Author: Gruesome Greg
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Miss Lava – Sonic Debris
This Portuguese stoner-rock outfit has actually been on my radar for quite some time, ever since they sent me a copy of their first CD back in ’09. (And yes, they still sent physical copies in those days!) Since then, they’ve opened for some big-name bands in their home country, played a few major fests…
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Blaak Heat – Shifting Mirrors
What do you get when you take an L.A. based French guitarist with Middle Eastern psychedelic influences and a seven-man backing band? You get Blaak Heat, the latest signing to Tee Pee Records. Shifting Mirrors sounds sorta like the last couple OM albums, if they were being covered by Tia Carrerra. The chill, oriental vibes…
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Sinistro – Semente
Sinistro is the second Portuguese outfit to hit my inbox in the past couple weeks, but they are two very different entities. Unlike Miss Lava, Sinistro is actually female-fronted, and their influences lean more heavily towards Neurosis than Kyuss. They also seem to sing in their mother tongue, judging by the song titles. Semente, their…
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Warsnake – self-titled
Back in the day, I used to be AF Analog’s biggest fan. The short-lived local sludge band was never a household name outside their own households, but in ’07/’08, they were the closest thing to Crowbar around this neck of the woods. Now a couple of those guys are in this new outfit, Warsnake, which…
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AMATEUR CONCERT PHOTOGRAPHY HOUR: Napalm Death/Melvins/Melt Banana @ Opera House, April 19, 2016
This was a co-headlining gig, with Napalm going on last and both them and the Melvins playing for about an hour. But from my vantage point, I gotta say, the Melvins had a much more punishing pit!
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Boudain – Way of the Hoof
This Louisiana outfit is named after a spicy Cajun sausage, so they’ve already whetted my appetite before I even press play. And it certainly doesn’t hurt that they hail from a town four hours north of NOLA, home to so many great sludge bands. These guys have been grilling, erm, killing it since ’06, but…
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Mirrors for Psychic Warfare – self-titled
Both Scott Kelly and Sanford Parker are pretty much pioneers of post-sludge. Kelly needs no introduction from his time with Neurosis, while Parker has really established himself as a producer when not playing in Neurosis-inspired outfit Minsk. But their previous collaboration in Corrections House was far from the sludgy stuff… and so’s this one, for…
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Beastwars – The Death of All Things
When I reviewed Beastwars’ debut, I noted that they were “the heaviest thing to hit Godzone since the Big Sheep Shearer,” and I’m sticking by that statement. Although New Zealand isn’t necessarily known for sludge metal, there is a wave of extreme, avant-garde, underground metal bands from the Isle of Phil Rudd… and these guys…
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The Golden Grass – Coming Back Again
Album number two from this Brooklyn hippie-freak trio features six tracks of heavy psych grooves. We get started with “Get it Together,” a mellow, 70’s style ode to sunny ways that wouldn’t sound outta place on American Century, with a heavy chorus that recalls Foghat or Grand Funk. “Reflections in the Glass” has a more…
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Gypsy Chief Goliath – Citizens of Nowhere
What makes a new album, anyways? A couple of the tracks on this Southern Ontario outfit’s third effort have been in their live set for years, and previously appeared on their independently-released debut from 2012. But just as Sons of OTIS recycled a chunk of Spacejumbofudge into Temple Ball, Gypsy Chief Goliath is giving songs…