Quick Trip: ORANGE SUNSHINE - "HOMO ERECTUS"

A stunning blend of great late 60s, early 70s style psych-rock with heavy stoner fuzz sensibilities has been captured on this nearly 2 decade old album by Orange Sunshine. Listening to it is sort of a double deja vu by going back to the band's early days of the new century where they brilliantly captured the sound of 4 decades prior, the decades of flower power, of tripping on mind altering pharmaceuticals and mind blowing heavy rock, the decades of musical captivation and discovery.

The music on this album has an almost magical immersive quality to it, whether you lock yourself into your mancave and test the limits of your speakers, lock yourself out from your surroundings with headphones, or utilize your car's bluetooth functionality on that long roadtrip, you will quickly find that even without the help of pharmaceuticals your mind is expanding in pleasurable and exciting ways. The spells cast on this album are rendered with mystical guitar work that colorfully penetrates to a pulsing primal core, led by vocals that use that great breakout quality of rock vocalists of the era and accompanied by a superior, groovy beat of drums, and rapturously cool bass bonanza.

bandcamp §¤§ facebook 

Quick Hit: ATRAGON - "I, NECROMANCER."

Yesterday's post was from the far south reaches of the UK in Bournemouth. Today we fly with the raven due north for over 400 miles, shedding the robe of grunge garage fuzz along the way in order to don a cloak of dingy, heavy, black molasses soaked doom, alighting in Edinburgh, Scotland where the smoldering heat of Atragon envelope us in thick elixirs of darkness and portent.

The sophomore album from this Scottish quartet is quite simply massive. It's ambitious and fearless, delving deeply into murky and primal psychic veins of ebon metal ore. It's an all enveloping assault on the psyche of devotees of doom, borne of the dark sonic distortions of amplified axes and black batteries of bass drum, the jagged, frenetic chanting of shadow art practitioners, and the evil genius of psychic melody makers deeply entrenched into oily, obsidian enchantments.

bandcamp <{}> facebook  <{}> label

Quick Hit: THE ELECTRIC SHAKES - "ELECTROHYPNOSIS"

Europe gives us a TON of great underground rock bands that run the gamut of styles we lump into stoner/doom/psychedelic/desert/retro/blues rock (even the genre lump is sizeable), and the UK is no exception. The trio The Electric Shakes, out of Bournemouth, are another of an impressive group of UK fuzz monsters.

Most trios are set up as one member doing double duty as the vocalist in addition to playing an instrument, but one impressive aspect of The Electric Shakes, in addition to their awesome fucking moniker, is that each brandisher of a musical apparatus performs vocal duties as well. The more vocals the better, whether it's a sharing of song leads, furnishing backup service, or in harmony, and these guys sweep all obligations.

The music they make is infectious, rawking, and fun. It's heavy on the riff and quick on the tempo. The drums are virulent and catchy, engaging head and hips in a dance of infectious rhythm. Monstrous basswork bolsters the heaviness of tracks that otherwise rocket and zoom in gravity defying exhilaration. The guitar brings all the highlights expected of excellence and quality, with a colossal fuzz enclosure punctuated by searing, soaring solos. The songs themselves are melodic masterpieces of amalgamated rock standards with traits of punk, stoner, garage, blues, and 70s era rock. The Electric Shakes' approach to music is a brilliant combination of those great rock sounds of past and present without any direct reflection of one legend over another, which allows them to forge something exciting and new and wholly their own.

bandcamp <{}> facebook <{}> soundcloud <{}> twitter <{}> youtube

New Band To Burn One To: COBRAJAB - "COBRAJAB"

Doom is the tenor of the day, with psychedelic bracing, stoner overtones, and profligate subterranean darkness, emanating from the capital of wholesome goodness, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Cobrajab, a foursome of visionary metalheads who, despite a 'just getting off the ground' presence online, have managed to produce and release an EP and an LP in the past two years, both of which are collections of magnificent riffage amalgamations. An unstoppable, steady force of deeply toned reverberation trudges unerringly, inexorably forward, opening pathways of psychedelic excursions of brilliance, as well as energetic bouts of stepped up fuzzery along the way, but never wavering from the melodic miasma of mighty metal machinations this band has so brilliantly conjured in their spells of doomweave. Their music is engaging, at times hypnotic, at others primal and spiritual, providing instant gratification while forging memorable long-term memory positions in the minds of DOOM aficionados.

bandcamp <{}> facebook  <{}> youtube

Quick Hit: CORTEZ - "THE DEPTHS BELOW"

Veteran Boston rockers Cortez have advanced their long, high caliber legacy with a new, full length LP, their third album since inception back in 2006. This latest album by the quintet is a testament to their longevity as it provides some of the best tracks they've yet produced, music of the highest stoner metal caliber offered up over the past 11 years.

"The Depths Below" run a distinctive gamut of loud party fun, melodramatic psychedelics, hard, heavy, slabs of towering stoner metal resolve, and even a frolicking, hip-hop inspired romp of a hard rock bent. The melodies are intelligent and magical, providing sharp, indelible hooks, while the vocals are of a quality rarely experienced from within the hordes of underground rock bands. Riffs of twin guitars are piled high and loud, bringing steel wool fibered fuzz of rarefied magnificence. The rhythm sector is never overshadowed, displaying clear, unyielding stickwork of immense cleverness and ferocity as well as bass guitar of thick, gargantuan reverberations of primal explosion.

I had the privilege of reviewing Cortez on their eponymous sophomore release back in 2012, cutting my teeth on music easy to both enjoy and attest to. Five years later I get to do so again, an opportunity as satisfying as is their music to which I immensely enjoy.

While going over their discography I came across a single track they had released early in 2016, a cover of one of the premier rock bands of the 70s, Deep Purple. Cortez' rendition is a brilliant emission of a brilliant, but unheralded classic. I include it here for the sake of fun.



bandcamp || facebook || webpage || twitter || instagram

Quick Hit: HEY SATAN - "HEY SATAN"

Trios kick ass much of the time. There's just no getting around it. The Lausanne, Switzerland trio Hey Satan kick ass from a number of angles on their debut eponymous release. To begin with this album RAWKS, and rocks hard. It's meant to be played loudly, and to be enjoyed completely. The music will absolutely flow through you like some dark, demonic doomspell. There are ten tracks on this inaugural LP and not one of them misses a cloven-hoofed step. Each is spellbinding with magical melodic imagination, a feat of epic proportions, and none of them are carbon copies of neither themselves nor of any stoner metal legends, providing ten dark, dewy songs on which to guzzle and savor. The stoner/doom influences are obvious as the gargantuan guitars reign supreme with riffs of deepness and distortion as well as searing, soaring solo runs, but obvious homages are rare as this trio's grand abilities forge their own armored merchandise of dark and hefty metal. Vocals provide a searing focal point with a superb rawness and range brilliantly matched to the music. Overall this is one hell of a debut, a memorable and savage romp that should solidify a place in end of year retrospections.


bandcamp <{}> facebook

Quick Hit: EARTH WITCH - "OUT OF THE SHALLOW"

Earth Witch have been producing and playing high energy, heavy metal doom rock since they first formed on Halloween night in 2012 playing Black Sabbath covers. An early EP, released on Halloween in 2013, was a brilliant admixture of psychedelic Black Sabbath doom. For their next offering to the dark fandom gods of haunting melodies and mammoth black-bottom riffs Earth Witch have stepped up their game, submitting a full-length LP of masterful musical acumen. The melodies are exciting and memorable, the riffs are an amalgam of searing psychedelic solos, subterranean rumbles of earth and stone, with characteristics of stoner/desert sounds sewn perfectly into the patchwork of deep doomness and ephemeral wisps of phantom Sabbath spirits. All of this comes to you in afterthought as you listen because the immediate response is joy, joy in experiencing music that masters every trait that we love about low-tuned massive, heavy metal. It's a forty minute escape, much more capable than any current virtual reality gimmick. It's an ode to past brilliance yet still a discovery of fresh raw power entirely attuned to primal urges of amplified sound.

bandcamp <{}> facebook <{}> instagram

Quick Hit: EGYPT - "CRACKS and LINES"

North Dakota's premier stoner/doom rockers Egypt return with a darkly sizzling 5 track scorcher of an album that once again showcases their penchant for wielding massively heavy, wickedly sharp metal music in their inimitable stoner/psych/doom style, led by the singular vocals of Aaron Esterby, whose natural rawness far surpasses all the guttural affectations of heavy metal mimickers and followers. This band is genuine in their motivations and abilities just as their music is the real thing, tasteful and memorable, primal and heavy.

bandcamp >>|<< facebook

Quick Hit: RUFF MAJIK - "THE HARE AND THE HOLLOW"

Mega-Fuzz rockers Ruff Majik have quite quickly returned with a new release....of sorts. It's only been two months since they issued the brilliant "The Swan", but Ruff Majik have something quite new, yet quite familiar, up their fretboards with what is apparently the initial three tracks of an eventual full-length album that will span a wondrous tale of fantasy. Their plan is to release a fourth of the album in time with each of the changing seasons of the southern hemisphere from which they dwell. This is exciting news, both for its creativity and its anticipation. The three songs that have burst forth through the ragged fissures of this threesome's psyche are earth devouring melodies of titanic proportions, ragged in riff, raging in solo, and gargantuan in rhythmic explosions. More to come is only welcome news for fans of their obsidian assaults.

bandcamp >>|<< facebook >>|<< youtube

Album Review: STEAK - "NO GOD TO SAVE"

STEAK have assiduously become a staple of underground fuzz, having previously released quintessential stoner/psychedelic hard rock albums in 2012, '13, and '15. Now, having signed with Ripple Music, they have released another full length album of ten thundering, riotous rock melodies that once again showcase the musical brilliance and deep-tuned craftsmanship of this Warrior Island battery of four preeminent metal artisans. "NO GOD TO SAVE" has allowed STEAK to bring to the fans of stoner rock, of fuzz-fueled, low-tuned loudness, a collection of songs that completely appease the most hooked addicts with hooks of amplified fervor.

STEAK are a brilliant group of metalheads, rendering songs that do much more than relay a particular sound quality. They certainly are adept at creating and playing extraordinary hard rock music that is rich in low tones and euphoric amplified distortion, music that combines clean, razor-sharp riffs with serrated edge keenness and a mammoth aural presence. But they are also adept at doing so over melodies of near genius, crafting songs that instantly excite while embedding snares of long term memory that will haunt its victims for years to come, songs such as "Overthrow", "Clones" "Living Like a Rat", and "Mountain".

"NO GOD TO SAVE" not only showcases their variety of fuzzy metal music, but does so in perfect harmony of their extraordinary vocalist, Kip, who is impeccably matched to their brand of heavy with his deep, mellifluous vocal tones that easily scale the highest peaks the music requires without ever resorting to any sort of rebel yell, guttural utterance, or falsetto flippancy, as well as complementing the band's six-string slinger Reece's samurai brilliance, or without ever overpowering the mighty drubbing of Cam's bass magnificence, or never overshadowing the wielder of wood, slayer of skin, drummer Sammy's stickwork.

When you look at the legacy STEAK have begun to build you can see this London clan possesses something as special as any metal band around, regardless of attempts at genre identification. They struggle like everyone else in the underground world of heavy rock, but have managed to advance their music, and hence, their careers, when doing so is never ordained. They now are part of Ripple Records, which in itself is a mark of accomplishment, and they have already given us an unerring library of amplified addiction. With "NO GOD TO SAVE" they have bestowed upon us one of 2017's preeminent heavy metal, hard rock, stoner rock albums, proving they are poised to become the legends their burgeoning legacy reveals them to be.

bandcamp <<|>> facebook <<|>> label

New Band To Burn One To: COLD DEZERT

Cold Dezert are another in a burgeoning line of established and emerging Grecian stoner/doom bands, and just like so many of them, they have developed a hefty, gargantuan sound. But they've done more than that. They've managed to take a set of recognizable sounds and riffs and forge something all their own, something colossal, impenetrable, made of the densest stone boulders unearthed from the darkest of doom quarries. The music is dense and intricate, imaginative and primal, raw, fierce, and massive. It's what we hope for when we spin something new.

bandcamp ||><|| facebook ||><|| instagram ||><|| youtube

RIFF RELIC: Mammoth Thunderpower - "I Am Thunder"

I don't know about you, but every now and then I like to go through my massive collection of great music and see if I can find something I haven't played in a long while, or perhaps discover an album I never had a chance to give a chance when it was first acquired. Today's focus is on a little jewel of an EP that's been sitting in my 'Doom Trunk' for five years waiting to be re-discovered.

Mammoth Thunderpower released the exceptional "I Am Thunder" EP in 2012 that delivered massive potential. The music is replete with stoner and doom tendencies, keeping things low, sometimes slow, sometimes at a more urgent tempo, but always in satisfying fashion with hooks that dig deep into musical cochlea, ripping a bloody hold that is eternal and yearning.

Nothing much has been heard of Mammoth Thunderpower since the release of "I Am Thunder". Word is, though, that after laying low for half a decade the band have managed to get together in the studio and begin the process of making new music. Stay tuned to Heavy Planet and we'll be sure to let you know when the time comes. In the meantime, travel back down dark memories to relish in the mastery of their powerful first album.

bandcamp >>|<< website >>|<< facebook

Album Review: Two Headed Beast - "Wizard Mountain"

The world of hard rock, of heavy metal, is wonderfully varied, so much in fact, there are distinct genre silos underneath the hard/heavy umbrella, many of them having filled up decades ago, going nearly dormant as ever newer ones are molded out of the settling dust of their predecessors. Perhaps the granddaddy genre has been the audacious, in your face sound of traditional heavy metal that grew out of progenitors such as Led Zeppelin, Blue Cheer, and Black Sabbath. That heavy metal sound was personified by bands such as Judas Priest, Megadeth, and Iron Maiden, to name a miniscule few. It was a sound that dominated the scene in the mid to late 70s and into the bulk of the 80s before sort of weirdly fusing into the over the top sounds of big hair bands. The excessiveness of big hair, though, prepped us for the wonderful grunge explosion as well as the almost unnoticed rumbling of stoner/desert rock of the 90s. Many other sounds have come, and gone. For anyone exploring for the first time any version of wondrous, amplified metal vibrations, old or new, there is an overabundance of choices. Gifted musicians can draw from an almost limitless supply of inspirational music, the possibilities are endless. This is what ran through my mind when I first heard "Wizard Mountain". Of course, I have no idea how Two Headed Beast may have arrived upon their signature sound, I just know I hear the wonderfully deep, heavy fuzz of stoner/doom rock in their vigorous riffs and searing solos, but, in the blink of a photon, I am ripped back to an earlier era as soon as those incredible vocals of Brian Allen kick in. "Wizard Mountain" quickly concentrates my focus, drawing me deep into its wicked melodies and triumphant chorus, down into the murky depths of low tuned and amplified energy, emboldened by the soaring, invigorating intonations of Allen's vocal time machine. The pairing of traditional metal vocals and bottom dark stoner/doom guitar is somehow brilliant, revitalizing, and emboldening. It's a physical reaction to a spiritual rendering, teleporting me to a time and place of power and potential.

Two Headed Beast hail from Portland, Oregon. Band members include John Hughes, Jason Dunn, Shawn Ferguson, Scott Speelman, and vocalist Brian Allen.

The initial track, "Valley of Skulls", immediately opens with the double whammy of deep, fuzzy guitar and powerfully rendered vocals that is the consistent and persistent hallmark of every track to follow. The tempo is dangerous, the magnitude bold, and the realization you're in for a unique and brilliant ride quickly sets in.

"Two Ton Sky" starts off with bare bones, building up to an all-out assault of power and force. The drumwork here is simply marvelous, pounding out a primal beat of mammoth proportions, propped up wonderfully by the bruising dance of bass and guitar, magnified again by those laser sharp vocals.

The eponymous title track, "Witch Mountain", is like a pugilist stalking his opponent, steadily moving forward step by step, delivering hammer blow after ruthless hammer blow until the sudden sound of silence signals the end.

"Apollyon the Destroyer" changes the pace, flowing down a psychedelic bridge of color and static before charging up a steeper trajectory of power and amperage. "Hail the Chief" is a frontal assault of bad attitude and snarl. "Boneyard" and "Blackball' pay homage to traditional metal in measured advances of ragged vocals and steady riffage.

This brings us to the unofficial closer, "Curse of the White Owl" where Two Headed Beast dust off their stoner rock foot pedals and crank up the fuzz in a magnificent display of hook and heat. The solos soar beyond the stratosphere, while the measured tempos of riff and stick are darkly subterranean. Allen's vocals are exquisite on this track, offering a sing along rendition in which no one can match his gifted ability, but will have fun in attempting to do so.

Two Headed Beast offer up a brief coda that is pinned to the tail end of the penultimate song in "Tail of the Owl", a fun little ditty of psychedelic conclusion.

bandcamp >>|<< facebook

Quick Hit: Nightstalker - "As Above, So Below"

Talk about prolific. Greek veteran Vmetal rockers Nightstalker recently dropped their SEVENTH studio album. Only one of those seven are an EP, the other six being song-full LPs. Can you imagine if Homme, Garcia, Bjork, and Oliveri had been able to cohabitate and proliferate in such a manner?

"As Above, So Below" provides an array of stoner wallop, with deftly crafted melodies of riff and raunch, executed in expert expression. Their music is simple, clean, and consistent, never backing away from mega-riff deliveries of fuzz and fun, sometimes delving into psychedelic forests, but mostly blasting up-tempo melodies of primal delight. Nightstalker have been making music since 1994, sticking with a style that brands them as badasses, revealing a tenacious stoner genius, never boring, never backsliding, nearing a quarter century legacy of  legitamacy.

bandcamp >><< facebook >><< website

New Band To Burn One To-King Father Baboon

Everything about this Nuremberg, Germany band screams rock and fuckin' roll.

-Passionate vocal delivery-✔
-Wailing guitar lead trade-offs-✔
-A definite prowess for making a catchy song-✔
-Cowbell-✔

"Voodoo" is a nice little 3-song introduction to the band. I love all three songs. I'm guessing that a full album from these guys would be in the works, if not then one should be.

bandcamp|facebook

Album Review: "The Bushgate" - Samba Cemetery

Are you looking for something fresh, something with a bit of the new, something that tickles that desert/stoner rockbone without directly rehashing a thousand albums already consumed? Samba Cemetery's "The Bushgate" might just be the thing to trigger that rewind button interface on your music app and perk up your stoner rock antennae.

There are some sharp metal edges and thickly welded melodies throughout this 5 song EP that opens with the title track, an instrumental that will make you think you're in for a psychedelic excursion before it smoothly segues into a huge riff barrage. "Samba" gives way to "Blast of the Rex" where fast and fierce rhythms fuel the launch of this EP juggernaut for the album's duration.

"Rolling" catches it's breath....just for a bit... before itself expending jet fuel to hurl us into the deep, dark recesses of this vibrant, viscous concoction of sand, sound, and steel.

"Help Me Breathe" is mighty. It's muscular. It's a mammoth rendering of the razor edges Samba Cemetery wield with an assassin's relish.

The EP closes out with a perfect coup de grace, "Last Samba", a long agonizing burn off of sugar and sweetness to reveal pointy crags of sharp rock, the cracking timber of splintering oak trees, and precisely honed riffs of gleaming metal edges.

Hailing from Berlin this powerful threesome include:
Ruben Leon - Vocals, Guitar
Lukas Weber - Drums
David Gi - Bass

Leon's vocals are pure barbed razor and rusty iron rebar, slicing and cleaving in and through his equally dangerous sharp riffs and bruising runs on guitar.

Gi has brought the big hammer to the job with his bombardier bass perfectly rendering the primal underpinnings of the music.

Weber's drumwork is unrelenting, unstoppable, and invanquishable, pummeling and pounding in a pugilistic onslaught, never retreating behind or below his amplified brethren.

Together this threesome are able to deliver that rare bond between superbly crafted melodies and expertly delivered renditions of such.

When all is told this short foray of lustful metal is blissful and refreshing, well worth a kickback and listen, a bandcamp and chill, or a Heavy Planet and Jam.

bandcamp ||  facebook || soundcloud || spotify

ALBUM REVIEW: FALL OF AN EMPIRE - "CROWEATER: AN ECHO IN THE BONE"

South Carolina's Fall of an Empire had arguably one of the best releases of 2014 with their debut album Songs of Steel and Sorrow, named by HeavyPlanet's own Reg as a top ten album for that year. Now they're back with a follow up album, Croweater: An Echo in the Bone. How does this 6 track EP stack up to their gargantuan debut? One spin through is enough to let you know this purple covered jewel exceeds any eager expectations. So well crafted, well constructed, and keenly delivered is the music on this six song presentation it is not beyond the realm of possibility it will become an album for the ages, a metal standard to be enjoyed through time and generations to come.

Each song is an exquisite blend of melody, craft, and fuzz, delivered with high handed skill of the most accomplished songsmiths while brandishing the heart of the hungry tyro. The weaving of syrupy rich solos, gritty riffs, crackerjack rhythm, and exuberant drumwork is exquisitely framed by the magnificent vocals of frontman Kenny Lawrence whose voice is a beacon of rock clarity seldom matched in a sea of thousands of gargling mediocrities.

Band members include:
Brent Carroll - Guitar/Vocals
Shane Smith - Bass
Cody Edens - Guitar
Brad Munoz - Drums
Kenny Lawrence - Lead Vocals

Fall of an Empire's style, if you will, is one of evocative, haunting ballads of deep, rich texture, amplified thrills, gargantuan twin guitars, and leviathan bass and drums trolling along a rumbling underworld of deafening darkness. No song exemplifies this more than the title track "Croweater". The standout song of the album, perhaps, is "Uprising", a relentless pummeling of sound and turbulence whose inexorable vibrations quickly sync to a primal core of sonority. Each song is an adventure of deep stirring with payoff in excess as heart, guile, and finesse deliver a trove of music treasure.

bandcamp || facebook

Band Submission: La Chinga-Hard Rock Stoner Power Trio From Vancouver, Canada

Band Name: La Chinga
Genre: Hard Rock Stoner Power Trio
Location: Vancouver, Canada
Brief Bio/Description: La Chinga is a hard Rock power trio with psychedelic powers sitting on the worlds edge in Vancouver, Canada. Drawing from UFO, ZZ Top, Sabs, Zep, the MC5 and their own superbad habits, La Chinga has established a fanbase in Europe and Canada from it's killer live shows! Detroit's Small Stone records just released their new lp 'Freewheelin' to rave reviews! Chock full o' stadium anthems and rad riffs! The bands sophomore album is prompting fans to wonder why they don't make em like this anymore!
Band Members:
Carl Spackler Bass/Vox
Jay Solyom Drums/ Production
Ben Yardley Guitars, Vox, Theremin
Links: YouTube | Facebook | Bandcamp

New Band To Burn One To: Never

Australian five-piece Never have delivered a swift kick to the bollocks with their demo EP. Three tracks of huge riffs, growling vocals, and heavy as hell percussion that smack you into next week. You listen to tracks like ‘Serpent Woman’ and ‘Trampled Like A Goat’ and can see the five Melbourne guys in a sweaty, dingy, badly lit bar, sweating the beer through their hair, ripping you a new one as your neck snaps from over use. This is pure rock and roll, and we love it! Get it at their Bandcamp.

Quick Hit-Vug-Doom Rock From Berlin, Germany

Vug is a 4-piece band that hails from Berlin, Germany. The band has recently released a four song demo on Bandcamp at a name your price. This demo did exactly what it intended to do and that is to plant the seed. Everything else will work itself out in due time as the band continues to grow. The mix is rough, the sound is raw and the musicianship a bit sloppy at times, but who cares, the band is having fun and they just need a little polishing. What they do bring to the table now is a bounty of fresh seventies infested doom rock. The songs have groove, melody and pizzazz. Favorite track: Loose. Give these fellas a listen with an open ear. For more information, please check out the following links: Facebook | Bandcamp