New Band To Burn One To: Z/28

Big flat slab of good ol’ stoner rock and roll emanates from the speakers as the debut EP from Massachusetts trio Z/28 strikes off every riff and desert scorched highway of your stoner car ride’s dream. There’s nothing new or ground breaking in their sound, but it’s a glorious noise which encapsulates all of our loves into one short bundle of riffing joy (try to tell me that ‘Blinded’ doesn’t get you going). Excellent potential!

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Song of the Day-Birnam Wood-"Wizards Bleed"

"Wizards Bleed" is taken off of the latest EP "Warlord". With it's iconic build-up, the song eventually delves into a heavy and groovy vibe. A bit psychedelic, a bit terrifying and a whole lot of mother fuckin' riffage! No disappointment here. For more information, please check out the following links: Facebook | Bandcamp

LP Review: "Lore" by Elder

Elder is a power trio hailing from Massachusetts who are pulling off some rather powerful rock on their newest release, Lore.  The album opens with “Compendium,” entrancing us with a pulling of the strings until it punches you in the face with a riff that could have only been given birth to by Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song.”  From there on out you get five epic-length songs that feel shorter than they are.  There’s no monotonous droning here.  It’s all meat, no filler.  Distorted, time-changing, fuzzy, melodic meat. 

Though not as chaotic as Baroness, I do hear a bit of them in here mixed with some Torche-like vocals.  The guitar work in Lore is a bit more technical and unpredictable than a lot of their psych/stoner brethren, with even a pinch of some of that dual guitar stuff going on reminiscent of Thin Lizzy and Maiden.  While being a three piece they may not be able to capture that live, this is for your stereo, and for your neighbors should you desire to turn this particular piece of rock up to an unhealthy level, which I highly recommend. 

Oh, and the cover is great for staring into as you're giving Lore a spin.

Album Review: Moosataur S/T

The members of Moosataur enjoy drinking beer. And jamming. When they first got together they didn't set out to play any specific style, they just let muse and the booze be their guide. From these sessions came a punk album, but guitarist John Mckusick, kept pumping out metal solos that didn't fit with the feel of the punk album. Why was he playing these solos?

John didn't know, but the solos were recorded. Not sure what to do with the metal material, they kept the recordings on the proverbial shelf, until Ira Jones (bass) got a message. It wasn't a real message, just an idea, an urge, to draw a Minotaur. With the head of a Moose. Jon saw the drawing and uttered one word. 

Moosataur.

After this vision and the band set about making an album in its image. John delved into ancient texts found in his local library to learn more about the Moosataur. He discovered this about the beast. "There is very little information on the internet so I had to refer to the ancient texts. Now what we know of the creature today is believed that he is Canadian. I just couldn’t accept that so I had to dig a little deeper and discovered the Älgfroden, a species of beast in Norse Mythology with these same characteristics. What I have come to understand is that even though Älgfrode was mostly a peaceful species, when their tribes were threatened they could become extremely protective and capable of great force and violence due to their size. The vikings grew to fear them so they had come together and made the plan to capture the beast. They then brought it to and released it in the Northern Americas years before any civilization where he roamed aimlessly, the last of his kind. I believe what we have now is the ghost of the beast, Still capable of great terror. I believe great supernatural abilities have been bestowed upon the Moosataur due the the extremely painful fate it had been dealt. He stalks the night!

Perhaps the spirit of the Moosataur compelled John to play those riffs. Perhaps its spirit willed Ira to draw that strange combination of man and moose. Whatever it was that gave them the idea they couldn't shake it. They brought in a professional to draw the Moosatuar album cover. They dusted off those solos Jon stored away. They began to stretch their punkish jams, adding a dose of psychedelia, and some old school grunge. 

And now the album is complete. They are ready to share the story of the Moosataur with us. Start with the tune below, but be sure to check out the entire album. It's a an old school concept record. Telling a story that's never been told. 

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LP Review - "Born a Heavy Morning" by Ice Dragon

Ice Dragon are not just any old psyche/doom/stoner/heavy rock band. Not only are they one of the most prolific I've ever come across with 12 releases since 2010, and that's not including their releases under their alter egos Tentacle, The Mangled Dead and Qosmic Qey amongst others; they are also consistently fucking great and they just keep getting better.

Their Facebook blurb sums them up nicely:

Ice Dragon makes recordings in a basement near Boston, Massachusetts. Works include many albums, singles, and EPs, as well as numerous releases under various other names. New music is issued frequently and spontaneously.

This 12th release under their Ice Dragon moniker lives up to its title of "Born a Heavy Morning" and is some of the most experimental work that I've heard yet from them which makes this album a real mixed bag of sounds. Yes there are heavy riff work-outs with the inimitable Ice Dragon plodding stomps, maudlin words and deep blues guitar lickery but they are few on this album. What stands out for me most of all are the short skits between the main songs some of which serve as nods to my least favorite time of the day; morning.

The track titles on this album are sheer genius so chew on these for a moment if you will: "In Which a Man Rises, Washes and Eats Before Work" or "In Which a Man Daydreams About a Girl From His Youth" and "(I will) Watch My Hair Grow."
  
For the most part the main songs on this album are slow introspective numbers and sometimes they are quite twee, gentle even, much as an early morning in spring with a newly risen sun shining it's lovely rays through the gap in my curtains and informing me it's time to get the hell up out of my bed and start my day. I hit play on my player and this album fits perfectly with my first coffee and toke of the day; this is morning psyche-doom to go with your shit, shower, shave and cereal and it slays the sleepy eyes and shakes you awake enough to face the day ahead. I'd like call it "musical breakfast" so I will, even if it doesn't quite do justice to the fine work these Ice Dragon gentleman have done for us.

One wonders what else Ice Dragon have up their sleeves for their future releases but with the consistently great music spewing forth from these 4 Ice Dragons that dwell within a basement, you just know they are going to hit all the right riffs, all the right notes and all the right skins.

Thank you Ice Dragon for being you.

"Born a Heavy Morning" is out now as a name your own price download from their bandcamp where you can also pre-order the album on CD.

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