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.

Serpent on facebook
 

Moon Coven - Amanita Kingdom (album review)

Cover artwork by Justin Boyesen.

I first became aware of Swedish five-piece stoners Moon Coven through their one-off single "Ruler of Dust" on bandcamp when they went by the unlikely moniker of Waning Moon.  After sigining to Transubstans Records of Sweden and altering their name to Moon Coven they are about to unleash their five song debut.

The color scheme of the album's cover art is a picture perfect chromatic representation of the band's sound, aquamarine hues doused in smoke, cloudy yet unobscured images conjured not through the artifice of witchcraft, but rather through pastoral feelings and communion with nature (is stoner rock not a movement based around communion with nature through the inhalation of smoke?).  The Baphometan pose of the witch like figure on the cover could just as easily be a tree, the stars her roots and the crescent moon forming a halo around her head the crown.  And why wouldn't it be?  This is the Moon Coven we're talking about, no longer waning but soaring, a crescent moon may show the heavenly body in its weakest phase, but it only last so long before the moon returns to full bloom, to dominate the night sky once again.

Dominating the album from the outset, the opening track "Ruler of Dust" (currently blazing through the doom charts top 25 songs list), remains the band's high point.  A nice sloppy feel to the opening riff as sunshine pours in through the stoner haze, evoking the spirit of Greenleaf / Dozer.  Lazily bouncing rhythms and vocalist David Leban's casual delivery set a relaxed mood which carries into much of the album.  There is a consistent feel to the album, the tone is warm, the delivery inviting.  What sets Moon Coven apart, of course, are the riffs which come at the hands of a three guitar onslaught courtesy of Mr's Leban, Axel Granhammar and Justin Boyesen.

"Amanita Kingdom II", another standout sounds like an outtake from Mountain Witch's 'Cold River' LP which isn't a bad thing.  This has a lot to do with the vocal distortion which gives it that distant feel, Mountain Witch's Rene Sitte favors.  The major difference is that the aforementioned German trio's music is "red" and "black" in tone while Moon Coven's is a very "green" and "grey" sound.  The broken rhythms which are set in motion, then knocked down with a descending, pausey riffs are handled with the stop-motion expert hand of a Ray Harryhausen.  The song, placed right in the middle of the album, is a cool change of pace and guarantees to re-capture the attention of anybody lulled into a hypnotic state by the laidback nature of the first couple tracks.

The band does not fail to capitalize on their opportunity as the album then slides into the song "East", which is currently streaming over on The Obelisk website.  Again, it's one of the highlights on a short album full of terrific moments, you'd have to travel far and wide to find another stoner song with a vocal melody quite like the one found here.  In fact, you'd be hard pressed to find another band with quite the same sound as Moon Coven.  While there are a great deal of 70's moments on 'Amanita Kingdom', any comparisons to throwback eras would more accurately fall under the heading of late sixties psychedelic.  Closing number "We Were Conquerers" displays this quite vividly, as those pastoral feelings abound on this track.

What you're left with is a positive impression, good times remembered through a haze.  Moon Coven's 'Amanita Kingdom' should put them on the map with a fine five song performance of laidback stoner grooviness.  'Amanita Kingdom' will be released by Transubstans Records on January 15.

Highlights include: "Ruler of Dust" and "East"

Rating: 4/5


Tracklist:
1). Ruler of Dust (7:19)
2). Amanita Kingdom (7:03)
3). Amanita Kingdom II (8:00)
4). East (6:37)
5). We Were Conquerors (5:23)
Total Run Time: 34:20

From: Malmö/Jönköping, Sweden

Genre: Stoner, Psychedelic, Desert Rock

Reminds me of: Dozer, Greenleaf, Mountain Witch

Release Date: January 15, 2013

Moon Coven on facebook

GET IT HERE

Saturn - Ascending (album review)

Please welcome the one and only Love Among Ruins to the Paranoid family!  You may recognize the name from Bandcamp or last.fm.  She was the user who had the boobs and headphones profile pic.  It was almost as noticeable as user "Mike"s distinctive moon skull icon at the bottom of every single bandcamp album worth buying, or user "Scumbag"s evilly grinning green face alongside it.  Anyway, it was hard not to notice the Love Among Ruins icon and the accompanying short write-ups, a trend which continued on facebook and her song of the day selections.  Before long at all, I noticed that she could write and from there I saw the potential in her, so I decided to reach out and see if she wanted to expand on some of those ideas and songs of the day ... Happily she agreed to do it and she's prepared a little bio/introduction for herself:


Hey I'm 'Love Among Ruins' on bandcamp and last.fm.  A couple of weeks ago, to my pleasant surprise, Lucas messaged me and asked me if I would be interested in writing for Paranoid Hitsophrenic! Being an admirer of his blog for quite sometime now I was very flattered and kind of shocked that he would ask me. I've never done any writing on any blogs anywhere....only the small write-ups I do on Bandcamp, so I felt very honored and I want to give a big thank you to Lucas for giving me a chance. ;-)

I have had a huge passion for music, I have been surrounded by it my entire life. Born in 1985, I grew up in a house where both parents were children of the 60's & 70's and are true hard rockers through & through. As far back as I can remember we always had music playing throughout the house. With their influence of rock & metal bands like Pink Floyd, Sabbath, Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Hendrix, and blues rock bands like CCR, Free, Mountain,Ten Years After etc, etc. I have a deep rooted love for the classics of rock. As I grew up I went through many changes trying to find what I loved to listen to the most, but I always found my ears attracted to the heavier side of blues rock. About a year ago I really wanted to dig deeper into stoner metal and doom thanks to Bandcamp and a great little music forum on the web known as "Hard Rock Revolution" which I joined in April this year. The people there have been very helpful with recommendations from Bandcamp and guiding me through the murky waters of doom and sludge. But through all of that I still have a love of the blues, and when you mix that with heavy, hard rock and/or stoner metal, my ears have something to feast on that I thoroughly enjoy.

So with all that said, I am definitely a newbie, so bare with me and I hope you enjoy my writing's! ;-)

Her debut review, begins now:

I am stoked to do a review on Saturn's full length debut album titled "Ascending". It was released on November 3rd, 2013 with 8 tracks coming in at just over 43 mins. This album gives the listener a full range of diverse metal. They are offering a digital release at Bandcamp as a "Name Your Price" deal. Although they do plan on a hard copy release, its not yet available on CD.

I asked Robin, the lead guitarist and back-up vocalist of the band, to give me a little background since this is the first time some of us are hearing their music. Saturn formed in 2010 in Borås, Sweden, a small town near Gothenburg with members Oscar Valentine Pehrson who belts out the lead vocals and plays a badass bass and the organ and Linkan Lindgren who shares lead guitar and back up vocals with Robin Tibebrink. The three started writing songs together and practicing as they searched for a drummer. Eventually they came across the versatile drummer Ted Carlsen, who can play everything from blazing metal, to a relaxed 70's laid back vibe. Now the stage was set to start writing and recording songs for their debut release. Robin says their influences come from bands like Budgie, Judas Priest, Rush, Deep Purple, UFO etc, the true 70's heavy metal.

My first impression of this album was of the vocals and how unique they were. I am very partial to clean vocals and usually that's the make it or break it element of most music when I am looking for something new. The lead singer Oscar Valentine Pehrson has a very distinctive vocal sound. With descent range and an upper register that can make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. His vocals are always clean with clear diction, and the harmonies with the other band members sound pretty descent. It's very hard to put this band into one genre and as I listened to it I heard thrash, psychedelic rock/space rock, progressive rock and some blues rock thrown in the mix also. But the main overall thread that ties all of this together is classic traditional metal with all the riffs you can handle.

In the opening track 'So,You Have Chosen Death' they bring all the elements to slap you in the face with clear riff driven traditional metal. This is one of those songs that I can’t keep still while listening to, it makes me want to shake something or break something. :) Similar to the second track, 'Rokktori', which has that classic 80's metal sounds of a shredding guitar and at times I felt as if I was listening to Megadeth, Iron Maiden or Judas Priest. The stand out track and my favorite is 'Over The Influence' the longest track at 8:22 opens up with a bluesy, sultry almost Zeppelin-like number with smooth guitar tone and sweet solos, and a sexy rhythm. Usually I am partial to the blues influenced tracks on most albums, and this will definitely be one to remember and I hope they continue to write great music like this, excellent!! All the songs are engaging, but vary in their approach to capture the attention of different listeners. Like, for instance the track 'Leadersheep' which has a definite fast paced metal sound that reminds me of all the reasons why I loved early 90's thrash metal so much, bands like Anthrax, Megadeth and Metallica are a big part of my music background and when I hear something that reminds me of that time, it really does take me back to some good times. 'Peasant' is another one for the thrash lovers! This track shows off some tasty guitars riffs and soaring vocals. But it’s probably my least favorite song, just because I found it to be a little too repetitive or busy for my tastes. Like I said earlier I prefer the slow bluesy numbers that I can chill out to, which is just a personal thing and has nothing to do with the fact that the song itself is rather good, it just didn't grab me in the right place. But just as soon as I say that they go right back into a blues driven number called 'Tower Of Terror' which features passionate vocals and nice harmonies. There is a nice guitar solo towards the end that is sure to grab attention. This is a great song, definitely another one of my favorites. 'Last Man in Space' opens up with some soaring guitar solos layered with what sounds like a synth and/or organ. With a definite Rush influence, this track has a prog vibe to it as it takes on a life of its own with changing melodies and odd time signatures. It’s kind of all over the place, but I still like it. Closing out the album is the beautiful song Moonstone, an acoustic folk ballad showing off the bands ability to harmonize like a dream, it’s a fitting close to the album and leaves me feeling very satisfied.

Bottom line......Saturn is a young band with lots of passion and a drive to succeed which can only make them better with time. Given the proper management and exposure I think the sky is the limit for these guys. Robin tells me they are already writing new music and looking for a good booking agent so they can attend more gigs. I hope they do well and get the recognition they so deserve. I like this band, and the more I listened to the album the more I liked it. I want to see them produce a killer album and with a debut like "Ascending" I think they are on their way to do just that. 

Highlights include: "Over The Influence" and "Tower of Terror"

Rating: 4/5 Definitely worth a listen!!


Total Run Time: 39:54

From: Borås, Sweden

Genre: Metal, Thrash, Space Rock, Prog, Blues

Reminds me of: Rush, Megadeth, Led Zeppelin

Release Date: November 3, 2013

Saturn on facebook

Members:
Oscar Valentine Pehrson - Lead Vocalist/Bass
Robin Tidebrink - Guitar/Vocals
Linkan Lindgren - Guitar/Vocals
Ted Carlsen - Drums

The Brimstone Days - The Healer (album review)

Malmö, Sweden's The Brimstone Days are back with their second full-length album in 14 months.  I reviewed their last album, 'On a Monday Too Early To Tell' only early this year and their formula of happy-go-lucky, riff-centric rock took me by surprise.  They are one of the most unique bands out there in their approach to things, and while I may not share their 'everything is rosy' philosophy on a personal level, I can certainly appreciate their incredibly consistent level of hard rocking output.  The same goes for their presentation, though I may not like 'choreography' as a general thing, I definitely marvel at the band's single camera, single take music videos.  'The Healer' offers up 11 tracks of pure fun and blue eyed soul.  If there is a band today who wear their hearts on their sleeves any more vulnerably than this hard rocking trio, I haven't heard them.

As far as that consistency level goes, one may make the argument that 14 months isn't long enough time in between albums.  Not enough 'life' has happened in the meantime and there isn't enough growth as an individual to put on showcase as an artist.  That may or may not be a valid argument and if it is, it would apply here.  Then again, The Brimstone Days was never the kind of band that was going to be steeped in contemplation and self-reflection.  As a unit, they have been put on this earth to do one thing and one thing only:  to have a good time.  That's what comes through in the music most of all.

The album opens with "Black and Blue" which continues the band's observation of hard rock Holy Relics, as they had on their last album, paying tribute to Hendrix, Lynott and Clapton without directly ripping off any riffs.  Southern swamp funk washes in to the appropriately titled "We Come In Peace".  It's a pretty accurate statement of the band's overall party rock approach.  They mean no harm.  After all, what could be more peaceful than a raging housewrecker?

The Brimstone Days also have their old school soul moments, "Clap Your Hands" and "I Won't Let You Go", capturing the genuine funk flavor of Sam & Dave or The Staple Singers.  Blue eyed soul is not the kind of thing you hear a lot of nowadays, The Brimstone Days pull it off with genuine soul and fire.  But,  the band finds their most positive moment on "Miss Understood".  The line "They call me crazy I say misunderstood" really resonates for a lifelong weirdo like myself.  The song is like a clap on the shoulder and a supportive wink.  No, The Brimstone Days aren't going to engage in a deep, meaningful coffee shop conversation about "your illness", they are just going to stand there grinning and say, "yeah man, it's okay, go nuts if you want, we won't judge you".  The only difficult thing in an atmosphere like that is for the crazy guy not to take things too far.

'The Healer' picks up where 'On a Monday Too Early To Tell' left off, but if there were a noticable difference between the two albums, 'The Healer' finds the band in a slightly more thoughtful mood.  Quieter songs find a toehold on this album and certainly don't dominate, but their presence is felt.  For every quiet song though, there are two or three of the exuberant kind.  Of course, there are quiet moments within the exuberant songs ... But you know what, 'The Healer' pretty much sees the band continuing along a linear trajectory.  A trajectory which points towards wherever the nearest party is.

And the nearest party happens in Sweden on November 6 when 'The Healer' will be released on an unsuspecting public pushing desperately through their humdrum lives.  The Brimstone Days will brighten up the winter months.  As for the rest of us around the world, we can expect a release date of December 8.  The album will be released on CD and black and yellow vinyl through Transubstans Records.  Also, keep your eyes peeled for a new video, I'm sure it will be crazy, but we won't judge them for it.

Highlights include: "Nightmare Is Here" and "Miss Understood".

Rating: 4/5



Total Run Time: 35:18

From: Malmö, Sweden

Genre: Hard Rock, Funk, Soul

Reminds me of: Jimi Hendrix, Sam Cooke, Small Faces

Release Date: November 6, 2013 (Sweden), December 8 (Worldwide)

The Brimstone Days on facebook

GET IT HERE

Horisont - Time Warriors (album review)

Horisont was one of the first of the Scandanavian retro rockin' bands that I discovered, right after Devil, I believe, and I was blown away.  I don't remember what song it was that I heard which set my ears on fire, but I remember trying desperately to track the CD down for something like six months and having no luck, it was either sold out or over priced.  Eventually I ordered it from Scrape on Broadway and I picked it up sometime around a year ago.  That was the last time I ventured out that way.  Fuck!  It's been almost a whole year since I went to Scrape ... so sad.  This story actually has two unhappy endings because after a half a year's build up of being excited to hear 'Second Assault', when it finally entered my earholes it shriveled up and died there on that first listen.  In other words, I was underwhelmed.

Now the band has returned and out of nowhere they have created what may be the year's best album of its kind.  Long hair and mustaches meet warm low end grooves and are piled high with '70's boogie woogie.  Balls out wailing vocals are draped in an overdose of denim.  In many ways there's nothing new here and yet in many ways, this has been a completely unexpected record because 'Time Warriors' documents a band reaching the peak of their brilliantly high potential.

After all this time, Horisont has managed to rekindle that initial excitement I had when I first heard them and they sustain it over the course of 10 strong numbers.  The Horisont style is back in full measure and in finer form.  It's my guess that experience has streamlined the band's musical vision, proggy turnarounds and quick run scales abut face melting riffs on all sides.  Not a moment is wasted.  The song structures are tight but the playing is loose giving the record that live feeling bands crave while still being well recorded.  Once more that deep, deep, warm low end makes this record perfectly suited for the turntable.

'Time Warriors' blows my mind with its rock and roll simplicity.  "Diamonds in Orbit", "Brother", "Eyes of the Father", "She Cried Wolf" are all hectic highlights, but then again, one would struggle to find any low lights on this disc.  Until the tenth and final track, "All Must Come To an End ..." spins in, no song eclipses the four minute mark.  There's no meandering here, no noodling and no unnecessary exploration.  All that work had been finished before the band entered the studio.  "Backstreet" and "Dödsdans" perfectly capture a Thin Lizzy vibe from harmonic guitars to lyrical subject matter (well, I can't vouch for the Svensk "Dödsdans", but "Backstreet" is pure Phil Lynott) and are bolstered by a sympathetic recording once again.

It's not that 'Second Assault' wasn't a good record.  Maybe the anticipation had built too high and my expectations were all skewed towards disappointment.  I've re-listened to it in preparation for this review and it's still not grabbing me.  All the ingredients are there, but they just don't come together in the right way.  'Time Warriors' gets it just right.  If Witchcraft's re-shuffling of the retro rocking deck on the 'Legend' album provided some veteran direction to the scores of Scandanavian bands who appear to be lost-in-time, Horisont prove that there's no need to escape from the parallel universe just yet.  There's still a lot of life left in this subgenre.  This is a short record at 33 minutes in length, but at 10 fully realized, fast-moving songs, it still makes for a satisfying listen and any more songs might have been overkill.  I get the feeling that all of the good ideas made it onto wax here anyway because this is a power packed album, concentrated for full impact.

Highlights include: "Diamonds in Orbit" and "Eyes of the Father"

Rating: 5/5


Tracklist:
1). Writing on the Wall (3:50)
2). Diamonds in Orbit (2:57)
3). Ain't No Turning Back (3:31)
4). Backstreet (3:14)
5). Vänd Tillbaka (3:11)
6). She Cried Wolf (3:24)
7). Brother (3:04)
8). Dödsdans (2:43)
9). Eyes of the Father (3:02)
10). All Must Come to an End ... (5:19)
Total Run Time: 33:09

Axel - Vocals
Charles - Guitar
Kristofer - Guitar
Magnus - Bass
Pontus - Drums

From: Gothenburg, Sweden

Genre: Retro Rock, Hard Rock

Reminds me of: Brutus, Graveyard, Kadavar

Release Date: October 1, 2013

Horisont on facebook

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NYMF - From the Dark (album review)

Amazing cover artwork by Jan Örkki Yrlund

Transubstans Records's NYMF (note for sticklers: correct spelling is all caps) is a Swedish metal supergroup featuring members of The Graviators, Trollfnask, Unfaithful & Wulfgar.  The short history of the band (formed around 2007) reveals a revolving door cast of featured players in the great Shakespearean and Spinal Tappian traditions, adding a new rhythm section of Robin Ingemansson of Unfaithful on bass and Tommy Lindskog of Wulfgar on drums to the solid core of Niklas Sjoberg & Martin Fairbanks of The Graviators and Kristofer Stjernquist of Trollfnask (and also Seeds of Cider).  Fairly recently, the band released a split single with Swedish stoner legends Dozer.  NYMF's offerings on the single were "Possessed" & "Fear of the Doom" (the latter songs was a digital only bonus track) which ended up as the starting lineup of songs on 'From the Dark'.  Each of the two songs is direct and to-the-point with solid doomy riffs, a stubborn insistence on driving rhythms and are totally studded in metal.  It's a sensibility that pours from the top down to the rest of the album.

The way the album starts right off the bat on the aforementioned "Fear of the Doom" with a pulse of double kick which breaks down into a slower beat creates the impression that NYMF's approach to songwriting is to throw the kitchen sink at a song during the jamming process, then pare everything down to its essential strength.  Whatever their modus operandi, the result is that the songs make the maximum impact with as little fuss as possible.

"Black Core" emits the pungent stench of horror through pleading vocals and a brushstroke of eerie atmosphere.  There are many highlights on this album:  "Drive" and "Thin Ice" comes easily to mind as well.  But "Lucifer Takes the Crown" is probably the most ambitious and far-reaching song on the album.  The boys in the band push themselves to a higher level and carry that momentum into the next track "In the Name of Vlad".  "Your Soul is Mine"s undulating and driving riff is infectious like an insect egg in the cranium.  This trilogy brings the album to a level not seen since the opening pair of tracks offered its initial smack in the head of introduction.  Dynamics and melody return to the fore and we are treated to a right pummeling courtesy of Lindskog.  This is when the band is at its best.

They are listed as "stoner metal" on Encyclopedia Metallum, but I think that's missing the point.  Pulling influences from all corners of the heavy spectrum, no album has felt as purely and simply "metal" to me than this one for a good long while.  There should be more bands like this, you can't just dismiss or label NYMF as "oh, they're a doom band" or "they're a black metal band" or whatever it may be, they're just a metal band and they're a pretty damn good one at that.  'From the Dark' should appeal to just about anyone fan of metal who hasn't completely specialized their tastes in a particular subgenre or other.  This is a great album with a ton of energy.  Highly recommended for one and all!

Highlights include: "Fear of the Doom" and "Lucifer Takes the Crown"

Rating: 4.5/5


Tracklist:
1). Heleionomai (1:05)
2). Fear of the Doom (4:46)
3). Possessed (4:14)
4). Black Core (4:12)
5). Evolution Blues (5:08)
6). Thin Ice (5:11)
7). Postmorten (4:30)
8). Drive (5:36)
9). Lucifer Takes the Crown (4:06)
10). In the Name of Vlad (4:05)
11). Your Soul Is Mine (4:07)
12). The Greatest Burden (6:07)
13). Like a Giant Orange Sun (3:35)
Total Run Time: 56:36

From: Karlshamn / Olofström / Bromölla, Sweden

Genre: Metal, Doom, Stoner

Reminds me of: Cardinals Folly, Church of Void, The Graviators

Release Date: September 11, 2013

NYMF on facebook

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Goatess - ST (album review)

Goatess formed in 2009 as Weekend Beast.  I don't know when this album began to take shape, but if it began to happen early on, it must have been torture to wait to finally release it after so long.  The patience and restraint shown by a band that waits four years to release an album goes a long way toward establishing the character of the band and the kind of ethic that went into the songs on this album.  Knowing full well that they had the "star-power" on their side in the form of Christian Linderson to release sub-par material and still make a splash, they took their time to create a work that is substantial in all dimensions.

This is workmanlike doom, manipulated by the deft hands of visionaries.  The band confidently stroll on cloven hooves through eight hard-earned tracks, most of which tip the scales at over seven minutes in length.  Coming in altogether at nearly 67 minutes, it's a lot of album to get through, but there's scope here provided by well planned out song structures and depth thanks largely to a slightly more experimental approach to side two of the album.  It's obvious that the band spent a lot of time crafting this album.

As far as individual songs go, the overall package is the key here, much like Serpent Venom's 'Carnal Altar' album, the individual tracks may not be as important as the overall sound, vibe and tone of the album taken as a whole.  This is not at all a bad thing.  In fact, it's a great thing.  It's exactly the kind of intangible element that makes for an infinitely replayable album.

That's not to say that there aren't terrific moments laced throughout 'Goatess', but without many real stand-above-the-others type tracks, the overall impression will be of moods rather than specific songs.  However, opening cut "Know Your Animal" provides that one big chorus moment that all albums should have, especially on opening tracks.  It sticks with you long after the album is finished playing, it's the one song that gets caught in my head like a bat in a belfry and continuously brings me back slavering for the next go at this album.  It's a subtle hook, one enlarged by echo and distant atmospherics but it works.  This is followed up by the percussion and wah happy "Alpha Omega".  It's this early on where the overall feeling of the album comes to the fore.  The songs don't all sound the same, but they are of equal value and they can be a bit same-y in places, especially in terms of guitar tone and of 'feel'.  Each song is as good as the last, so no matter how different they all are, no matter which distinguishing features the songs have, 'Goatess' feels less like a collected 'photo album' of various songs but a 'motion picture' that flows from scene to scene.  This happens in the most natural of ways, something that could be as easily achievable as say, using the same guitar tuning for all songs.  It's not forced, nor do I feel is it even intentional.  But once again, this overall feeling gives the album that instant classic grit.

The second part of the album beginning with the "Oracle" mini-suite reveals a more psychedelic side to the band, it shows the band has depth and proves they are willing to try different things.  Indeed the very origins of the band arise from this desire to try something different.  Without factual evidence I would guess that this is actually the point where side C of the 'Goatess' double LP begins.  The opening moments of "Oracle Part 1: The Mist" changes the complexion of the album completely but does so without violating the feel of what preceded it.  What greets the listener here is a shimmering, wavering effects-laden intro leading into a main riff soaked in reverb and an arrhythmic tom-and-crash-heavy drum riff over which Chritus croons of the slithery, slippery nature of reality.  This is heady stuff, not for the weak-minded or faint of heart.  When "Oracle Part 2" slams in, it's a bucket of ice cold water to the face (see link to video in the tracklist below).  If one were going to start the album anywhere, I would recommend starting with "Oracle Part 1".  I imagine the only reason Goatess decided not to start the album here is because "Part 1" is not representative of what the rest of the album is like.  That, and it's always good advice to put your best foot forward and start with your best song first, second best song second and so on.

Goatess swing for the fences with their debut album and I'll be darned if they don't knock it into the parking lot.  You almost need to ask yourself "what doesn't this album have?"

Highlights include: "Know Your Animal" and "Full Moon at Noon"

Rating: 4.5/5


Tracklist:
1). Know Your Animal (7:45)
2). Alpha Omega (7:10)
3). Ripe (7:55)
4). Full Moon At Noon (8:01)
5). Oracle Pt. 1: The Mist (4:40)
6). Oracle Pt. 2 (8:53)
7). King One (10:37)
8). Tentacles of Zen (11:52)
Total Run Time: 106:52

Niklas - Guitar

Findus - Bass

Kenta - Drums

Chritus - Vocals.

From: Stockholm, Sweden

Genre: Doom, Psychedelic

Reminds me of: Count Raven, Lord Vicar, Serpent Venom, Terra Firma, The Wandering Midget

Release Date: July 5, 2013

Better Reviews:
The Obelisk
Temple of Perdition

Goatess on facebook

GET IT HERE

OR HERE (digital)

Mammoth Storm - Demo 2013 (album review)

By far the heaviest of the new breed of bands to come out this year is Swedish trio Mammoth Storm.  When I listen to this I think how incredible it would be for the Liverpool band Conan to play some shows in Sweden with Salem's Pot and Mammoth Storm.  Then I get greedy and think of a way to try to bring that 1000 gees heaviness to my neck of the woods for a Saturday or Sunday night show.  A man can dream.  Needless to say it would be the heaviest show in the history of western civilization.  It would be the closest thing to re-creating the Byford Dolphin explosive decrompression incident from a stage.

Mammoth Storm's music is the kind of organism that can survive in extreme environments.  While the otherwise fragile human body can only withstand so much strain, it's a rare and amazing feat that these three lads from Sweden can even be in the same room as their instruments, let alone play them and survive.  This is the soundtrack to an underwater volcanic vent.  This is music that takes a casual stroll on the ocean floor, whistling with its hands in its pockets.  I'm saying it's extremely heavy and durable is what I'm saying.

So now you know what to expect going in.  You've got your pressure suit on, you've got your respirator in your mouth and you're ready to dive into the molten-making caldera of Mammoth Storm.  What is this stuff all about anyway?  Energetic stoner doom with a nod toward the national heroes of the Land of Nod, Sleep themselves and Electric Wizard.  Vocals are of the gruff, gravel-gurgled variety, a tough sounding voice for a tough sounding band.  It's not the kind of thing you haven't heard before, but rarely have you heard it done this well.  This is certainly one of the most promising demos released this year and you hope they never lose that heavy, heavy edge moving forward.  In some twisted way, the demo is almost too professionally recorded, you want to hear this band at its muddiest, swampiest, most imperfect form possible.  Something in what they do brings that impulse out.  It's music to hasten decay, an ink blot which turns into a shadow which then feeds on all that is bright and vibrant and begins to grow to eventually encompass the totality of the earth.

There are so many nerd debates in the forum of music, one is originality versus orthodoxy.  Now, I don't want to turn Mammoth Storm's review into a soap box or anything, but there's a lot to be said for a band that doesn't necessarily bring a whole lot that's new to the table but gets it bang on the money regardless.  Riffs that sway drunkenly and shamble like rotting corpses and vocals from putrefied chords drag out those feelings of discovering Electric Wizard or Dopelord for the first time and feast on their guts.

Come to think of it, this has got to be the best demo of the first half of 2013, at least of releases that are explicitly labelled as demos.  Naga's demo is excellent (see the review), Crowlord's is amazing too (review coming soon), but that got taken down from their bandcamp page and there are a number of others that have placed different bands of various styles on the watchlist for future developments, but Mammoth Storm's heaviness and spot on riffs can't be denied their place atop the mountain.

Of course I look forward to what comes next from the band but these three tracks, all of which are over seven minutes in length will keep me plenty busy in the meantime.  Dig in.  If you like heavy as balls, downtuned, monstrous music with just the right amount of catchiness without the pop sheen then Mammoth Storm is highly recommended.

Highlights include: "Volcanic Winter" and "Ancient Apocalypse"

Rating: 5/5


Total Run Time: 23:39

Daniel Arvidsson - Bass, Vocals
Christer Ström - Guitars
Emil Ahlman - Drums, Organ

From: Parts Unkown, Sweden

Genre: Doom, Stoner, Sludge

Reminds me of: Belzebong, Conan, Dopelord, Mamont, Mara, Salem's Pot

Release Date: May 12, 2013

Mammoth Storm on facebook

Aniara - Caress of Darkness (album review)

Aniara is another great discovery from that seemingly inexhaustible source of excellent bands, Youtube.  The band plays a flawless style of grinding traditional doom with energetic vocals that sometimes break down into a high pitched scream (see "Into Our Coven")!  Energetic and beefy, the band mostly sticks to a midtempo setting and explores their sound across four worthy numbers on their debut EP, 'Caress of Darkness'.  The cover image from bandcamp is obviously cropped and comes from the tape which is available through the band by contacting them at their email address: aniaradoom@gmail.com.  The band was once called Oak, but they renamed themselves with the release of this tape.  Oak is a great name but they did well to change it because it's a little too generic to stick out or even search for for that matter.  They probably changed it though because of the various other metal bands named Oak was leading to some confusion, but that's enough speculation for now.  My buddy Haris from Welcome to the Void blog was already onto these guys months ago (back when they were called Oak) and you can read his post here (it's in Greek, but you can always use the translate function to the right side of the page if you have to).

This is one of those bands, that when you discover them on a place like youtube, there's no indication as to what year or era they are from.  They could be a few years old or they could be a decade or two old or more or they could be a new band.  They are indeed a new band with a timeless sound.  Darkness and doom with muscular traditional heaviness, when Aniara's sounds caress your ears, oh yes, it's crushing alright.

Opening track "October Sunrise" is slow, slow doom.  The riffs travel about as fast as the sun itself rises, which isn't very fast at all.  This is one of those songs that gets by on its looks and how it feels.  We all love the big catchy hooks, but fans of straight doom metal can get off on just the plain doominess of a song alone, some can anyway.  I'm one of them/  All the pieces are in the right places.  Pleading, manic vocals in the traditional style help push this one over the top.

"Into Our Coven" was the first song from this band that I heard.  As I alluded to, I found it on youtube on a sidebar link.  Damn, am I ever glad I did.  This is the track where all those pieces that are in their rightful places come together to form a monster sound.  An insistent riff that chews you up like a motor boat propeller and some high pitched screaming from an excited vocalist in the form of one Witchfinder Ågren, a rippin' ass guitar solo, damn man, this one's got it all.  It's one of those songs that when you hear it you go, "oh yeah, this is what doom metal is all about" as you laugh all the way to the blood bank (everyone's still listening to Diesel King too, right?  It's not just me?).  These guys know how to follow up too, with a song that's got an even better riff, if not as memorable a vocal performance.  Still the vocals are pretty memorable in their own right on this one as they are everywhere else on this 4-song 25 minute EP.  The follow up in question is the closing / title track.  Dilapidated, tall and narrow mansions haunt the mind's eye when this song rolls in.  You know, the ones with dead tree branches scratching at every window and all of them have their curtains drawn.  The kind that fraternity pledges used to be forced to spend the night in in old horror movies and comics never to be heard from again.  This is a close second to "Into Our Coven" for the "this is what doom's all about" award.  It transports the listener to the nightmare dimension.

Aniara might not blow you away, but then again, they might, and that's why you should check them out for yourself.  "Into Our Coven" blew me away initially so I set myself to the task of finding more Aniara.  Once I did, "Caress of Darkness" blew me a little further away.  The more of this kind of music I can find the better.  This disc abounds with organic and foresty moods in darkness to receive the caress of doom.

Highlights include: "Into Our Coven" and "Caress of Darkness"

Rating: 4.5/5

Total Run Time: 24:27

Witchfinder Ågren - Vocals
Benjamin Simac - Guitar
Carl Hansen - Guitar
Emil Wigö - Bass
Marko Kardum - Drums

From: Sweden

Genre: Traditional Doom

Reminds me of: Black Oath, Funeral Circle, Magister Templi

Release Date: March 9, 2013

Suggested listening activity for fellow non-stoners: Bored, hangin' from the old oak tree ...

Aniara facebook

Rogue Transmissions - Head of the Demon - ST (album review)

Head of the Demon came across my desk like the stone carving of Pazuzu found in Northern Iraq at the beginning of The Exorcist and I've been obsessed by its blackened ambiance and old school doom metal sensibilities ever since.  Where did it come from?  How did I first hear about it?  Why am I so darkly drawn to the cover artwork?  These are questions without answers, or at least answers lost in a demon possessed black out.  And if they're still out there, I no longer wish to find them.

Now, before we even begin, I must say that what we've got here is a sound that wasn't at all what I was expecting when I picked this thing up, well not entirely anyway.  I was expecting some dark and tough as nails old school metal with doom leanings along the lines of say Night Demon, Natur or even Ghost Tower.  What  I got was blackened and unlike anything else in my collection, sitting atop the pile as a charred gargoyle gorges on a hill of corpses, misshapen and isolated.

Typically, and I say this a lot, I need riffs to enjoy my music.  Rarely do I fall for an album which relies entirely upon atmosphere for its charm.  But when a band gets the atmosphere just right, without ever slipping up, well it goes beyond the catchy and becomes gangrenously infectious.  It infects not only the mind but the soul, probably all the more effectively because there's not a lot of memorable moments to rope a memory around, just an overall favorable impression that must be heard again and again to be revisited.  The first time I listened to this album I couldn't stop thinking about it and it took a while to get my head back into normal shape.

While most black metal bands depend on the drums to put up an impenetrable barrier of noise upon which mournful banshee-like vocals are scrawled, Head of the Demon takes a different approach.  About the only thing that really qualifies this dark masterpiece as blackened anything is the recognizable jangly black metal guitar sound which lifts listeners in a bruising whirlwind and transports them to a kipple strewn landscape of time devoured cyclopean ruins.

After spending the bulk of the front half of the album building up the horrific atmosphere in a style that I've never heard done more effectively, "The Key" springs forth with vibrato organ and the listener is transported immediately to vaulted coffin-filled chambers.  Again, after carefully isolating the listener in a filth encrusted cavern whose walls cry black tears of ancient blood, the organ pops out in bas relief like a pustulating boil, vibrant and immediate.  It doesn't hurt matters that the organ rides atop the best riff on the whole album with a lyrical invocation to Yog Sothoth to boot!  Lyrically, Lovecraftian themes are explored and the band does a fantastic job of capturing the hopelessness that the tall man from Providence lent to most of his stories.

While searching for the right soundtrack to fuel the imagination and spark the birth of dark ideas, this stuff provides a heady brew indeed.  Once again, the "hook" here is in the atmosphere.  This album grows nightmares like mushrooms in a black and musty chamber of filth.  Demonic descending scales and wailing notes that connect like spider's web combines with a sketchy and low-fi production sound to create something truly unique, something to be treasured like remains found in the forest.  The atmosphere and tension continues to build all the way to the bitter end of closing track "Wraith from the Unknown" when the Ancient Ones are finally awakened from their slumber and the earth is swallowed in an absolutely lightless abyss.  Everything about the tone of the album is pitch perfect from the band name to the fascinating cover art to the mesmerizing lo-fi production sound that lends it something of the quality of a 'found footage' recording in a decaying and abandoned murder house.  If you're looking to creep yourself out on a lonely night, then put on 'Head of the Demon'.

Highlights include: "The Key" and "Fifth House of the Mausoleum"

Rating: 4.5/5


Tracklist:
1). By Titan Hand (6:30)
2). The Lie in Wait-Riding the Waste (9:22)
3). Phantasmagoria (5:48)
4). The Man from Foreign Land (6:51)
5). The Key (6:22)
6). Fifth House of the Mausoleum (8:18)
7). Wraith from the Unknown (7:54)
Total Run Time: 49:29

From: Stockholm, Sweden

Genre: Doom, Black Metal

Reminds me of: Let's face it, this is pretty unique stuff.

Release Date: January 22, 2013

Suggested listening activity for fellow non-stoners: When you wake up in the middle of the night, unable to move with the feeling of an evil presence in the room, put this album on as soon as you are able to regain motion.

Better Review:
From the Dust Returned
Sea of Tranquility

Head of the Demon facebook

GET IT HERE

OR HERE (digital)

SIDEBURN Interview with Morgan Zocek

One of my personal favorite discoveries in 2013 has been Swedish quartet Sideburn.  Their sound is a refreshing melange of individual and modern elements with (perhaps, typically) under-utilized classic elements which create an organic sound that is adaptable to different styles.  For more of this kind of analytical B.S., read my review of Sideburn's most recent record 'Sideburn IV - Monument'.  The record was the No. 1 selection on the Top 25 albums list on the latest Saturday Doom Charts (see here).  For places to find clips and links to buy the record, follow the links above and scroll through, don't be afraid to click on the links.  'Monument' is also available on iTunes.




1. Hi Morgan, it’s great to talk with you! How are things with you and the band?

Morgan: It´s fine, we are booking a lot of shows, doing a lot of interviews and promoting the album in every possible way.



2. Are you happy thus far with the response ‘Monument’ has received from press and fans alike?

M: The responses have been fantastic, with top notch reviews from all over the world and good sales of the album.  It´s also on many top of the year album lists for 2012, so it feels great and inspiring.



3. How would you compare this to the response to your previous efforts?

M: I think the responses have been better and better for every album that we have released, I can compare it to climbing a mountain and i think that we are near the top now.



4. The band started in 1998 I believe and ‘Monument’ is the band’s fourth record. How has the band developed in that time and has it been a surprise or is it still pretty much the original vision of the band?

M: I think that we are more of a classic/Timeless hard rock band nowadays, with DOOM and some progressive and BLUES influences supposed from when we started when we were more "Stoner influenced" by bands like KYUSS,FU MANCHU a.o, the sound has developed over time as we have grown as songwriters and instrumentalists and i think we have more in common with bands like B. SABBATH(more the DIO/Tony Martin years), RAINBOW, SCORPIONS, M.S.G, ALCATRAZZ and we will always have a little bit of a LED ZEPPELIN influence in the backbone of our sound.



5. The new album was my introduction to the band. Do you feel your ‘profile’ has increased with this new record?

M: We always try to reach a new level both with the songwriting/Performance/Production for every new album and gaining more fans.

Spacefog - Purple Void (album review)

Bouncing off the bloody walls with fuzz and spaced out / smoked out vibes, one might call Spacefog's style of music UFuzzO Rock.  Flying Saucer Space Fuzz Rock to abduct the listener and fly them off to parts unknown.  Thick fuzz mixed with solid proto-metal aggregate creates a sturdy foundation of stoner rock to stir even the most discriminating fan of the genre.

Buzzsaw fuzz rings out like bright lights outside the bedroom window while trying to sleep.  The listeners find themselves floating out the bedroom window and into Spacefog's interstellar ship.  Once inside the four beings who pilot the craft perform depraved and arcane rituals on the listeners including immersing each captive listener in a 'hot box' in which to induce intoxication and feeding the listeners an hallucinogenic fungous.  This is what Spacefog does, this is their mission.  This is true of the entire journey but especially so during the whacked-out solo on "Lady of Evil".

The doomier side of the band is showcased front and center in the title track "Purple Void".  The band acquit themselves quite well on this track, it would not sound out of place on any Vitus album.  Indeed it would probably be one of the standout tracks, but then, that's just it.  All five of these songs are standouts.  "MrWeasly" finds the band dipping their fuzz toes into the hot waters of post-Leaf Hound retro rock with a funky riff and pausey rhythms to make one strut.

I don't think these guys are out to break any molds and their straight-forward stoner doom / fuzz rock approach is refreshingly honest.  Rickard I's vocals are versed in the Garcia school of smoke-toned shouting and suit the fuzz tone like lock and key, his guitar has grazed and gotten fat on the pastures of fuzz legends such as Chandler and Homme, leaving crop circles in its wake (so that's how it's done!).

Spacefog's music is positively radioactive with thorny fuzz and blows smoke rings around any hazmat-suited clean-up crews.  This music is best listened to lying down on a dirty field, the dustier the better to just wallow in and get caked in the pure filth of it all.  Cleanliness has no place here.

And it was said that after the UFuzzO had landed and returned their captive listeners, the city's night skyline was never the same.  Each and every one of them could henceforth be found on scattered rooftops throughout the city, all wishing to be taken again for another fuzzy ride.

Hop in and go for a fuzzy ride by downloading 'Purple Void' for free on the player below!  Cassette tapes will also be available soon ... (updated March 21, '13)

Highlights include: "MrWeasly" and "Purple Void"

Rating: 4.5/5

Spacefog - Purple Void (Demo 2012) by Spacefog
Total Run Time: 27:55

Rickard I. - Guitar & Vocals
Berg - Bass
Pelle - Drums
Rickard H. - Guitar (not on this recording, he has since joined the band)

From: Skärabörg, Sweden

Genre: Stoner, Doom, Fuzz Rock

Reminds me of: DemonAuta, Green Shade, March The Desert, Snake Thursday

Release Date: circa September, 2012

Suggested listening activity for fellow non-stoners: The UFuzzO approached the city like a silver balloon over the mountains.  Below were the worshippers of the new gods begging to be taken on a beam of intense light.

Spacefog on Bandcamp

Spacefog on youtube

Spacefog on Encyclopedia Metallum

Special thanks to Mr. Stoner Believer for introducing me to Spacefog.

Deville - Hydra (album review)

Album cover by Alexander Von Wieding.  Photograph by Henrik
Christoffersson.

'Hydra' is Deville's third full-length album and first on Small Stone Records, it was also this reviewer's introduction to the band.  Right off the bat the album appears split down the middle between a heavyweight, hard-driving and muscular style of stoner rock and a more melodic, poppier side with more of a glittering sheen on it.  These apparent 'pop sensibilities' raise the eyebrows a little because I wasn't quite expecting what I heard.  Before I listened to the full album I made myself quite familiar with the aptly titled opening track "Lava".  It's an absolute barnburner of a tune.  A driving, straight-forward, single-minded, waterboard the listener with riffs kind of song ... and is in no way representative of the album as a whole.

Much of 'Hydra' is lathered with this clean guitar sound and vocal sensibility while laced with clean production as a whole.  To someone fully immersed in the often dirt-encrusted world of stoner rock, the effect of such tracks as "In Vain" and "Blood Crown" is truly striking.  "In Vain" finds the band muting their riffs both literally and figuratively for a streamlined chrome-tipped approach.  Deville showcase a deft ear for catchy, mass-appealing combinations of non-threatening rhythm and melody along the lines of the Foo Fighters' later, heavier radio hits.  The first hints of something a little different than what the average stoner rock or Small Stone Records fan is expecting come on "Iron Fed" and this musical direction only becomes more apparent as 'Hydra' plays on.  Even the non-painted cover art lets fans of the label know something a little different is going on here.

There's no real mystery as to how Deville are able to achieve their 'radio ready' sound.  Melodic vocals do the trick nine times out of ten.  It's something relatively few underground bands focus on, but Deville seem to concentrate on this aspect.  Dynamics make up the other ten percent and Deville are no strangers to that aspect of the music either.  None of this is negative criticism by the way

"Over The Edge" opens up the throttle on the band's more diesel smoke blowing, piston chugging heavy riffs as they begin to take center stage on each of the next few tracks.  Each on in turn bottoms out the low end a little further.  Chugging out a slow groove here, ripping a few faces off there and slamming listeners upside the head with two by fours of pounding pulsating rhythms are just some other aspects of what Deville does.  They've got their sweet and sour sides with both turned up to eleven.  Where the band really shines is when they combine the heavy with the melodic, as on the malefic "Burning Towers" or the thundering "Lava".

I admit it, I love the radio.  Well, that is to say, I love the idea of the radio and I wish I could tune in and listen to anything but the local classic rock station but I just can't.  When I'm forced to listen to the radio at work they don't really play rock n' roll on the local 'modern rock' station anymore, it's all 'Top 40 crossover' with nary a fuzzbox to be heard.  The local station plays a few good songs but by the time Alice in Chains comes on you've already tuned out.  In a fantasy world bands like Deville or any number of other Small Stone bands would be the vanguard of a movement towards rock taking the radio back.  Money is the roadblock, but in a fantasy world, there's no reason 'Hydra' wouldn't have mass appeal to rock n rollers of all stripes, Paranoid Hitsophrenic readers included.  As someone whose found this blog you don't necessarily 'need' Deville to be on the radio because you can hear them on the player below, but there's a world of rock n rollers out there who sure could use the head-ucation.

Highlights include: "Lava" and "Over The Edge"

Rating: 4/5

Total Run Time: 44:36

Andreas Bengtsson: Vocals, Guitar
Martin Hambitzer: Guitar
Markus Åkesson: Bass
Markus Nilsson: Drums

From: Malmö,Sweden

Genre: Stoner, Alt Rock, Grunge

Reminds me of: Foo Fighters, Greenleaf, Soundgarden, Truckfighters, Veracrash

Release Date: March 26, 2013

Better Reviews:
Temple of Perdition
Stoner Hive

Deville official website

Deville facebook

Amaxa - ST (album reviews)

While most bands that turn the clocks back to a bygone era settle in the seventies and the perceived hard rock purity of the era, Stockholm, Sweden quartet Amaxa continue winding until they've firmly planted one foot in the mid-sixties and filled the shoes of the psychedelic garage bands of the time.  There is a distinct seventies flavor to the affair however with opening cut "Final Escape" providing the most lucid conjuring of the era.  There are also more than a few hints of prog which is bound to occur when the bass takes such a prominent role and the band experiment with funky breaks throughout the album's span.

Prominent bass courtesy of Anders Broström and organ via vocalist Erik Broström make for a complete and full-bodied sound.  Amaxa are as much a riff heavy band as any on Paranoid Hitsophrenic but they are a band with a difference.  Bass and organ are treated as lead instruments while Peter Pedersen's guitar is at times artfully understated.  This understatement comes to a quiet boil on the song "Elusive" where it's hard to even distinguish the guitar at times beneath the gridlock of fuzz bass and sixties style organ.  Drummer Jimmy Halvarsson is the unsung hero of the band, holding the fort with ease, pumping out beats that perfectly complement the other musicians while never demanding more than a fair share of the spotlight.

Amaxa put their best foot forward on the first two tracks, showcasing their most mouth-watering riffs on front and center display.  The band then move into their more garage psych, organ-driven sound on the third track.  "Shooting Star" is straight out of some garage from 1960s Wisconsin, the main organ lead perfectly lifted from the day and age of tie-died t-shirts, white guys with afros and mutton chop sideburns.  This  feeling is revisited fully in album closer, "Afterglow" which is also the name of terrific American sixties band that shares a lot in common with these two tracks.  It's a fantastic song that takes many labrynthine twists and turns and ends the album on a very high note. (Afterglow were one of the first underground psychedelic bands from the sixties that I discovered, oh so many years ago, a musical journey that was instrumental in getting me to this point.  It's great when everything can come full circle.)

Like any riff worshipping act there is the occasional hint of Black Sabbath that slips in.  Rarely has that ubiquitous ghost of Sabbath been raised in this context, mixed with 60s American garage psych outside of Brazil's Necronomicon.  The blend is effective, but is not the only point of reference here.  Mr. Iommi clinks bottles with the wah boogie funk of Jimi Hendrix on "The Heartache of Philip Marlowe".

Everything about this album from the psychedelic swirl cover art on down appeals to the days of yore, but they are not just another retro rock band from Sweden.  I find myself saying that a lot but I always mean it, especially here.  Go ahead and take a listen for yourself on the player below, there aren't many bands that sound like Amaxa out there and it's a good sound, evoking a specific time, place and spirit while mixing in many different elements of later eras.  Amaxa take the organ driven nature of sixties garage bands like ? & the Mysterians or Afterglow, mix it with the fat funk riffs of The Hendrix Experience or Leaf Hound and the prog sensibilities of Caravan or Gabriel-era Genesis and the band is left with a satisfying solution of retro goodness.

Highlights include: "Final Escape" and "Don't Feed"

Rating: 4/5

Total Run Time: 37:35

From: Stockholm, Sweden

Genre: Garage Psych, Boogie Rock, Stoner, Riff Rock

Reminds me of: Afterglow, Deep Purple, Leaf Hound, Mount Carmel, Necronomicon, Nuggets bands of the 1960s, Paisley Underground bands of the 1980s, Please, Three Seasons, Vinum Sabbatum

Release Date: November 2, 2012

Suggested listening activity for fellow non-stoners: Lick the acid off another man's jean jacket in a rest room.  With a bit of luck, you'll ruin somebody's life.

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The Brimstone Days - On A Monday Too Early To Tell (album review)

One of the true pleasant surprises of recent memory came in the form of this album.  It was a pleasant surprise if for no other reason than this band had completely fallen under my radar.  I'd never heard of The Brimstone Days until I was sent this CD by Ozium Records and dang if they didn't knock my socks off.

'On a Monday Too Early To Tell' is boogie rock of the highest caliber.  Funky drums and busking guitar abound as this Malmo trio moves through 14 high-energy songs in 48 action packed minutes.  This is happy-go-lucky, shake your ass music.  That may come across as shallow but that very subject is addressed in "Burry The Hatchet".  It's 'come home from a long, tough day at work and throw on a good record to forget your troubles' music.  There's not as much cowbell as I might have expected on an album with this kind of guitar and uptempo drum sound, but the hi-hat is the real unsung hero of the whole affair.

Most of the guitar greats are worshipped here, Hendrix, Page and Clapton are all served up each in their turn and sometimes all at once as on "Confession", Håkan having apparently studied up and taken lessons only from the best.  Funky riffs, funky riffs and more funky riffs, this is one of the most consistent rock n' roll records I've ever heard.  The band hit their particular vein of rock gold and keep chipping away from beginning to end.

But don't get the wrong impression, The Brimstone Days are not one-trick ponies. Slow and groovy blues can be found under the headings "Helping Hand", the previously mentioned "Burry The Hatchet" and "Throw That Stone".  The title track has some slower, midtempo groove stories to tell as well.  The band wear this style well, still funkin' but swinging it slowly.  Add some satisfying wah solos and you feel like you're ready to hit the town but be prepared, these guys like to have a good time.

This is classic rock n' roll, taking only the most 'positive' sounding elements of some of the greatest acts of the seventies from AC/DC to Kiss to Bad Company, Steve Miller Band among others.  Again, this is truly upbeat music in every sense of the term.  Arguably, the best is left for last.  "Throw That Stone" is a midtempo rumbler, sounding perhaps heavier and more dangerous due to its relatively slower tempo which features the crowning achievements of Hampe on Bass duties.

Any neurotics out there who feel wary of buying a CD these days without first being able to preview the whole album, let me just finish by saying watch the videos below, what you see is pretty much what you get here.  High energy rock and roll with the odd dash of pop sensibilities or blues earnestness and no sharp decline in quality between one track and the next.  Good riffs and good vibes, man.

Highlights include: "Same Old Story" and "I Need Soul"

Rating: 4/5



All of The Brimstone Days videos are shot with a single camera in a single take.  Dig it!



Tracklist
1). I Need Soul (3:38)
2). What Do You Want (2:40)
3). Confession (3:45)
4). Close The Door (3:02)
5). Same Old Story (3:38)
6). Burry The Hatchet (4:03)
7). One-Two-Two (3:24)
8). Helping Hand (4:06)
9). Give Me A Reason (3:43)
10). On A Monday Too Early To Tell (2:52)
11). Captain Tom (4:01)
12). Upon Your Shoulders (3:03)
13). Tuczon Arizona (3:22)
14). Throw That Stone (3:46)
Total Run Time: 48:56

Johannes - Drums
Håkan - Guitar / Vocals
Hampe - Bass / Backing Vocals

From: Malmo, Sweden

Genre: Rock, Boogie Rock, Funk

Reminds me of: Black Keys, Jimi Hendrix, Small Faces

Release Date: September 12, 2012

Suggested listening activity for fellow non-stoners: Good camping music.

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