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This Week's Recommended New Releases...

6/25/2015

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This week's recommended new releases (06/23/15):
[Click on band name for samples and more info]
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Freedom Hawk - Into Your Mind (Small Stone)


The Tidewater, VA trio returns with their 3rd album, boasting ten solid tracks of delicious Sabbath worship. It’s all been done a thousand times before, but it’s always enjoyable when someone does it this well. Doomy stoner riffs, driving drums and Ozzy vocals that don’t sound like some drunk asshole trying to sing Ozzy songs at karaoke night. Oh, and the hooks are really catchy, too. Very solid songwriting.


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Rolling Through the Universe - Lethe (Hidden Temple)


I’m kind of over the sludge thing, notably the copycat Portland scene, but this trio brings a little extra to the table on their 3rd release, thus garnering the coveted Blog of Doom recommendation. There’s enough Doom here to cancel out the tired shouted vocals and the song structures are interesting enough to keep my attention for 45+ minutes. That’s not exactly high praise, but I typically can’t give sludge albums more than a cursory listen. 


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This Week's Recommended New Releases...

6/17/2015

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This week's recommended new releases (06/16/15):
[Click on band name for samples and more info]
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Demon Lung - A Dracula (Candlelight)


The Las Vegas quartet returns with their second album, a very solid slab of female-fronted Doom. I like the fact that these folks aren’t afraid to pick up the tempo at times, proving that Doom can be effective over 72 bpm. The vocals are a nice touch, but the guitars steal the show on this record; massive riffs and solid lead parts. The bass is almost nonexistent in the mix, though. There’s also a bit of a Ghost influence at times, for whatever that’s worth. 


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High On Fire - Luminiferous (eOne)


The venerable lords of Stoner/Doom finally return with their 7th album and first in 3 years. I probably don’t need to waste any time describing the HoF sound because we’re all familiar by now and they never really deviate from the plan. Let’s just say that this one is a very worthy addition to the band’s prolific catalog and producer Kurt Ballou continues to get more out of the band than Albini and Endino ever managed to do. I don’t know how Matt Pike and Company continue to pull off gems like this while working within a very narrow framework, but they just get better with age. And we’re still waiting for that next Sleep record, by the way.

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Lucifer - Lucifer I (Rise Above)


More 70’s-inspired, female-fronted Doom this week, this one courtesy of a German quartet formed from the ashes of the short-lived The Oath. It’s a pretty standard Stoner/Doom record, but it doesn’t really approach tired or derivative. There’s plenty to enjoy here, but let’s take a minute to recognize that this might be the laziest band name and album art in metal history. It’s okay to have 70’s influences, but when you try to pretend that you’re actually living in the 70’s, you’ve crossed the line. Don’t let that scare you off, though. It really is a good album.

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Tempel - The Moon Lit Our Path (Prosthetic)


This Phoenix duo is identified as a Progressive Metal band, but I’m not really buying that. With all five tracks coming in at 8 minutes or longer, there is certainly a progressive element to the album, but when I think of Prog, I think of pansy bands with keyboard melodies, passionate vocals and ridiculous album concepts (I’m looking at you, Symphony X). This record is way too heavy to be bogged down with that genre label. To me, it sounds more like instrumental Black/Death Metal. The riffs are absolutely fantastic and the songs have a certain flow that I’m having trouble describing. Everything just works seamlessly. In fact, this is one of my favorite releases so far this year.

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This Week's Recommended New Releases (Pt. II)...

6/12/2015

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This week's recommended new releases (06/09/15):
[Click on band name for samples and more info]
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Sideburn - Evil or Divine (Metalville)


5th album from Swedish quartet; Stoner Metal

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Sunset in the 12th House - Mozaic (Prophecy)

Debut album from Romanian quartet; Psychedelic Metal

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Vallendusk - Homeward Path (Northern Silence)


2nd album from Indonesian quartet; Atmospheric Black Metal

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This Week's Recommended New Releases (Pt. I)...

6/11/2015

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This week's recommended new releases (06/09/15):
[Click on band name for samples and more info]
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Ashtar - Ilmasaari (Czar of Bullets)

Debut album from Swiss Black/Doom Doom duo

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Ethereal Shroud - They Became the Falling Ash (Nothern Silence)


2nd album from Isle of Wight solo project; Black/Funeral Doom

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Luna - On the Other Side Of Life (Solitude Productions)


2nd album from Ukrainian solo project; Symphonic Funeral Doom/Death Metal

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Midnight Odyssey - Shards of Silver Fade (I, Voidhanger)


2nd album from Australian solo project; Ambient Black Metal (over 2 hours long)

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This Week's Recommended New Releases...

6/4/2015

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This week's recommended new releases (06/02/15):
[Click on band name for samples and more info]
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Mortis Mutilati - Mélopée Funèbre (Naturmacht)


The third album from this French solo Black Metal project is equal parts atmospheric, melancholic and melodic. The whole album has an eerie feel to it, almost Doom-laden in parts.


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Paradise Lost - The Plague Within (Century Media)


The British Doom/Death icons return to early form on their 14th album, pushing back the Gothic overtones and going retro with heavy riffs and emotional leads.


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