Heavy Rotation: Weedeater, Orange Goblin, Lo-Pan, Robot Lords of Tokyo, Crowned By Fire

This week's version of "Heavy Rotation" is going to be a little different. I have chosen 5 songs from 5 albums that I have been listening to and put them in a "Heavy Rotation" playlist along with a bit of commentary. Click on each album cover to listen to song.



1. The first track "Mancoon" comes off of Jason...The Dragon the new album by Southern Sludge mongers Weedeater. If you liked the previous albums by this band you will love this new album. This track is a nice thick as hell slab of bass heavy riffage. Quick and to the point.

Here is an excellent review of the CD:

The Sleeping Shaman

by Pete Hamilton-Giles

"It was with great anticipation that Weedeater's new album Jason...The Dragon arrived for review. After God Luck and Good Speed, a lot must have been hanging for all interested parties on Weedeater upping the anti by releasing something even bigger, greater and more awe inspiring. Having toured the aforesaid album in Europe two times in as many years, a new release was well overdue. Jason...The Dragon may have been a strange name for the album, and yet all you need to do is adopt the North Carolina drawl and suddenly the once innocent childlike title is transformed into something far more Dixie appropriate. I did chuckle when I realised how accomplished the band have come to achieving sleight of hand word play." (Read more...)

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2. The next track is a bit of a rarity. I must say that this was actually the first time I heard Orange Goblin's cover of Trouble's "Black Shapes of Doom". There is not much else I could possibly say other than just listen. It appears that the song is only available on the version of the new Orange Goblin box set sold through Rise Above Records. The song is included as a bonus track on the "Frequencies From Planet Ten" CD. I could be wrong of course.

"Frequencies from Planet Ten is the sound of Orange Goblin trying to establish ourselves and experimenting with an array of different influences. It was an exciting time for us as we were just finding our feet as a band. We were young and the UK stoner /doom scene was just coming to fruition so it was great to be a part of that. The album has been out of print for a while, its great that its getting a re-release. I think the songs still sound strong and relevant, which is why we still include a lot of this material in our live set to this day and a lot of the newer OG fans can discover where it all started, only this time re-mastered and with the addition of bonus tracks and unseen artwork!"

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3. What would a playlist be without a song from Lo-Pan? "Spartacus" personifies what Lo-Pan is all about. A great driving heavy rock song with soaring vocals and a killer riff. Perfect! This song was taken off of their current album "Salvador" out on Small Stone Records now!

Here is an excellent review of the CD:

HellRide

by Jay Snyder

"A raging, beating heart with a big set of balls hanging underneath is what immediately comes to mind whenever I think of Columbus, Ohio’s powerhouse quartet Lo-Pan. This band runs on nothing but steam powered emotion, and honest rock n’ roll. From the first time I saw the band I was impressed, and once Jeff jumped behind the microphone (or rejumped according to the band members themselves) the magic was complete. The band sounded ready to take on the world with the Sasquanaut LP, and subsequently took my soul by storm with each live gig I had the pleasure of witnessing. These guys were on a fuckin’ tear, and it was easy to tell that their next record was going to be one for the books." (Read more...)

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4. The next track on the playlist is "The Mergatroid" by Robot Lords of Tokyo. This one goes back a few years. Taken off the band's 2008 album "Whiskey, Blood & Napalm", "this sophomore release positively drips with alcohol-fueled riffage, guitar hero shredding, and more groove-metal swagger than you can shake a stick at. For fans of Sabbath, Down, Clutch, and fleet-fingered guitar solos."

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5. The final track comes to you from Crowned By Fire. Taken from their latest CD "Prone To Destroy", this band takes on a more metal approach by combining machine-like drumming with groove metal riffing and angst driven vocals. Fans of Pantera, Black Label Society, and Black Sabbath rejoice.

"Not many bands can nail the true Heavy Metal style like these 4 dudes, blending everything from 70's Hard Rock to Doom Metal and everything in between" Ed - DOOMMANTIA

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