Author: Gruesome Greg
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Bison – You Are Not the Ocean, You Are the Patient
Album number four from the band formerly known as Bison B.C. has been nearly five years in the making. Since the release of their last record, they’ve been dropped from Metal Blade, replaced their bassist and issued a lone, two-track, digital-only single… so you might say they’ve fallen off the map. Can this record re-establish…
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Hollow Leg – Crown (Murder edition)
Now here’s a band that’s after my bloated, sagging stomach. I dunno if Florida outfit Hollow Leg can actually chow down with the best of them, but when it comes to throwing down, well they do a pretty good job of that. Crown, their third album, came out last year on Argonauta Records, but with…
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Harsh Toke / Joy / Sacri Monti – Burnout!
San Diego is starting to become known for its heavy psych scene, as several stoner jam bands have followed in the wake of Earthless. This three-way split from Tee Pee Records captures three of them: Harsh Toke, Joy and Sacri Monti, all of whom have likely already shared a stage, or even a split EP with…
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Fire Down Below – Viper, Vixen, Goddess, Saint
Taking their name from either a shitty Steven Seagal movie or a 1970’s skin flick, this Belgian outfit draws its sound from the likes of Kyuss and Lowrider. Their debut album was independently released last year, but Fire Down Below have since been picked up by Ripple Music, who have made Viper, Vixen, Goddess, Saint more…
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Petyr – self-titled
If you can picture a SoCal heavy-psych jam-band fronted by Tony Hawk’s son… you’d have Petyr, which is literally a SoCal heavy-psych jam band fronted by Tony Hawk’s son. I suppose there’s often been some overlap between heavy riffs and skateboarding, whether it’s Earthless, The Shrine, or probably even Fu Manchu if you go back…
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Norska – Too Many Winters
Though I didn’t review it at the time, I was definitely a fan of Norska’s self-titled 2011 debut, with the Portland five-piece landing somewhere between YOB and Neurosis on the post-sludge scale. As a matter of fact, their bassist has also played on the last three YOB albums… which might go some way in explaining…
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Volur – Ancestors
The sophomore album from Toronto folk-doomsters Volur is nothing if not an ambitious effort. Though it only contains four tracks, it clocks in at over 53 minutes, with some songs stretching over 15. And while the lyrics are not clearly discernible, I do detect a theme here—each song title begins with “Breaker.” We start off…
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Destroyer of Light – Chamber of Horrors
I first heard this Austin outfit on their 2015 split with Godhunter, where they almost stole the record from one of my favourite underground sludge bands at the time. Destroyer of Light even put their own super-slow-mo take on a Pentagram classic, which certainly made me take notice. And now they’re back with their second full-length…
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AMATEUR CONCERT PHOTOGRAPHY HOUR: Conan/North @ The Garrison, May 21, 2017
I first caught Conan last year on their Revengeance tour, and in terms of sheer volume, they are one of the loudest bar bands I’ve ever seen.
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AMATEUR CONCERT PHOTOGRAPHY HOUR: Windhand/Satan’s Satyrs @ Horseshoe Tavern, May 19, 2017
Both Satan’s Satyrs and Windhand hail from Virginia, and would certainly appeal to a doom-minded audience, but there are very few sonic similarities between them.