No time. Really. We mean it this time! So, here’s just the fast list of the Top 5 of most listened artists this week. Well, and a quick note to tell you what the albums are called. Misfit, out on Dirty Water Records, by The Legendary Tigerman, which we absolutely adore, read about it below. Electric Citizen’s new album Helltown! Amazing, out soon on Riding Easy Records. The new Bud Spencer Blues Explosion. It’s called Vivi Muori Blues Ripeti, out on La Tempesta Dischi, it continues on where the former record halted. Crazy Bull, I was ordered to do so by Sir Bucky Brown. And I’m glad I listened. The Past Is Today, out on Totem Cat I believe, is filled with hardrock, seventies love and something sweet that could have come from Sweden. Lovin it! Argonauta Records releases the new Komatsu, and New Horizon keeps on spinnin! The boys delivered solid gold! So, check’m out! Check’m all out!
Recorded in Rancho De La Luna with the help from grandmaster Catching, the Misfit album tells the story of a man who wants to lose himself in the desert. It’s the new record released by Portugal’s very own The Legendary Tigerman. It’s got groove, it’s got soul, it’s got swagger and it has that magical magnetic ability to keep you captivated from the first tones of that danceable catchy opener Motorcycle Boy to the last farewell song To All My (Few) Brothers. On the vinyl edition, we are treated to four more ballads, which add even more spice to the already damn well amazing record. It’s a trek through the desert, a trek through musical history, through rock, blues, punk and dipping your toes into the stoner pool and drying yourself off with some gritty romp and stomp that would sound perfect everywhere but especially in some ramshackle drinking hole filled with forlorn and dusty characters. With dogs howling at the moon and knives next to the blood speckled playing cards spread out across the tables. It’s beautiful and it will make you shiver with desire or fear or that weird oxygen deprived feeling the desert heat can give you. Or striving to be your own man, your true self, that outsider that lurks beneath the surface. Misfit. The soundtrack for your destiny!
As we stated a few days ago, we’ve been spinning the new Saola EP a lot! Those four tracks wormed their way into our heart and into our mind and we cannot seem to let go. Just listen to opening firecracker track Red Witch. It’s so damn good, you simply sit, stand or lay there, mouth wide, gazing at whatever trinket you were looking at before the track started, slowly banging your head and slowly losing all track of space and time. Those four fella’s from Portland, Oregon really outdid themselves there. But that’s not all there is. We’ve got three more amazing sludge metal adventures waiting just around the corner. They must have been influenced by Sleep, Pallbearer, Sabbath, Monolord and even some Melvins. And will jamming around, they must have thought about everything they produced, we must sound like Saola, whatever we do. And reading up on their websites we can safely state that this is the case. Four young dudes ready to take their brand of metal to the doomed masses. And everyone needs to stand in attention to this! So, check out Saola!
We’ve got three weeks of incredibly heavy lifting coming at us. Three weeks of work that will definitely impair our HiVe actions. And that while a heatwave hits this little crazy country. It’s gonna get intense. But we’ll manage… Somehow… And we hope to listen to some good stuff here and there when we find the time. And I’m sure we will! The past week we got treated to so many kick ass records, it almost feels a crime to only mention the five we listened to the most. We’ve been listening to 1968 for a while, loving their new record Ballads Of The Godless. And when the news came the label is dicking them around we immediately grabbed it again and kept finding new stuff to dig. The psychedelic blues roots shine through with a righteous glimmer and bounces heavy rock and stoner layers. Absolute gold! Head on over to Outlaws Of The Sun and read what Steve Howe had to say about this one. Tidal Waves by Tranquilo washed over us with a strange sensation of heavy psychedelics with a punky and metal approach. Very grimy and very DIY! The Legendary Tigerman from Portugal, recorded his latest album in the legendary Rancho De La Luna studio. Dirty Water Records puts it out and the gritty blues roots and punk adagio that covers the record titled Misfit add to the magical story of a man that wants to lose himself in the desert. Groovy here, danceable there, heavy like a freight train or thirst quenching like the desert rain! Amazing from the first to the last track! Red Sun Rising’s new album Thread came out through New Razor & Tie and we mentioned it a week ago. There’s something about this record, it repels and attracts! Like a jukebox magnet! And the past few days we’ve listened to almost nothing else but the new Komatsu record! New Horizon, out on Argonauta Records, will be hitting the globe in a big month, and the four Komatsu super massive mothersludgers will take it by storm! So check’m out! Check’m all out!
Well, this is different! Very different. Different, but tasty! Mr. Overdrive, a three-piece alternative rock band from the Netherlands that does not shy away from danceable rhythms and electronic grooves just released their debut EP called A Fox, A Rabbit. It’s a hop, skip and a jump, smash and dance, head bang and bounce kind of a deal! This might be due to the fact that the bass functions as guitar and the synth as bass! Five tracks that move all over the place but still retain that one infallible goal: to move your body and groove your soul! They name, among others, De Staat and Soulwax as influences for their sound. And rightfully so, Mr. Overdrive, headstrong and ready to go! Go check out A Fox, A Rabbit and hear what Mr. Overdrive is all about!
We adored Absolution back in 2015 and still do! And we had the honor to write a few words about the new Khemmis album Desolation for the June edition of the Doom Charts. After which we ofcourse continue to spin the shit out of it. And now, a few weeks later, we still stand by every one of those words... Apart from the growling vocals at the end, opening track Bloodletting on Khemmis’s third album Desolation could be spun on every alternative radio station and it would turn on almost every hard rocking freak. And this is how you could spin every one of the six tracks. It is still stoner metal and doom rock with a hardrock take and sludgy moments. But there is much more eighties metal and an extremely perfect vocal delivery on this record and it should cater to everyone. Yes, everyone! Yet, it might also piss a few fans off! Which is a damn freakin shame! Open mind beardos! Open mind! It’s what this underground stuff is all about! It’s what makes you truly love every one of those amazing records that come out. Don’t be a stick in the mud, don’t get stuck in your corner! Come out of the woodworks, put on Desolation, hear the growth and enjoy the fuck out of it!
Hailing from Eindhoven-rock city, Netherland's hottest Stoner and Sludge Metal outfit Komatsu has just unveiled brand new details about their upcoming and 3rd studio album titled 'A New Horizon'! Set to be released on September 7th 2018 with Argonauta Records, Komatsu once again unleash an exciting mixture of Sludge, Stoner Rock and Metal while setting stones for a new horizon indeed.
Komatsu was formed in early 2010, their years of musical experience in all kinds of bands before as well as their individual creativity created a brutal mix that left a huge stamp in the current Heavy Rock and Metal scene. The band released a self-titled EP in 2011, followed by numerous live shows all over Europe and writing material for their first full length album. 'Manu Armata' was released in February 2013 and been instantly well received by the international press and fans alike. It got raving reviews and Komatsu's music style was compared to bands like Queens of the Stone Age, Torche, Mastodon, Monster Magnet and Karma to Burn. In 2014 Komatsu went on tour with none other than John Garcia (Vista Chino, ex-Kyuss, Hermano, Unida, Slo Burn) and played 32 shows in 13 European countries. In the summer of 2015 Komatsu recorded their second full-length album 'Recipe for Murder One' and toured Europe again with Nick Oliveri's Mondo Generator.
'Recipe for Murder One' was released September 2016 and showed that the band gained trust and experience. It took the band on various tours throughout Europe with bands such as Duel or The Freeks. During May 2017 'Recipe for Murder One' even took Komatsu to Brazil where the band toured for two weeks. After playing 85 shows in France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland, England, The Netherlands, Brazil and Austria in support of the album 'Recipe for Murder One', Komatsu entered The Void Studio with producer Pieter Kloos in January 2018 to record their brand new album 'A New Horizon'.
Says the band: „Recording this albums was a blast and it sounds like one too. Our engineer Pieter Kloos has outdone himself. A new horizon is a tale of escapism. The music is dark and lyrics even darker with a sarcastic twist. Join Komatsu in their supermassive mothership in search of a new horizon!“
To get a first appetizer on Komatsu's upcoming smasher, the band just released the following teaser, watch it below or right HERE!
The new Red Sun Rising album Thread is one hell of a weird animal. On some moments you almost want to dismiss it and throw it in a corner. On those moments it smells a bit funny and it tastes like something that a middle of the road hardrock band from America would deliver when it wants to make it into the charts of some dubious mid-western radio station. But those moments aren’t that common. Cause when the next track rolls around you get treated to something much grungier, much more alternative, nineties alluring and still with a catchy vide. As if Stone Temple Pilots and Smashing Pumpkins decided to record something together. And then a pure hardrock song hits you over the head. See where I’m getting at, this one has a bunch of different styles that aren’t just mixed in one song but across the entire album. And when you end an album with a track like Evil Like You, centered around some eerie sounding piano work, you’ve got my vote and my dime! So, head on over to the jukebox and put on some Red Sun Rising!
For some weird and probably insane reason we never mentioned that amazing self-titled debut Haunted delivered back in 2016. But when the July edition of the Doom Charts rolled around and their new album featured highly, we jumped at the possibility to write a few words about that one. For it had been spinning like crazy over at the HiVe war bunker… The new Dayburner record continues on, where that luscious occult doom self-titled debut released by Haunted in 2016 left off. But then our world shifts and changes and the amount of variation doubles and Haunted doubles down on giving their own spin on everything doom. This album has it all! Sweltering leads, aggressive drums, floating vocals and ominous riffs. But you can switch those words around as well. Cause that’s how impressively varied this album is! So, check out the debut if you haven’t and check out Dayburner! Both are amazing and the growth promises even bigger things for the future!
Man, these guys have a righteous heavy sound that kicks you right in the guts. Mountain-like riffs are propelled by the rhythm section – unstoppable bastards with searing solos that get the neck muscles working overtime. Cleanish vocals drenched in reverb float to the front of everything which ties in nicely with the psychedelic passages that weave in and out of the sonic prayers being offered here. A lot of bands try this mixture of genres but Forming The Void have fucking nailed it. Over here at Maim Towers, this is getting a lot of spins and other stuff I should be reviewing is getting left behind. This is the good stuff.
As mentioned, we did not have a whole lot of time between the Rock Werchter and Bospop festivals to listen to new stuff. Luckily we did recover in time from the accident to enjoy them both to the fullest! And in those few spare moments we did some quick listening sessions to some hot new stuff! Svvamp’s new album, released via Riding Easy Records, is called II and is once again pure heavy psychedelic gold! Shark Inferno released Terra Theia Baby Luna; stoner-punk, garage grime and lazy psych that reminds of the Dandy Warhols. The mixture of it all is definitely erratic, wild and insane. If yer in need for a rollercoaster ride, check out the Shark Inferno! Drug Cult featured high on the Doom Charts and as Melissa Spence from Stoner Witch Radio stated there: “These are some of the thickest and heaviest riffs, fully laced with a female entity who’s vocal charm alleviates and pulls you back to consciousness throughout this 7 track journey. The atmosphere created by this four-piece from Australia is dark, satisfying and may cause intense hallucinations if not properly dosed.” Spot on! Ready for some groovy bluesy heaviness? Check out Old Man Rob and the Trial By Stone album. It will quench yer thirst! And you will surely get drunk on the Andy Samford album Reflections. Psychedelic fuzzy and adventurously heavy! Exactly what is needed for a hot and sunny evening! And you know the deal. You need to check’m out yourself! Check’m all out!
“The future is uncertain but the end is always near.”
― Jim Morrison
The year is halfway over already and the intensity continues to build each month here at the Doom Charts. We are growing our roster, our team, our family, reaching into deeper waters and harvesting a larger cross section of the heavy underground. This month marks the end of the beginning of the year and the beginning of the end. Nearly 300 individual unique albums were voted for this month of which 25 made the final cut, based on frequency and ranking, presented below. Another month splitting the tally between newcomers and repeat acts vowing towards the throne of Doom at #1. Turn out the lights folks.
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…
And as Bucky already stated, almost 300 stunning albums got voted for this month. Of the 25 I submitted, 6 made the final cut. And in the 25 below that are another 5 and in the 25 below that are another 6. And that's how it goes on. There's so much great stuff out there. We listen to what we can and we love all we love. And those make the final 25! But I'm sure the new Astrosoniq album just needs to be heard some more by my fellow Doom Chart cats. Or the new Yawning Man for that matter! They'll make the cut next time around! Right?! Who knows. For now, check out that that damn fine Doom Chart June 2018 edition and get freaky!
Well, it was about that time again. Time for another accident… So yes, dislocated jaw and shoulder and a whole lot of bruises. And that fuckin happens, right now, in the middle of festival season. Cause we only just recovered from Graspop Metal Meeting and Rock Werchter is almost upon us. Bloody fuckin hell! It is also the reason we did not listen to a lot of new stuff last week. We could not concentrate. Unfortunately, so we turned to old faithful Spidergawd to sooth our senses and found a few new releases that tickled our blood on the moments we could handle it. Like Zoe’s Idol record We Apologize For Being Awesome. German based groove metal turned psycho stoner, yes, everyone should apologize for this being awesome. Bluesy and psychedelic seventies hardrock straight from magical Melbourne. It’s Whoopie Cat and their proggy approach and soulful hardrock on Illusion Of Choice is a righteous soundtrack for every summer evening! Thirst Planet releases Essence, a riff explosion of doom and stoner metal straight from somewhere in Israel. It has enough groove and enough wicked little weirdness to make everyone go crazy! Black Moon Circle released their one track album Psychedelic Spacelord. Over three quarters of an hour long, it is one hell of a cosmic adventure! A spacey quest to fill the void with an endless array of majestic jams! Check’m out! Check’m all out!
