Your first reaction to his Canadian band will be: "I can't believe it's not Black Sabbath!" In a blind test, their singer could not be distinguished from Ozzy Osbourne by a panel of experts--it seems the only difference is that the guy in sHeavy hasn't bitten the head off any live animal (yet). That, and his band's got some better tunes for him to sing than what Ozzy's been up to lately. Normally, something that's this much of a copy would deserve scorn, but they're so damn good at it that you have to love it. This came out last year as an import, and now here's the domestic version, adding a (non-bogus) bonus track.
Here's the second album from these promising German doomsters, and it's a concept album perhaps, at least in regard to the track titles: "Monday", "Tuesday", "Wednesday" -- there's a song for every day of the week. But the album has eight tracks, which means its has to wind up with the thirteen plus minutes of "Doomsday", the eighth day in Shepherd's apocalyptic week. Musically, this is mid-tempo, rocked-out stoner/doom fare in the vein of Goatsnake or Spirit Caravan. They're definitely into the latter -- indeed, they've brought in none other than the legendary Scott "Wino" Weinrich as a special guest, playing guitar on three of the tracks here and singing on one of 'em as well (demonstrating that Shepherd's usual vocalist doesn't do Wino as well as the man himself). The ultra-dirgey "Doomsday" boasts a special guest as well of interest to many AQ-customers: sax and Rhodes are contributed by a member of Bohren & Der Club Of Gore!
Get ready for some glorious seventies-worshipping heavy rock via the self-released debut cd from this oddly named Vancouver band. Not as overtly Sabbath-derived as fellow Canadian rockers Sheavy, but similarly excellent (and Sir Hedgehog's "Bitchlord" *does*
At this point, we know we can count on a large sub-set of Aquarius customers to be as into droney doom metal as we are. Bands like Corrupted, Boris, Khanate, Eyehategod, Cavity, Esoteric, Electric Wizard, etc. always elicit an enthusiastic response when we list 'em. Foremost amongst the doom hordes we must acknowledge Finland's Skepticism. They've been favorites ever since their "Stormcrowfleet" debut back in 1995. Sheer majestic downer atmospherics, religious music for a suicide cult. Appropriately, their distorted guitars, gruff vocals and echoing drums are accompanied by massive amounts of church-organ synth.
According to their own inscrutable tradition, Skepticism always precede each new album with an ep, so we knew that it wouldn't be too long after the "Process of Farmakon" ep (reviewed back on list #142, last year) that we could expect a full-length. Well, it did actually take a while, but at last here it is. Wreathed in smoke and darkness, "Farmakon" features different versions of the two tracks first heard on that ep, and four previously unheard epics. Plodding and miasmic as ever, this album is perhaps less soothing than some past recordings, more harsh and jagged. There's a weird urgency to some of the songs, and plenty of the "what the fuck?" moments we've come to expect from 'em, such as the synthesized "horns" and pretty, post-rockish elements encountered in the unnamed, 13-minute track 4. Lyrically, the band seem to have left the forest for an equally dark sea, judging by their cryptic texts referencing shores, waves, and water. And just what is "Farmakon" or the "Farmakon Process"?? You could try going to the band's website at www.farmakon.com for information on Skepticism and their esoteric ideas, though unfortunately their "Dictionary" page seems to be broken at the moment...
Here's one of those crucial, seminal recordings that somehow (probably 'cause we were much less thorough about these things at the time of its release) never made it into our on-line catalog. Yet we often make reference to it, and have recommended other, subsequent albums by the band, including the recently-released "The Process Of Farmakon" cdep reviewed on list #142.
Happily, Red Stream has just reissued this album, the debut from Finnish doom-lords Skepticism, after some time out of print, and we now have a chance to list it for the first time! Originally issued in 1995, this 2002 version has been (slightly) redesigned graphics-wise but contains the same immense sonic slabs of funereal doom-trudge metal that so awed us seven years back. We hail this album as the ultimate "black-metal-meets-Labradford" listening experience. Totally morose, depressive, atmospheric ambience in heavy dirge death metal mode, with melodies to crush your soul. Medieval organ-like keyboards give this a grim, churchly air, and of course it sounds like it was recorded with the microphones quite distant from the instruments/amps, possibly in a nearby forest.
If like other Skepticism albums and/or are a fan of the likes of Esoteric, Thergothon, Shape Of Despair, Corrupted, Evoken, Burzum's "Filosofem", and other sad and gloomy things, you MUST OWN THIS. 'Nuff said.
It's always a happy day here at Aquarius when we get new music from Finland's Skepticism. I mean, a depressing day. Soooooooo wonderfully depressing. Skepticism are our favorite funereal forest doom metal band, we've described them before as the Labradford of black metal. Almost ambient, droning, downer stuff, plodding along through a nighttime fog. Imagine the music of a suicidal church organist, teamed up with some longhaired Scandinavian death metal teens. Beautiful.
As with all their releases, more of the same yet with enough difference to be a significant, essential addition to their ouevre. This time, the 'what the fuck?' aspect is highlighted by the bizarre bubbling noises that join the gruff vocals and downtuned guitars on the title track, which sounds as if it was recorded on a ship slowing sinking on the River Styx. As is their wont, this two-song ep (18+ minutes) precedes a full-length due out sometime later this year, supposedly.
The now-defunct San Francisco stoner/doom band Sleep has sure gotten a lot of mileage out of this record! Dopesmoker is the original Billy Anderson-recorded (and latterly, re-mastered) demo version of their final statement, the infamous one-song-long Jerusalem. Originally slated for release by major label London, they were dropped and the album was shelved, released only as a promo with no art. Then it got bootlegged (by the band themselves?), before at last seeing a legit release via The Music Cartel. The boot and the TMC versions had different artwork, naturally, so some Sleep aficionados had to have both... Now Tee Pee brings us the same record again, under its originally intended title, Dopesmoker. And it's a different, demo recording, with rougher, more Melvinsy vocals, the whole thing sounding actually dronier and dirtier and dirgier than the Jerusalem you're already used to -- and longer too! 64 minutes vs. just 52. The twelve extra minutes aren't due to additional "parts" though, as near as we can tell, it's just 'cause the everything's played slightly slower and/or more relentlessly repeated. Not sure why they cut it down for Jerusalem -- you'd think if you're gonna do a one-song, super long album of maximum riff-repetition you might as well make it as long as possible. Did London insist that they prune it down for radio play? Ha. Anyway, Sleep fans who find High On Fire just a little too fast for them may want to indulge in the tarpit Sabbath-sludge of Dopesmoker/Jerusalem once again with this release. For further fan-temptation we should note that there's actually another (bonus) track on the cd, a live recording the singer identfies as "Sonic Titan", nine more minutes of what sounds like Dopesmoker part 2. Comes in a digipack (or gatefold LP sleeve for the vinyl) with art by Arik Moonhawk Roper.
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By now you may be familiar with the saga of this record, which consists soley of one infamous 52-minute long Sabbathy stoner-doom SONG to end all such songs (originally titled "Dopesmoker"). The original label, London Records, dropped the band (which then broke up--I hear some of the guys are possibly now born-again Christians) and this release was shelved. Now, over a year later, it finally gets legit release (there'd been a semi-official bootleg in the meantime--this has different artwork). Suffice to say, that if you're at all interested in the possiblities of mind expansion through maximum riff-bludgeonment over time, and haven't scored this yet, do so!
Vinyl reissue of this classic from the Bay area's own sludge/doomer/stoner kings, S L E E P! No longer will you have to pay $100 for this puppy on EBAY. This is thick, colored vinyl, in the original lyric sleeve and an exact reproduction of the original cover. And this shit is HEAVY! Dirge-y, cannabis fueled excursions into the dark realm, Sabbathy riffs, pounding devil drum percussion, and a wailing howl over it all. If you don't already have this, what the hell is wrong with you?! Fans of Corrupted, Boris, stoner rock, sludge, doom, and all that sort of stuff, catch the hell up!! "Sleep's Holy Mountain" was this so-Sabbathy bands MOST Sabbath-like release, almost too close for comfort -- we're not convinced that Tony and Geezer didn't actually write this stuff!! Wow.
Could a band have a more perfect name? And an album a more perfect title? In this case, no. Slomo's The Creep is EXACTLY that. Creepy, creeping, slow motion music. One hour, one track, improvised and recorded live with minimal overdubs and "zero eye-contact" (it kinda sounds like it was recorded in total darkness, in fact). The ominous subterranean echoing seismic sounds of Slomo are the work of the UK's Chris McGrail and Howard Marsden. McGrail, as you might have guessed, is also the main guy behind heavy psych-dronesters Holy McGrail, whose Collecting Earthquakes was highlighted here last list. This heavy-lidded, cave-dwelling creature is a different, more somnolent beast, but if you liked that Holy McGrail disc we think you might like Slomo's The Creep too. It's something akin to a narcotized Earth or Black Boned Angel, but played with the spacious, quiet restraint of Bohren & Der Club Of Gore. The crunchy feedback on offer is both spooky and soothing. Appropriately, the cd booklet contains an old rhyme on the subject of this duo's namesake, a folkloric character known as Slomo for his generally slow and slothful ways. The final line says of Slomo: "Whose detractors do call static... but whose champions call Ecstasis?" Clearly McGrail and Marsden are of hold to the latter opinion, as do we.
This is a professional duplicated cd-r with quite lovely artwork, released in a limited edition of just 100 copies on Julian Cope's own cd-r label. We did get a bunch, but that's it, when they're gone we won't be able to get any more...so you'd better not be a Slomo yourself if you want one!
Crushing and crusty Sabbath-y doom from the label that brought you Electric Wizard and Roachpowder. Maybe not as earth shattering as those, but definitely worth checking out if you dig that sort of thing.
Not a new (re)release, but newly in stock here at AQ. Another one for all you fans of '70s proto-metal hard rock, one of Allan's faves (hence, we got some in when we got the chance). Socrates Drank The Conium were a Greek band, and "On The Wings" was their third album, originally issued in 1973. Psychedelic hard blues rock with ragged, rough-edged English vocals, and -- this is key -- UTTERLY RIPPING twin electric guitar. Definitely an early milestone in heavy acid rock guitar shred. Vangelis later joined this band, but you'd never guess there was any New Age connection from this kick ass album. The songs twist and snake around, with rockin' and doomy riffs, dual guitar harmonies, and crazy leads -- both guitarists playing entirely different, complex licks that somehow meld perfectly. Brilliant stuff. Kinda progressive and utterly powerful. None other than Julian Cope has described this as sounding "a lot like SABBATH VOLUME 4 with Family's Roger Chapman singing". So, if past AQ-reviews of bands like Night Sun, Toad, Wishbone Ash, Flower Travellin' Band, I Teoremi, Tractor, etc. have resulted in successful music purchase/listening experiences for you, then you certainly might want to give this Socrates Drank The Conium album a try. Of course, we only have a few in stock, so please be ready to be patient if/when we run out...
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A perfectly titled album in which 4 longhaired stoners jam on low-IQ thud rock loaded with huge riffs and solos. Pretty soon, you're liking it. Members of Monster Magnet, dude.
Massive, spacey, druggy stoner rock -- for a visual analogy, imagine the big black alien monolith from 2001 if it was actually a giant space-bong. This Canadian band follows up their Man's Ruin releases ("Templeball" being one of the heavier highlights of the
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From the barren tundra to the north (Toronto), comes the Sons Of Otis (formerly just Otis); lumbering heaviosity shackled to stoned and droned spaciness. Think the Melvins, Black Sabbath, Hawkwind. Take just the spaced out jams from Monster Magnet songs, stretch them out even further, add even more fuzz and echo, and voila. And, they cover both Mountain and Saint Vitus!!
Worshippers of all that is heavy, get ready for the return of Canada's stoner ambassadors, the Sons Of Otis! Their new, fourth album, simply titled X (which I guess could be the Roman numeral ten, but would that make any sense?), is another dose of their, uh, stoned spacey blues-based psychedelic heavy drug-rawk... good stuff for fans of Monster Magnet, Hawkwind, Ufomammut, and the doomier likes of Electric Wizard and St. Vitus!
With heavily effected vocals (is the singer even in there somewhere we start to wonder?), Orange amps vibrating in the void, riffage reverberating raw and run-down, this is stoner rock at its darkest and most dazedly wandering, slow and plodding. Is there life in outer space? It's hard to tell from this record. Recorded by (of course) Billy Anderson, this album ends with a fourteen-minute opus that seems even longer, not that you'll want it to end, entitled "Liquid Jam". It is indeed. Not that there's any *short* songs on here at all. X also includes includes their superbly slo-mo, Funhouse-ish cover of "The Pusher" by Steppenwolf (previously on a picture disc 10" they did a few years ago, but this may be a new version though), further underlining, however needlessly, the band's heavy '60s psych/drug direction.
Yup, dunno who Otis is, but if these are his kids, he obviously failed to have that parental say no to drugs talk with 'em...
This is the first we've heard from Southern sludgesters Sourvein since guitarist Liz Buckingham left the band to join Electric Wizard, and also since Hurricane Katrina fucked up their hometown. But now the survivors in Sourvein got it together to dish out these four new tracks (recorded in Virginia), and also they go on to promise in the liner notes that "New Orleans Will Rise Again!"
Though an ep, Emerald Vulture nears the half-hour mark, in part 'cause track four delves into some extended power electronics noise territory before it's over. That sort of droning nastiness makes perfect sense coming from Sourvein, who aim to maim with both brutal riffage and vicious vokills as well... they're definitely on the negative side of an already fairly negative genre, and who can blame 'em? So if you find, say, Corrupted too happy, here you go! That's a joke, of course, but seriously we're digging Emerald Vulture's blend of Bongzilla/Electric Wizard styled dope-lope riffs and utter Khanatesque darkness...
Of course, post-Katrina we've been concerned about the Crescent City and its inhabitants for a lot of reasons, cultural heritage being just one of 'em. And while many folks associate New Orleans with music, they're probably thinking jazz and zydeco, but you may also know that NOLA is/was home to a satan's host of sludge/doom/dirge bands, foremost among them the pioneering EYEHATEGOD. And if you like EHG, you're pretty much already a guaranteed Sourvein fan too. So it's good to know that NOLA's sludge/doom/dirge tradition continues...
BLEAAAARGH! DOOOOOOM!! Southern Lord strikes again with the new, Billy Anderson produced disc from Louisiana doom-squad Sourvein. Now featuring the guitar of Liz from former NYC all-girl doomsters 13, Sourvein takes the crusty Eyehategod/Grief/Corrupted style of doomgrind to new highs (lows?). Well, maybe not new ones, but just as extreme. Darker and scarier than fellow heavies Bongzilla or High On Fire, Sourvein simultaneously give a nod to the Sabbathy '70s sounds of doom pioneers St. Vitus, while ratcheting up the brutality of their crashing, crushing riffs into modern extreme metal/punk territory and beyond. It's like someone got the Melvins really really angry, and they're trapped in cave, frothing at the mouth, ready to die and kill -- and for some reason, they're trying to play Sleep songs. What? Stay away from those drugs. You know what I'm talking about? Good, then you'll want "Will To Mangle".
Sniffin & Snortin (parts 1 and 2!), Run & Hide, Bad Woman, Don't Say No, Wanna Take You Home...sound good? Those are some of the song titles on this classic women-and-drugs obsessed dumbo-rock Japanese psych album. It stars guitar whiz and massive stoner Shinki Chen (also of Foodbrain and oodles of other obscure Japanese psych outfits), bassist Masayoshi Kabe (from Foodbrain too), and singing drummer Joey 'Pepe' Smith -- a Vietnam vet whom you might know from the Filipino band Juan De La Cruz, whose album "Shake Your Brains" is one of the few that tops this for sheer truly stoned rock retardation (a good thing). Too bad we can't get those in anymore. But you'll hear at least one of their tunes on this, the second SG&S album, originally released as a double LP in 1972, which we happen to like even better than their 1971 LP "Eve" though Mr. Julian Cope made that one a "record of the month" on his website Head Heritage. Anyway we have this one, not that one.
Speed, Glue & Shinki, as you might imagine from their name, were a goddamn weird, messed up, completely wacked heavy psych/blues/prog band. So messed up that this time out, guest musicans wrote (and performed?) most of it! But it doesn't matter. And even when Joey plugs in a Moog synth to do a whole LP side devoted to the Sun, Planets, Life, Moon, and Angels, this never ever remotely gets pretentious and proggy (not that we don't like proggy). It just can't. Speed Glue & Shinki are primal, so primal, too primal. At least one track hints at the Stooges, some others Zeppelin, while the rest approximates a brain-damaged James Gang. Record collector types might recall the fancy, expensive Shadoks LP reissue that was available a couple years ago for about two seconds. We were enthralled with the lovely tiger cover art and the ridiculous rock and have been hoping ever since to bring in a cd version, and at last we tracked down a few copies that we had to order from Sweden, so act fast for your Speed, Glue & Shinki fix if you think you want it.
MPEG Download: "Red Doll" [/audio/speedgluered.mp3]
MPEG Stream: "Red Doll" [/audio/speedgluered.m3u]
MPEG Download: "Song For An Angel" [/audio/speedgluesong.mp3]
Not long after their excellent debut album Jug Fulla Sun, ex-Saint Vitus/The Obsessed frontman Wino and his new band (a.k.a. Shine) of stoner rock doomsters return with this equally smokin' 5-song ep. Great stuff. However, could the cover art be any worse?
Here's the eagerly-awaited second full-length slab of doom-groove from legendary guitarist and vocalist Wino (aka Scott Weinrich) and his band of stoner rock saviors/survivors Spirit Caravan. Like their 1999 debut "Jug Fulla Sun", this builds on the sound of Wino's previous downer-metal outfit The Obsessed (and his experience singing for psychedelic-punk doom-lords Saint Vitus back in
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Scott "Wino" Weinrich (ex-Saint Vitus, The Obsessed) returns with his new stoner rock power trio (until recently, known as Shine). This, their debut full-length, was made possible by Joe "Wino's biggest fan" Lally of Fugazi's new label Tolotta. Doom, groove, riffs, Wino's trademark Ozzy-tinged vox: this is the real deal. On Allan's top ten for the year so far.
Two new tracks from these stoner metal heroes. The A-side's "So Mortal Be" is typical rockin' Spirit Caravan fare, while on B-side "Undone Mind" bassist Dave Sherman takes over on vocals from Wino, his rougher, more wretched pipes fitting well with the song's doomier vibe. White vinyl by the way.
Joe Lally's Tolatta label sadly seems to have shuffled off this mortal coil (that's why we can't get those first two Dead Meadow albums anymore, too bad for new fans who came to that band via their debut on Matador this year) and Tolotta's flagship stoner rock outfit Spirit Caravan did the same, as well, with leader Scott "Wino" Weinrich moving on to new projects The Hidden Hand and Place Of Skulls, notching more bands on a resume that also includes The Obsessed and Saint Vitus. But demand remains for Spirit Caravan's two Tolotta albums so Meteor City has stepped in with this double cd that combines 'em into one neat package -- plus bonus material that makes this essential for completists even if they've already got the original albums. Perhaps Meteor City will arrange to do the same with the Dead Meadow discs? Hint hint. Anyway, if you're a Wino/Spirit Caravan fan who missed either Jug Fulla Sun or Elusive Truth, now you've got another chance. And in case you're unfamilar with Wino & co., but stoner-curious, here's a quote from our review of Jug Fulla Sun, which was definitely one of the top stoner rock releases of the past ten years: "Doom, groove, riffs, Wino's trademark Ozzy-tinged vox: this is the real deal." In addition to the two whole Tolotta albums, these cds include three totally unreleased songs, plus five 7" and comp tracks, and three demo tracks recorded by the band back when they were known as Shine.
The latest groove rock offering from ex-Carcass guitarist Michael Amott. No Carcass-y grind here, just swampy, grindy, bluesy stoner rock. But still heavy as fuck, with heaping helpings of Hammond organ ladled all over it.
'70s lovin', long-haired n' heavy (musically speaking, that is -- they look kinda skinny, actually) Swedes the Spiritual Beggars, whom you know as the "stoner rock" band of ex-Carcass, current Arch Enemy six-string wizard Mike Amott, introduce a new singer (the guy from Grand Magus, another one of what must be millions of Swedish stoner rock bands) with "On Fire". It's going to take a few more listens than we've had the chance to experience to determine if this new album is any kind of step up for a band we already like quite a bit, or just more of the same -- but so far, anyway, it seems pretty cool! The Hammond organ still throbs mightily, as they run through rockin' riff-fests and mellow, spacey psychedelic excursions. And the new guy's vocals are just fine, if a little cliched (their old singer Spice wasn't Spiritual Beggar's drawing card anyway). In the mood for a loud n' proud, modern-day take on Deep Purple and the like? This ought to fit the bill.
The rare first album by Swedish stoner rockers Spiritual Beggars finally reissued on cd with four bonus tracks! Not to be confused with fellow stoner rockers Spirit Caravan, Spiritual Beggars is the band in which ex-Carcass, current Arch Enemy six stringer
Two excellent stoner rock groups go head to head on this split single: Mike Amott's much-loved Spiritual Beggars and newcomers Grand Magus.
Is there any other band that's SO GOOD live that I (Allan) would actually plan a trip somewhere thousands of miles away almost entirely on the basis of getting to see 'em play? 'Cause that's what I'm doing for Halloween -- flying to New Orleans, which would be fun anyways but is gonna be extra-awesome 'cause this Philly-based, all-instrumental power trio will be tearing down the house at Checkpoint Charlie's on the edge of the French Quarter, as they apparently do every Halloween. And as if to pile on the excitement, what shows up at Aquarius this week but a brand new Stinking Lizaveta opus? Yay! Their fourth album finds 'em doing what they do best, adhering to their math rock + jazz + exotic flourishes + sheer rock and roll exuberance formula, with perhaps a little bit more stoner rock added to the equation this time around. Imagine an instrumental Spirit Caravan melded with The Fucking Champs and Gone...something like that. Heavy, sinuous, emotive, grandiose, intimate, anguished, epic, melodic, HEAVY. It's not a perfect album, though -- the drum sound could be better (or at least the drums could be not so loud) sez Andee, and it suffers as all Stinking Lizaveta records do in comparison to their spectacular live performances. Basically, they are SUCH a good live band that it's just hard for them to ever make an album that's nearly as good as they are in person. I love their records, but they really don't compare to the band on stage. Their intense playing, telepathic interplay, and sheer energy are all there...but not as much as you get live. That they're such a formidable proposition live works against their recordings in another way: they probably just assume that if they just go in the studio and kick ass like they do on stage, they'll make the best album ever. Of course, it's not quite that easy. Still, Caught Between Worlds is worlds above almost everything else in the post/math/instro/stoner rock realm... Recommended -- get this and also don't miss 'em if you get the chance, they're on tour right now!
Here's yet another one of those bands that we'd vaguely heard of (or perhaps not) but never really encountered actual records by, and now that we have we can't figure out why they weren't a bigger deal! I think I first became aware of 'em via the thanks/influences list on a Pentagram album. Kinda always assumed they were your basic British blues rock but on the evidence of this, their 1970 debut they were something a little different than the Cream/Zep sort of thing I'd imagined. They're rather more like a '60s psych-pop singles band, of the garagey/Nuggetsy variety, with the fuzz factor and sheer guitar heaviness cranked way up toward proto-metallic levels. More psych than prog, more pop than blues. Kinda punk too. Very kick ass and energetic, catchy and rockin', venturing from the paisley-painted pop melodicism of "Around The World In Eighty Days" to the slamming punkish "Only What You Make It" to a number of extended fuzz guitar workouts... but first and foremost it's good old-fashioned hard rock. Think Thin Lizzy. Or Dust, or Budgie. Or even early, early Rush (one song here always puts Byram in mind of "Working Man"). But as mentioned it's got a poppy '60s garage vibe unlike a lot of those acts... And there's enough proggier, psychier elements loaded in here to pique the interest of a wider audience than just the hard rock lovers among us. The guitar parts especially are full of odd harmonies and melodic richness that bring to mind Amon Duul II, if Amon Duul II could have managed to fit their open ended song structures into a tighter blues rock straight jacket. What makes Stray's music work so well is their attention to structure: keeping their compositions on a tight leash and avoiding the esoteric meanderings that can be a pitfall to many prog rockers. This and their sense of dynamics, knowing just how and when to throw the switch and rip the seat of your pants, is what must have made them a seriously kick ass live band (and apparently they were super popular as such in and around their London, England turf, but unfortunately never managed to cash in on the hard rock success like some of their contempories). They recorded numerous albums, of which this first one is likely their best (though their second LP Suicide is a good one too, and we're just not that familiar with the rest of their '70s output), but their biggest claim to fame might be that Iron Maiden covered one of their songs on a b-side ("All In Your Mind", the very first track on this disc). Stray's version was way better btw.
We sure do love Finland. And boy do we love slow motion sludgy doom. So it makes perfect sense that this here disc would find its way into our grubby gloomy doom loving mitts. Stumm are a glacial power trio that traffic in that sort of harsh ugly crusty death doom dirge sludge we've come to dig so heavily. We just can't seem to get enough. It's metal sure, heavy and downtuned, but a lot of the appeal, very much like the blurry buzz of black metal, is it's proximity to pure drone! As the guitars get lower, and the songs get slower (or conversely faster and blurrier) riffs become stretches of slow shifting sound, hypnotic and dare we say soothing. Not entierely like a doom metal Steve Reich or a sludge Terry Riley. Most of us would just as likely fall asleep listening to the most recent Moss record as we would a Coleclough or Chalk record. And Stumm are carrying on that fine tradition. A harsh raw nihilistic doom metal that drones and buzzes and pulses, slithers and lurches more than it rocks.
There's got to be a way to designate sheer impossible dooominess. In the past we've just added more 'o's to the word doom, 20 'o's, 40 'o's, but where does it end. Eventually there will be a band so slow and sludgy, the whole review will be a single word, doom, but with 11,342 'o's. We're tempted to give Stumm a rating based on the multiple 'o' doom scale, but this this disc is not just a single sludgy smear of sound, it's definitely doooooooooom (let's stick with 10 'o's for now), with most of the record, stumbling and staggering, all druggy and dizzy, a 16rpm creep through a thick forest of buzzing E strings and drumming that sounds like it's being dumped out of the back of a cement mixer. But here and there, the clouds part, revealing a bit of sky through the dense canopy of oppressive heaviness, be it a bit of clean guitar or some warm warbly bass... hell, who are we kidding, those moments are so brief and fleeting they're only there to lure you in and set you up for a massive pumelling, frozen like a deer in the headlights, looking skyward, eyes reflecting that tiny glimmer of sunlight, before moments later Stumm take your head clean off with a spiked and sludgy iron bar, as a million 'o's begin to rain down from the sky, like metallic black hail, burying you beneath a crushing, suffocating mound of doooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.............
4 songs. 35 minutes. Mastered by James Plotkin (Khanate, Phantomsmasher / Atomsmasher, Flux, OLD, etc.)
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Submerged is a loud sludge / stoner rock band from Finland sorta like Eyehategod / Cavity with a treblier Sub Pop feel to it. Pretty cool stuff on the terminally fucked Bad Vugum label.
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The Japanese, we all know, are no slouches when it comes to heavy, psychedelic rock n' roll. From seventies masters like the Flower Travellin' Band and Far Out and Blues Creation to current heavies like Boris and Green Machine and DMBQ (to name but a few from either era), there's a tradition of long-haired, amped-up mayhem over there... Well if you're like us and big fans of all that, you should know about this band, Subvert Blaze. They were a late '80s, early '90s psychedelic metal / stoner rock outfit, retro bellbottomed badasses doin' Sabbath and Hendrix covers alongside equally heavy originals just a few years before it was all that cool to do so. Their drummer later joined Ghost, but it's here where you'll really hear him put his gong to good use. Subvert Blaze did two albums for the Osaka-based noise and psych label Alchemy, Subvert Art and Subvert Art II, which have been out of print for some time, until recently when this double cd set appeared, reissuing the tracks from both those albums, and more! So we figured some of you might be interested...yeah it's thirty bucks but it's an import and a double cd, and getting the two original discs would have cost more and you wouldn't have the bonus tracks, which include a cover of "Summertime Blues" as well as a twelve-minute epic original entitled "Elegy (Of Turkey City)", and the band's two tracks from the Osaka Greasy Truckers compilation (early versions of "Butterfly" and "Innocent"). Convinced? Or do you need more description? Let's see... Kinda like Can meets Sabbath, total heavy psych rockin' and rollin', with gargly rough vocals and a dark energy. Yeah, if you can dig a band that combines heavy riffage with technical progginess and spacious, psychedelic moodiness, and is prone to the occasional extravagant drum solo, you might be a Subvert Blaze fan too! (NB. their singer/guitarist went on to form even heavier Alchemy act Garadama.)
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Out of the blue, this slab of heaviness is now available on vinyl! A real swank package with new artwork courtesy of the UK's Dirter. Here's our review of the original cd release from 2001:
The world's first, best, only, (and last?) EARTH tribute band oozes forth with their second album. Some might question if there was more to be accomplished in their emulation of the glacial "power ambient drone" metal practiced by Earth, but this album should quell any skeptics -- it's slower and lower and sets yet another standard for heaviness. Thus, probably an essential addition to the collections of AQ's extreme doom fanatic patrons! And this time the boys in Sunn go beyond their obvious Earth worship to acknowledge another influence: one of the four lengthy tracks found here is a cover (or, an interpretation, anyway) of a Melvins tune! Recommended.
We know lots of you SunnO))) fanatics missed out on the various versions of the GrimmRobe Demos 2lp. So we're happy to report that we finally got a bunch more of these in. Supposedly the LAST pressing, on good old black vinyl (the best sounding BTW). Not sure how long they'll last, so act fast.
Now all serious connoisseurs of depression, death, doom and utter grimness have reason to celebrate. No, we're certainly not talking about G.W. Bush's second-term inauguration! It's music we're going on about, and for fans of that brand of heavy, doomful drone that we know so many of you AQ-customers are, this IS good news: the re-release of the debut album from not-so-dynamic doom duo SUNNO)))! Yes! So log off of eBay, save your ninety bucks (that's what Southern Lord says the original cd was going for) and thank 'em for at last reissuing this disc, previously out on Hydrahead subsidary HH Noise Industries back in 2000. And yes, there's a BONUS TRACK. Sixteen minutes and forty seconds of bonus track entitled "Grimm & Bear It"...those jokers. That brings this album to over 72 minutes in length, perfect for enjoying your own mini-coma in its ambient embrace. Of all the SUNNO))) cds since, this remains perhaps the closest to the original template of worshipping Earth II to a T.
For some "historical" perspective (and for any who are puzzled, to explain that last comment), let's revist our original review of this disc, upon its first release:
"Whoa, an Earth tribute band! Y'know, Earth, the slower than slow, heavier than heavy Sub Pop combo from a few years back, the band that took the Melvins molasses drone riffing over the edge. They're not around anymore (and weren't that great toward the end anyway) but this project (featuring members of Burning Witch/Goatsnake/Engine Kid) revisits Earth's genius genesis (back when Kurt Cobain used to play with 'em), for some long long tracks of primordial dirge. One track is even named after Earth leader Dylan Carlson. And of course the band name Sunn is derived from the amps of choice for both outfits, appropriately so 'cause it's the amps more than the guitars that you hear here. They're not covering Earth tunes, but are essentially following the same formula towards drone metal godhead. Essential for all devotees of the ultra-heavy!"
And as some of you have mentioned to us, the Southern Lord website lists a super limited purple vinyl version, but those are available only via direct mailorder from Southern Lord and are most likely gone already anyway.
Now all serious connoisseurs of depression, death, doom and utter grimness have reason to celebrate. No, we're certainly not talking about G.W. Bush's second-term inauguration! It's music we're going on about, and for fans of that brand of heavy, doomful drone that we know so many of you AQ-customers are, this IS good news: the re-release of the debut album from not-so-dynamic doom duo SUNNO)))! Yes! So log off of eBay, save your ninety bucks (that's what Southern Lord says the original cd was going for) and thank 'em for at last reissuing this disc, previously out on Hydrahead subsidary HH Noise Industries back in 2000. Now this classic comes packaged in a jewel case, instead of a spray painted hefty bag sleeve. And yes, there's a BONUS TRACK. Sixteen minutes and forty seconds of bonus track entitled "Grimm & Bear It"...those jokers. That brings this album to over 72 minutes in length, perfect for enjoying your own mini-coma in its ambient embrace. Of all the SUNNO))) cds since, this remains perhaps the closest to the original template of worshipping Earth II to a T.
For some "historical" perspective (and for any who are puzzled, to explain that last comment), let's revist our original review of this disc, upon its first release:
"Whoa, an Earth tribute band! Y'know, Earth, the slower than slow, heavier than heavy Sub Pop combo from a few years back, the band that took the Melvins molasses drone riffing over the edge. They're not around anymore (and weren't that great toward the end anyway) but this project (featuring members of Burning Witch/Goatsnake/Engine Kid) revisits Earth's genius genesis (back when Kurt Cobain used to play with 'em), for some long long tracks of primordial dirge. One track is even named after Earth leader Dylan Carlson. And of course the band name Sunn is derived from the amps of choice for both outfits, appropriately so 'cause it's the amps more than the guitars that you hear here. They're not covering Earth tunes, but are essentially following the same formula towards drone metal godhead. Essential for all devotees of the ultra-heavy!"
Rumbing distortion. Doom. Drone. The vibrations have begun, another SUNNO))) disc is upon us!
As you probably know, the shorthand description for this band is that they're the SUNN that orbits Earth (the band). But actually this release from Stephen O'Malley and Greg Anderson's heavier-than-thou SUNNO))) proves that (as we knew all along) they exert their own gravity in the universe of dark heavy drone musicks. Previous efforts like "Flight Of The Behemoth" have been faves round here, and they also made a fan out of pagan psych-rock maven / monolith expert Julian Cope, who appears here on the 25 minute opening track "My Wall" reading an epic poem! It's a bit like Current 93 but of course waaaay heavier. SUNNO))) has some other heavy friends involved with this recording too, among them the mighty Joe Preston (Thrones, ex-Melvins, ex-Earth!) who brings in some of the fucked up programmed drumming that makes his Thrones project so special. Meanwhile, Jessamine/Fontanelle's Rex Ritter not only plays on the disc, but took care of the recording and mixing too. And the doom-folk direction that Cope's presence suggests is furthered by vocal contributions from Nordic ice witch doom vocalist Runhild Gammelsaeter (whom some will know from her band with Greg Anderson, Thor's Hammer). The final, spacey track with her and Preston dueting is a dronefolk dream. Holy Wotan! Space rockers, drone fiends, pagans, and doom heads alike all should worship this dark SUNN... And we're told the recording session apparently yielded enough material for more than one album, thus there should be a White2 to look forward to someday!
MPEG Download: "The Gates Of Ballard" [/audio/sunngates.mp3]
MPEG Stream: "The Gates Of Ballard" [/audio/sunngates.m3u]
And the vibrations continue...like the ice age envisioned in that recent movie The Day After Tomorrow, White2 by Earth-worshippers SUNNO))) has finally arrived to obliterate all life foolish enough to have futilely flourished in the interim since the release of their previous album White1 last year. It's doom time, folks. For the unprepared among you, we should explain that the Earth just mentioned is of course the band not the planet, with Earth (and SUNNO)))) being the lowest of the low, sub-Melvins, drone-out, heavy-riff-ruling outfits around. Earth came first, but over their last few albums SUNNO))) really have moved beyond the Earth tribute phase, and certainly crossed over from the metal realm into the indie-rock and avant-experimental spheres as well, with an Arthur magazine sponsored tour and write-ups in The Wire to prove it. Maybe they're now the hipster "metal" band of choice but we won't hold that against them -- they're freaking good! (Believe it or not, we hear that some folks in Poland have formed a band in tribute to SUNNO))), known as MOOND)))! If they release anything we can get, we'll let you know.)
White2 was recorded at the same sessions as White1, which saw the core SUNNO))) duo of guitarists Stephen O'Malley (Khanate, Burning Witch, Lotus Eaters) and Greg Anderson (Goatsnake, Engine Kid) augmented by guests including Rex Ritter (Jessamine) and Joe Preston (Thrones, Melvins, Earth itself) both of whom appear on this disc. White1 also featured a recital by none other than head Head Julian Cope. He's not present on White2, but in his place they've installed someone perhaps even more pagan: vocalist Attila Cishar, the Hungarian black metal icon best known for fronting Norway's infamous Mayhem on their classic De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas album!
This disc ("optimized for blackened sub-bass systems" just so you know) clocks in at 63 minutes, divided amongst three long tracks, the first of which, "Hell-O)))-Ween", starts things off as you'd expect: it's a sonic glacier, prime Earth-styled SUNNO))) drone-grind. But track two, "bassAliens" moves into weirder, more abstract territory, a haunting, cave-dwelling improv whose electric noises could be the awakening of some cosmic Cthulhoid monster. Then the last and longest track "Decay2 (Nihil's Maw)" ups this album's quota of terror and beauty both. A spacey, droney, dark dreamscream from the throat of Attila... White2 is metal maybe, experimental yes, and quite a scary success. The farther-out stuff on this disc could be and has been rightly been compared to the music of Keiji Haino, cloaked in the same blackness. From riffage to ritual, recommended.
Latest in the seemingly endless list of Phil Anselmo projects: Pantera, Down, Viking Crown, Necrophagia, Southern Isolation, Eibon, Christ Inverter, and now Superjoint Ritual. For SR, Anselmo has enlisted the help of Eyehategod/Crowbar guitarist Jimmy Bower, Hank Williams III's drummer Joe Fazzio, and a bass player who is known simply as III, supposedly for contractual reasons similar to those that kept Anselmo a secret member of Necrophagia for so long. And the record has all those familiar Anselmo sights and sounds, fuzzy downtuned Southern groovemetal guitars, Anselmo's melodic screech, lurching, hypnotic tempos, and fierce pounding sludge metal rhythm section. But the sound here is much more raw and immediate, speedy and punky and noisy all over the place, but as with all Phil's bands it all gets reeled back in just right and becomes a sludgy groove before running wild again. Reminds me more of Pantera than Down, just so you know. Good stuff.
Hey all right, now a couple years after the cd reissue, the UK's Acme label has also pressed this on vinyl! No BBC bonus tracks here though, just the original album. Some of what we said 'bout it before:
We KNOW this is gonna be one that the legions of AQ customers into psych, prog and other late sixties/early seventies heaviness will want. And even if that's not one of your primary musical specialties, this would be a good choice to check out anyway if at all curious.
British psych/prog power trio T2 released this one amazing album on Decca in 1970, the bizarrely-titled It'll All Work Out In Boomland. Somehow, that lp didn't make much of an impact at the time (although the band did play the Isle of Wight Festival) and has pretty much been forgotten by all except obsessive psych/prog record collectors. Until now, it's been pretty hard to come by - the previous cd reissues we know of were either crappy bootlegs or rare, expensive Japanese imports. We've always wanted to list it, though.
T2, composed of drummer/vocalist/songwriter Peter Dunton, guitar whizz Keith Cross, and bassist Bernard Jinks, played HEAVY psychedelic bluesrock (a la Cream, Hendrix, Blue Cheer), mixed with progressive stylings (incorporating acoustic guitar, piano, mellotron, strings). Their songs combine Cross's big fuzzed-out hard rock riffs and psych-skronk leads with mellow, melancholic pretty parts and Dunton's gentle, whispery vocals. Very melodic yet heavy, totally classy and special. For instance, the song "No More White Horses" perfectly weaves amped up electric guitar feedback fury into a tasteful tapestry that also glows with lovely piano and majestic horns. Boomland also features T2's side-long, 21+ minute long masterpiece "Morning", a massive, memorable epic of many moods, a track meant to musically and lyrically describe (or potentially enhance?) an LSD trip, as the text and elaborate diagram included underneath the cd tray explains! There's two other songs on the album proper, the storming opener "In Circles" (which reminds us of stuff on Stray's first album, if you know 'em) and the calmer, exquisitely beautiful "J.L.T.", replete with lush orchestration.
Definitely one of the best bands from those magical years of the early '70s! Certainly one that should be better known. Do you dig the fuzzy, proto-metal heft of the aforementioned Blue Cheer? And also heavy progressive Krautrock stuff like Amon Duul II, Gila, Necronomicon, and Out Of Focus? Well kinda put those two together and you'll have some idea of T2's genius. Or imagine Randy Holden's Population II project gone all symphonic. Also, if you're into early, pastoral British psych/prog like In The Court-era King Crimson, Wishbone Ash, or the more obscure Bachdenkel then you need to hear T2! And for weird, psychedelic cover paintings, this is up there with Culpeper's Orchard, another lost '70s heavy druggy psych classic that we could compare this with musically as well.
Boomland is the kind of thing that turns up in the personal "Top 10 of All Time" lists of those lucky enough to have heard it.
British psych/prog power trio T2 released one amazing album on Decca in 1970, the bizarrely-titled "It'll All Work Out In Boomland". That LP didn't make much of an impact at the time (although the band did play the Isle of Wight Festival) and has
T2, composed of drummer/vocalist/songwriter Peter Dunton, guitar whizz Keith Cross, and bassist Bernard Jinks, played HEAVY psychedelic bluesrock (a la Cream, Hendrix, Blue Cheer), mixed with progressive stylings (acoustic guitar, piano, mellotron, orchestration). Dunton's songs combine big fuzzed-out hard rock riffs and Cross' psych-skronk leads with mellow, melancholic pretty parts and gentle, whispery vocals. Very melodic, very heavy yet beautiful, totally classy and special. Definitely one of the best bands from those magical years of the early '70s! (If you dig the aforementioned Blue Cheer, and can imagine them crossed with heavy progressive Krautrock stuff like Gila and Amon Duul II, or even early, pastoral British psych/prog like King Crimson, you've got some idea about the genius of T2.)
The seven tracks on this self-titled, 45 minute cd were recorded in 1970, intended as the follow-up to "Boomland" -- but the band broke up and this material languished in the vaults until this cd release. Had it come out at the time, who knows -- maybe people would have caught on and T2 would be more than just a cult band today. But, that's the way it is, and here's your chance to join the cult...
AQ's favorite instrumental psychedelic space-rock prog-keyboard crust-metal outfit, San Diego's terrific Tarantula Hawk, has produced two great full-length albums (both of 'em self-titled), one on Life Is Abuse and this year's Neurot labels release. But, of course, fans like us want more. So, thankfully, there's also these two live, not-quite-tour-only cd-r releases, of which we've managed to acquire a few. TH's grind-drone music is a great live experience, dense and dark, and while you'd have to have a IMMENSE stereo system to replicate the loudness and power of their shows, it's still good home listening even at more moderate volume.
"Desert Solitaire" documents a show in August of 2000 at something, a festival I guess, called the One Gathering in San Diego's Madre Grande Sanctuary. 80 minutes, one track! Fuckin' epic and eerie. Godspeed You Black Emperor needs to get schooled by these three guys.
The title of the other cd-r, "Live At KFJC 07.15.01" is rather self-explanatory. Basically, last July the Hawk (space-)rocked the hell out of the studio of one of our favorite Bay Area college radio stations for 32 minutes. Both discs sound great, dynamic and heavy.
AQ's favorite instrumental psychedelic space-rock prog-keyboard crust-metal outfit, San Diego's terrific Tarantula Hawk, has produced two great full-length albums (both of 'em self-titled), one on Life Is Abuse and this year's Neurot labels release. But, of course, fans like us want more. So, thankfully, there's also these two live, not-quite-tour-only cd-r releases, of which we've managed to acquire a few. TH's grind-drone music is a great live experience, dense and dark, and while you'd have to have an IMMENSE stereo system to replicate the loudness and power of their shows, it's still good home listening even at more moderate volume.
"Desert Solitaire" documents a show in August of 2000 at something, a festival I guess, called the One Gathering in San Diego's Madre Grande Sanctuary. 80 minutes, one track! Fuckin' epic and eerie. Godspeed You Black Emperor needs to get schooled by these three guys.
The title of the other cd-r, "Live At KFJC 07.15.01" is rather self-explanatory. Basically, last July the Hawk (space-)rocked the hell out of the studio of one of our favorite Bay Area college radio stations for 32 minutes. Both discs sound great, dynamic and heavy.
A doom metal super-group (or, to borrow a pun from Julian Cope, a stupor-group) featuring members of Sunn O))), Goatsnake, Khanate, Iron Monkey, Cathedral, Burning Witch, etc... (that is, Stephen O'Malley, Lee Dorian, Greg Anderson, and Justin Greaves).
Sophomore album from these Swedish stoner rock/doom metal practicioners. As with their debut, this is heavy, groovy, psychedelic stuff that owes the usual big debt to the Masters Black Sabbath. Vocalist Lord Christus (ex-Count Raven and St. Vitus!) has the Ozzy-vox down cold, and his band sweats out a suitable bottom-heavy riff-oriented accompaniment to his wailings. Good stuff! For
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As the vocalist says like two seconds into the first song, in his best Ozzy-ish drawl, and amid a swirl of distorted guitar, "Whooaaa! Let's go!" What you get here is some quality stoner metal from Sweden, featuring some guitarist guy from death metallers Unleashed (whatever) and vocalist Lord Chritus (formerly of both Count Raven and Saint Vitus)...Fans of the similarly Sabbath-y band sHeavy and other bands on the groovier side of the stoner rock spectrum (Kyuss, Orange Goblin, Roachpowder, Monster Magnet), grab this.
A couple of years ago some of us here at Aquarius befriended a visiting Belgian guy, a big fellow with a waxed handlebar mustache named Steve. That is, the guy was named Steve, actually, not his mustache. But if his mustache had a name we wouldn't have been surprised -- it was quite a striking 'stache. ANYWAY, we knew that in addition to being a record collecting fiend, Steve was a musician and that he played in a band, but somehow we didn't discover until much later that his band was called Thee Plague Of Gentlemen (is that some sort of punning reference to the BBC comedy?) and they were proponents of something that we love so much: sheer HEAVINESS! We learned this when they did a now out-of-print 7" single for Southern Lord, that we decided sounded like an unholy union of SUNNO))) and Killdozer! While we haven't really kept in very close touch with our Belgian friend (if you're reading this, hi Steve, how've you been?!), we have definitely been on the look-out for more from his band. Well, here it is! A full-length cd of downtuned sludge and gargling vocal wail. Total doom. Something along the lines of Cathedral (circa Endtyme), Electric Wizard, Unholy Trance, Celtic Frost, and Winter. Slow and grinding and a little bit psychedelic, with occasional bursts of speedier brutality. Riff-heavy, feedbacking doom extremity that means business. This disc is enhanced with two Quicktime videos of the band performing live. That's the aforementioned Steve singing and playing guitar, the bald guy with more beard now than moustache. And he's wearing a Magma t-shirt!
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Lost dooooom metal classic, circa '92, finally reissued. Finland's Thergothon play super slow, morose, keyboard-abetted doom metal that must have been a big influence on fellow countrymen Skepticism. With cosmic, H.P. Lovecraft-inspired lyrics. Darkly beautiful melancholy. For fans of Skepticism, Ras Algethi, Disembowlment, Esoteric.
Southern Lord resurrected and reissued this release a while back, but we just realised we hadn't yet listed it and figured that we really ought to, for the benefit of all you SUNNO))) obsessives out there who might have missed it. Thorr's Hammer was the deadly, doomful blackened sludge band that featured the SUNNO))) duo of Greg Anderson ("drones and sunns") and Stephen O'Malley ("crust and earth"), along with battledrummer Jamie Skes, subsonic attacker James Hale, and, last but certainly not least, vocalist Runhild Gammelsaeter. She being an authentic teenage blonde Norwegian and astonishingly capable of spewing gruff, vile vokills as ugly as she isn't. The band broke up when she went back to Oslo, which we're sure made them all very sad. But Thorr's Hammer left the legacy of 1998's Dommedagsnat album: four generally epick tracks of creeping, crushing dooom, plus for this reissue, a raw bonus track mpeg video of the band playing live in '95. So, get down in the dirt and get doomy with this, one of the blackened, gnarled roots of these guys' twisted family tree, other ropey branches being Burning Witch, Khanate, Goatsnake, and SUNNO))).
