dinsdag 9 april 2024

The March 2024 Doom Charts – 40 to 26

 

 

The March 2024 Doom Charts – 40 to 26

Stoner Hype

Here we are again, collecting what we did on our little Facebook page right after the new regular edition of the Doom Charts goes online. We count down from 40 to 26 and try to type in a few words about that album or ep that makes sense to us. It’s not a review; but usually a miniscule blurb, a little sentence to entice, to hype. A Stoner Hype… Well, we collected them here to post for you in one nice little post on the blog… Because we like to keep things nice and tidy and it helps us spread the good word about them on Instagram as well…


FULL EARTH – CLOUD SCULPTORS

"We wrote a full review about Full Earth's Cloud Sculptors a few weeks ago and you can read that one by going HERE! But in short, it's a gigantic prog rock adventure. Gigantic is the most colossoal understament every in this case... "


FRANK NEVER DIES – RED MOON RISING

"Out on Argonauta Records is Frank Never Dies's new album Red Moon Rising on which the Four Italians deliver some mighty fine psychedelic rock. Off kilter, off centre and off the wall! You might get as weird and delirius as they are thanks to that Red Moon Rising!"

 

WATCHMAN – CURSED

"One man project Watchman delivered cauldron bubbling, sluggish sounding, abyssal and ominous sounding doom! Cursed is the stoner doom for the creatures that live in the deepest depths of the earth..."

 

 

SKULL SERVANT – SUMMON SORCERESS

"The first thing I thought when the new Skull Servant EP hit my ears, damn these cats are prolific! The four from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA deliver impressive quality doom rock. This time the tracks have this unholy earworm and catchy ability! Especially on that first track… So beware, once called, this Sorceress will stay with you forever… "


HIJSS – STUCK ON COMMON GROUND 

"Alternative rock, grunge, postpunk space, psych, the Italian three named hijss deliver all of that and more on their debut album STUCK ON COMON GROUND, out on Argonauta Records. They call it cosmic grunge. Garage kraut could work. Shit, you can call it loads of things, but you will have to call it AWESOME!"


HYDRA – INTO THE NIGHT  

"We mentioned it a few weeks ago, the new three song EP by the Polish four called Hydra band. Doom metal, stonerrock, sludge and roll and with such a majestic groove that you will be headbanging as that very first break commences and that groove starts and after that, you are hooked and won’t stop banging along! And then the vocals kick in, immediately taking it into proto and classic heavy metal territory. Out on Piranha Music, the three tracks on Into The Night are pure glittering metal gold!"


THE NEPTUNE POWER FEDERATION – GOODNIGHT MY CHILDREN

"Goodnight My Children is the new album by Australian power rockers The Neptune Power Federation... By no means lullabies, the eight tracks deliver highly energetic hardrock, steeped in seventies and loving the eighties! Catchy by default, they lean into power pop and harmonies as if they were driving full speed on a motorcycle towards life's next vicious curveball... The sun's out! Wake up for The Neptune Power Federation!"



PER WIBERG – THE SERPENT’S HERE 

"Per Wiberg Music's The Serpent's Here was my personal Number 1 album. Have had it on repeat for ages now. Was smitten with his early All Is Well In The Land Of The Living But For The Rest Of Us... Lights Out record from 2021 and this equals it. Prog, with loads of metal influences and an otherworldy atmosphere, cautionary, strange, mysterious and fantasy rich tales. And those eighties references through majestic key work make this one brilliant release. Epic, grandiose and with severly catchy melodies... Out on Despotz Records its another wild addition to the ever growining Per Wiberg discography!"


CANCERVO – III  

 "Cancervo's III arrived at the end of March through Electric Valley Records and give you this scuzzy and foggy doom metal. With a carpetted sound, III is an occult offering as deliberate, meticulous and slow as they come..."


SONS OF MORPHEUS – FRUITS

"We were honored to premiere the full Sons of Morpheus album a while ago. Fruits came out on the awesome Sixteentimes Music and give you all the freak blues you could possibly need this year! Amazing album! And you can read what we wrote about the album HERE! "


LÅNGFINGER – PENDULUM 

 "Långfinger's PENDULUM is a classic in every sense of the word. Out on Welfare Sounds the Swedes rampage through all those heavy rock genres of yore; and with such playful yet determined attitudes that you cannot help but listened in complete awe and marvel at all the little things they do among all those big sounds!"


THE WIZARDS – THE EXIT GARDEN 

 "Ten years after their first release the Bilbao Heavy Metal Warriors The Wizards are back with their fourth full-sized album called The Exit Garden. Their uncanny ability to merge NWOBHW with classic rock, proto metal and stoner are once again forged into eight wonderful tracks. Out on High Roller Records and filled with soulful guitar work and galloping riffs this is pure headbanging heaven!" 


EMPTY FULL SPACE – FROM THE LIMBO 

 "Stoner HiVe wrote about Empty Full Space at beginning of March and could not stop listening to the krautrock and psych and space delivered on From The Limbo. Out on Spinda Records you can check out what we wrote HERE!"


DAYTRIPPER – BOOK I: THE TRIP

"Sludge doom, droning and deliciously slow and brutish! It's Daytripper and their new Book I: The Trip album. And ofcourse Frazer Jones wrote something great about it on his Desert Psychlist, read that HERE!"


OAKFARM – OAKFARM 

 "And finally on Number 26 we find Oakfarm from Germany, and their seventies inspired self-titled album. The blues is there of course and you'll find some psychedelic touches, but for the most part we have another classic rock gem on our hands. Eight tracks that are lead by swaying melodies and a warm groove... Perfect for those leisurely summer afternoons soon to come..."


Tune in next month when we do this Stoner Hype again for the number 40 to 26 of the April Doom Charts... Live during the weekend on our little Facebook Page or afterwards when we collect them here... But for now... Go listen to all of the 40 of February if you haven't already!

maandag 8 april 2024

Tigers On Opium – Psychodrama

 

 

Tigers On Opium – Psychodrama
Heavy Psych Sounds – 2024
Hardrock, Seventies, Proto, Garage, Psych, NWOBHW, Stonerrock
Rated: ****

There’s always been something sleazy and pulp about the Tigers On Opium sound, the lyrics and the overall vibe. But on Psychodrama both those aspects get toned down in favor of a more honest and emotive approach. You might almost assume the concept of the Psychodrama album is based on their own experience with therapy. For it is a concept album about group therapy where multiple persons work through their traumas together. Yes, that sound serious. And much of the changes Tigers On Opium seemed to have worked for on this Psychodrama album, are serious. But what stayed was the hardrock, the proto touch, the seventies swagger and the garage fogginess. This time around there’s also some more metal influences that remind of the eighties when the NWOBHW exploded. Some of it is delivered so clean and serene that even that smokey sound that is so Tigers On Opium gets blown away. There have been times when Tigers On Opium was all that could get me through the night, and with Psychodrama there will be even more succor for the dark times…


(Written by JK)




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Heavy Psych Sounds


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

 

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

Skraeckoedlan
Dätcha Mandala
The Nepture Power Federation
High Noon Kahuna
Frank Never Dies
Oakfarm
Watchman
Laser Eyes
Per Wiberg
Level The Compound

Another week gone! Hope everyone had an amazing weekend! Mine was damn fine, cause I got to see Desert Storm, Alabaster and Omega Sun on Saturday! Three bands that made The Jack in Eindhoven shake on its foundations. Friday was weird, cause our very own Kyle SB handled the Doom Charts edition this time around. There was this kind of phantom pain, loss or want because of it. But he did excellent! And it gave us some time to get a lot of rent paying work done. Cause there was a lot of that and not that much time for Stoner HiVe. Although we did review that awesome Carpet album, the Level The Compound debut and mentioned that wild new High Noon Kahuna single. And last but not least on Friday, a Quick Fire Friday segment filled with eight releases… So, all in all, not completely useless! But we hope to do better this week… Enjoy yours!

vrijdag 5 april 2024

The Doom Charts for March 2024

 

Doom Charts

March 2024

My god, it’s full of DOOM!

~ Dave (probably misheard quote from 2001: A Space Odyssey)


We here at the Doom Charts pride ourselves on loving all that the heavy underground has to offer. Not only doom in all its dark and deadly forms, but all the other strains of heavy and metal out there. That being said, to our sinister delight this March turns out to be an especially misbegotten month. From top to bottom, soup to nuts, Ozzy to Dio, this month’s charts are filled with DOOM! Stoner, psychedelic, classic, you name it, it’s here.

Of the hundreds of albums submitted, the one unifying thread everyone could agree upon was the mountain of madness and music that bands had to offer this March. A seemingly bottomless pit of heavy awaits to lose yourself in, and rest assured the below 40 albums are only the tip of the iceberg. Check out the individual contributor’s sites, the band’s pages, the record labels, and more to get your heavy fix.

It was weird not doing the Doom Charts this month even though I wasn't on holiday. But our very own Good Boy PR maestro Kyle SB did a wonderful job! And the result looks impeccable. It gave me more time to do other stuff and even write a blurb or two for the March Doom Charts. It's an amazing edition once again with no less than 275 albums receiving votes... Feast your ears on all that heaviness over on the Doom Charts!

Of the ones that made the March Doom Charts, I voted for: Hydra, Per Wiberg, Sons of Morpheus, Empty Full Space, The Quill, Acid Row, Tigers On Opium, Skraeckoedlan, Malsten, Clouds Taste Satanic, Full Tone Generator, Hekate, Max Boogie Overdrive, Slow Green Thing, Iota, Daevar, Karkara, Sonic Wolves, O Zorn!, Scorched Oak and Early Moods...

But as usual... We could have voted for all of them! And as usual, we will start the rundown of the Entire Top 40 over on the Stoner HiVe Facebook Page... And write a few words about Number 40 to 26... As a Stoner Hype thing! So, let's start listening to Full Earth's Cloud Sculptors which we wrote about last week... Read about Full Earth HERE!

 

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…


The Doom Charts For March 2024

Stoner HiVe’s Quick Fire Friday

 

 

Stoner HiVe’s Quick Fire Friday

It’s Bandcamp Friday! It’s the First Friday of the new month, which means, the new edition of the Doom Charts! So, why not go full tilt overload with the amount of musical tips and do a Quick Fire Friday segment! Peruse the bands below and listen to what they’ve put out! It might be your new favorite track, EP or album! And we know… There is so much out there, so much good and heavy stuff, and we just simply cannot ever do it all justice. But here it is… Another Stoner HiVe Quick Fire Friday! And it burns hot like molten lava!



Bear, Man Dangerous – Sarajevo, Nebraska

We’ve mentioned Bear, Man Dangerous before. Back when they, he, it released its American War single. And now the enigmatic project is back with a track called Sarajevo, Nebraska. Something grungy at heart, but that’s only logical when you reside in Seattle I guess… And once again filled with slowcore, shoegaze, postrock and doom. If not musically, then definitely with its ominous message of anxiety and worry about the state of America…


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Mad Coyote – The Desert Calls

Hailing from Levél, Hungary, near the three border point of Austria and Slowakia, the Mad Coyote three sport a damn cool bandname and deliver five stoner rock, stoner metal and gritty grooves on an EP called The Desert Calls. Even with the production being a bit thin, and the vocals moving from growling to a mocking tone, there’s something inherently wicked lurking in the Mad Coyote sound. Let’s keep an eye on these cats, err, I mean Coyotes!


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Earth Drive – True Passage Into The Void

My visits to Portugal and Lisbon never took met to Montijo on the other side of the Tagus river, but listening to True Passage Into The Void it seems we definitely should next time we’re there. For the Earth Drive four deliver doom, metal, progressive, ethereal and spiritual with a cosmic journey vibe. Giving it a bit of an ambient atmosphere, without ever going into that genre musically. And so many steps up from their earlier Helix Nebula album it’s scary…


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Sludgebucket – Sludgeadelic

Not longer a power trio, we can now name them the stoner metal two called Sludgebucket. And the two have re-recorded their earlier power trio songs that featured guitar and vocals as well as bass and drums as pure drum and bass instrumentals. Turning what was gnarly into something almost funky. And the wildness into groovy. Sludgeadelic is fusionadelic and that is a specific form of sludgy coolness, verve, and trippiness.


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Violet Dawn – From Basement To Dawn

The idiosyncratic opening track Amnesia on the four track From Basement To Dawn by Violet Dawn, a five-piece from Trier, Germany, is the perfect calling card for this off center psychedelic blues and alternative stoner rock band. Going from weird to wicked and from great to grandiose! As is second more languid, classic, southern and prog touched Cold Summer. Four tracks in and you are a Violet Dawn fan… Just like me!


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Teleportoise – Solar

The three track Solar by Guelph, Ontario, Canada quartet Teleportoise will come out on May 16th. That’s right, Stoner HiVe is early for once. Very early! But this could not be helped, for the three track Solar is so highly addictive. The stoner sludge, the prog metal and all its maelstrom heaviness deliver an entirely different three body problem, with tracks Dawn, Day and Dusk delving into the concept of the Earth revolving around the Sun. It’s a violent and extinction-level event translated into metal of all sorts. Mark it in your calendar, May 16th, Solar day!


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Masonic Wave – Masonic Wave

More metal, more math like structuring, completed by noise, punk and progressive rawness. Featuring members of Yakuza, Naked Raygun, God Damn Your Eyes, Land Of The El Caminos and Sybris, it’s the debut album Masonic Wave by Masonic Wave and it comes out April 12th. There’s a frenzy here and a lust for honesty and pureness. It’s break down, de-creation to an eddy whirling its bloodiness of ruckus all around you. Feel the room expand with Masonic Wave!


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Glass Beams – Mahal

They implore that Eastern vibe and atmosphere to perfection, they hail from Melbourne, Australia and are called Glass Beams. Their psychedelic world music, warm to the touch and so entirely welcoming. But you already knew that! That touch of disco, the Indian elegance, jazz age mystery and beautiful instrumentation is pristine and has been rocking your world ever since they released their Mirage album in 2021. But did you hear the new five track EP Mahal yet? Or did you see the Mahal video yet? Go for it… It will make you feel good…


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Carpet – Collision

 

 

Carpet – Collision
Kapitän Platte – 2024
Rock, Prog
Rated: *****

The new, fifth full-sized album by German prog rockers Carpet, is exactly that. Prog, immaculate and nearing perfection. Collision is its name and delivers a big forty five minutes of colossal prog rock. There are always influences from other genres whatever album you are listening to and whenever it comes to progressive rock, there are even more. Some of which are of course common for the prog rock genre. So, yes, there are a few definite sallies into the realms of psychedelic rock, jazzier takes on their compositions and even something rubbing up against stonerrock. And there are more, more minute or minimal or miniscule tidbits that will remind of other genres, but that’s what progressive rock should be all about. And the way Carpet delivers their new prog rock adventure is a testament to the brilliance of the genre and of all six of the bandmembers. Opening the Collision album is the eight minutes long The Moonlight Rush. A gradual opening section, soon guided by a wonderful trumpet, towards a riff strong proto tinted sonic river, carrying the blessed vocals through verses and refrains, underneath bridges before finally coming to a cascade that instead of speeding things up, slows things down and there among the jazz pebbles, we once again here that trumpet coming back to guide us into the light. Back to a dream you once had, and that segment might be exactly what you need to calm the internal friction you might have been experiencing and there will be a feeling of fortuity energizing your entire being. You are here and lucky enough to hear Collision and completely able to enjoy it. And that contact feels so precious, you should do your utmost to preserve it. First contact is always cherished, but even more so when it is this wholesome and amazing. And fortunately, the Carpet six continue with another brilliant track called Dead Fingers. Starting off rockier, jagged and edgy before those edges are smoothed over and offered up to shine with forlorn and repeated vocal lines misting across the composition. Turning the track slowly into a foggy atmosphere, obscuring the moonlight from earlier and heralding the arrival of ghostly figures or memories. Ghosts is the third track, which slowly dispels the fog again and whisps it away once those guitar are allowed to squeal through the mid-section and howl near the end. With the following P Is For Parrot is you arrive at the middle of the Collision record, where wonderful keywork seems to pin down the psych and the pastoral vibes, and the guitar becomes this fragile crystalline boundary marker, offering flashbacks to something eighties and flash forwards to when the world finally falls down. Three more tracks will follow that will move you with its multitude of layers, the inherent floatability and the way that makes it all merge together and feel so natural and nourishing. Dream state textures and lush instrumentation come together in perfect shape and form on Carpet’s new record Collision. And it will leave one hell of an impact…  



(Written by JK)



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woensdag 3 april 2024

Level The Compound – One Of Us

 

 

Level The Compound – One Of Us
Self-released – 2024
Rock, Metal, Thrash, Hardcore, Progressive, Grunge
Rated: ***

They hail from Chapel Hill, New York and have found themselves a damn fine new band name, cause after going by the name Spreadloves before, they’re now called Level The Compound. Love it! And on their debut album One Of Us , out April 5th, they give you ten intense crossover metal tracks. Delivering the goods in both thrash and speed metal, but also imploring hardcore vigor, groove power and something progressive. Turning the hotchpotch that is One Of Us into something unpredictable and very much their own. Cause even though they’re giving nods to some of your, mine and their nineties heroes, there are quite a few of them it seems, they always immediately brush the dust away, making sure that those minute homages in sound never linger.Level The Compound often sound like maniacs; thirsting for rampaging energies, breakneck riffs, neck cracking breaks and with a love for all that manages to combine the three. And then there’s You Should Pray that breaks it all down into ballad form, showing you that they know they can also pull of pure melodic and super precise sugary sweet songs. They return to metal form in a glorious way with the four tracks that follow, and leaving you wasted with the final track named after the band themselves. Level The Compound is here to spread some love about all those metal genres that went big in the nineties. Sounding huge!


(Written by JK)




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High Noon Kahuna – Sidewalk Assassin

 

 

High Noon Kahuna – Sidewalk Assassin

A lot of times I am filled with such paradoxical feelings and tendencies. For instance, I still haven’t gotten enough of the Killing Spree album released in 2022, spinning it so much, the neighbors have become fans as well. But at the same time there’s this ache to hear new High Noon Kahuna songs! So, as soon as the Promo through Mettle Media PR rolled in, the new Sidewalk Assassin single jump ahead in incredibly large listening queue and has been on repeat ever since. Quenching a thirst and at the same time awakening an even larger beast, for now, we cannot wait to hear the full album This Place Is Haunted which will be release May 17th through Crucial Blast Records. For this Sidewalk Assassin will whet your appetite for more, with its many layers, its highly riveting rhythms, its airy center piece and its wonderful return to the noisy surf punk of its beginnings to have it all explode in a beautiful and wholesome climax! Will be riding the Sidewalk Assassin wave for as long as it will carry me!



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More about High Noon Kahuna HERE...



maandag 1 april 2024

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

 

 

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


Kintsugi Empire
Max Boogie Overdrive
Iota
Scorched Oak
Post Death Soundtrack
Queens of The Stone Age
Brotherhood of Peace
Esben Willems
Muddy Roots
Les Moontunes

Second Easter day is also a Monday of course! Another week flown by; and this one will go by in a blink of an eye I am sure. We’ve did some stuff on the HiVe this week and we hope to do some more this week. We ended with a few words about that cool 2023 reissue of the sole full-sized album by classic rock outfit Brotherhood of Peace, which also included a few bandcamp codes! And besides the list you can view above we had to mention that damn cool video for Flight Of The Sloths by No Man’s Valley and the new Greenleaf video. And out petition is working. Those awesome shirts from the video produced by Tommi Holappa’s daughter will get a proper print! Go check out the video’s and all them bands on the list! Enjoy yer week!


zaterdag 30 maart 2024

Brotherhood of Peace – Cuttin’ Loose

 

 

Brotherhood of Peace – Cuttin’ Loose
RidingEasy Records – 2023
Rock, Hardrock, Classic, Southern, Pop
Rated: ****

RidingEasy Records is another one of those labels that know how to unearth those lost treasures of the past. They know how to reissue all those classic rock gems of yore and with that Brotherhood of Peace album from 1976 they struck gold! Again! Cuttin’ Loose was originally released through the Avanti label but perhaps never got the attention it deserved. And to be honest, perhaps it slid underneath the radar a bit last year once again. Cause it’s been out for a year and is one hell of a sunny sounding classic rock album. Lyrically perhaps not always that lighthearted, but musically it’s entire sun-dappled and breezy. Perfect for a budding spring or a summer in heat. It’s highly eclectic and moves from classic sounding hardrock to more southern touched rocking to something more a kin to power pop. Highly soulful, sometimes even funky and danceable. Brotherhood of Peace was at the time of recording bass player Mike Arrington also delivering vocals, on drums Ronnie Smith also some vocals and on guitar and responsible for most of the compositions and vocals Dennis Tolbert. Highly varied, but also with that classic rock attitude as an undercurrent as is his guitar playing. Songs that remind of Led Zeppelin or more Lynyrd Skynyrd. Grand Funk Railroad is there. Deep Purple, Nazareth and even some that hint of The Beatles or even Tom Jones. It’s all there! And you would think these cats could have had a bigger day in the sun. And there’s Before The Dawn, which is such a huge track, opting for gigantic gestures, but still a bit too grainy on this release. Might need a bit more cleaning for the next reissue? On the other hand, this does give it that extra vintage touch and that faded photography quality. An amazing record, start to finish! The only reason we’re not giving this reissue a full five stars, is the fact that they might have included one or two of those singles they put out before this one and only full album. I mean we still have room for some ten minutes left on the vinyl. And the band name was originally the title of their first song… Would have been amazing to have that include… Now, let’s hope the summer starts soon, so I can put this album on repeat… Or at least the amazing Holiday!


(Written by JK)




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And for the lucky few…
We have a handful of Bandcamp Codes:

REDEEM HERE


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Muddy Roots – The Die Is Cast

 

 

Muddy Roots – The Die Is Cast
Self-released – 2024
Rock, Stoner, Hardrock, Blues, Roots
Rated: ***

I professed my love for Hungary, it’s folk, the lovely city of Budapest, the Sziget Festival and many more aspects of that country many times. I’m pretty sure I did the same for the Muddy Roots Festival. For it is the best punk, billy and roots rock festival in the world! And when a band called Muddy Roots from Hungary releases an EP you can bet your ass we need to check it out and hope the twin shall meet. One day. When the stars align. When the dice give you two sixes or twenty-one. For the four tracks on the The Die Is Cast EP from the Muddy Roots trio deliver all that gritty heaviness across a definite roots and bluesy undercurrent. After their earlier incarnation called Burning Full Throttle had to take a pause once again, instead of twiddling their thumbs, they decided to go forth as a trio and call themselves Muddy Roots. Stoner touched, heavy on the fuzz and always evoking that feeling of freedom and hitting the road, gunning whatever beast you are driving towards the setting sun and the endless horizon. Bluesy and soulful guitar work, bourbon soaked vocals and drums that know how to speed up or kick back and leave the perfect amount of breathing room for the song to shine. The Die Is Cast, and it's a winner!


(Written by JK)




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