psychedelic rock / stoner rock

Holy Oak is an album released on May 25 by Italian psychedelic/ blues rock group Mr Bison. Forty six minutes long, the record has nine tracks: Roots, Sacred Deal, Heavy Rain, Earth Breath, Holy Oak, The Bark, The Wave, Red Sun and Beyond the Edge. With an impressive and firm, but exceedingly concentrated and aggressive energy, Holy Oak has on the axis of its persistently free, but strident melodies the grace of its salutary motivations and ambitions, with all the traditional rhythmic features that the genre has, in abundance, to please – but concomitantly counterbalance – the pervasive elements of its own ferocity. 

With generally calmer, but heavily punctuated and savage melodies – exceedingly beautiful on the surface of its sonorous shape – the pristine style of Mr Bison is strong, objective and direct; rapidly feels and circulates over the hardline of its acid creative ventures, with pungent guitar lines that define the sensibility of its graceful, latent and rude style. Nonetheless, despite an apparent simplicity, there is an expansive, but serene brutality overtly diffuse under the stringent and tense intonations of its sentimental cadences of vigorous and harmonious density. 

A very compact album, where effusive and dilacerating guitar lines coldly calculate the nuances where the soul of the rhythm reads the elements of a horizon of colorful and crystalline creativity – although its anatomy seems a little fragile, sometimes – despite the fact that Holy Oak does not bring new components to the table, there is an audacious feeling of genuine introspection present in the music, that slowly revolves around its own subtle beauty, over and over.  

There is an effervescent and cohesive grandiosity that comes along with the sound, but it is way more subtle than what it seems; completely submerged on the magic of its creative waves, the listener can feel its craving honesty flowing through the veins of its precious and raw originality. Mr Bison certainly aggregates new elements to the art of psychedelic music with this work, departing from the quintessential nature of their own rough premises. Definitely, Holy Oak is an album that enthusiasts of the genre will ardently love and appreciate. 


Wagner

stoner rock

Lucy is an album released on May 25, by German Stoner rock act Dune Pilot. A formidably conceived and incredibly energized rock album, with filthy, powerfully dynamic and strident guitar lines, the style of Dune Pilot is simple, savage and direct; has literally a lot of hot sun and road dust on its genuinely salutary haven, and on the mordacity of its musical tenure, brings back the intrinsic fury and all the thirsty ventures the genre abundantly displays generally, but here are way more intensified, at the consistent axis of gracefully hazardous, but flexible melodies, that draw the lines of its creative and proficient sonorous diligence with plain security and delightful purpose. 

Fifty one minutes long, the record has nine tracks: Loaded, The Willow, Postman, Lucy, I´m Your Man, Speak Up, Sit Back, Griper and Feed Your Conscience. With a generally uniform sonorous layout, with little drastic variations in tone and melody, Lucy deserves a good score for its beautiful music, and specially for pleasantly creating an authentic desert atmosphere, where the listener almost feels itself completely alone, in the middle of a hot desert, crossing the deadly fears of an effervescent, but gracefully melodious road, trying to avoid the vultures that desperately want its prospective prey to dehydrate and die, to finally have a meal. 

With wonderful vocals, splendid guitar lines, coherent pace and directly pungent melodies – all perfectly converging altogether with a meticulous singularity – Lucy deserves to be considered an excellent album, that ties with exceptional enthusiasm and savagery all the elements fundamental to stoner rock, completely devoid of grandiosity delusions. The modesty of the harmonies, probably one of the fundamental components of its inherent beauty, also deserves to be highlighted, and assures with the sensational grace of the constant rhythms the exponentially enjoyable vibe it consistently transmits, throughout the whole album. 

With a powerful sonorous presence that reveals a cohesive musical layer and a very solid, decisively mature style, Lucy needs little time to prove to stoner rock enthusiasts why it certainly has tremendous potential to break big in the general underground scene. Certainly one of the most competent bands in the genre in their native country, Dune Pilot has all the qualities to master their art to the highest level possible.


Wagner

blues / stoner rock

Blues for a Dying Planet is an album by Swedish blues rock/ stoner rock group Spiral Skies, released on May 18. A little more than thirty-eight minutes long, the record has nine tracks: Black Hole Waltz, Awakening, Dark side of the Cross, The Wizard's Ball, Danse Macabre, Labyrinth of the Mind, Shattered Hopes, Left Is Right And Right Is Left Behind and The Prisoner. An extremely powerful and impressive album, with amazingly catchy and sensitive melodies – exceedingly reminiscent of more traditional rock’n’roll –, the style of Spiral Skies is simple and clean, but energetic, creative, dense and highly original. Certainly, a masterful artistry that intelligently combines in a lucid panorama a wide understanding of peculiar sonorous perceptions, Blues for a Dying Planet sounds an instant classic from the very first moments, with its genuine and marvelous style, that feels as excruciatingly explosive as well as moderately restrained at the same time. 

With strident guitar lines that summarizes with perfection the accordance of its melodic rites, the album generally follows a very simple musical line, but with such an artistic grandiosity, that instantly surprises the listener. With constrained, but at the same time expansive harmonies, that obeys the sensible insinuations of its own creative impositions, Blues for a Dying Planet sounds like a universal symphony of innocent amazement, that softly revolves itself directly from the heart of the listener, at the onset of its own gracious illusive paradigms.

With a captivating beauty that invites the listener to comprehend the nature of its placid and provocative, but sincere motivations, the album certainly distinguishes itself by the simple, but profound elegance of its formidably dilapidated sonorous shape, that is abundantly charming, but without displaying any excesses, and gracefully sophisticated, but without renouncing the ventures of a refined simplicity, which makes this work a reasonable candidate for masterpiece of the year.  

Amazingly simple and pure, but creatively inspiring and fulfilling, Blues for a Dying Planet is a sagacious and vivacious work, that is ready to enchant absolutely all enthusiasts of the genre, whenever and wherever this formidably consecrated album is heard. 


Wagner

stoner rock / doom

Deus Ex Machina is an album to be released on May 25, by American stoner rock act Cloud. Forty two minutes long, the record has six tracks: Part One: Before The Fall, Part Two: Ruin Of Man, Deus Ex Machina, Our Darkest Hour, As The Dust Settles and Neogenesis. As a calm and deeply serene incursion into a more transient and stagnating sound, Deus Ex Machina seems like the everlasting dust to be moved by winds of obliteration throughout the edges of eternity. With a style quite imperative, consistent and constant, Cloud features exceedingly strong guitar lines, that secures a hazardous and deeply precise creative line of melodies for their work, that implodes over the dissonances of its own itinerant harmonies the lucid impositions of its own gregarious peculiarities. 

Although the record departs from very simple sonorous premises, the sobriety of its nature marvelously delineates the incisive allegories touched by the horizon of its creative devices. The constant rhythm that crafts a highly energetic wall of sound on its profuse celebration of cohesiveness, breaks the boundaries of its own harmonious anatomy, despite the fact that ably maintains intact the vivacity of the surreal molecules that seems to live at the twilight of its concentrated style; nevertheless, there is a sincere splendor that is subtlety dissipated throughout the labyrinth of sentiments highlighted by the singularity of its notes, that ostensibly insinuates the dynamic of its robust inventiveness, which remains quite diffuse on the boundaries of the melodies. 

Despite the fact that Deus Ex Machina does keep aligned to its ingenious frivolity an irreplaceable degree of predictability, the album is not monotonous at all, and displays a highly lucid, and well distributed degree of creativity, that keeps its extraordinary calmness intelligently preserved at the gracious viability of its amazingly technical proficiency.        

A very competent and skilled work, Deus Ex Machina is a very good exemplar of a modern stoner rock, that concentrates on the synergy of its style the essence of the genre, but doesn’t have any fears of displaying a marvelously intuitive and sincere level of authenticity on its work, unraveling a decent, but genuine formula of delivering high quality music, that certainly deserves the highest appreciation from the enthusiasts of the scene.  


Wagner

krautrock / psychedelic 

psychedelic rock / krautrock / neo folk

doom / blues

techno

electronic / darkwave

shoegaze

death metal

ambient / downtempo / post rock

death metal / power metal

americana / alternative rock / indie

bandcamp

stoner metal

thrash metal

stoner metal / sludge

psychedelic rock / stoner / blues

drone / ambient

death metal / symphonic metal

alternative rock

ambient

drone / noise / ambient

dark ambient

techno

symphonic metal / death metal

electronic / experimental / breakcore

Petrol 80

Serge

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

stoner rock / hard rock

Spring is here so we have to start preparing for the summer festivals. I can almost smell the grass of the now calm meadows that will soon be turned into frenzied rock 'n roll temples. Soon, the stages will pop-up, along with booze, eat and merch stand. Soon, thousands of rockers will enjoy at least one day in the park while rockers of all places and age blast their riffs through the massive speakers. Undoubtedly, I will be among them a few times and perhaps General Cluster can join in on the fun too. With their in-your-face stoner metal, they will have the peeps  on such a now calm meadow on their feet with their intense riffing.

General Cluster is a band from France, Grenoble to be exact. Since their inception, they have released two EP's, now followed by their first full length. Their music is a heavy blend of alternative rock and stoner metal, with some vocals inspired by either the black, death of post-metal scene. But, most importantly perhaps, these Frenchies rock like there is no tomorrow as the song fiercy follow each other.

The fun already starts with opener 'No One's Bitch', which is a genuine stoner rock track. Immediately, influences from Kyuss, Fu Manchu and Red Fang become clear as the band comes up with heaps of groove and energy. From then on, we're on a wild ride, one that only occasionally takes back a bit of gas. 'The Rover' and 'Shield Wall' are just as convincing, with the ladder banging on the gates of the extreme.

However, we haven't mentioned doom metal here. I mean, every stoner metal band will occasionally create a slower track and that track quite often turns into uncorrupted doom metal. On this album, 'Voices' takes on that role, bringing acts like Electric Wizard to mind. Soon after, they raise the tempo again, resulting in my favorite track here, the heavy blues rocker 'Let's Go Porn'. 

Or maybe the riff-loaded 'Mountains' is my favorite, a fast stoner metal track that will undoubtedly cause some crowdsurfers, moshpits and stage divers to appear. I wouldn't mind and I wouldn't be surprised. This is high quality and highly enjoyable groovy metal that all fans of the aforementioned bands can certainly appreciate. Besides, and perhaps most importantly, in a genre that steadily turns towards the generic, General Cluster definitely stands out with an irresistible and well varied sound.


​Serge

stoner rock / metal

Right, back to Belgium and you know what that means: a glorifying review. I mean, regular Merchants Of Air readers already know that I'm convinced that this is one of the world most talented countries as far as underground music is concerned. I could drop a truckload of Belgian band names now to prove my point but I'm not going to. I'll just focus on this groove blaster from Genk residents Barabbas. Much like their colleagues in Bathsheba and Hemelbestormer, Barabbas proves that Limburg is not necessarily a quiet place. Sometimes, there in the woods of Bokrijk and surroundings, the earth trembles and shakes, caused by thick riffs and pounding drums.

Then again, that shouldn't be surprising. Barabbas consists of members of Sardonis, Rebel Yell, The Grams and Solenoid. They are veterans, massively experienced in creating groovy, immersive metal, which is exactly what they deliver on this album. Influenced by acts like Mastodon, Queens Of The Stone Age, Black Sabbath and Baroness (to name a few), these guys grind, rock and roll as if there is no tomorrow.

The album opens with 'Goldstone' which immediately sets the tone. We're dealing with high energy groove metal here, nothing more, nothing less. The array of riffs, drums, twin guitars and a decent sense of humor will make every stoner rocker drool. 'Sister' and 'Right Where You Want Me' seem to follow the opener's heavy rocking example, but then there is the weird and amusing 'Guy Tells Us How To Make An Omelet' which for more than one reason reminds me of Tool's 'Die Eier Of Satan'. Maybe I'm just hungry.

'I'll Stand Behind You' is arguably my favorite track here, a classic old school hard rock tune that nowadays would make a perfect stoner rock track. In that aspect, I wouldn't be surprised if Barabbas appears on one of the stages on Desertfest in October. I wouldn't mind and I wouldn't be surprised if the quartet delivers a mouthwatering set. Just listen to a track like 'Thorn In My Side' which brings the spirit of Led Zeppelin to today's heavy scene. Heads will bang, crowds will surf, pits will mosh.

In all, this is a highly interesting debut album from a club of ultra experienced gentlemen. There is no denying that. I'm sure we will hear more from these guys in the near future and I'm very curious about their evolution. Today, Barabbas stands for good old fashioned rocking and rolling fun. The future looks bright for Barabbas, who seem to have invented a beautiful time machine which leads us back to the glory days of hard rock. Recommended? I'd be severely disappointed if you thought I wasn't going to recommend this gem...


​Serge

metal / stoner rock / sludge

Oh come on. The weather is just getting better with clear blue skies. Sure it is still cold and rather windy but the sun is already energizing the flowers and plants on my balcony. Even the cat seems to revive again. And now these Italians want to shut down that sun? No fucking way.

I mean, I don't it is a good idea to to something like that. It will eradicate practically all living things here on earth. Besides, how the hell are you going to shut down the sun? Use a huge firetruck? Levitate earth's oceans? I have so many questions.


Luckily for The Blacktones, this is just an album title, one for a surprisingly groovy album too. It was sent to me by their bassist, Gianni. Somehow, from beneath a massive pile of emails, his got me intrigued. I have actually no idea why. The mail was friendly but not out of the ordinary. Just a "hello", a "here is my band" and a bunch of links. The usual. Yet, my reviewer-sense started to tingle, a bit like Spiderman feels when danger lurks. That reviewer-sense often tells me something special is going on. It was right.

At first sight, nothing seems to nudge towards doom, sludge or stoner rock. Not the cover art, not the band logo. Both pushed me into the direction of avant garde doom metal, which is perhaps why I  became interested in the first place. I pressed play and 'V - The Pope' started playing. It was an intro, a good one. There are a few other breathers to be found here too, adding a conceptual feel to the whole thing. But then 'The Upside Down' suddenly blasted through my speakers and I immediately knew "this is not avant garde doom".

This is ruthless stoner metal in which doom, stoner rock, sludge metal and grunge have been blended into something juicy and dangerous. That opener alone made me twist my volume knob to neighbours-annoying levels. For a doom track, this is tremendously fast but it rocks like hell. I think my first reaction was "fuck yeah", a bit similar to when I first heard 'Old' by Machine Head, 'Becoming' by Pantera or Sepultura's 'Beneath The Remains'. Too metal for stoner rock but too awesome to be ignored.

And that counts for most of the tracks here. My personal favorite, albeit competing with the opener, is title track 'The Day We Shut Down The Sun'. This is an epic piece of doom metal, influenced not only by Black Sabbath or Pentagram but also by today's scene. There are potent riffs, melodic aspects and both clean and rough vocals. Somehow Entombed came to mind too, I'm not exactly sure where but it still is a decent reference. Another odd band that comes to mind is Thought Industry, mostly in the complex vocals and their timbre on 'Not The End'.

I'm damn sure that some of these tracks will find a lot of frenzied headbangers. But I also suggest that fans of acts like Soundgarden, Alice In Chains, Tool and Converge check this out. I mean, 'Alone Together' could actually be a Tool meets Alice In Chains spin-off and 'I.D.I.O.T.S.' contains enough raw energy to actually send a massive firetruck up in space. Nah, for real, this is a remarkable album, one that every metalhead should give a try. The Blacktones are on to something awesome and I really hope they have a bright future ahead of them. They deserve that.


​Serge