New Band To Burn One To: COMPEL

HEAVY PLANET presents...COMPEL!

BAND BIO:

Compel is a two piece Swamp Doom band from Summerville South Carolina (just outside Charleston SC). Compel consists of myself (Joe Horne) on guitar and Tim Davis on the kit. We write instrumental songs inspired by legendary and crytozoological creatures and paranormal theories or anything we are interested in really. We formed two years ago via a craigslist ad when I was unable to find other doom musicians, Tim answered and we have been together ever since. We have managed to record our first EP with three songs which runs around 41 minutes. All engineering and production credit is given to Jay Matheson (worked with Phil Cope on Baroness, Fight Amp, Kylesa and Dark Castle recordings) of the Jam Room Studio (Columbia SC). We are going to be touring/playing many shows across the southeastern US over the next few months so hopefully we make some noise and stir up the doom community a bit. Hopefully our tunes intrigue the thought process, listen loud and enjoy the ride.


THOUGHTS:

"If this is your first foray into what would be called Swamp Doom, then you might as well start things off right with this muddied two-piece monster from the swamps of South Carolina known as Compel. Heightened by the brilliant production of Jay Matheson, this all-instrumental band takes you on a harrowing and ridiculously fuzzy trek filled with an abundance of caked-on riffing, drowsy tempos and gratifying intensity. As with many instrumental bands that play off one riff, which may lend to a lack of interest, Compel does a tremendous job at pushing the envelope by using different guitar effects, well-placed tempo-changes, and an insane amount of murkiness, this new EP makes for a compelling (sorry had to do it) and overall aural bulldozing."  

((facebook|bandcamp))

Heavy Planet Podcast Episode #09: Girls Wanna Rock

This month the Heavy Planet Podcast treats your ears to some of the finest female-fronted bands the world has to offer. The bands represented here run the gammut from Occult Doom Rock to Horrific Sludge Metal. This is just a sampling of the many bands out there that deserve your attention. Missing from the podcast are progressive sludge stalwarts Kylesa (female vocals on some songs), enigmatic doom metal merchants Bloody Panda, doom duo Dark Castle, and I'm sure there are many others. But I know one thing is for damn sure, these ladies just want to rock!

Tune in this Sunday on Grip of Delusion Radio from 4:00 PM EST to 6:00 PM EST to hear what all the commotion is about.

Acid King-Teen Dusthead
Witch Mountain-End Game
Alunah-Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
Windhand-Black Candles
Black Math Horseman-Origin of Savagery
Undersmile-Crab People
Black Moth-Blackbirds Fall
Thorr's Hammer-Dommedagsnatt
Blood Ceremony-Children of the Future
The Devil's Blood-Christ or Cocaine
SubRosa-Strega
Castle-Blacklands
Stake-Off the Witch-Deep Inside of Me
Spacegoat-Silver Swamp
Hijos De Mayo-Silence Unsaid
Siena Root-Nightstalker
Ides of Gemini-Starless Midnight
Royal Thunder-Mouth of Fire
Jess and the Ancient Ones-White Witch of Rose Hall
Rituals of the Oak-On the Sixth Moon
Misdemeanor-Mastery
Salome-Black Tides
Jex Thoth-Warrior Woman

LISTEN

Album Of The Week-Dark Castle-"Spirited Migration" (2009)

The Album Of The Week is "Spirited Migration" by Dark Castle.

The City of Saint Augustine, Florida has the distinction of being the oldest city / port in the United States and the home of the duo Dark Castle. Dark Castle released an amazing demo entitled Flight of the Pegasus and have already played numerous shows all over the eastern half of the USA. Spirited Migration continues the metallic doom-psyche journey that Flight Of The Pegasus began. Guttural howls, towering volume, are broken-up with post-rock interludes. Exotic scales and haunting rhythms further pulls one in the atmosphere that Dark Castle creates for the listener. Recorded by Phillip Cope (Kylesa) and Mastered by Scott Hull.



Review:

"When first hearing of the band, I was a bit skeptical because of the name. Then I noticed they were a duo with a woman on vocals/guitar and became intrigued. I enjoyed the “Flight of Pegasus” EP but eventually moved on and forgot about the band. I was excited to hear the new album and can say it will be hard to forget this group again. It seems they have been refining their sound and can be a reminder not to judge a band by its name.

Their sound is so deep and menacing it just seems like there would have to be bass in the mix but Dark Castle pull it off without flaw. The tormented guttural vocals performed by Stevie and drummer Rob match the guitar tone and bring even more power to their thunderous sound. “Awake in Sleep“ draws the listener in with the droning doom of Sunn O))) before a riff turned blunt weapon is embedded in the skull. The opener is the most memorable track on the album. It captures the band’s use of balance between atmosphere and sheer ferocity.

Stevie shows her skill with the strings on “Spirited Migration”, a Latin influenced interlude that brings to mind a sonic journey through the mind of a desert creature. The creative and versatile song writing style on this album is similar to Neurosis and Old Man Gloom. While taking influence from some of the more well know bands in the genre, Spirited Migration still offers ingenuity. The mystical guitar on “Weather the Storm” captivates the mind and projects a brooding storm on the rise into the mind of the listener. The structures for each song differ quite a bit but still allow the listener to feel the whole thing is well connected. I would recommend listening to it all the way through the first few times.

“Flight Beyond “builds up power and soars through some Baroness styled guitar work. This song blends perfectly into “Grasping the Awe” which has some interesting spoken passages. The plodding pace of the appropriately named track, “Growing Slow”, provides the soundtrack to a predator lurking in the presence of his wounded prey. The drumming on the album is not overly complex and there are not fills being thrown around. The drums serve their purpose, which is to be the lumbering, pounding heart of the music. The guitar flourishes in psychedelic beauty at points while the majority of the time is dedicated to pummeling skulls. After hearing Spirited Migration, it is easy to say the group seems very promising and have set the standards high for the next album." (Jordan Fogal, SputnikMusic.com)

Tracklist:

1. Awake in Sleep 06:51
2. Into the Past 05:35
3. Spirited Migration 01:46
4. Growing Slow 04:31
5. Weather the Storm 03:26
6. Flight Beyond 04:14
7. Grasping the Awe 04:12
8. A Depth Returns 06:33

Total playing time 37:08


Video: Crystal Seas - 11-19-08



MySpace

Dark Castle To Release Debut Full-Length

The city of Saint Augustine, FL has the distinction or being the oldest city/port in the United States and the home of the duo DARK CASTLE. Brought to the attention of At A Loss Recordings by both Sanford Parker (MINSK/BURIED AT SEA) and Philip Cope (KYLESA), the couple will release there first full-length, Spirited Migration, on May 26. Recorded by Phillip Cope and mastered by Scott Hull (both KYLESA and BARONESS), Spirited Migration continues the metallic doom psyche journey the band`s stunning Flight of the Pegasus began. Guttural howls and towering volume are broken up with post-rock interludes. Exotic scales and haunting rhythms pull the listener further into DARK CASTLE`s unique atmospheres. For fans of YOB, RWAKE, SAMOTHRACE, etc.

The band will be playing the following dates this summer:


5/07/2009: Hickory, NC - Drip`s, with US CHRISTMAS, STINKING LIZAVETA
6/04/2009: Panama City, FL - Spinnaker, with ZORASTER, MOUTH OF THE ARCHITECTS, IT STARTS TODAY


Spirited Migration Tracklisting

"Awake In Sleep" (6:51)
"Into The Past" (5:35)
"Spirited Migration" (1:46)
"Growing Slow" (4:31)
"Weather The Storm" (3:26)
"Flight Beyond" (4:14)
"Grasping The Awe" (4:12)
"A Depth Returns" (6:33)


www.myspace.com/darkcastlemetal