There are some excellent Stoner Blues albums around right now, with enough beef to wake you from that delightful trip around the Mojave on the back of some languid solo work. The name of Memphis quintet The Heavy Eyes speaks of a lull into one of those shamanic stupors, but fourth album Love Like Machines (Kozmik Artifactz) has a ‘bad boy’ image to keep those peepers open.Continue reading
You can call it Punk; you can call it Noise; you can, if you will call it Beat poetry. One thing that Manchester UK experimentalists Locean do produce is a thrilling, vibrant energy and Chav Anglais (Artificial Head Records), the band’s first full-length album, is full of such attitude: from crashing strings and rhythms to sparse, protesting, dominant sexuality.Continue reading
Sólveig Matthildur, synth legend for Icelandic Darkwave pioneers Kælan Mikla, is a troubadour of the keys. Winning accolade upon award for her debut solo album Unexplained Miseries & the Acceptance of Sorrow (Self-Released), second full-length Constantly In Love (Artoffact Records) aims to build on that emotional heart with an added sense of frost-bitten drama, an ill-fated love story articulating emotion from both protagonists.Continue reading
It’s a name that will be unfamiliar to many but London-based Alex ‘A.A.’ Williams is destined to rise above the radar before too long. With YouTube comparisons with Chelsea Wolfe and Emma Ruth Rundle already boosting her reputation, the fact that Holy Roar Records are releasing eponymous EP A.A. Williams is a testament to the growing sense of expectation.Continue reading
Ask a proud American to identify the EoB and they’ll gaze, either wistfully or with revolution in mind, toward a grand old building not far from Pennsylvania Avenue. 2018, however, has given birth to another EoB – the Evolution of Boom, a kind of cultural reworking of the Low-End chords which brought all manner of sounds into the realm of enjoyment for the average music listener.Continue reading
Search online for bands named Trees and the only entries you’ll find are references to the glorious British Folk outfit of the late sixties and early seventies. Deep in the recesses of Finland, however, comes another such incarnation: one that joins the gathering of acts that have revitalised the genre this year.Continue reading
When frontman John Haughm left the mighty Agalloch in 2016 to follow a more blackened direction, the heartbreak was soon complete when the remaining members officially laid the idolised beast to rest. Two years later, through the detritus comes Khôrada, lending itself to the apocalyptic post-doom of the parent but with a more emotive, folksier bedrock.Continue reading
The first two albums from Church of Ra-affiliated Belgians Oathbreaker were fiery slabs of dark anger which nevertheless possessed hints of invention: gaining the band a reputation further enhanced with an incendiary set at last year’s Damnation festival. Nothing, however, pointed to the emotional might and unbridled creativity of new album Rheia (Deathwish Inc.) Continue reading
Those aware of the vicious nastiness of Birmingham UK’s Fukpig will be more than familiar with key member and ex-Anaal Nathrakh live bassist Paul Kenney. Five years ago, Kenney began Occult Doom outfit Kroh as a duet, and has resurrected it to stunning, electrifying effect with second album Altars (Devizes Records).Continue reading
Devastatingly, the return of the prodigal son heralds the final statement from British Doom legends The Wounded Kings, the band recently having decided to split after twelve years of incredible creation. Visions in Bone (Spinefarm Records) is George Birch’s first album with the band since he returned to the fold two years ago, to the delight of those devotees who shunned the eerie chanteuse qualities of Sharie Neyland. Continue reading