Tag: stoner rock
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Familiars – This Water That is Warm (I Will Join Soon)
Though they’re actually from a small town somewhere north of the city, I’ve had the chance to see Familiars open for a whole buncha heavy/stoner rock bands in Toronto these past few years. The semi-local trio plays a brand of heavy psych somewhat reminiscent of local legends Quest For Fire, though in the live setting,…
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Vermilion Whiskey – Spirit of Tradition
I’m sure I’ve said it before, but I’m a sucker for some good ol’ southern-style sludge metal. Actually, when I reviewed Forming the Void’s new record outta Lafayette, Louisiana, one of those dudes got in touch with me, and mentioned this other local outfit called Vermillion Whiskey that sounded much more like Crowbar, Down and…
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Lo-Pan – In Tensions EP
Columbus heavy rock crew Lo-Pan is kicking off 2017 in style with this five-song, 22-minute EP. The grizzled tour veterans head out with “Go West,” a slower, sludgy stomp that kinda reminds me of Torche, especially in the vocal department. “Sink or Swim” is slightly shorter and crunchier, a decent, mid-paced, melodic rocker. The slow,…
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Craneium – Explore the Void
Well, it seems the Swedish stoner-rock sound has seeped across the sea to Finland. Craneium hails from Turku, and has been kicking around for five years now, although this is the first record of theirs to make it across the pond. It’s not hard to hear why — fans of the classic Lowrider/Truckfighters sound will…
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The Second Coming of Heavy Chapter IV: Red Mesa/Blue Snaggletooth split
Like I said when I reviewed Chapter 3 of this compilation, Ripple Music has become somewhat of a tastemaker in the stoner-rock scene, a modern-day Man’s Ruin or MeteorCity, if you will. And they’ve only built on that reputation in the past couple years, signing the likes of Wo Fat and Devil to Pay and…
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Backwoods Payback – Fire Not Reason
I last heard from Backwoods Payback about five years back, when they released their Momantha record on Small Stone, a pretty decent dose of southern-fried heavy rock from a band outta Pennsylvania. In the years since, they’ve switched a few things up, dropping from a four-piece to a trio before releasing this album independently. Most…
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XIXA – Shift and Shadow 12” EP
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Shift and Shadow 12” EP by XIXA. XIXA released its debut full-length album earlier this year (discussion of that release will be coming in the very, very near future) but, now that it’s out and it has had the chance to really establish itself with the…
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Tiebreaker – Death Tunes
Now, we know that Norway is known almost as much for black metal as it is for cross-country skiing, but when it comes to stoner rock, most of the action is happening across the pond in Sweden. Hell, even when we hear of a Norwegian heavy-rock outfit, there’s always at least one black-metal dude in…
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Truckfighters – V
Album number five from these Swedish stoner-rock stalwarts comes out late September, with domestic distribution by Century Media. I actually didn’t own any of Truckfighters‘ previous albums until I saw them play this crazy gig at a battleaxe-throwing venue in Toronto a couple years back—so I’m pleased to see this record receive a proper domestic release.…
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Mos Generator – Abyssinia
I was a pretty big fan of Mos Generator’s last album, Electric Mountain Majesty, which was released in 2014. It was a solid blend of retro-rock and proto-doom that’s got me jonesing for the follow-up, Abyssinia. This one starts off nice ‘n heavy right outta the gate, with a great-big Swedish-style stoner rock riff in…