Mudhoney – Digital Garbage

Mudhoney – Digital Garbage

SubPop – 2018

Rock, Grunge, Punk

Rated: *****

Almost every Mudhoney mention or review starts off with the fact that it was this little punk rock band that started off the grunge scene and then saw every other band around them explode into everyone’s living room while they themselves stayed behind and kept laboring at their day jobs while continuing to make the honest music they do and that the new record is simply stunning and might propel them into something bigger. Well, we could do the same here and go overboard with the praise for their tenth album Digital Garbage. It won’t make a difference. For some weird and possible fascist reason people steer away from Mudhoney. And this was wrong on so many levels in the beginning of their career and even more so now. Digital Garbage moves back towards everything punk with a definite aggression in their step. With a Stooges or Iggy type swagger even; for there are so many moments that remind of those greats that it becomes inevitable not to mention Iggy Pop. But more importantly, the honest records Mudhoney has been making those past thirty years have culminated into a brilliant rant against this world we live in. It’s Mark Arm’s seething rage against all the wrongs he sees around him that gives this record an even sharper stab then everything they did before. “Fuck the planet, screw your children, get rich, you win!” Is just one of the winner lyrics on this album. He orates furiously about the glorification of wealth and fame; and does that just as easily and with just as much feverous energy as about the church, alt-right, the president of the USA and social media. What an album! Those little ditties on the organ, taking the everything to an even higher level. Simply amazing! Fury, sarcasm, biting derision and pure fun has not sounded so incredibly good since the invention of the wheel. (It all went downhill from there.) Oh Yeah, is the proper final track to sum up an album that expertly translates the feeling that anywhere and anytime was better than right here and right now…

(Written by JK)

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Thou – Magus

Thou – Magus

Konkurrent/Sacred Bones – 2018

Metal, Doom, Sludge

Rated: ***

As the few of you crazies that take the time to read the HiVe stuff every now and again know, I’m not a huge fan of the endless guttural growling. Those death grunts and screeches need to be offset for me by something more melodic and cleaner. Otherwise that snarling barrage grates on my soul a bit too much. Thou refuses to bed me with that fact and rightfully so. Cause on their new album Magus, the composition and music are so pitch black, aggressive and gloomy that this would feel completely out of place. This is meant to wear you down, to crush you beneath the waves of concrete riffs and pounding weight. And yet, there is something almost romantic hidden among all this aggression and hate. The way an outsider might carry the weight of the world around on its shoulders. Searching inwards for whatever revelation might save the human spirit. Magus is that guy on the park bench, troubled forlorn look in his eyes due to the wisdom in his heart…

(Written by JK)

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Blondstone – My Dark Sweet Friend

Blondstone – My Dark Sweet Friend

TFK Prod – 2018

Rock, Alternative, Stoner, Grunge

Rated: *****

This French trio released a five-star album called Mass Solace back in 2014. We’ve been spinning it ever since and checked regularly if a new release was on the horizon. And now finally there is! My Dark Sweet Friend is a new five track EP by Blondstone! With a new bass-player in their midst they still sound like the band we fell in love with. It’s their very own take on nineties alternative, grunge and stoner from the new millennium. Like long lost brothers of the Belgian band Triggerfinger and Queens Of The Stone Age they howl across a lost battlefield. Fierce grunge, steamy stoner and whirling rhythms whistle around the majestic riffs, regal bass and godlike drums. No sweet words of comfort and surrender, but sledgehammer stomps full of victory and euphoria. Blondstone is back!

(Written by JK)

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Body/Head – Switch

Body/Head – Switch

Matador – 2018

Rock, Alternative, Experimental, Soundscape, Noise

Rated: ***

There is no reason why one should not scare itself half to death now and again. And there is no reason why music could not be the vehicle to do so. For those of you who do not know Body/Head or for those who know their first release Coming Part, the new record Switch will come as an… err… unpleasant surprise. This experimental duo is comprised out of Kim Gordon from Sonic Youth and guitarist Bill Nace and on their first record they aimed for something that could be qualified as rock or even easy listening in comparison to this one. This one is nothing but weird, scary and delirious hallucinations comprised from tunneling sound explosions, feedback and screeching guitar tones that come in waves, pulses or tsunamis. There is no denying there is some dangerous form of alchemy at work here. Turning destruction into something sensitive, turning the impulsive into acceptance and endorsement. It’s open and wild and yet very constraining. You have to be willing to crawl along with these crazies, in a similar straitjacket towards something that might be light at the end of the tunnel, but just as easily could be another warning light… 

(Written by JK)

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Stoner HiVe’s Top 5 artists listened to last week…

Stoner HiVe’s

Top 5 artists listened to last week…

Superseed

Windhand

Satan’s Satyrs

Spirit Division

Sundrifter

And once again a day late. But we all know the deal. Work, life, shit, whatever it might be, gets in the way. But here it is anyway, those Five Most Listened to Albums of Last Week. Superseed’s self-titled debut is a fast-paced heavy rock race through grunge, punk and garage. It’s rowdy and it’s raw and most of all it feels like a freaky fun cannonball! Eternal Return, the new Windhand, out on Relapse Records will definitely end up high on many a last once again. And rightfully so. A bit heavier, a bit swampier, a bit grungier; but every bit as enchanting! Loving it! Satan’s Satyrs released The Lucky Ones through Bad Omen Records. Punky, Sleazy, Groovy, Glamy and Fuzzy. Check’m out and feel the pure energy and tasty weirdness. Dance with them! Back on rotation once again is Forgotten Planet by Spirit Division. Sometimes you just need to visit those alien worlds and bask in the glory of the bronzed sound there. Yes, Spirit Division knows how to transport your soul! Sundrifter and their Visitations album came out early this year. But after returning from Portugal we were definitely in the mood to some sun-soaked desert tinted stoner and groovy fuzz. And the vinyl will be out soon on Small Stone Records. The limited clear vinyl edition is almost gone. So, if ya dig it, you’d better hurry and get yer greasy hands on it! Check’m out! Check’m all out! 

Wheel In The Sky – Beyond The Pale

Wheel In The Sky – Beyond The Pale

The Sign Records – 2018

Rock, Hard, Psych, Seventies, Prog

Rated: ****

Swedish fourpiece Wheel In The Sky return with their sophomore effort Beyond The Pale. Formed in 2014 the gang slowly creeped into the underground with their bronze sounding debut Heading For The Night which came out only a year later. It had that retro and classic feel, and for whoever stumbled upon them immediately fell in love with their proto riffs and seventies groove. This one aims to transform that sound into an even more classic rock approach. Filled with an absolute vibrant sound the nine tracks exhume that ‘it’s all happening’ feeling with every hook and every chorus. Just listen to seven-minute opener Rivers Of Dust and hear that kandy kolored spirit burst alive and feel the breathing room that every instrument receives thanks to the amount of air the band has dared to leave in. This is confidence, and this is highly melodic! This will be the soundtrack for many evening car rides to come! We love it!

(Written by JK)

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Monster Truck – True Rockers

Monster Truck – True Rockers

Mascot / Bertus – 2018

Rock, Hard, Blues, Southern

Rated: ****

Monster Truck, we love ‘em. We dug their Furiosity album back in 2013 and we dug Sittin’ Heavy from 2016. And now they’re back with True Rockers. Another album filled with eleven straight up, no nonsense, fists up in the air, balls out, hard rockin, fast truckin, beer guzzling, foot stompin heavy tracks! The best thing about this new album is the high energy and crazy adrenaline coursing through the songs. Which might be due to the fact that most of the album was written while on the road, making absolute sure that they were able to catch that live spirit, that excitement and that wild enthusiasm. There is nothing new under the sun and Monster Truck’s new album is a testament to the fact that we do need anything new. We just need our very religious odes, our praise and our devotion to the love we all share for unadulterated rock n roll!

(Written by JK)

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The Doom Chart for September 2018

Doom Chart

“My god, it’s full of stars”
– David Bowman, 2001: A Space Odyssey

The Doom Charts is an underground movement. It is the gathering of dedicated people from all around the world that really loves the music and are not shy to tell the world about it in blogs, podcasts and playlists. Music unites people. It is a thing of beauty. It is not done for monetary profit. It is not done for fame. It is done to show the world all the great music that is released far below the radar of mainstream media. Each month the contributors submit 25 albums that have made an impact on their life the last few weeks or months. The number of albums submitted usually ends up with a list of around 200 – 300 unique titles in total. Do you realize now how much undiscovered music that is out there in the heavy underground? It’s like looking into the monolith and discover that it is full of stars. ~Magnus Tannergren (Into The Void Podcast)

Welcome to Doom Charts, representing some of the finest bloggers, journalists, radio, podcasters and album reviewers from the doom-stoner-heavy underground around the globe.  Each month, our critics submit their picks for the best new doom, sludge metal, stoner-psychedelic and heavy rock albums.  The results are compiled and tabulated into the chart below.  This is a one-stop shop for the best new albums in the world…

The Doom Chart for September 2018

Stoner HiVe's Top 10 artists listened to last month...

Stoner HiVe's

Top 10 artists listened to last month...

Jefferson Airplane

Massa

Razorlight

Ape Machine

The Youngbloods

The Chats

Atavismo

Clutch

Massive Wagons

Monster Truck

Stoner HiVe’s Top 5 artists listened to last week…

Stoner HiVe’s

Top 5 artists listened to last week…

Jefferson Airplane

Massa

Razorlight

Ape Machine

Clutch

Right on. We’ve been back now for about a week, slowly getting back into action. Work wise and HiVe wise. Trying to catch up on so many great albums that we released in a the two and half weeks we were gone. What the hell, right. So many, so little time. The Top 5 of Most Listened to album the past week does have two entries that are both off the heavy track in some respects but it was impossible to steer clear off. My love for psychedelic rock and acid folk started with Jefferson Airplane and those first five albums have ever since I first heard them been on heavy rotation whenever the moment was right. With the passing of founder Marty Balin, it was only right to have those first five on repeat for the rest of the day. He was a hippie in soul and heart and every fiber of his being, he still believed in ‘make love, not war’ and we thank him for all the amazing tunes he provided. RIP master Balin… Another weird entry is Razorlight and their new album Olympus Sleeping, out on Atlantic. Due to an interview with Johnny Borrell their first album in ten years was on repeat for two days straight. Definitely energetic and will definitely become a favorite among the Razorlight fans. The great HiVe albums come in the form of the Massa release Walls which we mentioned on Saturday. What a fine five tracks! Cinematic post rock enveloped by both sludgy moments and spacey seventies elements and executed with perfection! Another HiVe favorite ever since their first release has been, was and is Ape Machine! And their new album Darker Seas, out on Ripple Music, is yet another amazing addition to their already damn fine legacy. Punchy riffs and a majestic dynamic give their seventies inoculated rock a stormy groove and a whole lot of heaviness! What an album! And the same goes for the new Clutch! Which is always a treat, and Book Of Bad Decisions, out on Weathermaker Music, tells us what Clutch is all about. Setting course for a big sunset with a gigantic groove and songwriting that seems to come out of some grand old secret tome. A volume only used by grand magicians and old sages, and Clutch has them both in their line-up. You gotta love’m! And you gotta check’m out! Check ‘m all out!

Massa – Walls

Massa – Walls

Self released – 2018

Rock, Post, Sludge

Rated: ****

We just mentioned the new album of Komatsu and these cats would fit nicely on a bill. Very snugly even. Walls is the new release by Dutch three-piece Massa. Five tracks of cinematic post rock enveloped by both sludgy moments and spacey seventies elements. With samples and limited amount of vocals the tracks produce wild tension arcs that seem to try to risk up the mix. Which often leads you to cross the wrong wires, sooner or later, and get burned to cinder. Not with Massa though, they expertly navigate across the tightrope and laugh in the face of trepidation. They build an extensive and magnificent structure, eccentric and august. There is beauty here and there is something very vivid; as if the compositions are alive and will slowly transform into more and more. And that’s on a studio recording. Can you imagine what it would be like to hear this live? Will have to make sure that happens!

(Written by JK)

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Komatsu – New Horizon

Komatsu – New Horizon

Argonauta – 2018

Metal, Sludge, Stoner

Rated: ****

We’ve been spinning this cracker for a while now and we’ve been digging the Komatsu sound ever since they came out swinging back in 2010. Oh yes, ladies and gentlemen, the Komatsu crazies have already been building their own stoner and sludge metal legacy for eight years now. Albums like Manu Armata from 2013 and Recipe For Murder One from 2016 were well received and with those notches on their belt they toured Europe alongside John Garcia and Nick Oliveri. And they also played pre-shows for Brant Bjork, Alfredo Hernandez’s Avon, and Josh Homme’s Queens Of The Stone Age. So, they’ve managed to play for most of the Kyuss members. Lucky bastards! Currently returning from touring South America for a second time, they’ve steamrolled through every one of the venues they played at and I’m pretty sure the Brasilian crowd has been digging the hell out of it! Cause the New Horizon record adds even more depth to the supermassive sludge machine that is Komatsu. With the ever-present gargantuan groove, intense riffs and fierce tones their stoner and sludge gets a hefty dose of atmospheric elements. Adding not just depth but a lot of width to their compositions. Ominous on some moments and almost spacey at others. The ten songs drag you along towards an endless Komatsu horizon. There’s simply no way around the fact that Komatsu has produced a record that will leave every metal lover breathless…

(Written by JK)

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Shogun – Infinitet

Shogun – Infinitet

Self released – 2018

Rock, Stoner, Metal

Rated: ****

“Riffs upon riffs, upon riffs, upon more riffs straight from the cosmic cloud.” That’s how Shogun introduces itself on their Bandcamp page. And rightfully so. Their new four track release Infinitet sees the Milwaukee fourpiece delivering a righteous barrage of grungy stoner riffs, completed by a rhythm section that knows exactly how to build a majestic foundation for the rest to shine on. It has the ability to give a more doom like feel just as much as something that comes straight out of the psychedelic universe. But above all, Shogun sounds atavistic, savage and proto. It has all the qualities of a lost diamond of the golden era. And that’s exactly what us heavy treasure hunters are looking for, lost gold and mythical jewels. This is truly the stuff of legends…

(Written by JK)

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