Category: Reviews – Audio
Glorious metal in all its earthly forms, compressed onto shiny plastic discs or into digital files. Which ones will become the soundtrack to your life?
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Green Meteor – Consumed by a Dying Sun
Now, I’m a sucker for that turn-of-the-century stoner/fuzz rock released on labels like Man’s Ruin and MeteorCity, and I’m kinda getting that vibe from this Philly outfit. Recommended for fans of Acid King and Hawkwind? Sounds like Green Meteor is right up my alley… There is certainly a spacey theme throughout the five tracks that make…
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The Ditch and the Delta – Hives in Decline
The good thing about being from a town that’s a bit off the metal radar is that it’s harder to lump you in with a buncha other bands. Even if I’ve never heard a particular group before, I have a general idea what to expect when I see a doom band from Maryland or a…
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Drug Honkey – Cloak of Skies
With a name like Drug Honkey, you know it’s gotta be good. Although you were probably expecting some slow southern sludge à la Weedeater or the Wisconsin drug trip of Bongzilla, what we’ve actually got here is effects-laden psychedelic death/doom that comes off as a cross between Winter and Sons of OTIS… and yet, I’m…
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Woodhawk – Beyond The Sun
This was truly a pleasure to review – songs, musicianship, production, everything is as it should be! Woodhawk have taken some very good influences: Mastodon, Thin Lizzy, Budgie, Hawkwind, Monster Magnet and, of course… Kyuss. (I often think of some alternative universe where Kyuss never broke up…a splendid thought indeed!) Not so much in sound,…
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Lung Flower – Effigy
Once more, an independent band puts higher profile bands to shame. Lung Flower play seriously heavy groove metal in the vein of Pantera and Black Label Society. The packaging and art for this CD shows a commendable commitment to the physical product of music, and for that they should be applauded. The production is clear…
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Presumption – ‘From Judgement To The Grave’ and ‘Ancestral Rites’
Presumption – From Judgement To The Grave Doom metal from France… tres bon! Presumption put many bands to shame with a unique sound that, while it draws from the likes of Cathedral and Trouble, builds on these influences. It’s always more authentic to hear a band sing in their native tongue, as on the excellent…
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Pyreship – The Liars Bend Low
Now, the name of this Houston outfit had me hoping for some sort of cross between Toronto post-sludge squad Pyres and Mothership, one of my favourite heavy-rock bands going. And actually, that’s not too far from the case here… well okay, they’re probably much closer to the former. Pyreship‘s self-described “blend [of] post metal and…
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Steak – No God to Save
Mmm, Steak… These heavy rockers from the desert plains of London have returned with their second album on the always tasty Ripple Music. Don’t let the Dischargey album title fool ya—these guys play ‘r low ‘n slow, and like it done medium rare. “Overthrow” opens the album, a seven-minute slab of rifftastic stoner rock. The…
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Godhunter – Codex Narco
Godhunter’s debut album, City of Dust, was one of the great underrated sludge records of 2014, which actually found its way onto my year-end top 10 list. In the few years since, the band helped put Tucson on the metal map by hosting Southwest Terror Fest (which has since moved to Seattle), and has put…
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Merchant – Beneath
Just the other day, I was less than enthused about a few 13-minute sludge tunes, but this thunderous Aussie outfit actually managed to grab my attention with these two. Beneath, the second album from Melbourne doom crew Merchant only has two tracks—but they both clock in around 15 minutes. And yet, like I said, these…