stoner metal

It would be far too easy to list all the influences for Somnus Throne as they are stoner metal aficionados and surely have learned their lessons from some of the genre’s finest. Their songs can therefore also clearly be labeled as dirty, gritty, doomy, distorted high-octane rock.

For the trio from all over the States – from New Orleans to Portland, Oregon – this is already their second time playing together. After their first incarnation Maenad was dead, it took some time before the three found back together. Another difficulty was to find a center for the band, as they were all so far apart from each other. This problem was then solved by them renting a space in Los Angeles to write their new music and find a good formula for their sound. 

One must admit, that it worked really well, as their self-titled full-length is definitely a strongly breathing and reeking “thing”, a multi-armed and -legged being that is here to demand our full attention so that we cannot but give in to its charm. You can envision the monster hunting you down and then slowly pushing its tentacles into your brain until you can do nothing but listen and listen and listen and….

When talking about good stoner metal bands one often comes across the fact that the good bands can create huge impacts by using little shifts. These can come via an instrument and a quick notch up or down the speed-o-meter or via a vocal melody. Some bands are unable to do one or the other, but Somnus Throne can do both equally good. Their vocalist and guitar player Evan is certainly a better one within the genre as he can use the full volume of his voice without losing breath so that in the end it all sounds nicely and has a flow that can carry the whole weight of a metal song on its back. 

Nevertheless, the main focus of Somnus Throne is to write mind-altering riffs that will take total control of your vortex: Take the second real song (after the short intro) “Shadow Heathen” for example, a song that starts with a convincing riff line dominated by a strong drummer with the melody being like an irregular mantra giving the song just enough space to capture the audience before the riffing slows down after 3 ½ minutes and the guitars taking over the position and effect of the guitar. After a short return of the ritualistic vocals the song slowly zooms giving room for a great solo. The final two minutes that are a pure doom outro for the heavens (or heathens?). 

Of course, this is all nothing new under the sun and certainly no re-invention / re-imagining of stoner metal, but there is a reason why Jurgen and Burning World Records took this threesome on months ago. It got potential, lots and loads of it. That’s why he wanted to publish this full-length debut all in Holland. And let’s be honest – has Jurgen ever disappointed? 


​Thorsten

stoner rock

Is there anything bad in being a stoner rock band? In loving the fuzz? Using a soundscape that has been “commonplace” for more than two decades? 

Sometimes, yes – because the paths of this genre have been wandered and trodden on for a long time. Sometimes, no – if you do not expect a total re-invention of a genre that holds decades long ago so high in their appraisal. Those bands sound like a mixture of Pentagram, Sabbath, Purple and partially Rainbow. Or more “recent” Kyuss, QOTSA, Fu Manchu and Orange Goblin. So how to see if you have a relevant stoner band before you or not? 
Maybe the number of releases is an indicator as only the good ones are allowed several records – in this case Black Rainbows are really relevant: “Cosmic Ritual Supertrip” is their eighth full-length since their inception in 2007, not counting several 7-inches or splits. 
Might we say a relevant band adds something new to the genre? Again, the Italian trip from Rome can score. Their singer Gabriele Fiori doesn’t try to imitate any genre crooner but is pretty close to Billy Corgan, if he wanted to use his testicles when singing and not sit at home whining about his poor life being a millionaire. 
Is a moment of utter surprise necessary? Not really, because if you love that genre, then you love that genre. No need to completely overthrow it. Black Rainbows have all the must-haves. A good blues-stomper like “Isolation” or a frantic speed-attack like the opener “At Midnight You Cry”. A small tearjerker like “The Great Design” and a little punky-ditty like “Master Rocket Power Blast”. 

Nevertheless, is there a really reliable determiner if it’s a good record amidst that never-ending flood of stoner bands? Yes: I must believe them; must be able to picture them driving around in a muscle car towards the sunset where they will take their boards from the back and skate around some Southern Californian urban jungle just to get to a diner in time for a lush milk-shake. As stupid as that stereotype is – the three Romans totally fulfill it. They clearly are not in it for the money, they are here for the love of that warm sound that is able to wrap itself around your ears, and later your soul. “Cosmic Ritual Supertrip” is one of those records for the late afternoon drive when you suddenly realize that taking a turn and driving around for half an hour more is not a detour but the best thing to do. There is nothing bad in being a stoner band – if you do it right. The listener must be able to let go of reason and simply feel the music. Let go of the idea that every record must be a new musical invention. Follow the trail to the sun, dude!


Thorsten

progressive / stoner / rock

Always one of the most refreshing things in music are well-established bands with a good reputation and a strong following being able to re-invent their sound and style and still getting away with it because of sheer musical joy and quality. Think of Celtic Frost and their turn towards a darker and yet more progressive side of black metal with “Monotheist” (as a positive example, or Dredg and their last record if you want a negative example). Elder just did that very same thing, the highly popular stoner rock band has re-invented their sound-verse a few years ago and now follow this wide open future with “Omens”, the seventh regular full-length for the Berlin, Germany-based Heavy Rock band.

The songwriting has taken another massive step forwards and the “anything goes”-attitude definitely knows no boundaries on this meticulous record. There is nearly no genre untouched on “Omens” and the five songs with 55 minutes running time deliver big. Of course, the basis is still heavy rock and the sound is also still strongly stoner-influenced. However, the soundscapes alterations can come any second and nevertheless contribute to an immense gratifying whole. 

The new line-up of singer Nicholas DiSalvo and Michael Risberg on the guitars and the keyboards, Jack Donvan on the bass and Georg Edert behind the drums is able to progress from the mind-blowing 2017 release “Reflections of a Floating World” and keep its own identity at the same time which means that we witness unique combinations of space rock (with some quirky sounds speeding from right to left) and simultaneously heavy repetitive patterns. New drummer Georg Edert, together with his team-mate bassist Jack Donvan, needs to be mentioned here singularly because it is always difficult to enter such a strong line-up and not feel nervously. But his perfectly timed rhythms and nicely balanced drum patterns and fills give the long instrumental passage a more than solid foundation not to forget amid all the guitar tornadoes of riffs, solo and licks. He has so much near jazzy drive in his toms and such an undeniably eloquent use of the cymbals that one wonders whether they found an incarnation of Shiva serving the purpose of driving that will keep many heads nodding and feet moving at the same time. 

This version of Elder might be a bit poppier than before and a bit more accessible but damned be if it turns out any less successful. Elder have found a niche which only they inhibit, not because nobody else wants to, but because the level of their skills cannot be matched easily. 


Thorsten

doom / stoner rock

Duos without either bass or guitar have been a thing in the music scene for quite some time, some immensely popular like the White Stripes, some less like Two Gallants, yet there seems to be something about the combination of drums with one of those two that is appealing to a lot of musicians. Year of The Cobra from Seattle are no exception to this and they are like the converted image of Jack & Meg, because they are really a married couple on- and offstage, they have a female singer and bassist and a male drummer (who is actually capable of more than just trying to keep a straight rhythm). 

In a perfect world, this duo would be the talk of the town because they served us “Ash & Dust”, a hot dish of doom and stoner melodies last November which forces the author of these lines to stray from his usual idea of not writing about anything older than three months. Amy Tung and Jon Barrysmith definitely have the “it”-factor, because they are highly capable musicians that create such a strong undertow that one cannot but lean back and let the delicious waves of stoner-sanded doom wash over him and bury his head deep within the desert where the hot is scorching yet never killing. The fever starts to set in and the listening experience is becoming more and more intriguing. Eight song each showing a different kind of mood yet never losing the thread that is observable with Amy’s magnetic bass skills that is as mesmerizing as her singing performance somewhere between the naive seductress and the vicious femme fatale. 

The best thing is that they keep their strongest shots for that moment that we all know on certain records – great opening tracks, pretty decent second ones but then with tracks three to five a certain structure becomes obvious. That doesn’t happen on “Ash & Dust”; first of all because the songs are all unique (also because of the varying integrated further instruments, like an organ). Secondly, because the way that the duo places the drums within the sound is extraordinary, sometimes they are leading in the way and even more apparent than Amy’s low-tuned, heavily distorted bass, sometimes the cymbals seem really delicate showing Jon’s ability to not just hit as hard as he can. Finally, the use of the bass is striking and similar to Bell Witch’s way of using the bass similar to a hellish piano. 


​Thorsten

grunge / stoner rock

Iceland’s scene is very likely one of the strongest worldwide as we are talking about a country with roughly 360,000 inhabitants and yet we all know so many bands from Iceland pushing the brim for modern music further and further. Keelrider is another one of those, although they most likely will not see as much attention as Sigur Ros, Björk or the whole Icelandic black metal scene because they are Stoner Grungers with a twist. In 2018 they published their debut album “North” and last year they published two singles from their upcoming album “Second Wind”. While “Too Far Gone” is in parts a very nice melange of Alice in Chains-vocals and Soundgarden-stoner riffs, “Sun” is much more interesting because the band some a little more variety when it comes to time signatures and giving the guitar lines more space to breathe. If you are into stoner rock and grunge, this band is something right for you! 

post metal

Post-Metal from Italy. Most foreigners automatically associate it with Postvorta but some, a little deeper in and a little longer might remember the name Calendula, the sextet from Parma, which released an EP (2011) and a full-length (2012) a while ago. After some changes concerning line-up and musical direction, they released a 25-minute-song in November which definitely doesn’t fit to the title “De Brevitate Vitae” - it’s not brevis (brief) at all. It is quite a monster with a lot of dynamic changes and oscillates between dynamic driving drums and some really clever, counteracting guitar-work following the long intro, which sometimes hints at a bit of Tool. The vocals are pretty good, they also use some samples to give it a more differentiated sonic outline. Something that can be criticized is the sound as the partially trashy Lo-Fi sound doesn’t really fit a record as ambitious as this one, although on the other side it fits to the proclaimed role models  – 90s post-rock bands such as Slint (noticeable in the very effective guitar motif after the first real break). If the guys follow this path, we might have two Italian associations with the term Post-Metal.

electronic 

Svart Records is one of the finest labels when it comes to hard, harsh music, most people know about that. Most people do not know that they also have an electronic sub-label – Svartronix which again is very open-minded. A few weeks ago they released the debut song by A Heart Beats “Dazes the Mind” which is pop music that fits perfectly in any 80s mix of songs by some tropical house producer. This songs purvey a kind of Caribbean calypso feeling but their sex-appeal derives to a large extent from the intriguing vocals of Paile who once was a member of Beastmilk. His delivery is very nice and especially the chorus is so funky that one automatically feels his feet moving, but the line also has some depth “It dazes the mind / and numbs the tongue”. The beats produced by Tuuki are layered with some space basslines in the sense of some more synth-driven Daft Punk and the beat itself is shuffling a bit, so that the sunny, opening sounds give the song a holiday feeling without the stupidity. A promising debut song, let’s hope A Heart Beats and Svartronix has some more servings.

doom / death metal

Russian death doom act Intaglio released a demo version of a new track at the end of last year and in some way, the beauty lies in the rhythm. Many voices will now scream that the rhythm is nothing particular new to the genre, as the slow, dragging rhythm of the song is really quite normal, but the way that the strings connect to it, support it in certain passages, yeah, even form it from time to time, that is really breathtaking – the Gothic attitude it brings to the song turns it into a remarkable one. The lyrics, speaking about the overwhelming character of a memory of death which overshadows everything else, are delivered in regular death metal style. Another standout feature is the use of the use of an upright bass that is tuned so well, that you can hear each tap and each ring.
In some way, three pretty singular metal genres are amalgamated into one pretty dense net of emotions that will leave no open ear without imprinting a memory of itself on the listener. If this is a first sign of a new album then one might keep Intaglio in mind.

punk

Everything about this 7” screams “Old school! Old school!”, the cover (seemingly a reverse from the classic Minor Threat discography cover that also was adopted by Rancid several years ago), the cover b-side, the black-white style, the sound, everything! But first things first: The revived band released a good album in 2018 and last December followed with this 7” out on Heartworm Press. The title track is a new shotgun blast somewhere between Zeke, MC5, The Clash, Turbonegro and Black Flag (although one must say, that only the vocals sometimes hint at Rollins) – definitely a good track. The b-side is a well-made cover of “Left for Dead” by The Lemonheads another one of these late 80s punk bands that turned more and more to indie-rock. The cover is good and shows a different side to American Nightmare. However, there is one thing that is lacking in this release and that is the teenage angst that made AN famous. The despair, the sadness, the melancholy – not there. On the other hand, that might drive the listener to despair and achieves the same effect.

avant garde / folk

Dog Tunnel Records

There are genres that seemingly are so heavily steeped in tradition and customs that it is hard to imagine to hear a new sound in them. Take Irish Folk for example; most of us at first might associate it with pub nights somewhere between the Dubliners and Christy Moore (at best) or Michael Flatley and Enya (at worst). But to combine the traditional folk instruments bodhran, flute, violin, and guitar with a wall of sound, lots of spoken word (not cheerfully and rhythmically, but rather intimidating and fierceful) is something rarely heard before. Tuatha is a fierce project that will leave some of us open-mouthed. Formed in early 2019 and already a rising star on the scene, the septet uses old Irish tales from the Middle Ages and Gaelic Dindsenchas (short poems describing certain places) to deepen their already impressive style. In parts, their unrelentless approach reminds one of the approach Archive and SubRosa took in totally different musical landscapes. This here is unique, bewitching and typical Irish yet also totally un-Irish. Folks, give Tuatha a listen!

sludge / doom

A quartet from Phoenix, Arizona with a very grainy, heavy sound, Mosara released their debut demo last November. It shall be a prelude to a record which is in the making and should see the light of day before the end of the year; of course the demo should also draw interest from labels and I think it might: The musical soundscape is strongly influenced by a lot of proto-metal like Sabbath, Blue Cheer, but also by classic doom bands like Electric Wizard or Cough – that means, you get what you expect, low-tuned, richly-distorted, grainy, a bit lofi-ish doom sounds with a tinge of sludge influences (most audible on the second track “Clay and Iron”). Sometimes the howls and growls could be a bit fiercer and less despaired because, sometimes, Tony Gallegos (ex-Twingiant) is a bit too clear. Nevertheless the sound is great, as if someone mated Fu Manchu with Sabbath and their offspring was left in the desert with a guitar as the only means of communication. The riffs are dragging, the bass is dominant, the drums are supportive – all good in the Arizona desert. 

death metal / black metal / doom / noise / grindcore

Noise bastard? Yeah. Death metal? Sometimes. Grindcore? For sure. Doomy Gloom? You bet. All of that and more is “Tellurian Insurgency” by Ploughshare. With their third release in as many years (after 2017’s “Literature of Piss” and 2018’s acclaimed “In Offal, Salvation”) the quartet from Australia’s capital Canberra once again proves that the bar is always too low for them. Excellent musicians with a highly complex understanding of how music works they show that extreme metal must also rely on atmosphere that sometimes exists between the chords and blastbeasts. A great deal of the attraction of this band is the vocals, which never sound cheesy but quite on point. This EP also features a remix of their standout song, the title track of “In Offal, Salvation”, which shows that it is even possible to give this dark nightmare of a song an even more desperate twist. One thing that becomes clear throughout the record is how important good drumming is for such a kind of music as it must set the tone for everyone. If the guys can keep up their productivity we should await a new heir to the extreme metal throne in 2020.

industrial

Describing this Oakland, CA, quartet is not that easy and not that difficult at the same time. Their sound relies heavily on synths, samples but also on guitar, bass and drums. They cross constantly between electronic noise (aka industrial) and post-punk’ish avantgarde sounds. Initiated in 2013 and having independently released already a bunch of records, Lament Cityscape set out to publish three EPs in 2020, each following some red thread and yet also standing out on its own. Something that they share with some of the pioneers of this kind of sonic assault (Godflesh, Killing Joke, Author & Punisher) are the harsh sounds that sometimes remind one of buoys warning the oncoming ships of the nearby rocks and sandbanks which here are symbolized by the rough drum attacks. In parts, this is a good record for those who like Godflesh’s Streetcleaner a bit less polished and a bit more straightforward. Partially, one is left behind by a lack of surprise, but fans of industrial noises and harsh synth-driven drums will really like this.

black metal

At first, the band’s name might sound like a nice pun on 80s karate flic “Bloodsport” (with the amazing multiple Academy Award winning actor Jean-Claude van Shakespeare) but when listening to this new face on renown Swedish Meta label Blood Harvest it becomes clear that the idea of a fungi which sits parasitically on its host and feeds of it before finally killing it works perfectly within the black metal community. It also works nicely because the record to it is really good and leaves one’s ears with an immediate wish to press replay because of its clever changes in mood, dynamics and tempi. The record (especially the second track “Cede to the Saprophyte”) is like a nice blend of groove metal and black metal with the emphasis, of course, on the latter. Thematically, the record presents the idea of the fungal mass on this planet slowly but certainly taking over and destroying all other organisms, a new take on the apocalyptic visions presented by bands like Botanist or Arx Atrata. For a band that only came together in 2018, this is really somewhat impressive. 


​Thorsten

sludge metal

“Demonic Black Magick for Tortured Souls.” That’s one of the first sentences you read when coming across Seventh Circle’s FB-account. Interestingly this record has less death metal than you would assume after such a proclamation and after a record title referring to Dante’s Seven Circles of Hell. The record is a solid pastiche of stoner-influenced sludge metal with a share of death metal miniatures. The duo from California really hits some weak spots in all of those people who like their death metal a bit more on the hard rock-side with these three tracks.
The sound is gritty and heavy and the breakdowns are not too hardcore-ish so that those 13 minutes are over quicker than you wanted. Most interesting are those moments when they take some time to establish the mood of a song instead of just racing into it. The only thing that might be bothersome is the mixing because although of course a band like this should be produced raw and dirty but the vocals are too far in the background. 

black metal

Invictus Productions

Iron Bonehead Productions

Belgium’s black metal band Possession brought a totally new concept to split EPs at the end of November by releasing two different splits with two different bands but with one unifying theme. “Passio Christi Part I / Witch’s Spell” is their split with Spite from the US and “Passio Christi Part II / Necrophagus Abandon” is the one with Venefixion from France. The second part of each record’s title is one of the track of Possession split partner. 
Interesting about these two separate releases on two different labels with bands spanning five countries is that it all sounds very organic and as if this was meant to be. But the logistics and planning for this thing must have been arduous. 
However, when playing both records in a row, you do not have the feeling of a loss of quality or a change in sound and vision. The releases each start with a very atmospheric intro by Possession with the second one even played on a church organ and incorporates carillon bells. Very, very good. The Belgians pursue their idea of a raw punkish sound and attitude, a high-octane version of black metal. “Stabat Mater”, the last of their six tracks total, ends in a whirlwind of drums and riffs that has mantra-qualities just before their final contribution to this duo split turns the song into an instant classic as they take up the intro from “Passio Christi Part I” again using a choir to make their songs one big entity. 
The other two bands are not only bystanders but take part immensely with each giving their respective releases a different element. Spite, for example, delivers the cover song that each good split should have doing Manitú’s “Cruel Creator” in their own way, very lo-fi and very chilling.  Venefixion, on the other hand, do the best thing to do after a song as good as “Stabat Mater” - they do their own piano-intro (!) and then all hell breaks loose, no barriers holding back, no hostages taken, no one left standing in their way – straightforward black metal!
As a final say, one has only very seldom heard such a coherent, thoughtful conceived combination of split series as this one!

psychedelic / stoner / rock

The California-based trio is set to release their next album on Valentine’s day next year and “8hr Parking” is the first single off of that record which will be called “Mortal Foils” and released via Italy’s specialist label Heavy Psych Sounds Records. 
And as this is not their first release but another one in quite a long list of excellent ones, it shows that singer/guitarist Enver Koneya, bassist Travis Williams and drummer Braden McGraw really know what they want to sound like – a mixture of “full-throttle, pedal to the metal” and “whirling swooshing Tornado jet”. The new song thunders like steamrolling in a Mad Max-vehicle without roof right through Los Angeles all the way up the coast with the wind rushing through your hair while tanking north on Pacific Highway 101 and then having to step down a bit because otherwise the turns and curves will not be mastered especially in Big Sur and North. If the upcoming record is as convincing as this one then we might up for something special!

alternative rock

Sometimes there comes a band that is able to emulate a sound that directly brings up several memories from your past that you had forgotten you had somewhere deep in you. Now a lot of you readers will say “Of course that is what good music should be able to so that you find a connection to it!” For clarification: Listening to an EP with the singer in the first song sounding like a first-class Layne Staley impersonator is never a bad thing, especially when he concentrates on the articulation and breathing and not on the impossible to imitate the voice of Alice in Chains’ front man. With the second using the same bells that Radiohead used for “Karma Police” is another very positive thing and the third one witnessing a voice imitating Thom’s way of phrasing words and sounds while the band is finding the middle between both bands the author of these lines is back in a room at home with the lights on, thinking about former loves and igniting hundreds of candles to fit his mood. Or is that just what this record wants me to feel like? Probably; well: Well done!

Thorsten

doom metal / stoner rock

Doomed & Stoned

Just because this makes me proud.

Released on Friday the 13th of December 2019 this compilation couldn’t be a better presentation of the Belgian underground music scene. The Doomed & Stoned label from Portland Oregon U.S. serves the best in doom metal and stoner rock, intersecting over four decades of heavy music, with particular interest in underground bands, in the tradition of the ultimate godfathers of doom: Black Sabbath.

This collection contains forty-eight tracks with an enormous high quality and variation of heavy riff based walls of sound. The label calls Belgium to be the capital of underground music and they have a point here. Modesty is a virtue. All those bands work hard with pure dedication on their music besides family and jobs. 

With bands like Stake (Steak Number Eight), AmenRa, Raketkanon (they quit this year), Brutus and Oathbraker already left the underground scene and touring worldwide, a new wave of dark treasures are to be discovered from the Belgian underground scene. Several instrumental bands wander between the sub genres like Psychedelic Blues Rock, Doom, Stoner Rock, Sludge Metal, Post Metal and Alternative Metal.

We won’t mention any band names on purpose because we want the listener to discover and to dig his way in. Big names and unknown names are present on Doomed & Stoned in Belgium. This killer is available at a name your price deal on the label’s Bandcamp page. 

The Doomed & Stoned in Belgium release made us proud. Support, obey and spread the Belgian riff!

​
Patsker

stoner rock / metal

Earthshine is an album released in October 18, by Italian stoner rock group The Whirlings. A relatively concise musical effort — only thirty-eight minutes long —, the record has five tracks: 1) Vacuum; 2) Reverence; 3) #6; 4) Good For Health, Bad For Education; 5) Lost In Without; with a powerful musical vitality, a cohesive internal sonorous consistency, and a gracious ability to explore the genre on its more inhospitable layouts, Earthshine manages to be a very pleasant and magnificent experience. Despite the exceedingly conventional beginnings, the band soon manages to take a more genuine and authorial turn, and from the first track onwards, the album reveals itself as a magnificent musical journey, that all lovers of stoner rock will undoubtedly appreciate, with ardent enthusiasm. 

The vast majority of the rhythms are inadvertently cautious and slow; nevertheless, they are so majestically conceived, they overflow with such an organic consistency, that the exceedingly superb technical competence and attention to detail displayed by the band easily makes the listener fall in love with this album. But the qualities don't stop there. As if that were not enough,   the guitar lines and the general pace of the harmonies are so fantastically exceptional and rapturous, that its impossible not to be immediately attracted to the absurdly abrasive melodies that fluctuates above the horizon of the dense and delightful harmonies showcased by the band's creative and lurid style, that openly reveals the desire to conceive something entirely new, from the good old influences they all had absorbed as musicians. 

Sincerely, I couldn't find anything negative to be written about this magnificent album. With a powerfully afflictive, but at the same time moderate and restrained style — that never exaggerates nor repeats itself —, Earthshine reveals itself as a carefully conceived and wisely elaborated musical masterpiece, whose sensational degree of originality deserves to be praised by the underground. With a deeply sagacious creativity and a sober degree of audacity, that knows precisely where the genre needs improvement, The Whirlings certainly can be classified as a major act of contemporary stoner rock. Undoubtedly, if they continue to demonstrate this formidable level of boldness, sensibility and competence, they are destined to become undisputed references in the history of the genre. 

With a majestic degree of excellence that I personally haven't heard in the genre before, Earthshine, by The Whirlings — in its glorious entirety, from start to finish —, proves to be a spectacular, impeccable and unexpected album. While the band display the general strucuture and the ordinary elements of stoner rock, their rereading and personal rendering of the genre is absolutely extraordinary. With no homogeneity, no repetitive features, no obsolete techniques, no generic or formulaic passages, the majestic grandiosity of this fabulous album deserves to be recognized as a landmark in the history of the genre's development, as Earthshine definitely designs new melodic and stylistic possibilities for the underground music, with a refreshing, vivid and authentic creative nature, that heralds a future of splendor for stoner rock. 


Wagner

dark rock

Nothing new under those vast Scandinavian skies – yes! Nothing boring in the wide open spaces – yes! Nocturnalia are a good example that a mix of Rainbow, Deep Purple, the 69 Eyes combined with a singer who clearly likes Bruce Dickinson never gets boring. For we have heard those things so often before we can clearly identify the roots – always a great thing for every fan(atic) as he can display his knowledge. However, there is something else to that mix that lies beneath the obvious and that is some good and clever songwriting because we must remember – copying is one thing but taking lessons from idols is another. Nocturnalia definitely follow the second line and we can take singer Linus Ekermo as an example here: He knows his Bruce, he knows his Dio but he never dares to simply copy them, he adds little singular characteristics once in a while, for example in “Winter Hymn” when his (nearly) spoken word is a great atmospheric moment - “Frost be the sign of this lost ending year /  Darkness embrace me for winter draws near” words and phrases heard before but combined with a sound reminiscent of the wind of uilleann pipes and a second (at the beginning nearly inaudible) vocal line we are still drawn to it and keep on spinning “III Winter”. 

hard rock / classic rock

Wooden Earth (look at that band name – you already see the green smoke rising in the desert) are to release their new track “Fangs” on December 13th. The Dallas-based duo consisting of guitarist Devin Moreno and drummer/vocalist Griffin Thomas will release their debut full length next year and are currently touring their ….. off. No new witches’ brew in their mix of two similar genres, but their play with dynamics is definitely worth lending your ear if you like Red Fang’s ferociousness, QOTSA’s pop appeal and some scruffy vocals to accompany all of that. They throw in a riff that is really genre-like but their dynamics draws you in and the small kicks from the side in form of a sharp noisy lick keep you going just as much as the 60s style psychedelic organ in the background which keeps the atmosphere light and tight. Here you go, Stoner fans, you might have another band to follow! What a name anyway!

metalcore

My media player sometimes plays a trick on me and doesn’t enlist the tracks in the right order but reverses them, so that the last track is played first. It did that when I started listening to Moonreich’s recent EP Wormgod, and thus the first thing I heard was “Broken” and the first vocals I heard were “If you want control without any pain / How long will you suffer? / How long will you reign?” My mind racing, where had I, what did they, whom had they….  and then memory retrieved the wanted information – it’s a cover of a Depeche Mode-song! No, nothing worrisome about that cover but well, the rest is solid work. A lot of grindy-metalcore, blastbeats, solid screaming gutturals, some quick and harsh turns, a few moments reminiscent of Slipknot (supposedly a major influence) and some posty-swirling guitar loops. A solid Metalcore band doing some solid Post-Metal songs but being unable to hide their roots. A good band to start your summer festival day with, but well …if it wasn’t for that Depeche Mode-cover!

dub doom

Ever wondered what it would sound like if Godflesh emphasized the metal side a bit more and a bit dirtier? Less sterile and less dubby? With a bit less verve and some more doomy gloom? Then you might find yourself drawn to Blackwood, an electro-doom-metal-project headed by Italian artist and composer Eraldo Bernocchi who – via Subsound Records has just released his new EP “Of Flies” with the help of vocalist Emilia Moncayo and a lot of samples, for example the urgent screams “Conductor we have a problem! Press emergency!” taken from a YouTube-video filmed a few years ago, when a man ran around in an American subway screaming these words all the time. The songs are like a descent into the hell of the human psyche, one does not want to listen because of the grittiness of the songs but it it somehow impossible to stop because there might be another even more sensational sound or sample or scream just around the corner of this dirty wall of sound. And just before the finger hits the button he calms it down again and then surrounds the ears with some soothing parts and ethereal moments. But the dirt is always just one step away. A great introduction into a genre some people might never have imagined. Or never wanted to imagine. 

dark ambient / edm / house

“Always on my mind”. Elvis. His late years. A classic. Always recognizable. Always? No, not as in always always, because as Ghostboy shows with his version, starting out like a desert slo-mo-acoustic guitar version then turning into slow ambient song, even a song we have all heard a trillion times can be hard to recognize even though he sticks to the original lyrics. This song was my reason to listen to the new EP by Ghostboy released on and for Halloween and thus aptly titled “Disgusting”. Four songs revolving around the themes lost love, death, loneliness and ghosts are presented here by the electronica artist, who combines burbling dream-pop with dark electronica parts or classical house elements and sometimes garners them with an interesting detail, like the aforementioned acoustic guitar. The only fault in the EP: The cover doesn’t totally fit in with the others, even though it is quite an original track, but its lyrical mood is so different and furthermore because of said western-intro. Maybe he should choose a real Halloween classic for such a themed release – my suggestion: “The Boy with the Arab Strap”. Otherwise, it becomes clear where Ghostboy comes from and where he’s headed as he stays immensely authentic. 

Thorsten

psychedelic rock / stoner rock / hard rock

Sonic Cure is an album to be released in the end of the month, November 29, by Polder Records, with pre-orders to start on November 15. Work of veteran Belgian psychedelic/stoner/hard rock band Wheel of Smoke, Sonic Cure is the most recent release of this group, that has been around for fourteen years now, having released previously the albums In Sense, in 2011, Signs of Saturn, in 2013, Mindless Mass, in 2016, and the EP Enter The Pyramid, in 2015. With only five tracks — Sonic Cure, Brainshaker, Beamed, On a Wave and Electric I —, this album displays a sonorous vigour and a genuine enthusiasm from the very beginning, that is amazingly pungent, legendary and remarkable. With tremendously hallucinating guitar lines, cohesive and strong harmonies, and gloriously pulsating seventies psychedelic rock vibes, Sonic Cure has an authentically fit retro atmosphere, that subsidizes its splendorous, dense and gracefully dynamic rhythmic features, for the full extent of this amazingly fabulous album.

With a remarkable musical style, that completes on the vicinities of its marvelous genuine creativity the sonorous grandiosity of its wonderfully vivid and abrasive style, the density and the practical uneasiness displayed in the sound doesn't stand as a mere copy of seventies rock 'n' roll bands, on the contrary; the group departs from a cohesive conjuncture of eclectic influences, to compose in a mosaic of complex arrangements a vast diagram of deeply resonating and colorful authorial melodies. With wonderful harmonies — whose extensive creative sensibilities defies the consistency of its own organic structure —, Sonic Cure, in its entirety, easily reveals itself as the perfect combination between appreciation of tradition and original conception of sound. 

With gracefully pungent and colorful guitar solos, that expand the tempestuous grace of its renitent restlessness over the salutary density of its vastly flexible and unorthodox rhythmic proficiency, each track has majestically unique peculiarities, distinct beauty, splendid elegance, powerfully consistent and diligent qualities, that underscores the band's huge, impeccable creative potential. The formidable heterogeneity of the band — which can be surprisingly flexible, without ever losing its characteristic sonorous identity — is a deeply strong musical feature, that gives to their style an unpredictable sensibility, whose undisputed possibilities injects ostentatious vigor into the group's virtuous harmonies. 

A formidable, unique, sensationally graceful state of the art work, Sonic Cure definitely is one of the most genuine, remarkable and perfect albuns ever released in the contemporary history of retro-styled, seventies inspired hard rock. Displaying not only superb technical elegance, but also a virtuous creative sensibility — as well as a fantastic electrical audacity, an originally discreet, but vivacious and persistent restlessness —, and a truly genuine desire to break boundaries, Sonic Cure is a concise, but practically perfect work of modern rock, destined to establish new musical standards for all the other bands in the genre, as soon as the album is released.  


Wagner