Number 20

 

 

Number 20
 

Are you still expecting everyone to turn into zombies? Like we did last year? Cause c'mon, this Covid thing could have heralded the zombie apocalypse that has been predicted by so many movies for so many years? Right? Does it feel like most of humanity is still going onwards? Or downwards? Wow, what a give away right there? Really? Was that necessary… Sorry… But hey, there’s two albums on the Number 20 position! And two we are personally very glad about that they made the final list. One is produced by a Swedish quartet that brings forth that proto sound, that doom of yore; the occult touch and the cold whisper of something ancient. Their album was released in May of this year and jumped to the fifth position of that month’s Doom Chart. Dense, dark and ominous! The other album on the other hand brings more light; even though there is definitely that rock noir touch to the psychedelic rock, stoner and more. For they use surf influences as much as something with that o' so holy desert vibe. Or how about some space? Or wave? All intense and some of it pretty spooky... These three know how to incorporate everything they have in sight… We give you Number 20 and we know it's damn good!

Alastor – Onwards and Downwards

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Snake Mountain Revival – Everything In Sight

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Snake Mountain Revival – Everything In Sight

 

 

Snake Mountain Revival – Everything In Sight
Rebel Waves / Ripple Music / Deckhead Records – 2021
Rock, Psych, Wave, Noir, Stoner
Rated: *****

One of the most spun albums the past month is without any doubt Snake Mountain Revival’s Everything In Sight. When the promo came in through Ripple Music or perhaps it was Purple Sage PR, it did not immediately grab me. Cause we cannot state enough how much great and heavy music comes in daily, and sometimes at certain times, an album does not have the energy you are looking for at that moment in time in the world, whatever that may mean. But when we revisited the album, and those first three tracks rolled by and were already slowly weaving into my brain, like the seductive ghosts that they are, it was the fourth track that did the trick… Graveyard Grove came on and relentlessly hammered its enchanting beauty into my heart. It reminded of another song, but that is of no issue here, for the dark, the noir, the dusty atmosphere, the story told and the way the rhythm moved and moved me, it impressed the hell out of me and made one hell of an impression. It of course went on repeat for a couple of times. The vocals, the lyrics, haunting and chased, so perfectly executed. It might be viewed as the prized song on the album. But then again there are many more. And we only recently found out that most of the album was already released on two EP’s. How did we miss that? (We perhaps did, but Shasta Beast didn’t!) We then returned to the beginning and started it all properly; and got struck by the desert rocking baseball bat that is Satellite Ritual. With a Chris Goss atmosphere, the spacy, the surfy, psych and wave noir propels you forward. Something eerie, something spooky, it’s ever-present with the Snake Mountain Revival three. Sonically rounded out, the tracks keep this reverberating echo going through the album and there is as much psychedelic craziness around as there is subdued and tranquil peace. All of it will want to make you dive into the wind and swim with its current. It will turn you on and tune you in… And Everything will be In Sight…

(Written by JK)

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The Doom Chart for October 2021

 

 

Doom Charts

“If heavy metal bands ruled the world… We’d be a lot better off…”

~ Bruce Dickinson

Welcome to the Doom Charts… The October 2021 edition has 23 new ones out of the 25 we mention. What amazing times we all live in! Sure there is some weird stuff going on as well.. Across the globe… But… The amount of heavy music released every month remains staggering. And to think that we only mention these 30 in total out of the 230 that got voted for. So the contributors voted for another 200 different albums that unfortunately did not make this list. But fear not, most of them will always find their way to you… Either through one of the personal pages of the many contributors or perhaps through another one of those extra posts that might just happen in a week or two. Who knows right… As long as the heavy stuff is your true north, it will always find a way…

 
After a rocking good Desertfest Ghent, we were honored to be battling a hangover while working on the new October 2021 edition of the Doom Charts. It went live, as usual, on the 1st of the month. Another edition with so many new and great albums. And looking forward a the releases coming out this month, we can only assume that next month will be just as spectacular! And it’s been a while that no less that thirteen of our choices made the end list! But we shall be starting the rundown of all thirty bands right now, starting with Crystal Spiders – Morieris! Can’t wait to hear them all in a row! And can’t wait to get to Indigo Raven; haven’t had the chance to listen to that one yet… 

Personal votes went out to: Snake Mountain Revival, The Slow Voyage, Plaindrifter, Wax Brain, DUEL, Wolfnaut, Jointhugger, Maragda, Redscale, High Desert Queen, Monolord & Green Lung...  So you know what to do, head on over to Doom Charts and 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 October 2021

Snake Mountain Revival, Sibyl and Mister Earthbound - Live at Fuzzy Cactus, Richmond

Snake Mountain Revival, Sibyl, and Mister Earthbound - Live at Fuzzy Cactus, Richmond, VA Jan 18 2020

One of the most prolific hubs of the U.S. East Coast's heavy music scene, Richmond, VA served up a heavy psych show packed to the gills with talent at the beloved Fuzzy Cactus earlier this January. Joined by openers Snake Mountain Revival from nearby Virginia Beach, local favorites Sibyl and Mister Earthbound celebrated their new split "Hypnotic Rhythm" in style, with groove and riffs to spare. Perfectly setting the packed house's mood was a DIY lighting setup straight out of the 60's: a bowl of multicolored liquid balanced on an old projector, coating the stage in a trippy primordial soup. As the lone master of lighting stirred and swirled his freak juice, Snake Mountain Revival started things off with their signature eerie, entrancing sound, luring the audience into a trap of winding guitar leads and otherwordly atmospherics. Tight as can be, the set was a shining example of well-honed psychedelia. Building off the opener's hints of danger, co-stars of the night Sibyl took to the stage, and made it known to all this was a night of HEAVY psych. Smoothly moving from low and slow doom to rocking uptempo crunch, the Richmond crew were in command of both groove and crush. All this was topped off by the show-stealing vocals, the deep and haunting wails a powerful complement to the instrumentation's thundering stomp. To cap off the night, fellow Richmonders Mister Earthbound brought attitude and bluesy bounce to bear, getting the crammed Cactus moving with high energy retro vibes and piercing, classy solos. Fierce vocals added an edge to the toe-tapping riffs, combining with more laidback psych passages to close out the night on an exhilarating high note. To cheers and applause, the three bands proved beyond a doubt the deep well of young talent in Richmond and larger Virginia's heavy underground, and left the crowd eagerly awaiting more riffs and shows to come.

(Written by Kyle / Shastabeast)

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Sibyl

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Snake Mountain Revival

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