Instrumental metal quite often gets the wrong rap for being a bit tedious and pretentious, seemingly a genre that is more about a band trying to show off how well they can play their instruments rather than create an atmosphere and a unique sound and hook. Brand new four-piece outfit, Crevassian set out to create a cathartic blend of atmosphere and groove with their debut, self-released, self-titled EP.Continue reading
With an album cover bearing bright colours and acid-flavoured fonts, plus a deal with Ripple Music, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Psych bangers Psychlona are unashamedly West Coast US. The real shock, therefore, is that this pack of four upstarts belongs to West Bradford UK, and give a fiery edge to that chilled fuzz template. Debut album Mojo Rising (Ripple Music) is set to give a real shot in the arm to a genre already packed with amazing releases in 2018.Continue reading
The word yatra is a Himalayan term referring to a spiritual journey or pilgrimage. Locking themselves in a primitive forest cabin for a three-month creative process, it’s a term that seems pretty apt for Maryland’s Yatra, a Doom trio formed by Dana Helmuth of Blood Raven fame. Death Ritual (Grimoire Records) is the band’s debut album and is as harsh, gloomy yet stimulating as that process must have been.Continue reading
No, it’s not a quirky mix of Lazarus and Nazareth. Italian Stoner / Grunge quartet Sons Of Lazareth are apparently named after an old family farmstead and, after four years on the road, debut album Blue Skies Back To Gray (Argonauta Records) is about to open up these jolly revheads to the wider market.Continue reading
Since their inception in 2013, Manchester quintet Barbarian Hermit has focused the vast majority of its Sludge grooves on live audiences around its home city and the rest of the UK. After two years of upheaval which has seen one original member return and two leave, debut album Solitude and Savagery (self-released) sees the band set out toward a brave new horizon.Continue reading
Much of personal significance has happened to the members of Virginia Doom troupe Windhand since third album Grief’s Infernal Flower (Relapse) dropped in 2015: the resignation of co-founder and guitarist Asechiah Bogdan, after which the band has remained a quartet; the death of a friend close to the band; and the birth of guitarist Garrett Morris’ child. Given the joy and despair surrounding such events, it’s understandable the new full-length Eternal Return (Relapse) is a different beast from the droning sound usually expected.Continue reading
While the first album (Bless The Earth With Fire) by the sludgy metal quintet Allfather aggressively raged against the injustices in the world, their second album, And All Will Be Desolation (Rotting Throne) shows a different take on the political landscape that is not often present in music: whereas most political music will call for, and show the fight against the power in a positive light – rise up and not think about the negatives of the movement – And All Will Be Desolation reflects on the sombre side of fighting against injustices across the globe.Continue reading
Norwegian trippy harbingers Saint Karloff gave us a taste of things to come when they released initial single ‘Ghost Smoker’, and it’s this mammoth track that opens up debut album All Heed the Black God (Twin Earth/ Hellas), dripping diseased Doom through the ears with the groove and pace of Rock ‘n’ Roll and the banging heaviness of Occult mystery. The rhythms ooze power, and whilst some gorgeous lead guitar and vocal harmonies occasionally lighten the air, the time switches add electricity.Continue reading
Italian stoner quartet Black Elephant don’t usually plough that expected furrow, instead burning with a desire that evokes a rock club night rather than the chilled vibe of the desert. Sophomore album Cosmic Blues (Small Stone), however, sets off down a spacier path, with opener ‘Cosmic Soul’ full of psychedelic swirls and wonderful lead histrionics, all underpinned by a riff reeking of engine oil. A thundering rhythm section creates a blues-boogie coda, which leads nicely into the dirty groove of ‘Helter Skelter’: Caravelli Alessio’s whiskey-soaked throat oscillating around a sultry riff which does things it shouldn’t to the ears, a sleazy solo finishing off the ecstasy.Continue reading
Bavarian quartet Smoke The Sky has been conspicuously absent from recorded output since its self-released 2012 debut, Leave This World Loud. The danger with such a hiatus is that any momentum gained can quickly be lost, but with a powerful sound it’s often recoverable.Continue reading