Stoner HiVe: mei 2017

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vrijdag 26 mei 2017

Stoner HiVe’s Quick Fire Friday

Stoner HiVe’s Quick Fire Friday

The summer has finally begun. We are about to reach 30 degrees over here and it is a Friday. A hot steamy Friday! So, it is only right that we’d do another Quick Fire Friday round! It’s a fast way to give a little more attention to some of those bands we love out there. And when time is scarce it might even be the best way to do some HiVe’n! So here it is once again, a small selection of amazing bands that deserve way more attention than the tiny amount of words selected here. But hey, it’s the Stoner HiVe Quick Fire Friday. And its burns hot like molten lava!

Men Of The Wild Age – Mad Man

The new Polish quintet Men Of The Wild Age just released a first single called Mad Man. It’s a prelude to their upcoming EP. And it is grade A stoner rock in the vein of Queens Of The Stone Age (Hence their name perhaps?), Kyuss and everything else heavy that came from the desert. Driving rhythms and stoner truckin, sweaty, intense and steaming hot! Keep an eye on theses cats!

Youtube

Nekromant – Stoned To Death, Doomed To Die

Their new album Snakes & Liars will be released soon enough. It will be the first to be released under their new name Nekromant. Before they underwent their transformation they sent out their righteous blues metal out into the world as Serpent and released their debut effort then called Nekromant in 2015. Yes, just to keep things interesting. Will they change their name to Snakes & Liars next year? Whatever they do, we shall follow, for the first single Stoned To Death, Doomed To Die, is one hell of a rawdy rocker! Much more metallic, hefty and heavy than what they did with Serpent! We love it!

Mesmer – Mesmer

Released on Wicked Lester Records, the Oakland quartet Mesmer bring forth intense doom metal with all kinds of proto feelings, classic metal guitar meanderings and dueling strings attached to it. The five tracks on their debut EP shine like a pure lost treasure from the golden age of rock. Once again, we can see a marauding herd of bikers speeding down the highway, blasting Mesmer, runnin flat out through the eye of a beer can and up your daughter’s leg with no quarter asked and none given. Right on! Ride on!

Wicked Lester Records

Plaguewielder – Writhing in Mental Torment

Doomy, sludgy, black metal and growling madness! A new single release by Ohio outfit Plaguewielder, a departure of the sounds captured on their debut album Succumb To The Ash, which was released by Dullest Records in 2015. We are in for an even darker and gloomier ride if they continue on with this mental anguish. Painful murky beauty but with no light at the end of the tunnel…

Dullest Records

Kolossor – Kolossor

The debut self-titled EP by three-piece Kolossor is an intense precursor to the full length which will be released later this year. Featuring members of Swarm of Arrows, Wizard Eye, and Meatplow, Kolossor hails from the primordial cedar swamps southern New Jersey. Which definitely shines through in their sound, pummeling sludge metal and swamp doom. Hefty, heavy and gnarly! Especially, every time they come back from vista and start pounding the marshes again. Holy hell, just check out second track Pillars… Dangerous stuff! Another band to watch out for!

dinsdag 23 mei 2017

Stoner HiVe's Top 5 Artists listened to last week

Stoner HiVe's
Top 5 Artists listened to last week:

Soundgarden

Chris Cornell

Yawning Man

Rage Against the Machine

Fatso Jetson

This should have gone up yesterday. But we all know how it works and what the deal is. Another week. Another list of artists listened which we listened to the most in those seven days. It has been a disastrous one; carrying the demise of a hero with it. I was looking for the right words, trying to compose a fitting epitaph, something original. But everything has been said and on many levels there is nothing right to say about what happened. He was a true voice and I loved all of his projects and all of his records, except the one with Timbaland ofcourse, which for some reason does not get mentioned a lot the past week. For me it started with Superunknown, when it was released, which stayed on repeat for months. After which I went back to the Badmotorfinger album, Louder Than Love and Ultramega OK. And then on to Temple of The Dog. I never got to see Soundgarden live. Seen him solo a couple of times and with Audioslave and with the reforming of Soundgarden and the King Animal album I had good hopes to be able to catch them live one day. Their albums will stay with me forever and that time when I first got to know them even more. It is without a doubt the soundtrack to a certain time and place and one that carved out a destination. He was his own character an amazing songwriter and an even better vocalist. And for all that he will be truly missed. But his family and friends will miss him even more. Our thoughts go out to them and to all who had the pleasure of knowing him. Thanks for all your music Mr. Cornell and may you rest in peace or rock hard with all the others up there, wherever that may be…

woensdag 17 mei 2017

Atomic Thrillride – Heavy Elements

Trunnion Records – 2017

Rock, Hard, Seventies, Stoner

Rated: ****

It has already been five freakin years since Atomic Thrillride hit us with their fine ass debut album called Chain Reaction. And now they’re back with a follow-up to that sweaty hardrock record and named the new selection of songs: Heavy Elements. And heavy it is. Filled with ten intense trucking tracks which are all soaked in hardrock tradition, dried with seventies inspiration and sprinkled over with some stonerrock and punk adagio. Making some tracks stand out like righteous speedrock anthems, like closer Rocket To Hell. Sounding less southern, but every bit as sweaty as their debut record the album has without a doubt once again some hot magic going on. There’s something highly addictive about Heavy Elements, the Atomic Thrillride trio manage to make the classic hardrock sound, sound inspired, grimy, ruff and gruff. Every track seems important for some weird reason, with heavy riffs, heavy grooves, heavy rhythms, heavy drums and heavy basswork. Yes, all the Heavy Elements are there, now it just needs you! The bourbon fiends, the beer crazies, all the music junkies and the ones that carry the heavy rock in their heart. In short, the good people who listen to good music!

(Written by JK)

Snakecharmer – Second Skin

PIAS/Frontiers – 2017

Rock, Hard

Rated: ***

Supergroup Snakecharmer came out swinging about four years ago with a debut effort that recalled all of the bands the members were or had been a part of. Shall we name them all? But of course and why not. Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne, Thunder, Magnum, Whitesnake, Sweet Savage, Andrew Strong, Wishbone Ash and Heartland. So, we expected hardrock steeped in tradition, bluesy when it needs to be and howling like a mad banshee. And yes, the follow-up Second Skin is just as classic. Powerful hardrock, with a stomp and punch attitude, damn fine guitarwork, sold rhythm section and a vocalist that definitely woke up in the gutter once or twice. Classic in every sense of the word. Which means a power ballad shall be present as well as the atmosphere of the eighties. Not on every track, but exactly then when you need it. The boys needed to make the past the future and the future is always now. So, spin Second Skin and be put under some sort of spell by Snakecharmer!

(Written by JK)

maandag 15 mei 2017

Stoner HiVe's Top 5 Artists listened to last week

Stoner HiVe's

Top 5 Artists listened to last week:

G’morning y’all. Another Monday and another week passed. It has been a hectic one with loads of travelling. But on the road we had great company. Remember the Reed: Chapter One album from 2014 by Polish quintet Sautrus? Well, they are now following that amazing album up with something that might even be grander. It’s called Anthony Hill and we have not been able to put it down since they sent it our way. Be ready! Psychoriffadelia, by Geezer was on last week and still continues to spin, just like No Waves, Just Sharks by The Mad Doctors. Back on heavy rotation is Automatic Sam, their album Arcs from a few months ago still becomes better with every spin. Amazing! Hawkwind, ye olde legends, are back once again. And we definitely appreciated their The Machine Stops album from 2016, so we had to check out the new one called Into The Woods. So far, it has nog gotten into our heads like the Hawkwind did before. But who knows, it might happen after more spins… And since a new week has started, new spins will always be there. Cause we are addicted! Aren't you? Heavy junkies unite!

zaterdag 13 mei 2017

The Chuck Norris Experiment – Chuck Me!

Transubstrans Records – 2017

Punk, Hard Rock, Stoner

Rated: ****

Released on Transubstans Records, The Chuck Norris Experiment sound like a Harley riding you down in a dark, dingy back alley and leaving your mangled body behind - as life slips away from the meat package that was you, the sound of Motörhead mixed with early AC/DC makes you try to bang your head and want a beer or five. Fast, bouncy, powerful, rocking and with a real feel for grimy punk n’ roll, this is hard rock with added balls. The Chuck Norris Experiment are great mix of rock tinted stoner with groove laden riffs and dirty bass lines. Gruff vocals with classic rock vibes should please stoners and punks alike while the drums are violent but bouncy at the same time! Distorted blues solos are spat out throughout and all these guys combine to make a very tight unit. The highest compliment I can give is that I would rank Chuck Me! up with Ass Cobra by Turbonegro.

(Written by Tony Maim)

woensdag 10 mei 2017

Brume – Rooster

Doom Stew Records – 2017

Doom, Psychedelic, Hard Rock

Rated: ****

Brume have emerged from the depths of some Lovecraftian landscape to deliver an album dripping in doom, portent and heaviness. Rooster delivers songs of subterranean hymns weighed down with atmosphere and foreboding. The guitars are wickedly fuzzed and low-end, giving the songs a decidedly enveloping sonic envelope on which the band can run riot. The tracks are… (and I’m gonna use words that have been overused to such an extent that they are now common place in reviews and are in danger of being just lazy clichés but in this case, they are well deserved) …epic, monolithic and majestic with their length and breath of vision and sheer brooding riff mongering! The vocals have passion and soul but never resort to just screams, instead the melodic chants give a plaintive feel - buried down in the mix, are they pleas for help or a softly spoken curse? Solos are not fretboard wanking but slow, unhurried notes that carry real purpose and meaning and fit in perfectly with the song passages. There are acoustic moments of tenderness and peacefulness which gives a calming effect before the descent into darkness continues. Billy Anderson produced and sprinkled his doom fairy dust over everything.

(Written by Tony Maim)

dinsdag 9 mei 2017

Day of The Jackalope – Shapeshifter

Heksekunst – 2017

Rock, Hard, Stoner, Blues

Rated: ****

A mini-album or EP or whatever you need to call it. It always does something special for me. It should always serve as a testament to what the band can do and leave you wanting more. The new release Shapeshifter by Oslo foursome Day of The Jackalope does that on both accounts. With a mighty blues heavy groove the tracks meander between hard stoner and seventies inspired hardrock. Especially in the view of the compositions and guitar colors. Taking the name from a Clutch track one obviously wears their influence on their sleeve. And there definitely is a Clutch vibe going on here and there, but with much more bounce and boogie. Another definite inspiration should be Orange Goblin because of the gruff and grime. All in all, the combination works like a charm and the six tracks are over before you know it. A fine album, no doubt, and one that desperately demands more of their Norwegian fuzz heat!

(Written by JK)

maandag 8 mei 2017

Stoner HiVe's Top 5 Artists listened to last week

Stoner HiVe's

Top 5 Artists listened to last week:

Another week and tons of new grooves! We’ve been grooving to The Sunken Djinn, the new Vokonis for a while now. We had eagerly been awaiting the album since we saw its awesome artwork (by Tessa Najjar) and since we were absolutely smitten with their debut release Olde One Ascending from 2016. And rest assured my fellow fiends, they have done it again. A truly magnificent album to follow-up what was one of the best debuts from 2016. So, get ready to fall in love with The Sunken Djinn! And as explained in the mention of the new Green Yeti album Desert Show, there is some weird magic going on. Which has put a spell on us. We can’t seem to let go of those tracks. Can you? As well as that crazy garage and wicked fuzz release by Bartek. The perfect soundtrack for a mad race through the city. And then there’s No Waves, Just Sharks by The Mad Doctors. The perfect soundtrack to a beach party or a backyard BBQ; we love both and we love the noise those Mad Doctors make even more. A new absolute favorite over here! And then there is a new Geezer, which is always a treat. Psychoriffadelia, as the new album is called, shall be released in June and captures a moment in time when Geezer was playing with Charles Ruggiero on drums while Chris Turco was on a work related hiatus. Turning more to old school blues tinted hardrock, infused with psychedelics and stoner it is a different animal than their self-titled album from last year. But it is, definitely, one king hell of a beast! And one, that one wants to get groovy with!

So get groovy!

zondag 7 mei 2017

Devils Hunt Me Down – In Media Res

Devils Hunt Me Down – In Media Res (Episode 1)

Self released – 2017

Rock, Alternative, Stoner

Rated: ***

Whenever a relatively new band teams up with producer Jack Endino (Nirvana, Soundgarden) it definitely raises expectations and one cannot help but getting anxious to hear the end result. Well, the four amigos that make up Devils Hunt Me Down deliver something wild and interesting with their In Media Res (Episode 1) EP. A full album released over the course of the upcoming year in the form of three EP’s. And judging from the first release we shall be in for quite a treat. Cause these four songs are filled with a might groove, choppy riffs and a funky vocalist. There is also something northern about these tracks. Something with a chilly air and a warm touch. Even though that is something which is not easy to explain, it has to do with the overall feel. With a distinct break in its rhythmic pulse and a bouncy atmosphere, the tracks do still remember a bit of an earlier project of one or more members named Mind Vice. But this has a distinctly more dance vibe and energetic ambiance. And with all that, it might sound poppy, but it is not, it still growls, it still bites and it still draws blood!

(Written by JK)

vrijdag 5 mei 2017

Stoner HiVe’s Quick Fire Friday

Stoner HiVe’s Quick Fire Friday

It’s Friday. And you know what that means?! If we have the time we fire off a Quick Fire Friday round! It’s a fast way to give a little more attention to some of those bands we love out there. And when time is scarce it might even be the best way to do some HiVe’n! So here it is once again, a small selection of amazing bands that deserve way more attention than the tiny amount of words selected here. But hey, it’s the Stoner HiVe Quick Fire Friday. And its burns hot like molten lava!

Last Rizla – KLS9532

The title of this two track release feels ominous in some weird way. And the music does too. Even though the Greek, Last Rizla quartet seem like the ultimate fun bunch, judging from the way they introduce themselves through their homepage and email correspondence. The two tracks are seriously good, which helps build to their paradox. Take everything serious but yourself and being serious. But, back to the music. Two amazing growling, noisy, sludge punk tracks that immediately pull you into their world. As if falling into another dimension. The Last Rizla, you always needs more!

Crawl – 30 Year Suicide

Crawl, is a scream and screech, doom sludge trio from Atlanta, Georia in the United States. Their new seven inch 30 Year Suicide released through Bad Road Records holds two slow sludge marches that are filled with monstrous riffs and lumbering rhythms. On top off that we have screams and screeches straight out of the bottom layer of hell. As most of the freaks who follow the HiVe know, we are not really a fan of such vocalizations. But when they are done with such feverous energy one cannot do much else but feel admiration and the intensity burn in your gut with which it is delivered…

Mutual Aid – Slaves of Capital

Firmly wedged in the doom/sludge genre, Australian metalhippie Peter’s project Mutual Aid seeks to create crushingly heavy music for our current dystopian times. With heavy anti-capitalist themes running throughout the album, Slaves Of Capital as an album is a conscious and concerted effort to escape the dark fantasy so prevalent in the doom genre. But one can surely only bring forth bleak and dark tunes when talking about the dystopian state of society. And they have done just that, translated the wickedness of the world into grating riffs and distorted sounds. Let’s hope for a better future together with Mutual Aid!

Olneya – Olneya

Another one-man project is Olneya from Rimini in Italy. A much more psychedelic take on stoner metal and desert rock. Decidedly progressive in nature the five instrumental tracks on this self-titled EP maneuver its way perfectly through the heavy rock landscape we all love to wander through. And everyone will surely love to have Olneya on a trek through the desert. Even more so now, for it seems the man has found members to complete his band. So, no longer a one man show, Olneya is complete and looking for a future filled with good music! And we shall follow their path!

The Mad Doctors – No Waves, Just Sharks

Yes! We love the album title! No Waves, Just Sharks! So, get on your swim trunks, dive in and be prepared to get bitten. By without a doubt the best album of this Quick Fire Friday round! And just pray those three bearded, lab-coated creeps strung out on a dumpster beach, hi-fiving the sun, have the right medicine. And they do, two parts fuzz, one part reverb, and a jigger of formaldehyde. Yes, my fellow fiends, the Mad Doctors know how to describe themselves and yes, this is the perfect fuzzy, stoner surf, garage punk album for the upcoming summer. Released on King Pizza Records, these ten lo-fi tracks are all equally wild, raw and positively delirious! Envision big insanely rowdy beach parties filled with copious amounts of liquor of dubious quality and all sorts of different drugs. So yes, think of a sun stroke waiting to happen!

King Pizza Records

donderdag 4 mei 2017

Blackbird Hill – Midday Moonlight

Self released – 2017

Rock, Garage, Blues, Stoner

Rated: ***

We’re going to continue on with the duo stuff. A French one this time around. Blackbird Hill and their new release Midday Moonlight. Six fine tracks that melt blues and garage together like a mad alchemist once again. Going for the Delta vibe one second and something definitely more Americana the following track. Western troubadours that do not mind getting their hands, guitar and drums dirty. Grimy and menacing, like the slow building Stories From The Road. Or wild and wicked on the title track that seems to point at a weekend in the desert among stonerrock fiends. It seems Blackbird Hill can do it all and can do no wrong! Although their nod towards sixties beat and nineties billy on Run Like Mad doesn’t seem to completely fit on this mini-album. On the other hand, that up beat skippity hop rock, does set you up right for that slow building masterpiece Stories From The Road…

(Written by JK)

Closet Disco Queen – Sexy Audio Deviance For Punk Bums

Crazysane – 2017

Rock, Instrumental, Hard, Stoner, Psych, Garage, Kraut

Rated: ****

We can keep it short and sweet. Sweet and secretly sexy like a Disco Queen... The Swiss instrumental rock outfit Closet Disco Queen are here to let you know that you can do just as wild and grimy stuff with only two members as you can do with more. On their new three-song EP Sexy Audio Deviance For Punk Bums they serve us a nice plate of riff-heavy garage, stoner and hardrock. Definitely psychedelic thanks to their krautish approach to repetition and their ability to produce these insanely catchy riffs. Even though they might sound obvious, the guitar work and the rhythms, it is exactly that, that tried and true approach, which makes this EP so freakin tasty. And that is that, Closet Disco Queen is beautiful in all its ‘simple’ glory and it makes you want to put on your filthy disco shoes and dance the night away!

(Written by JK)

woensdag 3 mei 2017

Green Yeti – Desert Show

Self released/Cursed Tongue Records – 2017

Rock, Stoner, Doom

Rated: ****

Last year the Greek trio Green Yeti released their debut effort titled The Yeti Has Landed. An amazing album that got lauded all over the place. And yes, ofcourse also on the HiVe. On it, as Charlie Tooth stated back then, they seemed to be orbiting the planet looking for a place to touch down. Well, they decided to land smack dab in the middle of the desert. Right there, in the middle of a maddening generator party. The Green Yeti decided to jump on stage. And tuned down lower; started sounding more menacing than before and aimed to survive the harsh elements with grimy stoner and marching doom. And with that take on their music, every one of the five tracks on the new album Desert Show pulsate with this strange magic. You might want to describe it to fate or to just being there are the right moment in time, cause for some reason, the album seems even bigger, grandiose and majestic than their amazing debut. Beware of the Green Yeti, it has come to rock your world!

(Written by JK)

Bartek – Bartek

Suburban – 2017

Rock, Fuzz, Garage, Punk, Doom

Rated: ****

Fast paced garage rock, overloaded with grimy fuzz and a punk adagio. That’s Bartek for ya! Or well, almost. For the trio of young dogs from Amsterdam, Netherlands know their way around catchy truckers as well as loud noisy steamrollers. Just check out opener Holland on their self-titled debut album to hear exactly what we mean. It’s just one repetitive riff and stomp, but it works and has you nodding a doom nod, expecting for slow marches throughout. But follow-up 22 is this sweaty ballsy rocker that revs you up. Following that is an even easier, simpler, catchier, almost sixties pop reminiscent melody that explodes during the chorus. And then there is a slow paced strident titled Heavy that flattens all the adrenaline you got from the earlier tracks. And that’s how Bartek keeps you on the edge of your seat, never knowing what is lying in wait around the corner. What kind of animal is ready to jump and pounce! It’s the catchiest garage, the wickedest fuzz and the grooviest noise coming from the Lowlands at this moment in time. And on certain moments, they explode in such a fine way we can safely state that their blast will leave a mark for many years to come!

(Written by JK)