stoner rock / hard rock

A crow munching on someone's brain near what looks like Route 66, the cover of this album is odd but interesting. I'm not sure if I have ever written about an album cover before. I have to say, I like the shadow of the crow in the clouds, but even more so, I like the backside of the album which shows that same car but this time it's on fire and a crow wearing a crow skull is sitting on it. Neat. It all looks like an intriguing road trip, obviously inspired by American landscapes and music. And when you dig into the music on this album, you'll feel exactly the same. Get ready for a rocking blend of stoner, blues and grunge, hailing from La Douce France.

I have no idea what is in the French waters but these guys can rock. Opener 'Dying Day' immediately brings out the big guns. Well, not immediately, first we get a short Colour Haze like jam before the groovy nad riff loaded stoner rock starts blasting through the speakers. From this very beginning, the influences become clear. Musically, everything between Kyuss, Queens Of The Stone Age and Truckfighters shines through. The vocalist is clearly a Metallica fan, since James Hetfield often comes to mind.

But that's ok. In fact, that's perfectly fine. The mix of heavy stoner rock and those vintage metal vocals really give the whole thing the power it needs. Believe me, there is plenty of power here. Just listen to 'Mushroom Fail', a potent stoner rock track, mostly slow also but containing a fierce jam near the end. Then, they prove that they can just as easy write a convincing desert rock ballad, 'Upset Man'. Here, Alice In Chains and Pearl Jam come to mind and again, I'm quite impressed.

Sunderfeet sound as vintage and genuine as their favorite bands do and that is a very good quality to have. They can rock hard but they can also write decent songs. They know how to sound varied while still maintaining a coherent sound. They can do Creedence Clearwater Revival (in '13'), they can do Fu Manchu ('W.A.R.') and everything in between. So yeah, this is a highly recommended album for everyone who loves a good stoner jam once in a while. Check it out. You'll be massively surprised...


​Serge

psychedelic rock / post hardcore / grunge

I'll let you in on a little secret. Sometimes I like to start writing a review before I actually listen to the album. Just for fun. In those cases, I write some nonsense about the weather, about how almost every car on the handicapped parking space is a BMW or about my lazy cat. I can also write that first paragraph about the band name or about the cover art, or simply about my own history with that particular band. In this particular case, that history is rather long and vague. I think I first heard the name Maudlin back in 2006 or 2007. After that, I regularly saw them featured on a festival flyer. Yet, I can't say I have ever been a fan.

Why not? Well, I have absolutely no idea. My best guess is the fact that I have never been a (post) hardcore fan. That, and I have been away from the heavy music scene for about ten years before I started this website. In the days Maudlin stepped on festival stages far and wide, I was engaged in the dark ambient and noise scene. Until today, I didn't know any song by these guys. Now, that is all changing and after giving this album a first spin I'm stuck between a feeling of regret and one of pleasant surprise.

Maudlin is a Belgian band, formed in 2005. In those thirteen years, they released only three albums, this one being the second full length on Consouling Sounds. This one comes five years after 'A Sign Of Time' and much like its predecessors it is a concept album. This time, the focus is on the sea. The band hails from Ostend, a city at the Belgian coast so the band members are very familiar with the North Sea. 

The music on this album is quite different from what I expected. After all, I expected post hardcore but I was treated to something psychedelic and immersive. 'Endless Expanse' is a perfect opener for this album, something between Tool, Soundgarden and Isis. To me, that was surprising, especially when the vocals came in. Most of them seem to be clean, well performed efforts instead of brutal screams. To me, that is a massive plus.

Then it hit me. Of course, Maudlin has matured, something you can easily hear in the brilliant 'Erase'. Along with the opener, this one is probably my favorite. In fact, all of these tracks are strong, potent pieces of raw psychedelic rock music. Over the past thirteen years or so, the members have gotten extremely well attuned to one another, became better musicians, experienced the ups and downs of the underground music industry.

Blending psychedelic rock with doom metal and grunge is an absolute win-win situation and Maudlin simply nailed it. Other bands that come to mind include Master Musicians Of Bukkake, Om, Porcupine Tree, Alice In Chains and Black Sabbath. I don't think those are bad names to be compared with. Yet, probably more important than that, Maudlin managed to create their own niche within a vast and massively influenced music scene, so it seems.

So yeah, from a bit hesitant to glorifying. I guess that I either underestimated these guys in the past or they have just created their own magnum opus. Fact is, this is going right into my day-to-day playlist in which all of the aforementioned bands are already present. I'm sure I will enjoy tracks like 'The Stowaway' or 'Above The Vast Clouds' quite a few times from now on. I can only recommend this album, which is actually yet another statement about how much talent our country harbors.


​Serge

grunge / alternative rock

'These Paths Lead Us Where We Started From', what a significant expression. It tells us that we are running in circles, unable to reach our goal, unless the goal is to actually run in circles, obviously. Dogs do that, some children too. I guess it's a matter of energy and having too much of it.

Anyway, I forgot where I was going to with all of that. Some asshole on a loud moped distracted me. I hate those things and the people driving them. I'll go punch him in the face and then get back to the review if that is ok with you. 


Right, that's that. Now let's dig into this new album by Finnish rockers The Psycho Season. This is one of those bands that does not seem to follow trends, something I can only applaud. Instead, The Psycho Season mainly seem to consist of old fashioned rockers who love to crawl into a rehearsal room and create some heavy music. That music is a blend of alternative rock, metal and grunge, enhanced by a dash of psychedelic rock.

The album opens with the song 'Ghosts' and immediately Alice In Chains comes to mind. That is a good sign and 'Ghosts' is a damn good song. Thick riffs, pounding drums and strong, potent vocals. It is like the glorious rock of the nineties is waking up again. That grungy quality remains throughout the entire album and highlights quite often. My personal favorite is 'Sky In Smoke', a brilliant grunge metal tune that reminds me a bit of Soundgarden's 'Rusty Cage', mixed with the previously mentioned Alice In Chains.

Perhaps that is what they mean with the album title. In their youth, the guys from The Psycho Season have been listening to all these bands. They learned to play their instruments by learning songs from Life Of Agony, Pearl Jam, Black Sabbath, Audioslave and so on. With this album they return to those roots, to that heavy and intense sound. Furthermore, somehow they have managed to make it sound both authentic and relative. Yes, there is still room for grunge inspired hard rock in today's rock scene and The Psycho Season is the perfect example of that.

Besides, if you are a fan of guitar solos, you might have a few eargasms while listening to these songs. The one in 'Under The Storm' is my favorite but there is brilliant guitar play to be found everywhere. 'Waves' is another highlight, a tune that somehow manages to blend sludge doom riffs with shoegaze janglings and again that muddy grunge sound. Oh well, let's just face it, these guys are fucking awesome. In 1994, this would have been a genre defining album. Today, this could be the soundtrack of a very welcome revival.


​Serge

rock / blues

I have to admit, this album has been sitting on top of my pile of albums to review for quite some time now. I guess I just didn't know what to make of it or what to expect from the music. Judging from the cover, I think I was expecting something in the line of Misfits or psychobilly music, something for gothic bikers.

Today, I finally decided to throw the album into my CD player. Meanwhile, I committed to the usual background checks and research, which made the confusion only bigger. Now I was expecting a lo-fi dark folk rock act or something. It was about time to play the damn thing.

Stone Of A Bitch is Ludwig and Alice. According to the biography they met at a festival in France where she was performing and he was a crewmember. Armed with guitars, bass and vocals, they started they own project, aided by electronic percussion and drums. What they do with that equipment pleasantly surprised me. This album is loaded with alternative rock and blues songs, here and there nudging towards post punk or grunge.

I found it hard to compare Stone Of A Bitch to other bands. On 'It's A War', I'd mention alternative rock bands but 'Carribean Drive' then suddenly drags itself into the world of gloomy blues. 'Wolves' opens as a trip hop tune but gradually turns into something Radiohead would be jealous of. 'Cold Blood Tear' brings Weezer to mind. Even Vive La Fete came to mind, even though Stone Of A Bitch rocks more than they dance, which is a good thing I think.

Yet, what strikes me the most about this album is the sheer quality of the whole thing. This is definitely not a lo-fi duo throwing some jams on a disc and hoping to become famous. No, this is a massive talented band with two members who know a great deal about songwriting. Furthermore, the album is executed to perfection with great songs. Songs that will make you want to shake your hips. I'd say do it. Check it out. This is absolutely recommend music for all rockers out there.


​Serge

drone / ambient

shoegaze / ambient rock

ambient / experimental

bandcamp

hard rock / heavy metal

industrial metal / alternative metal

thrash metal

death metal

dark ambient

black metal

dark ambient

stoner rock / grunge

post punk / dark wave

metal

stoner rock / psychedelic rock

alternative rock / post punk

punk / alternative rock

progressive metal

black metal

grunge / alternative / stoner rock

A marvelous record, Or Die is an album released on July 30 by wonderful stoner/ post grunge band Highfly from Warsaw, Poland. With six tracks – On the Disappearance of the Dwemer, Ab Urbe Posnani, Spooky Guy from the FBI, T. Bone Rocket, Swear to God and The Ballad of Larry Flynt – Or Die is a great album, with amazing guitar riffs and astounding melodies. On this album, we have the spirit of stoner, deeply inserted in a more relaxed, but exceedingly stunning – and sometimes reflexively poetic – post grunge atmosphere, a remarkable sonorous experience that will enchant your soul, your body, your sensorial perceptions, in a highly ascendant journey of proverbial intensity, that will revolve endlessly around your whole comprehension of the genre. 

With an amazing and intelligent unconventional approach, Or Die is a groundbreaking experience on wild rock. Labeling themselves as “surf metal”, the irreverent spirit of the band, a little reminiscent of bands like Faith no More, is brightly fused with a post grunge appeal that remembers Tantric in its “glorious” days (if they really had something that we could call this way), as well as Soundgarden and Pearl Jam (but these two just a little). Influences apart, Highfly has its own style: a surprising sound that conquers the listener instantly, and reveals a deeply infused touch of savagery, with a melodic perspective that stands over the perceptive sensibility of a cosmic emotional infinity, guarded by a restless soul lost in an immensity of touching serenity, encircled by a marvelous sonorous chaos of sincere comprehension.  

A very intriguing album, Highfly has what it takes to be considered a great experiment on their genres of choice. A rebellious, categorical and very sophisticated group with qualities of their own, Or Die gets close of being considered a masterpiece. Bringing with them all the formidable traditional qualities inherent to the genre, but working them over their own organic sonorous anatomy, there is a touch of exceedingly sensational originality into them that immediately captivates the listener. And other than that, the music is simply beautiful. 

A marvelous album that you should listen very attentively, Or Die is a giant record, fulfilled with wonderful music from the beginning to the very end. A deeply aggrandizing authorial work, filled with a genuine and authentic creativity, Highfly deserves the best praise for this incredible record. With killing tunes and powerful melodies, this is a highly fantastic album, that will generate a tremendous commotion on its audience.   


Wagner      

grunge / alternative rock

black metal / death metal

doom / black metal

psychedelic rock

psychedelic rock

grindcore

black metal 

ambient / electronic

progressive metal

alternative rock / blues

black metal

hard rock

facebook

Serge

black metal

krautrock / post punk

hard rock / grunge

dark ambient

classical

grindcore

stoner rock / psychedelic rock

drone / ambient

thrash metal

doom metal

black metal / folk metal

post rock / ambient

electronic / downtempo / psychill

electronic / downtempo / dub

Mindspring Music

grindcore

drone / black metal

doom / avant garde

progressive rock / alternative / grunge

After the heavy party hard rock from the previous review, it's now time for something a bit more progressive and complex. Although, this Norwegian band seems to know a thing or two about decent riffs and infectious grooves. That and songwriting, they know something about songwriting too.

Formed in 2016, Underwing quickly found their own sound, influenced by vintage rock music, grunge and the progressive approach of bands like Tool. Their debut ep is a promising collection of songs, well varied, well written and powerful enough to stand out in today's alternative rock scene.

All five songs on this album are well thought out rock anthems. They're not so much party hits, for that the progressive aspect might be a bit too present, but they show four talented and experienced musicians. Black Sabbath comes to mind, but also bands like Black Crowes, Toto, Alice In Chains, Reo Speedwagon, Pearl Jam and Boston. Come to think of it, personally I would simply place this in the "classic rock" section. I suggest you do the same, especially if you prefer music with a certain amount of complexity. In all, this is an excellent album, one that will certainly grow on you. These songs are going right into my day-to-day playlist and I'm sure I'll be listening to them for a long time from now on.


​Serge

hard rock / stoner rock / grunge

Tunes From The Void is an album by hard rock/grunge German group Grained, released on June 2. Forty three minutes and twenty five seconds long, the record has nine tracks: Gasoline, 35°28'N 138°39'E, Floods, Circus, Shadow Of The Sun, Deadlock, Closure, Interlord and L.O.R.D. A very interesting and rejuvenating album, with a sensible anatomy, designed over fluctuating rhythms increasing in an ever expansive and sophisticated sonorous dynamics, Tunes From The Void departs from a somewhat amazingly fresh, free-flowing, intense and delicate combination of hard rock and grunge, with a contemporary flavor that ads to their music a flexible perception of higher artistry, that easily matches a modern mosaic of graceful melodies with the more hazardous hardline of an explosive, but simple, convergence of savage freedom.

With engraving melodies, beautifully adorned and astoundingly elaborated, at the same time – being exceptionally radio-friendly –, the group has great possibilities of achieving a wider audience through airplay (if radios in their home country give them this chance), since Grained is certainly one of the best hard rock bands to come recently from Germany, in particular, and to appear on the global underground scene, on a wider scale. With a very original sound that doesn’t renounce nor try to renegade its roots, Tunes From The Void, track after track, reveals itself to be a captivating and lancinating piece of awesome and incredible originality. With filthy, abrasive, aggressive and thoroughly genuine guitar lines, Grained remembers a little the best bands of the genre, being a lot more superior than mainstream groups like Seether and Creed. 

Sincerely, I only have the best to say about this album. Track after track, you get surprised, with explosive melodies, beautiful and even poetic harmonies – driven by softly inspirational and deeply reflexive emotional intonations of serene imponderability –, as well as an everlasting feeling that comes from a universe where the music is perpetually seen as a detachment from our own soul. Summarizing, I have to say that, besides surprising, Tunes From The Void has it all: hostile and delusional guitars, pungent and perfectly aligned vocals, sensational and profound melodies, sidelined by a formidable eschatology of disturbed furious sincerity and disgrace, and amazingly graceful horizons of rhythmic dissonances dancing over gray oceans of joyful rapture. Really, there is no other album like this one. A masterpiece that has soul and intensity, in each and every note of its perfectly envisioned music.         

Well, what more can I say about Tunes From The Void, besides the fact that this an almost perfect album, an amazingly vibrant masterpiece, a colossal and astoundingly balanced mixture of hard rock and grunge, elaborated with the authentic gracefulness of creative values, like you have never heard before in your life? Well, that I’m dying to hear it again, of course!        
       

Wagner