Off to France…

 

 

Off to France…

Gonna do a little two week tour of France; will be back around the Fourth of July!

Fastflows – Noon

 

 

Fastflows – Noon
Self released – 2021
Rock, Hard, Stoner, Blues, Grunge, Alternative
Rated: ***

Fastflows is just another rock band based in Sardinia. And that Sardinian based rock band has just delivered their first three track EP called Noon. It’s a Sardinian power trio that rock band called Fastflows and the three tracks on the EP start off with a new version of their 2019 single Barking Smiles. A grungy rockers that implores touches from space rock and little prods of an eighties sound. It convinces you that the power-trio are blessed with the sacred fire of rock, heavy rock and that alternative edge. The second track Lowland was also present on that 2019 single and starts out with a more psych and stoner edge before turning into a rocker aiming for the grand gestures and the arena sound. It’s the instrumental track titled Wheels that ends this trio of Sardinian rock, which quickly batters its sound into your heart and it will touch your naked soul with the proggy ditties that follow and you will scream, ‘here’s another cripple like yourself love’! Indeed, it reminded me of something for some weird reason, a long forgotten line from an awesome track. And then your rolling on and you’re rolling gone and you will feel like you belong there on that island, under the sun, with just another rock band based in Sardinia called Fastflows…

(Written by JK)

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Low Flying Hawks – Subatomic Sphere

 

 

Low Flying Hawks – Subatomic Sphere

Sometimes a press release is just the perfect and simple summation of what’s about to happen. In this case it announced the arrival of the new single Subatomic Sphere by Mexican-American doomgazers Low Flying Hawks, which is the first of the forthcoming third full-length "Fuyu", which will be out through Magnetic Eye Records and will arrive in stores on August 27. Awesome news and awesome track! 

Check it out below...

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

 

 

Stoner HiVe’s 

Top 10 Most Listened Albums Last Week…

Magic Chicken Fudgetoe
Shun
A Better Tomorrow
Jess And The Ancient Ones
Octohawk
Trillion Ton Beryllium Ships
Hellgrimm
Monster Magnet
Billy Gibbons
Satlan

Ganesha – The Gardener

 

 

Ganesha – The Gardener
Self released – 2021
Rock, Stoner, Metal, Southern, Psych
Rated: ****

They hail from the Barcelona, Spain and the three crazies make more righteous ruckus than an eighteen tons steamroller crashing through a precious china shop. It’s Ganesha and they hit us with a two track release called The Gardener, which opens with a majestic stoner metal track called Mad Trucker. It will rev you up, get your energy flowing the right way and will make you aim for the horizon at top speed. Indeed, it will hook, line and sink you within seconds! It’s four minutes and fourteen seconds long and they go by in a mad max flash! It’s followed by the release’s namesake The Gardener, which will give you twelve minutes of absolute powerful chugging and fierce riffing. This is some bad ass powerful stuff you start to think. Savage, frantic and that’s… when the real music starts, you suddenly feel like a werewolf, howling at the moon and waiting for the edge to crawl ever closer. Cause these cats suddenly turn in complete acid freaks and weave you a psychedelic landscape to lick weird powder to; luring you ever closer. And then kicking you over for a righteous finale! Indeed, good Ganesha comes on heavy and goes out even heavier!

(Written by JK)

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ELCAM - AXE

 

 

ELCAM - AXE
Self released - May 2021
Stoner, psych, sludge, instrumental
Rated: ****

Instrumental French duo ELCAM have been doling out ten-ton stoner rock since 2013, and show no signs of slowing down on their fourth album AXE. With only a guitar and drums at their disposal, the two piece conjure up a massive sound bands with longer rosters would be envious of. The guitar tone is gnarly and sludgy, heavy enough to plow right past any talk of missing low end, and the drumming is masterfully tight and wildly dynamic. Like the best instrumental albums, AXE brings so much to the table that vocals are simply unneeded. The listener is ushered into the dark, noisy world of ELCAM with opener "Bipolar", ominous feedback slowly building to a razor wire riff, and layers of distortion and drums are gradually added until it all comes together in a relentless, driving onslaught. A brief psychedelic break changes things up and adds to the foreboding atmosphere, with keening guitar slowing down the tempo before the track soon bursts back into furious noise. "Tightrope" is another highlight cut of the album, laying down a slick, jazzy shuffle of lightning fast drums alongside RATM-style guitar squeals. The core riffs are angular and abrupt, cutting through tirelessly pounding drums. A break emerges with taut, laser-focused guitar that lives up to the song's name, so sharp in attack and tone it feels like a deadly balancing act. The remaining journey through the album is a treasure trove of equally nasty riffs and brilliant musicianship, making AXE a truly lethal weapon of stoner rock in ELCAM's capable hands.

(Written by Shastabeast)

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Saliga – Förödelsetrilogin

 

 

Saliga – Förödelsetrilogin
Self released – 2021
Rock, Free, Prog, Psych, Instrumental
Rated: ***

The two from Malmö, Sweden started this Saliga project to get rid of all the possible rules that they felt they had to follow in other bands, projects or perhaps society. That part is a bit unclear; but their goal when they set out on this adventure isn’t. It’s about pushing the boundaries and stepping over them with total disregard. But did they actually do that? Three instrumental tracks, recorded in their own build studio, meander through the free rock and psychedelic landscape. Very earthy tones seem to communicate with more spacey or spacious compositions giving off this air of perspicacity, turning everything around you on, making it all come alive. Like some electric gonzo dada magic they incorporate jazzy elements to evoke some weirdness before reverting back to the heavy dream do da they do so well. And that is definitely the magnetic power of Saliga on Förödelsetrilogin, their ability to hypnotize you with their slow moving reveries and the way they let the guitar whisk you away even if there is a heavy undercurrent of something slightly ominous surrounding you. Cause you know, it’s not always a good thing when everything around you comes alive. A living samurai with the wrong kind of disposition might just cut yer head clean off… So, being whisked away before that happens is a good day. And not breaking all the rules and actually just using most of the colors possible to paint twenty by twenty paintings on five by five canvasses might be better then disregarding them totally. We need to keep an eye on the two from Saliga, cause this is a first trilogy of trilogies in a trio of trilogies, and well, they’ve got some dangerous magical trickery in their arsenal…

(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
Venus Flycatchers
Hermit’s Weedsom
Shun
Moon Coven
Book of Wyrms
Billy F Gibbons
Year Of No Light
Melissa
Octohawk

Hermit’s Weedsom – As Above, So Below

 

 

Hermit’s Weedsom – As Above, So Below
Self released – 2021
Rock, Instrumental, Stoner, Psych, Metal, Prog
Rated: ***

Progression is key with these two cats! Indeed, Hermit’s Weedsom is a duo from Rennes, France and they play some heavy instrumental metal, with overtones of stoner and some psychedelic touches. On their sophomore full-sized album As Above, So Below they treat us to eight tracks that seem to progress ever higher or ever lower before collapsing unto itself. By sheer weight or force or will. For they seem to have moved at the speed of inspiration, letting the muse or the universal unconsciousness dictate wherever the track needed to go. There is light in the dark and dark in the light, and those opposites seem to perfectly complement each other on this record. There’s a distinct esoteric feel about these tracks and that alone makes it all an extra special experience to be a part of. Headphone music for the heads, the alchemists, the freaks, the beat poets, the crazies and the heavy prog loving fiends. Count me in!

(Written by JK)

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Billy F Gibbons – Hardware

 

 

Billy F Gibbons – Hardware
Universal / Concord Records – 2021
Rock, Blues, Surf, Desert
Rated: ****

Wow. Been fortunate enough to see ZZ Top quite a few times live and they’ve always managed to make it all look so damn easy. Looking cool and rocking hard. They’ve got their sound and they’ve got their style and it will never disappoint. But does it surprise? Perhaps not that often. But that’s where Billy Fucking Gibbons comes in! Sure, the first few tracks on the new Hardware album are all good or better yet, the best he ever recorded solo. And then there are even tracks that are better than those from the best ZZ Top period. Just check out More-More-More for instance. West Coast Junkie is the first track he wrote after Austin Hanks and Matt Sorum kidnapped him and took him out into the desert. No, not in the mafia kind of way! And West Coast Junkie has turned into this wild mixture of surf and desert, perfect for a Tarantino soundtrack and for every hot and steamy night out there, where the danger lurks. And where the dirt is just around the corner, as we can hear in his dirty ode to Spanish Fly. And sure, he’s been there before, in the desert you know, with Josh Homme at Rancho De La Luna. But this was a different studio, Escape Studio and a whole new ballgame. But his love for the desert, the mysteries and the danger are obvious and get that extra supernatural delightful treatment with this album and final track Desert High in particular. Since he was unsure of how to sing the lyrics, Matt suggested he’d read them out loud first to see how it would sound. If it really is the first take, as the man suggested, we hear on the record is best left a mystery, but somehow the desert, has made Billy Fucking Gibbons sound like Leonard Cohen, out there near Joshua Tree. The desert knows and the desert does wonders, just listen to the new Hardware album by 71-year old Billy Fucking Gibbons. Wow.

(Written by JK)

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Magic Chicken Fudgetoe – Technicolour Misery

 

 

Magic Chicken Fudgetoe – Technicolour Misery
Self released – 2021
Metal, Thrash, Rock, Stoner, Grunge, Doom
Rated: ***

Perth, Australia. Another spot I’ve always desperately wanted to visit but which has not materialized so far. What has revealed itself to eyes, ears and heart, is that new eight track album Technicolour Misery by Perth, Australia trio Magic Chicken Fudgetoe. (Aah, that’s why you mentioned Perth.) And yes, I do love that bandname. Although Fudgetoe would have been rocking to my ears as well or Chicken Fudgetoe or Magic Fudgetoe. Anyway, enough about the bandname and on to the album. Which starts out pretty psychedelic and trippy before quickly distorting that with guttural vocals or even screams and an intensely grainy grunge sound. Which then picks up speed soon enough moving into thrash metal and hardcore territory. An eighties vibe can be felt on many of the tracks and there’s something highly energetic about it all, even that fourth instrumental track Kenny On The Couch will kick you out of whatever seat you’re in at that given moment in time. There’s a certain neck breaking tempo here that just demands every bit of your headbanging techniques. And soon other metal sparks will be flying of the wall as well. And yes, when the more slow, dragging final tracks arrive you are ready for their version of doom. Doom straight from the inferno…

(Written by JK)

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HWDU – Love Crime EP

 

 

HWDU – Love Crime EP
Self released – 2021
Rock, Punk, Stoner, Skate
Rated: ****

The four that make up HWDU (pronounced as Hoodoo, apparently) are about to release their first EP. It’s called Love Crime and holds 6 tracks and possesses quite a few different styles, which are glued together something highly infectious and entertaining. They hail from Swansea in south Wales and two of the members are also a part of Sigiriya, Suns Of Thunder and Estuary Blacks. Opener and lead single Space Punk comes out swinging and is an in your face kind of punk rocking anthem that also speeds through the stoner landscape. A ballsy and speedy hardrocking track follows before we get thrown a college rocking punky curveball in the form of Jessie. Title track Love Crime is one of those stoner grooves that will immediately capture your heart and soul, thanks to the melody, harmony and all out musical quality. And yes, those two minutes of Song For June will definitely blow you away and the final send off is intense and proper. The four that make up HWDU definitely deliver some heavy rocking voodoo! (See, you know, that rhymed…)

(Written by JK)

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Book Of Wyrms - Occult New Age

 

 

Book Of Wyrms - Occult New Age
Desert Records / Dewar PR – 2021
Rock, Seventies, Psych, Occult, Doom
Rated: ****

The past two weeks have been extremely hectic, giving us less time to listen to the good and heavy stuff out there and even less time to do the HiVe thing. But that new Book Of Wyrms record has not been passed over. In fact, it has been spinning like crazy and when the Doom Charts called for a blurb, we quickly jotted down a few words. Occult New Age is a luscious blend of seventies rock, occult metal, doom, psych and all that’s good and heavy into the spiked kool-aid we all need to drink from time to time. Together with the folky touches, this little diamond will make you flashback to all those great acid parties you might not even have experienced. You should spend a few bucks on this, let yourself loose, throw back your head and screech out the Book Of Wyrms name. Do that three times in a mirror and they might turn up in your living room for a live concert. Who knows? An Occult New Age is dawning…  

(Written by JK)

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The Doom Chart for May 2021

 

 

Doom Charts

“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” ~ Anaïs Nin

Here comes May. The wind is still fresh but the sun rises high in the sky. The golden rays nurture the soils and nature awakens. It’s time to install the summer tire set and do the oil change on our rides. I’m sure you’ve never been so happy to be back at mowing your lawn or preparing your yard or doing whatever you need to do outside in order to be ready for June knocking at our doors. It almost feels like if we are out from a long cryogenic sleep. The long pandemic winter is over. The widespread access to immunization is making the return to normalcy a more and more tangible thing. Fuck yes, we’ll soon gather in a feast of friends! The hope flows in our veins!

May is the month the most associated with fertility and I can insure you our Stoner/Doom scene has been very fecund. It’s like all these pregnant bands decided to give birth at once. Fuck guys, the nursery is full! My guess is they all wanted to be ready to take back the road. I know they are eager to show us in person their new babies but for now, let’s enjoy these digital pictures that have been brought to us along this past month. ~ Marc-Eric Gagnon

And there they were once again! Live on June 1st! The all new and all heavy Doom Charts! An amazing month once more... Personal votes went out to Surfsquatch, Book of Wyrms, A Better Tomorrow, Atomic Vulture, Savanah, Monster Magnet, Khirki, Robots of the Ancient World, Dr. Colossus, Alastor, Vokonis & Hippie Death Cult... Don't think I ever had that many choices make the final list? And of course that Number 1… Circle of Days… We mentioned it around the start of May; what an album…  

Gonna be listening to them all again; starting with Melissa's Devil's Mask album... Check'm out! Check'm all out!

Welcome to Doom Charts, representing some of the finest bloggers, journalists, radio, podcasters and album reviewers from the heavy underground around the globe.  Each month, our critics submit their picks for the best new doom, sludge metal, stoner-psychedelic and heavy rock albums.  The results are compiled and tabulated into the chart below.  This is a one-stop shop for the best new albums in the world…

The Doom Chart for May 2021