Stoner HiVe

vrijdag 13 september 2019

Off to catch some waves…

Off to catch some waves…

A week later than last year but almost the same destination. Last year we were surfing south of Lisbon. This year we are heading a bit north of Lisbon. We shall still be listening to No Waves, Just Sharks by The Mad Doctors though; simply because it is the right thing to do and because we are a little heartbroken by the fact they are calling it quits... And we shall ofcourse also be listening to the Reflections album by The Black Wizards a lot. Cause c'mon, they're from Portugal! Will be back in a week or two… Unless we’re eaten by a shark ofcourse… We only barely survived last year... Two years in a row seems unlikely...

See y’all in a couple of weeks!

Stoner HiVe’s Quick Fire Friday

Stoner HiVe’s Quick Fire Friday

We’re off to Portugal for two weeks to eat loads of Cataplana and surf our little asses off. But it’s Friday, so that is a good moment to do one last Quick Fire Friday round before we go. A big one at that, thanks to a few blurbs by Reek of STOOM… We will be back in the beginning of October to continue with the HiVe… At which point we hope to become a bit more regular as well. Cause all those great albums released every day deserve it! Cause even when we type those lines and we type the few lines and small amount of words below we know, we know, the albums and bands deserve more. More attention and more of our time! But there is so much out there and we just simply cannot ever do it all justice. So here it is. The Stoner HiVe Quick Fire Friday. And its burns hot like molten lava!

Scratch – It Was Good While It Lasted...

Remember that Scratch song we mentioned a while back? Grave Grove (Call You Out). Well, they’ve got a new single with an incredibly long title this time: "It Was Good While It Lasted but We Have to Agree, Things Are Not How They Used to Be". Grungy, bluesy and damn freakin good!

Lochness – Black Smokers

You would imagine Lochness to be from Scotland of course, but no, they’re from Montreal Canada and provide us with some heavy psychedelic doom. Inspired by their love and fear of the deep sea the three-piece gives us four massive tracks that feel like a monster and gigantic beast. Black Smokers is their debut, but sounds like they’ve been playing together for ages! What a release! What A release!

Bauda – Brvjo

Bauda hails from Chile, South America and will mesmerize you with its dark post rock, its doomy soundscapes, its’s proggy influences and its ominous atmospheres. It sounds like the elements whirling around you and transporting you to another world. Gigantic in arc and huge in their cinematic scope they give you one hell of a ride on their new release Brvjo! You need to check it out!

Riffcoven – Cursed

It is doom! Doom from the Brazilian wastelands! But wait, it is metal! Metal from the Brazilian wilderness! No no no, Riffcoven is both! And both in a big way! And they’ve produced another majestic three piece EP called Cursed! It’s out via the Abraxas label. This is for everyone that loves the hard stuff! That metallic sound! Riffcoven rules!

Neverlanded – Refuge

The much prophesized grunge revival might just be around the corner when you hear the inspired new Neverlanded single Refuge. It is fuzzy, it is noisy, it is distorted and it is highly grungy! The London trio deliver something truly great and honest! And for once we hope this will launch a new grunge era!

Vicious Bastard – Forgotten EP

Animalistic grind frenzy from Tumanduumband's former incarnation! Skullcrushing and savage, VB put the SOUR in STOURBRIDGE!

(Written by Reek of STOOM)

White Shape – Perfect Dark

Lush, decadent and opulent Psychedelia with a nod to Tame Impala and The Ivory Elephant. Your ears will thank you!

(Written by Reek of STOOM)

Mold Farmer - Tavern Tales (Demo)

Pittsburgh gloom outfit Mold Farmer offer up a 4-track demo of alcoholic slurry. It'll end in either a bar brawl or a lock-in, mark my words…

(Written by Reek of STOOM)

donderdag 12 september 2019

Wallowing – Planet Loss

Wallowing – Planet Loss

Sludgelord Records – 2019 (September 13th)

Sludge, Doom

Rated: ****

Brighton's premier purveyors of Misery & Disgust offer up their first full-frontal lobotomy of an album with "Planet Loss". 6 crepuscular, cancerous tomes of abject horror and loathing ooze from an abyssal cavern of noise, angst and turmoil. 'Earthless' lurches with leaden Doom: a glacial, feedback-laced snarl of contempt. 'Phosgene' hits the gas pedal with grimy, grinding Sludge of repellent fury. The crawling horror of "Hail Creation" reeks of Despair whilst 'Vessel's dark primal riffing throbs with an unsettling air of Death. Wallowing have created a bleak tundra of noise, blizzard and peril and dare you to cross it....

(Written by Reek of STOOM)

Lewis and The Strange Magics – Melvin’s Holiday

Lewis and The Strange Magics – Melvin’s Holiday

Self released – 2019

Rock, Soul, Psych, Funk

Rated: *****

There was this rich bastard name Melvin, his wife left him, rightfully so, and he went on a holiday to his Mediterranean countryside vacation home. There he would experience strange magic and wild adventures; ending it all in debauchery and decadence and a long and sad journey back to the city. Wow. What a concept to build an album around and what a hole in one it has become for Spanish quartet Lewis and The Strange Magics. The entire albums reeks of seventies soul and sixties funk; filled with psychedelic ditties and extremely sunny meanderings. Just imagine yourself along the beach on Melvin’s Holiday, lounging on a sunbed, shades on your nose, gazing out into the glimmer on the waves. This album has everything one needs for those long drawn out afternoons. Will join Melvin and his crazy dance over there a few hundred yards down the beach? Or will you just be the onlooker thinking you’d better steer clear of that weird son of a bitch? Whichever route you choose, Lewis and The Strange Magics will bring you the right kind of energy. Cause that’s the weird paradox going on over here. You can take this record laying down, chilling out and enjoying it slowly and easy. But you can also go out on a freak out, a wavey dance, like the old hippies used to do. And you know what? I’m gonna join’m! Some dance to remember… Some dance to forget… But all shall dance to Lewis and The Strange Magics!

(Written by JK)

Woodcreeper – I

Woodcreeper – I

Self released - August 2019

Stoner, Sludge, Doom, Noise, Punk

Rated: ****

From the woods of Dubuque, Iowa thunders in genre-defying three-piece Woodcreeper with their debut EP “I”. Sporting a mix of stoner, sludge, prog, noise, and punk, Woodcreeper cover a vast array of our favorite genres but have melded them into their own sound, which just so happens to be catchy as hell. “New Cerulean” kicks things off with a riff of sludgy doom, but quickly morphs into something more when the vocals kick in, the icing on top of the trio’s sound. Brutal and earnest, the punky vibes of main vocalist and guitarist Andy Benson (fellow blogger Nerve Salad), adds a whole new layer to each of Woodcreeper’s songs, never mimicking the riff too closely while creating an energetic and edgy atmosphere. Benson’s delivery is a constant treat through the rest of the EP, but instrumentally we’re delivered a series of curveballs, from the spacey Nebula vibes of “Cresset Syndrome”, to the classy and sexy groove of “Pyschopiatus Riffinitum” (contender for song title of the year), and the Sabbath doom of “Crustagion”. Through all the twists and turns, Woodcreeper have forged their own distinct, familiar yet impossible-to-pin-down sound out of a melting pot of all things heavy, with a raw vocal delivery that turns all it touches to gold. If this is just them getting started, Woodcreeper is one to keep your peepers on.

(Written by Kyle)

The Warp/The Weft – Dead Reckoning

The Warp/The Weft – Dead Reckoning

Self released – 2019

Rock, Psych, Folk, Prog,

Rated: ***

Alright. Let’s go Wikipedia on your ass! Warp and weft are the two basic components used in weaving to turn thread or yarn into fabric. The lengthwise or longitudinal warp yarns are held stationary in tension on a frame or loom while the transverse weft (sometimes woof) is drawn through and inserted over-and-under the warp. There ya go, for the rest I refer you to the Wikipedia page itself. And now we should use the knowledge we garnered and weave it into the review about the new Dead Reckoning album by New York Foursome The Warp/The Weft. This is psychedelic folk and languid prog that goes for the wide vistas and grand motives. This is different, this would make jam-bands like Umphrey’s McGee go: ‘shit, this is the way to make our experiments come together in the end.” And those are just some thoughts that pop up during the first three songs. But then comes the epic Our Fortune; which starts out with a tale before it grows and pounds like a stranger bringing ill tidings… Shit, this is different. This is good. And I would have loved to see Our Fortune go on and on and develop into the storm it could have become. But we’re lucky that Dead Reckoning has ten such tracks, folky, proggy and very moving!

(Written by JK)

woensdag 11 september 2019

Announcement: we have a new member to the team: Kyle!

Announcement: we have a new member to the team: Kyle!

As the sky turned grey orange and the wind started to pick up, we looked and we saw, a good knight approaching. His name was known throughout the land to be: Kyle! Hailing from that other sin city in the USA, Washington DC. He joins us proudly because he simply just wants to spread his love for the good stuff on the HiVe… On bandcamp he is known as Shastabeast and sports a wicked collection of pure gold! Or in his own words he is merely: “Worshipper at the altar of low end and the scuzzy riff. Can be found courting tinnitus at the nearest show or lost in the sludgy wilds of bandcamp.” Right on good sir! Right on!

We welcome Kyle, Sir Shastabeast to the team and can’t wait to read his first words of wisdom; which are apparently already in the works! Welcome good sir! Welcome!

dinsdag 10 september 2019

Earthson – Earthson

Earthson – Earthson

Self-released – 2019

Rock, Stoner, Doom, Sludge, Post

Rated: ****

How do you use doom influence for something sunny and uplifting? One-man project Earthson has found the key! On this self-titled five track release we get treated to some damn fine heavy rock that is always on the verge of becoming incredibly catchy. Hailing from the outskirts of Nuremberg, Germany this guy sounds like an accomplished heavy rock acolyte. The mostly instrumental tracks meander slowly between all those genres we all love so dearly and whenever he lets his groove catch a big wave the sound just rolls over you like wash of great warmth. Its feels weird using words like sparkle and glow on a doom inspired album; but it does just that. It never brings you down and just seems to hearten your inner core. And it’s just one dude! Apart from a bit of vocals on the final track Bite It You Scum the man did everything himself… Well done Earthson! Well done!

(Written by JK)

maandag 9 september 2019

El Jefazo – Simbiosis

El Jefazo – Simbiosis

Self released – 2019

Rock, Stoner, Doom, Instrumental

Rated: ****

We mentioned it before, but we always get a bit giddy when that time of the month rolls around. The time that the blurb requests are sent out for the new edition of the Doom Charts. One hopes on some level that many of your own choices made the final list. Not that many actually do, cause we are many, the Doom Chart Contributors, and our tastes differ highly. But that is why the Doom Charts make sense. They make sure that from all those amazing albums that get released every month, the even better once get that extra bit of light. But be sure to know, there is a lot of pure gold floating in the darkness of the lower regions. So check out all the individual pages of the Contributors, and you will find even more and more musical treasures. But this post was just supposed to be about the blurb we got to write about Simbiosis, the new album by Peruvian El Jefazo. Which we shall post below these lines in a few seconds. I just need to state the obvious once again, how those magical opening lines and closing seconds can act like two devious book ends to all that beauty in between. El Jefazo has found those markers once again… And you just have to fall in maddening love with it!

Sometimes you just immediately fall in love with an album. There is something magical about first tones, and those intro notes from Simbiosis the new album by Peruvian threesome El Jefazo work that excellently. They mask the stoner sound that is coming and charm you into a state of doomy bliss. After which, the seven instrumental tracks have no trouble keeping you mesmerized. There are many highlights, but it’s simply such a wonderful album that easily holds your attention from those intro notes till the very final one…

(Written by JK)

Stoner HiVe’s Top 10 Most Listened To Albums Last Month…

Stoner HiVe’s

Top 10 Most Listened To Albums Last Month…

Doomed & Stoned In England

Torche – Admission
The Ivory Elephant – Stoneface
Ben Caplan – Old Stock
El Supremo – Clarity Through Distortion
Lightning Born – Lightning Born
ZED – Volume
Roadsaw – Tinnitus The Night
Heavy Velvet – Session
The Grand Mal – The Grand Mal

A week late… Of course… And actually, we haven’t been posting them a lot recently, those Most Listened to lists… But it’s been a busy couple of months… There’s a holiday coming up soon… After which we shall hope to become a bit more regular again… And, this time we’re are posting the most listened to Albums… Not artists… Otherwise that gigantic Doomed & Stoned In England compilation, curated by Reek of STOOM, would not have been on the list…

donderdag 5 september 2019

Geist – Swarming Season

Geist – Swarming Season

Cursed Monk Records – 2019 (September 20th)

Sludge, Grind

Rated: *****

Geist, a collective of Anger Management Consultants from NE England, were let loose in a smash room. The resulting cacophony was recorded during this session. A terrifying, hate-fuelled spleen vent - a feral weaponizing of instrument and throat, relentless and vociferous: 'Unnatural Selection' starts like a telepath's nightmare - an eerie, cloying cluster of voices and feedback summoning Dread then spewing brutal staccato riffage like a swarm of yellowjackets on the rampage! "Western Medicine" is a flesh-stripping tawse of pain and vehemence. 'Sleep Deprived' is the perfect antidote to the Deprivation Tank...lightning fast, loud-as-fuck and lethal! Every single ounce of venom has been wrung from the fangs on this album and delivered intravenously... A chilling monolith to Misanthropy. The Authorities have been informed...

(Written by Reek of STOOM)

Cursed Monk Records

Crobot – Motherbrain

Crobot – Motherbrain

Mascot – 2019

Rock, Hard, Grunge, Stoner

Rated: ****

We were already in love with these cats before their self-released debut album Legend Of The Spaceborn Killer came out. Our love grew and blossomed and grew and was finally set in stone when we had the chance to see them live. Crobot! What a band! What an outfit! But not all has been right with the band, they had troubles before and they've had them again. So, once again they’ve made changes in the line-up, which could result in a totally different sound and uneven feeling, but on the new record Motherbrain it is all there once again! Powerhouse vocals, massive grooves and gigantic guitarlines. This time around the grunge has been pushed up and the seventies approach pushed down. The production is even bigger and in the way Crobot translates their love for the huge hardrock sound you can hear true adoration. And as much as we adore them, they also adore Stoner HiVe! Cause they sign this record of with an ode to The HiVe. Thanks amigo’s! We are honored! We love the new album and we love Crobot! And always will…

(Written by JK)

The Doom Chart for August 2019

Doom Chart

“Society has traditionally always tried to find scapegoats for its problems. Well here I am.” ~ Marilyn Manson

Not unlike Manson The Doom Charts are here. Feel free to use us as a scapegoat while also discovering the hottest heavy underground albums for the month of August.

Indeed. Blame us! Blame us for everything. But listen to all those freakin amazing albums! All of them! Cause they all deserve it. As Madman Tony Maim already knew when he wrote about The Black Furs for us on Friday 23rd. “This album is one great big dose of lip-smacking, booze-guzzling, feedback-shaking, riff-making, occult-worshiping, coke-snorting, drum-pounding, sleaze-walking, retro-loving, fist-pumping, head-banging, heavy-making, groove-strutting, wah-wah working, trance-inducing, snake-licking, bass-thumping brilliance.” He liked it! Still does! And so do we and every other contributor to the Doom Charts!

Welcome to Doom Charts, representing some of the finest bloggers, journalists, radio, podcasters and album reviewers from the 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 August 2019

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