Bullet / ST) 2013
5. Red Fang promo 2013
6. In the Forest (Doublestone / Wingmakers) 2013
7. Equus October (Earthless / From the Ages) 2013
8. Haunted (Rob / Maniac OST) 2013
9. Jackal Headed Guard of the Dead new album preview 2013
10. Dargona Dragona (Vista Chino / Peace) 2013
11. The Message (Sasquatch / IV) 2013
12. Death is Another Word ... (Earthen Grave / ST) 2013
13. Death Dealer (The Gates of Slumber [R.I.P.] / Hymns of Blood and Thunder) 2009
14. All Nightmare Long (Metallica / Death Magnetic) 2008 'classic clip'

Earthen Grave - ST (album review)

'Earthen Grave' is so much more than just the debut album by a stoner / doom supergroup.  Composed of pieces from Chicago-based doom bands Trifog, Lair of the Minotaur, The Living Fields and bolstered by the likes of Rachel Barton Pine on violin and Trouble veteran Ron Holzner on bass, Earthen Grave is backed by some serious fire power.  The contribution of Rachel Barton Pine lend the album a theatrical flair and give it a progressive touch, bringing to mind late sixties / early seventies "violin as a rock instrument" pioneers as East of Eden, High Tide and the early era Electric Light Orchestra (whose first album nearly did away with guitars altogether).  Earthen Grave have delivered a different kind of album, one that is doomy, countrified and well polished.  At 76 minutes long it's got heft and scope and feels in many ways like a classic.  It won't appeal to just anyone, but for those looking for something a bit different, a bit more progressive with a touch of professionalism from a band that understands that catchiness isn't limited to pop music, this album is probably for you.

The album kicks off in typically doomy fashion with church bells and feedback giving way to a Sabbath-like devil's third riff.  This is a decoy.  Before long at all, the riff breaks down and rebuilds into a jangly countrified lick which begins introducing the elements of the music to come: the clean and soulful vocals of Mark Weiner (Trifog), the dual guitars of Tony Spillman and Jason Muxlow (The Living Fields), the sympathetic drums of Chris Wozniak (Lair of the Minotaur) and the heavy bass of Ron Holzner.  That devil's third riff then comes back for the pre-chorus which is given over to the violin of Rachel Barton Pine like a newborn at a deadly altar and the results are spectacular.  It's as though the band is letting everybody know where they are coming from (using doom riffs as a point of origin), and where they are going (their own way).

Weiner in particular deserves to be singled out for his memorable melodies.  You just read the titles off the tracklist and the gigantic choruses jump immediately to mind: "Earthen Grave", "Tilted World", "Blood Drunk", "Dismal Times" and "Beneath a Shovel Load" among others.  But of the 12 tracks total that make up the album, the original numbers are fortified by three cover songs that are all bona fide classics: Witchfinder General's "Burning a Sinner", Pentagram's "Relentless" and "Stargazer", the ostensible title track from Rainbow's 'Rising' album.  This latter track is also, apparently a live recording, but it sounds pretty much flawless to these ears so it could have been bolstered by some in-studio touch ups.  I'm not a cover songs kind of guy, but when each of these three pop up on the album, I admit I get very excited, I may be seen headbanging down the street, trying to sing under my breath but just looking and sounding like an erratically muttering maniac.  The first couple cover songs are two of my favorite doom songs of all time.  Scratch that, they are a couple of everybody's favorite doom songs of all time, and it pumps you up to hear them in and around the Earthen Grave originals, some of which stand up quite well with those all-time greats.

Another thing this album has going for it is dynamism.  "Beneath a Shovel Load" is a white knuckled heavy metal pounding, while "Blood Drunk" is a dark and haunting brooder on a hay bail in a dusty old barn.  That they can glide between these styles seamlessly is a testament to the band's identity and strength of vision, their musical fingerprint if you will, and of the elasticity of that vision.

I'm constantly amazed at how many different kinds of bands there are out there who fall under the umbrella of doom, how many unique bands there are with their own twists on a sound (see Blood Ceremony, Northwinds and Blizaro among many others for examples of how individualistic doom bands can be).  Earthen Grave is one of the most iconoclastic  of them all.  Even without the violin, this album would stand out as a visionary work in many ways, leading a group of veterans in a well-worn genre into unfamiliar territory, but the truth is the classical instrument is an intrinsic part of the band's sound.  The instrument is not used to augment the songs on the album but is a part of the album's structural integrity.  The style of music the band practices seems to be built around the violin, the tone and country flavor basically inviting the instrument in.  But that's just one element of the band and if it's not about the songs, if the songs aren't good, then the use of an uncommon instrument in a common sounding band just becomes a gimmick.  Fortunately, Earthen Grave dies not make common or average music.  The songs are there, the tunes are there and the album is terrific.

Highlights include: "Earthen Grave" and "Death is Another Word"

Rating: 5/5


Total Run Time: 1:16:27

From: Chicago, Illinois

Genre: Doom, Progressive Rock, Metal, Country-tinges

Reminds me of: East of Eden, early E.L.O., High Tide

Release Date: July 9, 2013

Hour of Power 09/14/13 (playlist)

1. The Hunter (Black Rainbows / Holy Moon EP) 2013
2. Black Core (NYMF / From the Dark) 2013
3. Voices (Alice in Chains / The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here) 2013
4. Monkey City (General / Where Are Your Gods Now) 2012
5. Truckfighters 'The Chairman' EP Teaser 2013
6. This Train Won't Stop [live @ The Vogue 08/11/13] (Devil To Pay / Fate Is Your Muse) 2013
7. The Mangled Dead [live @ Radio Downstairs 08/30/13] 2013
8. Death is Another Word ... (Earthen Grave / ST) 2013
9. The End of Time (Moonbow / The End of Time) 2013
10. Blades of Grass (The Dirty Streets / Blades of Grass) 2013
11. Cloud 9 (Motordrone / ST) 2013
12. Never Liked You (Luder / Adelphophagia) 2013
13. The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret (Queens of the Stone Age / Rated R) 2000 'classic clip'