Two-headed project created in Melbourne, Australia, in 2005. This one is their third release to date. Extreme Death/Doom with a great funeral Black metal touch. Strongly recommended.
"Melbourne’s The Nihilistic Front rips really fucking hard. It’s far from straight-forward death or black metal, but could easily be categorized as both. The band’s latest Total Disgust for Mankind is filled with a ton of gnarly guitar layers, gurgling death metal vocals,, noise and Corrupted-esque doom. I couldn’t imagine seeing these fuckers in anything other than a disgusting basement that reeks of piss, crust punk and biker sweat. I recommend jamming this prior to meth smoking or an early morning death fight." http://chronicyouth.com
Here's a video from a rehearsal session for their upcoming 2010 album.
Tokyo based six-piece formed in Japan around 2004. Remmings is their first release. Classic post-rock, with piano, violin and lots of instrumentation. Highly recommended.
"Monumental and subtly nuanced; they all allow plenty of room for each other. Mixing guitars, programming, viola, bass, piano, drums, mandolin, and synthesizer, into the nine varied sonic excursions presented here. Mesmerizing soundtracks to nonexistant films that bloom in the center of your mind. Ranging from very small and soft spoken, to toweringly grand and vast. Some pieces have the feel of chamber music renditions of Mogwai or Spacemen 3 songs; others feel like an accurate aural description of loneliness. - Dream Magazine" www.importantrecords.com
Formed in Los Angeles, USA, in 1988 and still active! This one is their sixth album. This is Punk for Skaters. Catchy as fuck. Melodic and fast. A pretty great album! Classic.
"Pennywise have been around a long time. When you think of 90's punk rock, Pennywise undoubtedly comes to mind along with Ten Foot Pole, Gob, Lagwagon and NOFX. 1999 was a time when Millencolin still played ska, and emo was something I didn't understand but thought that was maybe what Samiam played. Arguments with friends revolved around whether Good Riddance's best album was Ballads or Operation Phoenix, what anarchy actually was, whether or not the Offspring were sell-outs, the possibility of Bad Religion ever returning to their Epitaph roots, and the potential of Blink ever returning to their Dude Ranch days. Well, time has answered these questions, but anyway...
In fact, this was the first CD I listened to by Pennywise ; hell, it was one of my first punk CDs. I remember spending the summer of 1999 listening to this, How Far Shallow Takes You by Gob, Slowly Going the Way of the Buffalo by MxPx and Survival of the Fattest. I was 16 and thought this album was sensational. Perfect for weekends at the lake, driving around with windows down or blasting in the backyard at a party.
Well, six years later and my interest in Pennywise long gone, I come across an article on this site saying they have a new album in the pipe. I check the reviews and see that this, in my opinion their best album, is missing a much-deserved review. So, I searched through my collection, putting aside the newest Alkaline Trio and He is Legend records, and throw it in the player.
I thought it might sound old or jaded, but I was terribly wrong. This album still packs a massive punch. With the opening notes of Greed I remembered why I loved this band so much - their passion, the intensity, the sing-along quality. Such an enjoyable and integral band.
The opening lyrics sucked me back in : Everything you want you always think you need, you are so selfish, motivated by greed. This was why I got into punk in the first place. As I listened to it, song after song of awesome riffs and great catchy songs ensued. The album pulled back great memories of underage drinking, sunny days, trying and failing miserably to pick up girls, late nights, getting grounded, and stealing cigarettes to sneak by the lake. It reminded me of what it's like not to have to worry as much, to just let go and have a good time. Pennywise is party music. Pretty much all the songs on this album are good ; it's good enough to listen to in its entirety without skipping.
Anyway, I missed this album, and it is now safely back in CD rotation. If anyone else out there is like me, they remember this album but have forgotten how good it is. Give it a whirl and tell me it's not the best Pennywise, and one of the best albums of the 90's." www.punknews.org
USBM "all-star" band formed in San Francisco in 2004. With people from Nachtmystium, Leviathan, Isis, Minsk and more.Formerly also with Malefic from Xasthur on their first album before they split-up... just check the description below to fully understand that crazy line-up. This one is their second and last album to date. Strongly recommended if you like your BM to be progressive. Better check it!
"When Twilight’s self-titled debut was delivered in 2005 it was an explosive new time for American black metal, where several stateside acts were captivating the world’s attention. It was during these times that a crew of henchmen hailing from said acts covertly assembled to formulate a collaborative album, under the banner of Twilight. Then comprised of members of Nachtmystium, Leviathan, Kreig, Xasthur and Drautran, the album’s gritty and varied content was an instant cult classic for the genre.
Due to personal differences within the unit, Twilight officially disbanded a year later, with no plans of a new record on the horizon. Yet in early 2009 several members resurrected a modified lineup. These alterations would expand this “follow-up release” into a full-blown masterpiece.
Twilight’s massive lineup on the upcoming Monument To Time End includes three founding members - Blake Judd (Nachtmystium), Wrest (Leviathan, Lurker of Chalice), and N. Imperial (Kreig), - and new recruits Stavros Giannopolous (The Atlas Moth), Sanford Parker (Minsk, Buried At Sea) and Aaron Turner (Isis, Old Man Gloom), as well as vocal contributions by Robert Lowe (Lichens, OM).on three tracks.
This wholly forward-thinking alignment of artists presents this Twilight release as an entirely new entity. Undoubtedly, the harsh and cantankerous black metal underbelly of the foundation of the unit is still intact throughout Monument To Time End, but it’s the visual hell the listener feels personified through the more dissonant, demented and ethereal realms of utter madness explored, where seemingly psychotropic nightmares come to life with an ethereal, beautiful vengeance." http://blog.southernlord.com "To give Twilight a bit of background and some elemental info to the uninformed, this combination integrates metal’s crème de la crème, the jeez of the cookie monster, this is the We Are the World team for Satan, the Brat Pack clad in black, so to speak. But the Twilight of 2010 is hardly the Twilight of 2005. At the time the project featured Xasthur’s Malefic, Nachtmystium's Azentrius (or Blake Judd) and Draugar’s Hildolf amongst others. By all accounts it was a purer black metal experiment. Now, with only three fifths of the first line up the range is far wider and the blackness is psychedelic. Back for a second serving are Wrest from Leviathan, vocalist N Imperial, who’s worked with Krieg amongst many others and Blake Judd. Joining them are Isis’ Aaron Turner, The Atlas Moth’s Stavros Giannopolous and studio maverick Sanford Parker in charge of the mini Moog and the special effects.
All those familiar with the works of those above can get an accurate picture of how the new Twilight sound like simply by imagining a mixture of black metal with layers of shoegaze and plenty of post metal hues brushed above. The collective result of Monument to Time End is expected. That’s a good thing, by the way. With all this talent there was almost no way to go wrong. There is so much music here. It must have been a daring task just to engineer this mammoth. Parker really had his hands full. The songs are super charged with sound, guitars and more guitars, screams and a plethora of psychedelic sounds, which gives Monument to Time End certain sci fi allure." www.deafsparrow.com
Opeth formed in 1990 in Stockholm, Sweden. After six albums mixing death/heavy metal and prog rock, the band finally introduced a very special 7th album. This one was recorded during the same sessions of Deliverance and released short after its twin.It was produced by Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree, who also appears as a guest. No distorted guitars this time. No growls. No violence. Only acoustic 70's prog rock inspired melodies. Still lead by the great voice of Mikael Åkerfeldt. I'm not so much into Opeth heavy stuff but I pretty dig this one. Check it.
"Over the years, I have always considered Opeth's music different from the norm. They have always been considered as one of the most creative and innovative death metal bands in the world. But with Damnation, the listener is introduced to the tenderhearted creative side of the band. Although Opeth have always included acoustic guitar interludes in their music, the band has chosen this time to take this approach a step further and have created a very mild and smooth album, poignant but never harsh or brutal. Standard song arrangements with progressive influences and very subtle orchestrations.
In fact, the whole album is easy on the ears. Meandering lead guitar work, more prominent strong bass lines than ever before, subtle and interesting instruments such as a mellotron, a grand piano and other keys with 6 and 12 string acoustic guitars leading the way. Sometimes longing and occasionally haunting but Damnation is always interesting and a very enjoyable listen from beginning to end" www.progarchives.com
Formed in New York, USA, in 2006. By Alan Dubin (ex-Khanate, OLD) , Jamie Sykes (ex-Burning Witch, Thorr's Hammer, Atavist), Carter Thornton (Enos Slaughter), Jun Mizumachi (ex-Ike Yard : an 80's NYC industrial legends) and Brian Beatrice (Emmy Award winning sound design/mix wizard).
This is evil noise. Straight transmitted out of hell. Depressive, scary, extreme.
Strongly recommended!
"Gnaw presents their debut album This Face, viciously assaulting listeners with their unique brew of scathing, industrial-infected metal bashings.
Gnaw's debut album This Face is the sonic culmination of over a year of sound experimentation. It's a genre-destroying journey that almost defies description. Sykes is a percussive madman blasting out anything from tribal beats to ultra slow tom killings. Mizumachi is a sound designer for film and television and is a master of electronics including synth, factory noise, metal bashing and other craziness. Beatrice is also a sound designer and mixer for film and television and was responsible for mixing This Face, as well as experimenting and adding additional sounds of torture. Thornton is a crafty musician who actually makes his own instruments, contributing guitar, bass, piano and some unnamed homemade "things" to the album. Dubin rounds out the group with his gut-wrenching vocals, noise and arrangements. Dubin's poetics will mentally rape you."
After four crazy days of Doom and many other Dark n' Loud music. After lots of beer. Lots of fucking fun meeting people and enjoying good moments with friends. After four days eating burgers and fricandele and other kinds of unsane food. After four days of undescriptible fucking happyness at the incredibly great Roadburn : here is some deserved quietness for your ears - and mines...
Formed in Brooklyn, New York, USA, in 200?.As a side-project of many famous people, coming from many famous bands. Featuring also lots of appearances from many other famous and unfamous people... This one is their very first record. Collective. Can't describe it with my own stupid words. Just read that review below and check by yourself. It deserves to be discovered.
"The Book of Knots is ex–Pere Ubu bassist Tony Maimone, with the aid of ex–Skeleton Key member Matthias Bossi, ex-Swan Norman Westberg, current Mekon Jon Langford, Sleepytime Gorilla Museums and 2 Foot Yards Carla Kihlstedt, and a slew of other like-minded musical family members. The Book of Knots is a seamless ride through a perfect Swans-derived squall: early-'80s-derived sturm and drang, with the occasional no-wave guitar solo and/or feedback that sounds like a seagull fight in a Dumpster behind a clam shack.
Underwater strings, pipe organ, shortwave radio transmissions, and banjos add a swirling, seasick undercurrent to the satisfying thwack of drums, bass, and guitar. For a pickup band, the voices heard from complement each other nicely: Langford's drunken sailor, Bossi's expansive (and pretty!) wailing, and Carla Kihlstedt's unhinged widows all walk through the song Tugboat; and the bass-heavy Cro-Magnon crunch of Crumble and Boston to Bombay are even better. Rockers who attempt sea chanteys usually make them sound like Weill-esque elegies to heroin, but the best songs here are as big and bottomless as the deep blue, with just enough added saltwater taffy sweetness to pull you into their wake."
The album morphed organically from a few musicians in the studio recording material they had written with a nautical, narrative, conceptual theme in mind, to a collective of featured artists. The artists on the album are all inter-connected by bands and friendships and circumstance. No one was commissioned so much as drawn-in through the circles of connectivity. Well over 40 different instruments can be heard on the album. The songs are woven together creating a tale of longing, despair, loneliness, mortality. The narrative is a labyrinth of connections, or knots, tying each segment of the story to the sea.
This is easily my favorite concept albums of the last decade, tales of the wrenching experiences of seamen and the unforgiving beast of our seas. You can smell the salty dankness below deck filling up with the thickening foul stench of freshly hunted whale oil burning in there lamps. The maddening cries of disheartened sailors rings inside the ribcage of the vessel, drinking away sorrows of friends submerged and rotting in the abyss.Just as soon as the stars through your sextant tell you land is near, waves rip through your ship and swallow your crew. Lungs explode with salt water, crew dismembered and chewed by sharks. Somehow you make it to dry land, yet your nightmares of the sea are ever present and cannot be drowned away with the bottle.
American Doom legends formed in 1996 in Eugene, Oregon by guitarist/vocalist Mike Scheidt. They split-up in 2006 just after releasing their 4th album - The Unreal Never Lived - before getting back on stage in 2008.
After Yob disbandment, Mike Scheidt formed Middian,who had to split-up short after releasing their only record - Age Eternal - after a stupid lawsuit affair.
Middian split probably originated Mike Scheidt announcement of Yob reformation in 2008.
Their fourth album. The last before they split-up and formed Middian.
"Anti-gravity capsules are for losers. Place me in an immersion tank and surround my ass with some doom metal. Who wants to float in simulated space conditions when they can choose to hide from the sun and get suffocated by their own sense of abandonment?
YOB aren't an escape. They're metaphysical doom. Sure, you should be scared of evil. It can tailor-make your destruction in a heartbeat. But struggling with your faith, mind, and reason for being placed on this Earth are slower and much more frightening. Which isn't to say they're waiting around for your muscles to atrophy between snare hits (Khanate) or the bass drone to give your bowels a break (Boris). You could do the reference game with them all day, name checking Sleep, Burning Witch, Neurosis, and High on Fire - even Electric Wizard, Ufomammut, Isis, Melvins, and Black Sabbath wouldn't be out of line. But YOB's The Unreal Never Lived - four songs in 50 minutes - still stands out on its own as epic downtrodden metal with what sounds like seasoned potsmokers throwing in their High Times for some new age religious tracts.
YOB sound like doom, the kind that has you up at night wondering why we even bother holding jobs when we barely get paid enough to pay for our housing and vehicles or why we bother befriending people if they are just gonna turn on us. And those methodical bastards in YOB probably enjoy causing that pain." http://pitchfork.com
"Playing in a band isn't supposed to be pretty or fair, but what happened to Middian was about as dogshit awful as it gets. Mike Scheidt's post-YOB project had every indication of surpassing YOB's already awe-inspiring output (and this, mind you, I base on Dreamless Eye alone), and then some do-nothing, go-nowhere band from – well, who the fuck cares, really? - hits them with a cease and desist order due to a trademarked name. If you can barely break even on tour, how are you going to pay for legal fees? The short answer is “You can't,” so Middian hung it up.
That would have been a completely disastrous turn of events had Scheidt not resurrected YOB. And, judging by the anguished roar that he lets loose at two minutes and 23 seconds into lead track Burning the Altar, he also channeled the rage and pent-up aggression of the Middian experience into The Great Cessation. Doom – be it traditional, crust, funeral, psychedelic, or whatever other sub-sub-genre's out there - is meant to be dour and slow, but here it's also furious. The riffs, the vocals, the deliberate, pummeling rhythm (courtesy of YOB alumni Travis Foster on drums and new bassist Aaron Reiseberg) – the song's a clenched fist. It seethes from start to finish, and as a statement of intent for The Great Cessation, you can't get any better.
You can, however, find equally strong songs. The Lie That Is Sin has more forward momentum – it's on par with Dreamless Eye or The Unreal Never Lived's Quantum Mystic, tempo-wise – and offers a strong vocal hook. The way Scheidt lets his clean croon plummet to the death growl, following that with some melodic, psychedelic guitar work, makes for multi-dimensional heaviness. That's sort of textbook YOB – they've got a knack for wresting as many dynamics out of their songs as possible – but it's taken to a new level here. The howls at the beginning of Silence of Heaven I'm ambivalent about, but otherwise its minimalistic, almost Sunn0)))-like approach serves as a crushing, effective interlude between The Lie That Is Sin and Breathing from the Shallows, another wall of doom that slices through you with some incendiary playing.
As with the YOB efforts in the past, there's one song where they lay it all out on the table and stretch out for 20-plus minutes. Here it's the title track and it's truly an epic. The Great Cessation starts off quietly, almost like a lament, then opens up with a beautiful riff that, if you'll forgive one more bit of grandiose writing, reaches up to the heavens from some darkened pit. It's as hopeful as it is hopeless and ends the album on as strong a note as it started. Listen, any band worth its salt can write a song that elicits an emotional response, but few can craft one that's so complex and multifaceted. That's one of the many reasons YOB's so far ahead of the curve not just in the doom genre, but as musicians in general.
Middian's death was unfortunate, but if that band had to cease in order for YOB to be reborn, I can't mourn its passing. The Great Cessation is a masterpiece and sets the bar so ridiculously high, it's not even worth comparing other doom albums to it. Highly recommended." www.stonerrock.com
Prolyphic band formed in Savannah, Georgia, USA in 2001. Lead by a great male/female vocal duo. They started as a classic four-piece before adding a second drummer in 2006. Their music is a pure grand-mix of sludge, stoner, doom, psych rock, punk and whatever comes to their creative brains... Sometimes slow, sometimes fast but always fucking Heavy. Don't wait longer if you don't know this great band yet!
Four songs by Cream Abdul Babar : American Sludge/Hardcore seven-piece formed in 1994 in Florida. Featuring horns, keyboards and electronics. (www.myspace.com/creamabdulbabar) And One long song by Kylesa (cut into five parts) : The Curse of Lost Days.
"When your drummer leaves your band, what do you do? When you're Savannah, GA band Kylesa, and you drink as much as they do, you hire two new ones. Maybe they're just seeing double from all that alcohol, but the result has turned out much gnarlier than, say, The Allman "too many drummers" Brothers. With primal grooves and a veritable shower of ride cymbals, Jeff Porter and Carl McGinley no doubt make each band Kylesa tours with wish they had two drummers, too.
Two drummers in a band means twice the votes on drumming issues, so Porter and McGinley get an intro, outro, and "intermission" here to show off their chops. These aren't just flashy solos, though, as they weave fierce tribal rhythms that recall the percussion jams from Sepultura sets back in the day.
What's actually more admirable is the restraint the drummers exercise on the rest of the album. If you turn up the volume, you can tell they're there, but otherwise, they lock in with each other and let the riffs do the talking. The riffs are thick, dirty, and pulverizing, topped by vaguely melodic yelled vocals of both genders. Imagine Fugazi brawling with The Melvins and Eyehategod, with Remission-era Mastodon throwing in some kicks for good measure. This is sludgy stuff, but the riffs are catchy and direct. Previous album To Walk a Middle Course was a harrowing psychological ride, but Time Will Fuse Its Worth is more about the rock. If this album were a drink, it would be a Christmas ale with surprisingly high alcohol content that hits you fast between the eyes.
The production here is beefier than before, but the mastering somewhat negates that. Scott Hull (of Pig Destroyer fame) normally does an ace job on mastering, but this album is so loud and over-compressed that it loses some of its dynamics. Granted, practically every other release today has the same problem, so you might not even notice. Point is, these songs, strong as they are on record, probably crush live – and especially after five beers." www.metalinjection.net
"To create an album this hungry, this passionate and this important so early in 2009 assuredly didn't come easy given the harsh adversity Kylesa has faced to reach this moment of homogeny. Consider the loss of original bassist Brian Duke, who passed from this life due to an epileptic seizure, not to mention the subsequent exit of drummer Brandon Baltzley and vocalist/bassist Corey Barhorst, and one might insinuate this has become a moment of destiny.
Static Tensions is an appropriate title for a band that has been progressively sifting through their troubles and finessing their sludge-punk-doom art into a cohesive soundburst of rightful and harmonious distortion. Pouring every ounce of sun-baked humidity from their native Savannah territory, the core remnants of Kylesa, Phillip Cope and Laura Pleasants have triumphed yet again amidst the smoke of a hard-fought trench battle beginning with their radar-hailing sophomore album To Walk a Middle Course.
At this point in their career on album number four, Kylesa have not only taken the next logical step from the careening vibrancy of their Time Will Fuse Its Worth album, they have demonstratively issued one of this year's statement albums in the form of the booming and dexterous Static Tensions.
It's enough that Static Tension's psychedlic artwork by John Dyer Baizley will leave you thinking of Batman's vegey-vogue nemesis Poison Ivy squeezed through an unnerving Berni Wrightson terror sieve, but the content within is a combination of excitable hardcore and hellish doom strides that never loses intensity. Returning to the expansive production of Time Will Fuse Its Worth's double trouble drummer attack in the form of Carl McGinley and Eric Hernandez, Kylesa is now far more formidable on Static Tensions than they've been in the past. The percussive sublets sculpting through Running Red, To Walk Alone, Unknown Awareness, Said and Done and Only One capitalize moreso on this album than its predecessor, carving apart what few empty spaces Kylesa leave in their dense and sometimes gorgeous sonic channels.
As Static Tensions kicks open the doors with the monstrous ass-chewer Scapegoat, expect the pacing of the album to maintain a consistent heaviness on Insomnia For Months, Said and Done and the Fugazi-ish Almost Lost. Even Only One roars like every ounce of past pain in this band exonerated through song once it assumes a blazing Black Sabbath and Electric Wizard tonal explosion following the series of tribal rolls opening it.
The doom expressionism slowly driving Nature's Predators on the main verses give way to a series of stepped-up and varied tempo switches reminiscent of Quicksand and Botch before switching back to the lollygagging thunder of the core melody. Perfectly written and executed, Nature's Predators changes mood with flawless congruity amidst Phillip Cope's protesting wails of This is the town I live in, it is an American tension...
Perception adopts a structural theory similar to Isis in the way it comes out raging then has the guts to step backwards and rebuild the intensity of the track with each towering bar, growing louder and louder and then climaxing in a Kyuss-esque free-for-all blitz segment until finishing with a stomped-down finale.
Whereas the drumming duo scheme on Time Will Fuse Its Worth was understated, this time around, their presence is loud and clear and Kylesa has now become the band they were fated to become: a stoner, doom and punk hybrid boasting a high level of class only a few meager steps away from Mastodon's supreme down-tuned artifice. With no pretention intended, Static Tensions is one of 2009's immediate elite." http://rayvanhornjr.blogspot.com
Formed in Bayone, in France in 2002. The band counts actually some people from Year of No Light and Grey Daturas and is lead by the evil voice of Emilie Bresson (who's also responsible of their uncommon-to-doom/hello kitty like/children-drawn-style dark artworks). This one is a collection of songs coming from some of their first releases : 666 (2005), Speak of the Sea (2006) and Die Tonight (2007). Released by the amazing people at Crucial Blast. This is evil as fuck atmospheric-funeral-drone-doom. Highly recommended.
"A slow motion avalanche of blackened sludge and hypnotic feedback, with epic tarpit riffage stretched out eternally over lumbering drums and the cavernous rumble of speaker cabinets. Over these yawning expanses of black void appears the demonic, throat-shredding shrieks and ghostly voice of Emilie, whose petite appearance belies one of the harshest throats in the underground Doom spectrum. Beyond heavy." www.theomegaorder.com
British three-piece formed in 2000 in Southampton. Here is a funeral-ritualistic-drone-doom legacy consisting of 4 tracks for more than 70 minutes of fucking obscure-claustrophobic loudness. Extreme. Slow. Hypnotic. Absolute must-have.
Their live appearances are rare. Don't miss their 10th aniversary show at the Roadburn!
"Listening to this album during the day is a futile endeavour, Sub Templum is all about context. Sitting down at night with the detailed sleeves in your hands and turning the volume up is the only way to do it." http://brainwashed.com
Formed in Malmö, Sweden in 2001. Suma are doom as fuck! No need to tell you more. Don't miss it longer if you don't know them yet. Essential for you, Doom fanatics.
"Pretty much the definition of slaying for days, Let The Churches Burn, an 8 track LP from Swedish sludge metal unknowns Suma, is on par with a viking breaking into your house, pillaging your shit, raping your women and stomping on your face. And the worst part? He didn't even wipe his fucking feet at the door." http://slaysfordays.blogspot.com
Four-piece formed in Los Angeles, USA in 2006. This one is their very first album. A great combination of prog rock, doom and stoner lead by a pretty wonderful female voice. Produced by Scott Reeder of Kyuss. Highly recommended!
"Black Math Horseman live somewhere between the psychedelic world of 70’s stoner and contemporary shoegazers which they adorn with touches of goth and post rock to create their mind altering sound." www.roadburn.com
Formed in Cork, Ireland, in 2006. White Tomb is their third album. Progressive/Atmospheric/Black metal. In the vein of bands like Wolves in the Throne Room. Highly recommended!
"White Tomb finds the band expertly bringing together the epic sweep of groups like Wolves in the Throne Room and Asunder with that style of Isis-informed metallic post rock we all love. Throw in an awesomely guttural black metal rasp, a couple moments of Khanate styled throat abuse, spaced out ambience with cleanly strummed guitars, and an excellent balance of punishing blasts and more lumbering, slowly moving drums, and you've got one hell of an introduction to this previously unknown group. Consisting of two very long movements, Earth and Through The Collapse, made up of two songs each, Altar of Plagues' lyrical agenda seems to be similar to that of WITTR's brand of spiritually informed conservation, where humankind will vanish under the indifferent and regenerative hoof of Mother Nature. The two songs in the Earth suite, As A Womb and As A Furnace start with a beautiful piece of slowly building depressive guitar ambience before heading into a super heavy black metal jam that does not sound too far removed from the godly Atlanta based group Withered. Things slow down to a cool, spaced out Mogwai-ian moment that links the two songs, as multiple voices combine before ascending once more to a blissful post metal dirge. As this begins to sink in, we are again introduced to heavy, psychedelically informed black metal that suitably brutalizes you before fading off into the distance as layers of treated guitar ambience combine into a whirlwind of buzzing, which is soon overtaken by a sepia-tinged, slightly disquieting outro that immediately segues into the next song suite. Watchers Restrained is where things eventually slow to a glacial pace as disturbing, very Alan Dubin-esque vocals spit out line after line of bile while Altar of Plagues lays a foundation that manages to be both super dense and quite spacious. After being pummeled for a bit, the band pull back and the song fades into walls of crumbling decay. Album closer, Gentian Truth takes you on one last journey through a melancholy psych metal hinterland, before ending in an atmospheric soundscape quite similar to the way the album began, giving White Tomb an awesome cyclical feel that will undoubtedly bring out more truths with each listen." www.aquariusrecords.org
Formed in 2000 in the state of Illinois, USA. Their debuts were categorized in the Raw Black Metal genre. But they started introducing some Psychedelic touches into it. This one can be filed under Psychedelic Black Metal. This is their last album to date. Much recommended!
"The guitars buzz as much as they reach for psychedelic heights. The foundation is forged in black metal, but Assassins is more about breaking molds than casting them. Assassins contains big, almost stadium-sized anthems, monumental drinking songs, gorgeous instrumental excursions, prog-metal, and solos that make you catch your breath. It's metal at its best, regardless of the genre tag stuck to it." http://pitchfork.com
American Post hardcore band formed in Dayton, Ohio in 2003. This one is their very last. Mastodon and Baroness inspired Prog metal. A pretty great release. Recommended.
Instrumental three-piece formed in Chicago, USA in 2004. This one is their very last. I'm not sure yet, cause I didn't listen to it a lot at the moment. But I think I prefered the epic Enter they released in 2006. Anyway, this one is pretty solid too. Still Epic, Progressive and Heavy. With some great incorporations of Violins that could make you think of Mono at some moments. You better try by yourself. I think this is good enough to be shared here with you.
"Geneva goes above and beyond any expectations the fans may have had about the album. Russian Circles have taken their crushing riffs and unpredictable rhythms from Enter, and transfused them with the atmosphere and pastoral beauty of Station. It would be easy to compare the band to their peers in the post-rock and post-metal realms, but it wouldn't be fair to the band. While there are somber moments of beauty, reminiscent of Mono, and brutally heavy riffs that recall Pelican - Russian Circles take everything they are good at and focus their talent and energy to put their unique twist on what you would typically think of as post-rock. Another factor is the size of the band. While many post-rock bands can have as many as twenty-something members, or the more typical five members, Circles works as a trio. While it might be hard to imagine how a band whose goal is to craft epic compositions can be run with only three members, it may be the bands largest strength. Guitarist Mike Sullivan works like a classical composer, using various techniques to trigger certain emotions out of the listener. From spaced out guitar lines to distorted riffs, Sullivan is incredibly versatile. Drummer Dave Turncrantz is absolutely mind-blowing on Geneva. While Dave's drumming has always been a highlight of Russian Circles' music, on Geneva Dave outdoes himself. Solidifying himself as a permanent member, Brian Cook returns on bass guitar. With a resume of former bands such as Botch and These Arms Are Snakes, Cook is no stranger to music. While Cook only did session work on Circles' previous release, he has composed all of the low-end for Geneva. Also joining the band in certain places of the record is violinist Susan Voelz and cellist Allison Chesley, who do a great job of adding the orchestral feel to the album. Opening up with the distinct sound of the cello and violin, it is immediately noticeable that this is not your typical Russian Circles album..." www.sputnikmusic.com
This one is their very first full-lenght. My personal favourite of what I heard from them until now. Progressive, epic and heavy. Great post-hardcore with some good post-rock moments. Highly recommended!
"Russian Circles are a post-rock band that isn't afraid to pack in the energy. Their debut album, Enter, proves just how heavy the often slow-and-whispy post-rock genre can really get. Russian Circles provide a surprisingly thick-sounding, layered instrumental attack given their status as a three-piece outfit. This is due to guitarist Sullivan's ability to loop and layer guitar licks and effects, a trick that bassist DeKuiper joins in on occasionally. And as odd as that may sound, the band never fails to keep a song rocking. This album lacks the slow build-ups common to bands like Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Mono, opting instead to focus on making songs flow dynamically through several sections. A great deal of this band's heaviness is due to the skill of the drummer, who plays very dynamically and provides fills, tempo and time signature changes at all the right moments. Their style is very melodic and majestic, yet undoubtably dark and a little sinister." www.progarchives.com
American Stoner/Doom legends formed in 1996 in Los Angeles, California, over the ashes of The Obsessed. After their split, drummer Greg Rogers and bassist Guy Pinhas started jamming with the great Greg Anderson (Sunn O)))), Thorr's Hammer, Burning Witch...). They soon found a vocalist in Pete Stahl (Desert Sessions, Earthlings...) and created this heavy monster : Goatsnake.They released some classics and disbanded in 2001 after some line-up changes.
They reformed back in 2004 and are coming to the Roadburn festival this year with their original line-up. Exiting!
Flower of Disease is their last full-lenght to date. My personal favourite.
"With Flowers of Disease, Goatsnake delivers its trademark slick, thick, and smooth guitar tones à la Kyuss meets Black Sabbath, way-low dropped tunings, heavy drumming, solid production values, and some pretty weird instrument appearances. These guys have been around the proverbial doom metal block, and it shows. Pete Stahl gives a vocal performance that is unique, melodic and dynamic in range, lending a classic doom sound that's an increasingly untypical and refreshing vocal approach in today's black-, death-, and grindcore-influenced doom metal scene. The slow- to mid-paced grooves are all the Sabbath-inspired heaviness you could hope for, but much of the album comes off like a wasted summer evening from your best memories. "Easy Greasy" has Stahl singing "Fellout and tore up/With my friends and their freaks/We laugh and lie so high it's sweet." Not only that, but the mouth harp thing, along with the slow, heavy groove, gives off this "down by the river, takin' it easy" feeling. This is a doom record though, and aside from the fact that there's plenty of mellow "let it go" attitude here, the title track is the most morose. "Flower of Disease" conjures suicidal thoughts with the lyrics "I touch these walls of this place I know/Death is standing right outside the door/I smile inside to hide the cries/The pain just loves to multiply." An enjoyable listen, this album is a perfect marriage of modern production techniques, excellent riffing, melodic classic doom, and grooving ambience." www.allmusic.com
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This one is a fucking deserved re-up! Don't miss it!
Swedish quartet formed in Gothenborg in 2006. This one is their first and only album to date. Classic, Bluesy, Stoner/Rock at his best. Psychedelic 70's are back, motherfucker! I personnally loved it at first listen. Highly fucking recommended.
"One listen to the self-titled debut from Sweden's Graveyard and you swear that this thing was recorded in 1971. Psychedelic, often times bluesy yet heavy guitar riffs, enchanting atmosphere, swirling drum patterns, and hazy vocals, all permeate this wildly seductive hard rock album. Graveyard just drips with psychedelic menace from start to finish, and everything from the guitar riffs to the vocals is so retro 70's that you gotta love it."
"Graveyard’s self titled debut resurrects the sounds of 70’s psychedelic rock. The clash of folk, psychedelic, and blues makes for a mind-bending trip back to the days of Cream, Sabbath, and Blue Cheer. The classic vibe is evident throughout, from the masterful analog production of Don Ahlsterberg (Soundtrack of our Lives, The International Noise Conspiracy, José Gonzalez) to the wah-wah guitar solos on tracks like the urgency filled Lost in Confusion. The hard, blues infused opener Evil Ways features vocalist/guitarist Joakim Nilsson unleashing a Chris Cornell-esque howl, declaring There lies a hole in my soul, that cannot be filled. Track by track Graveyard brings back to life all that is right with rock and roll, from the dark haze that is brought upon by the space blues of Blue Soul to the rocking trip of Submarine Blues. The band proves they have what it takes to hang with the classics while delivering a sound that is all their own." http://teepeerecords.com
Legends of Progressive/Viking/Black metal. Formed out of the ashes of the death metal band Phobia in Norway in 1991. By friends Ivar Bjørnson and Grutle Kjellson, when they were 13 and 17 years old respectively. Their name comes from an old Immortal song : Enslaved in Rot. Debuts were typical Norwegian Black metal before turning into epic and progressive Black metal.
"Enslaved is one of those few bands out there that is getting better and better after every release. Their music, while it keeps its roots, is developing towards complete perfection.
The new album pretty much follows the footsteps of their previous album Below the Lights, but even better and more complete. For all of you who have not heard Below the Lights and Enslaved´s earlier work (is that even possible for a black metal fan?) I must warn you that this is not one of your typical grim or necro black metal albums. So if that is what you are searching for, just something that is trOO and all that stuff, then please, don't waste your time here because trust me, this is not what you are looking for. This album is for a bit more, well let's say ; mature fans of black metal.
Psychedelic and progressive, filled with energy and technique ; Isa is like black metal meets progressive metal, taking all the darkness from black metal and mixing it with all the techniques from progressive metal. Traces from bands such as Isis or Cult of Luna can also clearly be heard throughout the album, making it even more interesting and complex.
Isa is like an eagle that flies high in the sky, keeps his head up proud and strong. Any moment he can change his direction in order to go down and catch his prey, you never know what to expect!
So to all of you metalheads out there, mark my words clearly ; After 10 years, people will look back at this release and remember it as one of those classic and famous black metal releases right up there with albums like : Under The Sign Of The Black Mark, Det Som En Gang Var and De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas. If you buy 1 album this year, then make sure it is Isa because this is not what you can afford to miss." www.metalstorm.net
"I am completely taken aback by the brilliance that is Enslaved. After an amazing Beyond the Lights and a spectacular Isa, Enslaved return with what is surely one of the best metal albums of 2006.
Part of the original black metal inner circle in Euronymous' (RIP) Helvete shop, Enslaved, along with Sigh are possibly the only Deathlike Silence bands that continue to push the limits of the genre.
Fusing elements from various subgenres of metal, from doom to black to stoner, heavily influenced by progressive rock bands of the 70s, post rock and jazz, Ruun is an intensely epic record, that's full of exhilarating, grim and beautiful melodies. Featuring frequent alternations in tempo (from doom to Norwegian black metal), and melodies ranging from the melancholic epic to the intense, Ruun is a record that feeds the imagination of the listener from the word go. Epic, almost post-rock guitars, sporadic use of keyboards (which sometime sound like a Doors rock-organ), grim vocals (sporadically accompanied by grunts and melodic ones) are built on top of a steady rhythm section that's at times very groovy and is always of great quality.
Ruun, though epic in stature, is not your typically Viking metal scope. It surpasses Enslaved's 2004 masterpiece Isa, by fusing many extra-metal elements, like Jazz and post-rock. In fact there are times where I wonder how the songs would sound with a saxophone replacing the vocals. Surely, Ruun should be in the record collection of every metal fan, and is worthy of consideration for any open minded music traveler. Because, like all good music, Ruun is a trip. An experimental black metal record, for experimental hearts." www.metal-invader.com
+++++++++++++ ROADBURN special.post.1 +++++++++++++ Today is time to start a serie of posts about the Roadburn festival.
Roadburn is one of the biggest Doom-oriented festivals in the world. Dedicated to Doom, Stoner, Psychedelic and all kinds of Dark music. It's happening in Tilburg, Netherlands, from April 15 to 18... And it will be pretty cool!
“Roadburn is a completely different experience than the traditional music festival. It is a small, intimate, extremely well organized festival, put together by people who love the bands, and thrive on creating a unique social vibe where the lines between artist, audience, and staff are often completely blurred” –Steve Von Till, Neurosis. Some of you will probably be there? I will! Here are some things I personnaly recommend.
Legendary band formed in North Carolina, USA in 1993. This one is their second full-lenght. Pure fucking Sludge/Doom at his best. Crushing.
"With vengeance in their eyes, and fire coursing through their veins, the Southern warriors known as Sourvein have overcome all obstacles to deliver a true doom masterpiece to the starving. Bulldozer guitar tone, Earthquake low-end frequencies, strangled desperate vokills, and monstrous, battering drums. A lethal chemistry that brings to mind the doom of St. Vitus, Pentagram, Melvins as well as the punk as fuck intensity of Black Flag, the Accused, etc. 8 brutal songs that literally explode (out of) your speakers. Will to Mangle slays all pretenders to the throne of Heavy." www.allthatisheavy.com
