Doom Hit: GREEN DRUID - "Ashen Blood"

Steady, subterranean, and filthy clean, Green Druid duskily flows with the drone of a thousand rusty amps through the cracks and pores of forgotten, ancient crypts. This sophomore EP from the Denver quartet is a darkly addictive monster of shadow riffs and deep earthen tones of sacred blood. This is doom, and it is mighty.

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New Band To Burn One To: Green Druid

Well holy shit this is heavy!

The Sleep worship is vastly evident within Denver, Colorado, four piece Green Druid on their debut EP, but they’ve used that influence in the most flattering of ways, without ripping off their predecessors, they’ve used every smoke fuelled sentiment, drawn-out riff, fuzz-toned guitar, and distorted vocal and made it their own. The heaviness of the band does not just lie within the crushing guitars or the ominous drumming, or the dark hazed vocals, it’s layered within the overall soul of the band, something which envelops everything they do. At times they are suffocating in their stoner/fuzz/doom meanderings, but it’s a cathartic resistance that you put yourself through again and again with pleasure.

The four guys (Chris Mclaughlin - Guitar/Vocals, Graham Zander – Guitar, Ryan Skates – Bass, and Ryan Simms – Drums) have only been together for one year, but their debut EP shows that they are on the verge of something truly memorable, something which we all deserve to hear. Download this offering now to prepare yourself for what’s to come.

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Sunday Sludge: Primitive Man - "Home Is Where The Hatred Is"

Much of the so-labeled doom we chew on is swollen with the promise of pain, an ominous descent into... well, something. Bands can reach the pit and the wolf at the door, as promised, busts through. Others present a threat and rely solely on those shadowy unknowns. I guess those sounds have their place. But sometimes, I just want a band to get to the fucking point.

By now we know Denver's Primitive Man to fall into neither camp. Since the trio's 2013 introduction of the brutal, excellent Scorn, they've set their own standard of blatant bludgeoning. Through various splits over the past two years, Primitive Man have all-at-once announced their presence, delivered their rust-fisted blows, and asserted their dominance by keeping a heel to our throats. Here, with the four tracks of Home Is Where The Hatred Is, they show no sign of relent.

The EP's half-hour of screeches and hovering spite begins with Loathe, tormenting behind sustained malevolence. Ethan McCarthy still gives zero fucks who may be in his way, and Spy's encircling drum work may as well be a hostile Korowai tribe for all the anxiety it catalyzes. This blackened sludge buries us so low that it's near-impossible to sense even a sliver of hope. The cavernous, all-encompassing infliction is parted by an icy wind that carries answers further out of our reach. And as doom timbers collapse in slow-motion, the jagged squalls only augment our misery.

Downfall finds a quick groove and laughs at restraints, later shifting blackened pitches but never escaping the mire. As McCarthy chokes out brutal truths, the supporting tapestry remains wholly caustic. Tone and mood are exceedingly bleak here, but isn't that consistent with PM's catalog? Over and over, we're dragged into a horrifying meld of loose dirt, hot tar, and spiking licks piercing the sludge glaze. It's a filthy, anguished roll in the hay. If hay were fucking razor wire.

In keeping with themes of doling calculated evil, the EP's closing tandem fails to let down. Double kicks head a charge on Bag Man, rolling into itself amid a cloud of soot. The steady escalation of ire is staggering, even for these guys. And when the tracks shift to introduce the closing A Marriage with Nothingness, we're simply ill-prepared. Pain and discord are reflected in a swirling, scraping, trippy mindfuck. As static gradually hazes, everything about this release grows more terrifying.

Buzzing throughout with equal parts callous disregard and deafening feedback, Home Is Where The Hatred Is marks another triumphant blow to our perceptions of the human condition. Ugly truths are never easy to swallow, and here there's no safe alternative. Primitive Man have snatched the torch and thrust it into our gleaming smiles. So what's it really sound like? I'd imagine slowly dying alone would look, feel, and sound something like this.

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New Band To Burn One To: Stone Deaf

Longing for the days of dry, hot, dust swept of summer, open road cruising, with nothing but a ripped pair of jeans, a bottle of the good stuff, and an aching story to tell? Let Colorado’s Stone Deaf help you escape these winter blues and whirl you into a desert stoner scene of heavy fuzz dominated riffs, riding shotgun on a Queens Of The Stone Age Mustang hot rod. With heavy references to the classic sounds of Kyuss and Monster Magnet, Stone Deaf are carrying on the stoner/fuzz torch of the Palm Desert Scene into 2015 with as much laid-back urgency as their predecessors. Switching effortlessly between chugging heavy riffs, psychedelic trances, and some bluesy swagger, Stone Deaf are sure to plant themselves firmly in your ears 'till the build up to summer. Let’s open a cold can and start the road trip now!

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Heavy Planet's Reader Takeover V2

Welcome to the second edition of Heavy Planet's Reader Takeover. The amount of submissions have been a bit underwhelming so far (only two), but since another reader took some time to send in his bands we decided to give it another go. This round of bands comes from Daniel. He has chosen to feature some bands from his home state of Colorado as well as a bonus band from Germany. If you are interested in submitting some bands for this feature please click here. Now, on with the show!

ABRAMS – riff heavy rock.



Black Lamb – singer Brian Hagman is one of the most dynamic frontmen ever.

Cloud Catcher – 70’s psychedelic heavy rock.



The Worth – straight up stoner rock.



Wovenhand “Refactory Obdurate” – read someone else’s review. genre defying. all around good people and Chuck is one of the nicest, coolest people I know (features Chuck and Neil from Git Some, PMFS)



Bonus band from Germany:

Giant Sleep – proggy psychedelic desert stoner rock.



Thanks for checking out Daniel's Reader Takeover selections.

In the Company of Serpents Debuts New Track

"Your parole agent called. Mushrooms taste like dirt. Three minutes just passed but it felt like twenty-seven. Maine has more trees per square mile than any other state. My back hurts. I heard she dates that dude Blake from Oak Forest. Nah, man... it IS a conspiracy. It's like Grover, y'know, just without all the shit all over him. I told her I didn't care if my friends thought she was ugly, I didn't think so. Shit, what was that?!"

Denver's In the Company of Serpents return this October, dealin' five bloody stubs of stoner-doom haze that'll leave you clueless when you drop dirty. A Heavy Planet darling in 2012, the band lurches one step further toward doomination on Of the Flock,  the follow-up to their fuckin' stellar-smoked self-titled. Lick your lips and keep blinking, we've gotta wait until October for the album's release. Lucky for us, Grant Netzorg and Joseph Weller Myer have laid a bait-trail. Check out Untied / Culling Essence from the Void, a dust-born twitch that slow-picks its way into sneering, sludgy blasts of darkness. Which way is up?

Check out the track below or at their Bandcamp page. If Of the Flock can take two sniffs from its predecessor, this is gonna be nothing to miss. Sweaty, brutal, and completely validating Heavy Planet's objective, In the Company of Serpents have yet to leave us unfulfilled. Some dude said their shit would run out. The best shit always does. Hit this before your dad gets home.

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In the Company of Serpents: TRIVIA CONTEST!

It hasn't been terribly long since Heavy Planet first featured Denver's In the Company of Serpents, a thick and buzzing stoner/sludge/doom act loaded with promise and short on flaws. It was already abundantly clear these dudes put their riffs before their wallets, but now they're offering up FREE downloads to the first TEN readers who correctly respond to the five questions listed below.

And let's just pretend your response falls to number eleven. Well, you still win; just visit the band's bandcamp page and dig for five measly clams. You NEED this band in your head!

Oh, this couldn't be any easier. Simply email your responses to Seth at desertsessions@hotmail.com and he'll let you know whether your hand was quick enough. If it was, he'll respond with a link to a free download of the album. See? Fuckin' simple! Here ya go...

(Disclaimer: These questions are straight from the fucking band)

1. How much more black could this album be?

A. Slightly more black.
B. Way more black.
C. None more black.

2. Which band penned these lyrics:

"Rip your head off and smoke your brain

but at the same time I can be tamed

Conquered and climbed many walls

now and then I'm gettin' kicked in the balls"

A. Earthride
B. GWAR

C. Sonic Death Monkey

3. Proceeds the Weedian, ________ .

A. Nazarene

B. Nazareth

C. Lazarus

4. Taco Supreme:

A. None for me, thanks.

B. Whatever.

C. Taco Supreme!

5. Mankind is ___________ .

A. Doomed

B. A virus

C. Unkind, man

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New Band To Burn One To: BLACK ACID DEVIL

Black Acid Devil is today's "New Band To Burn One To"

Bio:

Black Acid Devil started in the Winter of 2008 as the band Warriors on the Edge of Time. Changed our name and released tape in summer of 2010. finished two small tours of the midwest and played a number of shows in the Denver area. after a brief hiatus we are back with more amps and a desire to bring the thunder.  "Mountains of Madness" is Black Acid Devil's first official album released digitally in November of 2011.



Thoughts:

"People always ask me why I wait so long to release my Top albums of the year (usually mid-January) and I always tell them that you never know when you may find a hidden gem at the end of the year. I think I may have found that hidden gem in Boulder, Colorado's Black Acid Devil. The band plays a fierce as fuck blend of Stoner/Sludge metal. By blending monsterous riffs, monumental time changes, furious bass lines and gritty vocals the band beckons the ominous sky like a rolling metallic thunder. As the band states...Black Acid Devil Slays...INDEED!"

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Concepticus Experimenticus Sludgecus-New Band To Burn One To: EARTH BURNT BLACK

The "New Band To Burn One To" today is Earth Burnt Black.

Bio:

Based in Northern Colorado, Earth Burnt Black is an amalgam of sound, never content to repeat itself. They shun the current trends and the "more-metal-than-thou" attitude associated with a lot of growing metal bands. They don't attempt to be the darkest, the fastest or the most extreme. They don't rely on an image, or anti-image to show who they are, instead preferring to let their music explain w...ho they are. The easiest way to classify they is simply to call them heavy.

Lacking easy classification hasn't stopped them from gaining fans and building a reputation as a tight and explosive live act. Whether opening or headlining, with a month of preparation or 48 hours, Earth Burnt Black lives on stage and holds back nothing. In 2011 they will release A HARROWING CATHARSIS, their debut album, a genre defying concept album that will drop jaws and get people talking even more. (Earth Burnt Black spent 2009 and early 2010 performing, touring and releasing material as Last Tragedy, they have won the respect of fans, bands from all over the country and are a recognized of the Colorado music scene, having played with dozens of CO's finest.)



Review:

"On their latest CD "Harrowing Catharsis", Colorado band Earth Burnt Black cracks open your chest plate with an iron fist of sludgecore lunacy in epic proportions. The mountainous rumble transcends into scorched rhythms, dynamic song structures and haunting bass lines as the tormented death growl and calming clean vocal seemlessly play off each other as if in a battle between good and evil. As intended, this album is to be listened to in it's entirety and the band wants each listener to take away something different from this atmospheric, devastating, and thought-provoking 54-minute concept album. Check this one out for sure!" 

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New Band To Burn One To (Morning Buzz): STRAIGHTEN THE CROOKED

STRAIGHTEN THE CROOKED is today's "NEW BAND TO BURN ONE TO"  Morning Buzz...

Bio:

From a warehouse in the bustling metropolis of Longmont, CO we give you Straighten the Crooked. Formed by Matt and Zach in August of 2009 as a punk rock band, they quickly started a search for a drummer. After auditioning a handful of drummers over the next four months Geoff finally came along and transformed the band into what it is today… A metal band with much love for all that is heavy.

After recording their first demo with Jamie at Module Overload, they set out to play some shows. After a year of playing shows, they returned to the studio, this time with Bart at Motaland, to record their first EP. We have the master, but not the funds to press. We'll get there soon enough.

"Like a huge monster truck crushing its way over mounds of scrap metal, Straighten the Crooked know how to bring the heavy. Forged in their punk roots, this three-piece from Longmont, Colorado combines doomy grooves, raucous rythyms, brawny vocals and mountainous riffs. Crack one open and crank it up!"

The band is set to perform at this year's Denver Doomfest. Click here for details.



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New Band To Burn One To-Matterhorn

The "New Band To Burn One To" today is Matterhorn.

Matterhorn releases their bludgeoning down-tempo post-rock instrumental aural assault on you from the Rockie mountains of Colorado. If you worship bands such as Converge, Baroness, Mastodon, Isis, Pelican, Russian Circles, and High On Fire then Matterhorn is right up your alley. As the band prepares to release their first full-length album for Thinker Thought Records on 1/4/11, they have made available a few songs for for your listening pleasure.

"Stage One: Long Valley Caldera, 8:32 a.m."
"Stage Three: The Currents"

About Matterhorn:

The wilds of Colorado brought forth the three men of Matterhorn. Daniel Harvey, Jeremy Grobsmith and Aaron Retka have played together for a decade, first in the tech-violence quartet The Great Redneck Hope, whose two full-lengths remain required listening for the genre. Now, as Matterhorn, they've condensed into a thundering instrumental three-piece, relying on low-grade musical telepathy and a collective half-century of musical experience. Matterhorn's debut release, Vol. 1. The world began without man ... is the first part of a diptych of theme albums, Vol. 1. providing a bleak and scientifically plausible series of events that rinse life from the Earth. (Vol. 2 will pick up where Vol. 1 leaves off.) Over the course of the album, Matterhorn provides an auditory tour of the end of man, alternately blistering and mild, bombastic and stark. This, along with their explosive live show, should do well in helping secure their legacy.

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