[ aquarius records — Metal Stoner Doom ]

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Showing results 1701 through 1750 of 1809.

Our friend Adam at Crucial Blast does it again (after his release of Finnish thrashers Katastrofialue from last week's list) with this new slab of blues-scum-metal from North Carolina's Weedeater. Featuring Dave from the mighty Buzzoven, Weedeater basically

RealAudio clip: Bull
RealAudio clip: Potbelly

Elsewhere on this week's list you'll find a review of Into The Depths of Sorrow, the reissued 1991 debut from Texan doomsters Solitude Aeturnus. From the same label also comes this brand-new debut from another Texas EPIC DOOM METAL act who obviously take after Solitude Aeturnus in many ways. On Well of Souls' self-titled album, fans of doomful epickosity will find much in the way of chunky guitar riffage, utter dark dirge atmosphere, and tricky, technical prog parts, over which clean, witchy male vocals wave like a clenched fist in the air. There's light and shade, but mostly shade. They don't stray far from their influences (Solitude Aeturnus, Candlemass, Confessor, modern Euro power metal, and old-school '80s American Metal Blade bands like Fates Warning) but they do what they do with power and perfection. The second half of the disc is occupied by the impressively indulgent "Black Reign" -- a suite in three parts, each around ten minutes in length. Epic indeed!

MPEG stream: The Realms Of Reverie
MPEG stream: Black Reign Pt. 1 - The Dawn Of Antiquity

In case you missed it on our Record Store Day "in-between list" last Friday... but these are going fast! At this rate, gone within the week, if not sooner... Last year - or maybe it was the year before - we told ourselves, hey, Record Store Day is awesome and all, but what would make it even more awesome? Maybe if we had our OWN release for Record Store Day! Something that, then, we could make sure our devoted mailorder customers wouldn't miss out on, also something that we could be absolutely sure we'd have, utterly unique to our store, amidst the chaos and uncertainty of all the other RSD releases. So, this year, we did it! With the help of our good friends, Brooklyn's psychedelic space rockers extraordinare, you know 'em, you love 'em, White Hills. As those of you who live here in San Francisco may remember, White Hills brought their spaced out sounds to aQuarius for a fantastic instore on October 1st, 2010. Actually, they performed under the somewhat obvious pseudonym Black Valleys ('cause the venue they were playing that same night didn't want them doing another show the same day). In any case, their "Black Valleys" set turned out to be quite a bit different than an "ordinary" White Hills performance, being a drumless, droned-out duo performance specifically tailored to our space, trying (though probably failing!) to keep the volume low enough not to disturb our neighbors... but still hypnotizing us all with their nonetheless heavy sounds. The show was recorded, and it turned out GREAT. Over a half hour long, the first few minutes of which are filled with shimmering, pretty pulsations and subtle sonic textures, as if this was the White Hills' version of Pop Ambient. It's both mesmeric and miasmic... Eventually waves of grinding fuzz enter the scene, and this slow building sonic juggernaut of throb and drone and drift takes on more massive proportions, propelled by what we can only say are almost ghostly riffs, giving this something of an Earth 2 vibe. We could go on and on, but somehow don't think we need to, since we know what White Hills fans are like (and you're all White Hills fans, right?). So, digging the recording, White Hills gave us the go-ahead to release it as a special limited edition cd, for Record Store Day this year. And boy are we stoked. LIMITED TO 300 hand-numbered copies, packaged in slim, dvd-style cases, with cool Op-Art inspired cover graphics by our pal Nathan Berlinguette, printed in black on fancy silvery paper. NOT sold in stores - except for ours!

MPEG stream: Black Valleys (excerpt 1)
MPEG stream: Black Valleys (excerpt 2)

On their second Holy Mountain release, the heavy stoner psych rockers from up in Arcata, California leave their sunless world of redwood forests and venture into the blinding light and open climes of Dune Worship. With its slow grinding rhythms and spiraling washes of feedback, this album is a more hypnotic and meditative shamanistic exploration. These guys go so deep into visionary states, they even have a song called "Illusion Of Illusion," which begins with a low hum and builds into a ten-minute freakout, to crack open your slumbering third eye into a rude awakening with the pounding onslaught of "Ascension" that follows. For White Manna are no gentle psychedelicists, they always carry with them the swagger of the Stooges - even an unabashed wink at Jim Morrison can be heard in the vox throughout. For a more "modern" comparison, we'd recommend 'em to fans of Wooden Shjips and Psychic Ills both.

MPEG stream: X Ray
MPEG stream: Illusion Of Illusion

More heavy duty jammage from these Arcata hard psych space rockers, whose sound is often described as Hawkwind meets the Stooges, and not sure what else we can add cuz that's pretty dang spot on. This new one on UK psych/space label Cardinal Fuzz is a live set from Europe, recorded on tour in 2013, and finds the band unleashing their particular brand of heavy space rocking, all epic druggy sprawls of fuzzed out stoner stomp, and droney motorik fuzz rock drift, woozy, super melodic Sabbath like basslines and some seriously muscular drumming, all wrapped up in squalls of freaky guitar-noise and crunchy, buzzing riffage. The vocals are drawled and echo drenched, and surface throughout, but really, like most bands of their ilk, White Manna are all about the jams, and like their last record, Come Down Safari (originally a picture disc on Valley King, recently reissued on cd by Captcha) the band can jettison 'the song' at any point, and head for the heart of the sun, or the outer reaches of the cosmos, or the depths of some subterranean pit, filling whatever space they end up with oodles of psych freakout ("Acid Head"), but they can just as easily lock into straight up droned out, hard rocking psych pop ("Evil"), or sometimes that above mentioned Sabbathy vibe gets pushed right to the fore, with some super doomy heaviness ("X Ray"). Needless to say, heavy psych nerds and space rock headz are gonna want to grab one of these quick, before they're gone, and it's SUPER LIMITED, and on Cardinal Fuzz, so odds are they'll be gone before you know it. Housed in a cool acid blotter sleeve. Includes a download too!

MPEG stream: E Shra (Stangade)
MPEG stream: Acid Head (Le Kalif)
MPEG stream: Evil (Le Kalif)

It's about time Arcata, California produced a spacey psych band, don't ya think? It is, after all, the home of drop-out hippies and farmers of Mary J. Wanna. Happily, we report that Humboldt County's sons are just as tripped out on distortion and fuzz as the new wave of other space-rock outfits - Lumerians, White Hills, Sweden's just plain 'ol Hills, and a whole host of other bands whose names may or may not contain the word "owl." But judging by the album art, White Manna don't want to travel space so much as explore the dense redwood forests of their homeland. What has this quartet found in the thick of those gentle giants? 1. Massive volume, on levels akin to that of a Who concert. 2. Crazy wah-wah sounds and spiraling guitar solos, like you just took a hit off a four-footer for the first time since 10th grade. 3. Vocals shouted from the depths of a tunnel. Best of all, White Manna distinguish themselves with their ability to hang a song on the nail of a bluesy hook. Further, they forego slow build-ups - the addition of saxophone on the opening of "Don't Gun Us Down" is about as much of a prelude as you're going to get here - and tend to cut to the chase pretty quickly on each of this strong EP's five tracks. It's almost as if they want you to actually dance to their particular brand of neo-psychedelia, unlike Holy Mountain label-mates Wooden Shjips, whom we enjoy equally but differently. Track 2, "Keep Your Lantern Burning," blares with a Stooges three-chord dissonance. The last two tracks, "Don't Gun Us Down," and "Sweet Jesus," seriously boogie. The latter boldly ends with a variation of the "Mr. Mojo Rising" mantra until it breaks free into the most sprawling freak out of the whole set. We thank White Manna for ushering us behind the redwood curtain and can't wait to see what they do next.

MPEG stream: Keep Your Lantern Burning
MPEG stream: Don't Gun Us Down

White Medal! What an awesome name for a metal band. Not to be confused with white metal, or unblack metal, this is not any sort of Christian metal, this is some twisted damaged doom-ed blackened heaviness the likes of which we've never really heard before. This stripped down UK horde, open up proceedings with gentle clean guitar, minor key melodies, a bit of dreamy drift, until the track explodes into a hyper distorted blown out chugfest, super stripped down and raw, but SO distorted, it was a bit difficult to tell if the band was plodding along doomily or blasting furiously, just a massive blown out rrrooooaaaaar. The drums pound away beneath an epic metallic riff that churns and throbs, slathered in blistering distortion, the sound almost more like Godflesh or Pitchshifter than black metal, too hot and loud to be lo-fi but the same sort of texture and timbre. Keyboards (it sounds like keyboards) enter the fray and the track builds to some sort of total majestic metal blow out. Like Godspeed versus Bone Awl or something. The flipside starts with some static high end guitar buzz, and just like the A side, the song erupts into a furious chaotic pound, the sound on this side much more distinctly fast and blackened, but with the same super saturated ultra distorted guitar, buried drums and shrieked vocals, there are a few tranquil moments, the guitar still distorted and buzzy, just sort of hovering dreamily before the band launches back in. The label compares this to stuff like Bone Awl, Ildjarn, Ancestors and stuff like that, and while we do hear a bit of that, the sound is also massive and majestic, making us think of bands like Godspeed, Menace Ruine and a bit of that postrockmetaldrone we dig so much. WAY recommended. LIMITED of course, packaged in cool hand screened sleeves.

The return of White Medal. And that's MEDAL not METAL. There's nothing god fearing or white or light or positive or hopeful about the sound this grim horde spew forth. We had their 7" a while back, and it was a primo slab of blown out almost industrial sounding blackness. Like a black metal Godflesh, crossed with maybe some of the more raw stuff like Bone Awl or Ash Pool, but with a bit of post rock epic-ness mixed in. Not sure how all that stuff worked together but it did. We dug it big time. So now here's release number two, this time a super limited cassette / patch combo, limited to 100 copies, and finds the band going in a bit more of a raw, old school black metal direction. Beginning with an awesome washed out creepy ambient intro, all clean guitar shimmer and dark moody creep, the band soon launch into a full on buzzy pound, the guitars murky and muddy, the drums a buried in the mix plod, the vocals weirdly effected, the whole thing gloriously gurgly and lo-fi, almost d-beat sounding at times, with some cool languid and woozy folky interludes. The flip side is much more frenzied and furious and somehow even more-lo-fi, total washed out black buzz murk, everything wreathed in hiss and distortion and buried in an all mids and lows and no highs mix, making the sound almost sludgey and doomy even though the band is blasting frantically. So blurred and smeared, that the buzz and blast gets smudged into droning epic blackness, that occasionally slips back into crunch and chug, but more often swirls and shimmers, if the sound was even a tiny bit more washed out or even a little bit more lo-fi this could have ended up an awesome blackdrone record. Killer stuff. We definitely need to hear a full length from these guys one of these days. Comes with a cool cassette sized embroidered black and white patch, featuring the band name, the legend: Tread The Earth, and a cool image of a strange skeletal figure wielding a scythe over a garden of what appears to be body parts. LIMITED TO 100 COPIES!!!!!! We got about 20, and after that we will not be able to get more.

Recently we remarked upon how the long-running stoner rock label Small Stone had been kicking our asses with some great releases of late (Obiat, Iota, etc.). Gotta say the same thing now about the MeteorCity label, another veteran stoner rock purveyor who in the '90s, were second only maybe to Man's Ruin as THE stoner rock label of the day. Well, it's 2010 and, despite a lowered profile, the re-activated MeteorCity has been killing it lately, maybe even moreso than in the good old days, with such recently highlighted here releases like Ararat, Village Of Dead Roads, Freedom Hawk, and Egypt... THIS list, we've got two more from 'em to rave about, Leeches Of Lore and WhiteBuzz! WhiteBuzz hail from Germany and illustrate a controversial point. You might think that the sound a band is known for is THEIRS, they invented it, and anyone else that sounds similar are obviously influenced or are flat out copycatting. Well, yeah maybe that's sorta true. But you could also think of it this way: the SOUND exists already, band A just came along and "discovered" it, channelled it, made use of it. But rather than wait for band A to make another record 'cause you want to hear that sound again, what about if band B comes along and ALSO taps into that sound, and it speaks through them just as legitimately as it does through the "original" band? Nobody is copying anybody, both bands A and B are servants to that sound, it's just that chronologically speaking band A came first, band B later. Likewise, there could be bands C, D, E, etc., all "tuning in" to this pre-existing, eternal "SOUND". That's a theory anyway, and it makes more sense when the sound in question seems so darn cosmic. We might be making to big a point out of this, actually, 'cause while we were gonna say if band A = Om then band B = WhiteBuzz, we think you'll be able to tell 'em apart. For one thing, WhiteBuzz have a guitarist! But if you like the epic ritualistic psychedelic fuzzed out epics of Om, we're pretty sure you're gonna dig WhiteBuzz, complete with a similarly chant-like vocal style and lysergically spaced-out interludes amidst the blown out super heavy repetitive riffage on the 4 loooong tracks here (plus a fifth, shorter, unlisted bonus cut that sounds more like a tribute to the Melvins). Has WhiteBuzz heard Om? Well, we'd bet they have, probably, yeah, but who know, could be the not-so-coincidental cosmic scenario outlined above too. Heck, these heavy invocations weren't invented by Om, or precursors Sleep, EITHER, exactly. They go back to Pink Floyd and Hawkwind and Black Sabbath... to Tibetan monks... to the first cultivators of cannabis... to pagan prehistory... You could probably hear sounds like this in temples on Mars or in ancient, imaginary Hyborea! Basically, we're sure YOU'VE heard Om, anyway. And it's likely you like Om, too. If so, and you'd like some more Om-ishness RIGHT NOW, then check out WhiteBuzz. To be honest, original or not, we like 'em almost as much as Om themselves. The only thing that kinda bugs us about WhiteBuzz is, why do they spell white/whyte two different ways in band name and album title? But otherwise, we're quite happy with this release!

MPEG stream: The Return Of Phoenix
MPEG stream: Antipocalypse

Record number two from Australian doom dirge juggernaut Whitehorse. And whaddaya know? It's another live record! But so what!?!? If they sound this heavy and this brutal live, why even bother going in the studio? In fact, we're sort of afraid of what might happen if these guys actually did make it into a studio. Not sure we could handle it! This is intense stuff. Massively heavy, so slow and plodding it's almost ambient, with huge stretches of near silence, while the crumbling remnants of the last riff drift earthward before the next riff comes crashing down. Shrieked inhuman screams, and plodding drum beats set at least a mile apart, moans and drifting guitars and cymbal sizzle drift like tendrils of black smoke between each Teutonic crush. Hell they even have a guy in the band credited with just "Rumblings." Fuck yeah! Think Khanate, Bunkur, Corrupted, Eyehategod. So so so good! Packaged in a beautifully printed oversized cardboard sleeve. And as always SUPER LIMITED!!!!

MPEG stream: Caverns

Falling somewhere between the ultra doom of Khanate, the metallic post rock pummel of Isis, and the shrieking feedback / bowel-loosening dirge of Earth / Sunn O))), Whitehorse kick up a serious racket. Rumbling ambient drones slip into screaming feedback which in turn become huge unstoppable walls of noise, occasionally interrupted by beautiful mellowed out melodic interludes. Crashing drums all over the place, high end guitar melodies shriek like sirens, and of course the howled hyper intense vocals add another layer of sonic skree to the mix. Recorded live, with a totally blown out, super distorted mix, that while losing a lot of the finer details, definitely makes the whole thing sound that much more aggro and chaotic and on the verge of total collapse. Seriously noisy and fierce as fuck. Can't wait to hear a studio record from these guys. But for now, this white hot blast of live fury will do just nicely. Packaged in a beautifully printed oversized cardboard sleeve, with some deranged apocalyptic liner note ramblings from artist Seldon Hunt.

MPEG stream: Ocean Turns To Black

In the review of the last Whitehorse cd, we went on a bit about their propensity for releasing eps, and live eps at that. And only a few days later we got a sheepish email from the band, seeing if we wanted copies of their new record, a live ep?!?! Arghhhh. Well, the band has promised us that next stop will be the studio for a proper studio recorded full length, but what the hell, another 30 plus minutes of soul crushing sludge can never be a bad thing, and in the case of Whitehorse it's a very very good thing indeed. This time, the live show in question took place in Japan, but the sound is not that far removed from the first two eps. A massive slow moving lumbering sludge metal behemoth, trudging through graveyards, and ruined villages, the depths of hell and everywhere in between. This two track set is actually a wee bit speedier than their other recordings, which is a lot like saying a turtle is a wee bit faster than a tortoise, as this is still slow motion tarpit doom, but the pace is not so funereal, instead the vibe is much more Eyehategod than Khanate this time around, still harsh and abrasive and brutally heavy, but there's almost a groove going on. Which definitely lends the proceedings a sort of stonery doom vibe. As always really fucking great! Fans of Corrupted, Khanate, Eyehategod, Bunkur, Moss and all that is slow and heavy will not be disappointed. Packaged in a beautifully printed oversized cardboard sleeve. And of course, SUPER LIMITED!!!!

MPEG stream: Untitled (Live In Japan 2005)

Progression is the latest chunk of abject nihilistic ultra doom sludge from these Aussie heavies, the first full length since their sprawling double cd on 20 Buck Spin, and it continues on right where that one left off. Lurching lumbering downtuned slo-mo riffage, dueling vocals: grunted monstrous growls versus maniacal shrieks, fat fuzzed out bass buzz and massive pounding drum pummel, but unlike many of their doom/sludge contemporaries, Whitehorse actually have some groove, and some serious forward momentum, with maybe more in common with Eyehategod and Khanate than say Monarch or Bunkur, this isn't all near-ambient black doom drift, no these guys grind and pound, this is most definitely metal, just really really slow, it's propulsive, but a sort of tarpit propulsion, the sound super dynamic, lacing their metallic crunch with plenty of stop/starts, long stretches of squealing feedback, strange industrial clatter, the songs shifting from slow slung bass driven crawls, to loping glacial doom, to almost swinging metallic crush. Opener "Mechanical Disintegration" channels the spirit of Winter and diSEMBOWELMENT into some sort of slow motion death metal, peppered with some surprisingly melodic filigree, these strange but super hooky guitar melodies draped over the main churning riffage, makes it sound like some classic metal playing at 2 rpm. The title track slows it done even further, adding lots of scrape and clatter to the death march trudgery, a pounding minimalism that shifts gears part way through when the band launch into a serious groove (at least for them), verging on almost headbangable, really lurching and lumbering, some Sabbathy swing slowed down into something more serpentine and slithery. The rest of the record veers from funereal crawl, to grinding metallic pound and back again, the songs laced with strange mechanical hiss, white noise hum and weird glitches, all wrapped around that super low throb and thrum, culminating in the epic 9+ minute closer, which pounds away relentlessly before finishing off in a squall of feedback skree, twisted black noise and super distorted buzz.

MPEG stream: Mechanical Disintegration
MPEG stream: Progression
MPEG stream: Time Worn Regression

Finally, the first widely available full length (and then some!) cd release, after a handful of live eps, from�Australia's masters of monstrous sludge, a double disc set collecting tons of previously released material from some of those long out of print cd-r's, a couple tracks from the long gone Conspiracy lp, and most importantly, a brand new studio recording in the form of the 22 minute track "The Unwelcome Return"! We'll get to that in a second, but first, a primer for those new to the downtuned brutality of Australia's Whitehorse, and folks who may have missed out . Falling somewhere between the ultra doom of Khanate, the metallic post rock pummel of Isis, and the shrieking feedback / bowel-loosening dirge of Earth / SUNNO))), Whitehorse kick up a serious racket. Rumbling ambient drones slip into screaming feedback which in turn become huge unstoppable walls of noise, occasionally interrupted by beautiful mellowed out melodic interludes. Crashing drums all over the place, high end guitar melodies shriek like sirens, and of course the howled hyper intense vocals add another layer of sonic skree to the mix,�plodding drum beats are set at least a mile apart, moans and drifting guitars and cymbal sizzle drift like tendrils of black smoke between each Teutonic crush. These guys are a massive slow moving lumbering sludge metal behemoth, trudging through graveyards, and ruined villages, the depths of hell and everywhere in between Each track a�massive slow build, like an apocalyptic metal tinged Godspeed, swirling cymbals, keening guitars, thick drifts of distorted fuzz, underneath gargled demonic vocals struggle to be heard above the swirling din, super abstract and nearly ambient, it takes forever before the songs kick in properly and then you're done for. Slow motion math metal sludge jams of unprecedented proportions. Stumbling and crushing, swathed in space rock FX, sounding very Corrupted like, an unstoppable dirge, with some wild off kilter drumming and strange arrangements, so strange in fact, that occasionally, the band bursts into spastic chaotic almost 'free' sonic freakouts, like Neurosis doing free jazz. Nicely compliments their unstoppable glacier like brutality. But the�pace is not always so funereal the vibe is as much Eyehategod as it is Khanate, still harsh and abrasive and brutally heavy, but there's almost a groove going on here and there. Which definitely lends the proceedings a sort of stonery doom vibe. It's easy to hear bits of Corrupted, Khanate, Eyehategod, Bunkur, Moss and the like, but Whitehorse definitely add their own twisted slow motion spin. A�good chunk of this stuff is previously released. Avid AQ doomhounds may very well have 75% of this stuff, but odds are, due to the limited nature of the eps, and especially the Conspiracy lp (of which we only ever had 20 copies), a lot of you missed out on at least some of it. And besides all that, there's the brand new 20+ minute�"The Unwelcome Return" to contend with... and whaddayaknow, another crushing, head caving slab of slow motion sonic dirgery, like Electric Wizard on some serious downers, spun at 16 rpm, a lumbering gargantuan crush, with a long stretch of swirling bass heavy ambience in the middle. A loping bassline amidst lowend rumbles and strange shuffling drumming, all wrapped in constantly shifting swells of white noise and buzzy hiss, before the whole track explodes again, trudging hellward and crushing every goddamn thing in its path. Including us. And we LOVE IT.� Worshippers of all things doom and drone and sludge would do well to prostrate themselves before these mighty and unmerciful doomlords, and to welcome the oncoming sonic annihilation... Packaged in a killer black on black, gloss on matte, mini gatefold lp style cd sleeve, with a full color insert!

MPEG stream: Fire To Light The Way
MPEG stream: Everything Ablaze

Killer split 7" from Aussie heavies Whitehorse, and Floridian thrashers Hot Graves. Whitehorse offer up another skull caving slab of extreme heaviness, churning, lumbering, groovy and sludgey, with some cool harmonized melodies offsetting the otherwise downtuned crush. The vocals are a demonic gurgle buried in the mix, occasionally exploding into banshee like howls, the sound creeping one second, swinging and Sabbathy the next, a killer jam, and surprisingly melodic/catchy. Hot Graves are new to us, and a quick glance online seemed to have them pegged as sounding like Swedish styled death metal, but to these ears, at least on this split, they sound way more old school thrashy metal, reminding us quite a bit of aQ faves Speedwolf. Loping, galloping metallic punk (or punky metal?), all classic metal chug, shredding leads, raspy throat shredding bellows, raw and fucking fierce, with wicked classic harmony guitar leads, and a cool second half, that slips into a mosh worthy breakdown with still MORE classic metal riffing. Definitely want to hear more... Probably limited, super swank silkscreened covers, and a printed heavy cardstock insert.

Those who worship at the altar of all that is slow and low and heavy and sludgey and doomy and droney, you must now bow before a new lord, the duo from New York known simply as Wicked King Wicker. After three records, each heavier than the last, comes Borne Black, a sprawling black sun explosion of creepy crawly riffage, lumbering lugubrious tempos, tarpit sludge, and spaced out abstract buzz and shimmer, if you fancy Moss, Bunkur, Blue Sabbath Black Cheer, SUNNO))), Wolf Eyes, Khanate, Skullflower, Human Quena Orchestra, Monarch, Corrupted, Otesanek, Habsyll, and all the various other denizens of the inky black dronedirgedoom underworld, and have yet to hear WKW, you are in for a treat. That is, if a treat for you is two guys all dressed in black, mere shadows, pummeling you to within an inch of your life with bloodied guitars, tossing your limp form into a freshly dug grave, before toppling a Guitar Center's worth of amplifiers into the hole, then burying you alive, before pushing the amps, the bloody guitars and your mangled corpse across an endless expanse of blackened filth and debris with a massive demonic KILLdozer. That's kind of what it feels like listening to Borne Black, five lengthy tracks of ultra slow riffing, and black ambient soundscaping. And while these guys can lean their guitars against the amps with the best of 'em, conjuring up thick black clouds of noxious low end slither, they are also masters of the RIFF, and most of these songs do in in fact contain riffs, not always right up in front, but the songs are driven by the riff, giving them more weight, more heaviness, and making them sound way more METAL than most of their contemporaries. Just have a listen to album opener "There Is Only Pain", a crushing descending, depressive doom riff, that just churns relentlessly, pounding away, a gloriously miserablist sonic trudge, all amidst a constantly swirling field of white noise, static buzz, and caustic feedback. Over the course of 10 + minutes, the riff, and the demonic vokills that accompany it, sing slowly into the abyss, as the swirling clouds of noise around it grow more and more thick, the main riff eventually crumbles into a tangle of what sounds like drum machine and electronics, before finally disappearing completely in a doomic haze of black psychedelic power electronics. Woah. We could stop right there, and you'd definitely be getting your $12 worth. But there's nearly 40 minutes of 'wickedness' to go... Woozy washed out shimmer gives way to ultra distorted crunch, which in turn gives way to some post industrial noise drenched pummel. Murky groaning ambience spreads out like some black fog, underneath which delicate melodies struggle for air, the textures shift and the layers roil, before an insanely distorted riff emerges, the distortion so thick and crumbling and blown out, it's difficult to discern the actual notes, that riff plays out, transforming as it goes from sharp caustic crunch, to muddy murky mumble, always wrapped in bellowed vox and a steady barrage of FX-saturated noize, until finally, the 13 minute noise doom dirge of album closer "They Are Suffering Alone And Terrified", a feedback slathered stumble through a field of erratic metallic buzz, chugging grinding guitarnoise and weirdly dubbed out drums, a twisting tangled bout of abstract heaviness, so corrosive and chaotic, any semblance of metal can only be glimpsed through a constantly heaving haze of blackened fury. Fucking awesome, and definitely some seriously difficult listening, but for the legions of the slow and low, who can't ever seem to get enough glacial, near static, demonically riff-ed, doom-ed blacknoize, then Borne Black is yet another gloriously grim missive from the darkside, another black sonic stone to hurl at the heavens, as let these sounds drag you further into the fiery deep. WAY recommended!!

MPEG stream: There Is Only Pain
MPEG stream: Against The Wisting Meadow
MPEG stream: Tripping A Light Abomination

Evolving is the latest from NY doom/sludge/dirge/drone duo Wicked King Wicker, and does in fact find the band evolving, their already blackened, tarpit, ambient dirgery moving further away from any proper metallic riffery, and instead, exploding in a supernova of power electronics and blacknoize brutality. The opening track here, a 10 minute sprawl titled "The Devil Must Learn The Limitations Of The Host", drapes a pulsating buzz over a field of grinding blackened electronics, of rumbling, crumbling drones, the vibe weirdly motorik, buried beneath all the noisiness, there seems to be strange shapes drifting, hauntingly melodic, giving the noisiness a mysteriously tranquil core. Soon the sound is engulfed in swirls of white noise, swaths of hiss and static, there seem to be vocals as well, buried in the mix, a monstrous bellow, blurred into still more smeared soft focus blackbuzz, the sound locked into an almost kraut-drone noisiness, before splintering into something much more caustic and chaotic, but still anchored by that buzzing riff-like pulsation. That track definitely lays the foundation, as "A Prayer For Death" explodes right out of the gate, a heady, howling blast of Merzbowian murk, all churning, roiling crunch, and like that first track, obscuring something much more melodic underneath, this time, a dirgey slowcore pulse, and a field of constantly shifting textures, shards of feedback rain from the sky like hailstones, squalls of grinding skree, and crumbling distortion, all woven into something weirdly hypnotic, yet still undeniably brutal and caustic. Things don't really let up. "Zen And The Art Of Nihilism" unfurls a field of grinding low end, wreathed in sheets of ear shredding upper register blasts, again, somehow transformed into something weirdly rhythmic, and strangely listenable, this track in particular, almost like multiple black metal riffs, melted down, and poured directly into your earholes, a tar black sonic pitch, pure blacknoize bliss. And finally, "The High Exalted Nothing" finishes things off with a riffy, dirgey churn, a darkly propulsive black dirge, almost industrial sounding, like Wolf Eyes meets SUNNO))) meets Bunkur, with some seriously terrifying vokills, no high end on this one, a black murk blowout that might be our favorite track here!

MPEG stream: A Prayer For Death
MPEG stream: Zen And The Art Of Nihilism
MPEG stream: The High Exalted Nothing

More planet crushing doom drone blackness from these two axe wielding alchemists, one of which just so happens to run the bad ass Noiseville label, whose bad assness most definitely extends to his work in WKW, a juggernaut of low end brute force, ultra doom, plodding, trudging, lumbering heaviness, slowed down to an absolute crawl, 4 bpm never sounded so harsh and harrowing, which is saying a lot.... WKW take the slow and low template laid out by Khanate, and fill up all the extra space with crumbling distortion, howling feedback, garbled grunted vokills, fractured riffs, churning anti-rhythms, filthy and blackened and grim, a sprawling black cloud of sound, that seems to teeter on the edge, right between doom metal and pure drone, the two elements fused into some impossibly brutal and punishing sonic beast. The awesomely titled "Call My Name Sweet Demon, So I Know I Am Not Alone" find WKW dipping into Wolf Eyes' bag of tricks, infusing their apocalyptic metallic creep with all sorts of industrial flavor, looped mechanical rhythms, stuttering processed electronics, sheets of feedback, thick shards of caustic buzz, layered and tangled, swooping from rhythmic throb to on-the-verge-of-collapse noise meltdown to muted damaged chug. The final epic track (all three tracks are just shy of 20 minutes long) is another strange assemblage of sounds, some abstract riffage, some swooping swirling high end streaks, plenty of hiss and skree and crunch, the whole thing twisted and tweaked, sometimes stumbling to a near halt, other times sprawling into a caustic crumbling jagged drone, and other times soaring into a near Merzbowian psychnoise blow out.

MPEG stream: Those Who Bear Responsibility
MPEG stream: Call My Name Sweet Demon, So I Know I Am Not Alone

One of two new releases from this East Coast ultra doomdrone duo, the latest in Noiseville's Outer Bounds Of Sound lp series, which in the past has featured Burnt Hills, Kleistwahr. Skullflower... And Wicked King Wicker fits just find in that esteemed noise making company. Much like their sonic compatriots Blue Sabbath Black Cheer, WKW seem to be a doom band in noise's clothing, or maybe it's the other way around. Ostensibly a doom outfit, WKW are just as likely to unfurl a burly glacial downtuned riff as they are to releases a swirling cloud of washed out psychedelic drift, which is what they do here, the root of their sound is still a downtuned buzz, a sort of murky riffage, but it's transformed into a looped dronescape, whatever riffage there was has been blurred and smeared into a softly pulsing, roiling blackened sprawl, peppered with gorgeous bits of electronic glitch, or synthy shimmer, it's hard to discern what it might be, but it adds a cool melodic component to the band's heaving abstract heaviness, the result something much more atmospheric and dreamy, that's pummeling and punishing, while still managing to sound heavy and intense and pretty epic. The B-side sounds like it might have started life as a throbbing lumbering dooom jam, but was somehow subverted into an almost Fennesz sounding stretch of intense muted heaviness, glazed with flecks of crackle and crunch, wreathed in a psychedelic blur, the main component remains some sort of transformed guitar, all pulsing throbbing rumble and whir, finally finishing off in a blaze of abstract, super distorted Sunroof! like psychguitar ur-drone. LIMITED TO 300 COPIES, housed in cool metallic foil stamped jackets...

Latest grim black slab of droned out corrosive ultradoomscapery from this East Coast one man band, a nearly 40 minute, two sided, two tracked onslaught of crumbling distortion, pulsing roiling downtuned churn, slo-mo drone-psych riffage, blackened ambient crawl and howling glacial creep, falling somewhere between the all out blacknoise brutality of Blue Sabbath Black Cheer, and the blissed out ur-drone skree of Sunroof!. The A side is a filthy, crusty monster, but the chug and crush and rumble is infused with thick layered swaths of high end fragmented melodies, siren like pulses, a swirling tangle over a roiling black undercurrent, the strangely melodic bent gives the otherwise harsh noise a strangely orchestral feel, epic and majestic and soaring and sweeping, but still brutal and suffocatingly punishing. The flipside is much more minimal. Muted and muddy and murky, the guitars blurred into long grimy streaks of industrial whir, blown out and super distorted, but so washed out to be almost transformed completely into a subtly propulsive dronescape, buried in the mix are some actual riffs, even a bit of rhythmic heft, and vocals too, a monstrous barely audible demonic gargle, but all wrapped in a lo-fi haze of crackling, slowly decaying sonic filth. Totally epic and hellish doomdronedirge bliss. Housed in a super sweet three color silkscreen cover, and LIMITED TO 200 COPIES, 75 which are red, those are the ones we have, and we don't have all that many...

We had never heard of this NY band before but HOLY SHIT. A serious new contender for sure in the ever expanding world of crushing slow motion ultra doom-dirge-dronemusick. Blue Sabbath Black Cheer, SUNNO))), Skullflower, Khanate, Wolf Eyes, Bunkur, etc. Any of those names get your blood boiling, then WKW just might be your favorite new band. This WKW's self titled debut, and is in some ways even heavier and more blown out than Flydust (reviewed elsewhere on this list). The root sound is similar, a heaving morass of crumbling superdistorted guitars, but where as Flydust is murky and muddy and washed out, the sound here is prickly and cacophonous, abrasive and sort of sharp. The sound is also more propulsive, more distinct riffs, dripping with in-the-red distortion and twisted FX. The opening track is one single ascending riff, looped over and over and over and over, pounding its way through a dense cloud of impossibly thick buzz, the drums a buried plod, the vocals, barely audible through the churning mass of unfurling riffs and a constantly expanding wall of sound. The strange thing is, there is a definite groove lurking underneath, loping and lurching, but groovy nonetheless. Think Godflesh or Pitchshifter mixed with Ramleh and Wolf Eyes, but super charged and revved up, and dipped in a psychedelic concoction of tripped out prismatic psychrock filigree and blown out amp destroying drone drenched doom. But the second track is a whole different beast altogether, a stretched out slowed down distorted riff, unfurled in slow motion, very reminiscent of Earth 2, but peppered with simple spare drumming, only barely, until about halfway through when the sound is swallowed up but a wall of distorted sound much more like the opening track, and suddenly the sound is transformed into a blown out acid-doused blast of crumbling blacknoise. The last two tracks offer up more of the same, varying degrees of forward momentum, of spaced out ur-drone, of in-the-red effects, pounding abstract percussion, all draped over near static whitenoise buzz, weird krauty grooves, woozy metallic crawls, pulsing metallic ambience, and heavy heavy hypnotic dirgedoomdronemusick. The lp is limited to 490 copies, pressed on purple vinyl, the cd is limited to 1000 copies.

MPEG stream: Faith Through Fear
MPEG stream: Through A Soul, Darkly

As promised last list, here's the second of the two volumes of collected wah-wah overload and heavy fuzz freakout from this legendary underground UK hard psych power trio, circa 1969-1972, who were doomy and proto-metallic, but also fairly melodic and bluesy and sixties-sounding (they do a version of Jimi's "Voodoo Chile" here, which fits right in). There's seven more archival Wicked Lady selections here to delight deaf bikers everywhere, ranging from excellently titled opener "I'm A Freak" to the album-ending 22 minute epic "Ship Of Ghosts", each full of heavy fuzzed out chugging guitar to the max. Imagine a rather darker, more evil sounding Blue Cheer and you'd be close. The nearly 10 minute "Passion" sounds a heck of a lot like something by early Pentagram (or Bedemon), you could almost imagine it's Bobby Liebling singing it. Also there are some lines in the lyrics that go: "Tell me you love me / And I won't throw your grandma on the fire", how nice! The cd booklet includes lyrics, and liner notes (the same notes as found in vol. 1, The Axeman Cometh, though). And for your information, Guerssen has released this on vinyl as well, though we're still waiting for our copies to arrive.

MPEG stream: I'm A Freak
MPEG stream: Passion
MPEG stream: Why Don't You Let Me Try

A holy proto-metal relic here, folks. This is the first of two volumes (vol. 2, modestly titled Psychotic Overkill, we'll review next time) collecting the recorded output circa 1969-1972 of this heavy riffing underground UK unit, well known in the annals of hard psych fuzzarama. A classic power trio, featuring Martin Weaver (later of the Dark) on guitar, along with Bob Jefferies on bass and "Mad" Dick Smith on drums, Wicked Lady had a rep for being LOUD and causing violence. No surprise that Wicked Lady's axeman stateth in the liner notes that their fans were either partially deaf people or bikers! Or both! Their sound was based on the basic British blues rock of the day, a la Cream, Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, and so forth, with melodic vocals and a generally sad vibe, their songs sometimes relatively tame hippie popsike seeming - at first - before Weaver would unleash the hellish wah wah fuzz freakouts that whipped those poor deafened bikers into such a state. Groovy, lumbering, loping, amped up and drugged out, Wicked Lady is the real deal, dated to us now, perhaps, but quite charming. You can't argue, ferinstance, with how after a gentle, folky beginning, the track "War Cloud" morphs from melodic to martial, a jackbooted march with wild soloing o'er top, kinda as if Trad Gras Och Stenar went (proto-)metal� such fuzz guitar jamming excess is to be found throughout, like Wicked Lady were the Earthless of their day. The eight tracks found here (DIY recorded in the band's dingy rehearsal space, 'cuz they were about playing live, not making records, but wanted to remember how the songs went!) are all gonna be of interest to those into the likes of Randy Holden's Population II, High Tide, Stray, '70s Pentagram, Iron Claw, T2, Negative Space, and other obscure late sixties / early seventies purveyors of heavy psychedelic riff rock. This is the first time Wicked Lady's music has been legitimately released on cd (and Guerssen has pressed vinyl too, which hopefully we'll have soon), with the participation of Martin Weaver himself, who contributes liner notes, telling the whole Wicked Lady story - and he's got some stories. Though he does dispel the rumor that he broke a window and stole his first guitar - instead, apparently, he built it himself. Full lyrics are also included in the booklet. As an earlier, bootleg edition of this on the cult Kissing Spell label put it in a back cover blurb: "60 Minutes Of Wah Wah Hell"!

MPEG stream: Run The Night
MPEG stream: War Cloud
MPEG stream: The Axeman Cometh

Another�disc that had us sold before we even got to the music. The band name alone, Wijlen Wij? We're a sucker for whatthefuck band names... And the fact that this Belgian horde are made up of a veritable who's who of doooom loooominaries, folks from bands like AQ faves Fall Of The Grey Winged One, Pantheist, Until Death Overtakes Me, In Somnis and a bunch more. Throw in a totally black cover except for the name of the band, and that it was released on Aesthetic Death, home to mighty UK doomlords Esoteric... So yeah, we were expecting some serious doom, the lots-of-o's kind of doom, as in dooooooooooooooooom, but maybe with twice that many o's, or heck three times as many o's, but what we got, while still doomy as fuck and seriously crushingly heavy was a whole lot weirder.� The record opens with some delicate Renn Faire sort of flutter, organ and chanted vocals, very medieval sounding, a bit Viking even, then a super King Arthur sort of melody joins the fray, and we were beginning to think maybe we had the wrong idea about these guys, until the guitars kick in, easily some of the thickest most distorted, downtuned filthy ugly guitar sounds EVER. And the coolest part is that the medieval intro, wasn't just an intro, the song continues on with that sort of seasick Viking waltz, but now dripping with oozing blackdoom riffage, a bizarre epic medieval funeral doooooooooooom. The next track ditches the Renn flair, and instead offers up a gorgeous crushing slow crawl, but with moaning melancholy cello drifting amidst the pounding sludge like black smoke. This is serious doom, it's got the classic sorrowful vibe of bands like My Dying Bride, but it's delivered though the cracked filth crusted sludge of bands like Esoteric or Bunkur. And then out of the blue (or black perhaps is more appropriate) comes some haunting little Trollmann like synth melody, or even what sounds like some Morricone Western style harmonica, that drifts along hauntingly before slipping back under, and the band returns to some impossibly slow trudge, through a barren black landscape. One of those rare records than manages to be so impossibly and crushingly heavy at the same time that it's utterly haunting and beautiful.� Absolutely our new favorite doom record. Hands down. Worthy of more o's that we have any right to be dealing out. Essential for fans of Bunkur, Planet Aids, Winter, diSEMBOWELMENT, Esoteric, Catacombs, Wereju, and all other wielders of black hole heaviness...

MPEG stream: Wijlen Wij
MPEG stream: Offertorium

Warped druggy psychedelic metallic noise rock trio Wildildlife, who just so happen to features a former aQuarian amongst their ranks, always had a bit of pop in their sound, even at their most tripped out and damaged, when they were channeling Butthole Surfers and Gaye Bykers On Acid and God Bullies and Lubricated goat, their wild rhythmic blowouts were always laced with primo hooks and loads of melody, and it was that subtle poppy undercurrent, that kept them from being just another noisy rock band. But the thing was, before now, it seemed that it was mostly about the heaviness, and they were indeed heavy, sidling up alongside outfits like Harvey Milk, spitting out churning elephantine riffage and skull caving flurries of drum damage, if we had our way, we wouldn't have changed anything about Wildildlife. That is until we heard this. It's like they're a whole different band. Not sure if it's a natural progression or if it's the influence of their new producer, Jennifer Herema of Royal Trux, but the new sound is downright GLAMMY, swaggery, and power poppy, the vocals, which used to be distorted and sped up and processed into strange chipmunk squeals, is now actual and proper singing, and as if to drive that whole glam thing home, there's sax now, and we generally HATE sax, but this is like Stooges / Hanoi Rocks sax, which means it rules, and it somehow just makes things sound even cooler. The opening track might just be our new favorite jam, right out of the gate, it's total soaring fuzzy pop, chiming guitar melodies, warm synth swells, and then when the main riff kicks in, we're in classic Kiss territory, suddenly the picture on the back of the lp, that has the band all in white, the lens all vaselined, looking like seventies rockers Angel, makes WAY more sense. And actually, after more listens, it sounds less like Kiss, and more like Redd Kross cover Kiss, which is even better, slithery and swaggery an snotty and hooky but still heavy, but so glammy, right down to the little sexy exhalation of breath in the super short break. And somehow it seems appropriately self defeating that their catchiest and most accessible song is titled "Fuck That". The follow up "I Want You Out" even furthers the whole Redd Kross / Kiss thing, but we're talking old Redd Kross, circa Teen Babes From Monsanto, when they were still heavy and a little dark, and way drugged out and psychedelic, "I Want You Out" is all big tribal drumming, downtuned riffs, even some handclaps, and more of those new vocals, and lots of bleating/skronking sax, that once the song gets going sounds like a glam metal version of Fleetwood Mac's "Tusk". Not sure what the hell happened, but we most definitely want some of what they're having. And the rest of the record unfurls in a similar fashion, classic rock riffs, are all wound up in a glittery haze, hooks are doused in fuzz and buzz and sent spinning into the space rock ether, but the band continue to mix it up, to confuse and confound. "Sometimes" is a folk ballad, dubbed out and drenched in low end synth buzz, acoustic guitars wrapped in reverb, the result a sort of apocalyptic doom folk, glitter style, only to lurch right into "Give In To Live", another Kiss/Thin Lizzy style glamrock groover, but here underpinned by some serious double kick drumming. "Stormbringer" (possibly a Deep Purple cover?) is an epic slow build of distorted vocals, gurgling synths, big drums, but instead of launching into full on glammed out noise rock mode, they lay back, and groove out, a sort of old school Hawkwind style space rock brooder that KILLS, and should have gone on for another 6 minutes. "Shiv" is a low slung, super distorted fuzz heavy churning creep, laced with glammy filigree, and finally, "Permanent Vacation" is the ultimate send off, you can almost imagine these guys on a huge stage, lit from behind with blinding showers of pyro, the drummer standing on his seat, winding up the crowd to clap along, the vocals gnarled and twisted, the guitars chiming and soaring, but instead of launching into the song proper, these guys stretch it out, adding weird rhythmic shifts, bits of mathy weirdness, all the while building and building, totally epic and majestic, before all the sounds are stripped away, leaving a weird warped melody, and some twisted drum machine skitter. Remember about 1000 words ago we said something about never wanting these guys to change? What the hell were we thinking, sure we might miss the sheer heaviness and drugged out crush of the old Wildildlife, but it seems like a more than fair trade for the new, glammed out, super catchy, weirdo noisepop Wildildlife. Fuck yeah. While they last, we have the super limited version on AMAZING colored vinyl, they are mostly clear, with weird spurts of color in the middle, mine looks like a bloody egg or something, and all the lps include a download coupon for a digital copy of the record as well!

MPEG stream: Fuck That
MPEG stream: I Want You Out
MPEG stream: Permanent Vacation

As a teaser for their upcoming Jennifer Herrema (Royal Trux, RTX) produced full length, psychedelic metallic noise poppers Wildildlife team up with their sludge pop doom noise pals in Flood for a killer two song onslaught. Wildildlife just keep getting better, their sound getting poppier and poppier, but somehow managing to not get less heavy or any less weird or psychedelic. Their track here explodes right out of the gate with some mathy drum pound and some tangled guitar harmonies, sounding almost like some sort of Iron Maiden / Butthole Surfers hybrid, the sound woozy and distorted and druggy, the vocals processed and all tripped out, hooks galore, but all buried under Wildildlife's blown out glammy noise pop chaos. Swaths of crumbling sound and swirls of spacey effects get wrapped around looped samples, and wild streaks of pop flecked psychedelia, churning, and rhythmic and heavy, and noisy and crazy catchy to boot. Flood counter with some low slung slithery post rock lope, which gains momentum and finally explodes into a seriously stonery doomy sludge, the brooding minimalism giving way to some epic, majestic hypno doom crush, but with plenty of groove, the sound at one point locking into a long stretch of repetitive and hypnotic chug and churn, sounding like a downtuned doom metal Circle, pounding away beneath bellowed vox and majestic melodies. So good. Limited to 500 copies, we managed to get a bunch of the colored vinyl. Each one is hand numbered, and comes with a download coupon.

It seems like only yesterday that Virginia's Windhand first emerged on the scene seemingly from out of nowhere, announcing their arrival with an enormous earth-splitting debut that left doomheads the world over cavorting in slow motion ecstasy. But in the year and a half that's followed their acclaim has only grown (thanks in no small part to an immense split with Cough) and now their second full length has arrived with some serious expectations in tow. But never fear! Because it's another overwhelming stoned monument of blown-out moss-specked DOOM. The first thing you'll notice about Windhand is just how damn HEAVY they are, and in the graveyard realm of doom metal that's no small feat. But just the very tone and weight of Windhand's music seriously puts most other supposedly "heavy" bands to shame. The guitars are lumbering funereal paced black magic incantations - all overdriven and decayed, but unfathomably huge, with the occasional dreamy affects drenched lead swimming out from under the murkiness. The sound is so bottom heavy that it's hard to tell where the guitars end and the bass begins. Instead they simply congeal into one slithering black leviathan mass, while the drums plod underneath like slaveship percussion. The vocals seem to be crying out from the other side of a black hole, ghostly and buried in the mix, sounding perfectly forlorn and out of reach. They immediately bring to mind Electric Wizard's landmark Dopethrone, and really we'd be remiss in not mentioning that Electric Wizard is a pretty obvious touchstone for this band in general. But there does seem to be a more serious undercurrent running through Windhand's music. While Electric Wizard's music is often imbued with a kind of acid biker B-movie kitsch, Windhand instead trade that in for a sense of urban decay and personal dread that brings to mind Pallbearer or Strength To Dream-era Warning. There is very little reprieve from the claustrophobic heaviness. The only real exceptions are the sparse Americana twang of "Evergreen"'s acoustic folk noir (a song that really allows Dorthia Cottrell's haunting vocals to shine) and the lonely acoustic minimalism interspersed into the enormous slow-burn "Boleskine", which closes out the album with 30+ minutes of intense heaviness before fading out into the bleak sounds of howling prairie winds. As a sidenote, we should also mention that the dudes (& dudette) from the band swung by aQuarius when they were in town last week - and we just happened to be playing the new record in the shop at the time, of course! Needless to say they were super nice and friendly, even going so far as to put us on the guest list for their show that night! And we're very pleased to report that when we arrived at the tiny Hemlock Tavern for the performance, we were subjected to literally one of the loudest, heaviest (and sweatiest!) live shows we've ever seen, and it really gave us a new appreciation for the band. Not that we needed another reason to recommend this record! It goes without saying, but if all things slow and heavy are what get your motor rumbling, then there's no way you can pass on this stumbling crumbling testament to relentless heaviness!

MPEG stream: Orchard
MPEG stream: Woodbine
MPEG stream: Evergreen

It takes a lot for a doom metal record to knock us on our asses. Sure it's a sound we love, so even the most pedestrian doom pushes our buttons, and we tend to find it sonically pleasing, but as a genre, doom more than most metal subgenres has a tendency to become boring and ponderous. It's sort of unavoidable, it's slow and dreary and depressive, and so it takes some sort of spark to turn that sort of dreary sonic depression into something you want to listen to. So what is it exactly about this record, the debut from these Richmond doomlords (which weirdly features members of Alabama Thunderpussy) that has us losing our shit? In fact we'd been chomping at the bit to get this reviewed on the list, but our distributors continued to be out of it. So here it is, finally, presented for your approval, and we can safely say that since we first discovered this record, we've listened to little else. It's slow, heavy, Sabbathy, hell it even starts out with the whole rain and thunder and whipping wind thing (which in fact pops up throughout the record!), but it's also seriously droney and tripped out, in fact listening to it now, it definitely reminds us of Electric Wizard a LOT, the same mix of classic churning doom, and witchy psychedelia, the vocals are doused in effects and soar majestically beneath heaving walls of blackened doomic crumble, the songs are peppered with squalls of wild wah guitar, the drumming is monstrous, the riffs KILL, and the songs are catchy as fuck. The band lock into these super tranced out almost mantra like workouts, that remind us of EW's "Supercoven", the sort of drug drenched heaviness that inspires a woozy lethargic swaying hypnotic headbanging, a sort of trancey worshipful reverence that only the truly exalted doom outfits command. We're also reminded weirdly of Acid Bath, the band have a serious knack for apocalyptic psychedelic pop, but here rendered in shades of dirge and doom, just check out "Heap Wolves" which sounds like a doom band covering something off Paegan Terrorism Tactics. Heavy and psychedelic, doomy and droney, Windhand have most definitely made THEE psych doom record of the year, and a serious contender come year end top ten lists, metal OR otherwise! FYI there's also a cd version, but our supplier wuz out, hopefully we'll have 'em soon...

MPEG stream: Black Candles
MPEG stream: Libusen
MPEG stream: Winter Sun

Doom legend Scott "Wino" Weinrich, front man for Saint Vitus and The Obsessed, and member of Shrinebuilder, offers up a new solo album, the vinyl of which we have via Volcom. But don't expect heavy stoner doom here. It's passionate, and earnest, yeah, but not heavy - this is an all-acoustic album, just voice and guitar pretty much. So, it's kinda the coffee house version of Wino, we'd have to say. He's gone all singer songwriter on us. And that's not bad, after all he's got a cool voice and is a talented guitar player, as capable with the delicate country folk flecked acoustic stuff as he is with the shredding psychedelic electric leads that sometimes intrude over the acoustic strum. It might not be fair to say that this is his Book Of Shadows (this IS better than that Zakk Wylde acoustic album) but it's definitely a far cry from Born Too Late or The Church Within, as well, doomhounds should note. Maybe Jar Of Flies would be a better comparison? Oh, and if you ever wanted to hear unplugged versions of Motorhead's "Iron Horse" and "Born To Lose", the album ends with such a medley. There's also a Savoy Brown cover too. ----* ----* In Stock, Not Yet Reviewed : ----* If you want to order one of these, just search for the item, then click on the buy button and it will be added to your cart! ACID MOTHER'S TEMPLE / STEARICA "Sterica Invade Acid Mothers Temple" (Homeopathic) cd 17.98 ACRYLICS "Lives And Treasure" (Hot Sand / Friendly Fire) cd 13.98 ANAL CUNT "Fuckin A" (Patac) cd 11.98 ANBB (ALVA NOTO & BLIXA BARGELD) "Mimikry" (Raster-Noton) cd 17.98 ANIKA "s/t" (Stones Throw / Invada) cd 21.00 BANJO OR FREAKOUT "s/t" (RBR) cd/lp 15.98/16.98 BEACH FOSSILS "What A Pleasure" (Captured Tracks) cd/lp 10.98/13.98 BEE MASK "Canzoni Dal Laboratorio Del Silenzio Cosmico" (Spectrum Spools / Editions Mego) lp 21.00 BICK, ANDREAS "Fire And Frost Pattern" (Gruenrekorder) cd 16.98 BIRDS OF AVALON "s/t" (Bladen Country) cd 14.98 BLOOD OF HEROES, THE "s/t" (Ohm Resistance) cd 17.98 BLUE SABBATH BLACK CHEER "Skeletal Coupla Remains" (Gnarled Forest) lp 16.98 BLUE SABBATH BLACK CHEER / WICKED KING WICKER "split" (Gnarled Forest) lp 14.98 BRIGHT EYES "People's Key (First Edition)" (Saddle Creek) cd 14.98 BURZUM "Fallen" (Byelobog) cd 14.98 CASSLE "s/t" (Shadow Kingdom) cd 13.98 COHEN, TIM "Bad Blood" (Captured Tracks) 2x7" 10.98 COVER STORY VOL. 2 "Cover Story Volume Two: Odd, Obscure, and Outrageous Album Art" (Waxpoetics) book 24.95 DANAVA / EARTHLESS / LECHEROUS GAZE "s/t" (Kemado) lp 19.98 DARK DAY "Strange Clockwork" (self-released) cd 12.98 DECEMBERISTS, THE "The King Is Dead" (Capitol) cd 17.98 ELECTRIC VOYAGE "Flight of No Return" (Kemado) 7" 5.98 ESG "Dance To The Best Of ESG" (Soul Jazz) 3lp 59.00 EXPO 70 "Center of the Earth" (Sonic Meditations) 2lp 33.00 FABRIC "A Sort Of Radiance" (Spectrum Spools / Editions Mego) lp 21.00 FATHER BEFOULED "Morbid Destitution of Covenant" (Relapse) cd 14.98 FEAR "The Record" (Slash / Rhino) lp 14.98 FINCHES "On Golden Hill" (Ulrike) cd 10.98 FLOATING BRIDGE "s/t" (Aurora) cd 17.98 FRIMPONG, K. & HIS CUBANO FIESTAS "s/t" (Continental Records) lp 17.98 GANG OF FOUR "Entertainment" (Rhino / Warner Bros.) lp 24.00 GRAYCEON "All We Destroy" (Profound Lore) cd 13.98 GREEN DOOR KIDS, THE "Muzikal Yooth" (Optimo Music) lp 16.98 GROSSKOPF, HAROLD + VARIOUS ARTISTS "Synthesist / Re-Synthesist" (Rvng Intl) lp+cd 22.00 HAINO, KEIJI, JIM O'ROURKE, & OREN AMBARCHI "In A Flash Everything Comes Together As One There Is No Need For A Subject" (A Black Truffle / Medama) 2lp 29.00 HAMMER, JOSEPH "I Love You, Please Love Me" (Pan) lp 36.00 HELEN LUNDY TRIO, THE "s/t" (HLT Records) cd 11.98 HUMAN INSTINCT "Kiwi Psych Heads : Singles 1966-1971" (Groovie) lp 32.00 HYPE WILLIAMS "One Nation" (Hippos In Tanks) 12" 25.00 INDEX "Black Album / Red Album / Yesterday & Today" (Lion Productions) 2cd 27.00 JOHANNSSON, JOHANN "Virdulegu Forsetar" (Touch) 2lp 22.00 JOKERS "s/t" (Fading Sunshine) cd 14.98 JUV "s/t" (Miasmah) cd/2lp 16.98/23.00 KALEIDOSCOPE "s/t" (Shadoks) cd 17.98 KVELERTAK "s/t" (Indie Recordings) cd 14.98 LARD FREE "Gilbert Artman's Lard Free" (Wah-Wah) lp 30.00 LI, LYKKE "Wounded Rhymes" (Atlantic) cd 13.98 LIFELOVER "Sjukdom" (Prophecy Productions) cd 16.98 MAJUTSU NO NIWA "Ecstatic Crystalization" (Musik Atlach) cd 16.98 MANDELBROT & SKYY "OD-Axis" (Digitalis) lp 14.98 MARATHON MAN / THE PARALLAX VIEW (MICAHEL SMALL) "OST" (Film Score Monthly) cd 17.98 METABOLISMUS "Mauser Ok" (Amish Records) 7" 10.98 NATURAL SNOW BUILDINGS "Waves Of The Random Sea" (Blackest Rainbow) cd 19.98 NATURAL YOGURT BAND, THE "Tuck In With..." (Now Again) cd 18.98 NEUMEIER, MANI & KAWABATA MAKOTO "Samurai Blues" (Bureau B) cd 17.98 NIGGAS WITH GUITARS "Ethnic Frenzy" (Digitalis) lp 16.98 OSWALD, JOHN + 1,001 VINTAGE POP STARS "Perplexure" (Fony) lp 14.98 OUTER LIMITS RECORDINGS "$20 Bill" (True Panther) 7" 6.98 PSYCHIC REALITY "Vibrant New Age" (Not Not Fun) lp 14.98 PUCE MOMENT "Avoiding Certain Topics / Essence Of Mann e.p. / Puce Moment" (self-released) 3 x cassette 9.98 PULSE EMITTER "Spiritual Vistas" (Cylindrical Habitat Modules / Expansive) lp 14.98 PURO INSTINCT "Headbangers In Ecstasy" (Mexican Summer) cd/lp 13.98/16.98 PURO INSTINCT "Stilyagi / Put Medved To Bedved" (Mexican Summer) 7" 5.98 QUICKSAND DREAM "Aelin - A Story About Destiny" (Planet Metal) cd 10.98 RIVAL SCHOOLS "Pedals" (Photo Finish) cd 12.98 RONETTES, THE "Be My Baby : The Very Best Of The Ronettes" (Legacy) cd 10.98 ROSE, EDEN "On The Way To Eden" (Lion) cd 16.98 RURAL ALBERTA ADVANTAGE, THE "Departing" (Saddle Creek) cd 14.98 SAXANA - THE GIRL ON A BROOMSTICK (MICHAJLOV, ANGELO) "OST" (B-Music / Finders Keepers) cd 16.98 SCALE THE SUMMIT "The Collective" (Prosthetic) cd 14.98 SHIFLET, MIKE & DANIEL MENCHE "Stalemate" (Sonoris) cd 13.98 SHIVER, THE "Walpurgis" (Garden of Delights) lp 34.00 SIMONE, NINA "At Newport" (Doxy) lp+cd 26.00 SIMONE, NINA "The Legendary First Recording In New York City, 1957" (Doxy) lp+cd 26.00 SLITS, THE "In The Beginning" (Vinyl Lovers) lp 27.00 SLOATH "s/t" (Riot Season) lp 17.98 SPACEMEN 3 "Take Me To The Other Side" (Fire) 12" 13.98 STEEL MILL "Jewels Of The Forest" (Rise Above Relics) cd 16.98 TEAMS VS. STAR SLINGER "s/t" (Mexican Summer) 12" 19.98 THX 1138 (LALO SCHIFRIN) "OST" (Film Score Monthly) cd 17.98 TORO Y MOI "Underneath The Pine" (Carpark) cd 14.98 V/A "Brazil Bossa Beat! Bosa Nova & The Story Of Elenco Records, Brazil" (Soul Jazz Records) cd/2lp 23.00/24.00 V/A "Cartagena! Curro Fuentes & The Big Band Combia And Descarga Sound Of Columbia 1962-72" (Soundway) cd 16.98 V/A "Casual Victim Pile II" (12XU) lp 14.98 V/A "Funky Chicken" (Trojan) cd 15.98 V/A "Groove Club Vol. 3: Cambodian Rock Intensified!" (Lion / Get On Down) 2lp 22.00 V/A "Guitar Mood 2" (INST) lp 10.98 V/A "Nippon Girls: Japanese Pop, Beat, & Bossa Nova 1966-1970" (Big Beat International) cd 19.98 V/A "Rhythm" (Gruenrekorder) cd 16.98 V/A "Riddimentary : Diplo Selects Greensleeves" (Greensleeves) cd 12.98 VACANT LOTS "Confusion b/w Cadillac" (Mexican Summer) 7" 5.98 VAMPILLIA "Alchemic Heart" (Important) cd 14.98 VENA "Nomadic" (Paradigms) cd ep 11.98 VESTER, HEIKE / OCEAN SOUNDS "Marine Mammals And Fish Of Lofoten And Vesteralen" (Gruenrekorder) cd 16.98 WILLIAMS, LUCINDA "Blessed" (Lost Highway) cd 15.98 _______________________________________________________________________ Please place your order via our website. [1] We will contact you to verify your order and let you know when it will be shipped. Please note that occasionally it may take a day or two for us to reply. We are not a faceless bunch of computers replying to your order -- we are human beings! [2] If we are out of some of your items and we think we will get them within the same week, we can wait to ship. Or... If it's going to be more than a few days to complete your order, we will ship what we have and then will contact you as the remainders arrive. [ note ] Due to the everchanging nature of the independent record business, we are not responsible for listed price changes (due to supplier price changes) and often cannot update our site fast enough to reflect these changes, but we will always try to let you know of any differences.

It's about time that stoner rock guitar god Scott Weinrich, better known by his nickname Wino, former vocalist for Saint Vitus, just up and called his band "Wino". After all, The Obsessed, Shine, Spirit Caravan, Hidden Hand, they were all Wino projects with drawing card, Wino. So, at last, here's the man's "solo" album. Unlike at this year's Southern Lord SXSW showcase, where he did indeed play an entirely solo (and acoustic!) set, Wino is in fact a band on Punctuated Equilibrium, a power trio that also features the talents of Jean Paul Gaster (of Clutch) on drums and Jon Blank on bass. And guess what? Wino sounds pretty much like Wino's other bands! Which is exactly what we hoped for. A mix of '70s style heavy rock, aggro punkishness, and technically badass instrumental interplay, with of course political-mystical-conspiracy lyrics delivered in Wino's trademark gravelly croon. Wino's other trademark, his distinctive fat guitar tone, is also present and accounted for. Loping, bellbottomed opener "Release Me" sounds a bit like Captain Beyond, born too late. Then things get a bit frashter for the next tune, the title track. And the album rolls on, an eclectic, electric trip through, well, what Wino is all about. Making music that's part Mountain, part Mahavishnu... doomy, psychedelic, often esoteric and instrumental (among the latter, there's a song called "The Women In The Orange Pants" that almost could be Stinking Lizaveta...and considering the title, it's probably just as well there's no lyrics). Speaking of track titles, who else but Wino would call a song "Gods, Frauds, Neo-Cons and Demagogues"?

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MPEG stream: Secret Realm Devotion

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Available once again, this legendary doom/death classic, done up deluxe by Southern Lord. Available on vinyl for the first time in about 20 years, and again on cd... We're always excited to sing the praises of this record, it's been one of our favorites for years, always on the iPod, and never far from the stereos of those of us into the DOOOOM. The last reissue came out way back in 1999, but wasn't always that easy to get, and so were were psyched about this new one, and Southern Lord's version makes perfect sense, especially with the ongoing interest in all things doomy and sludgy AND the fact that probably EVERY SINGLE band on SL owes a HUGE debt to these doom / sludge forefathers. We bet there's even some folks out there who don't realize there was any doom pre- Corrupted / Boris / Earth / SUNNO))). Well let's go all the way back to the very early nineties, head out to Long Island and re-discover the pummelling majesty of the mighty Winter. There's not a doom band worth its stripes who wouldn't cite Winter as an influence, and one listen proves why. Crusty, downtuned sludge metal, but unlike the current crop of ultra doomsters, Winter's roots were in much more traditional thrash and doom metal as well as crusty punk. Often described as a slowed down Celtic Frost, due in no small part to the vocal delivery, Winter managed to mix elements of Black Sabbath (obviously, what doom band doesn't), Hellhammer, diSEMBOWELMENT and UK political crust band Doom into a slithery, creeping, suffocatingly dense blast of chugging guitar, pounding drums and creepy growled vocals. On closer listening their are also strange bits of organ and found sounds and bizarre vocal snippets scattered throughout and buried here and there. There are even guitar solos!! But no normal solos, no these are all spikey and twisted and serpentine, chaotic squalls of prickly squealing freakout that fit perfectly into Winter's desolate doomscapes. The other thing worth mentioning is the lyrics, which at the time got them a lot of attention / flak, quite cryptic for sure, but they seem to focus on saving the environment, anti-pollution, anti-technology, ecological awareness (Exit-13 anyone?) displaying their crusty roots there for sure! Fans of the new crop of doom and ultra doom would do well to take a peek at a band who truly was ahead of their time, a band who helped lay the groundwork for the sonic pummelling provided to you on a daily basis by bands like Skepticism, Esoteric, Rigor Sardonicous, Moss, Bunkur, and even Electric Wizard and Sleep, who might not even exist were it not for Winter. The vinyl is housed in a super heavy, deluxe, Stoughton style gatefold jacket, and both versions, vinyl and cd, include a big booklet full of lyrics, artwork and old flyers (the lp's booklet in the form of an oversized newsprint insert!).. The only bummer about the Southern Lord reissue, is that for some reason, this version leaves off the bonus tracks that were included with the previous cd reissue, the equally kick ass Eternal Frost ep, but maybe/hopefully Southern Lord plan on reissuing that one later, on its own. Here's hoping!

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We've always wanted to list this, it's been one of our favorite records for years, always on the iPod, and never far from the stereos of those of us into the DOOOOM. This reissue first came out way back in 1999, but it hasn't been easy to get lately, so when we found a distro that had a bunch we jumped on 'em. And it's especially timely now considering the renewed interest in all things doomy and sludgy. We bet there's even some folks out there who don't realize there was any doom pre- Corrupted / Boris / Earth / SUNNO))). Well let's go all the way back to the very early nineties, head out to Long Island and re-discover the pummelling majesty of the mighty Winter. There's not a doom band worth its stripes who wouldn't cite Winter as an influence, and one listen proves why. Crusty, downtuned sludge metal, but unlike the current crop of ultra doomsters, Winter's roots were in much more traditional thrash and doom metal as well as crusty punk. Often described as a slowed down Celtic Frost, due in no small part to the vocal delivery, Winter managed to mix elements of Black Sabbath (obviously, what doom band doesn't), Hellhammer, diSEMBOWELMENT and UK political crust band Doom into a slithery, creeping, suffocatingly dense blast of chugging guitar, pounding drums and creepy growled vocals. On closser listening their are also strange bits of organ and found sounds and bizarre vocal snippets scattered throughout and buried here and there. There are even guitar solos!! But no normal solos, no these are all spikey and twisted and serpentine, chaotic squalls of prickly squealing freakout that fit perfectly into Winter's desolate doomscapes. And speaking of guitar, this reissue also contains Winter's Eternal Frost ep, which features the bizarre (and prescient, considering the current state of ambient drone doom metal) bonus track "Manifestations 1", an extended psychedelic soundscape constructed wholly from guitar and manipulated effects. So cool. The other thing worth mentioning is the lyrics, which at the time got them a lot of attention / flak, quite cryptic for sure, but they seem to focus on saving the environment, anti-pollution, anti-technology, ecological awareness (Exit-13 anyone?) displaying their crusty roots there for sure! Fans of the new crop of doom and ultra doom would do well to take a peek at a band who truly was ahead of their time, a band who helped lay the groundwork for the sonic pummelling provided to you on a daily basis by bands like Skepticism, Esoteric, Rigor Sardonicous, Moss, Bunkur, and even Electric Wizard and Sleep, who might not even exist were it not for Winter.

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This is one of those classic rock '70s bands that I (Allan) had always heard of (their claim to fame was pioneering the twin guitar harmony thing, inspiring Thin Lizzy and later Iron Maiden) but had never heard... Nobody was like, "Dude! Wishbone Ash! You

RealAudio clip: Lady Wiskey
RealAudio clip: Errors Of My Ways

THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SORRY. The European label Who Can You Trust? brings us two new tapes in their series of limited live cassette-only releases by some of our favorite heavy/psych bands, that began with the instantly-out-of-print White Hills live at WFMU tape last year. One from San Francisco's very own Dzjenghis Khan, and one by Massachusetts heavy lords Witch featuring Dinosaur Jr.'s J Mascis on drums. The cassette from Witch was recorded live at Holland's celebrated Roadburn Festival, in 2008 - and in our experience, bands tend to be at their best at Roadburn! Their set features nine songs over two sides, songs drawn from both of Witch's albums, five from their especially stoner/Sabbathy styled self-titled debut and four from their somewhat more punked out sophomore effort Paralyzed. So a bunch of our Witch favorites are on here, including "Rip Van Winkle", "Seer", and the crucial "Changing", which Allan here considers to be the best heavy hypnotic doom stoner song of the century so far. In fact, he'd probably be happy with a tape that just repeated them playing it over and over and over, it's so good, not that Witch's other songs aren't killer too. But that one, wow, it's got a riff to rival "Satori Part II" by the Flower Travellin' Band, man. Anyway, the only people who are gonna be fast enough on the trigger to nab one of these tapes are already Witch fans, and already know all that... Being live, of course the sound on this tape is somewhat raw, compared to the studio recordings, but it's good, better than a bootleg for sure. Witch sound particularly Melvins-y here! Purple cassette, with sexy witch cover art on the J-card by the band's bassist, Dave Sweetapple. Super limited (200 copies only!), and we only have a few...

The Witch album that came out last year was, in our doom-lovin' opinion, one of the best Black Sabbath/'70s styled doom metal records we'd heard in a long time. And quite a surprise, considering that Witch is something of an unlikely "supergroup" -- including members of new weird folksters Feathers, and Dinosaur Jr. mainman J. Mascis, on drums!! Of course, Mascis is super busy now with the (equally unlikely but totally awesome) Dinosaur reunion, we know that our hankering for new material (or live dates out here in California) from Witch was probably gonna require some patience on our part. Fortunately, to keep us tided over 'til whenever that happens, there's this unexpected DVD documentary on Witch! With the great title "Local Band Nitemare", it's about 20 minutes long, shot on tour in in the Northeast, 2007 including both live performance and interview footage... join Witch on the road, in the van, backstage, in the hotel. Hijinks ensue, sort of. Some of it is actually funny, maybe just 'cause it's J. Mascis there in his long grey hair and glasses... and the live bits will serve to remind you how this multigenerational band of longhairs are almighty masters of the swingin' doom RIFF, in the tradition of Sabbath, Saint Vitus, Sleep, Dead Meadow, and even the Flower Travellin' Band. Also included in addition to Local Band Nitemare: the psychedelic-visual-effects overloaded promo video for the track "Seer" (check out J. spinning those sticks!), a special full live rendition of "Isadora" from their very first show, and also an art/photo gallery feature. So, if you like Witch as much as we do, you'll be pretty stoked on this. If you haven't checked Witch out yet, well we urge you to pick up their self-titled debut if what we said about 'em above has interested you at all! NB. the band originally released this themselves on dvd-r, wrapped in just a xeroxed paper sleeve, but this new version on Tee Pee is a real dvd, packaged in a normal dvd case, done up all pro-like.

Witch's self-titled debut from 2006 was one of our absolute favorite "stoner/doom" metal releases of that year (or any year sez Allan!). An unlikely "supergroup" combo consisting in part of members of folk-pysch collective Feathers, with famed alt-rock guitar god J. Mascis of Dinosaur Jr. on drums (not guitar!), Witch exceeded all expectations with their slow and Sabbathy, heavier than thou, utterly righteous psychedelic doom mastery. OMG, oh my Iommi, the riffs!! Perhaps aware that they couldn't really outdo (or outdoom?) themselves riff-wise, the debut being such a tough act to follow in that department, the Witchy ones have smartly decided to accentuate some other aspects of their sound on their sophomore slab. So while the first Witch had held hints of SST styled '80s punkishness, our first impression of Paralyzed is that it's definitely much more punked out than its illustrious predecessor. Perhaps Mascis, who used to keep time in hardcore/grind band Deep Wound way back when, wanted more of a workout on the drums. It's quite chaotically energetic and uptempo aggro a lot of the time, along with indulging in their usual lugubrious headbanging trancification. A little less Vitus, a little more Flag (is the song "Gone" a nod to Ginn's other band?). And maybe more Frost, less Sabbath. Not that they don't bring the riffs, it's just that they don't quite match the 10 on a scale of 1-10 magnitude of those from the likes of "Changing" or "Rip Van Winkle" from the self titled album (how could they?). However, the speedier (in parts) Paralyzed does certainly boast a bonanza of snakey lead guitar action, liberally dosed in tripped out psychedelic FX. We gotta hand it to singer/lead axeman Kyle Thomas, he shows no signs of nervousness taking tangled solos with none other than (let's not forget) J. Mascis bashing away behind him. Nor is he shy on the mic, his vocals sometimes reminding us of the sneer/snarl of Blaine from The Accused... with, still, a bit of the Ozz. Other observations: sometimes we think we hear the cries of garagey pop jangle buried alive on some of these tracks, and at times we might (might) describe Witch as sounding like a way more badass Dead Meadow. Also the more lumbering tracks here ('cause they do slow it down) remind us of some early Melvins or Steel Pole Bathtub. It's a pretty rad, reverby mix altogether, an cool collision of heavy psychotic shambling psych and corroded crossover punk/metal. We're digging it. Comes in a black digipack adorned with the apocalyptic, druggy, melty-looking artwork of bros Luke and Kyle Thomas, which makes it even cooler.

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We've all been loving the soft lilting new weird free hippy folk of the Feathers, who for us were a recent discovery. And we've always been big fans of J Mascis, the distorted psychedelic indie fuzz of Dinosaur Jr, but even in his stints with sludgy punk rock outift Deep Wound and behind the kit for weirdo metallers Upside Down Cross. But never in our wildest dreams did we imagine the twain would meet. But what do you know? It's either a seriously small world, or there is some not so secret bond joining the disparate music arcs of these long haired fellows. Witch is not necessarily what you might imagine a meeting of Dinosaur Jr. and the Feathers would sound like, although the frilly jackets and bell bottoms and long hair should give you a clue. This is total seventies proto metal meets sludgy groovy stoner rock. Big BIG riffs, groovy and sun baked, blown out and HEAVY. Seriously. We hear Sabbath, Saint Vitus, Pentagram, Trouble, even some Kyuss and more modern stoner/doom outfits, like Witchcraft and Dead Meadow. The vocals are drenched in reverb and are sort of soaring and whining, some definite Ozzy influence there, also at times verging on a reedy Marc Bolan/Comus folky warble. And the guitar sound, OOF! You'd be forgiven for thinking that was Mascis on lead guitar, but he's manning the drum kit here, no the guitars are fuzzy seventies metallic groove, with a guitar sound definitely reminiscent of Sub Pop drone guitar gods Rein Sanction, like Hendrix filtered through Iommi, laced with LSD, dipped in goat's blood, set in the sun to bake and of course slathered in warm distorted fuzz. But with a band like this it's all about the riffs. Everyone knows Sabbath took all the best riffs, that's why so many heavy bands have based entire careers on stealing 'em, but Witch prove that there are still some killer riffs left out there. Heavy and fuzzy enough to bear a passing resemblance to the Sabs, but weird and wooly and unique enough that they can unabashedly claim them as their own. This is definitely another one of those bands like Elope or the Want, that if you didn't know better, and were forced to guess, you could be forgive for thinking Witch were straight out of the seventies (though with maybe 'cause of J, a whif of '80s SST hardcore punk somewhere in there too). Sonically, production wise, the whole package. And while the whole record is heavy and sludgy and groovy, it's worth the price of admission alone for track 5, "Rip Van Winkle" with a riff that is one of THOSE riffs. The whole track is a stone cold classic, from THAT riff, to the crazy blown out psychedelic leads, to the bombastic drumming, the weird arrangement, the wailing vocals, it's hugely heavy, head noddingly hypnotic, head bangingly massive, but groovy and catchy, minor key melodies beneath thick waves of warm guitar fuzz, totally emotional and amazing, it's like the best Sabbath song that never was. Then there's the track right before it, "Changing", that ALSO has one of THOSE riffs, and sounds like some sort of incredible, exotic Saint Vitus/Flower Travellin' Band hybrid. Wow. And all the other songs are pretty amazing too. We just wish that they could have come up with a name a little more original than Witch. If they were indeed dead set on some sort of Witch name, you can't go wrong adding some appropriately evil or mysterious second word to your band name, I mean, c'mon, we would have gladly taken Featherwitch or even better DINOSAUR WITCH!

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Profound Lore brings us the second album in two years from female fronted PDX doom posse Witch Mountain. And for the second time, their weighty Sabbathy stoner sludge is taken to another level by the soaring singing of Uta Plotkin, who can really belt it out, damn! Opener "The Ballad Of Lanky Rae" is a bit of a curveball, a bluesy backwoods tall tale about a seven foot woman, who as a little girl preferred to play with guns instead of dolls, and eventually leaves town (after stealing a car and shooting a man down) to find her gun-totin', whisky drinking demon daddy, deep at the center of the earth. It's good fun, some swampy stoner rawk all right, and Plotkin sure puts it across. But, the other tracks on this album are quite a bit more "serious" sounding than that, with atmospheres more desolate, or emotions more real. The riffs are massive and mighty, the quiet parts moody and melodic, and Plotkin proves that her vocal range can convincingly venture into scary growls as well as piercing howls. The guitars get to let loose too, and these aren't short songs. Ferinstance, "Aurelia", the longest, clocks in at almost 12 minutes, its epic post-rock loud-soft dynamics mixed with more of that high lonesome sound, Plotkin singing sadly and sweetly amidst plodding heavy parts that utterly crush. The album's closer is another long one, a 9:22 doom-blues that creeps along quietly for some time before its cathartic fists-clenched conclusion. Earth fronted by Alannah Myles might be a good/weird comparision! Furthermore, there's moments on this album that make us think of both Hammers Of Misfortune and Black Label Society, at the same time. Which is also weird. But awesome. Basically, if you liked Witch Mountain's South Of Salem, you'll like this. And it's very much recommened to fans of the current crop of female fronted heavy rock acts, especially Royal Thunder, Loon, and The Devil's Blood.

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Doom metal from Portland, Oregon. Formerly known as Iommi Stubs (a better name!) so you know they're Sabbath freaks. Unfortunately, this is one for doom die-hards only, as the vocals (except the one song with Lost Goat's Erica Stoltz guesting) are not so good, and the music is pretty average too. Maybe next time. But, they deserve praise for one clever, Judas Priest

From Portland Oregon via the UK (courtesy of Rage Of Achilles) comes Witch Mountain. A noisy sloppy but pretty heavy mix of seventies stoner groove and groovy doom somewhere between Sabbath and St. Vitus.

The veteran PDX doomsters return, with their 3rd album of the band's "Uta Plotkin era". Her sultry, soulful singing has gotten Witch Mountain a lot of deserved attention since she joined in 2009, and this new effort once again benefits from her presence. Where else can you hear such epic, bluesy doooooom crawls with vocals by someone who, while tuff enuff, also kinda sounds like she could be a contestant on "The Voice", but crooning lyrics (her own) like "Classy, fornicating rodents / Grafting thumbs on fishes foreheads / Portentous pustules popping discreetly / Meat streaked sheets do whisper sweetly". Uta's definitely the star of the show, bringing an almost pop diva skill set to the band's heavy slo-mo sound, and she throws in a cookie monster vocal growl at least once, just to show she's down with that too. The mix of metal and melody here pretty satisfying, especially for anyone who enjoyed the previous two albums, South Of Salem and Cauldron Of The Wild with her on the mic. We just heard, however, that Uta is splitting with the band soon, so this will be their last album with her. Going back to having the guitarist sing might not be the best option, we wonder what they'll decide to do?

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MPEG stream: Can't Settle
MPEG stream: The Shape Truth Takes

Could it be that Sweden's Witchcraft, who seem like some long-lost '70s outfit who stumbled into our era by mistake, are for real? And not some drug-induced figment of a bell-bottomed stoner/doom fantatic's imagination? Yea and verily. Firewood proves that the first Witchcraft record was no crazy fluke. That album was so good (recall, we opened our review of it by saying: "PERHAPS THEE BEST '70s-INSPIRED DOOM ALBUM EVER" in all-caps just like that!) that for their eagerly-awaited follow-up to be even half as good would be impressive. I mean, they'd set the bar pretty high. We are therefore ecstatic to report that Firewood definitely lives up to the standard established by the debut! Can't say yet if it's just almost as good, or if it's even better -- but clearly it's up there with their first disc. I don't think they've yet topped their signature song "No Angel Or Demon" (which appeared on the self-titled disc but also preceeded it on the band's first release, a 7" single) but there's plenty of great songs (and riffs) on Firewood nonetheless, to compare well with the debut. Firewood storms out of the gate with "Chylde of Fire", wanders through the morose "Wooden Cross (I Can't Wake The Dead)", bludgeons with the doomful "Queen of Bees"...and seven more, all killer. Firewood's also got the same fat '70s vintage production (a little brighter now mayhaps) as before. And certainly their undeniable Pentagram influence (what countrymen Dungen are to Pugh Rogefeldt, Witchcraft are to early Pentagram) is still there, in spades, including a hidden bonus track Pentagram cover, which goes hand in hand with a BIG first-couple-of-Ozzy-era-Sabbath-albums influence as well. And then there's the proggier/folkier elements too, some reminders of Jethro Tull and King Crimson if not quite Comus. Though there is something pagan and ancient here that makes it clear that modern metal and stoner rock has left these guys untouched. That's the beauty of Witchcraft's nostaglic creation. It's hard to think of any current stoner rock or doom band (except for them) who would seriously throw such a disco strut into a song like the way they open "Mr. Haze". Led Zeppelin would be proud. From such unexpected songwriting moves to the folky trill in guitarist/singer/mastermind Magnus Pellander's ever-stronger, emotive voice, they've got such FEEL. That's where they excel. It's an X-factor difficult to describe but central to their success. And it must stem from two things: sheer talent, and their absolute, honest love for (and learning from) the bands that once sounded a bit (or a lot) like them. Put that together and you've got this heavy, sparkling witchy riff-rock retro genius!! If you loved the first Witchcraft, don't hesitate. And if you haven't heard 'em yet, but if you like Pentagram and Sabbath and Witchfinder General and all things heavy and '70s, you'd better lend an ear right NOW. You'll be happy you did.

MPEG stream: If Wishes Were Horses
MPEG stream: Mr. Haze

Yay! Two NEW songs from AQ faves Witchcraft, the Swedish sensations beloved of all those who dig '70s doom/psych like Sabbath and Pentagram as much as they do, and folky proggy stuff too. They're on tour in the US as we write this, go see 'em if you can, we did last night and they were awesome! They played the driving, groovy A-side of this single, "If Crimson Was Your Colour" and it went down a storm. The bluesier B-side, "I Know You Killed Someone" is also a winner, recalling their primal Roky Erickson influence. Seven inch 45 rpm RED VINYL format only, & we only have so many! By the way, if you do go see them this tour, you might see 'em sporting AQ t-shirts, as they were just in the shop today and we traded 'em for Witchcraft tees...

Oh man. The third album from the Swedish prog/psych/doom wizards Witchcraft is finally here. We can barely contain ourselves. They say third time's the charm, and of course with Witchcraft it can't help but being so, since the first two times were charmed as well. This band's debut destroyed us with its incredibly authentic retro Pentagram/Sabbath stylings, with lashings of flute and folkiness too. Their second album, Firewood, captivated us with an equally early '70s heavy progressive vibe. Now The Alchemist succeeds at giving us what we want from Witchcraft -and- pushing further into the realm of melodic, folky proggy rock that stands on its own far beyond being a mere tribute to its '70s ancestors. Guitarist/singer Magnus Pelander and his band Witchcraft have pretty much proved that the old adage "they don't make 'em like they used to" isn't always true. Witchcraft sure as hell does. That it's 2007 not 1972 isn't evident from anything on here, though it sounds as fresh as a daisy at the same time. These guys are so old school analog you halfway expect that their cd would be made out of black plastic and have visible grooves in it. We certainly could imagine some DJ's looking for breaks wanting this on vinyl real bad, you could do some badass hiphop mix with parts of "Remembered" ferinstance. Bet Andy Votel digs this band. Totally sounds like they could have gotten a deal with his favorite progressive record label back in the day (that'd be the famed Vertigo) had Witchcraft really existed in the '70s... certainly the inclusion of the sax solo (yes, a sax solo!) at the end of "Remembered" helps make it sound like something from an old Vertigo LP! Elsewhere Witchcraft get super sweet and gentle, or break out the heavy riffs Sabbath style (like you'd expect -- Sabbath originally being a Vertigo band y'know) in a blend we can't help but love. Magnus' emotive, melodic vocals are so crucial here, one of this record's shining strengths. He still sounds a bit like a Swedish-accented Ozzy, yet with a graceful finesse, belting it out expressively or crooning with lilting loveliness. His vocals are matched by the absolutely powerful and gorgeous guitarwork throughout the disc. This album sweeps us off our feet immediately with the instant-classic opener "Walk Between The Lines", which is followed by a re-recorded version of the A-side of last year's 7" single, "If Crimson Was Your Colour", an urgent, witchy rocker embellished with some tasty Moog licks. Then there's the loping "Leva", which though Magnus sings it in Swedish, still goes straight to our soul. The Sabbath factor is ratcheted up on "Hey Doctor", a lumbering doom-riffed downer lamentation/accusation. The next track, "Samaritan Burden" combines the heavy riffs with a mellower mood and more acoustic-y moments, masterfully structured. It's followed by the aforementioned "Remembered", definitely an album-standout that's so '70s in so many ways that pretty much only Witchcraft could have done it in this day and age. And then, speaking of standouts, comes the nearly 15 minute long title track, "The Alchemist"! We'll omit description other than to say it's of course an epic mindblower, closing the album with magnificent, mesmeric, proggier than thou flourish. Definitely a Top 10 Best of 2007 album. We'd have made it Record Of The Week, but what we've got here is the somewhat pricier Japanese import edition (the domestic version is due out towards the end of the month), with a Japan-only bonus track added on at the end, "Sweet Honey Pie", a lovely, acoustic little number. Not sure when/if we'll get more, so we were wary about giving it pole position. But with or without bonus track, it's an AMAZING new effort from this fantastic band, highly recommended. Seriously, we'd have been happy taking all day to write this review, just 'cause we love listening to this album so much.

MPEG stream: Walk Between The Lines
MPEG stream: Hey Doctor
MPEG stream: Remembered

THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SORRY. Oh man. The third album from the Swedish prog/psych/doom wizards Witchcraft is finally here. We can barely contain ourselves. They say third time's the charm, and of course with Witchcraft it can't help but being so, since the first two times were charmed as well. This band's debut destroyed us with its incredibly authentic retro Pentagram/Sabbath stylings, with lashings of flute and folkiness too. Their second album, Firewood, captivated us with an equally early '70s heavy progressive vibe. Now The Alchemist succeeds at giving us what we want from Witchcraft -and- pushing further into the realm of melodic, folky proggy rock that stands on its own far beyond being a mere tribute to its '70s ancestors. Guitarist/singer Magnus Pelander and his band Witchcraft have pretty much proved that the old adage "they don't make 'em like they used to" isn't always true. Witchcraft sure as hell does. That it's 2007 not 1972 isn't evident from anything on here, though it sounds as fresh as a daisy at the same time. These guys are so old school analog you halfway expect that their cd would be made out of black plastic and have visible grooves in it. We certainly could imagine some DJ's looking for breaks wanting this on vinyl real bad, you could do some badass hiphop mix with parts of "Remembered" ferinstance. Bet Andy Votel digs this band. Totally sounds like they could have gotten a deal with his favorite progressive record label back in the day (that'd be the famed Vertigo) had Witchcraft really existed in the '70s... certainly the inclusion of the sax solo (yes, a sax solo!) at the end of "Remembered" helps make it sound like something from an old Vertigo LP! Elsewhere Witchcraft get super sweet and gentle, or break out the heavy riffs Sabbath style (like you'd expect -- Sabbath originally being a Vertigo band y'know) in a blend we can't help but love. Magnus' emotive, melodic vocals are so crucial here, one of this record's shining strengths. He still sounds a bit like a Swedish-accented Ozzy, yet with a graceful finesse, belting it out expressively or crooning with lilting loveliness. His vocals are matched by the absolutely powerful and gorgeous guitarwork throughout the disc. This album sweeps us off our feet immediately with the instant-classic opener "Walk Between The Lines", which is followed by a re-recorded version of the A-side of last year's 7" single, "If Crimson Was Your Colour", an urgent, witchy rocker embellished with some tasty Moog licks. Then there's the loping "Leva", which though Magnus sings it in Swedish, still goes straight to our soul. The Sabbath factor is ratcheted up on "Hey Doctor", a lumbering doom-riffed downer lamentation/accusation. The next track, "Samaritan Burden" combines the heavy riffs with a mellower mood and more acoustic-y moments, masterfully structured. It's followed by the aforementioned "Remembered", definitely an album-standout that's so '70s in so many ways that pretty much only Witchcraft could have done it in this day and age. And then, speaking of standouts, comes the nearly 15 minute long title track, "The Alchemist"! We'll omit description other than to say it's of course an epic mindblower, closing the album with magnificent, mesmeric, proggier than thou flourish. Definitely a Top 10 Best of 2007 album. We'd have made it Record Of The Week, but what we've got here is the somewhat pricier Japanese import edition (the domestic version is due out towards the end of the month), with a Japan-only bonus track added on at the end, "Sweet Honey Pie", a lovely, acoustic little number. Not sure when/if we'll get more, so we were wary about giving it pole position. But with or without bonus track, it's an AMAZING new effort from this fantastic band, highly recommended. Seriously, we'd have been happy taking all day to write this review, just 'cause we love listening to this album so much.

MPEG stream: Walk Between The Lines
MPEG stream: Hey Doctor
MPEG stream: Remembered

PERHAPS THEE BEST '70s-INSPIRED DOOM ALBUM EVER. Can't put it any plainer. This is sooo authentically old sounding, and sooo good. Sweden's Witchcraft have delved into the past through seemingly mystical means and come up with a masterpiece that sounds like it was recorded by some genius yet unknown downer-rock contemporary of Black Sabbath or Pentagram back in 1972. In a blindfold test, anyone into '70s heavy rock would be fooled for sure. Doomy retro-proto-metal full of heart-wrenching atmosphere, killer riffs, and melodic hooks galore. The mastermind behind Witchcraft, guitarist/vocalist Magnus Pellander, is obviously HUGELY into heavy '70s psych/prog rock. Doubtless he's got an extensive record collection with well-worn albums by Sabbath and a host of more obscure bands like Dust, Captain Beyond, November, Toad, Jerusalem, etc... But unlike so many other record collectors, instead of spending his time making want lists and grading LPs, Magnus *listened* to 'em, then went into the studio and wrote songs as good or BETTER than pretty much anything on those collector's platters. Literally, inspired stuff. As modern-day but '70s sounding records go, maybe only that Elope record we reviewed recently could compare in convincing us it was recorded thirty years ago -- imagine that album with heavier, fuzzier guitars and more melancholic vibrations. (Another one would be The Want album Southern Lord released a few years ago). So we were super thrilled to hear that this band was putting out a full-length. And apparently other folks were too, 'cuz we've already sold a bunch of these in the store before even reviewing it! Kinda weird, since their only previous release, a 7" single paying tribute to two of Witchcraft main man Magnus Pelander's big heroes, Roky Erickson of the 13th Floor Elevators and Pentagram's Bobby Liebling, was a hard to find, import-only release (both tracks from which are included here, along with an obscure Pentagram cover making Witchcraft's love of Liebling even more obvious). On the strength of that single, though (and the few singles and compilation tracks recorded by Magnus's previous band, Norrsken), our anticipation for Witchcraft's debut album ran high. Well, as you've already gathered, we're even more thrilled to say that it more than lives up to our expectations! We have a handful of copies of the import vinyl as well, which includes a bonus track (another Pentagram cover).

MPEG stream: No Angel Or Demon
MPEG stream: I Want You To Know

Now available as a SUPER LIMITED picture disc!! PERHAPS THEE BEST '70s-INSPIRED DOOM ALBUM EVER. Can't put it any plainer. This is sooo authentically old sounding, and sooo good. Sweden's Witchcraft have delved into the past through seemingly mystical means and come up with a masterpiece that sounds like it was recorded by some genius yet unknown downer-rock contemporary of Black Sabbath or Pentagram back in 1972. In a blindfold test, anyone into '70s heavy rock would be fooled for sure. Doomy retro-proto-metal full of heart-wrenching atmosphere, killer riffs, and melodic hooks galore. The mastermind behind Witchcraft, guitarist/vocalist Magnus Pellander, is obviously HUGELY into heavy '70s psych/prog rock. Doubtless he's got an extensive record collection with well-worn albums by Sabbath and a host of more obscure bands like Dust, Captain Beyond, November, Toad, Jerusalem, etc... But unlike so many other record collectors, instead of spending his time making want lists and grading LPs, Magnus *listened* to 'em, then went into the studio and wrote songs as good or BETTER than pretty much anything on those collector's platters. Literally, inspired stuff. As modern-day but '70s sounding records go, maybe only that Elope record we reviewed recently could compare in convincing us it was recorded thirty years ago -- imagine that album with heavier, fuzzier guitars and more melancholic vibrations. (Another one would be The Want album Southern Lord released a few years ago). So we were super thrilled to hear that this band was putting out a full-length. And apparently other folks were too, 'cuz we've already sold a bunch of these in the store before even reviewing it! Kinda weird, since their only previous release, a 7" single paying tribute to two of Witchcraft main man Magnus Pelander's big heroes, Roky Erickson of the 13th Floor Elevators and Pentagram's Bobby Liebling, was a hard to find, import-only release (both tracks from which are included here, along with an obscure Pentagram cover making Witchcraft's love of Liebling even more obvious). On the strength of that single, though (and the few singles and compilation tracks recorded by Magnus's previous band, Norrsken), our anticipation for Witchcraft's debut album ran high. Well, as you've already gathered, we're even more thrilled to say that it more than lives up to our expectations!

MPEG stream: No Angel Or Demon
MPEG stream: I Want You To Know