Yob – Live at the Underworld, London

Yob – Live at the Underworld, London 
8th September 2014

I missed Bast due to a patient throwing a bowl of yogurt over me! Yeah, sounds funny now but it did hold me up somewhat. This meant that the band playing when I had descended the stairs into the pit of heat, sweat and mob of head banging fanatics were the always popular Pallbearer. Now I have never really got into this band due to the vocals reminding me of countless 70’s/80’s average rock bands that I did not like then and certainly do not want to hear again. However in a live setting the singer has a much rawer edge that to my ears just raises them up into a different level. Their set was great, the sound was fantastic and the crowd responded with many a flailing of limbs and heads. I was surprised to see many people leaving to go up to the bar when they had finished – or get some cooler air but who cared – this meant that I could be in the second row from the stage. 

Some guys wandered on stage setting up guitars and chatting to people at the front. I suddenly realised it was Yob. Cool guys, just doing their thing and getting ready.  Mike Scheidt slowly started to chime out some clean notes that just rang and echoed for a while until the weight of the universe seemed to crash upon me as Yob let rip with all the sonic weapons at their disposal. This was music experienced through your bowels and chest as well as your ears. After the opening track – I think it was “Ball of Molten Lead” – they played the new album “Clearing The Path To Ascend” in its entirety. Some of the songs passages really had a trance like quality to them that really brought blissed out expressions to the crowd – worship at the Sonic Church of Yob is performed at full volume here – this was devotional music created by guitars, passion, growls, croons, bass that levels mountains and drums that made my eyes burn. They played a mesmerising set that was perfect in tone, sound and power. Due to the heat and beer, to be honest I kinda lost the plot as to what was being played towards the end, I was just content to let everything wash over me. This was probably the most intense, draining concert I have been to in a long time and one I will not forget in a hurry.

(Written by Tony)

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Possessor – Electric Hell

Possessor – Electric Hell

Self released – 2014

Occult Metal, Doom, Stoner

Rated: ****

Occult metal? Never been sure of what that means but when listening to these powerful grooves, to me, it means Doom played at Stoner speed which sounds just fine and dandy. These guys do not fuck around with meandering intros or acoustic beginnings – plug in, turn up, fuzz boxes set to kill, hey ho, let’s fucking go. This is unstoppable stuff on display. High On Fire heaviness mixed with an almost Discharge menace and drive just ticks all the boxes for me. Vocals are nicely buried in the mix with distortion and a dry edge that gives the gritty feeling needed. Riffs are of course served up with a side order of pounding drums and low end bass to envelop the listener in a total immersion of the vibes being produced. There is a raw/live feeling to the production that does not distract, in fact, it adds to the “in your face” mood that pervades this great album. It will be an injustice if Possessor does not go on to greater things.

(Written by Tony)

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Antonio Pantano – Arcandia

Antonio Pantano – Arcandia

Self released – 2014

Metal, Symphonic, Prog, Folk

Rated: ***

This is much too big for one man.

(Written by C)

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SOS – Strength and Conditioning

SOS – Strength and Conditioning

Self released – 2014

Rock, Punk, Core

Rated: ***

Riotous, charming enough and not a huge time commitment.

(Written by C)

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The Shanks – Surfing The Lexicon

The  Shanks – Surfing The Lexicon

Phrathry Records – 2014

Rock, Punk, Wave

Rated: ***

Angst ridden, beautifully composed and engaging. How can you pull of such an incredibly well sounding and sonic undertaking but then fail to make it a homerun?

(Written by C)

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Stoner HiVe’s Quick Fire Friday

Stoner HiVe’s Quick Fire Friday

Another Friday another round of hot steaming lava... Why yes! Cause the Stoner HiVe Quick Fire Friday segment is a weekly feature of a handful of bands and only a small amount of words to help spread their musical prowess and our melodic belief… 

Baba Naga – Baba Naga

First up: the psychedelic three-piece Baba Naga. They have not only produced a hell of a two track EP filled with trippy stoner and languid mind altering music. They have also managed to turn on the exotic and welcome Eastern influences; turning their music into something hot and transcendental. Give them a head wobble!

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Pineal – Smiling Cult

Pineal, a London based three-piece that produces low sounding fuzzed out progressive metal with influences from stoner, grunge and nineties alternative. Which turns out to be a weird mixture between Tool, Melvins, Alice In Chains and perhaps Pelican or ISIS. Smile and get wicked!

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Machine – Dark Birds

No, Dutch band The Machine did nog forget the THE in front of their name. This is the Danish band without the THE in front of their name. Machine makes dark alternative rock with loads of grunge and stoner influences. Where dark is meant for their symbolisms and contrasts and not so much the music. Which moves very distinctly to something highly American and easy comestible…

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Quake – The Divide 

The young American metalcore formation Quake will soon release their first album Insurrection. Their first single The Divide will surely feature proudly on this record. Be ready though; cause The Divide will split your head in two! 

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Back from Lille…

Back from Lille…

What a town! They have rock ‘n roll coursing through their veins! So many places with live music and so many artists and bands! And the guys from Little Boy aka Here’s To The Lion (motherfuckers!) and ZOE were the best guides one could wish for! Golden Wave, L’Artgressif, El Diablo, Amul Solo and many many more places. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with Lille and absolutely everything right! We need to return there soon! Just as we will soon continue on with the HiVe!

Off… To Lille…

Off… To Lille…

Well. It’s that time again. Time to cross borders and cross lines. There is no time like the present to destroy cities and wreak havoc upon its inhabitants. Don’t worry, we will spare the good ones. Like the guys from Little Boy and the crazy fiends from ZOE. Both of whom we shall meet and encourage to drink a little more than average for a change. Lille. It does not sound as exotic, but has such an abundance of local talent and rundown drinking holes with live stages, that it will surely exceed all expectations. I am not looking to ruin the city, just a big part of it. Ho ho ho. And should I not make it back alive. Well, I’ve enjoyed the hell out of everything… 

Seeya when I seeya…

Edelhout – 2.0

Edelhout – 2.0

Self released – 2014

Rock, Seventies, Sixties, Garage, Psych, Punk, Stoner

Rated: ****

There’s a new band in town. In my hometown. And judging from the photos, they’re rehearsing where we used to rehearse. And they sound a little like those wild rascals from up north called Shaking Godspeed. But these cats sound a tiny bit more like dodgy stoner and with a bit more punky blues. They’re called Edelhout and hail from Helmond, the Netherlands. Where they started off back in 2008 as a two-piece rock formation that took cues from all those other ramshackle garage blues duo efforts like the White Stripes, Black Keys and the Bud Spencer Blues Explosion. But after the third member joined they transformed themselves into something wilder and more seventies. They’ve been winning band competitions left and right, which is only just, for their sound is highly infectious and lusciously raw. Just listen to that excited guitar and that crazy organ and those primal screams! And what a great name: Edelhout. Almost as good as Hooghwater…

(Written by JK)

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Shit The Cow – Rissna

Shit The Cow – Rissna

Self released – 2014

Rock, Garage, Punk, Stoner

Rated: ****

Volume/Cow was a damn good release back in 2012 and a year later we were treated to Salt Of The Earth. Where the Shit The Cow duo turned into a quartet once again. And now these outdoor bathtub pissing fiends have released their third effort named Rissna. Still filled with their ramshackle take on sixties garage, pointy punk and seminal stoner the new release is chockfull of electrifying rock ‘n roll. And then there are those tiny hints of the eighties and the new wave that rode every undercurrent of the alternative music scenes back then. Yes, these five tracks somehow seem to combine Wall of Voodoo, Iggy Pop and Fu Manchu without sounding weird and just sounding extremely fun and exciting. This is music to jump around to, spilling your beer and shouting with yer mates at some strange light in the sky or in a dark and dusty drinking hole without a reason why. Shit The Cow. This Is The Shit that makes you fly!

(written by JK)

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Somali Yacht Club – The Sun

Somali Yacht Club – The Sun

Bilocation/Transubstans/Robustfellow – 2014

Rock, Psych, Post, Stoner

Rated: *****

Everyday whether we like it or not our attention is tugged towards whatever has been happening at the Ukrainian border that day. Our mind gets dulled and our hearts close up, a tiny bit more, every day. Otherwise there is no way to handle all the horror going on there and in many other places around the world. Luckily, once every so often something or someone comes along to pry open that throbbing muscular organ and free our thoughts. Somali Yacht Club hails from Lviv in the Ukraine and you can feel from the get-go that these fella’s have their hearts in the right place and know that whatever is happening on the other side of their country is dumb, evil and horrific. These cats bring an ode to The Sun and all its glory. Five tracks that all count eight to ten minutes bring you to the brink of bursting out in smiles and laughter. Not because it is funny music; but because it preaches the good stuff and warms your blood and soul with rays of sunshine and love. And no; this is not hippie music or music for those weary souls in communes. This is music for the open hearted and the open minded. Music that is psychedelic without trying to be. This is music to gaze upon the world from high mountaintops and pretending to understand its madness. The trio has somehow managed to capture so much in their new release that it defeats the purpose of trying to explain it all. You just have to listen and be swept away by all the colorful winds and kaleidoscopic raindrops. There is magic here and it is the magic of old...

(Written by JK)

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Lord Summerisle – Postum

Lord Summerisle – Postum

Self released – 2014

Rock, Psych, Prog, Stoner, Metal

Rated: ***

This Barcelonian (see what I did there, with that… Hohoho) trio released their first Demo under this name back in 2013 but two of the members were also responsible for the Llord output a little while before that. We are referring to Lord Summerisle who have now released their new effort called Postum. Not sure if the album title refers to the fact that this project has also been brought to the grave? And we sincerely hope it does not. For the three tracks on this release shimmer with progressive psychedelic stoner gold. Recorded live at their own studio Magma Grabaciones in Barcelona the music on Postum aims for the spacy psychedelic sound of the seventies but with infusing something much more laidback and groovy or metallic and almost mathematical. Yes, there are grand ideas at work here and it sometimes already sounds highly majestic. Just imagine hearing this live in some dark place with only the lava lamps and spotty colors moving fast or slow across the ceiling. It will make you fly!

(Written by JK)

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Intercostal – Intercostal

Intercostal – Intercostal

Domino Media Agency - 2014

Rock, Stoner, Metal, Sludge, Prog

Rated: ****

Geneva, Switzerland. Hometown of Intercostal. A mostly instrumental band that excels in a mixture of stoner, sludge and metal in a progressive style. Guitarist Tav does mumble some words now and again or screams and growls like a madman, but it is mostly instrumental and for twelve songs long the band easily holds your attention captive. A warm and full sound rolls over you as the guitars plow away and the bass rumbles on. Highly fuzzy and like a wall of crashing waves the riffs just keep on battering down. Accompanied by drums that somehow seem a little flat in the use of the toms; which could be rounder, heavier and with more bass. But that is the only small thing that perhaps could be done better. I do wonder now what’s in the water over there in their famous lake. Cause with Feuerzeug coming out of Lausanne on the other side of the expanse, who produce the same kind of awesome battering sound, stoner sludge metal is well represented. Time to explore those cities and get down and dirty with Intercostal…

(Written by JK)

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Stoner HiVe’s Quick Fire Friday

Stoner HiVe’s Quick Fire Friday

And here we are with the tenth edition of the Stoner HiVe Quick Fire Friday segment. The almost weekly feature of a handful of bands and only a small amount of words to help spread their musical prowess and our melodic belief… 

Mountain High – Carl

Our Mountain High brethren from Philadelphia are here with a new track called Carl. We all enjoyed the hell out of their demo released at the end of 2013; and this one is just as good. And even now when the boys are looking for a new guitarist to fill the empty spot. They come up with something heavier, grittier and meant to level the hell out of the entire Himalaya’s. Carl must be one hell of a motherfucker!

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Vultures of Cult – Bitter Gloom

We dug Hum and we were awed by Fathoms, and now Vultures of Cult releases a new track Bitter Gloom in anticipation of something big and new on the horizon. And judging from this stoner metal dirge we pray they’d better release a new full-sized album quick; cause we need this kind of kick in the guts and intestine burning ruckus!

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Distorted Function – 1964

They hail from Greece and produce experimental noise rock adventures at random locations. Yes, Distorted Function are three bastards that do not care whether or not they are invited to your party. They show up anyway, carrying two basses, a drum set and enough amps to level entire Athens. But 1964 is not that noisy, it is however extremely funky, heavy and groovy, stirring and moving. Get hooked!

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Death Plays Guitar – Deal At Yard Sale

These three cats from Guadalajara, Mexico play that perfect amalgam of desert, stoner, robot, punk and nineties alternative like they’ve died and were handed a worn down guitar. Yes, Death Plays Guitar is something everyone should check out. And we did not even mention that Arthur Seay from Unida / House of Broken Promises mastered their two track EP. Buy their stuff, give’m a hand!

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Dog Moon Howl – Dog Moon Howl

Dog Moon Howl – Dog Moon Howl

Channel Nowhere – 2014

Rock, Blues, Hard, Stoner

Rated: ****

There once was this band from Helmond, Netherlands called Ventilators (without The in front) who played what they themselves called Diesel Blues. Well, the Scottish trio Dog Moon Howl play the same kind of gritty and heavy blues rock. The eight tracks on their self-titled debut effort are honest hard working, driving, trucking blues fueled rock tracks. Some of those tracks move towards Motörhead or ZZ Top and one or two have a more stoner or doomy approach. But the main ingredient remains the gutter, the empty bottles and the filled ashtrays. This is music for the down and trodden; the ones with their minds on the end of their tether. The ones who have lost everything, but refuse to give up and keep on smiling like the naked madman in the rain. There’s definitely something seventies in there, something groovy and funky, something stomping and something that does damage. This is music for the dangerous ones among us, the ones who don’t mind losing. Don’t mind losing at all. So chuck another one and howl at the moon. For the world is dark and full of evil!

(Written by JK)

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Heroinne – Interstellar Grade Octainne

Heroinne – Interstellar Grade Octainne

Ozium Records – 2014

Rock, Stoner

Rated: *****

Somewhere in the arctic wastelands surrounding Trondheim, Norway four amigos started jamming and turned the enveloping cold into a steamy hot desert. It was 2012 when two EP’s, one named Despair The Species and another called Symmetric Sweep Across The Big Black came our way with a promise that Heroinne would soon release a full-sized album. Two years later and it is finally here. Interstellar Grade Octainne is chuck full of gritty stoner and smoky hard rock. With the opener Sludgehammer they put their foot down and show they mean business. After which it is the grimy and growling voice of Petter Grotan that captures your attention at first; but when the fourth track Yawning Sun rolls around you hardly hear him anymore and are completely immersed in that sizzling Norwegian stoner landscape that Heroinne paints for you. After which the goodness keeps on coming, including the fast paced stoner stomper Brained Dead and the slow fuzzed out cosmic trek called Rogue Planets Galore. Ending with the only one song that was lifted from those earlier EP’s, the final track Pulsar. And rightfully so, cause if you weren’t convinced by those first eight tracks than this one will surely turn you on and leave you wanting more. Heroinne, it’s addictive! 

(Written by JK)

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Yob – Clearing The Path To Ascend

Yob – Clearing The Path To Ascend

Neurot Recordings – 2014

Rock, Doom

Rated: ****

Their previous sixth album Atma made it to the Number eight position of the Stoner HiVe top 20 countdown of 2011. This years Clearing The Path To Ascend looks set to make it to the same position or do even better. For Yob is back and ready to lay waste to the competition and your soul! There is no escaping the fact that the new record is nothing but an instant doom rock classic. They take their time and carefully craft the compelling and stirring arc’s that holds you captive for fifteen minutes per track. Ten ton heavy guitar sounds whirl and twist around you lifting you up with nothing more than a couple of chords but with so much dynamic and variation that you mistake the tornado for a desert storm and the other way around. And it is once again the production that seems to want to mask the incredible greatness of the album. Where Atma had this tiny flat edge, this one is clearer but still retains that massive overwhelming and cloaked uniformity. Throbbing bass work and thundering drums together with the feedback ridden dark and haunting growls or the high pitched and eerie screams make this Yob record one that is meant for the ages…

(Written by JK)

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Electric Super Sex – Burning Man

Electric Super Sex – Burning Man

Self released – 2014

Rock, Stoner, Space Instrumental

Rated: ***

Somewhere on the outskirts of Barreiro, Portugal four amigos have been aiming for those spaced out stoner sounds drifting through the galaxy. They have been trying to catch them and make them their own. And on the EP Burning Man, the quartet named Electric Super Sex, produce some damn fine instrumental ruckus. Not so much space rock as that it does not seem to soar through the night sky; but it does use those cosmic elements we all love so dearly. Just listen to that guitar blaze in full glory and those slow groovy bass lines underneath. Too bad we only have two jams to feast our ears on. So let’s hope the Electric Super Sex can pull themselves away from all those lusty women lying around in their beds and produce some more of this tasty cosmic rock!

(Written by JK)

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The Order of Israfel – Wisdom

The Order of Israfel – Wisdom

Napalm – 2014

Rock, Doom, Stoner

Rated: ****

Founded by Tom Sutton of Church of Misery fame the band is made up out of Swedish grunts that earned their spurs in band such as Doomdogs, Lotus and Wildebeest. And now they come together under the flag baptized as The Order Of Israfel. A band name that promises occult and obscure doom and which aims to sound like a mixture of mostly Black Sabbath and Candlemass. And on their debut album Wisdom they succeed with ease and have just enough other influences to make it something completely their own. With some natural, eastern, punky and folky moments the album is more than just a new doom rock masterpiece. It is a piece of art that hides its true soul until the third track The Noctuus has passed. For until that moment you think you are treated to some doom rock infused with stoner. But The Earth Will Deliver What Heaven Desires suddenly moves off into much more experimentation and into something natural and folky offset by the punky fast-paced The Order that follows. And after this you know that everything is possible; all you need to do is listen to the Wisdom shared by The Order Of Israfel…

(Written by JK)

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