Hailing from the east of Germany, Thuringia to be precise, and purveyors of psychedelic doom are Motorowl. Their new album Atlas follows in the footsteps of their 2016 debut Om Generator (both on Century Media Records): metal with fuzzy guitars, doom-laden riffs, meandering, sometimes spacey, sometimes carnivalesque, keyboards and a thick sense of melancholy.Continue reading
Survive Sunrise (Relapse) sees the release of ASG’s sixth album, their first since Blood Drive in 2013. Recorded, mixed and mastered by longtime producer Matt Hyde, their latest offering continues the North Carolina outfit’s signature sound; a heady mix of both psychedelic and stoner rock, with strong Black Sabbath, Kyuss and Mastodon elements throughout, complete with their trademark, and rather striking, album art courtesy of Malleus (Editor’s note: a.k.a. Ufomammut), whose previous work includes Foo Fighters, The Melvins and Queens of the Stone Age.Continue reading
Denver, Colorado group Green Druid know what they like: They like Sleep, prolonged, Sleep-like jams, and – and I’m going out on a limb here – I’m willing to bet they like songs inspired by marijuana. Their début album, Ashen Blood (Earache) mixes all those elements for a heavy and satisfying (if overly long) session of stoner goodness. Continue reading
Rising Finish doom band Dark Buddha Rising has announced their new album, II EP, due for release on April 20th from Neurot Recordings. The band has booked some live appearances, including the prestigious Roadburn Festival next month. As part of their appearance at Roadburn, they will team up with their countrymen Oranssi Pazuzu in a collaborative group dubbed the Waste Of Space Orchestra. You can watch the album trailer and pre-orders are live at the link below. Continue reading
Few bands ever “make it” as successful touring and recording artists. It’s a long way to the top if you wanna rock and roll, or even the lower middle rung of sales and touring if you play rock or metal. For Kenny Hickey and Johnny Kelly, they saw the top of the mountain with their legendary 1990s band Type O Negative, with huge selling albums, world tours and mainstream success. Each has had success as session and touring musicians as well as other bands they have been in. With their new band Silvertomb, they are returning to the doom and gloom of their roots, but also goth and psychedelic influences to take this project in a new direction. Ghost Cult’s Keefy got to hang out with Kenny, bassist Hank Hell, and guitarist, keyboardist Aaron Joos before their second show ever in New Jersey. Together we talked about the new band, shopping their demo to labels, giving back to fans and their community, and of course the legacy of Type O and late frontman Peter Steele. Videography by Omar Cordy with assistance by Heather Wilkerson for Ghost Cult.
Over the course of three albums, Chicago’s The Atlas Moth have shown signs of both significant transformation, and of a band on the verge of delivering something spectacular. Where the second album, An Ache For The Distance (Profound Lore) brought the buzz with their Neurosis influenced brand of post-Metal beginning to develop from the debut release, the follow up The Old Believer (Profound Lore) firmly put them on the map, opening up to wider expanses and a greater diversity in their sound. Continue reading
From the 1:57 opening strains of the first track of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club’s newest release, Wrong Creatures (Abstract Dragon/PIAS), ‘DFF’, I know I’m in for a treat. I’m instantly transported back to a Mad Max Thunderdome setting. Leather. Blood. Fire. This puts a smile on my face. I’m totally pumped for what’s to come next! Continue reading
Introducing Mooner, a psychedelic rock group from Indonesia made up of members of The Slave, The Sigit, Sigmun and Sarasvati – all well-established bands in their homeland. Originally released in April via Bhang Records, is the re-release of their début album Tabiat this time via Outer Battery. Within it is a multitude of influences, Indian Raga and Middle Eastern touches are mixed together with psychedelic, 70s era bluesy rock resulting in a familiar yet alien sound.Continue reading
I went into Wormwitch’s Strike Mortal Soil (Prosthetic) with a groovy attitude. I thought it clever that it opens with ‘As Above’ and closes with ‘So Below’. The first words spoken were, “I stand on the precipice. And I leave my body to wash away in the current of time. Pour your wisdom into me. Repent into me. And prepare for total annihilation.” In my mind I swear I heard Arthur Brown starting to sing ‘Fire’. I tried to sing ‘Fire’ whilst listening to ‘Howling From the Grave’. In a very scary twist of musical fate, it worked!Continue reading
Having slowly transformed themselves from ’60s/’70s psychedelia into a full-blown Occult Rock/Doom Metal act, as well as having undergone several changes in personnel in their eight-year existence, it makes perfect sense that Sabbath Assembly see new album Rites of Passage (Svart Records) as a reflection on the transitional stages of life.Continue reading