Author: Gruesome Greg
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The Second Coming of Heavy Chapter 5 – Desert Suns/Chiefs split
I know I’ve reviewed the last couple of these Ripple Music compilations, and as long as they keep ‘em coming, I’ll keep listening. The fifth installment of The Second Coming of Heavy features a couple California outfits in Desert Suns and Chiefs, both from San Diego. As opposed to the third coming, which combined a…
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Saturn – Beyond Spectra
This latest release from Rise Above Records comes from Swedish band Saturn, an outfit that treads a similar path to Witchcraft and Graveyard. What, were you expecting goregrind? Beyond Spectra is the band’s second album, following their debut, Ascending, from 2014. The 46-minute effort begins on a retro-metal note, with “Orbital Command” sounding like vintage…
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Connoisseur – Over the Edge
This stoner-themed sludge/crust band from Oakland slammed its way into my heart on their debut album Stoner Justice, with tracks like “Circle of Heads,” “I Am the Weed” and “Full Blown Marijuana Addict.” Their sophomore effort sees more of the same, with 14 tracks in 24 minutes, including such gems as “Live to Smoke,” “Free…
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The Obsessed – Sacred
Can this really be considered as a comeback? The Obsessed, much like fellow Maryland doom legends Pentagram, had a bit of a checkered past. In the 70’s and early 80’s, they were one of those bands where you kinda had to be there, and it wasn’t until people started bootlegging the shit outta their unreleased…
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Wounded Giant – Vae Victis
Wounded Giant hails from Seattle, so it’s perhaps no surprise that there’s a heavy dose of Melvins in their sound. Vae Victis is the band’s second full-length album, after 2013’s Lightning Medicine, but like many in the noise rock community, they’re released a few splits and EPs in between—including a live cassette tape. This album…
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Space Witch – Arcanum
I don’t say this very often, but Space Witch really sucked me in with the 16-minute opening track on this album. Personally, when I see a song that long from a band I’ve never heard before, right off the bat, I drop that promo out of my inbox like it’s life with bong in hand.…
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AMATEUR CONCERT PHOTOGRAPHY HOUR: ARTHUR BROWN/Acid King/Jex Thoth @ Barracuda, Austin, TX, February 25, 2017
It’s been a little while since I’ve flown halfway across the continent for a one-off, non-festival gig, but when I saw the lineup for this one, I knew I had to be there.
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Sweat Lodge – Tokens for Hell
When Sweat Lodge opened for Monolord in Toronto last year, some people were saying these guys could be the next The Sword, i.e. the next big heavy-rock band from Texas. (Turns out that might actually be Mothership.) Alas, twas not to be, as this four-track, 16-minute effort marks the band’s swansong—their farewell EP, so to…
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In the Company of Serpents – Ain-Soph Aur
With everyone from Steven Tyler to Jimmy Bower to David “Morbid to the Core” Vincent gone country these days, I guess it was just a matter of time before country doom actually became a thing. In the Company of Serpents describe themselves as “between sludge metal and sprawling spaghetti western scores,” but if you came…
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Godstopper/Grizzlor split 7”
It’s been a little while since Toronto noise-rock weirdos Godstopper have graced us with an album—and somehow, said record seems to have slipped my radar completely. But as I’m just getting caught up with their latest full-length, this tasty tidbit should tide us over in the meantime—a three-song, seven-inch split with Connecticut trio Grizzlor. Godstopper…