maandag 31 mei 2021

King Buffalo – Burden of Restlessness

 

 

King Buffalo – Burden of Restlessness
Stickman Records – 2021
Rock, Prog, Psych, Stoner
Rated: *****

Their Dead Star release was one of the best albums of 2020. So when King Buffalo announced they would be releasing three albums in 2021 all heads turned at once with mouth agape and a wild fluster in their hearts. Indeed, and if the quality of the following two even come close to this first one that has been released, it will become a majestic trilogy. For you know, what might be missing from loads of great albums we all love so dearly in this enormous heavy rock niche we all curl up into to hide from the outside cold. Might be a sense of urgency and the ability to transcend the mundane; offering insights and feelings about what the human condition is going through. King Buffalo have the strength and ability to make you feel that both we and they are hemmed in and torn by similar walls, frustrations and tragedies. The new album Burden Of Restlessness is dense enough to be compulsive, somewhat hard to hear at first, the precision and the fury that resides underneath the riffs and rhythms. Where Dead Star offered a same approach but all layered with different sort of shade, they now show more humility and a dazed frenzy. Burden Of Restlessness is about casualties, a search for alternatives, for something to do, something worthwhile. They emerge as masters at rendering the boredom and desperation of living comfortably in this society. Of translating the impossibility to escape the prison of prosperity. Often the sense of helplessness and impotence is not particularly pleasing; and such withering and brutal personal honesty is what now sets King Buffalo apart from most peers. The same can be said about those synapse-snapping shifts in tempo and tone or the way the bass weaves itself beneath all the different elements, lifting them up and with that emphasizing each one even more. It brings focus to every note played and every color chosen. Dense, concentrated and heavy but opening up whenever they allow the tension to slacken. The first of three... Amazing artists with sublime craftmanship...


(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…


Kyra Kira
Monster Magnet
Dr. Colossus
Rest In Haste
King Buffalo
Technicolor Blood
Guided Meditation Doomjazz
A Better Tomorrow
Dreadnought In In The Pond
Erich

zondag 30 mei 2021

Technicolor Blood – Technicolor Blood

 

 

Technicolor Blood – Technicolor Blood
Self released / Songs Of Phaedra Records / LeBackstore Records – 2021
Rock, Garage, Psych, Space, Kraut
Rated: ****

Garage space rock and psychedelic fuzz straight out of the outer reaches of the universe! All brought to you in hyper condensed form and kaleidoscopic colors. It’s the self-titled full-sized debut album by Montréal quartet Technicolor Blood. The six tracks all meander through the free rock cosmos and turns every note played into an interstellar adventure. It’s that thing we love from Uffe Lorenzen and his Baby Woodrose outfit, it’s the rock of Hawkwind and the wildness of 13th Floor Elevators. It turns smokey, hazy and granular fast; compressing the sound into something oppressive and muggy yet extremely airy and spacey. Like one of those factory cellar rooms filled with smog from machines and certain forms of smoke; but that somehow doesn’t seem to clog your lungs; and you can just keep on dancing. And dance you shall, until the spaceship lands and the boys from Technicolor Blood take a sip of the kool¬-aid going round. And then we go again…


(Written by JK)


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zaterdag 29 mei 2021

The Hawk Messengers – Scifi-Wifi

 

 

The Hawk Messengers – Scifi-Wifi
Self released – 2021
Rock, Desert, Kraut, Alternative, Psych
Rated: ****

Okay, so perhaps, not everyone was hooked on that self-titled Drug album back when it came out in 2017. But I found that alternative and experimental high desert sound pretty intoxicating! They worked with Brant Bjork's wife and artist Zaina Alwan and recorded a Jam In The Van segment at Brant’s Jalamanta Studio before slowly settling into that Drug sound. Or did they? Cause, well, they now stared a new outfit named The Hawk Messengers. And on their first release Scifi-Wifi they sound less experimental and even more addictive. Championed by Dave Catching and everything Rancho De La Luna, The Hawk Messengers now sound like pure alchemic gold. Taped loops as a fourth member and entirely spaced out rhythms create an enormous vista for you to get lost in. Inspired by a kraut rock approach and a psychedelic universe it will trip you up and send you tumbling down the hole, waiting for the (gram) rabbit to follow you down. There is something very special lurking in these six tracks, something hard to define, something electric and something triumphant. It’s that desert thing, and it seems to epitomize the air that seems to flow like water over there… Let’s swim… Are you ready to take the dive?


(Written by JK)


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dinsdag 25 mei 2021

Glass Steigal - Glass Steigal

 

 

Glass Steigal - Glass Steigal
Self released - October 2020
Alternative, americana, indie
Rated: ****

Hailing from New York, four-piece Glass Steigal share their guitar/vocalist and bassist with hard-rocking outfit 10% Reptile, but veer away from the latter's distorted attack towards a very different sound. Blending Zeppelin-esque acoustic guitar, a bit of electric via Santana, and a healthy helping of americana, Glass Steigal create an infectious and attention-grabbing sound on their self-titled debut EP. The nimble strumming and plaintive vocals of intro "Back and Forth" start things off a somber atmosphere, opened up further by the Santana-reminiscent electric lead that sneaks in to give the track an epic feel. Follow-up "For Reasons" moves to a more rocking sound with infectious, choppy rhythms thanks to acrobatic drumming, but with vocals not far off from Eddie Vedder's gentler numbers. The occasional, and welcome, electric flair is still present, and the overall feel-good vibes induce a smile and toe-tapping with ease. The sound takes a turn towards more punky americana with "Next Big Election", where a touch of 10% Reptile shines through with a slight sneer and urgency, though the vocal-driven melodies keep the flow easy and smooth. Final cut "Imitation" closes the EP with a bouncing beat that really allows the kitwork to shine, crisp and snappy while leading the biggest-sounding vocals yet, a satisfying and grooving conclusion to the energy built across the four tracks. Accomplished and creative in their sound and use of influences, Glass Steigal have created an impressive debut on the acoustic side of the rock spectrum, one that captures your attention and hints at a sound whose growth is rife with possibilities.


(Written by Shasta Beast)


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Wanna read what Shasta had to say about that 10%Reptile album?

Go HERE


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

 


Stoner HiVe’s 

Top 10 Most Listened Albums Last Week…


Doors To No Where
Bud Spencer Blues Explosion
Monster Magnet
Dr. Colossus
Fu Manchu
Stöner
Technicolor Blood
King Buffalo
Alamo Black
Electric Haze

maandag 24 mei 2021

Red Beard Wall - 3

 

 

Red Beard Wall - 3
Desert Records - July 2021
Sludge, doom, stoner, punk
Rated: ****

West Texas riff merchants Red Beard Wall return with their third album, aptly titled "3", this July, and mastermind Aaron Wall's winning formula of crushing sludge and catchy melodies delivers once again. True to form, Wall's lyrics evenly share the stage with his amps' harsh noise and the stripped down drums. Alternating between understated cleans and throat-shredding screams, the vocals are brutally earnest yet hopeful, making each track an urgent call to action against society's many ills. Even before getting to the meat of the album, instrumental opener "Tap" sets the stage with a massive, gnarly guitar tone as an earworm riff snakes along the groove. Follow-up "March Forth" then dives into the band's signature staccato drum assault, slabs of weighted sludge grinding over a very literally marching beat. The track is a powerful, no-bullshit sendup of the US's recent and current struggles, a timely and refreshing change of pace in the genre. Highlight cut "My Brothers" hits even harder, shifting from melodic beginnings to battering waves of distortion as Wall makes a heartfelt and inspiring case for himself and his fellow men to do better by their "mothers, wives, sisters, and daughters". Wails, feedback, and thunderous kit-work send the track to its epic conclusion, and the listener even deeper into Red Beard Wall's latest opus. "3" is unrelentingly heavy in every sense of the word, from a band unafraid to speak their truth and hammer it home with style and power.


(Written by Shasta Beast)


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Dr. Colossus – Lard Lad

 

Dr. Colossus – Lard Lad

The Melbourne four-piece Dr. Colossus is about to release the album with the longest title of 2021: ‘I’m A Stupid Moron With An Ugly Face And A Big Butt And My Butt Smells And I Like To Kiss My Own Butt’ One of the singles is called Lard Lad and features a freaking damn cool video!




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vrijdag 21 mei 2021

Tremor Ama – Beneath

 

 

Tremor Ama – Beneath
Self released / Salade Tomate Orion – 2021
Rock, Prog, Metal, Psych, Stoner, Sludge
Rated: ****

I do not know much about Creil in France. And I do not think I have ever been there. Although I have been to many of the cities surrounding Creil. But I now know it’s the hometown of five-piece Tremor Ama and it is a reason to visit for sure. On their second release Beneath, which will be out on June 11th, they produce some beautifully expected prog rock and metal and deliver this within the stoner and sludge boundaries we know from acts like Baroness. And especially middle track Eclipse will have you reliving those moments first hearing The Blue Album and don’t you worry now, cause we only mean that it is that good and in the same category. Or perhaps the Red Album. Either way, the following track Mirrors only solidifies your belief that you are listening to something amazing. Perfection is almost achieved with these glacial harmonics that surgically and metronomically stretch out the compositions towards something almost capable of levitation. Tremor Ama understand exactly how variations in tone, texture, tempo and melody can set apart the true artists. With so much atmosphere and soul, Beneath should be rewarded with everyone’s attention… And adoration…


(Written by JK)


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Barebone – War In Eden

 

 

Barebone – War In Eden

Barebone is a four-piece alternative hardrock and metal band from Cyprus and have just released a new single and video called War In Eden. It’s a single of grandiose proportions, baroque and symphonic and with every great metal element in the right place. Indeed, War In Eden has an enduring glow to it and the right kind of message… Thanks to their manager Zuzana for pointing us in the right direction!

 



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donderdag 20 mei 2021

Doors To No Where – Darkness Falls

 

 

Doors To No Where – Darkness Falls
Desert Records – 2021
Rock, Stoner, Punk, Grunge, Desert
Rated: ****

They’ve been around since 2010; but to be honest we’ve only been familiar with their 2016 recording The Haunting. But now that their new album Darkness Falls has gotten its hooks in us, we will definitely check out the rest of their stuff and not lose track of the trio that is Doors To No Where ever again! There’s a new bassplayer on board for this record and Fu Manchu’s very own Bob Balch riffs along on the title track and final piece of music on Darkness Falls. The orchestral and grandiose gestured Who Died? is the sixth track on the album and it’s the first hint of the magic to come on that closing title track. For it’s an almost eight minute battleship that starts off so intense and earthy and in a perfect tempo that you cannot wait to see the desert flower slowly blossom into the beauty that is. And it does, shows you every color possible and delivers itself in all its glory. Is it justified to single that one final track out? Indeed, it is not. For we have already been shocked into submission by opening banger Lie, Lie, Lie and that majestic groove of Policy could have gone on forever if we would have had a say in it. It’s all very impressive and hearing all these eight tracks shows perfectly that the Doors To No Where three know precisely what their best qualities are. And they bring it all together on Darkness Falls, perfectly balanced.



(Written by JK)


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White Tundra – Honningfella


 

White Tundra – Honningfella
All Good Clean Records – 2021
Rock, Stoner, Metal, Sludge
Rated: ****

We opened the press kit before we could download the two track of this 7inch single, thinking the EPK would deliver all the tracks, info and pr-pictures. We therefor could not help but read the following sentence: “For fans of Monster Magnet, Red Fang and Skraeckoedlan.” Sold! So, we immediately then found our way into the two tracks by Norwegian quartet White Tundra. They’re called Honningfella and One More Place and both deliver some tight stoner metal, rock and sludgy textures. Clearly inspired by classic riffs, they manage to make it all sound raw and rough, yet also retain something very catchy. With the multiple vocals it has a very rowdy and loud feeling to it. A bit manic even, but that’s exactly the way we like it! White Tundra, music to party to every night!


(Written by JK)


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Onyric Joy – Live in La Fontana 2021

 

 

Onyric Joy – Live in La Fontana 2021

The psychedelic stoner trio Onyric Joy from Barcelona is on the verge of releasing a split record with Dos Brujos, from Graz, Austria. But they’re also about to put their 2021 filmed footage from a show in La Fontana online. No crowd, just awesome music! And just to tease us all they’ve already got one of the tracks up. Oblivion from their 2017 album Tales From The First Light. Prog, psych, stoner and superb! Can’t wait to hear the rest!



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woensdag 19 mei 2021

Santa Planta - Santa Planta

 

 

Santa Planta - Santa Planta
Loneravn Records - May 2021
Doom, stoner, psych
Rated: ****

Formed in 2018 in Madrid, Spain, three-piece Santa Planta released their debut self-titled EP earlier this month, and it's been worth the wait. Taking cues from the hypnotic nod of Sleep and Sabbath bounce, Santa Planta deliver a sprawling, massively heavy debut across three epic tracks, the shortest by a long shot being just under six minutes. The slow, plodding groove and crunching fuzz are all there, and Santa Planta bring it to a new level with patience and a thunderous reward. Instrumental opener "Judas Goat" is epic, psychedelic doom echoing out over guttural bass and snappy but powerful drumming. The riffs are thick and slow as molasses, lumbering forward until a minimal psych solo eases in with feel good vibes. Follow-up "Overture" injects some aggro into thrmix, the filthy guitar tones laying down some crush 'n roll. Vocals make a sparse but powerful first appearance with lone, booming, single-syllable shouts, hammering down with the beat in the style of Pod People. The tempo eventually kicks up a notch with galloping bass and a winding riff overtop, adding some spice to the slugfest. Closer "Witches" is by far the longest track at thirteen minutes, and never outstays its welcome. The plodding waves and of distortion are hypnotic but somehow bounce at the same time, and echoing group vocals overtop seal the deal. Halfway through comes a significant shift to bright, shimmering guitar, a peaceful interlude that contrasts powerfully with the stomping low end that's never far behind. Santa Planta have delivered a mammoth slab of psychedelic doom on their first outing, impressive in both its scope and the spot on feel of the groove. These Spaniards are a crew to keep one hazy eye open for.


(Written by Shasta Beast)


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The Absurd – The Enemy_

 


The Absurd – The Enemy_ 


Will we ever know for sure if that underscore at the end of the title of this song was just a typo? Or intentional? Whatever the case, it’s not that big of a deal, unlike the new video! Yes, The Absurd has a new video online for the new single of their The Sun Still Rises album, and that new single is The Enemy_ Go check it out HERE! Or just below this...




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donderdag 13 mei 2021

Atomic Vulture – Moving Through Silence

 

 

Atomic Vulture – Moving Through Silence
Polderrecords – 2021
Stoner, Instrumental, Space, Psych
Rated: *****

I’ve just ordered the Atomic Vulture album Moving Through Silence on vinyl through the Polderrecords shop. We’re unfortunately too late for the Die Hard version, but we still managed to get our grubby little hands on that Intergalactic Orange edition. It had to be done, we could not miss out. For the three amigo’s from Brugge, Belgium have produced an amazing instrumental stoner rock album. And yes, here it comes, it will be one of the very best of the instrumental stoner rock albums you will hear in 2021. With overtones of space rock and psych, the eight tracks meander through all of the stoner related universes. Eclips serves as a proper lift-off track, destined for the outer reaches of space. Follow-up Mashika Deathride will put set you down on a distant planet and ground it all into submission; with a spooky, eerie middle part that slowly picks up speed again and then pounds it all to dirt. Amazing track! And then Coaxium starts its motif, and you cannot help but immediately fall in love with it. Three tracks in and you are shocked and awed by the three that is Atomic Vulture. Another five tracks to go on Moving Through Silence and each and every one of them is a righteous instrumental stoner rock adventure of majestic proportions. And we’re not even gonna mention that cathedral track, the closing, twelve minutes long, Astral Dream, we will just let that one transport you into whatever dimension you are needed…


(Written by JK)


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Monster Magnet – A Better Dystopia

 

 

Monster Magnet – A Better Dystopia
Napalm Records – 2021
Rock, Metal, Stoner, Space
Rated: ****

There’ve been two cover albums released recently that have been spinning ever since at the HiVe HQ. One is the Cloud Covered album by the awesome Clouds Taste Satanic, an album we will definitely mention in the very near future. O’ and we noticed Hugo just posted a write-up on his awesome Orange Maze blog, so head on over and grab an earful over there! The other one, is of course the new album A Better Dystopia by the legendary Monster Magnet. Even though we already assumed it would probably be a good one; there was a moment there that we felt a small pang of disappointment. We just really would have loved new Monster Magnet material. As we do every day. Every day. But that momentary feeling was incinerated by the thirteen amazing versions brought to you by Dave Wyndorf and his cronies. It’s loud, its filthy and it’s awesome. The thirteen tracks are all pulled out of the oubliette cesspit of psych, acid and proto-metal and indeed, not all of them are that well known. Most famous might be the Born To Go track from Hawkwind, and that one turns into one of the most fantastic tracks every to grace you ears. With a release to intense it will definitely bring you every sort of satisfaction! And after that intense closer Welcome To The Void leaves you all alone out there, at the bottom of the rabbit hole, where you will be waiting for the next Monster Magnet rocket ship to blast through the infinite space, the fourth dimension or the twilight zone with. You will realize that this is the kind of cover album the world needs right now, rough, raw and nuclear!


(Written by JK)


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zondag 9 mei 2021

GlöD - GlöD

 

 

GlöD - GlöD
Self released - April 2021
Stoner, desert, psych
Rated: ****

New Stockholm trio GlöD (Swedish for "glow") hail from both Sweden and New York, bringing a bevy of experience from different genres to create a rocking stoner outfit. Heaving with a filthy bass tone and ripping guitarwork, their debut self-titled EP is gathering well-earned acclaim. Opener "Cyanide Nights" chugs forth with a groovy desert riff and growling bass, bringing to mind Kyuss and Dozer with a savage edge added by rough vocals. Some tasty psychedelia is heard as well with blaring wahs and a classy, soaring solo. The audio comedown of the track's end is gently ushered along by the bright, creeping intro of "Reign of Fear", though  followed soon enough by the return of crushing low end and massive crashing drums. The nod is irresistible as GlöD stomps through thick and gravelly riffs between cleaner, keening desert licks, a contrast that works like a charm through the album. Third cut "Vintern 1867" brings a more laid-back vibe, gently bouncing along with warm guitar before roaring vocals take the track into a thunderous, crunching nosedive. Light, mystical guitar eventually returns with keys in tow to ease the tune into a colorful psychedelic finish. Closing and highlight cut "Creatures of Doom" brings the EP to an epic close with gothic synths leading into one of the grooviest slabs of fuzz yet. A swirling, ringing collection of strings and keys takes the tune for a brief dip into dreamier waters, before surfacing for a final push of weighted noise. With such a strong and inventive debut out of the gates, GlöD are fast-rising heavy hitters in the stoner psych arena, and are already working on new material that's hotly anticipated here at the HiVe.


(Written by Shasta Beast)


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donderdag 6 mei 2021

The Lance Vance Vengeance - Soups, Rum and Rock'n Roll


The Lance Vance Vengeance
 
'Soups, Rum and Rock'n Roll'
(Not necessarily in that order...)

Stoner HiVe got the chance recently to sit down with singer/guitarist Olivier and drummer Quentin, two of the three members of The Lance Vance Vengeance from Paris, France. A Zoom chat was fired up from across the pond to dig into their fantastic new LP “Broglie”, a mix of grunge, stoner, doom, and more, and we ended up going far beyond Zoom’s measly initial 40 minutes. We’ll spare you our collective and lengthy fanboying over King Gizzard’s double drumming and Rage Against The Machine, but after comparing notes on the COVID crisis in the US and France, we got to the meat of it. Dig in!


Stoner HiVe: How did The Lance Vance Vengeance start?

Olivier: Quentin was coming back from his studies abroad, and we moved to a home studio, located in a warehouse and played there 24/7.

Quentin: We got loads of amps and thought: we’re gonna crank this shit to fucking 10! Drinking twenty beers, and just play blues and punk. But at some point we were blocked, we needed someone else to bring more sound and melody.

Olivier: I sing and play the guitar live, so I was fucked up in my brain. I find it pretty hard doing all of that. You know, the pedals, the music, the singing, I’m not gonna make it. But the trio was later. We recorded our first EP DIY, in the home studio, over a year, just the two of us.




SH: So, what was the biggest difference recording Broglie?

O: We didn’t record it live like the EP, but with our friend Antoine, a sound engineer, at studio Vimondière.

Q: We had a schedule for the first time, 7 days to record 8 tracks.

O: We called the LP “Broglie”, the name of the city where it was recorded, because it’s really about that time in that studio. We recorded a lot of different instruments. For the song “Fog”, we have hand drums, Quentin plays a solo. It’s more of us being a studio band, not live. But for this summer, we have new songs for something more live, more punchy and more us.




SH: The record sounds super clean, and when you need to crank out the fuzz, that really hits, too. What drink and food were you living off?

Q: Haha, rum! Lots of rum. In France we have Rum Arrangè, it’s like pure rum with fruits. We actually have photographs of all the booze we drank for a week! A lot of wine too, c’mon we’re French, red wine. I’m gonna let Olivier tell about the food, cause it was complicated, haha.

O: Yeah it was funny, I had just turned vegetarian! We were stewing soups, doing heavy rock music and drinking rum!





SH: So, what was the most euphoric or exciting moment for you about the new album?

O: For me, it’s when Andre brought the cello into the studio for the song “Hooked”. Most of the songs were written for the bass guitar with six strings. For “Hooked” I wrote the guitar parts and Quentin wrote the lyrics. Andre’s cello adds a dark Alice In Chains feeling, I think it sounds marvelous.




Q: To me, it was when Olivier started to sing… Olivier was never really at ease with his own voice and singing *Olivier shakes head*. We had a difficult time with vocals, from the start. I always told Olivier “you gotta sing, I can’t sing”. It took two and a half years, and in the studio was the first time that I saw Olivier like almost at ease with the singing thing. We went to a café to not disturb him, and we came back with some berries and shit like that, and I remember vividly I came in and was like... “Shit! What is he doing right now?” I mean, the voice, really! I’m not fucking around with Olivier; it was like another person singing. I never, never, never heard Olivier sing like this before. That fucking guy! Just sang and sang and sang at home on his own, I don’t know, in the car. He didn’t tell me that he was working on his voice, he just did it! It was really something to hear him singing like this.

O: Yeah I think I’m not a natural born singer, I don’t have a really good voice. I just have the ear, so I know if I’m wrong or right, but I don’t really like my voice that much. Recording our first EP really helped me, because it was the first time I could focus on singing. It was the same in the studio. I think when you came back I just recorded “J.L.S”, which is a really heavy song, and I just spit my guts out on it. And it’s cool.

Q: The second take, I remember Andre told you “Just go with it, dude! Do your shit and we’ll see you after”, and it worked. I have tapes from the first rehearsal three years ago. Hearing those three years and the way he now sings, it’s really nice.





SH: I love how you transition on Océan and a few songs, from the clean, almost delicate guitar, and then the punch comes in. An awesome dynamic.

O: To Antoine, the sound engineer, I was like, “Turn it down”. He was like “No, no, no”. “Turn the clean guitar down, turn it down!” We get that punch in your face when it hits you.

SH: Boom! And “Fog” was a little more subdued, and then you brought the heavy in.

O: Yeah, “Fog” is where we wanted a new wave sound. There’s not really a bass because I’m playing through a guitar amp, like The Cure. We want to focus on the vocal harmonies more, me and Andre.

Q: And the funny thing with “Fog”, it was the intro of our live shows. But the first time we played it, we realized that the people were really in the zone and the “Fog” atmosphere. We said to ourselves, “Nah, that’s not an intro, that’s a song!”

O: We conceived “Broglie” as a two-sided vinyl. There’s a progression from mellow to heavy, and the opening tracks of each side had to be “Hooked” and “Océan”. “Once More” is kind of a power ballad. And we wanted to finish with “Doom”, heavy Black Sabbath. If a metalhead listens to the album, he would listen to the first two tracks and say, “Fuck this, these guys do pop music”. But if you play the whole album, it’s like ok, they’re heavy…





SH: Speaking of playing live, what are you looking forward to most when you finally get to play live again?

O: We decided in January: we’re going to playing two guitars and no bass. Andre and I are both guitarists, and we’re just sticking to one setup. If you play a song and stop, it’s different than if you can hold the stage for 25 minutes.

Q: When we go see King Gizzard, Idles, Fu Manchu, they never stop playing! And I want the live energy again. When you go out to concerts in Paris, you always meet new people and get drunk with them, that’s what I’m looking forward to. And to live my life! I miss my life. Getting back to playing gigs, that’s our life.





SH: Well, hey, before we wrap it up, is there anything you guys want to put out there for folks to know?

Q: We feel grateful to have our music out there. It’s the first time our music traveled. I mean, you’re from the US. To us, that’s, like, fucking crazy. We’ve listened to US music since we were kids! We just sent 5 vinyl records to the US last week, and to Germany, and to us that’s mind-blowing. And we are talking with you right now. We feel grateful that our music is speaking to people all over the world, that people are listening to our music. That’s all we want.


(Written by Shasta Beast)



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Hot Breath – Rubbery Lips

 

Hot Breath – Rubbery Lips
The Sign Records – 2021
Rock
Rated: ****

It was one of the three releases featured on the April Doom Charts that we had not yet heard. And when we read Eric ‘The General’ Varasifsky ‘s blurb about the new Hot Breath album, we knew we had to quickly remedy that! And after that initial track Right Time we knew that Rubbery Lips, as the album is called, would be the perfect cure for our sickness that is us missing Juliette And The Licks so incredibly hard. Cause Rubbery Lips have produced this amazing smash ‘n grab rock ‘n roller that takes you back to the seventies just as easily as to that ballsy hardrock from the eighties. It’s got proto metal vibes, fast paced garage sensations and every possible hard rocking element that you might need to get your groove on and send you all-nite jukin’! The music stands so incredibly tall, so huge, so enormous, that it will undoubtedly make you go crazy, but it’s the hellcat vocals that will make you go wild! It has a certain vibrating presence. And it will touch you with the kind of madness that drives a shark insane in a blood-stained sea…


(Written by JK)


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dinsdag 4 mei 2021

Hippie Death Cult – Circle Of Days

 

Hippie Death Cult – Circle Of Days
Heavy Psych Sounds – 2021
Rock, Garage, Psych, Stoner
Rated: *****

We’re been on a gigantic Portland trip that we did not even realize until Anthony Gaglia from LáGoon and The Crooked Whispers mentioned that both Robots Of The Ancient World and Hippie Death Cult were also from his town. And even though we were a bit late to join the cult back when those Hippies started, once 111 dropped, back in 2019, we immediately joined up and dreamed about getting their band name tattooed on one of our extremities. You guess which one. The freaks delivered that amazing album through Cursed Tongue Records and their new one Circle Of Days will soon be out on Heavy Psych Sounds. Delivering almost forty minutes of heavy goodness the five tracks move distinctly more towards the psychedelic garage, fuzzed out rock and stoner atmospheres than that world shocking earlier album, which had more doom and a more monolithic approach. This opts to weave more intricate tapestries and they transition to that form by way of opener Red Meat Tricks, which is the doomiest of the five. It’s also the track that immediately shows how the new album operates, making all the different instruments and vocals take their separate spotlight before coming all together in a dazzling spectacle of colors. Circle Of Days is the perfect follow-up to 111


(Written by JK)


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Dunerider – Ruins

 

 

Dunerider – Ruins
Self released - 2021
Doom, Sludge, Stoner
Rated: *****

It was one of the first releases we jotted down when the time came to send our list for the April edition of the Doom Charts. We had been grooving so freaking hard the past weeks to this rough and brutal little diamond! And we jumped at the opportunity to write that little blurb for this months edition; but did wonder what to write… Should we talk about the entire seven-track album that is Ruins by French outfit Dunerider? And in the process perhaps ruin some of the mammoth surprise that it might be? Or should we just mention that massive opening track Warlords? And promise that the rest of the album is just as good… For Warlords will not just shatter and crush your immediate surroundings, it aims to destroy your very being, the universe and the fabric of time. Indeed. It is that heavy! Pure doom sludge and ominous stoner… A sound that crept out of the bog to wreak havoc, rampage and lay waste to all that might stand in its way…


(Written by JK)


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maandag 3 mei 2021

Robots Of The Ancient World - Mystic Goddess

 

 

Robots Of The Ancient World – Mystic Goddess
SmallStone Records – 2021
Rock, Hard, Stoner
Rated: *****

The intro starts with a rock noir sound that reminds of The Gun Club and Madrugada before shifting gear and turning into some blissful seventies inspired rock, heavenly fuzzed, bass heavy and with those twin guitars weaving, dancing and riffing. It’s the new Mystic Goddess record by Portland quintet Robots Of The Ancient World. Recorded in the notorious Seattle Soundhouse Studios with the aid of the grunge godfather Jack Endino himself, as well as his longtime protégé Mikel Perkins, the eight tracks all have their very own identity. As we mentioned, that opening title-track has those two faces that blend wonderfully into each other. Follow-up Wasteland keeps its cards close to its chest; slow burning its soul into your heart with those passionate vocals and intensely pronounced guitars. The album turns atavistic stoner, in the very Kyuss sense of the word with that third chugging track Agua Caliente. Powerful riffs, devastating the landscape, pulverizing the dunes. Sure, there’s that widened middle part to contend with, which can be seen as the moments you stand there on top of those dunes, enjoying the view of the desert landscape. Out Of The Gallows contains in that vein and will have you howling along with the refrain without any doubt or hesitation. Colossal in every sense of the word! Which you can state about the entire record in fact, a record that shows off the many faces of Robots Of The Ancient World. And we haven’t even mentioned that cathedral, almost eleven minutes long, track called Lucifyre; which ends with quotes from a David Icke interview, if we’re not mistaken… There is no possible universe in which you will not dig this record. There is simply no way. Who do you think you are?


(Written by JK)


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Birmani – Birmani

 

 

Birmani – Birmani
Cuchabata Records – 2021
Stoner, Fuzz, Sludge, Psych
Rated: *****

These three Canadian crazies made the Doom Charts of April, and we were so glad they did. Cause we had already listened to the album and enjoyed the hell out of it. But seeing it appear on the final list and knowing that many of the Doom Charts Contributors voted for it, made me dive deeper into it. Making me fall head over heals with this album! It definitely left a mark! From Montréal, Quebec comes three-piece Birmani. On their self-titled, full-sized debut they show off their French tongue and their love for massive fuzz with loads of psychedelic influences and sludge overtones. They manage to make it all feel like old faves and new raves, from atavistic grunge to intense stoner; just as the godfathers intended. And it’s that masterful psych edge they add to most of the composition that will definitely turn you on. It’s that psych edge that also made us all fall in love with All Them Witches. And that will happen with Birmani as well. Birmani is good, Birmani is great, Birmani is the latin name for a sort of snail. And just like that slimy sucker, this three piece will definitely leave a mark…


(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…


Karma To Burn  

Robots Of The Ancient World

Skraeckoedlan

Bad Absalom 

Superlynx 

  Madhouse

Atomic Vulture

Stonus

Hippie Death Cult

 Prins Svart