Cosmic Fall – Back Where The Fire Flows

 

 

Cosmic Fall – Back Where The Fire Flows
Clostridium Records / Self released – 2024
Rock, Space, Psych, Stoner, Kraut
Rated: *****

Have you ever just sat there, on a ledge or rock, in the middle of nature and watched the moon rise. And as it rose, did you ever feel like it picked out your little location like a spotlight? Well, the fourth track Chant Of The Lizards felt like exactly that for me. The leisurely flow, meandering like a brook, the nature sounds, the chimes, the blue hue of the guitar, it all seemed perfectly in synch with everything around me and it made me feel at home, connected and made me fall in love hard. Fall in love with Cosmic Fall all over again. Cause we were there back in 2016 for their First Fall release and even more when their 2018 In Search For Outer Space came out. But we kind of missed the intermediate Kick Out The Jams release (still set to private on bandcamp), Jams For Free and their Lackland single. Which was the last release from Cosmic Fall all the way back in 2019. But now the boys are back… Back Where The Fire Flows has five tracks that move confidently through the psychedelic and space rock genres, opting for a bit of stoner rock on occasion and some more krautrock approaches when needed. And the space, it’s soaring, but also very natural. Naturistic even, almost every composition feels like an ode to some natural force or geological beauty. Opening track entitled Lucid Skies Above Mars feels like the hot steamy vapors above some island born volcano, shimmering and rising, floating and gliding. And you glide along as the guitar takes you higher. Propelled by the drums to ascend and see it all. Picking up speed towards the end and perfectly transitioning into second track Magma Rising. With only four and half minutes, a short song for the Cosmic Fall three, that sees the magma rise instantaneously and flowing out in all directions. Highly direct, yet so groovy and steaming, with lovely bass work underpinning that wild drumming and ever freakier guitar sound. Another short one follows, Under The Influence Of Gravity, grooves hard, has a funkier touch and will have you smiling from ear to ear. A highly jam like middle section in combination with the laughter at the end will turn that smile even wider and will leave the impression that most or all of this was recorded in one majestic take. Whatever the case, you’ve just experienced three wonderful propelling tracks that will have made you dance, air drum and absolutely giddy with glee. Chant Of The Lizards follows and we already told you what it does to us, now go listen to all of it yourself and prepare for the powerful kraut rocking final track Drive The Kraut.Cosmic Fall is back! And on fire!

(Written by JK)

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Review for First Fall

Warpstormer – Warpstormer

 

 

Warpstormer – Warpstormer
London Doom Collective – 2024
Metal, Doom, Sludge, Thrash, Punk
Rated: *****

Here Comes Hell! No, here comes Warpstormer! Their debut self-titled full-sized album! And it comes out tomorrow! We were absolutely smitten with their first battering ram EP called Here Comes Hell back in 2022. And we’ve not been able to stop spinning their newest release. Out on London Doom Collective, tomorrow, Friday 29th of November, it’s a new calling card for the brand new full fledged line-up. Was that first EP recorded by vocalist Richard J Morgan formerly from OAK with aid from close friends Matt Folley (drums) and Green Lung guitarist, Scott Black. It has now turned into a solid four-piece consisting of bassist Simon Doggett, guitarist Adam Davies and drummer James Loh. Serious line-up, serious intent and seven tracks that make a serious bid for your list of favorite albums of 2024. Intro tune Black Herald is trumpet call over a lost battlefield, setting the scene for a sprawling sci-fi metal album of gargantuan proportions. And where one might expect that science fiction touch to take center stage, it does not. What comes next and thunders over us, is a seemingly endless barrage of intense metal riffs and sludge tones, thrash speeds and punk energy. Oracle, the second track, like a marauding and galloping boom, that becomes ever bigger and towering. Fast paced and constantly shifting gears, with a few sidewards glances Oracle becomes that homerun swing early on. Cursed, Cold, follows, slows down, turns the sound ominous and leering, still sludgy, the doom gets the heads a nodding. Monolithic sludge prog metal comes next, Beyonder opens subdued and atmospheric before exploding in Baroness like metal exuberance, opting to go everywhere and riff the hell out of everything. Intricate and relentless, the composition seems to tumble over itself and roll down into an abyss, from which we get treated to some gritty yet entirely winning harmonies and you get to hear a majestic solo rise from those depths. A Liar’s Crown Motörhead’s their doom metal sound and stoner edge home, like an iron beast, flat out through the eye of a beer can and up your daughter's leg with no quarter asked and non-given. Fester, churning and whirling, with a bit of that earlier sludge prog, some classic metal flourishes and ditto drums, opting for more wilder, technical yet very tasty approaches as the track transitions from one part to another. Extremely gnarly sounds and o’ so detailed, giving you every room to latch on to whatever instrument you wish to follow for your grand escape. The Edge Of Time closes the album in grandiose fashion, opting for a wide vista, a slowed doom opening march and tones to dwarf the horizon. A galloping classic metal session in the middle has you storming towards that distance. And as you know, lying in wait around the bend… A break down that becomes like a sinkhole of noise. Draining away all of that Warpstormer energy and yours with it. But luckily, Black Herald is here to reinvigorate you immediately…

(Written by JK)

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FULL ALBUM PREMIERE - Deep Valley Blues – Sangue e Veleno

 

 

FULL ALBUM PREMIERE 

Deep Valley Blues – Sangue e Veleno

In our enthusiasm for the album, we almost jumped the gun! We were almost a week early last week, but a tug at our shirt made us realize that we had agreed to premiere that magnificent diesel blues record Sangue e Veleno by Italian fourpiece Deep Valley Blues today! So, here we are, with the FULL ALBUM PREMIERE for the new Deep Valley Blues album. An album that gives you all that gritty hardrock, that salty stoner and that blues that rumbles. Out on Argonauta Records, the seven tracks hit hard and will push you forward. Towards a filthy drinking hole or a way to deal with your anger and frustration in a positive way…

Thank you to Deep Valley Blues, Argonauta Records and Grand Sounds PR for the opportunity to premiere this album…

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Engraver – Rituals

 

 

Engraver – Rituals
Self released – 2023
Metal, Doom
Rated: ***

We’re on the verge of announcing the fact that the Stoner HiVe Top 20 Countdown of 2024 will commence in the middle of December and that you can send your votes in now. Cause the Countdown is made up out of all the votes of you crazies that take the time to send that list of favorite 2024 albums. But since that time is almost here, we looked at the massive ‘To Mention’ folder of amazing albums we would have loved to have mentioned throughout the year. It contains some 550 albums, that we never got around to mentioning on the HiVe… And as we glanced back towards January, we also noticed those albums that came out in the final week of December. Cause as you know, once the Stoner HiVe Top 20 Countdown, we do nothing else but that. And albums during that final week, will have to be voted for THIS year.

And here’s one of them, released on December 29th, straight out of Gdansk, Poland, Engraver and their debut full-sized album Rituals. An eight track record that sees them use minor thrash and speed influences to spice up their metal, their doom and their stoner. Stabs of aggression and thunderous energy, bring their classic styled metal and doom even more to life. A so do the break downs and the build-ups. Diverse vocal treatments change the songs coloring from grunge to occult and gives you growling and incantated melodies. Rituals indeed. It’s good. And it might also serve as a warning to never release an album at the very end of the year…

(Written by JK)

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No Man’s Valley - Chrononaut Cocktailbar / Flight of the Sloths

 

 

No Man’s Valley - Chrononaut Cocktailbar / Flight of the Sloths
Tonzonen Records – 2024
Rock, Psych, Blues
Rated: *****

Chrononaut Cocktailbar / Flight of the Sloths is the third No Man’s Valley album and also the third album we have some Free Bandcamp Codes for. A double edge sword, two sides of an awesome vinyl coin. One side filled with short, quirky, rock noir and highly atmospheric songs. While the other side is filled with one long psychedelic, ever flowing, ever floating adventure… And all of it is brilliant! Two mini albums in one, said Jasper Hesselink, the incredibly talented vocalist of No Man’s Valley. Those shorter songs, all with a desperate groov and swing, have the ability to rock you with this estranged dark and noir atmosphere. And then there’s Flight Of The Sloths, a no holds barred adventure and exploration of the space and psych rock realm. Almost twenty minutes long they crawl and float through sky, that slowly transforms from peaceful blue into a tempestuous squall. Beautiful! (Just like that awesome video for it!) But personally I’m so much in love with those shorter songs with their eccentric experiences and goosebump shivers. Those first three songs for instance, they change color and style with no reserve, yet through an overarching atmosphere, all feel like one beautiful circus tent ring. An ouroboros of crazy images, funny ideas and scary characters.

(Written by JK)

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Free Bandcamp Codes for Chrononaut Cocktailbar / Flight of the Sloths by No Man’s Valley

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No Man’s Valley – Outside The Dream

 

 

No Man’s Valley – Outside The Dream
Tonzonen Records – 2019
Rock, Psych, Blues
Rated: *****

And yes, we also have Free Bandcamp Codes for the No Man’s Valley sophomore album Outside The Dream. An album released through Tonzonen Records back in 2019 and which we reviewed back then and you can read it in full HERE. But to save you the trouble of clicking on that link, here’s the gist of it! “We’ve been spinning the shit out of it for the past months, slowly getting more immersed in the dream. Slowly losing all sense of the outside world. ‘Psychedelic blues infused organ wave rock’, quite a lovely description by the band itself. But it has so much more! It aims for the stratosphere with certain elements without ever becoming too spacey and it surges through all kinds of nooks and crannies to serve up an entirely own universe. A heavy and thick universe with depth and width. The atmosphere is so compelling, it transports you to ringside seats at a twisted carnival or will have you trapped inside a tin can that might be floating around in outer space or deep beneath the ocean. Who knows? It might just all be a dream. It is without a doubt based on the blues rock of yore and the psychedelic transformation that happened in the seventies.” And Outside The Dream still manages to do just that listening now, five years later. In fact, it reminds us we should listen to it on a regular basis…

(Written by JK)

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Free Bandcamp Codes for Outside The Dream by No Man’s Valley

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No Man’s Valley – Time Travel

 

 

No Man’s Valley – Time Travel
Nasoni Records / Self-released – 2016
Rock, Alternative, Blues, Psych
Rated: ****

An album from 2016? Yes, and why not! After all we’re here to promote all that good stuff that’s floating around the Heavy Underground. And what better way to promote those albums then by handing out some FREE BANDCAMP CODES. Yes! For Jasper Hesselink, founder of the Weirdo Shrine, one-time member of the Doom Charts and more importantly vocalist for No Man’s Valley graced us with a handful of codes to distribute for their debut full-sized album Time Travel! The vinyl was released through Nasoni Records; everything else they handled themselves. Roots, blues and noir rock are soon complimented by all sorts of psych and alternative rock. Mesmerizing and conjuring up mystical whisperings, the eight tracks on this album take you on an adventure that always feels like a risky venture. A bit of a gamble. Danger lurking around every corner. Wild organ touches, luscious guitar work and brilliant drums all add to this slightly sinister and dark alley atmosphere. And of course them vocals from Hesselink himself, highly varied, opting for a Morrison approach here, Danzig there or even a bit of Cave. A stunning debut: and one that will surely stand the test of time… And will probably even get better with age…

(Written by JK)

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Free Bandcamp Codes for Time Travel by No Man’s Valley

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Bog Filth - Bog Filth

 

 

Bog Filth - Bog Filth
Evil Gnome Records - 2024
Doom, Sludge, Drone
Rated: ****1/2

Introduction/words of praise.

Earlier this year I had the honor to write a review for Absorb's album 'SMOG'. As you can read HERE I thought it was some of the heaviest and scariest doom ever made. Now, after giving the debut album by Bog Filth numerous spins, I'm not so sure. This is a dark, distorted, low-tuned and mainly slow-paced sonic deviation that lures you into the sewers of nothingness from the first chord strike of opener 'I Live Dead' until the dying seconds of the sharp and menacing drone closer 'I Will Pray For Your Death'. Or, as the band so fittingly says on their Bandcamp page, "Bog Filth is absolutely disgusting doom stench, wafting from the rotting bowels of Oshkosh Wisconsin." And they couldn't be more right. It's doom all the way with a vocal delivery that brings in an element of sludge and sometimes even incorporates a death metal growl, while the production is spot-on and intensifies the overall listening experience. One hell of an album for sure.

Afterthought.

This record is so good it knocked me off my socks big time the first time I heard it. And it still does. I just couldn't find the right words to describe it. So, while in the midst of a month-long binge of writing poetry, the review initially materialized as a Dutch poem. The Stoner HiVe CEO asked if he could use it for the little old blog. But as everything on there is in English, I thought it needed to be translated. Finally tried a hand at translating it for everyone to read. Not perfect, but here it is nonetheless. Hope you like it.

the compositions are sonic hammer blows, maybe

aggravated assault on unsuspecting airwaves

attempted murder even - the execution

a textbook example of the joy of torture

in its purest form

here

vocal chords are being ground

to smithereens, blood squirts

from the depth of ruptured eardrums

and sewage is being gulped down

like beer, washed away

with a bottle of 90 proof

while you're being sucked down

into a muddy swamp - plowing on

with your head stuck

inside the mouth

of an alligator

and ask yourself

how to renounce a question

that has no sense

because sense

lacks meaning

when the end confirms with an endless roaring thunder

what we basically knew all along - this is

a guttural dying bed, the holy ground

on which your cut-off ears find

their final resting place

†

 

(Written by Ronny Dijksterhuis)

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

 

 

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

 

Möuth
Wizard Tattoo
Ghostwound
Pentagram
Hollow Drifter
Komodo
Second Sun
Shi
1000Mods
24/7 Diva Heaven

Hey y’all! Thought I would have some sweet time to do some stuff for the HiVe… And then the shivers began. So yes, been a bit under the weather unfortunately, hope it won’t get worse and better quickly. Cause we got a cool FULL ALBUM PREMIERE for the new Deep Valley Blues album coming up. Plus we just always wanted to do more for the Heavy Underground than we possibly can. Cause last week we had time to mention the awesome Ramkot album, that very cool Deep Valley Blues release and the magical Hollow Drifter record. The honorable Ronny made us all pay attention to the awesome Burning Leaf record and we mentioned that AAWKS single. But there’s so much more out there! And I had hoped to bring you all more. But perhaps that moment will come soon. For now, we hope you check back to the posts we already did and hope even more that you will check out all the albums we listened to the most last week… And perhaps even mention us which album YOU listened to the most?

Stoner HiVe's Weekly Top 10 Most Listened
The Spotify Playlist
Week 48

Burning Leaf - Amber and Gray

 

 

Burning Leaf - Amber and Gray
Self-released - 2024
Stoner, Grunge, Alternative Rock
Rated: ****

Burning Leaf is a Serbian groove machine that hails from the mountainous southeast of the country and their second outing 'Amber and Gray' again displays an eclectic mix of styles. You name it and they deliver. No questions asked. Opener 'Kroz Sunce' for example has a metal edge, while 'Dah' and 'Odo' are being pushed forward by a stoner groove with hints of the heavier side of grunge. 'Ember Fields' on the other hand is a midtempo grunge song that summons the spirit of Candlebox and incorporates some guitar lines that bring back memories of Pearl Jam's better work, whereas the duo that closes the album ('Water & Wine' and 'Drown') is a convincing exploration of what one can do within alternative rock territory. And then I haven't even mentioned the mesmerizing, laidback folk song 'Petlovi Pojev' that sends a tsunami of shivers down your spine and leaves you stranded with a goosebump-covered skin.

The well-crafted and in depth lyrics (both in English and their native Serbian language), where human observation and introspection meet a deep love for the beautiful region these guys live in, provide another, deeper layer. It's an added bonus to an already great album that flows as smooth as the Nišava river that runs through their hometown Pirot and is in every aspect a step forward compared to their debut 'Hold the Tides Away' (which was already good in its own right and is well worth checking out too). So, don't hesitate and give Burning Leaf some due respect and support.

(Written by Ronny Dijksterhuis)

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Hollow Drifter – Devolve

 

 

Hollow Drifter – Devolve
Self released – 2024
Rock, Stoner, Psych, Prog, Garage
Rated: *****

There aren’t that many heavy underground gurus. The people that knew before it all came to pass. The outsiders, living by their own rules and giving us only momentary glimpses into their world. Often turning that one little taster into something prophetic. So, when a band records with one of those people, Guy Tavares in his fabled Bunker Studio, you better believe I will be paying attention. How high my regard for his projects, labels, bands like Santa Cruz and Orange Sunshine is, pales in comparison to the love I feel for the vague memories of that one night I ended up at this weird party, many many moons ago, he might or might not have instigated. And for the few times I had a chat with him after one of his, to my mind, legendary shows. And well to make this ode to Mr. Tavares a bit shorter, the Amsterdam three called Hollow Drifter did just that for their new four track release Devolve. They recorded down in the bunker, with Sir Tavares. And the result is something special! As soon as the intro guitar tones from opening track The Banner Has An Eye are accompanied by those maniacal drums, you feel the walls closing in, the roof coming down and the oppressiveness in all severity. The fog becomes tangible and the curtains will be pulled back on the great and secret show. The Kool-Aid might have been spiked, but that would not even have been necessary. The Banner Has An Eye is a vision inducing and oscillating trip, garage and psychedelic by default, this one track alone will put you in a different frame of mind. Demon’s Don’t Come From Below follows, goes even deeper, becoming submerged and slowly trekking through the viscose lava lamp soup. The jazzy and bluesy guitar lines becoming the melody, the lifeline, to hold on to as the nod becomes bigger and bigger. And not opting for a huge explosive ending but being confident that the atmosphere and all the wild guitar lines are all this composition needs, serves as more proof of Hollow Drifter being at home in their sound. Their garage side returns again with more energy as third track Blizzard Wizzard starts, soon coloring it all in with more sixties prog and proto doom. Mutating their sound back and forward and going wherever inspiration takes them, it’s Hollow Drifter to a fault and perhaps even more so on Devolve, which perhaps is also in part thanks to the guidance of Guy and his Bunker Studio. Venturing The Void goes the way of Blizzard Wizzard, but perhaps even a bit wilder and groovier. Highly danceable, becoming trance inducing with its drum ‘n bass rhythm, and its creaking melodies, that seem to have slipped through every crack and crevice, as they came in from out of the void and into the soul of Hollow Drifter. The combination of the four tracks, the listening session of more than forty five minutes becomes intoxicating and formidable. It’s the Hollow Drifter four we need to congratulate for this wild and wonderful Devolve record, but I think I can hear the added Bunker Studio environment and the guiding hand from the guru…  

(Written by JK)

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AAWKS – Celestial Magick

 

 

AAWKS – Celestial Magick

AAWKS! You know we love AAWKS! And so do you, right? Well, they’re about to release a new album called On Through The Sky Maze through Black Throne Productions. Well, the release date is still some moons in the future, somewhere in March 2025. But to appease us until then, we can now enjoy a first single and video called Celestial Magick! It’s the AAWKS doom magick! Way more dark, gritty and raw, this one track hold so much promise we feel we need to dive into a bubbling black cauldron somewhere with the hopes of waking up in March 2025. Wow! This is something else! And we need more!

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Review of (Heavy On The Cosmic)

Review of Aawks / Aiwass – The Eastern Scrolls 

AAWKS – The Figure 

 

Deep Valley Blues – Sangue e Veleno

 

 

Deep Valley Blues – Sangue e Veleno
Argonauta Records – 2024
Rock, Hard, Blues Stoner, Metal
Rated: ***

My Italian is rusty. And even at times when it was all oiled and greased up, it was dubious at best. Only doable at four o’ clock in the morning in some smokey drinking hole in the shady part of town. But you guessed it, playing live on stage, right there would be the Italian fourpiece Deep Valley Blues! And with their new album Sangue e Veleno (Blood and Poison) under their belt, they would be rocking everyone still capable of standing. Shit, they would rock the ones sitting down and wake the bastards that had given up and those that had fallen face down in their own puddles. Deep Valley Blues gives you seven tracks of hard rock, the gritty kind, the bluesy kind. It’s that Diesel Blues thing again, marrying it to stoner and metal and getting you all fired up. Founded in the year of our lord 2016, they’ve already released their first self-titled EP in 2017, full-sized debut Demonic Sunset in 2019 and III in 2021. And as they’ve always shaped their albums, loosely, around a certain concept, they’ve gone that way again for Sangue e Veleno. Seven tales of people with ‘poisoned blood’, angry persons and situations involving anger, frustration and rage. For them a way to translate a bad period full of negativity into something positive. And that’s what you will walk with, a positive yet very driving force that will pull you one or push you forward. Vocally diverse, there are moments when you might think the microphone was just picked up out the gutter. English and Italian lyrics shuffle by, as do the various blues influences. And that’s definitely the best thing about Deep Valley Blues, that is there, in there blood, all that blues… And that ain’t no poison…

Hold on now. We’ve got one more thing to say about this… TOMORROW night, we are honored to host the FULL ALBUM PREMIERE for Sangue e Veleno by Deep Valley Blues! So, check out the single below and check back tomorrow for the FULL ALBUM PREMIERE!

(Written by JK)

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