Number ONE

“I am Garak, the original Guru of Stoner HiVe. And I proclaim this to be the number one album of 2011…”

Number ONE

We have come to the absolute winner of 2011. The gold medallist so to speak. These young puppies ended up as top dog after a gigantic sprint in the end in which they overtook Graveyard, Skraeckoedlan and Lo-Pan, which occupied the first place for the first few weeks. Their sophomore album keeps in vein with all the retromania records that have been released in 2011; but this time around they use the seventies doom variation foremost and add to this a fuzzy groove that surfs over the sound waves like a mad Hawaiian sea cowboy. And even with their progressive sound structures they still remain droning and hypnotic with an ever present cosmic and psychedelic feel to it. It gives new meaning to the word heavy and uses the blues roots in a distinctive, personal and excellent way. It flows in a melodic way that is unparalleled and delivers after every build up in their own way without aiming to be explosive all the time. They know how to be subtle, they know what silence is all about and know when the fires of old must burn and burn and char and destroy. As if these guys know the old soul of the world and have been here for many a year…

Elder – Dead Roots Stirring

The Countdown so Far!

Countdown:

Since we are about to announce the numero uno, the number one, the gold medalist of The Ultimate Stoner Hi\/e Top 20 albums of 2011! The one that beat Graveyard by 14 points. I guess this must be the right time to run through the countdown so far... Later on today, before the clock strikes twelve and 2012 begins, we will know which album occupies the number one position!

1. …

2. Graveyard - Hisingen Blues

3. Lo-Pan – Salvador

4. Skraeckoedlan – Äppelträdet

5. Red Fang - Murder The Mountains

6. Mars Red Sky - Mars Red Sky

7. The Atomic Bitchwax - The Local Fuzz

8. Yob – Atma

9. Heavy Eyes - Heavy Eyes

10. Karma to Burn – V

11. Freedom Hawk - Holding On

12. Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats – Blood Lust

13. 1000Mods - Super Van Vacation

14. Lonely Kamel - Dust Devil

15. Mastodon - The Hunter

16. Monkey3 - Beyond The Black Sky

17. Been Obscene – Night O Mine

18. Radio Moscow - The Great Escape of Leslie Magnafuzz

19. Elvis Deluxe – Favourite State of Mind

20. DeWolff – Orchards / Lupine

Number 2

“I’ll be pulling a pink elephant out of ma hat soon. But before I do; let me turn you onto these majestic blues sounds.”

Number 2

One more to go before we get to the gold medallist of 2011. Personally I sort of missed these runner-up guys completely when the album came out. But after a lot of you cats out there had these in their top three or higher I revisited this dark place and was awestruck. I get it now and wonder how I could have missed them the first time around. This retro loving foursome gives new meaning to dueling guitars, seventies rock and full carrying driving rhythms. It is the sound of their first release that has been battered on the road and matured due to all the trials and tribulations. It is the final and best testament released this year that there is nothing new under the sun and that when this retromania is done right, nothing can best it. A pure ode to righteous rock and the music we live by. This is mastered!

Graveyard - Hisingen Blues

Number 3

“Howdy Partner, you’d better get a load of these Sweet San Salvador Sounds. They’re so good, you might be spittin biscuits on a dead possum soon…”

Number 3

Hail to these kings of the tight stoner groove and old school grunge attitude. Applause for the light swollen vocals of the singer and heavy licks and riffs of the axe slinger. Hats off for the pummeling drums and fat ass bass. Aah yes, this is how all sunny day rock outfits should sound when the end is nigh. It is that look into all that stoner has had to offer after the might riff came into existence without sounding retro; it is owning up to where you came from but never sounding outdated or copied. It is what we all long for when we find ourselves jamming out on a rainy Wednesday evening: that evil mutation of the mighty beast into something meant for tomorrow and maybe even for the ages. Without a doubt, these guys, who held the number one spot for quite some time, have build a masterpiece out of pillars of rock; and always with their own hands…

Lo-Pan – Salvador

Number 4

“Badger Badger Badger Badger Badger Badger, Mushroom Mushroom!”

Number 4

Like I mentioned before, the top four this year are in a league of their own. From now on each higher number beats the other with about fifteen points. But this one already beats Red Fang with over twenty points. A Swedish stoner sledgehammer that owns the mightiest groove of 2011 without any doubt. With a high retro and vintage attitude these guys start riffing and let it all stampede over the listener like a herd of biblical beasts. It’s heavy roaring bass and massive thrashing drums should be used from now on as the prime example of how heavy music should be made. And let’s not forget the vocal melodies that are carrying each song to even higher highs. Highly addictive and highly seductive, as if the band is the new incarnation of that temptuous snake that made Eve pluck that darn apple from that cursed tree…

Skraeckoedlan – Äppelträdet

Number 5

“Momma, she’s not okay, she lights a candle, for everyday, that you’re away…”

Number 5

Before we get to the top four; who are in a league of their own, with number four besting number five with more than twenty points difference. We will still need to deal with these fun motherfuckers. Barbarically beautiful, gritty, muddy and hard. Swinging stoner alternated with smoky groove and swampy metal. Raw, infectious, entertaining and above all great fun. Cause these guys know not to take things too seriously, or not at all. They serve their metal and stoner mix with a hefty sauce of punk and comedy. Balancing beautifully between popular and dry, pounding and catchy and sharp and edgy. And it might all just be a trick; but I sure as hell have fallen for it…

Red Fang - Murder The Mountains

Number 6

“I’m off to see my grandma in the woods. A bring her a basket full of incredible tunes!”

Number 6

Like a barren and hostile wasteland; with a dusty wind carrying spooky sounds and almost ethereal voices we find ourselves roving around on an alien planet. The atmospheric feel to the album that we find on number six is amazing and at times awe inspiring; and then to think it is only their first full-sized record after having released their very first EP last year. And these guys dare to break from the norm; they dare to not play the notes, they dare to use their voices, and differ in riffs and time signatures to an enormous degree. It’s a trio that has quicksilver coursing through their veins and know the alchemy of using that right; with long sleek psychedelics and fuzzed out guitars; with an endless groove on the bass and two different vocal lines. In the end, you can only just put the needle back on again, crack open a beer and marvel at that sun setting in the deep red sky…

Mars Red Sky - Mars Red Sky

Number 7

“这些人是易爆的象原子弹!”

"These guys are explosive like an atom bomb! "

Number 7

Flirting with progressive and symphonic rock, offering up seemingly musical anarchy, dishing out the best of psychedelic waves, serving hardrock from the sixties and seventies and glazing it all with a nice layer of stoner and a hefty groove to put out a prime example of free rock for all to hear and appreciate. One track, no more, no less. But one track of pure blissful madness and seemingly endless adventures. Over fifty impossibly sweet riffs, unparalleled basswork and a drummer with more variation then the amount of animals on planet earth and still functioning as the glue that holds it all together. It’s grooving to a high musical wave, destined for far away lands and forever rolling and gushing and crashing. It’s so good it’s almost a criminal act not to be swept of your feet by this record. So you’d better get on board; otherwise you might get arrested by the fuzz, local or otherwise…

The Atomic Bitchwax - The Local Fuzz

Number 8

“Welcome Ladies and Gentlemen, please listen to these honorable masters carefully…”

Number 8

These doom rockers are already on to their sixth album after releasing their fifth record two years ago marking their return to the stage after a four-year absence. And damn we are glad they are back. Primal, atavistic and raw. Crushing, battering and epic. This is one gigantic Moloch of a record that slowly pulls every king hell of a riff out of the murky depths of the gaseous swamps. Not a record for the weak and feeble, but for those who allow an album to slowly sleep into their membrane before unveiling its truly gigantic proportions to your higher self. It pushes and pulls, it rips and rolls, it rises and falls and masters that perfect amalgam of righteous rock; riffing on to the exact moment when a switch is needed. Powerful stuff!

Yob – Atma

Number 9

“Alakazaam! You will not go to sleep listening to this musical voodoo!”

Number 9

These three Memphis rockers released a rough cut from their material a year ago and found the time to release something mastered this year. Their infectious playing gives us some heavy psychedelic blues, seventies inspired riffing and all of that with a garage feeling to it. Their fuzzy guitars and foot stomping rhythm takes you on a drinking binge in some gritty watering hole filled with cracks and characters that stepped out of some beat poet novel with noses running, veins swollen and impossibly heavy eyes. It’s that southern mojo that presents us with the perfect soundtrack for a ramshackle blues scene with dark alleys, open sewers, scarred worn down drinking sheds that only give limited shelter for the rain and wind, serving watered down whisky and lukewarm beer, filled with heavy rocking desperate dreamers and glorious losers, listening to black magic music that never falls into a neat line and is perfect for that lost soul that seeks refuge, solace and comfort in gritty and battered tunes…

The Heavy Eyes – The Heavy Eyes

Number 10

“No, I am not a Moroccan cat. This is my ode to the Sons Of The Desert. And I don’t mean the brilliant three(four)some responsible for the Number 10 album.”

Number 10

Who could have known that one faithful night in a liquor store could mean a resurgence this big of what once was known as the lost instrumental stoner legend. Since their reformation they have delivered an album a year although their first in 2009 was a live record. This time they were once again supposed to be accompanied by two singers just like on their 2010th one, which ended on number five last year. But what happened to the recordings done with John Garcia? Were they all to be used for his own project Garcia Vs Garcia; which keeps getting postponed? And ofcourse Daniel Davies did his part; after which they returned to their relentless tour schedule. But after time it once again became clear that the band should remain instrumental and Daniel left to pursue his own music, delivering a mighty EP called Hidden Faces. We are left with 8 tracks of driving rhythms, pounding drums and groovy guitar-work, which keep in vein with all their heavy tunes that came before… We’re now at 51…

Karma to Burn – V

Number 11

“Fuck you man, you’d better sleep with one eye open!”

Number 11

Before we enter the top ten we are treated to yet another entry that takes its queues from the seventies and most importantly Black Sabbath. This time around it’s hugely due to the fact that the singer reminds us of a young Ozzy and the guitarplayer of a youthful Iommi. And where the band used to be compared a lot to Fu Manchu that resemblance has faded a bit. Gone are a lot of the groovy and lazy pieces and we are now treated to up-tempo driving arrangements and classic metal. Sure; we still get a few of those easy going sunny influences but above all: this record is one of the most genuine and beautiful ode’s to the almighty riff released this year. Venomous soloing, mean drum pounding; grand in rhythm, structure and intent. Just grab on and hold on for the ride…

Freedom Hawk - Holding On

Number 12

“Hey! Don’t mess with a cat on acid!”

Number 12

The mysterious trio we find on number 12 uses classic rock, retro doom and old school stoner in a lo-fi way to produce an occult and mystic sounding musical ritual. Heavy guitars, massive riffs and a witchy sounding singer take us through the roots of all the horror psychedelics out there. The dirty analog way of recording gives the entire album a savory mouth like that of a forbidden taste without sounding sloppy or cheap. It actually makes you wonder every now and again if this gem wasn’t found somewhere in a dusty crypt; and it keeps that incredible fine balance between creepy and catchy in a perfect way. It’s mesmerizing and hallucinatory and makes you envision pure lust for the sinful properties of man. Aah yes, that vintage spilling of blood…

Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats – Blood Lust