Author: Gruesome Greg
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Void King – Barren Dominion
Indiana doom band Void King does NOT contain any current or former members of Apostle of Solitude…but I’ll be damned if their riffs don’t remind me of Indianapolis’ pre-eminent epic doom outfit. They first caught my ear with their debut album three years ago, and have taken another step forward with sophomore effort Barren Dominion.…
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AMATEUR CONCERT PHOTOGRAPHY HOUR: TRUCKFIGHTERS/Sierra/Familiars @ Lee’s Palace
You knew this one was gonna be special. Ending a two-year hiatus, Truckfighters announced that their 2019 tour would feature their seminal debut Gravity X, played in its entirety…
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AMATEUR CONCERT PHOTOGRAPHY HOUR: NEUROSIS/Bell Witch/DeafKids @ The Opera House, August 15, 2019
It was not so long ago that a Neurosis concert in Toronto was a rare occasion — but lately, they’ve become much more frequent. In fact, I can now say that I’ve seen ’em four times in the last six years…
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Cruickshank – self-titled
This new Ontario noise rock band is made up of local metal scene veterans, dudes who’ve done time in outfits like Teethmarks and Greber. Their self-titled debut offers up 32 minutes of tuneage for people who like unhappy music. “Clouded” kicks things off, a three-minute, mid-tempo, grinding dirge that even throws some blastbeats into the…
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Leather Lung – Lonesome, On’ry and Evil
While the Waylon Jennings reference in the title of this seven-song, 27-minute EP is what caught my attention, outlaw country this is not. Rather, Leather Lung is more like Boston’s answer to Weedeater or Dopethrone – drug-fuelled, downtrodden sludge blues, with a few interesting touches along the way. “Barbed Wire” starts things off with a…
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AMATEUR CONCERT PHOTGRAPHY HOUR: Khemmis/Cloak @ Velvet Underground, July 24, 2019
This was Khemmis’ first headlining Toronto appearance — and my first time seeing them live.
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Waingro – III
The third album from Vancouver trio Waingro might be the missing link between Bison and Baptists, with shades of Red Fang and Saint Vitus thrown in for good measure. If the meta data calls this Stoner Rock, it’s only because Sludgy Punk isn’t really a genre. Packing 12 tracks into just over 40 minutes, III…
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Crypt Sermon – The Ruins of Fading Light
Crypt Sermon’s 2015 debut, Out of the Garden, was a pretty solid piece of epic doom. Seeing them perform twice at U.S. festivals since then has further stoked the fires for their long-awaited sophomore album. This 10-track, 55-minute effort gets underway with galloping horses and chanting monks on “The Ninth Templar,” before a mid-tempo power…
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Torche – Admission
Florida’s finest “sludge pop” practitioners are back with album number five – although this one seems a little lighter on the sludge, and heavier on the pop, than its predecessor, 2015’s Restarter. Admission opens with a fast-paced flourish on “From Here,” a 99-second sonic assault on which chugging riffs contrast with soaring clean vocals. “Submission”…
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Lightning Born – self-titled
This North Carolina supergroup includes the guitarist from excellent retro doom outfit Demon Eye, along with the legendary Mike Dean of COC, so you know it’s gotta be good. Lighting Born’s self-titled debut starts off with a signature COC-style guitar chug, before settling into a less-than-mid-paced retro doom groove a la Demon Eye, with shades…