Stoner HiVe: november 2019

woensdag 27 november 2019

Speedealer – Blue Days Black Nights

Self released / Fly PR – 2019

Rock, Speed, Punk, Metal, Hardcore, Sludge

Rated: ****

It’s been fifteen years since Speedealer dissolved. It’s been fifteen years and I wonder if it, at least in part, was Rich’s doing? Or if the band had just run its course? Well, it was a fan’s doing, and that fan’s wedding, they got back together under the name Dealers Choice. And now, only a little while later, there’s a new album! Blue Days Black Nights, it’s the fast paced doom and gloom and depression and fuck it all up sound we know from their earlier work and which has now been distilled to a hundred percent proof speedball! With Daniel Barron from The Swingin’ Dicks as the new vocalist this new incarnation of legendary Speedealer seems to be ready for everything. Cause their coherent fast paced punk and metal keeps diving into different territories that always keeps the Speedealer hancock going. A bit of hardcore here or sludge there, it all sounds like those crazies we all knew and loved back around the turn of the millennium. It’s powerful, angry and full of grit! It’s the good shit, absolutely pure and we're glad we finally have our dealer back!

(Written by JK)

maandag 25 november 2019

Phantom Druid - Red Eyes/Sacred Sabbath + Burning Truth/Autumn Shroud

Self released - 2019

Doom, Stoner

Rated: ****

Presenting a double feature of doom, the Netherlands' one-man band that is Phantom Druid graced us with two 2-track releases in the past few months, offering up classic Sabbathian doom with earth-moving guitar tones and equally menacing vocals. Mastermind Tjeerd de Jong's two splits span a range of influences, starting with the marching, Iommic riffing of Red Eyes/Sacred Sabbath before downshifting into the wall-of-sound and lumbering nod of Burning Truth/Autumn Shroud, taking more cues from Cathedral than Sabbath. Throughout all four tracks the atmosphere is one of unrelenting menace, aided by tectonic low end and tones that saw through gravel; exhibit A, the opening riff of "Autumn Shroud". Of particular note as well are the excellent vocals, evoking Ozzy's keens in the first split and echoing the almost spoken-word stylings of Lee Dorrian in the second, with some Alice in Chains self-harmonizing thrown in for good measure. With such commanding guitar and vocals, the minimalist drumming is a perfect fit, building a solid foundation with which to drive forward the churn and plod while leaving just enough space to let it all crash down. Phantom Druid brings a crushing take on doom's masters of old, bearing a weight of tone that justifies a double-take at the one-man roster, and a classic voice that was tailor made for the genre. Hats off to this lone vision of doom.

(Written by Kyle / Shastabeast)

Mammoth Mammoth – Kreuzung

Napalm Records – 2019

Rock, Hard, Pub, Speed, Stoner

Rated: ****

Sure, you can move from Australia to Germany and continue the band making it all bigger and better and bolder and rougher and tougher. There have been artists before you that did the very same thing. And for the guys from Mammoth Mammoth it was the absolute right thing! The sound is high speed, double energy pub rock, hard rock and stoner. Every song on Kreuzung is a bullseye on its own and all of them pound and hammer and sledge their way into your heart and in a direct line to the bar. It's a speedball to the main nerve! This is the speedrock we all need when we are feeling low and the night is young, this is drink music for the rock ‘n roll spirit for the last in the bar and the lost in the gutter. Missing Motörhead? Check out Mammoth Mammoth! Need more AC/DC? Check out Mammoth Mammoth! Indeed, hard rocking excellence that fumes and grooves and revs you up the right way!

(Written by JK)

Mammoth Mammoth - Kreuzung

Mammoth Mammoth - Kreuzung

The first single and video for their damn wild, speed rocking album Kreuzung! Check out the video and check out the new Mammoth Mammoth album!

Stoner HiVe’s Top 5 artists listened to last week…

Stoner HiVe’s

Top 5 artists listened to last week…

It is Monday once again. And we’re quickly approaching the end of 2019! Which means in a few weeks time we shall start the Stoner HiVe Top 20 Countdown once again. This year, marks ten years of HiVe time! Which in many ways is just a number but ofcourse also counts as a real and definite marker. Ten years ago the HiVe started in honor of all the records released through the year. And so, all you lovely freaks out there could give their two cents about which record moved you the most. Here’s us hoping you guys will go ahead and send your list of favorite albums to us once again, so we might make this 10 year anniversary of the Top 20 Countdown a grand and righteous one! As for the albums we listened to the most during the past week. Well, it’s riddled with albums that we listened to due to the interviews we had. Hence, Stef Kamil Carlens and Colin Blunstone. And it’s logical Kamchata’s Hoodoo Lightning is still up there, cause it is one hell of an album once again! It might even rival their The Search Goes On record… Virtual Time from Italy released multiple albums this year and both of them, The Circle and Pictures are part of a larger project and it all sounds damn wonderful! So, go ahead and check’m out! Check’m all out! Cause it is the Time Of The Season… Shit, it always is..

maandag 18 november 2019

Samowa - Smoking The Matchlock Bong

Self released - 2019

Stoner, doom

Rated: ****

Followers of the doomed hasheeshian, gather round for an epic ritual courtesy of Sleep and Sabbath worshippers Samowa, on their debut album Smoking The Matchlock Bong. Hailing from Germany, the trio deliver huge, blown out stoner doom riffs in an unending wave of distortion and nod across four tracks all passing the ten minute mark. Immediately familiar is the lysergic bounce of the cleaner riffs and the Cisneros-esque vocal lilt, calling to mind classic Sleep while putting a middle eastern twist on the eerie grooves. Those mellower passages never fail to eventually shift into crushing walls of distortion and thundering low end, given ample room to melt speakers in long instrumental passages that range from plodding to nearly thrash-like in tempo. Standout and longest track “Blackened Haze” dredges up a particularly vicious storm of fuzz, made all the more lethal by darkly doomed overtones and chants of “selling my soul”. The sheer length of the four tracks is daunting and the production rough, but plays perfectly into what Samowa are all about – wearing their weedian influences on their sleeves while infusing the hypnotic, earthmoving grooves with a personality all their own. A well-accomplished and powerful debut, Smoking The Matchlock Bong reeks with the dank smell of promise for future experimentation and expansion on the band’s already impressive sound.

(Written by Kyle / Shastabeast)

Youtube

Stoner HiVe’s Top 5 artists listened to last week…

Stoner HiVe’s

Top 5 artists listened to last week…

Just a quick Top 5! Cause we’ve got loads of work to do and place to be. Unfortunately! But hey, you all know the deal and it’s been like this for a while now. But luckily we’ve got a mention of the new Samowa by Kyle / Shastabeast to really jumpstart the week! It will go up immediately after this simple yet very tight Top 5 of Most Listened to Artists Last Week… Have a good one y’all!

vrijdag 15 november 2019

Deaf Proof – Brain Utopia

Clostridium Records – 2019

Rock, Stoner, Fuzz, Psych, Doom, Jam

Rated: *****

Deaf Proof, a power trio from that picturesque town of Freiburg in Germany. They’ve been releasing their music since around 2011 and have now topped that all with their newest brainchild Brain Utopia! Four tracks, but almost forty minutes long. Nicely cut up into two gigantic battleship tracks and two accompanying cruisers. All of them absolutely necessary to bring this adventure to its paradisiac conclusion. For yes, it is a trip down to paradise, especially once you are locked into the jam-like quality that those big tracks possess. Powerful and whirling riffs dance around the pounding rhythms that will have you doing the universal nod from the very first moment. There is a definite organic and slight retro feel to the sound coloring, and this three-piece have become a force of nature for sure. Highly dynamic tension arcs make all the puzzle pieces fit together into the perfect groove. Brain Utopia is simply put sheer bliss…

(Written by JK)

Whiskey Myers – Whiskey Myers

Universal/Spinefarm – 2019

Rock, Americana, Country, Blues, Southern

Rated: ****

Six-piece outfit Whiskey Myers sounds like the outlaws from the American badlands we all love. One can immediately and very easily assume this looking through the song titles. And as soon as the music starts; you know you were right. It’s their fifth album and by God, have these good ol’ boys been crafting their skills to an unholy degree. Filled to the rim with the very best of everything that those southern American states have to offer. Hard rock with a country twang! Swampy rock, roots rock, smoky tunes, soulful tunes! They’ve got it all. And to show you that these cats can do so much they also go into the sentimental regions. And when a band like this goes into the tear jerk territory it might make you cringe, not so when Whiskey Myers does it! You intentionally go back to those and even more so to all those tracks featuring the female background choirs. Holy hell! Just go enjoy the big gesture track Glitter Ain’t Gold and hear what we mean. Indeed, if you didn’t already wanted to leave the city, this album will definitely make you want to move out to the country… Buy a farm… Poor a bourbon, practice the pedal steel and howl at the moon…

(Written by JK)

Soundcloud

donderdag 14 november 2019

Météore - Démo 2019

Self released - 2019

Psych Rock, Space, Post

Rated: ****

Strange and beautiful like their namesake, Montreal, Québec psych rock band Météore deliver and entrance with spacey, passionate promise in the three tracks that make up their Démo 2019. With songs and lyrics in their native French, the group begin with an eerie intro of gritty fuzz in opener "Conforte du silence" (roughly translating to "comfort of silence") before further layers of guitar and piercing synths materialize, adding a classic rock feel to the bounce and drifting groove. "Fuyant" ("receding") is a more laidback number, with a pitter-patter drumbeat beneath shimmering guitars straight out of a spaghetti western. Distortion kicks in with squeals of buildup before fading back into the cleaner playing, then rising up again in an entrancing ebb and flow dotted with groovy breaks. Finally, closer "Ent'4 murs" (possibly "between walls") ends with even more relaxing vibes, as delicate guitar and singing builds a languid and comforting sound that's both peaceful and somewhat somber. These expressive and well-harmonized vocals are present throughout the three tracks, adding sincere emotion to the wash and groove. Météore's first release easily accomplishes what all demos strive for by delivering an intriguing promising debut that can hold its own, and is a truly moving and beautiful piece of psychedelic rock.

(Written by Kyle / Shastabeast)

Instagram

Iguana Death Cult – Nude Casino

Innovative Leisure – 2019

Rock, Garage, Psych, Pop

Rated: ***

There are a multitude of good, great and awesome bands hailing from the Netherlands. But one of the most fun and diverse is without a doubt Iguana Death Cult! Their newest release Nude Casino via American label Innovative Leisure seems to breaking even more ground when it comes to diversity. Moving towards fifties rockabilly or seventies funk, some soul, kraut or even jazz on certain tracks the fivesome has a keen ear to mix all theses aspects with the psychedelic rock of yore; the postpunk of the eighties or the choppy rhythms that was the blessing of the later power pop. And that is the overall lingering feeling; powerful pop. Pop that gets a kick from trying to be different. Different pop that gets loaded and weird on all those genres and influences we just mentioned. It feels like a stream-of-consciousness explosion that’s on the verge of delving into something greater and nearer to the truth than most hope to achieve. And yes, as diverse and totally different as this all sounds, it truly is. And we can assume that a following album will be just as different…

(Written by JK)

woensdag 13 november 2019

Czechoslovakia - Hvst

Czechoslovakia - HVST

Bajkonur rec. - 2019

Indie, noise, grunge, shoegaze

Rated: ****

A little different from our usual fare, drifting in from Gdańsk, Poland in a haze of noise and melancholy come deceptively named trio Czechoslovakia, who play a fittingly tricky mix of indie pop-rock covered in waves of harsh distortion on their third LP HVST. Playful melodies bounce and glide under a thick coat of screeching, grinding fuzz, topped off with ghostly vocals adding to the eerie and wistful proceedings. At the more rocking range of Czechoslovakia's sound is album highlight "wstyd" (Polish for "shame"), with its driving drums and repetitive riffs building an energetic groove alongside haunting, echoing vocals. When the distortion kicks up a notch, the vocals respond in kind, creating a cavernous sound verging into noise rock. On the other end of HVST's spectrum lies "ciała" (Polish for "body"), laying down a simultaneously busy and languid drumbeat that would be right at home on an All Them Witches tune, accompanied by minimal, floating guitar. The track is an impressive mix of relaxing groove and toe-tapping beat, and is smoothly followed by closer "chwasty" (Polish for "weeds"), which brings the album to an operatic and melancholic end in a wash of lush noise. With HVST Czechoslovakia have built an emotional record that successfully joins sounds rarely found together, covering poppier melodies with a jolting crunch and wail of distortion to create one of the most unique releases of the year.

(Written by Kyle / Shastabeast)

Spotify

dinsdag 12 november 2019

Zoahr – Off Axis

Self released – 2019

Rock, Stoner,

Rated: ****

How fast do you go through all those magical albums that make the Doom Charts each month? And how many of those albums do you keep going back to after you have heard them all? We keep returning to Off Axis by Zoahr. And not just because we were honored to right the little blurb for the Doom Charts. From those first electrified moments of opening track Interstate ’68, you know what kind of trouble you are in when you get into the new Off Axis album by German power trio Zoahr. Addictive trouble! Call your sponsor now! Cause this is heavy blues of yore, the psychedelic touches of the seventies and a hard rocking drive that will immediately have you lusting for more. And there is so much more; and it comes with spacey elements, atavistic stoner an intense amount of energy, grit and spirit. Zoahr will have you soaring along the great magnetic currents through space and time!

(Written by JK)

Stoner HiVe’s Top 5 artists listened to last week…

Stoner HiVe’s

Top 5 artists listened to last week…

Just a quick Top 5, which ofcourse should have gone up yesterday. But we are late to every party recently so, it seems like poetic justice. Go check’m out if you haven’t. Cause they’re all freakin good!

vrijdag 8 november 2019

Space Renegades – Teeth

Presence Records / Running Moose Productions – 2019 (November)

Psych, Krautrock, Stoner

Rated: ****

The Finnish ambition to take over the Musical Universe is given fresh ammunition with the release of Teeth by Helsinki - based outfit Space Renegades. Opening with a throbbing Krautrock bass, "The Beast" hums with odd harmonies and backward oscillations before the power-surge of hard riffs kick in and lock you into a tight, almost Indie Rock groove. "Erkilles" follows in the wake, gathering the power and pace in a flurry of Velcro-tight fuzz - melodically airy and expansive, it sucks you in to its danceable yet driving Psychedelic Rock. "The Summer Destroyer" drags Doom smeared riffs through dark alleys of sharp vocals and unexpected streetlights of saxophone sweetness. suddenly the bomb drops and a cascading tirade of tumbling atonal synth overwhelms the senses. From the mild-mannered musings of "Standing on the Mountain" the album re-ignites with more throbbing bass runs and Paisley-Pop saccharine during "Spaceships Made Of Wood", sugar-tempered with a dark, bitter undertone. "Royal Funeral" captures languid tones conveying a sense of Loss until the hearse fires up it's Twin V8's and launches off for a spectacular firework death of fierce fuzz and modulation. Space Renegades have gathered long and hard from the finest harvest of Psychedelia and found common threads in divergent styles and potent sounds. It's all in the mix, y'know... And this blend is Special Reserve…

(Written by Reek of STOOM)

Spotify

woensdag 6 november 2019

Swörn - Swörn

Dotto - 2019

Desert, Stoner, Psych, Post

Rated: ****

Taking the distinctive sound and groove of desert rock and putting a spin on it all their own, newcomers Swörn build upon the classics of the past to deliver their excellent self-titled debut. Hailing from Turin, Italy, the three piece have crafted six gems of driving, emotive stoner rock inspired by the likes of QOTSA and Truckfighters. Following the buildup of eerie vocals and pattering drums of opener "Azathoth", the trio launch into an anthemic onslaught of roaring, grainy fuzz, overlaid by cries of "anguish" in a swelling wave of emotion. This momentum sweeps the listener into the hard-rocking groove and pummeling low end of "San Pedro", with drums straight from QOTSA's "You Think I Ain't Worth A Dollar..." and a break of whispers and staccato plucks a la Lullabies To Paralyze. Album highlight "Electric Saint" follows the theme of Homme-worship with a "Songs for the Deaf" inspired riff, but Sworn make their own identity heard with poppy vocals and a smooth transition into beautiful post-metal drift. Closers "Helluland" and "Tecumseh" end the album with a study in extremes, switching gears from the filthy fuzz of the former to the jangling chords and Stoned Jesus-style soaring riffage of the latter. A powerful and promising debut, Sworn wear their influences on their sleeves without being derivative, crafting a distinct identity of their own with a unique mix of driving desert groove and emotive, epic wash.

(Written by Kyle / Shastabeast)