Mondo Generator: Cocaine Rodeo (deluxe edition)
Cocaine Rodeo is an offbeat mixture of plodding, bass-heavy alt rock, and sub- two-minute punk tunes.
stoner rock
Baroness: Blue Record
Blue Record is a forward-thinking pastiche of all points of sludge/stoner/doom light as informed by a bunch of toothless, Smokey Mountain ban-jer pickers, the Thin Lizzy fanclub, the Melvins irreverence, Converge’s 21st Century output and Queen’s penchant for mini rock operas.
Church Of Misery: Houses of the Unholy
If you’ve heard the previous two Church Of Misery albums and quite enjoyed them, then you won’t be disappointed with their latest and third full length release. Houses of the Unholy follows the same formula as 2001’s Master of Brutality and 2004’s Second Coming: bluesy lead riffing over heavily distorted rumbling bass accompanied by an incoherent, gruff vocal delivery that reminds me of inebriated Neil Fallon of Clutch.
Jared Hynes reviews the newest studio effort by Japan’s serial killer-obsessed doomsters Church Of Misery.
Classic Album Revisited: Sleep’s Holy Mountain
Now, Sleep is perhaps best known for Dopesmoker, the posthumous reissue of their Jerusalem record, with a more stoner-friendly title. Whether you
call it Jerusalem or Dopesmoker, the single-track, 52-minute platter is a noteworthy album. But Holy Mountain isn’t just an album, it’s a collection of SONGS, man!
Clutch @ The Odeon, Saskatoon SK, August 2, 2009
Clutch’s current musical incarnation, which dates from 2004’s Blast Tyrant to this year’s Strange Cousins From the West, has been a remarkable creative renaissance, with blues superseding stoner rock, and not surprisingly, when the final third of the show focused on the newer material, things truly took off.
Adrien Begrand reviews Clutch’s most recent tour stop in his base city, Saskatoon, SK.
Flood: Native
When I think MeteorCity, riff rock bands like Lowrider and The Atomic Bitchwax come to mind. In that sense, Flood isn’t your typical MeteorCity band.
Opeth / High On Fire: Centennial Hall, London ON September 21
No fanfare. Zero theatrics. A barren stage except for the musicians, their instruments, amplification and a simple backdrop sporting their logo is all that Sweden’s Opeth (pictured) needed to entertain the nearly 900-strong crowd.