Author: Gruesome Greg
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Cokegoat – Drugs and Animals
Cokegoat first caught my ear over three years ago with their debut album Vessel. This Chicago sextet (three guitars, one keyboard) brings the sludge, brings the doom and a bit of black metal, too. And could there possibly be a better, more fitting album title? Sophomore effort Drugs and Animals starts off with some unassuming…
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Year of the Cobra – …in the Shadows Below
Man, if I could get all the right documents and permits together, I’d move to Seattle in a heartbeat. It’s got a great food scene, my favourite football team, and some seriously heavy bands like Year of the Cobra, a husband/wife bass/drums stoner/doom duo, which just released its debut album on STB Records. Coming off…
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Superjoint – Caught Up in the Gears of Application
Now, I’m not one of those people who worships the ground Phil Anselmo walks on. (Hell, I skipped Down to catch Beelzefuzz at Psycho Las Vegas.) And I don’t really remember Superjoint Ritual all that well—I couldda sworn I had a copy of Use Once and Destroy somewhere, but I can’t seem to find it.…
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Ayahuasca – Yin
I can actually trace the roots of this Toronto band back to The Womb—literally, as that was the name of their former band. What started out as pure Pantera worship evolved into perhaps the most technically proficient sludge/noise-rock outfit around these parts, putting out a pair of pretty solid records in the late aughts. And…
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Khemmis – Hunted
I’ll admit, I’ve been sitting on this one for a bit. Khemmis’ debut album, Absolution, struck me as a slightly crunchier Pallbearer… and while there’s nothing wrong with that at all, it didn’t quite tickle my fancy. Oh well, second time’s the charm, right? This time, they’ve stretched out the songs a tad, with just…
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Wasted Theory – Defenders of the Riff
The heaviest damn band outta Bear, Delaware is back with its second record, with a nod to Judas Priest and an album cover that screams High on Fire. These guys pull no punches off the bat with “Get Loud or Get Fucked,” a solid southern-rock stomper. This song actually reminds me of the late, great,…
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Red Fang – Only Ghosts
Album number four from Portland’s party-rock ambassadors comes three years, almost to the date, since their last record Whales and Leeches earned them an appearance on Letterman and a debut in the Billboard Top 100. Though they were perhaps a little more commercial-sounding the last time around, they still maintained the fun-loving, nerd-rock sensibilities that…
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Geezer – self-titled
Hailing from the other Kingston (that would be in New York), this heavy-rock trio shoots from the hip on their Ripple Music debut with 52 minutes of bluesy riff rock. New Paltz is sinkin’ man, and I don’t wanna swim! Leadoff single “Sunday Speed Demon” has a loose, 70’s garage-rock feel, with a few heavy…
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Asteroid – III
It’s been a while since Asteroid last made contact with earth. The Swedish heavy-rock trio was fairly active in the aughts, but had not released an album since early 2010. Now they return from an official hiatus with their third record, out on Fuzzorama Records, the indie label run by another Swedish trio you might…
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Anciients – Voice of the Void
Album number two from Anciients, Vancouver’s answer to Neurosis, comes roughly three-and-a-half years after their breakout debut, Heart of Oak. So it’s been a little way since we’ve heard from these guys, but it’s safe to say that crafting epic-length tuneage takes a little time. To wit, three of the nine songs of Voice of…