King Goblin – Cryptozoology

King Goblin – Cryptozoology

Bonten Record – 2016

Rock, Metal, Doom, Seventies, Punk, Black, Death

Rated: ***

You can still hear some of that grind and death in the new tracks featured on Cryptozoology by Japanese freaks King Goblin. But then there is so much more, cause they’ve pulled out all the stops and have let all their influences run free. Giving us this weird new album full of crazy tracks that move into whatever direction you can come up with. It’s all there. Sludge, Psych, Surf, Stoner, Doom, Metal, Seventies, Punk, Garage and every other genre that ever got pigeonholed. Which is exactly what King Goblin refuses to be. So what to do with these seven tracks featured. Take’m on and roll’em out. Definitely not for the weak or the feeble, but for the weird and the one of a kinds. Put the third track Prophet on repeat and you will start seeing halos everywhere and a Mike Patton dancing like crazy while Buzz Osborne is ranting in your ear. Following song 2020 is like a huge and orange moon that looms in the darkening violet swim of the sky, like a crashing planet. Garadama is one of those hawkers trying to get rid of a sackful of screaming souls on a deserted crossroad, with behind him an orange light radiating from a small crashed meteor that seems to flame like hellfire. And King Goblin’s take on Mississippi Queen by Mountain, renamed in this case as Birmingham Queen is nothing but a radioactive gem meant to be played with all levels up and extremely loud. So yes, after a hesitant start at the beginning, the boys have won over yet another soul. Another lost Pilgrim marching on together with the King Goblin…

(Written by JK)

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Soom – Night On Meadow

Soom – Night On Meadow

Robust Fellow – 2014

Doom, Noise, Metal, Drone, Atmospheric

Rated: ***

Originally released two years ago the boys from Robust Fellow Productions thought it was about time to bring their home country band Soom back under everyone’s attention. Ukraine is their stomping ground and Kharkov their home town. And the three-piece bring forth some unholy noisy doom metal on Night On Meadow. Dark and evil sounding atmospheres inducing nightmarish visions. They go all out experimenting with lavish structures and weird electronic droning almost static waves of clamor; with excess cymbal use and floating vocals, tracks like The Stone soon become this oppressive blanket that doesn’t sooth or keep you warm but in fact chills your bones. The effect of all ten tracks is cumulative. It is a sound you can get used to. But only if you want your brain scraped. It gets into your teeth as well as your ears. It vibrates in the knot of nerves behind the breastbone and seems to eat at the damp and delicate tissue behind your eyes. Most of all though, it gets into your head, telling you that everything you’ve ever been afraid of, is waiting, just behind the next curve of the trail or that pile of tumbled rock, waiting, to snake out of its place and get you…

(Written by JK)

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Superhalo – Bang!Bang

Superhalo – Bang!Bang

Vintage Records – 2016

Rock, Grunge, Stoner, Desert

Rated: ****

Next up is a Polish quintet from a little village called Porażyn not far from Poznan. They’re called Superhalo and released their second album Bang!Bang a few months ago. On it they explore the universe of grunge, stoner and desert rock. Often coming across as the Polish answer to Queens Of The Stone Age. And guess what, they do this riposte to the Palm Desert motherfuckers damn good. Perhaps missing a bit of gravitas or pizzazz, they definitely aren’t without style or blatant 100 percent copies. Although some tracks or openings do mirror certain Queens songs in a big way. But in fact, after a few times around the bend songs like Soma, Danger!Poison, Catching Tides and God Awaits Me Across The River worm their way into your head and refuse to leave it. Highly robotic and full of quirky little cul de sacs these songs show their definite love for the road paved by Josh Homme. Lyrics in both Polish and English combined with the big wave sound make the Bang!Bang record one hell of a ride. A speedy voyage through a Polish desert filled with a new take on everything we love from that hot place on the other side of the ocean. Check out Superhalo and be amazed by cirrus like glares and sunny rock flares that is Bang!Bang…

(Written by JK)

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La Chinga – Freewheelin’

La Chinga – Freewheelin’

Small Stone – 2016

Rock, Seventies, Stoner

Rated: ****

On Freewheelin’, the sophomore release by Canadian trio La Chinga, we can definitely do the dirty dance with the ghost of Zeppelin. Cause without a doubt and even more so than on their self-titled debut album, where the groove and the boogie seemed to come more from the stoner rock scene, it’s those mad and powerful years of heavy rock that La Chinga nods to now. We can hear them move towards AC/DC here, ZZ Top there and Thin Lizzy or MC5 on occasion, but the ghost of Zeppelin is everywhere. For instance when Mountain Momma explodes out of the speakers there is no escaping it. Robert Plant and the fellas would be jealous! But they most like already were seeing green during the funky Mother Of All Snakeheads, with the Plant-like exhales of singer/bassist Carl Speckler and the mighty Page-like guitar work of Ben Yardley. And indeed, the stomping drums of drummer Jason Solyom, who unfortunately left the band after the recordings of Freewheelin’, would even make Bonham cry tears of happiness. Its Freewheelin’ thunder down thunder road, accelerating maniacs out to serve you highly spirited rock ‘n roll and make your head explode!

(Written by JK)

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Birth of Joy – Get Well

Birth of Joy – Get Well

Suburban – 2016

Rock, Psych

Rated: *****

Wow man, what an opening and what a first track. Blisters, the intro to the new album Get Well by Dutch trio Birth of Joy definitely gets the blood racing. After which the entire record just keeps you smiling and running through all your favorite spots in your mind. With an ever growing own style they manage to effortlessly combine heavy rock with psychedelic outburst, bluesy lamentations and krautish experimentations. And after the whirlwind opener comes that second ditty called Meet Me At The Bottom, bluesy, easygoing, raw and rowdy all in one and highly convincing once again. And those amazing tracks aren’t even the best on the album. Cause for that you need to listen to everything else. And get absolutely stunned by the seventies Choose Sides, sultry Midnight Cruise, racing Carabiner and battleship title track of the record: Get Well. Which leave us with no other option that to conclude that this is their best and most riveting album yet!

(Written by JK)

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Carnaval - Singing Colors

Carnaval - Singing Colors

And yet another new song by the amazing Carnaval! Are you ready for Big Fish? The new EP which will be released next month...

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Carnaval - No Warranty

Carnaval - No Warranty

A new song by the amazing Carnaval! Are you ready for Big Fish? The new EP which will be released next month...

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Fabrik Royale – The Same Machine

Fabrik Royale – The Same Machine

Festering Chunks – 2016

Rock, Grunge, Stoner

Rated: ****

The name rang a bell, but I couldn’t concentrate. All around me desperate stoner melodies fought for attention. Suddenly it dawned on me. The band hailed from the south of the Netherlands and did some recording under guidance of Pieter Kloos at his The Void studios, or something like that. After checking out Fabrik Royale we found out, their first release One Eyed Idiot was mastered by Kloos and recorded at the lovely PopEi in Eindhoven back in 2003. After which the band split up only to find each other again many years later. So now, The Same Machine, only older, is the new five track EP by this Dutch quartet. A highly grungy and melodic stoner effort that convinces in songwriting and arrangement. But lacks the punch here and there to truly break into your heart. Or so it seems on a first casual listening session. But then when your focus returns on the second one, the jumble of kindling that seemed like the remains on a couple of chairs after a bar fight, suddenly catch fire and burst ablaze. And you’re heart burn with it. You will feel like a torch! The wavering vocals, which at first seemed hesitant and unconvincing, will become charming. The bass, perhaps a bit too distant, starts rumbling more and more, like a thunderstorm on approach. And the guitars become increasingly the focus point that they should be, with majestic riffs and damn fine colors. And as every cog counts, let’s not forget about the drums, expert fills and even more important, leaving the right amount of space for the rest when needed. It might be The Same Machine, but it’s definitely different and it’s definitely delicious!

(Written by JK)

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Black Mountain – IV

Black Mountain – IV

Jagjaguwar/Konkurrent – 2016

Rock, Hard, Psych

Rated: ***

Black Mountain. Everybody loves these Canadian crazies. Well, almost everybody. And the amazing Lucas belongs to the small percentage that doesn’t. Which makes his screed on his Paranoid Hitsophrenic one hell of sweet read. Even though I might not completely agree with Lucas and even though my testosterone level is definitely on par with most music fiends and homeless guys selling off their last testicle behind the supermarket, I am not the guy that will keep spreading the Black Mountain joint around. And I am definitely not the one to Bogart it and smoke it himself. Sure, the Canadian fellas released three good records, which for some reason didn’t get as much airtime over here as all the other psychedelic rock albums released in the same time period. There must be a reason. And while it might be too easy to state that the rest was simply better, I do think there must have been some truth to that simple fact. On their new release they opt to use a more spacey vibe and this definitely suits singer Amber Webber. And less of a sideshow and more a shared spotlight with singer/guitarist Stephen McBean, it is this unit of two that propels the new album IV. Where propel might be the wrong word chosen, since most of the jams are slow and arduous. Wilderness Heart made it to Number 17 of the Stoner HiVe Top 20 Countdown of 2010. It would be strange to see them make it that high this time around. But then again, who can complain about opener Mothers Of The Sun; where Black Mountain sounds charmingly old-fashioned and old-fashioned good. Cause even though there’s nothing new under the sun or on the other side of the mountain, there is also nothing wrong with doing everything that has been done before on your own terms and for your own ears. And if you dig the opener, with its wild one riff and its floating synthescapes, you’re in for one hell of a trip with closer Space To Bakersfield. A fine drift-off it is…

(Written by JK)

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Moon Circle – Moon Circle

Moon Circle – Moon Circle

Self released – 2016

Stoner, Fuzz, Psych

Rated: ****

The French are coming! The French are coming!! Oh, that's not what Arnold said? Well, he should have, because the French outfit Moon Circle is dressed in black and ready to attack!! Their self-titled LP is blazin' and served up hot for everyone to enjoy. This album is heavy stoner with guitar sounds that are very pleasing. Only a guess here, but it sounds like the guitarist is playing through an orange. Either way the guitar work is tasty, clean yet fuzzy all at once. The guys bring a mostly instrumental game and play to that end of the stoner spectrum nicely. The Sabbath crowd should be able to latch onto this one no problem. I found myself bobbing my head at those groovy riffs even though I'm more of a Zeppelin guy. Oh my God!! That's right. I said it. If asked the question Sabbath or Zeppelin I would get the Led out almost every time. That's how much these guys impressed. Very black yet very much digging it. Hahaha, there it is. Then the track Cum Together starts and I'm thinking there's the more bluesy shit I can really sink my teeth into, hell yeah!!! Thanks Moon Circle, you guys are the shit!

(Written by Charlie Tooth)

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Kitchie Kitchie Ki Me O – Are You Land Or Water

Kitchie Kitchie Ki Me O – Are You Land Or Water

House of Mythology – 2016

Rock

Rated: ***

Two years after the amazing fivestar self-titled debut by the Norwegian band Kitchie Kitchie Ki Me O, which harbored members of Madrugada, My Midnight Creeps and Ricochets, released in 2011, they promised us a follow-up album. But unfortunately, nothing happened. Even though they did release a single (Europa, which now closes the album) in 2014 we heard eerily nothing of KKKMO. But apparently their studio was demolished and the record label went bankrupt. And all those troubles and worries combined made frontman Alex Kloster-Jensen choose to rather head off into nature on his self-built bike then to have anything to do with the music business. (Which also sounds like an awesome drummer we all know…) He did this until Anders Moller (Ulver) pulled him back into the dark and damp rehearsal space once again. Just to jam, without any plans or obligations, and just to experience that lovely journey, from A to wherever you may end up, once again. Just like on his bike. And that is exactly how the new record Are You Land Or Water sounds. Quiet and subdued constantly progressing music with still some influences here and there of Mali- and voodoo blues, like a Dr. John we love. The journey is lovely, the landscape utterly beautiful and the vistas on occasion breathtaking. But even then it never becomes really thrilling or spectacular. For that, we unfortunately have to conclude, they are simply not hitting the peddle hard enough…

(Written by JK)

 

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An Evening With Knives – Wants YOU!

An Evening With Knives – Wants YOU!

An Evening With Knives has been rolling hard now! And together with Komatsu they’ve been making Eindhoven proud like a motherfucker! So… They’re going to up the ante!

“After playing live shows for over a year, the genie is out of the bottle. The requests for a full length album are not unheard by us. We feel a huge urge to make it possible, but for this, we need you!

Crowdfunding

An Evening With Knives sets up a crowdfunding and urges you to get involved. Planning to buy the upcoming album when it’s out? Please do so up front and make it possible to get it all started. Without you, there will not be an album.. The crowdfunding ends on May 21, so do it now!

‘Off the Record’ the live show on a secret location

Everyone donating receives a ticket for ‘Off the Record’. A very special show on a secret location in Eindhoven for the people crowdfunding this project only. See us play new, never heard material and getting to know some of the stories behind the creation of the songs accompanied by some cold beers on Saturday May 21.”

An Evening With Knives - Crowdfunding from An Evening With Knives on Vimeo.

Check out their website for more details and check out that video!

An Evening With Knives

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Valley Of The Sun – Volume Rock

Valley Of The Sun – Volume Rock

Fuzzorama Records – 2016

Rock, Stoner, Grunge

Rated: ****

They’ve been stating that their business has been Volume Rock since the beginning. And on the new album with that exact title we can definitely state that the business that Valley Of The Sun is slinging, is definitely good. Ten sumptuous stoner tracks that storm across the flat plains like a band on the run. Stretching out the vocal lines like a good band from the desert should and adding atavistic sandy guitars that grind out trucking riffs and highly intense hooks. Taking the best from grunge, hard rock and stoner and adding this and that to it, like the rockabilly infused drumming in certain songs, so it becomes something that’s incredibly voluminous and definitely something that belongs in a heat blistered Valley Of The Sun. It’s tight and lean and looks at you like a hungry mountain lion. And while the big cat lays in wait, ready to pounce, you notice as Volume Rock hits the half way mark around the Breathe The Earth track that you feel less and less enveloped in the desert and that the sound have become even bigger and spacious. Indeed, you can feel the earth beneath your feet wherever you are. And the album is meant for everyone that loves heaviness. For the stone age dinosaur hunters, the sand castle lovers and the run down harbor facilities enthusiasts. That’s the best thing about Volume Rock, it caters to everyone everywhere and nobody can deny its greatness!

(Written by JK)

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Greenleaf – Rise Above The Meadow

Greenleaf – Rise Above The Meadow

Napalm Records – 2016

Rock, Stoner

Rated: ****

We loved Nest Of Vipers from 2012 and the same goes for Trails And Passes which came out in 2014. Both made the Stoner HiVe Top 20 Countdown, ending up at respectively 14th and 9th position. And there is no doubt in my mind that we will definitely see Rise Above The Meadow from our Swedish compadres of Greenleaf make it to the year-end-lists once again. They’ve already hit the Doom Chart hard, taking the seventh position in February and the first Spot in the March edition. Which is only just, since their sixth album has us enjoying amazing refrains and most importantly antes up in a big way. The record is much more energetic and rousing then their earlier work and wants to truck over you like a thundering fully loaded ironclad. Without almost never pulling back on the gas the steam-propelled warship runs you over. They’ve chucked all the ballast of balance overboard and gone for the full blast of the stomp. And a definite righteous stomp it is! Sure a track like Levitate And Bow (Part 1 & 2) boasts all the balance and dynamics a song might need. But for the most part, we have bulldozer of riffs and pounding drums on our hands… And isn’t that exactly what we want and what we crave!

(Written by JK)

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Doom Chart for April 2016

Doom Chart

“Ahhh, Spring is here. The happiest, brightest, smiliest time of year. A time of awakening, a time to couple down and copulate. A time of songbirds. Here’s a list of 25 albums to temper joy and bring a little gloom back into our empty lives! This is the Doom Charts April 2016 edition.” ~ LK Ultra (Paranoid Hitsophrenic)

Welcome to Doom Charts, representing some of the finest bloggers, radio and podcasters and album reviewers from the doom-stoner underground around the globe. Each month, our critics submit their picks for the best new doom-sludge metal and stoner-psychedelic 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.

Aah yes, the days are getting longer and the sun is shining just a bit brighter already. And the lovely LK Ultra did the dirty work this time around. And now, we’ve been able to get the lowdown again on everything that has been happening and popping out of the ground like the fresh buds of April in all those heavy rock scenes we all love so dearly. So, go check out the April 2016 edition of the Doom Chart! For it ones again holds all the good stuff!

Doom Chart for April 2016

Dr. Alien Smith – Phosphorus

Dr. Alien Smith – Phosphorus

Self released – 2015

Industrial, Ambient, Heavy, Instrumental

Rated: ***.5

Dr. Smith is out making house calls, but you can still enjoy his EP Phosphorus via soundcloud. Phosphorus is a tasty little nugget for those of us who like a variety of sound stylings. This is not your average stoner band. Dr. Alien Smith is the project of the Australian producer and musician Al Smith. His EP takes you through an insanely intense trip of heavy bass, droning guitar and a never ending pool of heavy drone sounds with an occasional break in the action. Does the record have some midi programming on it? I'm sure it does. But that doesn't make it any less in this case. Music is emotion and this record gets in your head and makes you feel something. That’s good enough for me. Pop on over to soundcloud and take a break from your day. It's just what the doctor ordered.

(Written by Charlie Tooth)

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Postures – Halucinda

Postures – Halucinda

World In Sound – 2016

Rock, Prog, Psych

Rated: ***

Another band from Sweden that’s been spinning like crazy over here is Postures. Their sophomore album Halucinda moves expertly around in all those progressive rock scenes. Carving up time in metal, but mostly going psychedelic and almost into weird avenues like mathematical or symphonic psych. The quintet is led by female vocalist Paulina Nyström and her voice sounds like pure crystal. In combination with the heavy prog you’re sometimes reminded of Anneke van Giersbergen and her time with The Gathering. You know, sometimes you just immediately know that certain music is good. Not earth shaking, groundbreaking, not best album of the year, but you know, good. Just damn good. And Halucinda has everything to fill that spot. Seven damn fine tracks with technical tempos and subdued parts that slow down. Some of them nestle in your brain after just one listening session. Others remain intriguing and elusive until you have spun them over and over. Which in all, gives this good record everything it needs, to become a slow growing favorite… 

(Written by JK)

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Sautrus on Tour

Sautrus on Tour

Reed: Chapter One. An amazing and colossal album meant for huge stages and impressive avenues. And the Polish quartet Sautrus is heading out on tour! Bringing it to Germany and Poland this April and spreading it further across Europe after the summer. So open the book and start reading cause this is the beginning to an amazing adventure!

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De Staat – O

De Staat – O

Caroline – 2016

Rock

Rated: ****

De Staat has become one complete and full circle entity. Seeing them perform live, shows a band of brothers that can finish each other thoughts without them even thinking it. It’s weird that a band that started as a simple rock band in the vein of a popularized Queens Of The Stone Age version has become such a huge and majestic unit. Which has lost a lot of that early stoner pop tag that was placed upon them. We saw them slowly loose it spread out over the earlier albums and with O they go full circle, not doing a 180, but a 360. Yes, going forward from where they are, or were with I_Con, but with paying more attention to where they came from which was Wait For Evolution. Evolved is exactly what they have done. From the stoner pop of Wait For Evolution, to the Grampall Jookabox, Qotsa, Beck and Nick Cave inspired machinations of Machinery, on to the beats and synths of I_Con and the Beastie Boys and fifties era inspired Vinticious Versions. They’ve come a long way baby, and on O, they combine all that to pave new ground for themselves. And carve out their name on a bronze plaque, which will honor them for their fight for progress and the battle against demagogues of all parties and always oppose the prevailing winds. They are drastically independent and they are De Staat…

(Written by JK)

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Bad Acid – Revelations Of The Third Eye

Bad Acid – Revelations Of The Third Eye

Ozium Records/Transubstans Records – 2016

Rock, Psych, Seventies

Rated: *****

The name of the band and the title of the record ofcourse leave little to the imagination. We know what direction we will be heading on their debut album Revelations Of The Third Eye before the needle drops. Bad Acid from Sweden gives us psychedelic and spacey seventies rock with an incredible female vocalist. The foursome has already conquered my heart. Yours will be next. Fans of Purson, Blues Pills, Windhand, Royal Thunder, Spiders and Jess And The Ancient Ones have another lady and band to worship. For Simona and her boys know exactly how to butter you up and spread the mustard across all your favorite kind of music. Which isn’t that big of a surprise when you also find out two members used to be a part of the awesome Mamont. Less occult as the earlier mentioned counterparts perhaps, the absolute swirling compositions and guitar work will crush you and has you believing without a doubt that these young Swedes have done their songwriting with more sophistication and sharper edges. And once you’re deep in the triumphant Amnesia Haze you cannot do anything else but give in to the irresistible drama, invigorating electricity and lysergic spinning. This is a debut album meant for the ages and one that surely has to ring on forever like that majestic wavery sound the universe makes when it’s dead quiet and intensely cold… Damn good acid!

(Written by JK)

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Goatess on Tour

Goatess on Tour

Swedish doomers Goatess announced an April 15 due date for their second album, II: Purgatory Under New Management, on Svart Records a while back. And as that release hits us all; right where it is needed, we will definitely be looking to catch them live as they go on tour to ride the coattail of their majestic new album! Be sure to check them out when they come to town… We sure will… Cacaofabriek, Helmond, there is no chance in hell we will miss that gig!

April 18th – KB18, Copenhagen

April 19th – Kaffe Mukkes, Leeuwaarden

April 20th – Cacaofabriek, Helmond

April 22nd – Pogo, Gorinchem

April 23rd – Route66, Dusseldorf

April 24th – Psyched Gatherings, Paris

April 25th – Ebrietas, Zurich

April 26th – Schwarze Erle, Basel

April 27th – Circolo Libero Pensiero, Lecco

April 28th – Viperroom, Vienna

April 29th – Durer Kert, Budapest

April 30th – P.M.K, Innsbruck

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Check out the first new title track of the new album on Soundcloud!

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Dewolff – Roux-Ga-Roux

Dewolff – Roux-Ga-Roux
Suburban/Electrosaurus – 2016
Rock, Sixties, Seventies, Blues
Rated: ***

We’ve been coat tailing the boys from Dewolff, ever since they started and been in awe of everything they brought out so far. Especially Orchards/Lupine and Grand Southern Electric made us go absolutely crazy. Well, the boys from the south of the Netherlands are back with a new album called Roux-Ga-Roux and its definitely still a righteous timewarp, but less of a shock and awe then before. The analog recording is without a doubt one of the best we have heard and we love the fact that the colors shift from psychedelic high flying screeches to grounded earth tones. The way they drift back to the sixties and seventies is still one of their amazing features. Along with the excellent guitar work and insane soloing. And we also love the horn arrangements and have to admit there is enough on this record to keep the train going. But for some reason we’d rather see it arrive once again in Grand Southern Electric. Perhaps this is one of those records that needs to set slowly, gain speed and finally power through once the summer sets in…

(Written by JK)

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