Stoner HiVe

woensdag 5 augustus 2015

Thunderfuck & The Deadly Romantics – How Do I Taste?

Self released – 2015

Rock, Hard, Sleaze, Punk

Rated: ***

You pull up to the Crocodile, a grimy bar just besides the off-ramp. The bike’s roar slowly dies down. Inside you hear loud guitars and pounding drums. As you enter the smoke filled drinking hole you duck for the occasional bottle flying across the room and notice nobody is watching the band on stage, playing their ass off protected by chicken wire. The bald bartender just grunts at you when you order your bourbon and in the open drawer beneath the register you notice sharpened screwdrivers and knives. The baseball bat in the cover offers more clues to what kind of bar this is. You lean back and into the music, Thunderfuck & The Deadly Romantics are playing their How Do I Taste EP on repeat. The same six hardrock punk tracks over and over, as sleazy as you could imagine and as offending to the squares as they come. You’re enjoying yourself, slowly grinning when you notice the lyrics about women on their knees and dirty inquisitive sentences. And it’s only after an hour or two when the bar becomes even more rowdy and all the bikers, outlaws and leather clad women start brawling and shouting that you notice that one song is just a different version, but you’re still not bored with them. So, you turn around, order another beer and a shot of bourbon as you imagine Hank III playing behind your back. And you realize, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with this place and this music, when Thunderfuck & The Deadly Romantics are on stage, everything is right in the world…

(Written by JK)

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Khemmis – Absolution

20 Buck Spin – 2015

Rock, Doom, Sludge, Stoner, Metal

Rated: *****

The Denver quartet Khemmis has been around since that dangerous year of 2012 and have recently released their debut full-sized album Absolution. If they had been planning to slowly add layer upon layer of their career, they are now in deep shit. Cause this will album will have the Khemmis ship take off like a rocket. Opening track Torn Asunder, slowly marches out of the gate with stomping drums and guitars heralding the coming of something knightly. After which the trek turns into a faster moving army, until the almost angelic and occult sounding male vocals start. Bathing the entire signature composition in white light. And it is not until three quarters of that song has passed that the evil appears. In the form of the growling and harsh vocals that tear the fabric apart. After which you suddenly have to come to grips with five more amazing tracks that can shift the entire world around you in an instant, going from uplifting and beautiful, to dark and desperate. There is no escape from it and there shall be no absolution, for this is never ending. Cause like an ever changing Labyrinth you are only there for its amusement and you can only marvel at its intricate inner workings!

(Written by JK)

dinsdag 4 augustus 2015

Nick Oliveri’s summer trek through Europe

Nick Oliveri’s summer trek through Europe

He started out on the amazing Stoned From The Underground festival in Germany and keeps his relentless adventure going until the middle of August where he will play Leperfest in Belgium. We are talking about Mr. Nick Oliveri. The man we know from his work with Kyuss, Queens Of The Stone Age, his own Mondo Generator and all the projects he was involved with like B’Last, Dwarves and many more. This adventure is an acoustic one though, playing his Leave Me Alone album that he put out under the name Uncontrollable. So before he escapes back to Amerika, you need to find out where he plays, buy a ticket and take the ride…

August 3rd: Backstage (Munich, GER)

August 4th: Rockhouse (Salzburg, Austria)

August 5th: Jagerklause (Berlin, GER)

August 7th: La Casa (Cottbus, GER)

August 8th: TBA (Bucarest, Romania)

August 9th: Chez Heinz (Hannover, GER)

August 10th: Hafenklang (Hamburg, GER)

August 11th: DB’s (Utrecht, NL)

August 12th: Gebr De Nobel (Leiden, NL)

August 13th: De Pul (Uden, NL)

August 14th: The Lane (Oostburg, NL)

August 15th: De Hip (Deventer, NL)

August 16th: Leperfest (Leper, Belgium)

And Stoner HiVe will be present at De Pul in Uden, drop by and let’s have a beer!

Schnitzel Records

zaterdag 1 augustus 2015

A free festival in France featuring WO FAT !

A free festival in France!

On Friday 7th of August, yes, this upcoming Friday, a completely free festival in the heart of France! Near Cheniers, we find the amazing place of Moulin de Piot. Last time the organizer had Karma To Burn play at the campsite, this time around, the line-up is even better… With Wiremother, Bear vs Manero, Screen Wives, Kill Rpnzl and Brave Snakes you have a great day ahead of you. But closing the night and playing Dreamwalker for sure is none other than WO FAT !!! So get on your bike, steal a car, buy a horse or lend a donkey and get yer ass over to Moulin de Piot for a completely free festival full of stoner fun!

Goya – Obelisk

STB Records - 2015

Doomfuzzworship

Rated: *****

Goya return with their second full-sized album Obelisk, after the amazing 777 released in 2013, and deliver a body blow of skull crushing heavy grooves and guitars that summon the spirits of Norse gods when played at volume. With clean vocals dripping in reverb throughout, these dudes play intricate passages that manage to keep your attention from wandering. Big hypnotic grooves give you a trip into the more psychedelic realms of doom by riffing to an almost mantra like refrain that lodges deep into your cortex fluids on a primal level to make your body slowly jerk and move to the primitive and shamanistic tunes that have clearly been spawned by unclean thoughts and in-pure impulses to damage people with slow, fuzzed guitars and low-end tuning. Monolithic is a phrase sometimes overused in this genre but I will make an exception for Goya. Huge sounding with killer refrains give this band a massive edge over other bands within this genre. The band have outgrown any obvious influences and are forging ahead down their own, dark path. Even with some big releases in 2015 so far, this album will surely take some beating for pure doom and riffage this year.

(Written by Tony)

vrijdag 31 juli 2015

Roadkill Festival - FREE tickets!

Roadkill Festival - FREE tickets!

The two day festival Roadkill in Waarschot, Belgium is about to commence. On this first day none other than Elder and Mos Generator will be playing. Accompanied by bands such as The Black High and Hurachan. And another amazing band. Who have recently released their new EP and which we will feature soon enough: An Evening With Knives! And to help spread the word about this amazing festival, that band will be giving away two tickets. I know its last minute, but those last minute change of plans always turn out for the best. So contact An Evening With Knives, get those tickets, pack your bags and head over to Waarschot to experience Roadkill!

Roadkill Festival

O’ and be sure to check out the line-up for Saturday… Cause that’s killer to! Just to mention one band: Truckfighters! Sbam! Sbam!

donderdag 23 juli 2015

Mazur – Master’s Mask / Buried in Snow

Self released – 2015

Rock, Hard, Metal, Stoner, Punk, Garage

Rated: ****

On one side of this fine vinyl release we find their EP called Master’s Mask and on the other we find Buried In Snow. Limited to a 300, 12inch run of translucent vinyl the German quartet Mazur knows all about style and doing things right. Recorded in 2004 and 2014, the release found its way out at the end of May this year. The first difference between the decade apart recordings is the different vocalist. But that is the least of the change. The analog, bumpy and easy going driving rhythms on Side A have you nodding along and enjoying the summer and your good fortune. The weather changes on the other side though. Grey, stormy and full of distortion. There’s something obsidian hard about this. Its organization. Toughness and efficiency. It’s an absolute and ruthless commitment to power and has a stunning impact on your senses. It offsets the A side to such a degree you could almost imagine it being two completely different bands, but ofcourse, the recordings were made ten years apart. A culmination of this all can be found in the cruel full of rage explosion that is the final track. The Way Out seems to be a demonstration for the new Mazur, its razor sharp and violent and has you on your knees begging for more as the blood runs down your ears…

(Written by JK)

Thee Oh Sees – Mutilator Defeated at Last

Konkurrent/Castle Face – 2015

Rock, Psych, Garage, Punk

Rated: ****

The dangerous Number 13. Yes, it is their thirteenth studio album. The raw Californian rock force Thee Oh Sees keeps putting them out and away like tasty biscuits! Sure, we dig the solo efforts of frontman John Dwyer, but with Thee Oh Sees he really gives us those massive doses of histamine, dopamine and adrenaline. The dosage we need to keep us sane and on edge. Cause that’s where we are the entire time that Mutilator Defeated At Last blasts and barks at us from the speakers. Growly, grimy garage and psychedelic heaviness steam over you and have you sweating bullets. But they’re also able to push back on the throttle and give way to wily meanderings before pushing down again and leave you coughing in the dust. Thee Oh Sees just keep on getting better. What will that mean for albums 21 and 26? Ye gods? Full climatic explosions await!

(Written by JK)

dinsdag 21 juli 2015

Lords of Bastard – I’m Fun

Bang Mountain Records – 2015

Rock, Stoner, Psych, Noise, Alternative

Rated: ****

With their new EP I’m Fun the Lords Of Bastard take it up a notch! We sure as hell dug their 2012 album Cuddles. We dug their haunting gibberish that was comprised out of new age sludge, grungy heaviness, wrestling noise and stomps of stoner. It was altogether eerie and aimed to create worlds for your ears and eyes. On the new four track EP they manage not only to create worlds or build cathedrals. Hell, they build entire universes and grand, mediocre and dubious civilizations. As opener Feel The Woosh starts you think, yes, we have lift off, we are back on the Lords of Bastard trip. But with Enter The Woo Tang they manage to envelop you whole and keep tumbling you over and over and over without making you nauseated. It has you soaring high for sure! The following two tracks have you touch down on another planet where time has stood still, revisiting two old tracks from their debut album but in a different kandy-kolored-coat. Heady, growling and mystical, tricking you into believing. Believing the Lords of Bastard are bigger than them all!

(Written by JK)

Kamchatka – Long Road Made of Gold

Despotz – 2015

Rock, Blues, Free

Rated: *****

Last year’s record The Search Goes On by the Swedish trio Kamchatka was without a doubt for me personally the best album of 2014 and made it to the 18th position of the Stoner HiVe Countdown according to all you lovely freaks out there. The new album Long Road Made Of Gold, with Opeth-bassist Per Wiberg still in the fold, will definitely be contending once again for that first prize. A honkey-tonk introduction takes us into the first track Take Me Back Home after which Kamchatka’s very own version of blues, hardrock and seventies inspired melodies once again take over. But this time around we hear more southern influences among ofcourse those lovely dashes of psychedelics and stoner. There’s also more swing and groove on this new record compared to that magical The Search Goes On which was very bluesy. And yes, the soulful voice of Thomas Andersson just keeps getting better, he can turn on the grime and grit just as easily as he can sing pure and clean and as fleeting as quicksilver. We should assume the guys have found what they were searching for and that the roads are now truly paved with gold...

(Written by JK)

zondag 19 juli 2015

The Chewers – Dead Dads

Self released – 2015

Rock, Punk, Experimental, Noise

Rated: ***

Primus, Ween, Zappa, Waits, Wall of Voodoo and Beefheart all come to mind after the first two tracks of Nashville duo The Chewers third studio album Dead Dads have washed over you. Yes, the experimental, avant-garde and all round weird guys are back and are just as nutty as before. Sometimes pondering Curtains, just curtains and at other times telling better stories and working the language way superior to Jack Kerouac in for instance Jimmy Does The Shimmy. And those moments seem to be the ones that linger the most. Sure, we can enjoy their ventures into the more punky and noisy avenues. But whenever they make the music subdued, the humor run wild and they turn into freaky beat poets Dead Dads turns into something awfully addictive. So wherever when the sun goes down and I sit on an old broken-down river pier watching the long, long skies over some city and sense all that raw land that rolls in one unbelievable huge bulge over to the horizon behind it, and all that road going, and all the people dreaming in the immensity of it, and in other countries I know by now the children must be crying in the land where they let the children cry, and tonight the stars'll be out, and don't you know that God is Pooh Bear? the evening star must be drooping and shedding her sparkler dims on the prairie, which is just before the coming of complete night that blesses the earth, darkens all the rivers, cups the peaks and folds the final shore in, and nobody, nobody knows what's going to happen to anybody besides the forlorn rags of growing old, I think of The Chewers, I even think of Old The Chewers, the father we never found, I think of The Chewers and the Dead Dads.

(Written by JK)

Goatsnake – Black Age Blues

Southern Lord – 2015

Rock, Doom, Metal, Stoner

Rated: *****

After fifteen years we finally see the return of the holy Goatsnake with their third album Black Age Blues. Ofcourse, the fans were present at their first reunion gig on Roadburn 2010 in Tilburg, which may have spawned the true resurrection of the band. Cause after the show all of us started praying for a follow-up to the amazing Goatsnake I from 1999 and Flower Of Disease released in 2000. With Sourvein-bassist Scott Renner as new blood in the formation and with original drummer Greg Rogers (The Obsessed) back on the force we are finally there. Guitar fiend Greg Anderson (Sunn0)))) punches out the most magical riffs and rattles, churns and flutters as he delivers his wizardry without every pushing himself into too much of a leading role. It seems that this part was reserved for vocalist Pete Stahl (Scream, Earthlings?) who expertly surfs across all that we hear. And everything that was intended with this record seems to come to a head on the Grandpa Jones track, just as catchy as the rest of the album, with perfect vocals and stomping drums, it delivers exactly what they wanted and what we needed: blues for the dark dark days…

(Written by JK)