Blog Archives

This Week's Recommended New Releases (10/16/15)...

10/16/2015

This week's recommended new releases (10/16/15):
[Click on band name for samples and more info]

Dead Temple - Cult of Acid (PRC)

The Denver 6-piece cranks out some gorgeous Doom-influenced Heavy Metal on their debut record. While the bluesy riffs deserve some serious praise, the showstopper here is the trio of female vocalists who lend an air of sultriness to the proceedings. Other than the 6 minute opener, these are all fairly short songs by genre standards, which allows the band to keep things moving without overplaying anything. There have been a shitload of female-fronted proto-Metal albums like this released in the last 5 years, but this one can compete with the best of them. Best release this week.

So Hideous - Lorestine (Prosthetic)

Someday I will figure out what it means when a band is called “post-something”, but for now I’ll just continue to ignore Brooklyn media-created genre titles and enjoy the type of lustrous Black Metal that this NYC quartet churns out on their second album. There are a lot of mellow, piano/keyboard-based atmosphere sections and the vocals are bit cliché, but when the tremolo riffing kicks in, it’s pretty damn impressive. They do a really nice job building up tension before crushing the listener with a full-on Metal assault. It’s not something I would typically listen to, but it certainly made me take notice.

With The Dead - With the Dead (Rise Above)

When Lee Dorrian (Cathedral) and two dudes from the classic Electric Wizard lineup get together to make an album, you would think it would be a monumental and highly anticipated record in the Doom community, but they managed to keep this one under wraps until it was almost out. It basically sounds like Lee Dorrian singing on an Electric Wizard album, so there aren’t really any surprises. However, Lee Dorrian singing on an Electric Wizard album is the next best thing to an actual new Electric Wizard album, so this is a good thing. Lee Dorrian. Electric Wizard.

0 Comments

Unsigned Bands of the Month - October, 2015

10/14/2015

0 Comments

Ainrail - Rural Sludge
[Dublin, IRE]

Band members:

Tommy Foster
Eric Burke

Influences:

Tough to answer, but everything from the rancid melodies of Killing Joke and pummeling of Godflesh to thick layers of sludge from Eyehategod, Acid Bath, etc.

Describe your sound:

Heavy music/metal pared back to the basics of bass guitar and drums and vocals. Simple and sincere.

What’s next for Ainrail?

Play every region of Ireland, a lot, then in the following months Britland and beyond. Also recording another EP with material we are working on right now.

http://heathenmusic.ie./

Beastmaker - You Must Sin EP
[Fresno, CA]

Band members:

Trevor William Church - Vocals and guitar.
Andy "Juan Bonham" Saldate - Drums
John Tucker - Bass

Influences:

Horror movies. Sabbath and Pentagram.

Describe your sound:

Sabbath groove.

What's next for Beastmaker?

We have 2 more eps dropping. 1 5 song ep. It'll hopefully drop in October. Also we have an ep of 4 songs that we recorded in May.

http://beastmaker.bandcamp.com/

Strauss - Luia EP
[London, UK]

Band members:

Stef Sacchetto - Vocals
Charles Fusari - Guitars
Nando Thommenssen - Guitars
Bill Tandy - Bass
Doc –Drums

Influences:

We all have differents music influences that contribute to the Strauss sound. The main riffs generally come from a stoner/sludge/thrash background with bands such as The Sword, Kylesa, Bison BC, Mastodon, Children (not Children of Bodom), Danava. Then every band member adds his personal touch. For example our singer is a lot into thrash (Slayer, Pantera) or Hardcore (Refuse,...) and our bass player is more into technical metal.

Describe your sound:

A review did it quite well : “Progressive desert doom stoner groove noise sludge." –Toilet Ov Hell

What’s next for Strauss?

We just released our first music video, taken from our 2nd EP Luia that has been released back in May. The main focus now is into playing live across the UK and Europe, promoting the new EP that we are very proud of and also starting to write new material.

https://straussband.bandcamp.com/

Sykopath Condor - Cell 36
[Luton, UK]

Band members:

George Zafirakis - Vocals
Kai Wolf - Guitar
Ashley Clark - Bass
Ashley Morton - Drums

Influences:

Red Fang, Kyuss, Tool, Clutch

Describe your sound:

Stoner rock with more than a nod to metal at times.

What’s next for Sykopath Condor?

We have recently completed our scheduled tour dates for the summer in support of our new album released in May and it has been a thoroughly enjoyable ride. The fans, venues and support have simply been outstanding. After taking a little break we will be back on the road again come September/October time and descend upon venues around the London area and in the South/East of England in general. Whilst we have a heavy emphasis on playing more shows this year, we always keep writing new material and if history serves correctly we may also hit the studio again later this or early next year to record a few tracks.

https://sykopathcondor.bandcamp.com/

0 Comments

This Week's Recommended New Releases (10/09/15)...

10/12/2015

0 Comments

This week's recommended new releases (10/09/15):
[Click on band name for samples and more info]

Wizard Eye - Wizard Eye (Black Monk)

2nd album from Philadelphia trio; Psychedelic Doom/ Stoner Metal

Barbarian Fist - The Whorelord Cometh (Voidcaller) 06/02/15

Debut album from Norwegian trio; Doom/Stoner Metal

Il Vuoto - Weakness (Satanarsa) 08/21/15

Debut album from Italian solo artist; Drone/Funeral Doom Metal

Slow Worm - The Inverse Ascent (Third I Rex) 06/30/15

Debut album from Leicester, UK quintet; Doom Metal

Editor's Note: Since there was only one good album released last week, I've included a few past releases that I missed the first time around. Solid stuff, all around. Enjoy. - JO

0 Comments

This Week's Recommended New Releases (10/02/15)...

10/6/2015

0 Comments

This week's recommended new releases (10/02/15):
[Click on band name for samples and more info]

Children of Bodom - I Worship Chaos (Nuclear Blast)

I honestly had no idea that Bodom was still releasing albums, but here we are with the Finnish quartet’s ninth release. I’ve never been able to get into Bodom’s records because while they’re a solid live act, the studio material is always thisclose to being great. There’s nothing new here, but they seem to have dialed down the unlistenable Dream Theater-esque keyboard parts. Since In Flames has been in the shitter for the better part of a decade now, this is your best bet for catchy, accessible Melodic Death Metal.

Indian Handcrafts - Creeps (Sargent House)

This wasn’t even on my radar until last week and I would’ve totally missed it had it not been for the recommendation of a local during my recent travels to Canada. The second album from this Barrie, ON duo is a fantastic blend of Stoner and Sludge Metal with some serious hard-driving rhythms propelling the attack. It’s heavy and frenetic and fuzzy and, at times, downright catchy. For Cincinnati folks lamenting the loss of Mangrenade, there a couple of tracks on here that will certainly scratch that itch.

Sloth - Slow As Shit (N/A)

This is the debut album from a dude in London who goes by Sloth, not to be confused with the two (probably more) other Doom/Sludge bands called Sloth. While I’m not sure of the exact tempo threshold that defines “slow as shit”, the songs are definitely slow, bleak and lengthy. Other than some sparse shouting near the end of the album, this is mostly instrumental Doom, with a bunch of interesting layers and solid riffs. This one stays interesting for several listens and it feels especially appropriate this time of year, when everything slows down and turns brown.

Spelljammer - Ancient of Days (RidingEasy)

On their debut full-length album, this quintet has received the heavy-as-fuck Stoner Doom baton from fellow Swedes Monolord and delivered a modern day classic that is almost as impeccable as it is heavy. These guys have been flying under the radar with a couple of EP releases, but with a record this massive, it’s time for the Doom world to take notice. The riffs are bone-rattling, the vocals are powerful and the bass rumbles along nicely in the background. There’s a bit too much psychedelic guitar noodling for my taste, but when the whole band gets locked in, these guys are tough to beat.

Trinakrius - Introspectum (Pitch Black)

With the Doom genre clearly shifting focus to absolute heaviness, it’s nice to still have some melody around and that’s where bands like this fit in. On their 4th album, the Italians harken back to the glory days of Trouble, mixing their Doom with some crunchy thrash riffs and higher register vocals. It’s basically a nice throwback Doom record with few frills, but these guys are good at delivering the core competency without trying too hard. If you dug the first three Trouble records, you'll want to try this out. Also, they’re Italian and they don’t sound weak as shit, so that’s a feather in their cap.

0 Comments

This Week's Recommended New Releases (10/16/15)...

Unsigned Bands of the Month - October, 2015

This Week's Recommended New Releases (10/09/15)...

This Week's Recommended New Releases (10/02/15)...

Archives

Categories