Sunday Sludge: Acid Goat

Imagine a world where Black Sabbath never existed. Iommi never riffed, Ward never jazzed, and Ozzy & Geezer never tripped and wrote shit like Fairies Wear Boots. You'd wonder where that would leave the heaviest bands of the last four decades. Would Birmingham still be credited as birthing heavy metal? Would we have fans demanding to knight Rob Halford instead of John Michael Osbourne?

While Birmingham's produced unlistenable pop acts like Dexys Midnight Runners and Fine Young Cannibals, thank Christ they've given us Napalm Death and Godflesh. Adding to the city's litany of great heavy acts is sludge-doom trio Acid Goat. Providing a nod to 1970 and stomping a bootprint into tomorrow's breakfast, these stone tossers drop four slabs of riffage that'll have you suffering from gravity's cruel joke. This self-titled EP is so swollen with thickness that you may be walking with a cane from now on.

Demonstash opens with echoes of the first and finest moments of Black Sabbath on Black Sabbath by Black Sabbath. The descending doom lumbers and looms with massive, entrancing reverberations. Long, deceptive pauses provide minimal relief, giving way to lingering guitar screeches as drums usher doom's second wave. This instrumental clinic is wholly devoted to the riff. Nosferatu's low, malevolent bass plucks offer an even thicker, filthier breed of sludge. Vocals emerge, spitting and echoing to add a subhuman element to the murky nightmare. Things get weird, though, as wormy guitar licks bob and weave for a whisper of thrown-back psychedelia. Ever-expanding, there's seemingly no end to the destruction.

Acid Goat have their somber moments, however. Green Queen is rife with hollow isolation before we're greeted with a pendulumic sway of high-density doom. Guitars buzz from a distant electric woodshed as repeated rhythmic crashes dent the back of your skull. And that vocal is back, this time weaving rusty barbed wire through your limbs. This track succeeds in swinging a knobby club and flattening anything it crosses. And when Acid Goat take on Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2), they've unearthed trippy licks and a vile vocal that'll have your father scratching his head. This heaviness is Goddamn ridiculous.

It appears these four songs are just the beginning. Stoning and dooming in equal measure, these highs are low and these lows are real... fucking... low. Set aside a few bucks for some new speakers before you spin this shit. Layers reveal themselves beneath each unrolled note, offering an all-too-brief glimpse into a band that just may keep these flames burning hot. Have a seat, please.

For fans of: Sabbath,Conan, Electric Wizard 

Pair with: Burton Baton, Dogfish Head Craft Brewery Inc.

Facebook | Facebook

LP Review "Alunah - White Hoarhound"

The sprawling and pollution stained concrete of Birmingham city, which lies in the appropriately named area of the UK known as the Black Country, can be considered the great womb of heavy metal and its splintering genres, having spawned such ground breaking and brain quaking bands as Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Witchfinder General, Napalm Death and, a personal favorite of mine, Godflesh. But those are just some of the more well known bands from Brum (as it's affectionately known here), and with this latest release from Alunah, Brum has yet again spawned a band who have a direct link to the heavy current that flows through the dark land of the Black Country.

This past few years has seen a flurry of female fronted doom and stoner bands, none of which I'll mention here as you will probably know at least a couple of the more well known and successful ones. The lead singer of Alunah however, gives those particular bands a real run for their money. Her voice is simply exquisite and is a nigh on perfect accompaniment for the sound that Alunah make.

White Hoarhound is Alunah's second full length release, with 6 tunes of crunchy fuzzed out, down tuned and shroomy pagan inspired Doom Metal (and one acoustic dark folk jam) released on vinyl by Napalm Records.

From the opener, Demeter's Grief, Alunah come with spaced out psychedelia preceding mighty doom riffs of low-end fuzz conjured from the earth as if tapping a vein of ancient bardic energy that has lain dormant for time immeasurable. I can almost taste the soil and the stone when the thick fuzz hits me. When I close my eyes I see hoards of robed up wizards carrying oaken staffs, a sacrament of psilocybin brews consumed and chanting huge bass tones at a towering monolith, drawing mother Gaia's nurturing flow of life giving energy to ensure a bountiful crop and a strong and healthy tribe. This is doom but it is natural earthy doom and it's very laid back in its delivery.

Track 2 is White Hoarhound and Alunah do not mess about here. They slam you immediately with chunky stoner grooves, the solid fuzz tickling the core of your brain and guitar licks of stupendous mind expanding proportions. The singers lyrics are delivered with sumptuous earthy vibes that put the listener in a trance; telling a story that could well have been penned by some vastly ancient scribe. It is spiritual stuff indeed; an ode to the old ways of pre-Roman Britain, ways that never really went away because they are recorded in the ground and in the rocks and in the forests.

Belial's Fjord, the third track, reinforces the pagan vibe that Alunah create with this album. We are treated to yet more low-end fuzziness and stomping drums and riffs of doom with vocals that drift through unexplored mountains and valleys filled with long stretches of deep dark water. What lies beneath nobody knows, but this must be the sound the  ancients used to move their huge stones vast numbers of miles.

Next is The Offering where Alunah offer up a slow dirge of fuzz and other worldly chanting followed by spine wrenching stoner rock riffage and a hymn to the pagan gods. It traverses huge expanses of sacred land and echoes around the temple of Gaia. It is indeed an offering and one that Alunah make in earnest showing where their heavy hearts truly lie.

The Chester Summer is track 5 which opens with sounds of an ominous wind blowing until a bass tuned to doom and stepping drums herald a plunging of thick warm fuzz and Sabbathian riffs cover you from head to toe entombing you in a cocoon of doom metal and words of praise to the solstice day of summer. The pagan tribes gather around a circle of stones to honor and pay tribute to the rising sun where they celebrate the longest day of light and the shortest dark of night.

Oak Ritual I breaks the flow of shroomy doomy fuzz with a psychedelic acoustic jam sounding like a pagan lullaby to an ancient forest of oaks. The robed up wizards gather again, walking in line towards the father of all oak trees that lies within the center, the vocalist singing a soft ethereal chant to awaken the forest spirits. Hypnotic acoustic guitar riffs sound a homage to the oak trees with an organ adding to the invocating vibrations. The ritual has begun.

Oak Ritual II follows where the riffs fall thick and heavy with stoner doom grooves that penetrate the earth, waking the ancient ones; the echoed airy voice of the mother goddess drifts around the darkness of the oak forest and over the empty fields forging an electric connection to the essence of soil, stone and wood. The track evolves into psychedelic drifts of sound until it builds to celebratory uplifting guitar licks and thudding totemic drums. The energy from the earth is now invoked and passes through those that are gathered for the supreme ritual of the oak.
But there is something hidden that comes after the ritual is complete so listen out for it.

Alunah are fast shaping up to be one the UK's best paganistic Doom-Metal bands and if laid back earthy fuzzed out grooves are what lifts your spirit to unexplored dimensions then this is an essential addition to your collection.

White Hoarhound is now available in green or white vinyl from Napalm Records or as a digital download from their bandcamp.

  

BANDCAMP / WEBSITE / FACEBOOK 

EP Review: MOGHUL

Moghul hail from the very birth place of heavy metal itself, the bleak city of Birmingham that lies in the dark hearted center of the UK. 

This 4 piece consists of James Neuenhaus on vocals and guitar, Joseph Barber on vocals and guitar, Adam Wiseman on Bass and Tom Woods on vocals and drums. Having formed as recently as 2012, Moghul have quickly made a name for themselves playing on the same bill as more established bands such as Conan, Alunah, and Slab to name just a few.

This EP is their first offering with 2 tracks, Dead Empires and Hidden Hand and with its cover a black and white shot of an ancient cairn (I'm sure I know that particular stack of stones) and Hebrew lettering, you just know your in for some down tuned sonic goodness of the esoteric kind.
Both are deliciously heavy slices of sludgy and unmistakably British doom metal very much in the vein of Conan.

Track 1, Dead Empires begins with some simple opening heavy riffage and within a short time the heaviness is amped up by a second guitar adding weight and depth to the already thick sound. A soaring guitar lick adds a slaying and melancholic aire to their vibe before the vocals come with a loud call to the ancient gods of the riff, summoning even more heaviness. The track grinds on, low end seeping everywhere while another vocalist breaks up the chant with a growling incantation. The drums pound the earth causing sonic earthquakes that drive the track along at a steady and hypnotic pace, sending ripples throughout space.

Track 2, Hidden Hand starts off less heavy than its predecessor with its atmospheric and soft bass line, drifting melodic guitar tones and simple percussion building a maudlin and serious sound until the 1 minute 37 seconds mark when the track drops a thousand ton weight of low end sludge upon the listener. This is the stronger of the 2 tracks on this EP but it is just as hypnotic and crushing as the first, conjuring images of ancient druids stood on mountain tops shouting forbidden words at a blackening sky. The slow and plodding pace does not cause the track to feel too long and drawn out, broken up as it is by calmer moments, taking quick breaths before the sludge comes falling down again, increasing the heaviness with the weight of the universe behind it. The drums complement it all nicely, not being too complicated or all over the place, just nice and simple pounding rhythms that support the crushing low end frequencies.

This EP is a strong first effort from this British 4 piece and I predict good things to come for them if they push their sound forward. This is a band I would love to hear live as the sheer weight of their sound is enough to rattle anyones rib cage; a very pleasant sensation I'm sure you will agree.

The EP is now available from Devizes Records as a limited edition green vinyl pressing of only 80 copies or black vinyl with 110 copies here: www.ds.bigcartel.com

The EP can be downloaded in digital from the Moghul bandcamp at: http://moghul.bandcamp.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Moghuluk

New Band To Burn One To: SALLY

Heavy Planet presents...SALLY!

Today's "New Band To Burn One To" comes to you from Birmingham, UK.

Band Bio:

Birmingham based SALLY, came together in 1996 as a trio, Andrew Parker(guitar), Peter Brown(bass), Darren Donovan(drums,vocals) taking their name from ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ heroin ‘Sally Hardesty’, their music was heavily influenced by bands such as MUDHONEY, FU MANCHU and SONIC YOUTH. Guitarist Nigel Baker augmented the line-up in 1997. They recorded two demo tapes with this line-up. After witnessing a live performance supporting ORANGE GOBLIN in their hometown of Birmingham, LEE DORRIAN of RISE ABOVE RECORDS/CATHEDRAL offered the young trio a deal. Shortly before recording, SALLY inducted LEE SMITH( formerly of ETERNAL/ELECTRIC WIZARD, MOURN and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania doom legends PENANCE) on vocals. The s/t album was recorded in 1998. Baker would leave the band in 1999, not being happy with their ‘heavier’ direction. They continued as a quartet.

A BILLY ANDERSON produced sophomore album(C-EARTH) was released during 2004. The band would break up shortly after that.

SALLY have supported ORANGE GOBLIN, ELECTRIC WIZARD, GOATSNAKE, MARK D(melvins), SPIRIT CARAVAN, BEAVER, NEBULA, KARMA TO BURN, and more recently after a re-union in 2010 : SOILENT GREEN, BLOOD CEREMONY, SIGIRYIA, SLAB DRAGGER.



Thoughts:

"Many of you may be familiar with Sally as they are not exactly a "new" band. In 2010 the band got a new lease on life with constant touring and is now planning on releasing some new material. This is our way of re-introducing you to the band if you will. Sally's meandering tempos and hypnotic grime are sure to please the ears of any fan dedicated to all things Doom. Their music leads the listener along a gilded path of equally dark and psychedelic worlds which feature noisy guitars, fierce vocals and acrid heaviness. Take a listen to the band simply known as Sally and hear for yourself."

(((facebook)))