Author: Gruesome Greg

  • Hark – Machinations

    Hark – Machinations

    Hark now hear the second record from this heavy-ass Welsh outfit! They may not sound like a choir of angels, but these Swansea slammers bring the riffs for 47 minutes on the follow-up to their 2014 debut Crystalline. And hey, their lead singer’s name is Jimbob, and he used to be in a band called…

  • Forming the Void – Relic

    Forming the Void – Relic

    Now, I gotta say, I’m a pretty big fan of NOLA-style sludge metal. (EHG FTW!) But while Lafayette, Louisiana might just be a couple hours away from New Orleans, these native sons are several more miles removed from Crowbar or Eyehategod—while still clearly inhabiting within the stoner/doom subgenre. The second record from Forming the Void…

  • Unearthly Trace – Stalking the Ghost

    Unearthly Trace – Stalking the Ghost

    NYC doom dealers Unearthly Trance have returned from a seven-year recording hiatus—one that gave us a pair of Serpentine Path records, mind you, as they joined up with Tim Bagshaw of Electric Wizard fame. But now the original trio’s back in business, with their sixth album, out this month on Relapse Records. You can expect…

  • Mountain God – Bread Solstice

    Mountain God – Bread Solstice

    Brooklyn is probably not the first place that comes to mind when you think post-sludge. Me, I’m thinking Oakland, maybe Portland, definitely Chicago of late… But this trippy trio is coming straight outta Williamsburg on Bread Solstice, their debut LP, serving up six tracks in just over 40 minutes. Mountain God’s Artificial Head debut Some…

  • Mothership – High Strangeness

    Mothership – High Strangeness

    I’ve been a big fan of this Dallas outfit ever since I first heard their self-titled debut in 2013, so suffice to say I’m super-stoked for this, the third record from Mothership. More heavy rock than heavy metal, these guys create a potent concoction combining AC/DC, Thin Lizzy and ZZ Top with riffs that are thicker…

  • Dead – We Won’t Let You Sleep

    Dead – We Won’t Let You Sleep

    Aussie noise-rockers Dead first crossed the pond in 2013, when their Idiots album was picked up domestically by Portland’s Eolian Empire. They played a buncha dates in the States (albeit none in Canada) afterwards, and have since put out a few splits, EPs and such, as noise-rock bands tend to do. The duo recorded this…

  • Rozamov – This Mortal Coil

    Rozamov – This Mortal Coil

    I actually saw this Boston trio in Toronto last summer, when they played the basement of the Smiling Buddha with Moon Curse and Ol’ Time Moonshine. And with all due apologies to said moon units, Rozamov was definitely the heaviest band on the bill. I half-expected my old landlord to come down and tell ‘em…

  • Ol’ Time Moonshine – The Apocalypse Trilogies

    Ol’ Time Moonshine – The Apocalypse Trilogies

    Y’know, the first thing that struck me about this CD was the packaging. See, I’ve got a whole binder full of CDRs from a buncha local bands from back in my days at CKLN—including a few from Diablo Red, this outfit’s spiritual predecessor—so when I get something new from someone nearby, it’s usually not very…

  • AMATEUR CONCERT PHOTOGRAPHY HOUR: TRUCKFIGHTERS/Kings Destroy @ Hard Luck Bar, January 22, 2017

    AMATEUR CONCERT PHOTOGRAPHY HOUR: TRUCKFIGHTERS/Kings Destroy @ Hard Luck Bar, January 22, 2017

    Fast-forward a couple years, and they’re playing a proper venue with proper touring support in support of a somewhat low-key record. But I’ll be damned if that wasn’t the biggest crowd I’ve even seen at the Hard Luck, dude!

  • Freedom Hawk – Sunlight

    Freedom Hawk – Sunlight

    Man, these guys have been kicking around for a while. I actually reviewed their self-titled debut on MeteorCity nearly seven years ago—at least, I thought it was their debut at the time. Turns out that Sunlight predates it by a year, but it was such a limited edition CDR release that next to nobody actually…