Author: Gruesome Greg
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Brimstone Coven – Self-Titled
I actually just saw these recent Metal Blade signees about a month ago at Days of the Doomed IV, where I was knocked out by their exuberance, their raw power – and their punctuality! (They took the stage promptly at 3 pm.) Not sure if that performance led to their new record deal or if it…
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Norilsk – Japetus
Although they’re actually from Ottawa, this doom duo is named after a former Siberian slave-labour camp now known as one of the most polluted cities on earth. Incidentally, it says here that Norilsk is “Home to the world’s largest heavy metal smelting complex,” which probably means it has a pretty decent metal scene. 😉 Alas,…
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Earthless Meets Heavy Blanket – In a Dutch Haze
Kick out the jaaaaams, man! When Earthless axeslinger Isaiah Mitchell suffered a bizarre gardening accident shortly before Roadburn 2012, the band drafted not one but two guitarists to replace him for the occasion. Enter J. Mascis and Graham Clise, both of Witch, although you probably know the former from Dinosaur Jr. Let’s just say he doesn’t play drums…
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Mars Red Sky – Stranded in Arcadia
I must be Facebook friends with someone in this French outfit, cuz I remember getting a request to “like” ’em a little while back, well before this album came out. Let me just say, I like ’em a lot. Mars Red Sky take a more melodic approach to stoner rock, still fuzzy but not fuzzed-out, with some…
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Cardinals Folly – Our Cult Continues
Wasn’t a huge fan of the previous demos from Cardinals Folly, which were a little too black-metal-sounding for me, but I really want this to be good. Maybe it’s unfair to expect this outfit to fill the void left by another Finnish doom trio named after a quirky religious figure… but at least on paper, you’d think…
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Wo Fat – The Conjuring
I think I mighta missed the last album from this Texas trio, but it’s good to hear that nothing much has changed. Wo Fat still play long, slow, drawn-out stoner jams, no more than five or six a pop, always ending on an epic note—in this case, the 17-minute “Dreamwalker.” But first we begin with…
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Bachman Turner Overdrive – Not Fragile (1974)
Fuck you, I like Bachman Turner Overdrive. At least, just as much as the next guy, anyways. Although I still can’t stand it when “Takin’ Care of Business” blasts outta every junior-hockey rink across the country, these guys actually wrote a few decent tunes in their time, aside from the overplayed hits. Besides, I figured that if anyone…
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Valley of the Sun – Electric Talons of the Thunderhawk
Now, you wouldn’t expect a band named Valley of the Sun, the nickname of Phoenix, Arizona, to hail from Cincinnati—a city known colloquially as Dirty Cincy. And yet, it’s an apt moniker for this outfit, a desert-rock trio that captured the attention of Swedish stoner greats Truckfighters, who subsequently signed them to their label. And…
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The Cutthroats 9 – Dissent
This Bay Area trio, The Cutthroats 9, features howling madman frontman Chris Spencer of Unsane fame and released its debut on Man’s Ruin, waaaaay back in the day. Based on that information, I think you can take a guess as to what Dissent, their comeback EP, might sound like. And you’d be pretty much right.…
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Beastwars – Beastwars
Being that this was an independently-issued release outta New Zealand, of all places, I must admit I missed Beastwars’ debut the first time around. But the band has generated a bit of buzz, seeing as they’re the heaviest thing to hit Godzone since the Big Sheep Shearer, and as such, we’re getting a vinyl reissue…