Number 12

 

 

Number 12

Another twenty four points takes us from Magmakammer on Number 13 to todays Number 12. A band that reached the eighteenth position of the Stoner HiVe Top 20 Countdown of 2022 with their debut album. This is their second record. And the proto, the metal, the doom and its progressive urges, it is all there to touch the hardrock, the stonerrock and the psychedelic rock they deliver. It is also there to make sure you turn the volume up as high as you possibly can. And it will transport you to a different universe altogether, thanks to the wider atmospheric reach and a strengthening of their otherworldly realm. An album rife with many layers and dynamics, turning more and more into the album you love so dearly with every spinning session. A tale is spun, not just by the lyrics, but also with the chosen instrumentation and how that slide guitar and synth helps you travel the galactic expanse… No need for spice, just listen to this album to journey through the fold…  

According to all of your votes, on Number 12 we find: 

Sons of Arrakis - Volume II

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Black Throne Productions

Number 13

 

 

Number 13

Are you ready for some proto touched doom jive? We leave Fu Manchu on Number 14 and jump 36 points to reach Number 13. Where we find the sophomore album by this Norwegian trio. That vintage, obscure, garage and steamy sound, that hazy and dirty atmosphere, it is all so highly addictive and drags you along a mind trip of gigantic proportions. And it will feel like one psychoactive and occult touched merry go round. Round and round it goes! Gigantic is also a word one can use for the hooks, the riffs and the efficiency in which it is all delivered. The bass that seems to bop from basement walls like the relentless dripping of a leak. And a touch of sinister gives it that ominous feeling, punctuated by the drums that stomp like those evil footsteps in a dark cul de sac in the middle of the night. We might meet the devil there… But before I burn, I need to listen to this album just one more time…

According to all of your votes, on Number 13 we find: 

Magmakammer - Before I Burn

 

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Kozmik Artifactz

Evil Noise Recordings

Number 14

 

 

Number 14

 

Another minor jump in points today. Only eight points takes us from High On Fire on Number 15 to these cool cats on Number 14. Talking about legendary… They’ve perfected their hang loose, laidback version of stonerrock many years ago. Always carrying a skater or surf vibe with their releases and turning ever more into the perfect fuzzy rocking and mellow grooving hybrid. And for this album they do it in double style. For it is a double album that sharpens their fuzz skills on one side and show off how freaking smooth they can be once the other side has started. Perhaps with more glances towards the sixties and seventies this time around, but as always, with these sundried riffs and this electrifying and sunny atmosphere. As if the universe opens up for you and gives you these rapturous glances at a bright blue sky waiting for you tomorrow…

According to all of your votes, on Number 14 we find:

Fu Manchu - The Return Of Tomorrow

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At The Dojo Records

Number 15

 

 

Number 15

We climb only six points from Mr. Bison on Number 16 to reach Number 15 today. Which is album number nine for this band. The man behind the band has enlisted a new drummer and the new incarnation of the trio seems determined to bring that massive rumble that heralds the coming of a huge storm. Their sludge metal means business, and interspersed with a few Eastern melodies, instrumentation and coloring, turns the whirling riffs and thundering drums into something entirely windswept and scorching. Heat emanates from every string pulled and every riff delivered, and that intensity is constant and becomes louder with every listening session. Yes, the constant, the cadence, hammering its searing noise home. Whether the tracks and this album become as memorable as all those other eight that came before remains to be seen. But one surely must conclude that with a bonafide legend at the helm, an album will always be legendary… Like a hundred-year-storm…

According to all of your votes, on Number 15 we find: 

High on Fire - Cometh the Storm

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MNRK Heavy

Number 16

 

 

Number 16

I have forgotten to mention the jump in amount of points with every spot, but we’ve now jumped a mere four points from Blood Incantation on Number 17 to reach the album on Number 16. Where we find another heavy progressive entry. But this time they stay in that lane of musicianship. Imploring a bit of psychedelia, touching on the blues roots of yore and winking at all that lovely kraut movement and space rock, the seven tracks on this album shine with harmonic brilliance. The way they weave their progressive threads throughout the record is impressive and shows their every growing knowledge of the grand universal energies of rock. Sophisticated compositions like velvet to your ears spin their tales like the myths this story is based on. These echoes have been ringing throughout the universe since existence and the Italian four have managed to capture them all and present them to you all bottled up and shooting around like a multitude of high voltage electric charges…

According to all of your votes, on Number 16 we find:

Mr. Bison - Echoes From The Universe

 

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Heavy Psych Sounds

 

Number 17

 

 

Number 17

After those two albums we found on Number 18 yesterday, we’re moving on to Number 17 today where we find one album. An album that might start as a very mid-seventies prog rock affair, but very quickly becomes this all crushing, all leveling blackened and death like metal album. Brutal and sludgy, the combination of those styles continues on throughout the album. Moments of atmospheric and ambient sounds coloring the crimson horror with a touch of psychedelia. Two sides, made up out of three tracks each, give you six tracks in total. Six exotic compositions that tumble over each other as they strive to wow you with their virtuosity and absolute shock and awe principles. All sorts of minor details and different instrumentation gives this entire album an otherworldly atmosphere. Turning it into an album you can't stop listening to. And you long for home and your headphones quickly, whenever you think about it... But when a band starts using the flute on their death metal, you know you will not only be listenening to it at home... Hell, you will need to listen to this absolutely everywhere…

According to all of your votes, on Number 17 we find:



Blood Incantation - Absolute Elsewhere

 

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Century Media Records

Number 18

 

 

Number 18

 

After Anciients on Number 19, we now move over to Number 18. And on this little spot on the Stoner HiVe Top 20 Countdown of 2024 we find two albums with the exact same amount of points. But completely different in musical output. One of them delivers an electrifying and dizzying maelstrom of seventies rock and psychedelic prog. It’s their third album and with it they manage to retrieve that sound of yore in perfect almost sacred form. Rooted in blues, the songs are both complex, yet also so easy to stomp along with. Absolute persistent in delivering those vintage motoring riffs, the organ providing extra fuel and power to reach every destination possible. And you will be there with them, with a heart full of glee. That other album brings the cosmic doom, the machinal sludge, and the boom that makes your house quake. Shit, it makes the entire neighborhood vibrate, for the delivery is seismic and crushing! And even then they manage to turn all that heaviness into something extremely hallucinogenic, trippy, atmospheric and droning. An album fated to bring their brilliance out into the open for the entire world…

According to all of your votes, on Number 18 we find two albums:

Sacri Monti – Retrieval    

&

Ufomammut – Hidden    

 

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Tee Pee Records 

 

 

Ufomammut Bandcamp

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Ufomammut Homepage

Neurot Recordings

Number 19

 

 

Number 19

The Stoner HiVe Top 20 Countdown of 2024 started with Number 20 yesterday and we rocked out with EMU on that spot according to all of your votes. Today we continue with Number 19, where we find an album that was featured on many of the lists and even high on most of the lists that entered our inbox during the first days. Giving it an early lead and perhaps it should have stayed there for their progressive metal riffing is otherworldly. Imploring sludge tones and death touches the new album is a return to the front of everyone’s attention after having stepped out of it for some eight years. Personal issues and a line-up change stopped the band for period in time, but that period full of trial and tribulations might also have made this albums so good once again. Opening up the horizon for more, more reach, more scope and a much opener and grander sound. Although there is still some of that earlier complex and dense structuring to be found as well, along with growling grunts and blast beat drums. Offset by highly emotive vocal lines and wonderful slow paced or seventies inspired prog meandering, the album shines like a dark and twisted sun. Cause yes, the pulsating, technical crushing sludge is never that far away…

According to all of your votes, on Number 19 we find:

Anciients – Beyond the Reach of the Sun

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Season of Mist

Number 20

 

Number 20

The final few hours gave this self-titled album enough points to stay the course. Fifteen points above Number 21. Hailing from Australia this trio delivers the good rock ‘n roll of yore! The proto metal, the seventies inspired blues rock, the psychedelic power riffing! There’s magic happening on these six tracks. A desperate swagger like a vagabond on too much hooch and a groove that wants to let you know that it’s all happening once again. Grow them bangs out and get your bellbottoms on. Sure, a New Age is coming, but it sounds like the golden age of rock ‘n roll and then as pure and as glistening as it comes. That guitar work, so powerful, soaring leads, riffs that feel like pure hardrock pummeling and wild solo’s! Wild, as the vocals often are as well, like a drifter wildman howling about the end of the world. Bass work that opts for a boogie line one minute, follows the melody the next or stomps along with the drums. That ever changing approach works like voodoo, casts a spell on you and makes you feverish. And those drums show you that resistance is futile, there’s too much energy, too much intensity and rapid fire movement not to get completely hooked…

According to all of your votes, on Number 20 we find:

Emu – Emu




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The Stoner HiVe Top 20 Countdown of 2024

 

 

The Stoner HiVe Top 20 Countdown of 2024

And so it begins…

We have passed the 12:00 CET deadline on December the 14th of 2024. We tallied all the votes and the results are in! No less than 218 lists came in through the email, phone, instagram and messenger, which is only a few less than last year. It was great seeing a couple of albums constantly switch places. And seeing a Number One run away with the votes. A Number Two carry away a lot of votes. Same goes for the Number Three. And the Four, Five and Six duking it out. And a few more spots switching it up or jump minor points to get to the Number 20. Some 728 albums received votes and they all deserve that vote for sure…

So, my thanks goes out, like every year, to all those amazing bands and artists who provided us with so much incredible music, so much musical mojo, that we all love so dearly. Personally, I reckon music comes closest to that thing people call magic! We also thank the labels that release those albums, the PR people that promote them and you all: the listeners and the voters! Thank you all! So, the deadline for the Stoner HiVe Top 20 Countdown of 2024 has passed! It’s time for Number 20! According to all of your votes, a grand total of 218 lists received!

A massive thanks to everyone for sending your list. The ones that sent their Top 5’s, their Top 10’s, Top 20’s or detailing 30 or even a few more great and favorite albums. Thanks! Thanks and thanks a million! We love it! We love you! And now, we go on to reveal the Number 20 of 2024! The Number 20 according to all you crazies out there who decided to vote for the Countdown this year!

So… without further ado… (drumroll!)

We give you, according to all of your votes,

Number 20!

The Final 24 Hours!

 

 

The Final 24 Hours!

This is not a dramatic episode about the final day of one of your heroes. Nope, this is a final call for your End Of Year lists! You have 24 Hours as of now to send your list of (however many) favorite albums of 2024 to our email! For on Saturday we start the Stoner HiVe Top 20 Countdown of 2024 with Number 20! Twenty Four Hours! Cause, yes, we've moved the deadline to 12:00 CET tomorrow!

We’ve already received an amazing amount of lists! On the verge of reaching the amount of yesteryear. So, a massive thanks to everyone who already sent one. But there is still time if you haven’t!

Send your list of favorite albums, it does not matter how many or how few, to:

stonerhive@hotmail.com

We started doing this back in 2009 and have always hoped to receive more lists with every year that passes… Thank you all for participating… Number 20 according to all YOUR votes that come in will be published on Saturday 14th December, after 12:00 CET. (Depending on how many lists you all keep sending and how much work there will be left to do after that time...) 

ps. Want to read up on past editions?

Visit the blog and see posts like:

The Countdown So Far...

Or the Number One Posts...

Fashioned From Bone - Fashioned From Bone

 

 

Fashioned From Bone - Fashioned From Bone
Self-released - 2024
Stoner, Alternative Rock, Grunge
Rated: ****1/2

Fashioned From Bone is a band from the beautiful city of Saarbrücken, Germany. They've been around for some years and after releasing a few singles over the years, they surprised the world by releasing their strong debut album last month. It's the perfect combination of heavily grooving stoner rock and pop sensibility. Knowing this, you won't be surprised that the likes of Queens of the Stone age and Hermano ring through in their music, but also the melody/power punch of 4LYN's earlier work isn't far away and somehow an uplifting take on grunge also throws itself in the mix. And as far as one can speak from a Saarland sound, I feel some connection in overall approach and feel with Stromberg and Lacuna, two highly underrated bands from the same area. The most beautiful thing however, is that these influences and connections are merely snippets that pop up in your head with irregular intervals, because these guys mainly just sound like Fashioned From Bone - three guys that obviously love rock music in different shapes and forms, while drawing from those inspirations to create their own sound with an incredible sense for melody.

Being all killer no filler, it's difficult to highlight any of the songs, but the laidback intro of first song 'Back into Gold' reveals itself as a nice piece of trickery once the heavy guitars set in. 'Moving Slowly Down the Line of Chalk' is another one that puts you on the wrong foot, because this is arguably the heaviest song of the bunch. Nothing slow at all going on there. Most of the time though the songs are a picture perfect example of dynamics, both in composition and execution. The aforementioned 'Back into Gold' is one of those. Another one worth mentioning is 'Ground Full of Roses', a song that leans the most towards QOTSA, albeit more interesting. But two of my favorite tracks have to be 'Rig the System' and 'Blue as the Blackest Sky' that are showcases of how power and melody can go hand in hand and are perfect blueprints of the Fashioned From Bone sound. And after you've been thrown all over the heavy rock landscape, they close shop with a heartfelt semi-ballad with a nice build-up called 'The Hand That Seeks'. A well-thought through ending to an album that makes a big statement and shows that Fashioned From Bone is a band to be reckoned with, hopefully for many years to come.

(Written by Ronny Dijksterhuis)

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Last Band - The Sacrament In Accidents

 

 

Last Band - The Sacrament In Accidents
Dancing Sasquatch / Self-released – 2024
Rock, Metal, Alternative, Grunge, Stoner
Rated: ***

As we enter the Final 24 Hours before the deadline for YOUR lists for the Stoner HiVe Top 20 Countdown of 2024. Namely, before Saturday December 14th, 8.00 CET. We decided to keep diving into that folder full of albums we desperately had wanted to mention this year. We wrote about something like 250 albums and EP’s this year. But in that folder, there are still some 400 more that we had wanted to bring into your peripheral vision. And we are saddened that we will never get to that… But well, besides trying to keep up with all the new ones coming out, we’re now trying to bring into the spotlight one from every month passed that we unfortunately did not mention during the month they were released.

For November we have to visit the Last Band. A great name for a band right? But it is something you will need to live up to. And even if they might not be there yet, they will of course get my attention when they open their email and promo with the sentence: “Hey Stoner HiVe! Your site rules!” Thanks guys, but I’m sure you say that to all the boys and girls! But you can still you’re your ass their new The Sacrament In Accidents album was on repeat for some time after that. To come to grips with their alternative rock sound. Their classic metal nods and their grunge take on melodies and harmonies. It’s raw, extremely gritty and almost lo-fi, turning the thirteen tracks into a very dense and dusty experience. It sounds volatile and on the verge of combustion but leaves the listener hanging there. That might be the wildest thing about The Sacrament In Accidents, the ability to keep that level of danger constant. But constant is what they do, since the main two behind this project started back in the mid-2000’s, with bands like Durgo Temple and Admiral Browning. Go listen to Last Band before the Countdown starts, The Sacrament In Accidents album, if it’s the last thing you do before you send your list of favorite albums of 2024…

(Written by JK)

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Dancing Sasquatch Records

Admiral Browning

Admiral Browning

Pat Paul Jams

The Fërtility Cült – A Song of Anger

 

 

The Fërtility Cült – A Song of Anger
Black Widow Records - 2024
Rock, Metal, Doom, Prog, Psych
Rated: ****

As we enter the Final 24 Hours before the deadline for YOUR lists for the Stoner HiVe Top 20 Countdown of 2024. Namely, before Saturday December 14th, 8.00 CET. We decided to keep diving into that folder full of albums we desperately had wanted to mention this year. We wrote about something like 250 albums and EP’s this year. But in that folder, there are still some 400 more that we had wanted to bring into your peripheral vision. And we are saddened that we will never get to that… But well, besides trying to keep up with all the new ones coming out, we’re now trying to bring into the spotlight one from every month passed that we unfortunately did not mention during the month they were released. 

This one came out in October but starts like it could have been released in the eighties. And there are more eighties touches throughout the new The Fërtility Cült album A Song Of Anger. And that’s a good thing because it turns their jazzy and progressive rock sound into a grandiose affair. The Fërtility Cült is a five-piece band from Tampere, Finland featuring guitar, bass, drums, saxophone and keyboards. And that sax and key-work are the culprits, lifting all the compositions into heavenly proportions. Multi-universal wide! But don’t forget about the guitars and drums, for they do the ground work, they lay the foundation and go off on the big runs towards the stairway or step plate. Dynamic vocals and harmonies lay in wait, for at times it seems they only aid the sax and synth in turning this tale into a grand odyssey. One worthy of total attention, for in the end it will give you much more than all of the details involved. And in the end, there’s the almost thirteen minute long closing title-track, which, if you’ve travelled with The Fërtility Cült so far, will show you every color in whirling kaleidoscopic fashion. And you will taste them…

(Written by JK)

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Castle – Evil Remains

 

 

Castle – Evil Remains
Hammerheart Records – 2024
Rock, Metal, Proto, Doom, Thrash
Rated: *****

We lost the big write-up we had finished about the Castle album that came out early September through Hammerheart Records. We felt we had written something worthwhile, which does not happen that often. At first we tried to recover the actual words and thoughts we had about Evil Remains. But it always fell short of the original piece. So, time passed by. Days turned into weeks and now we’re already in December. It’s not like mustard after the meal, cause we post about older albums on a regular basis and have no issue with that fact. In fact, we love it and we also mention albums from way back on occasion. This time however, we decided to go a different route. There is no way we can recall those words and convey our love for this album, the way they marry traditional metal, to proto doom, thrash and speed. The way the drums and guitars are able to conjure up the right kind of wickedness, so that the vocals can become the witchy marvel that they are… 

Instead, we will focus on stating what the seminal track is for this album in our humble opinion. The second track Nosferatu Nights. The way it manages to translate that darkness, to sound like a thousand bats flying are whirling around your head, to turn that doom sound so incredibly thrashy and grimy. And then those vocals, breathing life into the occult touched melody lines and with it, give so much room to those ever circling riffs and pounding drums. The middle bridge gives way to a small push forward to come back to those vocals, setting up for the final delivery and the final shifts, offering their minor takes on progressiveness for thrashy doom metal. So much power displayed in their ability to take the song everywhere, the vocals and the amount of layers it all involves. And that is what this album is all about, the different layers, the leads tumbling over each other, the confident vocals and that vile ominous atmosphere permeating the entire album. For indeed, Evil Remains…

(Written by JK)

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FULL ALBUM PREMIERE – SUMO – III

 

 

FULL ALBUM PREMIERE 

SUMO – III

It will be out for everyone to hear tomorrow, December 13th! But we’re honored to bring it to you all, the happy few following the HiVe, a day early. It’s a FULL ALBUM PREMIERE for Sumo’s new album III. The Miami, Florida, USA three deliver instrumental post rock and post metal with shoegazing and space rock elements. It turns their sound into something progressively touched and those sludge tones and doom instances give III that extra push, taking their story into legend territory. For it is a story, a tale being told, an adventure to behold, to hear and experience. The three piece deliver it in pristine style. And with production done by ex-Torche bassist Jonathan Nuñez, the controlled delivery is allowed to soar and absorb. And that will happen to your spirit as well as you listen to Sumo’s III!

PR Wire:

Sumo, hailing from Miami, FL, are a three-piece instrumental space rock band, with each member embodying a vital element in the spark, energy, and atmosphere needed to ignite their sound. Established in 2013, Sumo have released 2 full length records, along with 3 ambient singles (the ATMOS series), independently on their own Rikishi Records. The band can be summed up by two simple words: Pretty. Heavy.

Sumo’s third full length release, III (3/three), recorded at Sound Artillery Studios with Jonathan Nuñez, is available on all streaming services Dec. 13, 2024.

III takes you on an unrelenting sonic journey, launching boldly with the opening track, “Alyssa,” and winding seamlessly toward the midpoint: the lead single, “Shadow of Antiope.” From there, “Eta Carinae” propels you into a pulsating free fall through space, culminating in the final landing on “Enceladus,” the album’s closing track.

SUMO - III

Album out December 13th, 2024
Rikishi Records (Digital)
Miami, Florida
FFO: Mogwai, Explosions in the Sky, Russian Circles, HUM, The Cure
Recorded at Sound Artillery Studios with Jonathan Nuñez

Sumo is:
Amado Ventura - Bass
Hector Mojena - Drums
Chris Salazar - Guitar

Tracklist:
1. Alyssa (5:50)
2. IPCRESS (5:40)
3. SETI3 (1:39)
4. Shadow of Antiope (5:10)
5. Eta Carinae (6:48)
6. Apophis (5:10)
7. SETI4 (0:47)
8. Cygnus (3:40)
9. Enceladus (6:44)

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Good Boy PR

Apodemus - Monotone

 

 

Apodemus - Monotone
Anchor Lights - 2024
Psychedelic Rock, Stoner
Rated: *****

There are bands that simply lift off into space and then there are bands that have cosmic dust for lungs. Russia's Apodemus obviously fits in the latter category. On their third full length 'Monotone' they skip the whole procedure of countdown and takeoff, aiming straight for the stars from the get-go. Opener 'Monk' is one huge statement, a psychedelic juggernaut with a thriving rhythm section and fabulous guitar work that bounces all over the galaxy without ever sounding cocky or overindulgent. Second track 'Moon Mantra' is a huge contrast. Yes, it's still 100% psychedelic rock, but the lay-back-relax-and-take-a-breather kind of stuff. A wonderful ten minute composition that makes you drift off into a fantasy world where you're floating weightless through a dark and distant sky, observing the planets and stars gathering around you, illuminating unknown patches of land inside your own body and mind. 'Mechanism' is the third track that goes way past the 10 minute mark and harks back to the magnetic formula of force and energy, using rocket fuel and a thundering bass line to propel you further into the outer layers of infinity. This is a true statement, a magnificent highlight where all the cosmic dust that's been exhaled merges to form a new planet that is bound to function as the main respiratory system for the universe. After this massive sonic trip it's time to cool down with 'Monologue', a short, down to earth tune that makes you realize it is indeed possible for three people to speak with one voice by connecting on a higher level. No words needed. Apodemus does it time and time again on their excellent new album that is - other than the title suggests - anything but monotonous.

(Written by Ronny Dijksterhuis)

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Blue Heron – Everything Fades

 

Blue Heron – Everything Fades
Blues Funeral Recordings – 2024
Rock, Stoner, Desert, Metal
Rated: *****

As we inch closer to the deadline for YOUR lists for the Stoner HiVe Top 20 Countdown of 2024. Namely, before Saturday December 14th, 8.00 CET. We decided to deep dive into that folder full of albums we desperately had wanted to mention this year. We wrote about something like 250 albums and EP’s this year. But in that folder, there are still some 400 more that we had wanted to bring into your peripheral vision. And we are saddened that we will never get to that… But well, besides trying to keep up with all the new ones coming out, we’re now trying to bring into the spotlight one from every month passed that we unfortunately did not mention during the month they were released.

As you crazies that follow the HiVe know, we tend to mention the small bands, the ones just starting out and the first EP’s. This means we don’t mention a lot of the big albums, the bands that are already on everyone’s turntables, the ones everyone know are amazing. And possibly, due to the fact a lot of people mostly read reviews to confirm what they already know, that confirmation bias thingy, we might have gotten a view or two more if we had written more about those albums. But we don’t really do this for the views, we do it for the love of heavy rock and discovery of the unknown. But well, here comes a big one! For Blue Heron released their Everything Fades album in September, and since the promo arrived in July, we had been swept off our feet by it for quite some time. It’s one big album, an album that needs to be heard from start to finish. The way it builds, trekking up the mountain, and then on top, spreading your arms wide, having the sweet release of fifth stoner and desert rocking anthem Dinosaur before rolling down the mount again. The vocals change color whenever a track or even a section calls for it. And that minute moment, when he sings that line about ‘unswerving and united’ during the title track Everything Fades and for a small second sounds exactly like Lanegan. Simply wonderful. There’s tautness throughout the nine tracks, it pulls you along and only after you finish final one minute seventeen long Flight Of The Heron stoner metal ditty do you realize the journey you have been on. It is a piece in constant motion, and it cultivates your radical attention. Perhaps it does not leave you breathless, for the tonal perfection, the pristine production and the space every instrument is allowed to occupy provides you with oxygen. But it will leave you in awe of its towering soundscape…

(Written by JK)

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Sidewinder – Talons

 

Sidewinder – Talons  
Wyrmwood Records – 2024
Rock, Hard, Blues, Psych, Stoner
Rated: ****

As we inch closer to the deadline for YOUR lists for the Stoner HiVe Top 20 Countdown of 2024. Namely, before Saturday December 14th, 8.00 CET. We decided to deep dive into that folder full of albums we desperately had wanted to mention this year. We wrote about something like 250 albums and EP’s this year. But in that folder, there are still some 400 more that we had wanted to bring into your peripheral vision. And we are saddened that we will never get to that… But well, besides trying to keep up with all the new ones coming out, we’re now trying to bring into the spotlight one from every month passed that we unfortunately did not mention during the month they were released.

Back in August, the New Zealand five piece Sidewinder released their Talons album. And it has been a go-to record for many times ever since we first heard it. There’s a dusty metal touch to the eight tracks, but that might also be due to that minor southern rock influence that seems to float across some of the tracks. Cause Talons gives you hardrock, stoner infused, some psychedelic touches and a whole lotta blues. Bluesy guitar lines, thundering riffs and vocalist that approximates a growling tigress. Her name is Jem Tupe and she sounds like she could be the next great rock ’n roll performer. Powerful with her blues inspired strokes of empowerment and the way she manages to dominate such a great record that brings so much brilliance with its instrumental work. Her fierce rasp booms across the chugging Disarm The King for instance before turning into a haunting screech. Yes, she’s one hell of a vocalist and it will take you a couple of sessions to come to grips with all she seems capable of and then… finally hear all that masterful drum work, that blistering resounding bass and those howling guitars. Such a freaking good album!

(Written by JK)

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Sheltered Life PR

 

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

 

 

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

24/7 Diva Heaven
Volt Ritual
Momovudu
She Loves Pablo
Drive By Wire
Flamebearer
Atomic Vulture
Iron Slug
Acid Magus
Black Toaster

Mornin! We’ve entered the final week for all of you to send your lists of favorite albums of 2024 for the Stoner HiVe Top 20 Countdown of 2024! The amount received so far is amazing! Thanks so much everyone. We will continue to dive into the folder of albums we desperately had wanted to mention earlier and never got around to them. There are way more then we can ever mention! Even though we've been posting about quite a lot the past week. And we might do something wild, if the time is there this Friday… But for now, go check out the posts of the past week and check out the bands in the Top 10 Most Listened list. They’re good!

The Spotify Playlist for...

Stoner HiVe's Weekly Top 10 Most Listened

Week 50

Filthy Hippies – Share The Pill

 

 

Filthy Hippies – Share The Pill
Mongrel Records – 2024
Rock, Psych, Shoegaze, Indie, Noise
Rated: ***

As we inch closer to the deadline for YOUR lists for the Stoner HiVe Top 20 Countdown of 2024. Namely, before Saturday December 14th, 8.00 CET. We decided to deep dive into that folder full of albums we desperately had wanted to mention this year. We wrote about something like 250 albums and EP’s this year. But in that folder, there are still some 400 more that we had wanted to bring into your peripheral vision. And we are saddened that we will never get to that… But well, besides trying to keep up with all the new ones coming out, we’re now trying to bring into the spotlight one from every month passed that we unfortunately did not mention during the month they were released.

For July we revisit the Filthy Hippies album. Out on Mongrel Records it is called Share The Pill and boasts no less than twelve tracks that meander through psych rock, shoegaze, indie and noise. That slacker touch makes all their psychedelic melodies flow from era to era and touch upon all those wonderful influences to turn the album and the listener completely on. Yes! It’s all happening. Once again. And with so many lazy grooves to tune into the experience is as delightful alone as it is when shared. After some line-up changes the South African (now) five-piece emerges as the perfect drowsy trip, turning almost every track into a dream like mantra to fall in love with. Especially for those of you that like those oddballs, the chameleons that know how to sound hallucinogenic without becoming to trippy and seem to be able to whisper secrets in your ear without you noticing it... Buy this ticket.. 

(Written by JK)

Filthy Hippies · Share The Pill

 

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The Stoner HiVe Top 20 Countdown of 2024

 

The Stoner HiVe Top 20 Countdown of 2024

Every day we inch closer to the deadline for YOUR lists for the Stoner HiVe Top 20 Countdown of 2024. Namely, before Saturday December 14th, 8.00 CET. Please send them to StonerHiVe@hotmail.com .

The rules, just like every year, are very simple. Send a list of your albums from 2024, or late December 2023, to our email: stonerhive@hotmail.com . It can contain as many as you want. But be advised, it’s a weighed count and all entries below your Number 20, will get the same amount of points as your Number 20...

 

Send your list of favorite albums of 2024 HERE!

Deadline Saturday December 14th, 8.00 CET. 

 

Want to read up on past editions?
Visit the blog and see posts like: The Countdown So Far...
Or the Number One Posts...

Atomic Vulture – Pilgrims Of The Sun

 

 

Atomic Vulture – Pilgrims Of The Sun
Self released – 2024
Rock, Stoner, Space, Psych, Instrumental
Rated: ****

As we inch closer to the deadline for YOUR lists for the Stoner HiVe Top 20 Countdown of 2024. Namely, before Saturday December 14th, 8.00 CET. We decided to deep dive into that folder full of albums we desperately had wanted to mention this year. We wrote about something like 250 albums and EP’s this year. But in that folder, there are still some 400 more that we had wanted to bring into your peripheral vision. And we are saddened that we will never get to that… But well, besides trying to keep up with all the new ones coming out, we’re now trying to bring into the spotlight one from every month passed that we unfortunately did not mention during the month they were released.

The new Atomic Vulture album Pilgrims Of The Sun came out in June and is a new chapter of the space and stoner rocking chronicle the three from Brugge, Belgium started some ten years ago. This stage aims to bring that instrumental ruckus you know they are capable of a bit coarser and grittier in comparison to the Moving Through Silence album from three years ago. But there is still enough space, psych and prog like meandering to let your imagination run wild. Highly atmospheric opening The Landing sets you down on a distant planet, fuzzy and groovy, the guitar paints a picture of danger and of an adventure about to commence. It continues in Alpha Wave, that immediately sets itself up to move and move you. Blissful guitar tones left to drift among the debris and effects that lead up to a final home run stretch of riffage. Ad Astra ups the stoner rock and rams through the atmosphere at full speed, while a more Eastern touched motif is elongated and slowly allowed to return in full form. Add that more jazz noodling in Black Blizzard and you can understand that the Atomic Vulture three still try to find new avenues to traverse after so many years. Atomic Vulture, devotees of the riff, worshippers of the groove and explorers of space.

(Written by JK)

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