SLASHER DAVE - Exorcisms

So, I've had a musical crush on Slasher Dave since he released his album Spookhouse back in 2013. In fact, he was one of the first of the faux horror soundtrack / synthwave artists I discovered. Truthishly, it's entirely inaccurate to call him synthwave at all as he's right up my musical alley located just around the corner from Goblin-avenue and Carpenter lane with little to none of the dance bollocks that characterize much of today's scene. He's a horror soundtrack purist, a metalhead and one hell of a synth artist. His new album Exorcisms was released by Bellyache Records in mid-February. Let's dissect it, shall we?

EXORCISMS - Right off the bat Slasher Dave gets to a nice spooky place. Demented sound. Totally warped. This is exact giallo music. Totally Argento. I get the sense straight away that this is a tone setter for the rest of the album. Different sound from what we've heard on the last two Slasher Dave albums.

INSOMNIA - Cold, wintry tone hear with the bell sounds and dark overtones. Synthwave or Horror Disco or whatever you want to call it is emerging as a popular subgenre of electronic music but it's mostly just dark dance music or even Miami Vice inspired. THIS is what I'm looking for when I dip my stubborn toes into the synthwave waters. No drums of any kind to speak of here, just a frightening or unsettling atmosphere.

DAY DREAMS - Another aspect of this subgenre that I love is picturing the missing film of these soundtracks that never were. The last two songs are all about billowing curtains bathed in light through a darkened room. Shadows move.

TRANCE LIKE STATE - It's been minutes now and we haven't heard bass or snare drums since the opening track. Slasher Dave has really taken his time here to build suspense and hammer home the possession narrative. In a way the music itself is becoming a proxy for the storyline suggested by the title. We'll see if we get delivered from evil by the end of this thing.

STRANGE BEHAVIOR - Creepy piano and a keyboard choir greet us at the front of this composition. This may be my favorite track yet. The thing about Slasher Dave is, he comes from the metal world so he's not approaching things from a spooky-fun dance-off ethic. I think he really gets what horror and the accompanying music is all about. The tragic thing about horror fanatics is that we don't get scared by horror films, we're stuck with spooking our significant others, but the music gets under our skins. Slasher Dave brings that across here better than most, maybe better than anyone I've ever heard do it.

DEVIL'S POSSESSION - Very surrealistic overtones here. Man, there must be some kind of toddler's birthday party going on in my building or the one next to me. As this surrealistic song is playing two girls start high-pitched howling in unison. Weird moment perfectly suited to the music.

THE WINDOW - Here we go. I had a feeling it was coming. The Tubular Bells moment. This is still an interesting song because it's like a what if Goblin had written Tubular Bells. Some fine giallo here especially towards the middle of the song. And wouldn't you know it, this song is called "The Window". Slasher Dave does such a great job of painting a moving picture through music that he pre-suggested that image to me by the second and third tracks in only to deliver the coup de grace here!

CRUCIFIX - One of the few longer songs on the album (nearing 4 minutes) and it's got a real Fulci or I should say Fabio Frizzi feel here with the steady pounding rhythm and choral notes. Sharp piano rides overtop with a haunting melody. This album is turning into a tour de force. A very specific feel that is totally appropriate to the subject matter. Maybe a little on the nose in fact, but that's kind of what you're looking for in something like this. If absolutely everybody was doing it on the other hand, it would be a different story.

DELIVER US FROM EVIL - At 5 and a half minutes this track is nearly twice as long as almost all the others. And as the title suggests we get our first heroic theme of the album. Finally a little relief from all this soul churning evil. This theme represents hope, I assume in the form of a priest. I'm willing to bet this guy fails by the end of it ... spoiler alert! Full disclosure: those darn kids are still making a whole lot of racket outside but not in a spooky way that suits the music anymore, so I think that's undermining my optimism here. Little call back to the opening track here, that haunted, abandoned carnival thing as I assume, the evil spirit fights back. This is more Don't Torture a Duckling than The Beyond, more giallo than pure horror. Actually, those flutey sounds are almost martial in nature which makes me wonder whether or not the heroic character on this track was intended to be a detective, rather than a priest. The hero and evil spirit wrestle for possession.

HEED OUR PRAYERS - Shit just got real dark, son. This is exactly the kind of music you don't want following you into a rain-splashed, steam-soaked, back-lit alley at night. A short track, but another real standout.

THE RITES OF EXORCISM - And now we've come to the darkest moment of all. The moment of truth. The double time melody, pitch shifting bells and Gregoran choir beneath suggest a battle and one that's not going too well. I'm amazed at Slasher Dave's ability to nail it with the stage-setting. Little spoken prayer there as the song dies out.

LEVITATION - Alright, this is cool shit. A dark and epic atmosphere. I was kind of waiting for a fast pace breakout, but we get that stomp going midtempo, which is about double time for this album.

FOREVER'S LULLABY - And a nice serene, peaceful acoustic guitar tune. It appears all is well and all will be well. And a very Goblin-esque la la la chorus. I see the little girl who was possessed lying in bed, tired from her desperate fight, but safe and sound. But I still can't shake the feeling that the parents will leave the room, the door will close behind them and the little girl's head will snap around towards the camera with glowing eyes ... Hey, that's a surprise, that final twist never comes.

And that's that. It says a lot about the current state of storytelling in movies and yes, even in music that when the final twist ending DOESN'T come it's more surprising. Not sure if that's a good or bad thing, I'll let you decide gentle reader, but if you're like me and you likes you the horror music but you don't like the danceable nature of most synthwave music, then you've just found yourself a gem of an album. And that's no twist ending either considering that Slasher Dave's previous two, 'Spookhouse' [2013] and 'Tomb of Horror' [2014] are among my favorites of the genre.

Fans of Goblin, Frizzi and indeed the entire Italian giallo ouevre will also get a great kick out of this one because Slasher Dave really picks up where those composers left off, which is using the synth as a real musical instrument and not as a drone behind a dance beat. Again, if everybody was doing this it might not be all that special, but for the nonce when Slasher Dave releases an album it's a special occasion indeed!

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R.I.P. - In the Wind

Cover artwork by Adam Burke.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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MAGIC CIRCLE - Journey Blind

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

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

And then Magic Circle appears.

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

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

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

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

And that’s how to win with Magic Circle.

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

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SOGGY BOB Reviews Blackfinger - Self-Titled

Words by SOGGY BOB 

It's great to hear Eric Wagner at it again. No longer with doom legends Trouble, Wagner is still kicking ass in Blackfinger. Their self titled release is out now on Church Within Records and can be ordered here http://shop.doom-dealer.de/. 

I love this record. Id say this record has more of a Lid (a band Eric was in after he left Trouble in the 90's) feel to it than Trouble. There's a definite Pink Floydian / Beatles vibe throughout the album. Vocally, one thing that really impresses me about this lp are the dynamics. There's a great mix of heavier rocking tunes with some somber slower runes. Even within the songs themselves there's a simple complexity (what?) about them. One example is the tune "As Long as I'm with You". While its title may make the listener think they are about to hear a happy upbeat track, it's actually a very sad depressing sounding song. The piano, strings and Eric's softer spoken voice really make this a very touching song. One of the best on the record. Another one of my favorites is a heavier tune "Why God?" 

There's so much to dig about one. The riffs have a great catchy swagger about them and Eric's chorus is one you won't forget soon. It will get stuck between your ears and sit there for a long time. But again it's the dynamics of the song that makes it so bad ass. You'll just have to hear it for yourself. From the first to last track there's not a filler on the album. So go buy the Blackfinger debut you will NOT be disappointed. You can also see them at this years Day of the Doomed Fest! Buy tix here! http://www.daysofthedoomed.com/

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Goya – 777 (album review)

FOREVER DEAD, FOREVER STONED

Cover artwork by Hunter Hancock.

Few artists have been able to articulate the unnameable dread of horror better than Francisco Goya.  He is perhaps best known for his ‘Black Paintings’, of which “Saturn Devouring His Son” is arguably the most well-known (it even graces The Obsessed’s ‘Lunar Womb’ re-issue album cover).  But my favorite is “The Colossus” (I recognize that the painting has recently been re-attributed in recent years to a follower of Goya’s, but that is also in dispute.  To me, it remains a Goya original).  The painting features an unclothed man looming behind a green landscape in an apparent mood of rage, tiny peasants flee in the foreground.  What the artist shows us so clearly in this work is that horror can be a matter of perspective.  Put the figure in the foreground and the scene changes to what may be a caravan of death heading toward our now defensively postured “giant”.  Phoenix, Arizona based doom trio Goya live in the same world that we all do.  Their perspective, though hardly unique, informs every note, every syllable of their music and it’s apparent that what they see is a melting pot of horrors even the great artist from whom they take their name would struggle to articulate.

The driving force behind the band is guitarist/vocalist Jeff Owens.  The band’s 2012 demo featured an entirely different lineup, aside from Owens himself of course and featured a much different sound.  It’s impossible to escape the Electric Wizard / Sleep influence as it creeps into every crease and fold of ‘777’, something that was merely hinted at on the band’s demo.  To get a sense of the change in sound compare the old lineup demo version and new lineup album version of the song “Blackfire”.  The vision the band articulates so well is that unnameable dread that ultimately looms over every action taken by man, that life is a losing battle at best and utterly hopeless at worst, in short the essence a particularly vitriolic strain of true doom.

Owens and company discharges vitriol like they were born to do so, which I’m sure they were to some degree.  If you did actually bother to compare the two versions of “Blackfire” or “Night Creeps” for that matter, you will see automatically how much dirtier the new versions sound.  The album is of far superior sound quality to the demo, as it should be, so the ‘dirt’ or grit comes from the performances themselves.  I hesitate to call them ‘sloppy’ performances, as little half-millisecond hesitations and deviations make ‘angry’ seem like the more fitting descriptor.  It’s that extra little build-up that makes every strike, every strum, every accent just a half-millisecond stronger, angrier, more meaningful.  It’s dirtier you see, and there’s a tiny little speck of rage in every pinch of dirt, always has been.

Well if something as beautiful as a flower can grow from a pot of dirt, then something as diabolical as ‘777’ can also spring forth from dirt’s raging potentiality.  And make no mistake, this is a malignant album which takes a jaundiced view of the world.  Of course, as any horror fan knows, and as Francisco Goya understood and helped us to understand, there’s beauty to be found in all that evil.  Like a flower which grows from rage, the riffs on ‘777’ are the tits of Baphomet.  The syncopated guitar / drum interplay is undeniably gorgeous, peaking on “Necromance” (a #1 hit on the Doom Chart).  The riffs are of such a quality that a song like “Death’s Approaching Lullaby” remains hypnotic and driving even while stretching towards 13 minutes in length.  Perhaps the magnum opus and overall mission statement of the LP is closing track “Bad Vibes”, it’s the spike after the touchdown, the rotten cherry on top.

If Goya succeeded in reminding us that all living things eventually fade, die and decay, then they have done so by creating something immortal.  ‘777’ may or may not go down as a doom classic, but to call it the most hate-friendly collection of festering riffs since ‘Dopethrone’ may not be too great a stretch, though the band doesn’t disguise it’s influences well enough to consider it a true classic for those with a sense of the genre’s history.  Then again, it doesn’t appear as though they bothered to try disguising anything, because Goya doesn’t care what I think, or what you think, or what anybody thinks.  They aren’t trying to write doomed anthems for the world, they are in it for themselves, and though that may sound selfish, it’s the only reason to do anything in this world, you just have to know who you are and why you’re doing what you’re doing in the first place to have any success at it.  It sounds to me like Goya have those things sorted out.

Highlights include: "Necromance" and "Bad Vibes"

Rating: 4.5/5

Total Run Time: 51:49

From: Phoenix, Arizona

Genre: Doom, Stoner

Reminds me of: Electric Wizard, Sleep

Release Date: December 13, 2013

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Better Reviews:
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Stoner Hive
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The Alchemical Mixutre - Dirt Wizard & Wizard Union (album reviews)

These days it seems like everything is beards, witches and wizards.  Well, those things are undoubtedly cool and far be it from me not to hop all over the latest trends, so I wanted to take the opportunity to bring back an old institution, the Alchemical Mixture, and I ask you, what’s more wizard than that?

Dirt Wizard - 'No Son of Mine'

From: Peoria, Illinois.  Highlights Include: "Season of the Sun"

and "Ged of Earthsea".  Rating: 4/5.  Released: Dec. 14, 2013.

Well, maybe these guys.  Dirt Wizard makes their home in Peoria, Illinois, but uh, you know, they could live anywhere they wanted.  Even on the moon, or even Alaska.  But Peoria will do.  An unassuming kind of place, where none would suspect wizards dwell.  But that’s the beauty of the world, that there are secret wizards and witches all over the place.  As you walk or drive down the sleepy roads of suburbia and you happen to glance or even stare into a living room window on your way past, you truly don’t know who or what you’re looking at.  I for one assume everybody is some form of deviant or other, Dirt Wizard is the magical kind.

Their five song E.P., ‘No Son of Mine’ stays on an even keel, keeping the listener under a consistent spell of stoned wizardry in the vein of Seattle’s Ancient Warlocks or their Northern neighbors Black Wizard.  It’s a crash heavy linear fuzz ride with killer harmonies which gives the music a sense of speed and motion.  Opener “Amis Tabu”, “Ged of Earthsea” and “Season of the Sun” are all jacketed in the warmth of close harmony, which edges tantalizingly close to the edge of dischord by sliding Alice in Chains-style into minor chords.  It’s still a great trick to pull off.  Uh, I mean … illusion! 

Without a doubt, the band’s crowning achievement is the last song of the collection.  "Season of the Sun" is an apocalypse in the sun.  Cacophonic guitars and crashing drums mingle with a top down cruising down the empty highway feel brought about by the bright vocal harmonies, feet up, nuclear wind blowing through your hair.  Feel-wise, it’s like the inverse of Black Sabbath’s “Electric Funeral”.

‘No Son of Mine’ is a solid listen, though at 22 minutes I hesitate to call it truly satisfying.  But, it’s an incredibly promising debut and you get the sense that Dirt Wizard has an amazing album or two up their giant, billowy sleeve.

Wizard Union - 'Smoking Coffins'

From: Ann Arbor, Michigan.  Highlights Include: "Thoth Amon" and 

"Into the Wizard's Sleeve".  Rating: 4.5/5.  Released: Jan. 8, 2013.

Ann Arbor, Michigan’s three-piece Wizard Union has a fuzz-first mentality with chunky riffs which choke off any attempt for melody to flower and grow into anything other than a quick turnaround.  This band reminds me of a stateside cousin of Brighton, UK’s March the Desert.  Wizard Union will flood your mind with fuzz and for my money have instantly established themselves as one of America’s heaviest bands.

It’s a label they don’t shy away from.  The song “Thoth Amon” showcases the band’s Conan-literate side.  It’s a fair association to mix themselves up with.  Wizard Union won’t dazzle you with glittering steel and rippling, oiled muscles.  Instead it’s the dull-edged stone axe which does more damage with the impact of its blade, rather than its cutting edge.

Wizard Union will leave you knock you into next week, concussed, groggy and confused.  The fuzz is thick and meaty, the vocals are gristly and weighing in at a lean 6 songs and 23 minutes, there’s very little fat here, but there’s just enough to add a little flavor.  Wizard Union are a mixture of all the good things in life, Black Sabbath, Howard’s Conan (as depicted by Frank Frazetta of course, or possibly Boris Vallejo and best seen on the side of a rockin’ van) and plus-sized heaviness.  I’ll be back for me, whenever local #420 re-convenes, I’ll be proud to say I support this union.  You can support both these bands by clicking the links on the players below.

Seems like, these days, it would be a rather large union.  At one time, it was a sandbox that the pixie-like Marc Bolan basically had all to himself.  Now, you just can’t get away from wizard rock.  Just to give you an idea of how many witch and wizard themed/named bands there are out there I present this dry list.  Try to imagine it as a wizard’s spell scroll.

Stoned Witch & Wizard roll-call:

Acid Witch

Ancient Warlocks

Arkham Witch

Bell Witch

Black Magician

Black Wizard

Blackwitch Pudding

Dirt Wizard

Earth Witch

Electric Wizard

Glitter Wizard

Lizzard Wizzard

Mage

Magister Templi

Mountain Witch

Old Man Wizard

Red Wizard

Space Witch

Spelljammer

Ten Foot Wizard

Witch

Witch Charmer

Witch Mountain

Witch Rider

Witchcraft

Witches of God

Witching Altar

Witchsorrow

Witchstone

Wizard Smoke

Wizard Union

And these are just the good bands (the ones that I know of that is), there’s a whole world out there of mediocre bands all dying to bring down the wizard name.

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Vykanthrope - The Devil's Waiting ... (album review)

I promise I'm not going to make this review all about the Paranoid blog ... BUT, we're now getting to a time when the bands that are featured here were founded after the blog started up.  It's hard to wrap my mind around that.  This bone-jarring quartet sails down in their long ships from Evansville, Indiana to make it two such bands in two days (the other being Earth Witch).  They label their music as "viking war doom", so don't take it from me, but this five song E.P. is loaded with berserker fury.  They don't do it with hellfire spitting tempos, but a white-knuckled intensity.  Henry Rollins once reportedly heard The Obsessed described as something like "'somebody getting angry really slowly.'  And the man that's slow to anger stays angry for a very long time", and I think that applies here.

There are moments here so brutal and animalistic you might think the band name is a misnomer and that they are reduced at times to the aspect of ravenous quadrupeds (see "The Devil's Waiting").  But there's more to this band than seething anger.  Opening track "Witch of Circumstance" combines a powerful riff with a strong vocal performance that is both melodic and forceful.  Drums and vocals carry much of the weight during the verse as the guitar drops off to a simmering drone.  The guitar then slips into a psychedelic lead thus revealing a wide spectrum of abilities and styles on display.  And that's just the first five minutes.  Talk about a statement!

"The Wizard" picks up on those psychedelic tendencies and exposes them in a blue light, crafting a slow bass-dominated psychedelic blues groove seasoned in cavernous echo framed around a Black Sabbath-like fantasy vocal.  The fury then boils to the surface during the chorus, first picking up the pace, then pouring on the heaviness before kicking into a smoking lead.  By now the band has come a long way moving through various shapes and styles, but the best and most memorable is yet to come.

"Viking's Witch" and title track "The Devil's Waiting" are like parts 1 & 2 of the same song, one leading into the next.  "Viking's Witch" has a killer slidey riff and has a strong Red Fang feel to the vocals.  The band knows how to bludgeon their way into your mind like an iron fist with a drop off and pick up syncopation during the chorus near the end of the song ("Wait!  Wait!  Wait!").  "The Devil's Waiting" may not be the best, but it is certainly the most memorable song of the bunch.  With no time between tracks a drop in tempo and jumping straight into the verse "God damn fucking son of a bitch, she said / Who the fuck does he think he is?" it'll have you checking to make sure this isn't just another section of the same song.

Again, the band cover many hectares of musical ground on just under 22 minutes and do it within a signature framework.  'The Devil's Waiting' is a strong introduction to a band that was just a twinkle in the eyes of its founders when this blog was new (god damn, man, [sniffle] we were all so much younger then ...).  The sheer volume of ideas, styles and memorable moments on this E.P. combined with a number of solid, key riffs flag Vykanthrope as one of the most promising new bands in the stoner / doom genre.  Now's the time to jump on board the bandwagon (or viking ship), I would if I was you, after all I'd hate to cross swords with these animals.

Highlights include: "Witch of Circumstance" and "Viking's Witch / The Devil's Waiting"

Rating: 4.5/5

Total Run Time: 21:44

From: Evansville, Indiana

Genre: Doom, Stoner Metal

Reminds me of: Ancient Warlocks, Breathe Fire, Earth Witch, Red Fang, Wounded Giant

Release Date: December 21, 2013

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Earth Witch - Earthbound (album review)

Excellent cover artwork by Nate Burns.

Every now and then you stumble across something amazing.  Champaign, Illinois doom trio Earth Witch are just such a discovery.  The band started up on ol' Samhain night of 2012 and the 'Earthbound' E.P. is their debut record originally released on bandcamp just under a year from their formation.  It's been made available on cassette through Error Records more recently and all five songs on it are keepers.  Side A kicks off with a pair of future classics.

"Sky Knight" gets the pupils dilating, it gets the heart rate up and makes the palms sweat.  It does this with a heavy riff that's as much "finesse" as chopping a piece of wood, with an unabashedly catchy stop-start pulse from drummer Nathan.  This song was made for headbangin', pure and simple.  The stop-start sensibility allows the song to be a constant builder, the band upping the excitement level with each pass before the song dissipates in a cosmic swamp of doom.  The first half of the song is like a flexed muscle which in the end, relaxes or relinquishes.  Or better yet, the song is like a body sinking in quicksand which ultimately ceases its struggling.

It's also kind of rare to get that full-on Black Sabbath vibe, but Earth Witch pulls it off on "Lunar".  It should come as no shock as the only description the band uses on its bandcamp page consists of two words: "Sabbath worship".  Still, it's a joy to hear.  Mournful vocals and a monolithic, descending riff give way to a descending scale and lead in double time conjuring the ghost of Sabbath but also of a more recent band like Moon Curse, Set or Destroyer of Light.  The song then takes an abrupt turn with a cold and lonely vibe worthy of the song's title.  The band does an excellent job of conveying that lunar feeling of absurd cold and bizarre isolation.  Ivan's vocals are mostly clean and straightforward on this one, but he's given to raunch them out every now and then on the record as a whole.

By now a pattern emerges and a formula is established of a heavy band with one eye on extreme catchiness and the other on crumpling heaviness.  In the first two songs the band doesn't often bother to try to meld the two styles, they simply give you one and then the other.  The final three tracks are shorter with abbreviated instrumental sections.  While the first two tracks roam beyond the 7 minute border with a slower, more instrumentally focused second half, the final three songs keep things moving with only the closing track wandering past the 4 minute mark.  "Aggregate" and "Wizard's Cloak" follow a bit of that one-song formula when taken together, the catchier "Aggregate" leading into the slower, sludgier "Wizard's Cloak".

I honestly can't understand why this band only has some 200 "likes" on facebook, or why nobody has bought 'Earthbound' on bandcamp this year (as of this writing, my purchase is the most recent one and that came in December).  I'm somewhat to blame perhaps, for not getting this review out sooner, but really, this is a mystery to me.  Maybe it's the generic band name, or the cover art which, though amazing in its own right, may convey more of a black metal image, sending the wrong message, or maybe it's that they're from middle-of-nowhere Illinois and not from middle-of-nowhere Norway, I don't know.  What I do know is this is one of the best bandcamp albums I've heard in a long time and it reminds me of the kinds of albums I was finding when I was new to doom, the life-changing ones that made me a fan of the genre for life and lit a fire under my ass to start this blog, albums such as Moon Curse's and Destroyer of Light's self-titled debuts and Set's 'Sacred Moon Cult' E.P. in particular.  I would recommend this five-song E.P. to any fan of the genre, I don't want this band to be my little secret any longer.

Highlights include: "Lunar" and "Sky Knight"

Rating: 4.5/5

Total Run Time: 27:23

From: Champaign, Illinois

Genre: Doom, Sludge

Reminds me of: Destroyer of Light, Moon Curse, Set

Release Date: October 15, 2013

Earth Witch on facebook

Buy the tape from Error Records

Buzzherd - On Sinking Ships ... Rats Drown (album review)

WHAT MATTERS MOST IS HOW WELL YOU WALK THROUGH THE FIRE

Buzzherd makes me think of pirates.  Though they’re five landlubbers from Pennsylvania, the combination of their sludge / thrash sound and album title just does it for me.  I suspect that while the rest of us are out “finding ourselves”, these guys are busy swashbuckling from chandeliers.  That’s not say that this is all cute fun and games, there’s hell to pay on this record.  It’s easy to get lost on this sinking ship, the band pulls you down in a quagmire of syncopated song structures as the sludge levels rise past the knees and up to the chest while your arms thrash about looking for a way out, but never find one.  Before you know it … glub, glub, glub … you’ve been drowned and swashbuckled.

I’m not sure what a “typical” sludge album consists of, but I know you won’t find it here.  Buzzherd bulrushes the listener, after a mighty drag ‘em out, knock ‘em down struggle, they crash the gates and storm the altar.  After a short count-in, the band launches immediately into the verse of opening track “Abuse of Despair”, keelhauling the listener through the mud before raising topsail and hitting a 20+ knots pummeling of double time drums and slashing guitars, moving from strength to strength.

Roaring vocals and churning rhythms make the head swim, ‘On Sinking Ships …’ is not an album for those afflicted with motion sickness.  Never relying on atmosphere alone, there’s always something going on in this record, each track is a constant builder and all five of them are excellent.  But through all the busy-ness and twisting tempos, the riffs remain deliberate and the structures remain methodical.  Pure aggression is the guiding light here and tension is built and held up to the breaking point at every turn.

Album centerpiece “The Maloik” has a Slayer feel without going overboard, this is hell on the high seas.  A pandaemonic main riff, a slow build-up of pounding wave crashing atmosphere from the drums and menacing vocals make this a true standout track.  It’s the one I’ve been keying on every time I listen to this album, it’s a moody, dynamic builder and its infernal heat is more than enough to lather the sweat under my mustache.

This is non-hipster metal for those unashamed by their own negative emotions.  This is cathartic music loaded with riffs and moments.  This is a mysterious recording because it’s unclear how one plays guitar and drums with hooks for hands.  Just press play on the player below and let the headbanging commence.

Highlights include: "The Maloik" and "Indrid Cold"

Rating: 4.5/5

Total Run Time: 28:11

From: Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

Genre: Sludge Metal, Thrash, Doom

Reminds me of: Breathe Fire, Crowlord, Diesel King, Hollow Leg, Vykanthrope

Release Date: December 10, 2013

Buzzherd on facebook

Breathe Fire - E.P. (E.P. review)

Cover artwork by Frank Frazetta.

Breathe Fire are one of the more mysterious bands I’ve ever come across.  They have a true, “let the music do the talking” attitude whereby online presence is minimal, info is sparse and hype is nonexistent.  Hell, these guys are so shrouded in secrecy they don’t even have album or song titles.  What I have been able to gleam is that the band is from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, they’ve been around since at least 2007 and from all appearances they are two members with fury enough for five.

The four song ‘E.P.’ is a pummeling attack of Metal, hardly defined by subgenre classification, Breathe Fire angrily colors outside the sludge / doom lines, pressing hard, breaking every crayon they come across along the way, or so it seems.  Picking up the gauntlet lain down by High on Fire, Breathe Fire throw heavy handed punches from the get go and only stop between songs.  It’s an intense ride that only lasts for some 19 minutes but feels longer for all the bludgeoning abuse visited upon my sensitive nature.

As touched upon earlier the band has eschewed song titles for its first bandcamp release so the tracks are labelled “Track 1”, “Track 2”, etc.  “Track 1” opens the affair with cruel intentions.  From the word go, an exhilarating ascending guitar run and pausey drum riff spills forth making way for neck vein popping screamed vocals.  I’ve said it many times here but I don’t typically go for vocals that aren’t clean.  Breathe Fire’s guitarist / vocalist doesn’t offend me, his screams are melodic and inject an appropriate amount of energy into the boiling cauldron of music the instruments churn. 

This E.P. has loads going for it, but the melodic guitar runs spread throughout are one of the major distinguishing markers.  It takes the songs up a notch from straight forward sludge metal and injects a touch of class(ic rock).  “Track 2” takes its time building a tense atmosphere for a full two minutes before the pummeling resumes.  Minor chords and a cement boot of crash throw the listener overboard into deep waters where there’s no escape from a fully immersive experience.

The lone instrumental of the bunch, and closing number, “Track 4” is where the band brings it all home.  Far and away the best song on the E.P., Breathe Fire lets loose their inner High on Fire on this one with a firewagon of choppy riffs, bell ride and breakneck syncopation.  It’s a downhill ride on spiked wheels, chewing pavement , disrupting traffic and threatening lives.

This is a killer introduction to a band who, though most likely new to most of us, already knows its chops and is as focused as a tightly closed fist.  From the Frank Frazetta cover art on down Breathe Fire mean business, and their business involves swinging heavy axes.  ‘E.P.’ is available on bandcamp for FREE, 100 per cent, no questions asked FREE download, so follow the link on the player below and bloody your nose.

Highlights include: "Track 4" and "Track 1"

Rating: 4/5


Total Run Time: 19:22

From: Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Genre: Stoner Metal, Doom, Sludge

Reminds me of: Buzzherd, Crowlord, Hollow Leg, Vykanthrope

Release Date: January 13, 2014

Band photo

Moosataur - ST (album review)

Cover artwork by Adam Burke.

What happens when you cross psych and doom with Advanced Dungeons & Dragons?  Long story short, you get Moosataur.

From the back woods of North Maine and parts of Canada stalks a fabled and unholy creature.  Spoken of only in whispers by lumberjacks between sips of moonshine, the Moosataur has given many a burly man the night terrors.  It is said, he makes the forest his labyrinth.  It should come as no surprise then that the journey to find this ungodly beast should reflect that labyrinthine character, not in terms of winding, complicated routes but in variety of approach.  No two trips into the Moosataur's forest will ever turn out quite the same, but the documenting of these adventures are consistently spellbinding.  This is the story of three intrepid explorers on the hunt for this magnificent, misunderstood, and some say, deadly beast.

The expedition begins.  The sun goes down, the northern lights ripple.  Wistful, melancholic strains of accordion greet the ears to set the mood in a Hollies's "Dear Eloise" kind of way.  Wait ... accordion?  Yeah, it's going to be one of those journeys.  Before things break out in a ferocious polka, a guitar with a raunch-factor of 12 wipes the board clean.  It's all the heavier and raunchier for coming on the heels of the bucolic intro.  The effect is then doubled halfway through when the accordion re-appears and is quickly followed-up with a punkish blast.  This is "Fuzzy Belly", welcoming you into the madcap world of Moosataur, where songs flow into one another, linked by feedback, but no two sound alike.  You listen to "Fuzzy Belly" and think you've found yourself a nice little shoegaze album, then "Blood of the Hunted" blasts into being with shredding guitars and hardcore drums and vocals.  Two songs in and it's a lot to digest already.  We're now in the woods, sifting through droppings, examining tracks.

"We Bare the Mark" is a grungy song, a sound you'd never expect to hear from New England.  At this point it's safe to say a single unifying theme or identity for the band is elusive, much like the creature from which the band takes it's name.  Elusive, but not mythical.  There is a certain something that binds it all together, and there's more to it than simply weirdness for weirdness's sake.  It's the Moosataur.  It's the hunt for the elusive mythical beast that may or may not actually exist.  You have no proof that it does exist, but you have no proof that it doesn't, so what's to stop you from getting out there and looking for it?  Nothing but the limits of your own imagination.  Moosataur the band has no such limits or if they do it hardly matters because they're always pushing and expanding them outwardly, creating their own reality.  Tracking the elusive Moosataur (the creature), the band finds footprints and droppings directly in the path they've been travelling.  It's almost as if ... as if ... no, but that's crazy.  But it could be, that perhaps the creature wants to be found.  And that it only shows itself to those who bare the mark, those who are ready.

And so we reach the end of the expedition, the center of the labyrinth to find ... "Moosataur", a Dio-inspired epic of psychedelic metal.  And it's such a beautiful sight, it almost brings a tear to the eye.  He's the last of his kind, seeking revenge against the loggers of the north.  The Moosataur.  He appeals to the misfit in all of us, as does the band which bears his name and bares the mark.  It all makes so little sense that in the end, it begins to.  The labyrinth, the strangeness, the misfitting all stand for the music itself.  A hearty spirit of exploration and experimentation prevails throughout, the willingness to try different things to see which shoe fits.  Fortunately they all do, and the shoe closet of Moosataur is well stocked, leaving tracks across a vast territory of different fashions.  I look forward to watching for Moosataur tracks in the future, I imagine they will leave hoof prints in a highly irregular pattern.  For now, there's this first outing, which shows more than just promise, it stands on its own.

Highlights include: "Moosataur" and "Fuzzy Belly"

Rating: 4/5

Total Run Time: 25:45

From: Ayer, Massachusetts

Genre: Psychedelic, Doom, Stoner, Metal

Reminds me of: Advanced D&D, Ice Dragon

Release Date: December 12, 2013

Moosataur on facebook

Blackwitch Pudding - Taste the Pudding (album review)

Cover artwork by Liesl Meissner.

The three cloaked and hooded ingredients that make up Blackwitch Pudding seem like a bunch of perverts. Everything is panties and (super)sluts. But even if I were in a position to judge these deviants harshly for their peculiar appetites, I wouldn’t because these guys are from out of town.  I mean way out of town. I understand that what may offend prudish sensibility on this planet, may just be common decency and politeness where the Pudding comes from. It’s called different cultures, and we should learn to embrace them. Embrace the sluts and taste the pudding, that’s what I say, and how the hell could you pass judgment on a thing like that anyway? *sniff, sniff* Ah, love is in the air!

Blackwitch Pudding serves up seven swarthy tracks of ‘banging wizardry on ‘Taste the Pudding’, their debut full-length. While it would be easy to look at the song titles and listen to the lyrics and label the music as ‘filthy’, that’s not quite the tone here. Oily, might be a better descriptor. The production and the music here is sleek and slick with a rainbow sheen and can also be used as a lubricant.

What else can be said about this swarthy, oily mixture we call Blackwitch Pudding? Silliness, charisma, personality and antics make them stateside cousins to UK schlock rockers Groan and that’s the comparison I make when listening. But sonically, it’s not a great match as Groan has a touch of Steel Panther in them while BP take their cues from the local (Portland) sound, which is spear-headed by Red Fang. Either way, it would be amazing to see a Groan / Blackwitch Pudding tour as that’s a match made in some kind of slutty heaven. I’m sure the panties would fly at those shows, which would make it the equivalent of a black tie affair where these stoner metallers come from. Both bands are represented by Southern Cross PR so there is a tiny link there. This probably needs to happen, that’s all I’m saying.

So it’s a swarthy, oily mixture of Stump(town)y proportions. But it’s so much more than that. This isn’t your average record by any standard. Red Fang-like stoner metal is only one listing under this Pudding's “nutritional information”. The band breathes fire during some of the sexiest moments of doom you’re likely to be comfortable encountering, any sexier than this and it would be quite uncomfortable indeed. Oh, and did I mention outer space?  There's more than a hint of dark matter in Blackwitch Pudding's recipe, I'm sure that's where the color in the name comes from.  'Taste the Pudding' is a tight recording that would provide little clue to the band's silly nature to non-English speakers.  The band can sound downright foreboding at times, but never so far over the line as this is always undercut by their penchant for cutting loose by navigating the celestial sound waves like a gang of Silver Surfers.

Swarthy, oily, stumpy, doomy, spacey, chugging, grinding, spellbinding Blackwitch Pudding. Delicious. And frightening. Clearly, ‘Taste the Pudding’ is a hostile takeover of the planet earth by three wizards from outer space. I’m not sure what it is they want, but I have an idea. To turn the entire world into a giant, formal black tie party, Pudding style. I for one would like to welcome our new overlords …

Highlights include: "Super Sluts from Outer Space" and "Gathering Panties"

Rating: 4.5/5


Total Run Time: 44:22

From: Portland, Oregon

Genre: Stoner Metal, Doom, Space, Wizard

Reminds me of: Ancient Warlocks, Black Wizard, Dirt Wizard, Groan, Red Fang, Wounded Giant

Release Date: August 30, 2013

Blackwitch Pudding on facebook

The Great Electric Quest - Chapter II (E.P. Review)

NOW I MUST SCREEEEAM ... "BREAK THESE SHACKLES FROM ME!"

And so we stumble upon a group of seekers from the sweltering climes of San Diego.  They are seekers on a great electric quest.  It's a heavy quest.  Hot and heavy.  Their journey is fraught with giant rock and high stone, their destination unknown, unknowable, unreachable.  The only possible outcome of this quest, is death.  And of course, they are taking you along for the ride.

The Great Electric Quest is always on the lookout for experiences and are willing to push the perceived limits that surround them into the realm of unceasing extremity.  As is the seeker's burden, the outer limit of experience, the reward at the end of the journey is always just out of arm's reach, no matter how far forward they have pushed.  All that is not to create the wrong impression that The Quest is an extreme metal band complete with cookie monster vocals, walls of sound and blast beats obsessed with visions of failure and death.  Rather, the extremity manifests itself in the form of Russian doll song structures and a moxy, an approach, a confidence that pushes limited skill into rarified territory.  The seeker does not fail in reaching for the unattainable, it is in the reaching itself that the seeker succeeds.

The Great Electric Quest take a Kyuss-influenced stoner rock sound and filter it through the progressive sudden twists, shout choruses, shreds on a dime, general vocal inflections and other movements of early metal bands like Metallica.  With each successive spin it becomes harder and harder to remain composed and contain enthusiasm as before long at all you find yourself 'bangin' along raising a leather gloved fist high into the air and you have no idea how that glove got there, but you don't question it either.  It's all part of the Quest, man.  It's also hard for me not to get too geeked up about this band because they remind me so much of me and my buddies in an earlier age.  Back before life crushed us all down (well, some of us anyway [ahem]).  I can't see that happening to these colorful characters though, these are what you might call 'lifers'.

Above and beyond all else, what you get from The Great Electric Quest is positive vibes, which along with the high energy of the songwriting makes this 5 song E.P. a dynamo.  "1901", "Break the Shackles" and "Beers in Hell" are uplifting songs, giving the listener a hearty push start in the direction of a more productive use of one's creative energies.  I told vocalist Tyler Dingvell that his lyrics were empowering and that there ought to be more dudes like him out there using their platform wisely.  Here's what he had to say in response:

"Rock and Roll is empowering!! It's not wallowing in the sorrows of life. It's drinking a beer with your friends and forging on to meet the next challenge. It's empowerment of one and an embodiment of brotherhood. Love for humanity with the absence of fear."

And maybe that's all you need to know about the band to join them in their quest.

Highlights include: "1901" and "Break The Shackles"

Rating: 4/5


Total Run Time: 22:40

Tyler "T-Sweat" Dingvell - Vocals
Buddy Donner - Guitar
Corey Ciota - Drums
Mr. Mikey Hurrin - Bass/Vocals

From: San Diego, California

Genre: Metal, Stoner

Reminds me of: Corrosion of Conformity (Blind era), Gentlemen Bastards, early Metallica, Red Wizard, Saturn

Release Date: December 1, 2013

The Great Electric Quest on facebook

Satan's Satyrs - Wild Beyond Belief (album review)

Dear Rock n Roll,

I bet you wonder what the fuck happened to me, huh?  (I'll get to that in a minute) I bet you cried when you got home and saw all my stuff was gone and you realized that I wasn't coming back.  See, that's the problem.  I see now that you lack the confidence to be all that you could be and that you were holding me back.  Sorry if this is all coming out so harsh, but I realize now how PISSED I am at you because I really do care about you, but I see now how you were holding YOURSELF back.  You have so much potential Rock n Roll.  You could go so far in life.  I really believed in you.  In us.  But, you're a pussy at heart.

While you were playing your unplugged acoustic show at the Ironic Name Disco, I got bored and went out back to have a smoke.  That's when I met them.  They were burning down a church and kicking a hobo down the street in a trash can.  They couldn't give a fuck and they don't take any shit.  They were Satan's Satyrs and they were Wild Beyond Belief.  They took me on the back of one of their hogs and since then we've only stopped long enough for me to pick up my shit and write you this letter.  I don't know when we'll ever stop again, probably when they're all in their graves and me along with them.  I'm not suicidal.  Far from it, I've never felt so alive!  But I understand that this is a kamikaze mission, and that's the way it should have been with us, but like I said, you're a pussy.

I saw you standing there that first time, all those years back, staring at me all vulnerable with your piercings and tattoos.  All this time I thought you were the Bad Boy, but I was SO wrong.  I've found a gang of Real Men.  All those weekend nights you wore your "I don't give a fuck" attitude like a costume, then it was back to the office on Monday morning.  The Satyrs walk the walk 24/7.  Do my words hurt you?  Are you going to write a 7-minute long ballad about it?  Satan's Satyrs and me, we don't have time for that shit.  We just get out on the open road and hassle the man, put a good scare into the wage slaves and working stiffs.  We drove a station wagon off the road, into a tree last week and we don't feel any remorse about it, because you always have a choice don't you?  You have a choice in life to be a loser or taste freedom and take what you want from this world at the tip of a blade.  And you made your choice, didn't you Rock n Roll?  Didn't you!  You better hope to your god that we never find you out on the open road.

So I just wrote you to say, you don't cut it for me anymore Rock n Roll.  You never could satisfy me, not really.  You'd always take me right up to the edge, then pull back.  Why?  Was it out of fear?  Fear of the consequences of truly letting go?  That's what freedom is, but I guess you don't get it, do you?  You never could take me all the way and you never will.  I'd like to say I'm sorry for saying these things and that I'm sorry for you, but I'm not.  I'm sorry for me!  All those years wasted with you, when I could have been getting wasted on pure adrenalin with Satan's Satyrs.

Well, I got to go now Rock n Roll.  Bye.  I hope you learn how to let yourself go, take a walk on the wild side and know what it is to truly be alive one day, I really do.  But I can't drag you up to the Satyrs level, you've got to do that on your own.  We've got some puppies to kick, flowers to trample, fake bomb threats to issue, flaming poop bags to leave and chaos to sew.

Later, loser.

P.S., don't try to talk to me if you see me standing outside our old apartment with all my stuff.  The Satyrs told me they'd be coming by to pick me up in 20 minutes.  That was 12 hours ago, but ... they'll be here ... they'll come back for me ... you'll see ...

Highlights include: "Satan's Satyrs" and "Bellydancer's Delight"

Rating: 5/5


Total Run Time: 39:37

Clayton "Claytanas" Burgess: Bass, Vocals
Jarrett Nettnin: Guitar
Stephen Fairfield: Drums

From: Herndon, Virginia

Genre: Biker Doom, Punk

Reminds me of: Asomvel, Blue Cheer, Early Mammal, Electric Wizard, MC5, The Stooges

Release Date: (re-issue on Bad Omen Records) November 1, 2013

Satan's Satyrs on facebook

Wolves of Winter - Demo (Album Review)

Review by Love Among Ruins.

I wanted to introduce you to Wolves Of Winter, a desert stoner hard rock band from Arizona.  WoW has recently released a noteworthy demo on Bandcamp.  After I heard the demo I contacted the band and talked to Josh McGee, who established the band back in 2011 and he tells me they are planning to release their self titled debut album hopefully sometime this spring.  Coming from Phoenix, Arizona, the band is a trio consisting of Josh McGee who is the main vocalist & guitarist and responsible for most the writing on this demo, with David Weaver on bass and Mike Horn on the drums.   After a few lineup changes before this, Josh tells me he feels as if he has a real good group of guys that "really mesh and get along".

So what we have on this demo is a total of 10 smashing tracks at about 35 mins that give the listener much to chew on.  Ranging from classic rock, to grunge, to stoner & doom and back again this demo is sounding very promising for what could be their debut album.  McGee has some pretty slick guitar licks and shows off his abilities throughout the album with lots of soaring riffs, and clever hooks.  McGee also belts out these tunes with edge, grit and confidence.  The tracks "A Childs Reasoning" & "Tooth & Nail" came crashing though with their deep thumping bass & sizzling guitar riffs.

This trio of guys show a great deal of musicianship especially in the all instrumental progressive track "The Blind Leading The Blind", a lavish, doom influenced number that got my attention real quick.  The album finishes strong with tracks like the bass heavy doomy "Rubber Band" and the bluesy, sultry track "The Start of the Season" and finally the last song, and my favorite track titled "Astrothoughts" features a cool vibe and a catchy chorus that I can't get out of my head.

Bottom line:  This demo is a hard hitting album with tons of potential, it shows us listeners that there is a confident trio of guys that are serious about making a name for themselves not just around the Phoenix area but as far as the ear can hear.   I will be keeping track of the progress of Wolves of Winter and their upcoming debut.  To be continued...

Highlights include: "Astrothoughts" and "Blind Leading the Blind"

Rating: 4.5/5


Total Run Time: 35:12

Members:

Josh McGee (Guitar / Vocals)

David Weaver (Bass)

Mike Horn (Drums)

From: Phoenix, Arizona

Genre: Stoner, Desert Rock, Hard Rock

Release Date: December 20, 2013

Wolves of Winter on facebook
Wolves of Winter's Reverbnation