vrijdag 30 april 2021

LáGoon – Instinctive, fast and not so serious…

 

  

LáGoon – Instinctive, fast and not so serious…

The first band, where I do not take everything so serious, is the first band that starts to get a vague bit of notoriety…


We sat down last week, wrote out some questions we felt right about, fired up ZOOM, and waited for the good man to join the meeting. Anthony Gaglia, the man with the Italian roots. One of the original two LáGoon members, one of the The Crooked Whispers crazies and a solo artist who released his debut album last fall called Voodoo Heartbeat. A multi-instrumentalist, a multi-band kind of guy and a prolific artist, who might just become even more prolific in the near future. “It’s actually the main subject of Skullactic Visions. I have realized I’ve probably been in a bit too big a haze the past decade or so. Me and the missus went to Hawaii and I took my laptop with me to work on the record. And that’s when I also started this kick, you know. Cut back on substances. Not completely. Just not as habitually as before. I found out that the world is different when you are more clearheaded. And I reckon I might have done more…”

Here’s a man with a mission. His mission is music. Music has always been around him, as far back as he can remember there’s music. Even while being driven to pre-school, his parents had the tapes spinning loudly in the car. It is where his love for music was born… As well as his love for vans. Which shines through in his self-designed band logo. “My dad had a big work van and he used to pick me up from school, and we would cruise around a bit, with an Alice Cooper cassette at full volume, you know.” He smiles broadly as he remembers those late afternoon drives across the city. And that smile does not fade when we discuss the covid-situation. “Don’t get me wrong, I miss playing live, I miss it so much. But on other levels it has not been a bad situation for me. We have been putting out a lot of music the past year. And for my personal psyche it has not been a bad deal either. You know, dipping out of the day-to-day hustle and bustle of the world for a bit. It know it has been much worse for almost everybody else around the globe. Took a new job, been able to work a lot from home and had my music to concentrate on. I feel like I managed to take advantage of it.”




Re-evaluating his situation, his music and his direction. It shows us that this covid-situation indeed has not been all bad for everyone. And even though he was lost in a bit of a haze for a pretty long time, he always took his music seriously. And he still does, but with a fun attitude. Indeed, his perspective has changed since a few years. He’s been in bands before and has taken, not just the music, but those bands so seriously. “I still take LáGoon serious in terms of that I want to play and want to devote a lot of time to it. As I do with all my music. But on other fronts I don’t give that much of a fuck. Not everything has to be perfect you know. And it’s weird to have to conclude that the first band I’m in, where I do not take everything so serious anymore, is starting to at least get a vague bit of notoriety…”

And that’s definitely the case, not just with LáGoon, of which the albums are getting ever better and the reviews of those even more raving. But also with The Crooked Whispers, a band that was even nominated for Best New Band on this year’s first edition of The Doomies. But it all started earlier and it all started with a, errr, difficult edge. “Yeah, I’ve been in couple of bands before. The Bent Bones for instance, we were still in college, but we managed to put out a decent amount of music. The problem was, for me at least, that it was a five-piece. That’s a lot of people and a lot of opinions. A huge learning experience. It was one of the reasons LáGoon was started as a duo and stayed a duo for as long as it did. I just wanted a band that was the easiest possible version of a band. A good buddy and me. Brady (Maurer, drummer) got the bad end of that deal, he's stuck with me! Haha.” And so, they found a van, with two seats and started rolling into every other town for a gig…

“You know, the coolest parts on a rock ‘n roll record are often the little nuances, little mess-ups or imperfections.”


But of course, everything can and will change. “It was actually part of the covid-situation I guess. One of the bonusses for us. When I started writing Father Of Death, we were already working on The Crooked Whispers stuff. And so, talking to Ignacio (De Tommaso, bass player, The Crooked Whispers, Luciferia) and listening back to everything we were doing with Crooked Whispers, I really wanted to have LáGoon sound a bit more like that, a bit more low-end. And at the time, that was all it was gonna be I guess. You know, the White Stripes approach, where you add bass on the records, but play everything live as a duo. But after hearing the finished album, I really thought, shit, I want to be able to play this live! This sounds like the LáGoon it should be. Luckily, we’re really good friends with the band Ash Eater and Kenny (Combs) their bass player. He’s a super talented dude and I knew he would pick up the songs from the Father Of Death record quickly and make bass parts for our previous catalogue. And since we already hung out with those guys so much, it seemed like a perfect fit. And it does, cause even though we moved from being a two piece to a trio, it has not changed the dynamic much. Or at all even… Which was the goal and is the most important thing I learned from earlier bands. You know, when I was younger, whenever there was an idea, you searched around town looking for the best musicians, cause you wanted to be the best. But that does not really work, you are trying to force it. And the best musicians aren’t necessarily the best people to hang around with. So, my one rule going forward, only be in bands you’re friends with. Cause it does make things pretty awkward when you go on tour and you don’t have anything in common apart from the songs you are going to play that night…”
 
The two friends turned into the three amigos and the recording of the next record went brilliantly. Also, in part thanks to the solo album Voodoo Heartbeat he recorded before it. “It was much harder than I expected it to be. Cause with the acoustic stuff it is all much more nuanced. And it makes a big difference if you’re just recording your part with a foundation already there or all the parts. It was a big learning curve and even though it was frustrating at times, in the end my confidence grew and I am now definitely more daring to add all kinds of different instrumentation. Hence, the synth parts on Skullactic Visions. It also made me appreciate the way we bounce ideas off each other even more. Simple things about where a ‘break’ should go, but also about whatever idea pops into your head. And for the solo album I was perhaps a bit too much in my own world. You know, cause whenever we go work on an idea with the rest of the band, by the time the song is finished, the idea has completely morphed into something else. For the solo record it was just me and the idea and I went with it. It was different, frustrating sometimes, but fun too.”


It also showed him a bit about how to manage his time a bit more. Cause even though his wife is a trooper about his musical obsession, he did realize that the claimed statement: ‘I only need ten minutes to work on this little idea.’ Turns into three hours every time again. And it also lifted the veil a bit on what he might possibly be able to do with his vocals. Cause there is a small hint of his natural voice on Voodoo Heartbeat. “I’m weird about my voice. I’ve told myself my entire life I can’t sing. In previous bands I always just played guitar. And playing some acoustic guitar and doing covers around the house, I started thinking, I can make it through this. And with some effects and reverb on it, it’s much more forgiving and I guess that fits LáGoon and with added effects The Crooked Whispers. But for future solo projects I am leaning to move more into southern rock territory. I’m reluctant to say country, cause that freaks people out. But yeah, using my natural voice, would lend well on the next record. But for LáGoon and The Crooked Whispers it will always be heavily curved by effects. I love effects man…”

“It’s something that separates us. These sporadic, instinctive decisions. Nobody knows what’s coming next.”



We riff some more about how his solo album came to be and how he normally works out the idea into a song. “I’ve become ever more instinctive. You can kill yourself thinking too much about how a certain guitar solo or lyric should go. Maybe I should go higher here? Or put that part there? But my instinctive work ethic has been ever evolving into, this is the idea, this is how we are going to try it, let’s press record. And after that, we listen back and almost always say: sweet, that works!” And then we turn to Skullactic Visions and the first thing that instinctively pops into his mind when he thinks of the period recording that album. “All of us in Kenny’s basement! Where we practice. Sweating our asses off because it is so ridiculously hot down there. And then immediately writing Cold Smoke, the first track on the record. It came from a jam we were playing one day and turned into this thing that set the pace for the entire record. And due to that we did something that never did before on a record, cause the order the tracks are in, is the order in which we wrote and recorded them. We’re lucky we record all our own stuff and have all the gear to do so. And we knew we weren’t going to be able to play live any time soon. So, we just got everything set up and worked on one song at a time. Coming up with parts, practicing it and finishing it before moving on to the next one. Never looking back to the one that was already finished. Until I went in and did the final mix for the entire album. And during that period, I often heard a part where I thought, shit, we could have gone in and re-recorded that. But on the other hand, that goes back to what I said about instinct and stuff. You know, the coolest parts on a rock ‘n roll record are often the little nuances, little mess-ups or imperfections.”


The smell of beer, weed and BO permeating the entire process of the album it only felt right to flee Portland and go to Hawaii with the missus. Yes, everybody goes to Hawaii to surf and trek around the islands, but not Anthony Gaglia, he brings his laptop and works on the final mix for the record. “It was actually a pretty quick process, so, it wasn’t like I was on it all of the time. As fast and instinctive as the recoding went, so did the mixing. In part because we have a little bit of a lo-fi sound. We just like to keep that skate-rat-mentality of fuck-it, let’s just do it. We wrote it quickly, we recorded it quickly, let’s also mix it quickly and put it out to the people quickly. I guess that’s where LáGoon also differs from other bands. Usually, most bands, wait till they have the clean package, all the vinyl and merch ready to go and be sold and shipped. We’re not like that. I mean, the vinyl for Maa Kali Trip arrived two weeks before we released the next record. We don’t really follow the normal route. It’s something that separates us. These sporadic, instinctive decisions. Nobody knows what’s coming next from LáGoon.”

Fast and instinctive, might also be viewed as slacker and lazy, but this isn’t necessarily the case. “No, not at all. Cause what we did was we kept playing those songs over and over while we were working on them. We did not sit down in physical form to write them out and ponder over them. We just kept playing them so they could come to life all on their own. And we moved forward when they were finished. It’s something I guess we will continue to do, to not sit with them too long. Cause there is a track or two where we did stumble a bit in that process. And no, I’m not gonna name the tracks, cause then people will go and try and find out what I don’t like about them. And don’t get me wrong, I like the entire album now. We found our sound. It’s exactly as LáGoon should sound.”

“We’re like the Stooges playing covers songs of doom bands…”


He has also found out that the best music is just laying around the house. “I’ve been playing the riff for the title track of Skullactic Visions for ages. At home on an acoustic. It’s just a quaint and simple little warm up thing I do. And then I played it for the first time warming up for a practice. You know, in the tuning and setting I was using for that electric guitar. It turned into this much heavier thing, with a late eighties, Misfits kind of vibe. It’s probably my favorite track on the record and probably my favorite song LáGoon has at the moment. I think it’s because of the simplicity where it comes from and also because the riff has been lingering in my house for the past five years and I have never thought anything else of it. And then all of a sudden it turns into my favorite song.” Skullactic Visions being the drug reference you already might be thinking it is and we already mentioned in the beginning. Anthony is now kicking the habit, enjoying a little less of the haze on a daily basis, and crawling out of his skull a little bit. And letting other influences creep in slowly; which turned LáGoon ever more doom. “With The Crooked Whispers we’re always working on new music as well. So, it definitely influenced the heading of LáGoon. I mean I almost sent Beyond The Trees to Ignacio to work on it for The Crooked Whispers. And yeah, I guess Skullactic Visions is all over the place, it has that doom element, but we’re also able to bring in that Stooges effect. Which is by the way my favorite way of explaining what our band sounds like to people who don’t know us. We’re like the Stooges playing covers songs of doom bands, like Windhand or something.”



The Stooges were always about energy and intensity and that indeed fits the bill when you’re talking about LáGoon. “On our earlier albums there might be a moment or two where the energy isn’t on par with the rest, so you might end up skipping that song. Which is something that happens often with new bands. You know. You’ve got three or four songs that are really bitchin and you really want to get a record out. So, you just pump out those extra four or five songs to fill it up. We don’t do that anymore; we’ve gotten stronger in songwriting and most importantly we’ve fallen more and more into our sound. So, we often got a song that isn’t bad, but doesn’t fit our sound and more importantly does not fit the energy on the record. So, we now toss those tracks out pretty quickly. It started with Father of Death and is something we did really well for Skullactic Visions. We are nitpicking more and on the new album you can feel the energy grow higher as the record plays through. It starts well and it ends well…”
 
The album ends with Final Ride, but it’s all just starting to take off and there is no mistaking the goal for Anthony and LáGoon. “I hope to achieve a Motorhead sized catalogue of music. I hope we never slow down putting out our music. Sure, it might slow down a bit in comparison to last year, when Covid is gone. Simply because shows and playing live will become a bigger part again. And we love playing live shows, we always consider us to be a live band first. We hope to be one of those bands that can consistently put out a decent album every year. And with over a thousand albums released every day, just to be able to float high enough so you’re able to keep people’s attention on you for an extended amount of time. And most importantly, still be great buddies, and with other subjects to talk about…”

(Written by JK)



donderdag 29 april 2021

Rest In Peace … Will Mecum …

 


Rest In Peace … Will Mecum …

Today and tomorrow we will play nothing but Karma To Burn, Admiral and Treasure Cat. Even though I’ve had the opportunity to interview the rest of your motley gang; I never had the pleasure of meeting up with you. But I did have the pleasure of seeing Karma To Burn at many stages and in many of their incarnations. And you were always there of course. I love Karma To Burn and will forever cherish all those evenings we spent together. You on stage, me going crazy in the midst of the crowd. The gig always building in intensity and always waiting for that one word of pure release…


Here’s to you Will! Tequila!

woensdag 28 april 2021

Feedback Loop – LáGoon

  

Feedback Loop – LáGoon

We’ve decided to start doing an interview or two whenever we desperately feel the need to try and dive deeper into the mind of a certain artist. Or simply just because we love their work! And since we’re probably going to review their newest record as well, why not have them read it first and reply to it… Might be fun? Right? Or very uncomfortable? Grin!  So, here’s a word from the band we sponsor, the first bang on the blurb, feedback pirouette, rapid response, freakback, backlash, yes, Feedback Loop!


First up… LáGoon’s Anthony Gaglia on the little thing we wrote about their new amazing record Skullactic Visions… If you haven’t, you can read the review HERE… And read Anthony’s Feedback now…

Anthony Gaglia

“Man, that’s a hell of a review. Thanks for the kind words. I especially love that you picked up on or singled out Buried. Cause when that track was born we kind of thought it would be used to open the record with. But we felt that the flow of the energy on the album was just as we wanted it, in the way we recorded the songs. The order of them. Yes, we recorded them exactly in the order that they are now on the record. So, still Buried will probably open the B-side of the album, but it will also remain this weird little snippet or interlude on the digital version. You know, it’s also a song that was just born out of that drum part and instead of doing guitar parts and stuff, I decided to just do this wavey rising synth part over it. And then it just stayed that way. You also mention Beyond The Trees being the most doom of them all, well, there were some moments when I considered using it for The Crooked Whispers instead. But as I said, the energy felt perfect for this record with Cold Smoke as opener and this track as the follow-up, and we are more about the right kind of energy than anything else...”

 



The rest of the interview will go up soon… More about the new Skullactic Visions record, more about Anthony Gaglia and more about LáGoon and The Crooked Whispers soon! Very soon!


LáGoon – Skullactic Visions

 

 

LáGoon – Skullactic Visions
Interstellar Smoke Records / Forbidden Place Records – 2021
Rock, Doom, Garage, Punk, Psych, Skate, Fuzz, Stoner, Metal
Rated: *****

The two that turned into three stayed LáGoon and became it even more. For the sound on their new album Skullactic Visions seems to be taking on its definite doom garage signature. Creepy vocals with psychedelic effects were always one of the elements that set LáGoon apart, but they’re now taking center stage on certain tracks, like the title track for instance and that lovely first shot of the album: Cold Smoke. A fast paced opener that riffs and roars and has wild face melting guitar solos to complement that eerie voice. A fade-out takes us into Beyond The Trees, the utmost doom track of the seven, which starts with an ominous riff before the garage sounding drums add its layer. The speed-up towards the end shows once again that LáGoon takes no prisoners and follows no rules but their own, and you will therefor never know what kind of heaviness might be lurking just around the corner. One of the most alluring and enticing tracks might be the one minute fourth effort called Buried; which might be viewed as an interlude or an unfinished wild idea. Perhaps the three goons have decide to only play that one out in full whenever they perform live? A blasting drum march with an intense menacing atmosphere. Which continues throughout the rest of the album, which sends you off with a proper sleazy instrumental last track called Final Ride. A finale if ever there was one. Slow in delivery, but decisively so. Like a sun setting over a ruined wasteland and giving you a vision of those last final glimmers of light hitting bone…


(Written by JK)


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Want to know what LáGoon thinks of the review? 

The Feedback Loop is about to go up!


maandag 26 april 2021

Stonus – Séance

 

 

Stonus – Séance
Electric Valley Records – 2021
Rock, Stoner, Hardrock,
Rated: *****

The promo arrived at the end of January. After which the new Stonus EP Séance quickly made its way onto the digital carrier we take with us everywhere. It remained a high favorite and whenever the device had gone full circle we loved hearing those three Stonus tracks again. And again. And again… We just forgot to write a few nice words about them and give the boys some real credit. For they highly deserve every bit of attention we can give them! For the three tracks are damn fine executed hard rocking, full trucking, stoner efforts. With their guitars on a dirty tuneage, the groove is mighty and the fuzz is filthy. With some spacey effects the drive is forward, ever forward towards that desert horizon. If you happen to get a few flashbacks of some great Monster Magnet moments somewhere along the line, you are not wrong. It’s the composition and the instrumentation along with that wide vista they create that just might do such a thing. And of course there are also the vocals to take into account, even only vaguely reminiscent of the Wyndorf maestro, it does hit that right, intensely sweet spot every time again. As three track EP’s go; you simply can’t do better! You might even conclude that you simply can't do better than Stonus!


(Written by JK)


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Stoner HiVe’s Top 10 Most Listened Albums Last Week…

 

 

Stoner HiVe’s 

Top 10 Most Listened Albums Last Week…


The Marigold
LáGoon
Robots Of The Ancient World
1968
Komatsu
Per Wiberg
Supervoid
The Marred
Backwood Spirit
Redemption

zaterdag 24 april 2021

Rift Giant - Cataclysm

 

 

Rift Giant - Cataclysm
Planet K Records - May 2021
Sludge, thrash, stoner
Rated: *****

Cataclysm is the second rampaging full-length from Danish sludge duo Rift Giant, and it's a monster. Wielding crushing and intricate riffs like seasoned battle axes and battering rams for drums, the two-piece cut a noisy swathe across eight epic tracks. High on Fire immediately springs to mind as inspiration for the thrashy sludge, but the Danes succeed in carving out their own identity with a fury that would make Matt Pike proud. Opener "Into the Rift" accomplishes its mission statement by dragging the listener downward into an abyss of swirling guitar, eventually dropping them into a melee of rolling drums and galloping fuzz. The vocals are gargling and grating, a perfect fit for the filthy onslaught of noise. "Hubris" cranks it up another notch with "Fury Whip" level aggro, a mad dash of whiplash-inducing riffs and a razor sharp, barn burner of a solo. Not beholden to just the kinetic energy of thrash, Rift Giant keep things dynamic by smoothly transitioning between stomping, fuzzed out distortion and piercing, almost proggy guitar leads. "Queen Witch" continues this interplay, but it's soon an all-out sonic assault with the frantic and dizzying "Slaves, she made us". Cataclysm lives up to its name in the sheer power that the band churns out, even more impressive for the fact that it's just two guys behind the onslaught. This is no-holds-barred, turn-it-to-11 thrashy sludge, and there's no denying the unstoppable force that is Rift Giant.


(Written by Shasta Beast)


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vrijdag 23 april 2021

The Grubs – Bad Taste

 

 

The Grubs – Bad Taste
Self-released – 2021
Punk, Garage, Skate
Rated: ****

The drummer from Black Hatch, who operates the Pretty/Spooky Sounds studio recorded the new Bad Taste EP by four-piece The Grubs and it will immediately convince you from that very first track Doin’ Drugs In The Driveway to fry some braincells and windmill like a maniac. The six raging punk tracks will come across as the adolescent and mildly provocative rotten rock songs we all love so dearly from the golden age of punk. But there is a certain sense of humor lurking here that just, even with a sense of reluctance, elevates it all to a higher level. With The Grubs you know you’ve got a classic punk band on your hands in every sense of the word. Machine gun vocals, fired at will, and that lovely fuck it all atmosphere we associate with the skater punk scene. Spunky and choppy drums that speed every one of those six tracks ever forward, no respite, barreling through every conceivable roadblock, keeping the tempo scorching fast, while those bulky riffs or indeed needle-point ones, have you laboring under the idea that you’re speeding towards your inevitable end, deliriously laughing at all those silly people down the road, who never understood what this thing is really all about… It’s about that punk thing, that don’t take it all so seriously thing, that The Grubs thing… And shit, you know you’re not gonna die, you’re gonna skate, in Skateland!


(Written by JK)


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donderdag 22 april 2021

The Marigold – Apostate

 

 

The Marigold – Apostate
Sound Effect Records/Forbidden Place Records/Trepanation Records/Coffin & Bolt Records/Golden Robot Records – 2021
Sludge, Hardcore, Post, Metal, Grunge, Alternative, Stoner, Doom
Rated: ****

Founded in 1998 by Marco Campitelli, the Italian (now) three-piece The Marigold have returned with a new album entitled Apostate. And just like the one that came before it is produced by and featuring Toshi Kasai from the Melvins and mastered by Amaury Cambuzat from Faust and Ulan Bator. We’re served eight alternative, grunge and sludge rockers. Still highly alternative, it is without any doubt their most accessible piece of metal; with even catchy stoner and captivating doom moments interspersed throughout the record. The sound often moving more into Mike Patton or Tool territory. Aiding them on guitars is also Adam Harding (Dumb Numbers, Kidbug and Thor of the Swans), delivering those extra layers of string texture. The entire album is, simply put, so pleasing to the heavy rock loving ear that this will immediately become your favorite The Marigold album and puts that former wild Kanaval album from 2014 to pasture. Apostate seems to renounce much of that noise and experimental juice they produced on their earlier records, and moves distinctly into high point territory; seeing the waves of noise crash just before their feet. Highly inspirational; and a luscious take on the alternative metal sound!  


(Written by JK)


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The Doomies 2021

 

 

The Doomies 2021

It was a covid-proof celebration of all that amazing heavy stuff that came out in 2020, the first edition of the Doomed & Stoned Awards, The Doomies 2021. Nearly 30K unique votes were cast… And the stream was very nicely hosted by John Gist of Vegas Rock Revolution, Blasko of Ripple Music & Volume Forever and Billy Goate, the man behind Doomed & Stoned and initiator of this award ceremony…

And incase you missed it, that live 4/20 stream, it can still be viewed HERE… Congratulations to all that got nominated and ofcourse and extra universal nod and ‘hell yeah’ for the ones who took away the award. Here are the winners!


Best Album – Lowrider - Refractions

 

Best Song - Dopelord  - World Beneath Us

 

Best Band - All Them Witches

 

Best Cover Song – Clutch - Fortunate Son

 

Best New Band – Slomosa

 

Best Debut Album - Hail the Void - Hail The Void 

 

 Best Record Label - Heavy Psych Sounds

 

Best Album Art - Ryan T Hancock 

for King Buffalo - Dead Star

 

 

Let’s hope it becomes a yearly event and every year better still! Well done to one and all!


The Doomies 2021


maandag 19 april 2021

Nest – Crystallized

 

 

Nest – Crystallized
Self-released - April 16th 2021
Doom, Sludge
Rated: ****

Kentucky Doom Duo NEST unleash two leviathan, sprawling tomes of crippling doom on their debut release "Crystallized". Track one, "Mind Overcomes All" crawls in on stuttering, primitive beats, atmospheric dread growing by the second until the lethargic riff heaves into action, building the tension whilst sinister synths lurk ever-present in the mire, shuddering to a halt in fuzzed-out, booming power chords. "Death Comes For Us All" opens in gentle fans of sweeping synths and quiet guitar meltings until the filth kicks in: Industrial beats  underpin scabrous guitar snarls and smoldering atmospherics. Inhuman shrieks pepper the dismal gloom and then the massive wall of bass-heavy riffage kicks in to quaking effect. Inventive, deliciously twisted and attention-grabbing, "Crystallized" is 33 minutes of pure, punishing Doom.


(Written by Reek of STOOM)


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Stoner HiVe’s Top 10 Most Listened Albums Last Week…

 

 

Stoner HiVe’s 

Top 10 Most Listened Albums Last Week…


The Vintage Caravan
Motorpsycho
The Offspring
Acid’s Trip
Fat Bertha
Fuzzthrone
1968
‘68
Razorbats
Dropkick Murphys


zondag 18 april 2021

1968 – Salvation, If You Need…

 

 

1968 – Salvation, If You Need…
No Profit Recordings – 2021
Rock, Stoner, Hard, Blues, Garage, Metal, Grunge
Rated: ****

It felt like pure poetic justice to also review 1968 on the same day we mention ’68. Our mind drifted back to Ballads Of The Godless, that amazing album from 2018 which you all massively voted for when the Stoner HiVe Top 20 Countdown rolled around that year. Making it reach Number 17. For all those crazies that voted back then, the new record Salvation, If You Need… will surely be right up your alley and will get your vote without a second thought! It is their second full-sized album and all of the ten tracks turned into the heavy and full volume rockers we loved on Ballads Of The Godless. Severely gritty, powerful and wild these tracks will race straight into your heart like a marauding gang of bikers running fast and loud on an early morning freeway, tense for action. You know the types, chain wearing, shades sporting, greasy Levis wearing long haired good old boys. And you will immediately join that motley gang, beards and bandana’s flapping and rocking out like the burst of dirty thunder that it is. And really, do we need to say more? It’s everything you love about Thin Lizzy, Black Sabbath, Jimi Hendrix and all the heaviness in between. And when you pay homage by covering Guts, one of the best Budgie tracks, you are alright in my book and can have my vote any day! So if you’re looking for something good and heavy, for something heavy and good, if you are in desperate need to hear that motoring sound which we all love so much or are looking to be redeemed… Shit, here’s Salvation, If You Need…


(Written by JK)


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’68 – Give One Take One

 

 

 ’68 – Give One Take One
Chariot Music/Cooking Vinyl/V2 – 2021
Rock, Garage, Noise, Blues, Punk, Hardcore, Post
Rated: ****

I’m not a fan of bandnames that already exist. But I reckon we mentioned that a few times before. Why name your band that way if there’s already a band with that name? I’m also not really a fan of bandnames that are so vague, short or almost impossible to do good searches on. I’m mean, you could have at least named yourself The ‘68 Noise Circus. Or Ending ’68 On A Noise Note. Or They Are ’68, like your homepage, bandcamp, facebook, twitter and such are all named? Or I don’t know. Just, something a bit more than just ’68! But hey, that’s just me and I’m just a crazy dingbat as we all know. However silly the bandname, the music is not! These two scallywags make an awful lot of racket and the good kind at that! Two albums have come; but this one produced by Nick Raskulinecz takes the noise to an entirely new level. The album is called Give One Take One and we are treated to ten tracks filled to the brim with noise, punk, garage, hardcore and the post versions of it. But there’s also that bluesy edge and something that moves from bombastic to catchy like quicksilver. Melodic when it wants and just as easily energetic as well as modest and gentle. The ’68 two have delivered a highly varied and explosive rollercoaster of chaotic magic!


(Written by JK)


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Skraeckoedlan – Arise The Sun

 
 
 
Skraeckoedlan – Arise The Sun


How many times have you listened to that new Skraeckoedlan single Universum? We’ve had it on repeat ever since it premiered on The Obelisk back in February. It was the lead single for their new soon to arrive album on The Sign Records and a re-imagining of some of their earlier work, Cactus to be exact. And now there’s a second one called Arise The Sun! Which was recorded in English and as Universe on their 2011 album Äppelträdet. Once again a rampaging showcase for these four Swedish riffmasters! Can’t wait to hear it all! And not just because you all voted massively for Äppelträdet back in 2011… It reached Number 4 in the Stoner HiVe Top 20 Countdown of 2011. Are they re-recording Äppelträdet in total?
 
 

donderdag 15 april 2021

The Vintage Caravan – Monuments

 

 

The Vintage Caravan – Monuments
Napalm Records – 2021
Rock, Hardrock, Seventies, Prog, Psych, Blues
Rated: *****

Oh, how they have grown! How that sweet seventies inspired rock sound of the Iceland trio The Vintage Caravan has exploded and turned into a majestic wave of musicality. Testament to it all is the new record Monuments. Eleven wild tracks that feel just as proggy as all that goodness that came out of the seventies and just as hard and heavy. And even a slow song, like a late seventies, early eighties ballad, called This One’s For You that reminds in its melody of ‘As The World Falls Down’ by Bowie immediately convinces and takes you with it on its emotional journey. It speaks of the loss of Óskar Logi Ágústsson’s brother and is indeed a highly passionate song. Which is followed by one of the more ominous tracks on the record called Forgotten. A ballsy track that starts out like a heavy trucking, speeding hardrocker and with it’s 8.11 is one of the true cathedrals on Monuments. It has every aspect of The Vintage Caravan in it and it sounds so rounded, so well composed and well-produced, it’s almost scary. The way they also dared to dive more into the personal side of song-writing also shows the amount of growth the power-trio has gone through. Cause the 8 minute, 15 second closing track Clarity is once again a sensitive effort that move into gigantic territory with its choir, when it comes to grand gestures. But don’t think its all heavy on the emotional side; there’s also enough hard rocking riffs, intense drums and wild bass work to enjoy! Just check out Sharp Teeth, Said And Done or Dark Times. Well, I’ve seen them live so many times I lost count; and I definitely can’t wait to see this new material performed live once again! And if it is one of the first shows we will see after the pandemic, things might get a bit too emotional… Once again…


(Written by JK)


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Motorpsycho – Kingdom of Oblivion

 

 

Motorpsycho – Kingdom of Oblivion
Stickman / Konkurrent – 2021
Rock, Prog, Free
Rated: ****

When the new record of our jazzy Norwegian friends suddenly appeared a month or two ago; we immediately fell in love with the opening track The Waning Pt. 1 & 2. That driving rhythm, those propelling riffs, that melody, that theme, that refrain, all so wonderfully circling each other. Motorpsycho did it again! It was only after shouting it out across every rooftop we could find that we loved the new Motorpsycho album that we read the press-release. After which we found out that most of Kingdom of Oblivion was recorded during the The All Is One sessions and that the boys just did not think these compositions would fit among that majestic release. Well, we’re lucky that they at least released them, cause hottdamn, these are so intense and so good once again. Cause we already mentioned that circling aspect, but it is so prevalent on this record and it seems to do so around every conceived theme. They often feel like giant improvisations that immediately turned into a full fledged rock song. And then there is the meaning behind it all, the bigger picture, the larger legacy; so well described by Jasper from that great No Man’s Valley outfit and his own Weirdo Shrine blog: “Motorpsycho at least spoke out, had their say. It might not be too late for us. But if it is, and some future civilization will dig out this record they will hear a perfect echo of what this age of man was about: what great powers of creation we possess, and what great powers of destruction at the same time.Kingdom of Oblivion, another warning and another great moment in music…


(Written by JK)


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dinsdag 13 april 2021

Draken - Draken

 

 

Draken - Draken
Majestic Mountain Records - March 2021
Stoner, heavy metal, progressive, psych
Rated: *****

Oslo, Norway has gifted the heavy underground with an absolute riff machine in Draken and the trio's self-titled debut. Filled to the brim with full speed, razor sharp grooves and fiery fretwork, the seven tracks are a progressive fusion of stoner, psych, and classic heavy metal. One constant throughout is an urgent and tireless energy that pushes forward with riff after riff and rolling drums, bursting forth in the gallop of opener "Realm of Silence" and rarely letting up. The bass is a chunky, rock solid backbone of groove, and the earnest vocals have a punk edge to them that blends perfectly with the band's frenetic drive. Standout "Way Down Low" delivers one of many memorable riffs, a rollicking, winding lick that leads to a gloriously fuzzed solo with epic vibes nearing power metal levels. The Red Fang is strong with follow-up "Grand General", lashing out with harsh, crunchy jabs and a killer bass groove. Something of a breather is finally given in the earworm "(We Walk In) Circles", as the somber and subdued vocals build up atmosphere with haunting keys. The track soon plunges into grating guitar, spiraling down and eventually back to the eerie, patient vibes of before. Every cut on Draken's debut is a gold mine of razor-sharp riffing and airtight drums, and the trio display a passion for the fist-pumping tradition of heavy metal while pushing forward progressive and straight-up addictive guitarwork.


(Written by Shastabeast)


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maandag 12 april 2021

The Mountain King – The Smell Of Stars And Vomit

 

 

The Mountain King – The Smell Of Stars And Vomit
Cursed Monk Records – 2021
Rock, Doom, Drone, Metal, Psych, Space, Ambient
Rated: ***

It arrived late December 2020 and even though a new release called C.A.O.S.D. is already announced; we are still trying to come to grips with that earlier The Mountain King release The Smell Of Stars And Vomit. It turned into a mountainous one man operation by Mr. McQueen, except for the mastering, which was done by Monolord's very own Esben Willems. The entire project is over one and half hour long and will take you through ever rabbit hole you ever imagine existed. It is almost ridiculous in scale and almost too wild in all its imagining. There is a lot of drone and ambient contemplation; but it will never completely forgo that which it clearly sets out to do: tell a story. A space opera that will move you to tears with its tales of desperation and despair; and will flaunt your heart with glimmers of hope and faith. With enough proggy touches, metal bass work and glowing post rock sections The Smell Of Stars And Vomit will entice you back for more; whenever you know you have two hours to spare. For it is something you need to experience in one go, lying down, being slowly being engulfed by it all and then whisked away towards that endless plane of vacuum and infinite void….


(Written by JK)


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King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – L.W.

 

 

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – L.W.
KGLW – 2021
Rock, Psych
Rated: ***

Even though we’ve been digging a lot of the King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard releases ever since its conception, it still was a bit of a surprise that there were so many of the HiVe crazies that voted for Infest The Rats’ Nest back in 2019 to make it reach the Stoner HiVe Top 20 Countdown of that year. It wasn’t a surprise however that after the release of K.G. back at end of 2020 that a L.W. release would follow. It is the seventeenth album in nine years and it will throw you for a loop, going from unwielding to bizarre to whimpering to cheeky to epic to wild to I’m gonna rip my arms of an beat you to death with it. It might be one of the aspects to microtonal exploration that this and sister album K.G. entail. Still imploring loads of Eastern influences and wild rhythms and patterns it is without a doubt a quirky album that might not get every heavy crazy on board this time around. Definitely no Rats’ Nest, there is still some heavy psych and sludge shredding to be discovered. Just wait around for final track K.G.L.W. for example… It will, however, perhaps even against you will, induct you into the ranks of KGLW… Oh hey, and if you buy the album on bandcamp; it will also have you adopt or plant a tree through Greenfleet, which restores biodiverse forests in Australia and New Zealand. Good plant! Good plan!  


(Written by JK)


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Stoner HiVe’s Top 10 Most Listened Albums Last Week…

 

 

Stoner HiVe’s 

Top 10 Most Listened Albums Last Week…


Jack Harlon & The Dead Crows
LáGoon
Abel Blood
Lowrider
Liar Thief Bandit
Wood Witch
Amammoth
Filthy Hippies
Heavy Feather
Lazer Beam

zaterdag 10 april 2021

Zac Crye – All The Same

 

Zac Crye – All The Same
Jamspace Records – 2021
Rock, Desert, Stoner, Psych, Grunge
Rated: ***

The man behind this one man band project is Zac Crye and that’s how he logically named his project. Not everyone might immediately recognize his name; but he has already earned his spurs with bands like Stronger Than All and Hudu Akil. This new solo release is called All The Same and entails five tracks. Five tracks that move through the desert and stoner rock landscape and often has this distinct Palm Desert vibe to them. With some psychedelic accents, a definite show of love for the seventies era and a grunge attitude, all of the tracks will definitely move the desert rock loving freak inside of you. But it is without any doubt closing track The Road with an old mindfulness, meditation guru doing his weird spoken word magic, that will make you fall in love with this EP. What a track; it will definitely put you in a different state of mind! Zac Crye, now we know!  


(Written by JK)


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donderdag 8 april 2021

Abel Blood – Keeping Pace With The Elephants

 

 

Abel Blood – Keeping Pace With The Elephants
Self released – 2021
Rock, Metal, Stoner, Doom
Rated: ****

It’s a Name Your Price album over on bandcamp; and it will forever be worth more than you will pay for it. There, we’ve said it. Indeed. And now what? Now, we keep returning to the five-track debut release by New Hampshire three called Abel Blood. It’s called Keeping Pace With The Elephants and its an uncut diamond of stoner and doom metal beauty. The drawling, speaking vocals, leave a big mark on the title track and give it this extra intriguing edge. The same can be said for the funny titled opening track The Day That Moby Died. But it’s not just the sparsely doses vocals that set this release apart. There are also those tiny parks of post punk and almost kraut influences that highlight the otherwise grimy, almost lo-fi rock that is coursing through the veins of Abel Blood. Motifs and riffs seem to translate something forlorn; like a lone figure standing in the rural or urban landscape. Waiting for the sky to fall, the Elephants to pass by and for this stoner noirscape recording to stop   tingling the spine. Good, great, almost defiantly majestic!


(Written by JK)


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