It’s Monday again! Still recovering from an awesome Into The Void Festival in Effenaar, Eindhoven. What a day! What a fest! Will try to write a few words about it soon. The bands and the organization did well! Loads of Most Listened on the list were Friday Freebies over on Doom Charts. We did ten this time, all amazing records! We did the Full Album premiere for Thorndale! A wild new metal outfit that knows how to incorporate all that good stuff from before. We wrote something about those punk noise bastards from Geishas Of Doom and had to do a lot of other work, so we were unable to do more for the HiVe last week. Hope this week will be better! Although of course, Friday will be for Doom Charts once again…
“The music junkies see the Doom
Charts as part of a larger, more essential and pleasurable part of daily
life. Not as an experience to be collected or bragged about – or as a
ritual, like filling up a car – but as something else that gives
pleasure, like sex or dancing, or a good nap in the afternoon.”
~ Anthony Bourdain (probably misheard quote)
And that ends September… We’ve been
blessed with so many amazing albums already throughout the year. But
September was something else. There was so much, so many albums released
that the Contributors were starting to revolt. They demanded longer
lists. They wanted to extend the published list. They wanted extra
lists. They wanted more. Because they received so much more! Well… After
much deliberation within the group, we decided we wouldn’t budge and we
would not waver. We only wanted to state that we understand their
grief, their toil and sweat. We feel their pain. It was hard selecting
the best ones in our opinion. And it was even more difficult to stick to
that rigid amount of a mere twenty-five. Below, is the result. Forty
brand new albums representing September 2023, a month so full of great
releases that the ones featured on this list are really something else…
As usual we highlight the ones on the list we voted for ourselves... But we can't stress enough that we could have voted for them all... Cause it's been one hell of a September! I had hoped a few would have ended up higher or assumed even. And a bit sad that a few of my choices did not even make the Top 40, but this was inevitable... September was one hell of ride! But of the ones that made it, we voted for: Domkraft, Fire Down Below, Dead Feathers, Humulus, Lord Velvet, I Am Low, Omega Sun, Formation Ritual, Stone of Duna, Demons My Friends, Superlynx, Stepmother, Hey Colossus, Rrrags, Fulanno, Nova Doll, Earth Altar / Sun Below and Sonic Speculum.
Welcome to Doom Charts,
representing some of the finest bloggers, journalists, radio,
podcasters and 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…
Earth Altar / Sun Below - Inter Terra Solis Black Throne Productions – 2023 Rock, Doom, Stoner, Psych, Space, Prog Rated: *****
For some weird and funny reason, the promo for this beautiful release did not immediately work and only got fixed, for me personally, after I got notified about an old press release. Somehow it felt good to see that on every side of the Heavy Underground people are working around the clock to make things happen, and that a lot of these cats are overworked, make mistakes, and then do their absolute best to rectify them. Cause that seems to entail to some extent what doing your best for the scene seems to be. Working your furry little ass off and making mistakes here and there. Well, at least it does for me. But I love doing it anyway. But we can unfortunately only do as much as we have the time to do it in. So, we only got to share the lead Sun Below single Methuselah Star for their split album with Earth Altar and never managed to do so for The Descent. I wish we had, but we all make mistakes… We can sort of rectify that now, by mentioning that split album called: Inter Terra Solis. It’s a great year for split and collaborations it seems, cause Inter Terra Solis is pure solid gold!
Earth Altar open the ball with the single we should have mentioned, The Descent, and end up delivering five tracks that tell one big story. A space doom track that sounds as picturesque as it is uplifting, which feels like a paradox because of the song title, but The Descent might not actually take you down, but instead lift you up. Towards The Garden of Earthy Delights, a Hieronymus Bosch painting, and perhaps an ode to sensory pleasures. The music of Earth Altar however seems to be more about letting go. And hints even more in that direction with its final track Transmutation (the Alchemist's Dream). Cause that was the Alchemist’s Dream, not using weird formulas to create gold or to prolong life, but to be able to let everything go, and become one with the Tao. And you can already see that knowledge and feeling approaching when you hear in the Growing Light of Anthelion, a crystallized reflection of a slow-moving psych rocker, that uses its progressive nature to turn you onto the right path. Which is clear the two from Earth Altar are on after hearing this adventure. For the way Jonathan MacIsaac on drums and Spencer Trout with Bass Guitars and a limited amount of Vocals manage to tell their story is a true blessing. Using the synth magic from Katie Wayne on certain moments to lift the compositions even higher turns as much into a journey inward as it does outwards. Earth Altar turns their part of Inter Terra Solis into a Philosopher’s Stone…
Sun Below, follow with three tracks that manages to touchstone all the proggy doom, stoner and proto heaviness you can handle. Although the second track Methuselah Star, the single we did mention, sees the doom rise to cosmic levels and turn into an ever-expansive universe of heaviness. Sludgy when needed it merges everything you love from Sabbath with that of Sleep. And with that soaring touch, its serves as the perfect middle ground for the two other tracks. Instrumental Red Giant starts the game with an immediate and frontal guitar, slicing through the atmosphere like a meat cleaver. Turning the cosmic sized doom nod into an earthy rocker, that sounds as proto as it sound proggy and did we mention earthy. Very earthy, with as many grains of sand between the strings and notes as possible. And that swaying groove, in the end slowing down, like a beautiful wave goodbye from gigantic plants. Ending track Gravity Tide takes the doom up a notch and the turns the nod to an even deeper level. Vocals echoing from behind the waves, turning it all into an even more mesmerizing experience. And even though the groove is immense, the grinding colossal and you end up going all in, and your sense of being seems to shimmer in and out of existence, there is always that lingering feeling of something unpredictable waiting just around the corner. Which makes for an interesting balancing act and wonderful dance high above the earth on a tightrope…
Together, the two sides, turn this into a forty-minute adventure that you can keep experiencing for the rest of time. For even though the music is in place, you will be out of it in no time and undergoing all sorts of weird escapades somewhere between the sun and the earth…
Methuselah Star is the second single from the upcoming split album Inter Terra Solis by Sun BeloW and Earth Altar, which will be released on September 15th through Black Throne Productions. And ever since we got the promo (the right one, grin, inside joke between me and Curtis), we’ve had it on heavy rotation! The first single from this album was Part A: The Descent, by Earth Altar and was premiered back in May on The Obelisk. Methuselah Star sees the doom rise to cosmic levels and turn into an ever-expansive universe of heaviness. Sludgy when needed it merges everything you love from Sabbath with that of Sleep. Exactly, you read that right! And yes, this is one hell of a legendary track! And so is the rest of this amazing split album!
The band shares: "We are super excited to begin to reveal hidden truths from the distant bellows of space with the release of “Methuselah Star”. Appearing on the record as an interlude, but more fully realized in this single version, the track is meant to elicit the ebb and flow of an ageless star hurtling through space, melding psychedelic grooves with a thunderous sabbathian midsection, giving way to a calm ethereal finish. Our collective subconscious was able to tap into the deep unknown of the universe to conjure forth this heavy mass of stoner doom which we hope all will enjoy."
About Inter Terra Solis
The progressive space rock/doom metal hybrid Earth Altar and heavy stoner/doom power trio Sun BeloW unleash a riff-heavy journey across time and the cosmos on their upcoming doubly split album, Inter Terra Solis. Having sculpted an epic ride of distorted guitar, vocals and trippy lyrics, the bands explore the labyrinth of the human psyche and the unpredictability of the universe within a ponderous palette of crushing doom and stoner-tinged mystery. Inter Terra Solis is due out on September 15th via Black Throne Productions. Pre-orders are available HERE.
First on the split, Earth Altar is the interplay between the complex, diverse drum style of Jon MacIsaac and the unique, ethereal bass guitar playing of Spencer Trout. Earth Altar seeks to leave these mundane bonds and ascend through the heavy and the other-worldly. Mixing stoner rock, doom metal, space rock, and psych rock with progressive song structures, cosmic musings, and world-wide influences; Earth Altar sounds uniquely themselves.
We begin our journey with “The Descent.” Reminiscent of Dante’s infamous journey, the odyssey begins here. While an opening to the underworld, it is not quite the underworld as we know it. It is not a manifestation of divine justice, but a literal world beneath our feet. The air, initially stifling, comes to grow fresher as we go deeper and further. The purpose of the journey, though obscured, is beginning to reveal itself.
“The Garden Of Earthly Delights” takes the listener through caverns of ethereal light and diverse flora and fauna. All life here is familiar, yet odd like a dream. We press on, “In The Growing Light Of Anthelion,” the light being as warm as the sun, but not as bright. Wrapping with “Transmutation (The Alchemist’s Dream)” the story bears the fruits of the struggles of our journey, the base thrill and pleasure, the acquisition of knowledge of so few before.
Closing out the album with three immense tracks, Sun BeloW is a heavy stoner/doom power trio playing a signature brand of self-described “Sativa rock”: a combination of fuzz, volume, and heavy grooves. Sun BeloW seek to spread their infectious, rollicking sound to the masses and their mission remains to create riff heavy rock fused with the sonic weight of crushing doom. The current lineup of Jason Craig (guitars/vocals), Liam “Acid Goblin” Gray (bass) and Will Adams (drums) blend these elements into long burning jams that worship at the altar of tone, riffs, and smoke.
Sun BeloW starts their cosmic journey with an instrumental, “Red Giant.” The Sun, looming silent yet ominously over Earth, represents a constant reminder of the finite nature of our delicate cosmic existence. “Methuselah Star” - in the distant bellows of space, an ancient star burns luminously. Rivaling the universe itself in terms of age, the origin of its creation remains clouded in uncertainty. Wrapping with “Gravity Tide”, Sun BeloW explores the delicate cosmic balance of the Earth, Moon and Sun. The nature of our being is fragile, we live in the shadow of an unpredictable universe of which we understand little, and can impact even less.
As above, so below, the duality of the underworld and the cosmos, the microcosm and the macrocosm is thoroughly traversed through the lyrical themes and tones of each band. While Earth Altar and Sun BeloW tackle a different aspect of our reality and nature, each is intimately tied with the other.
We don’t do this much. I guess it’s been a year now or something like that. But, just before our little holiday we noticed we were inching towards 6000 Followers on Facebook and 5000 Likes. As well as the first 1000 on Instagram, which we are still getting used to operating. And after our return, we have surpassed that 6000 Number and have actually reached our first cool thousand on Instagram. And even though we know the numbers say little; it does look kind of cool. It does make us feel like there are a few freaks out there that dig what we do at the HiVe and feel the same way about the Heavy Underground. It’s a great cabal of zines, blogs, podcasters, youtubers and journalists that make up the press side of the Heavy Underground; and all or most do it simply because of the pure love for all that heavy music. As does Stoner HiVe! And when that love is in some way reciprocated by a cool group of followers; well, it makes it all worthwhile! We started this little hobby project back in 2009 to countdown the best albums of that year and it slowly morphed into a bit more. We went to Facebook late, joined Instagram only a year ago and still struggle to try and do it all properly. But we love doing it! Cause we love that heavy music! So, thank you all for following Stoner HiVe. It’s there because we love the Heavy Underground, that means all of you! The listeners, the fans, the bands, the artists, the record companies, the pr agencies and the press cats… We love you all! And we do Stoner HiVe because we want to profess our love for those amazing bands and albums. So thank you all! Please, continue to put out all that amazing heaviness and please everyone, keep tuning in to all that great music. Cause there’s so much out there! And well, just simply, thank you, thank you all! Truly and sincerely, thank you!
O' and an extra special thank you to Sun Below and Silent Monolith! Cause both bands made us reach that first thousand! Silent Monolith was there first, but apparently, two followers unfollowed and then Sun Below made us reach it again! Don't stop us now! Cause we're having a good time... Ho ho ho!
