2020 has already been a busy year for San Diego electronic darkheart Shrieking. Debut album Let the Galaxy Burn (Self-Release) was released in January; a single, Truth About Demons (Self-Release) appeared at the beginning of May, and is closely followed by this Split (Self-Release) with St. Louis Dungeon Synth project Puddleglum. It’s a curious and enticing prospect, enhanced by both bands weighing in with a healthy representation of the material.Continue reading
Ethan McCarthy‘s myriad recordings under his classification of ‘Noise’ are what many of us might name Harsh Ambient or Ambient Drone. Dystopian, disturbian, yet with elements of clarity that break through the crushing sound (and occasional soundbites of sex), many fans will have encountered these often challenging passages through his work with Primitive Man and here with his solo project Many Blessings. Sophomore album Emanation Body (Translation Loss Records) embraces more atmospheric airs whilst retaining much of that visceral anger.Continue reading
Everything in Canada is supposed to be nice, right? That Trudeau bloke’s boyish grin; the clean, crisp air; the way the natives go ‘Eh’ at the end of a sentence in a wonderfully endearing way. Tell that to Resent. The 2018 demo from the Victoria, British Columbia based quartet was one of the most frightening exercises in putrid Sludge I’d ever encountered, and new album Crosshairs (Dry Cough Records / Nerve Altar / Rope Or Guillotine) promises only to extend the suffering…
You remember the first time you heard Leviathan (Relapse Records) by Mastodon? I do. It was as if my world had shifted on its axis: a relentless display of monumental, complex power that left me unsure how to feel…except that it felt exciting, enlivening. I never thought that Vermont quartet Barishi would recreate those emotions: a great band yes, but its Harsh Stoner grooves had the intricacies without such immediate power. Suddenly, out goes vocalist Sascha Simms, being replaced by guitarist Graham Brooks and reducing the band to a three-piece. Third album Old Smoke (Season of Mist) follows. Fuck…Continue reading
Usually, Metal from Finland is incarcerated inside a cocoon of cold Death and/or melancholy. For the last seven years, however, Helsinki trio Slave Hands has rebelled against the norm to peddle a particularly horrific brand of Doom-flavoured Sludge, and No More Feelings (Dry Cough Records/Gate Of Deliria/Minor Obscure/Sewer Prison), the band’s fourth album in that time, continues down that solitary, diseased path.Continue reading
In some hypercritical sections of the Stoner world, it was suggested that Hyborian, Volume I (The Company), the debut album from Kansas City heavies Hyborian, was rescued from a certain monotony merely by some lighter, synthetic nuances. Whereas it may seem an indicator of a lack of imagination to see the follow-up named Volume II (Season of Mist), it’s an all-too-common error to assume that the content will follow the same path.Continue reading
As well as being a mainstay of Psych-Noise stalwarts Comets On Fire, and frequent collaborator with such Experimental artists as Current 93, Ben Chasny is frighteningly prolific in the guise of his solo Folk / Americana project Six Organs of Admittance. Latest album Companion Rises (Drag City) is a shimmering trip through the stars which enriches the soul.Continue reading
Since their 2010 inception, Ohio trio Valley Of The Sun has been lauded in the same breath as Grunge legends Alice In Chains and Soundgarden, while not yet achieving that level of iconic status. New album Old Gods (Fuzzorama Records) sees the band maturing, with a gentle psychedelia gracing those heady grooves.
Gabriele Fiori obviously has too much time on his hands. The Black Rainbows frontman also runs Heavy Psych Sounds Records, and it’s this outlet through which he has chosen to propel new project The Pilgrim, a duo with bandmate Filippo Ragazzoni, toward the masses.Continue reading
“Satan rules!” states the bio of French Doom/Stoner trio Witchfinder. Dear, oh dear…more expected is the apparent devotion to hedonism and, on the band’s second album Hazy Rites (Black Bow Records), both are seemingly hallowed in equal measure.Continue reading