psychedelic / stoner rock / space rock

RLC is an album by Brazilian stoner rock trio Saturndust, released on April 17. Almost one hour long, the record has six tracks: Negative-Parallel Dimensional, Astral Dominion, RLC, Titan, Time Lapse Of Existence and Saturn 12.c. With doom and psychedelic elements masterly aggregated into the laziness of the sound, their music combines the flexible confluence of stoner, with the more lurid, slanting and diluted elements of cosmic rock. With dilated rhythms, and a very elusive soundscape that outlines with fervor exceedingly organic melodies over a solid compass of plenitude and homogeneous synchronicity, the music of Saturndust encompasses a great interlude of despondent harmonies, creating in their magnanimously effervescing cauldron of reticent pretentious ebullitions a slow, but efficient and formidably patient space opera, fully comprehensive of the epistemological components displayed in the genre.    

The harmonies are built calmly, vaguely and deeply, and in the slowness of their imponderably lucid digressions, intricate harmonies are reproduced at the height of a magnanimous retribution of serene legitimacy, that leads the listener throughout an omnipotent maze of vivacious ardor and sonorous splendor.

Probably one of the best works that I have heard in the genre, RLC ostensibly dilapidates with captivating sensibility the best elements of the genre, truly developing a very unique style of sound, capable of reshaping in the vicinities of its melodies an acceptance of continuity somewhat plausible, given the expansive nature of their music, inherently traced to a cosmic frame of infinity, generated by a diluted and incredibly shaped space rock, reiterated by a flexible, lose and vague artistry, understood as the main qualities of their creative principles.

Firmly engraved in the traditional components of stoner rock, but aggregating several elements of other genres – and first of all, mainly developing accurately the eccentricities of their own style –, Saturndust has done a very competent, skilled and ostensibly graceful work on RLC. Although their music is amazing, and can’t be categorized – at least, in my personal point of view – as particularly distressful, boring, tedious or monotonous, their work can be mostly and specifically directed to people who are unconditional enthusiasts of space opera rock. 


Undoubtedly an interesting work, RLC can be considered a milestone of the genre, as the technique displayed by the band reveals, in the final result, a very good album, that has everything to please a very extensive audience. 


Wagner

psychedelic / blues / stoner rock

Well, after two ambient albums, it was time for something different, something where the guitars, drums and rough vocals reign supreme. This one is something for the desert rockers among us, and I won't be surprised if I get to see this French duo perform these tunes on the upcoming edition of Desertfest. However, since we're not there yet, let's enjoy these six searing hot psychedelic blues rock songs.

The inspiration for these songs seem to come directly from the Mississippi Delta where blues legends like Howlin' Wolf and John Lee Hooker rose to fame. Yes, the means blues, laced by the contemporary rock of bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd or Creedence Clearwater Revival. Furthermore, Blackbird Hill throws in some psychedelic rock here and there, like in the awesome opener 'Trigger Law'.

My personal favorite on this album is a long ballad 'Stories From The Road'. I know, I'm a sucker for ballads, but believe me, it's a damn good one. The whole album is damn good, raising the temperature to desert levels and putting the listener in a deep, blissful trance. What else could you possible want? So yes, psychedelic stoner blues fans of all ages, you might have discovered a new favorite here...


​Serge 

psychedelic rock

Into the Long Night is an album by Danish garage/ psychedelic rock group The Sonic Dawn, released on April 21. A little more than thirty six minutes long, the record has nine tracks: Intro, Emily Lemon, On the Shore, As of Lately, Six Seven, Numbers Blue, Lights Left On, l'Espion and Summer Voyage. With intelligent, spontaneous and wisely dynamic psychedelic grooves, Into the Long Night is an interesting and refreshing album, that has on the verge of its effusively elongated style the best influences of seventies rock’n’roll. With impressionistic melodies, burnt at the despicable road of a red sun, the overall harmonies of the songs are quite surprising, and sustain in the precious context of its dimensional elements the greatest journey of a very idyllic nostalgia-driven acid rock album. 

With sensible and delicate melodies, Into the Long Night is an interesting and reasonable record, although unfortunately doesn’t offer a very original outlook into the strength of genre. Falling sometimes into a more generic and perfidious sonorous derailment, Into the Long Night has its moments of enthusiastic apex, though you can’t afford to be in high expectancy here. 

Into the Long Night, after all, manages to be a good album, but the group fails to give a more original and authentic sonorous impulse to their sound, despite the fact that their music has, indeed, a formidable amount of energy, and genuine vigor. But in what concerns the style, they seem too vaguely familiar with other acts of the genre. 

Nevertheless, I seriously think that Into the Long Night has potential to attract a loyal amount of enthusiasts. Despite the fact that the sound becomes too excessively uniform and ordinary as the album progresses, there is a genuine effort consciously displayed for the sake of refinement throughout the whole album, and their competent technique cannot be ignored either. After all, the record disappoints a little, but in the end, the work achieves a reasonable level of creative intensity, with some very good songs along the way, especially the second, and the last three – Emily Lemon, Lights Left On, l'Espion and Summer Voyage, respectively – that summarizes beautifully The Sonic Dawn’s poetic effort in their free-flowing style of psychedelic rock. 


Wagner


 

alternative / post rock / experimental / shoegaze

Here come the French again and once again, they come up with one of the most surprising albums of the year. I'll try to guide you through but it's not going to be easy since there is so much going on. Most of that is quite out of the ordinary too, but I guess we're slowly getting used to that. After all, I've seen a lot of strange and fascinating things coming from our country's neighbour and I must say, they truly are an experimental bunch of people.

Let's start with the beginning. For me, Owun is new. I have never heard of them before. Yet, the band exists since 1992 and released a first demo three years later. Back then, they blended noise rock, hardcore and new wave. Their second effort was an eighties inspired album and later on they incorporated elements from ambient, drone and electro. For a while, the band disappeared, only to resurface again in 2007.

Now, they released another album, simply named '2.5'. This one contains pretty much all of the above, and more. From noise over post rock to noise rock and psychedelic shoegaze, flavored with drones and electronics, Owun has it all, which obviously makes this extremely hard to categorize. Yet, if there is one comparison, it might be Primus meets Melvins as at least one of the band members if a big Les Claypool fan.

Then again, there is also some post rock present here, showcasing immersive instrumental rock songs and hypnotic soundscapes. Yet, the whole thing is usually a lot faster than typical post rock. Still, I wouldn't mind this band showing up on Dunk! festival or so. They will be a bit different from most of the other bands but I'm sure that they will put up an impressive show. I don't know. I guess I'm just becoming of a fan of this band.

So, to conclude, who to recommend this album to? I think answering that question is quite easy. I'd like to recommend it to all noise and post rockers out there, especially the ones that like to deviate from the norm once in a while. '2.5' is a very adventurous album, one that you won't easily forget.


​Serge

folk / psychedelic / experimental

Rejoice! J. Kill & Mr. Mule return with another splendid full-length. This Finnish one-man project has been delivering interesting psychedelic folk trips in the past, and this album faithfully follows that tradition, much to my delight. As I mentioned in my previous review (read), "sometimes experimental music can be minimal but expressive and insightful pop songs". Yes, this is experimental, but it still contains excellent and fragile pop songs.

On the other hand, there is plenty of room for other things as well. In the first three tracks alone, I hear influences from folk, jazz, noise and post rock. Opener 'Kuihtuva Kehä' builds upon influences from Nick Cave or Tom Waits while 'Ruosteen Huuto' drags in some experimental electronics. 'Elo' in its turn, sounds like an acoustic version of an immersive post rock anthem. 'Varjojen Maa' brings back memories of neo folk bands like Death In June, Forseti or Wardruna.

What I like also about this album, besides the impressive amount of variation, is the fact that the artist leaves plenty of room for instrumental passages. With those, he nudges towards the drone ambient scene, without being a drone ambient artist himself. Perhaps, when Master Musicians Of Bukkake or Om go acoustic, they might sound a bit like this. With that in mind, I would mind witnessing this stuff at some Desertfest or so.

My favorite track on this album is 'Kyyn Tie' and there is one very good reason for that. This song sounds like it comes straight from the Twin Peaks soundtrack. Yes, dark jazz galore with a narrative spoken word and a gloomy atmosphere, irresistible for a dark jazz aficionado like yours truly. Now I definitely want to see this live, dammit. I'm not sure if that will ever happen but this song, and the whole album, is going straight into my day-to-day playlist.

And I suggest you do the same. This is DIY-stuff from a very high level. If you are into anything between Nick Cave, Chelsea Wolfe, Swans and William Burroughs, you need this album. If you like Ween, you'll love 'Vankila'. I know I do. So, I think it's pretty clear that this act has shoved another great piece of music into my mailbox, psychedelic folk music straight from the heart. This comes highly recommended, that's for damn sure...


​Serge

psychedelic, stoner, blues, rock

One With The Universe is an album by German psychedelic blues/ stoner rock group Samsara Blues Experiment, released on April 10. With five tracks – Vipassana, Sad Guru Returns, Glorious Daze, One With The Universe and Eastern Sun & Western Moon –, this album has legitimate grooves, a very dynamic symbiosis of sound and an ostensibly singular energy, that highlights an intricate fluidity of capacities, that probably can be considered the best element in their music. 

With an interesting pace, in the slower passages the group follows a more traditional approach in what concerns the stoner rock musicality, despite fresh and interesting guitar lines. With an intriguing level of creativity, that inserts with a vibrating intensity the most overwhelming harmonious elements into their music, the longer songs – as usual, and this should be considered a wider problem that affects the entire genre, and not specifically the band – becomes resented of monotony and exasperation, although musically they do follow with an urgent and efficient technicality the sonorous standards of the genre. 

One With The Universe – mostly instrumental – is a provocative and lucid album, that plays intelligently with a pervasive scale of creative elements. With slower melodies densely relocated in corners severed by interchangeable heavy passages, ignited by a more lucid and voracious seventies rock’n’roll atmosphere, the record has axiomatic moments of intense and exhilarating rapture. Precise and incisive guitar lines also gives to the record a very mordacious tone, where infinitely expansive harmonies draw directly into the center of the universe of the music’s soul pragmatic scales of dreams, that easily becomes lost in the endless vicissitudes, captured by the sensibility of the band’s style. 

Nonetheless, I haven’t found the album to be perfect, despite its vast range of protuberating qualities. With some songs being exceedingly long, an inherent sense of monotony inevitably becomes predominant, and several passages unavoidably sound too extensively generic, repetitive and uniform to support. Technically, though, the album presents an interesting degree of competence and efficiency, that deserves to be appreciated.   

As far as my final evaluation goes, One With The Universe is not a marvelous album, but represents the genre of stoner rock with great sensibility, and displays a respectable degree of lucid, sober and genuine creativity. 


Wagner

psychedelic / alternative / rock / post punk

I always wonder how bands like to tag themselves, what kinds of music they claim they play, and then compare it to my own opinions. Sometimes, we seem to think very different things about the music. With this album by Polish rock band Manescape, that is exactly what happened. Their bandcamp mentions 'rock, psychedelic and stoner' but I politely disagree. It is rock, that's true. There are psychedelic aspects, that's also true. But this is not stoner rock, although you can easily enjoying it while smoking a joint.

So, you might wonder, what is it? Well, in short, 'Antibodies' is an excellent alternative rock album where post rock, post punk and shoegaze meet psychedelic rock. At least, that is my opinion. 'Antibodies' contains ten songs, and each of them makes me long for the summer festivals. Songs like the brilliant opener 'Helium' or the energetic 'Beautiful Agony' make me wish I was on a sunlit festival terrain, shaking my hips and tapping my feet, much like songs by Soulwax, Placebo, Muse, The Twilight Sad, The Pixies and many of their colleagues do.

I also hear a lot of references toward English new wave or post-punk bands like Joy Division, Echo and the Bunnymen and so on. But what I hear most on this album, is enjoyment. These guys love to play music together, which results in music that will easily bring a smile to your face. Their enthusiasm is contagious. I have been tapping along with each and every song so far. 'Helium' remains my favorite but I also adore the uptempo yet melancholic 'Decadence And The Wind', a song that will often appear in my day-to-day playlist from now on.

So, the question now is, who to recommend this album to? To stoner rockers? Well, yeah, why not. This might not really compare to Karma To Burn, Kyuss or Queens Of The Stone Age, but it is superb rock music with some nice groovy riffs. Besides, 'The Yearning' somewhat reminds me of Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix, so that's that. Furthermore, of course, all alternative rockers should really try this one. I am absolutely sure that some of you will find a new favorite song on this album. I know I have...


​Serge

psychedelic / shoegaze 

Now here is something unique, something that's quite hard to categorize too. Usually, genres are quite easy to define, except maybe for the highly experimental ones. Yet, this one is not, and to be honest, it's not even that experimental either. It moves somewhere between psychedelic rock, shoegaze and noise pop. It's rock music, but also laced with electronics. It would easily fit in with the bands on today's post rock related festivals but it might also have just arrived here from the seventies. 

Horta is a band from Finland, specialized in music that will guide you through an adventurous journey. This self titled album is just that, a narrative and trance inducing piece of music that will please fans of psychedelic sounds everywhere. Bands that come to mind include Hawkwind, Slowdive, Cocteau Twins, Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats, Tangerine Dream, Can, Ozric Tentacles, Neu! and even Dead Can Dance. I know, that's a load of different things to throw into one album, but somehow these Fins have pulled it off.

I'm not going into a song-by-song description here, but I will say that there are some brilliant shoegaze rockers, with '78' being the highlight in that aspect. On the other hand, there are calm, soothing ambient passages and psychedelic ballads, mostly accompagnied by beautiful vocals. There are drones, soundscapes, post rock resembling passages and amazing synths. In all, this is a stunning piece of work, one I will recommend to every fan of music that touches your very soul. This is one of those albums you do not want to miss...


Serge

psychedelic rock / progressive rock / art rock

Rock music comes in all forms these days, which I think is a good thing. There is hard rock, noise rock, post rock, progressive rock and so on, and it constantly seems to evolve as well. However, once in a while a band appears that seems to deviate from the norms, looks back while taking a step forward and welcomes a vintage sound to a new record. Personally, I love that evolution and I know that there are plenty of other people who will agree with me. ​Switzerland based The Universe By Ear is such a band. They describe their music as "psychedelic art rock" and add a questionmark to that. To them, it's not that important what their music is called, since it's an eclectic blend of old school sounds. In that I definitely agree, but then again, I'm a music reviewer so I have to.  

So I'll start by summing up some bands that come to mind while I listen to The Universe By Ear: Pink Floyd, King Crimson, Yes, The Beatles, Porcupine Tree, The Mars Volta, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix and Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats. I know, that is quite an impressive list but it's also the best way to describe this music. These guys have been listening to all those classics and somehow found a way to let them slip into their own sonic creations. The songs on this album are psychedelic rock anthems with a complex song structure, progressive guitar solos, elaborate instrumental passages and amazing vocals. And still they are rather short.

Nonetheless, 'The Universe By Ear' is a stunning piece of old school psychedelic space rock, one that I would recommend to anyone who is into those brilliant classics by the aforementioned bands. I certainly can't wait to see these guys live. That has got to be an intense and hypnotic experience. So check it out, get your hands on a copy of this album and prepare for a sonic journey through space. You know you want to...


​Serge

hard rock / psychedelic rock

Well, it looks like Heavy Psych Sounds have done it again. I don't know where this label keeps on picking up these awesome psychedelic rock bands, but they seem to be throwing one after another into the mix, each time coming up with highly satisfying results. With stuff like this, it seems like the seventies never really ended. And that is a good thing. If you're sick and tired of the modern day rock scene, you will find consolidation in this album.

Mothership is a band from Dallas, Texas. They play pure, honest hard rock and heavy metal, completely drenched in the atmosphere of the seventies. I'm not sure if they named themselves after the Led Zeppelin's greatest hits compilation, but as a reference, Led Zeppelin certainly counts. Other names that come to mind here, include old Iron Maiden, UFO, Black Sabbath and Hawkwind. Not a bad list, right?

The album opens with the title track 'High Strangeness', which functions as an instrumental intro. Yet, personally, I wouldn't mind if Mothership threw some more of these tunes on the album. I dig, a lot. 'Ride The Gun' then comes up with the vintage, old school hard rock, which highlights in the brilliant following track 'Midnight Express'. Yeah, I know, not everything here is very original and it has all been done before but rarely this good.

Another song worth mentioning is 'Crown Of Lies', which seemingly blends Heart's 'Barracuda' with something that Alice In Chains could have written. This song rocks, and might be one of the most radio-friendly ones on this album. So yes, I think these guys have been listening to grunge, along with truckloads of traditional hard rock. On the other hand, perhaps this simply is what vintage hard rock sounds like when it's being played on today's high-end equipment, who knows.

All I know, is that this is once again an excellent album from Heavy Psych Sounds, one that definitely deserves a spot in your collection. If you are into bands like Duel, Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats, Molly Hatchet or Kadavar, you do have to check this out. People who say that they don't make rock music like they used to, should really start  opening their eyes, ears and hearts to the new crop. They DO make music like they used to...


​Serge

​

ambient / drone / experimental

In the past, I have been pretty lyrical about our Belgian drone and ambient artists and their stunning diversity. Well, today, I'd like to throw another one on the already impressive pile, one that has been roaming in the world of music since the late eighties. His name is Marc De Backer and you might know him from the krautrock meets black metal act Wolvennest. Under his moniker Mongolito, he comes up with a psychedelic approach to the guitar driven drone and ambient we Belgians are so damn good at.

However, although Mongolito can easily be placed among one-man-and-his-guitar acts like Dirk Serries, Stratosphere and Ashtoreth, he seems to prefer to dwell in the psychedelic regions of the scene. Most of the tracks on 'Odyssey' are no mere ambient tunes but psychedelic krautrock anthems. Drones are just one part of Mongolito's music, the other part consists of immersive plucks and epic soundscapes. They are perfectly suited to add vocals but that is not needed. The tracks are strong enough without them.

It's no wonder the this album got picked up by Hau Ruck! records, which is run by Albin Julius of Der Blutharsch and the Infinite Church of the Leading Hand. The music on 'Odyssey' fits perfectly with what Der Blutharsch create these days, be it in a more intimate and minimal setting. 'Thy Will Be Done', for example, is a highly immersive piece of music, one that will regularly find the way to my speakers. This one thrives on a sluggish tempo and features influences from both kraut and post rock 

I'm not going into a song-by-song description here but I will recommend this one to all fans of slow, instrumental music, including but not restricted to post rock, ambient, krautrock and psychedelic rock. This is simply another beautiful example of how versatile one can be with a guitar and a deck of effect and loop pedals. The one-man drone scene is evolving is that is a damn good thing. It keeps things vibrant and interesting and this album is both. So check it out, you will not be disappointed...


​Serge

psychedelic / blues

Smokyhead is an album by Northern Irish psychedelic blues rock trio Electric Octopus, released in March 3. Thirty five minutes long, having only three tracks – Smokyhead, For Now and Leaving Room – Smokyhead is an interesting record, with intriguing harmonies, and a very well-balanced musical sentiment, that levitates throughout intensely serene melodies, elaborated with profound delicacy, refinement and mastery. 

Smokyhead is a charming and very expressive album. Although the record is far from being formidable, it can be firmly categorized as a marvelous work of art, that has on the soul of its essence a sophisticated carefulness, that knows how to properly introduce minor details into the songs, in a genuine musical layout, that aspire to be something astoundingly peculiar, and profoundly intrinsic to the dimension of the sound as well.  

The intuitive elements of the music rely on its calm fusion of density and serenity, that expands an atmosphere of overwhelming quietness. The essential emptiness characterized by the uniqueness of its vast and infinite soundscape relies on the vitality of a painful, but poetic sincerity, that slowly unveils a lucid sound bound to a chain of dead souls. And their art is so incredibly balanced, but well-centered at the same time, that the consistency of the style can be felt as strikingly relevant, although you really have to feel an affinity to this genre of music, as this is the only way for the essence of the sound to be able to penetrate your soul, your mind and your body, with the purpose to enjoy a dense and hyperbolic dimensional experience, that certainly will change the colors of your perceptions. 

Smokyhead, undoubtedly, is an interesting album, although it stands far away from more magnificent results. Nonetheless, captivating melodies, creative harmonies and competent technical skills are undeniable qualities of Electric Octopus, that really knows how to create a very good, awesome album, with a genuine perception of its own ambitions concerning their intended artistic goals.      

 
 
Wagner 

psychedelic / post rock / progessive

Oh music, how you have shaped my life throughout the decades. Even now, after almost forty years of all sound combinations imaginable, you still manage to slip something unexpected into my brain and you still manage to renew my childlike amazement. Ever since Golden Earring's 'Ce Soir' rumbled through those ancient Philips speakers, you have created beautiful worlds, relentless landscapes and soothing meadows. I love you, music.

When an album makes me write a tribute to the entire world of music, that album has to be good, right? Like I wrote in other reviews: "a good album works inspiring", and that's exactly what happened here. This album, the fourth by Finnish genre-benders Mr. Peter Hayden, is nothing short of astonishing. It breaks boundaries between pretty much all instrumental rock genres, including post rock, psychedelic rock, and progressive rock.

Ambient and doom metal are present as well. The massive opener 'Looking Back At Mr Peter Hayden' begins with gloomy ambient tunes and evolves into something between Monkey3, Russian Circles and Hawkwind. Heavy riffs support a psychedelic jam, guiding a sonic trip through space. The beauty of it all is, PH make it sound so easy, as if these hypnotic jams are a part of their dna, or something like that.

During my first few listening sessions, heaps of bands came to mind. The ones I mentioned above to begin with, followed by Master Musicians Of Bukkake, A Swarm Of The Sun, Earth, Yob, Om, Mogwai... These names should give you a decent idea about both the versatility of the album and it's immersive and narrative nature. 'We Fligh High', for example, is a psychedelic masterpiece, to be enjoyed by post rockers, doomers and psychedelic rockers alike.

I guess the only downside to this album is its length. 36 Minutes is a bit short for an album like this. However, there is an easy solution to that: play the thing on repeat. Chances are, you might not even notice that you're listening to the same album several times in a row. There is always something new to be discovered and it never gets stale. I mean, I've been listening to it for three hours now.

Well, this turned out to be quite an odd review, but I guess that's ok. 'Eternal Hayden' is an odd album too, one that will certainly end up in my day-to-day playlist. Closer 'Rock and Roll Future' will often cause my head to shake while I'm doing those dreaded household chores. So yes, I will recommend this album to all of you. This is instrumental rock music at a very high level. You won't regret it.


​Serge

industrial metal

metal / hardcore

stoner rock / psychedelic

post rock / math rock / progressive rock

alternative rock / hard rock

facebook

electronic / trip hop

post rock / electronic

stoner rock

metal

hardcore / black metal

death metal

dark folk / neofolk

Serge

krautrock

Holy Monitor is an album released on February 17, by the Greek krautrock musical collective of the same name. Thirty seven minutes long, the record has ten tracks: Halcyon, Nemesis, Bed Of The Earth, The Vine, Golden Light, Αφροδίτη, Bend The Trees, Icarus, Ice Giants and Cacti. A very surprising and vibrating album, with an amazingly original sonorous approach, the rhythmic impulses are not just overwhelmingly genuine, but revives a very eccentric, majestically creative subgenre of rock. If you haven’t listened before, you better listen to it right now. It’s so surprisingly astounding, authentic, powerful and lucid that you will never believe your ears, no matter how many times you listen to this album. And yet, you will celebrate each and every track of this insane masterpiece! A sagacious, formidable and terrifyingly precious album, the songs are superbly inundated by an electrifying beat, disguised as a thoroughly major musical moonlight, that reenergizes in all guitar lines the tempestuous shadows of a forbidden happiness, that has never been so splendidly solidified in the history of music before.

The tracks are exceedingly powerful, and all of them have very special signatures. With uplifting and sensational vibrating rhythms, each song is a monumental creation per se, with a major set of singular characteristics that explodes in an invisible pattern of emotions, never testified on the creative history of the underground scene. With a musical atmosphere that resurrects the biosphere of a gracious narrative, encircled by a geological form of creative artistry, Holy Monitor embraces a lucid and very effective storm of originality, that gives them a unique shape, unbound by a tremendously expansive musical identity. Their sound is so alive that you literally feel all the musical notes invading your soul with a spontaneous vehemence, lacerating your heart with an oblique insistence, that only a very different genre, executed with an exceptionally skilled musical approach, would be able to perform. 

Holy Monitor, on their eponymous album, has really done a marvelous work. With a strong musical presence and a higher level of originality, extremely uncommon to testify in any genre, they certainly can be regarded as one of the most glorious references in the contemporary development of their genre, for having executed an unparalleled work for the category, that obviously highlights them as one of the most important krautrock groups in the world today (although precisely define their sound, and insert them in one specific category, is a very difficult task, since they incorporate into their music an enormous set of several elements, from a lot of other genres as well).  

Holy Monitor is a splendid group, and their eponymous album is a marvelous record. Everybody that listen to this majestic masterpiece would be wonderfully impressed, and literally without words. Departing from a superior level of creative artistry, Holy Monitor gives us paradise, in a very outstanding, excellent and vivaciously elaborated sonorous dimension.  


Wagner

stoner rock / noise rock / psychedelic

Is that a light bulb shoved up someone's private parts? Did Greek stoner rockers Arrakis invent a way to "enlighten" a newborn or are they just a bunch of sadists? Maybe it's just photoshop and did nobody get hurt during the design process, I certainly hope so. But let's not divagate about the cover art, because the first track on this album will probably hurt you enough already, and with that I'm talking about your neck muscles.

Take Karma To Burn, Monkey 3 and My Sleeping Karma, throw them into a blender with Melvins and Buzzov•en and out comes opener 'Plexus', one of the heaviest and  most energetic pieces of psychedelic stoner rock you can imagine. The rest of the album seems to tone down a little but but Arrakis never lose their trance-inducing dynamics. 'Electricon', the track, will have you on a trip through space in no time.

Although there are only five tracks, all instrumental by the way, this album carries plenty of fingerlicking riffs, hypnotic jams and high-octane drums. 'Loot' is a massive sludge-induced piece of music, designed to pierce your eardrums, so be warned. I'll leave the other two tracks up to you, dear reader. You'll be amamzed at the amount of energy coming from this Greek trio. Stoner rock to bang your head to in space, what else could you want?


​Serge

progressive metal

dark ambient

post rock

shoegaze / psychedelic

symphonic doom

grindcore

alternative / metal

dark ambient

indie rock / pop rock

punk rock

rock / blues

funeral doom / black metal

noise / drone / spoken word

heavy metal

death metal / black metal

Serge

hard rock / sludge / blues

Well well, it's party time, the kind of party with plenty of booze and some scorching rock 'n roll. Undoubtedly a bar fight will break out sooner or later, demolishing the place and leaving everybody outside in the searing hot desert of... well, Austria. That was unexpected, but nonetheless, you should prepare yourself for the hard rocking psychedelic Southern stoner blues sludge metal by this gang from Vienna. It'll be worth it.

I mean, when a band reminds me of Motorhead, Ramones, Melvins, Guns 'n Roses, Korn, White Zombie, Truckfighters and Fu Manchu in only one three minutes lasting songs, I know that I'm in for something groovy and varied. That song is opener 'Boogie' and it will get any party started. However, Lowbau ain't done there, oh no. 'My Guitar' brings out the harmonica and the blues riffs. Obviously, that quickly turns into full-on stoner rock  that is too nice to be ignored.

​'Pretend' is probably one of my favorite tracks here, an up-tempo party smasher that reeks of vintage hard rock and blues. 'World' suddenly drags the whole thing into the world of death metal, at times reminding me of bands like Entombed. That too was unexpected but the song is a blast, that's for damn sure. And then I even forgot to mention that there are some highly hypnotic psychedelic passages to be found here too.

So yeah, this album is more varied than your underwear-drawer and (hopefully) a lot dirtier as well. Everyone who is into the stuff at festivals like Roadburn, Up In Smoke or Desertfest should start worshipping these Austrians now. I'm secretly hoping that these guys take this stuff on the road, maybe find a label and become on of the next big things in the desert-scene. Judging from this record, they deserve that.


​Serge

post rock / psychedelic

See, this is what I love about music. It simply never lets you down, or at least not permanently. Today was one of those days when I just wanted to sit in my comfortable chair and stare at hilarious gifs on 9gag. Problem was, I promised myself to write more reviews, as well as doing some needed household tasks. So in an effort to get myself up and going, I played some heavy albums, starting with some fierce black metal, but that didn't work. Eventually I decided to give in to the indolence and plant my ass in the sofa. Out of the pile-to-review, I selected something calm, something that would ease my mind. Suddenly, I was in a burst of creativity, designed some new t-shirts and wrote a nice passage in a book I'm working on. That is indeed the power of music, and definitely one of the powers of this album.

From the biography: "Glasgow Coma Scale was formed in February 2011 by Piotr and  Marek Kowalski. The two brothers and trained classical musicians  lived their lives between Krakow/Poland, where they were born and  Barcelona/Spain, finally settling in Frankfurt / Germany. However,  they never got the chance to play together in the same band. Along  with the drummer Helmes Bode, the idea has now come full circle".  This album, their second release after an EP, took quite a long time to make, which to me says a lot about the perfectionists that these people really are. Yet, it contains a beautiful and coherent overview of the music they have been making over the years.

That music is post-rock, injected with influences from psychedelic rock and stoner rock. If you want a comparison, think Monkey 3, Mogwai, Explosions In The Sky and My Sleeping Karma making an album together. Yes, it is that good. Like I wrote in the opening paragraph, this album somehow is becoming an inspiration and that's a good thing. With albums like these, the words keep flowing. 'Northern Wastes' is my absolute favorite here, and I think many post rock fans will agree that this this is a masterpiece. It isn't the only remarkable track here either, while opener 'Sonda' gently showcases the splendor, 'Southern Crosses' starts overwhelming the listener before 'Northern Wastes' completely overtakes him.

'Venice Calling' has a nice eighties feel to it. Uptempo post-rock isn't always very successful but this song is awesome. Caspian comes to mind, along with things like A Flock Of Seagulls or Echo & the Bunnymen. I'm not sure if that's intended, maybe I'm just getting old enough to see these decades-crossing comparisons. The other three tracks are up to you, dear reader, I think I've glorified this album enough by now. Trust me, this one really is worth checking out, certainly if you're a post-rock fan. I mean, 'Enter Oblivion' got me from "meh" to "I want to be on Dunk! Festival with these guys playing live and I want it now" in seven seconds. That's not something every band succeeds in, right?



​Serge

stoner rock / doom

Gravity Works is an album released on January 3, by Mexican soft stoner rock band Vinnum Sabbathi. Almost forty two minutes long, with only five tracks – Weightlessness, Early Works, Gravity Waves, Loop Quantum Gravity and The Probe B – this space themed album is very soft and calm in nature, having a subtlety atmospheric layout, that easily displays soft harmonies and calm melodies, all the way through. 

With a good and detailed guitar work, the calm rhythms are juxtaposed in a very transcendental overview, although you have to be emotionally aligned with their musical proposal, otherwise you will by inevitably bored. The album unfortunately is monotonous for the most part, despite the unraveling of an interesting musical technique.  Although the rhythm of the songs in a context is somewhat predictable, they undoubtedly excel in their musical predisposition. An instrumental album that has a mainstay of a constant and natural distribution of sound, Gravity Works is somewhat an exercise of patience, that expands the power of calmness in reluctantly aggrandizing melodies, that feels the intricate power of its notes at the bottom of its profound and relentless diagram of musical principles.    

Although it is far from being considered a great album, Gravity Works is a decent record, especially if analyzed in the context of its sonorous expectations. Considered good in an evaluation typified by its own terms, this work has its merits and qualities, being original in a certain point. Nevertheless, it will hardly be a favorite, with the possible exception of a very specific audience, appreciative of really slow tunes. While this album is somewhat good, you can’t avoid the feeling that something was missing. The lack of rapid passages possibly explains the absence of enthusiasm that somehow seems to affect the structure of their style. 

Nevertheless, Vinnum Sabbathi seems to be a genuine band, and they are very skilled technically. With a decent level of musical proficiency, they have managed to do a regular album, which shows a work that can evolve to better records in the future. Highly recommended for stoner rock enthusiasts, Gravity Works, while it can’t be considered a great album, still manages to be a decent record, if you by any chance consider yourself an enthusiast of the genre. Otherwise, you will be totally bored. 

A perennial work that easily evolves from a slow guitar motion into the vastness of the universe, Gravity Works certainly has qualities that allow the album to be appreciated. But don’t expect too much beyond that. Certain passages will leave you exasperated, and you will hardly find the desire to listen to this record for a second time.     



Wagner