New Band To Burn One To-Lowcaster

Well, it's been quite a while since I have done any sort of review for the site. So, I felt today would be a great day to shake off the rust. Yesterday, I was perusing through thee old Bandcamp app and came across a band called Lowcaster. What drew me to the band was the album artwork, which is something that usually does. Without knowing where the band was from, I detected elements of doom, sludge and thrash. I was surprised to learn that the band was from San Francisco, CA. And based on the logo, I thought there might have been some black metal elements as well. Turns out I was wrong. But, one thing is for damn sure, this band is HEAVY! The opening song "Blood Moon" starts off with a southern sludge feel, a la C.O.C. but "The Vapor Sea" is much more than that. The album is a vastitude of kick ass dual guitar shredding, chest-crushing heaviness (the riff on "Dirty War" is enormous, whew!), a hardcore punk attitude, and fist-pumping heavy metal anthems. Awesome stuff!

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Exclusive Premiere Song Stream: HORNSS-"Atrophic"

Today, we are honored to present an exclusive stream of the song "Atrophic" from the upcoming release from HORNSS. Prepare your ears for a short and powerful stab of fuzz-drenched doom with a raw punk attitude. This song absolutely slays, so crank it up and throw them "HORNSS" in the air!

San Francisco heavy rock trio HORNSS have recorded their highly-anticipated second album. Titled Telepath, the band take things to a more psychedelic place, while building on their heavy, fuzzed out punk and doom influenced desert rock sound.

HORNSS have gained a worldwide reputation among the stoner rock and doom scene, taking the stage with fellow heavy hitters such as Ufomammut, YOB, Windhand, Bang, Black Cobra, Fatso Jetson, Lord Dying, Naam and Elder. They also co-headlined a successful 2014 European tour with Vancouver’s Black Wizard.

Formed in 2010, the band includes Mike Moracha and Nick Nava, who originally got their start in the early Palm Desert music scene that spawned the desert rock movement, as part of the band Solarfeast (with Chris Cockrell, formerly of Kyuss) and Jack Saints, along with drummer Bil Bowman (formerly of Zodiac Killers, pioneering Bay Area black metal band blackQueen and Florida sludge heavyweights Scrog).

Telepath is the follow-up to the band’s acclaimed debut album, No Blood, No Sympathy, released in 2013 on Riding Easy Records. Recorded by Tim Green (Saviours, Melvins, KARP, Comets on Fire, Hot Lunch), the guys recorded this one directly to analog tape at Green’s Louder Studios in Grass Valley, CA. The new album will be released on limited vinyl by STB Records and compact disc and digital worldwide by Ripple Music.



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Fuzz Self Titled Review

It's been a long couple weeks of playing catch-up with school work and prepping for exams. Luckily, I've been able to spend a lot of time getting familiar with some of this years awesome releases, albeit from behind a textbook. I've also been squandering a lot of potential study nights at local metal shows, but that's about what I expect from myself. Bluesy riffs also happen to be my favorite subject, and arguably the most important one. One of the bluesier releases I've been spending an exceptional amount of time enjoying is San Francisco psych-rockers Fuzz self titled debut.

True to it's name, Fuzz is laden with furry guitars and fat, numbing bass lines. While the album is particularly striking on the first spin, it certainly leaves a lot to be discovered for future listens as well. Drummer and vocalist Ty Segall is no stranger to the genre, and has made his high-pitched, punky vocals a trademark of many solo tracks and albums. On Fuzz, Segall's vocals combined with heavy psychedelic grooves are reminiscent of Tweak Bird and, at points, Les Claypool. Some tracks on the other hand, play up the trio's punky, proto-metal vibe and are easy to compare to retro rock legends like Iggy Pop or MC5.

Album opener “Earthen Gate” leads you very gently into the frantic, nasally "Sleigh Ride” which reflects the mood of most of the album. “What's In My Head?” may be the most interesting song on the album. Slow, thumpy and harmonic verses give way to a giant, crunchy and aesthetically poppy chorus. The track is extremely raw and spacious sounding; never leaving you with the emptiness of overly-clean guitars or doctored drum tracks. The album as a whole is very punchy and natural, which is really something to be desired when listening to a good psych-rock album.

From "Hazemaze" on, Fuzz power through the rest of the album; marrying familiarly sludgy riffs with a feel that's all their own. Fuzz is, put simply, Rock n' Roll done right. The 8-track LP never has a dull moment and stays consistently catchy throughout. The record has a certain sentimental feel as well. I'm sure that in years to come, I'll find the unmarked copy I burned for the car stashed away somewhere and pop it in. I can only hope that all this shitty exam week stress doesn't come flooding back to me.

Fuzz is out now and can be purchased from In The Red Records

Favorite Tracks: Loose Sutures, Raise, What's In My Head?

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Nuclear Dog's Atomic Split: Orchid - "The Mouths of Madness" / Kadavar - "Abra Kadavar"

From out of the mists of recent success comes two albums highly anticipated by the ol' Nuclear Dog, as well as by many fans spanning the stoner globe. The first comes from Orchid, a band that has released 2 highly successful albums in the recent past, with the latest one an LP garnering a first place position on Reg’s Top 20 Albums of 2011. The quality of rock Orchid have delivered to the masses on those past releases naturally generate a tremendous level of anticipation from fans of these dark dreadnoughts. The second album comes from relative newcomers Kadavar who just last year released their debut album and landed on my own Top 20 list, so much did I thoroughly enjoy their blitzing riffage. A common thread that runs through these two bands beyond our sweaty expectations is the type of music they play. Both bands hearken wonderfully back to the heyday of heavy rock n roll with guitarcentric music packaged in magnificent melodies and driven with bombastic passion.
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ORCHID - "THE MOUTHS OF MADNESS"

Orchid hail from San Francisco and have been together since 2007, making and playing unbelievably awesome heavy rock in the classic vein of the great bands of the 70s such as Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, perhaps the band they are most identified with. Consciously or unconsciously, Orchid, especially on "The Mouths of Madness", channel original Black Sabbath in almost every way but in vocals, and that's not so far off as to be a detraction. This is not a bad thing. They aren't necessarily mimicking Sabbath so much as taking up the mantle of Sabbath-like music, and doing it perfectly, and by perfectly I mean sounding LIKE Sabbath's music without sounding exactly like Black Sabbath. They sound like Orchid. For me, that's an incredible feat, and a cherished result, because the sound the original Black Sabbath created is priceless and deserves more creative execution. No one else in the history of rock has truly pulled this off, and that includes iterations of Black Sabbath itself after Ozzy left. But that's my take on it. I'd wager that even if you don't agree with it you'll agree that the music on this album is humongous in solid, satisfying low tuned and heavy sound.

Band members of Orchid are:

Theo Mindell - Vocals
Carter Kennedy - Drums
Mark Thomas Baker - Guitar
Keith Nickel - Bass

Huge, heavy, low tuned riffs are the hallmark of Orchid's music, something they have delivered in spades on their initial EP release "Through the Devil's Doorway" and more recently on their first LP release "Capricorn", but on "The Mouths of Madness" they have up the ante by delving a little deeper into the darkness, wrapping uncanny guitar and bass riffs in pitch black wickedness, giving rise to a timbre of shadows and monstrosity. What tops off the toothsome signature sound are vocals at once unique, compelling, and custom made for the music. All in all, this latest album is a black ribbon gift of impeccable conveyance.

Nine songs have been rendered on "The Mouths of Madness", none more full to bursting with manic melody and classic guitar riffs than the title song which opens the album like a long lost companion of unbridled passion.

"Marching Dogs of War" elicits dark nostalgia in a way that penetrates directly to some primal dark core where the tapestry of Baker's guitar and Nickel's bass entwine perfectly with the percolating perfection of Mindell's vocals.

"Silent One" is a psychedelic romp of sheer delight where low tuned guitar licks are meshed with Kennedy's masterful drum fills and Baker's dextrous solos, and where spacey reverberations echo throughout the melodic journey of dark energy.

"Nomad" is a vocal triumph, where Mindell expresses remarkable power and depth in relating a fantastic tale through the purposeful tempo of strings and sticks, moving through a number of vocal variations throughout the course of the song, executing each with a masterful stroke.

"Mountains of Steel" could have been an apt album title for this ennead of superlative symphony, but, as one of nine delivers the same monstrous, gargantuan sound as its brethren.

"Leaving it All Behind" delivers a classic sound that isn't as deep and dark as those before it and after, instead eliciting an incredibly beautiful melody and guitar delivery that is driven home once again by Mindell's spot on vocals.

"Loving Hand of God" is heavy and low, with fibers of guitar clarity strategically intertwined through the dark package of melodic endeavor, consisting of a changing tempo that ranges from deliciously slow and deliberate to an upbeat solo stack of blistering heat.

"Wizard of War" is christmas and birthdays combined with the sabbath, a pure mountain of low tuned sweetness, from the mega deep riffs and tight tempo to the clarity and presence of impeccable vocals, topped off with solo heat that has a frayed and dangerous edge.

"See You on the Other Side" signs off the album in aggressive style, raining guitar solo fire and impassioned vocals onto an energetic melodic odyssey replete with unrelenting pneumatic drumwork.

This album is exceptional in many ways, but strip out all the superlatives and comparisons and measure it solely on its execution and delivery and it stands up as a timeless masterpiece, simple as that. Yes, it will enter the discussion as year's best, and will come up against some stiff competition, perhaps even from its doppelganger band (we can only hope), but make no mistake, it will be there with the very best once the dust settles. I'd even wager it will be there long after, standing beside Orchid's first two releases, and any subsequent work bound to come out down the years, as a compendium of colossal celebration.

Order the new CD at Nuclear Blast




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KADAVAR - "ABRA KADAVAR"

The beauty of this decade, and likely beyond, in terms of awesome heavy rock is the amalgam of the best of 70s metal and 90s grunge along with the underground stoner rock and high desert sounds of the 90s and the 00s. Many kids who grew up listening to their parents' music and their elder siblings' or friends' music were likely exposed to a tremendous amount of great classic metal and underground rock. As those kids have become adults playing in their own rock bands, whether from the U.S., the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, Argentina, or anywhere on the globe, they are developing masterful strokes of monstrous metal magic. Hailing from Berlin, Germany, Kadavar are the vanguard of that development, leading the way with their colossal creations of mega metal. Two incredible albums in two short years, while not unheard of, is still a major accomplishment for any band, but to follow what was widely considered a resounding successful debut with a sophomore effort so soon is incredible, and risky only if it's not up to the standard already set upon themselves. The question Kadavar have put to us, then, on this sophomore rendition is, 'is "Abra Kadavar" as good or better than our self titled debut?' The conclusion, before going through the evidence, is YES! Somehow, using the momentum gained on that self titled juggernaut, Kadavar have managed to kick their Bavarian beast machine up a whole 'nother level and blast on down the highway of classic/retro heavy rock on an engine firing on all cylinders and purring with volume and perfect synchronicity.

Band Members on Kadavar are:

Lupus Lindemann - Vocals / Guitar
Mammut - Rivoli Bass
Tiger - Drums

To start, the overriding brilliance of Kadavar comes across to us in the same manner used by all bands who create meaningful, worthwhile heavy rock, with phenomenal guitar, skilled vocals, and superb melodies. For Kadavar the vocals and guitar happen to be delivered by one member, Lindemann. But, it's imperative to point out that the hard driving, relentless sound of Kadavar's brilliant melodies would be flat and listless without the gifted and impassioned rhythm section of Mammut's Rivoli bass and Tiger's extraordinary drumwork. Listen closely and you will find skillsets far above the bar where excellence begins to be measured. There is an energy and athleticism in their melodious maneuvering, lending power and magnificence to the sound and the song.

Lindemann's vocals are perfectly matched to Kadavar's music, but beyond the quality of his vocal outpourings is the manner in which Kadavar arrange them on the recordings, just a bit behind the instrumentals, keeping strings and sticks at the forefront where they deliver not only the signature sound, but also elicit the unyielding satisfaction of a willing and engaged audience.

"Abra Kadavaar" is resplendent with music, consisting of 10 tracks, each a marvel in its own right. The opening track, "Come Back Life" has a slight haunting quality, nostalgic in feel, and spiritual in delivery with crisp, clean guitar work threaded throughout in doses of refrain and dashes of solo blitzes. "Doomsday Machine" follows, and is arguably one of the top tracks on this collection. The same haunting vocal quality persists, but the guitar renderings pick up in intensity and deliberation, performing a tight spiral of crunchy riffs and blistering solos. "Eye of the Storm" follows with a change in tempo and executional feel, delivering an intriguing melody enhanced by powerful bass strokes and brutal drumwork topped off with what is obviously the signature brilliance of Lindemann's guitar licks. "Black Snake" is a plaintive wail mired in blues laced rock, beautiful, unique, and utterly intriguing. The halfway point comes quickly as "Dust" blasts onto the fore in controlled explosions of perfect timing and leviathan riffs.

The second half of the album starts out ablaze with "Fire", a big, bold amalgam of sound enhanced by Lindemann placing more emphasis on vocals as instrument this time around, in which he exercises a challenging lyrical component with passion and superior proficiency. "Liquid Dream" unloads at first like a ton of bricks before narrowing down to a tight, powerful assault and battery of escalating intensity. This song is unique and simultaneously enjoyable . "Rhythm for Endless Minds" is a fuzz fueled psychedelic trip of epic proportions, riding a musical tapestry of intertwined sounds and existential riffs overlaid by ethereal, haunting vocals. The title song, "Abra Kadavar" continues the colorful and euphonic odyssey but on a brighter, more colorful tapestry using heavier gauge threads of guitar riffs, drum rills, and bass fills, interwoven in complex and intriguing pattern of enchantment. The album closes out with "The Man I Shot" returning to the classic, nostalgic formula that was followed previously on the album, unfolding a sound that is at once fresh and nostalgic, reminiscent of  a long lost rock experience from days gone by and eras past but still reverberating in the blacker recesses of a dark subconsciousness.

This is another album that goes immediately into consideration for 'best of' discussions once the year end is upon us. In a genre in which listeners, followers, fans, and disciples demand exception and excellence, Kadavar have delivered that in triplicate. There is depth and texture to all ten songs, providing the listener with vast opportunities to explore oft and anon the weavings, nuances, and tapestries intertwined throughout the album.

Order a copy of the CD or vinyl at Nuclear Blast





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Nuclear Dog's Atomic Split: Thaddeus Anna Greene - "Directory of Thieves" / Hot Lunch - "Hot Lunch"

One of the most oft used lines in recent culture has been that of The Grateful Dead's "what a long strange trip it's been". This could well be used to describe the musical path that young Mr. Greene traveled to arrive at the excellent, hard rocking, and intelligent debut album "Directory of Thieves". His story is intriguing and fun, his music is raucous, raunchy, and full of retro rockin' grooves. Hot Lunch, as a band, are new, but the members bring loads of experience that matches their musical prowess, allowing them the opportunity to create some granite blasting, face melting, one of a kind brand of music. The trip for them may or may not have been strange, but it surely has been long, which bodes well for those of us who get to hear their incredible music. Today, the Atomic Split steps into an alternate universe where the music draws on much of the past to create something special for the present, with hope that more is in store for us in the not too distant future.
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THADDEUS ANNA GREENE - "DIRECTORY OF THIEVES"

The first thing you think of when listening to "Directory of Thieves" is Jimi Hendrix, and there is certainly a strong element of Jimi's style on this album. It's refreshing to hear something new that could've been his, but more importantly the music is simply good, intriguing, and loads of fun, something that would be evident to a generation of rockers who may have never been introduced to the Hendrix catalogs.

Thaddeus Anna Greene are a three piece band comprised of:

Thaddeus Anna Greene - guitar, vocals
Matt Augusta  - bass
Anthoni Foti - drums

While Thaddeus Anna Greene is the progenitor of the band's songs he is more than ably accompanied by bandmates Matt and Anthoni, who contribute greatly to the finished products on the album. Both demonstrate dexterity and vision of their own in blending the rhythm to Greene's masterful guitar work. Long before forming this incredible trio, though, Thaddeus had begun to teach himself the guitar at the age of 14, spending untold hours in his room figuring out the intricacies of chords, keys, riffs, and solos by emulating his favorite rock magicians Jimi Hendrix, Jack White, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and the Black Keys. The strange part of the journey is prior to this point, beginning with his introduction to music through his father's indie record label where the music was solely gangster rap. His early musical penchants were for Michael Jackson and Bone Thugs N Harmony. From there he fell in love with . . . Fall Out Boy. Yes. You read that correctly. Keep in mind we're talking about a young man who had yet to reach 14 years of age and had very little access to rock n' roll of any sort. Glam metal of the 80s became another big influence, and between the 2 styles of music a young Thaddeus Greene picked up the guitar wanting to emulate the sounds he loved. From the rococco of 80s glam metal he eventually came full circle to the songs of Jimi and the blues of Muddy Waters, among other blues rock influences. This is where the strange trip began to turn to one of genius and delivery. Not only did he teach himself how to play the guitar, and not only did he learn to emulate all of his favorite guitar wizards, he found within himself an ability to create a new kind of magic, something all his own, something unique, and most importantly, something important because it was GOOD.

Thaddeus has developed a style of music that is both recognizable as music similar to thousands of songs we've loved through the years, and equally discernible as something we've never quite heard, which makes for excitement when listening to the songs of "Directory of Thieves"

The first full length song on the album, "Driving Dr. Gonzo", is a definite nod to Jimi Hendrix, sounding like something Thaddeus might have found to play as a cover, but instead it both shows his own song writing ability and pays homage to a rock artist legend. On this song we are introduced to 2 incredible things about Thaddeus Anna Greene's music; the first, of course, being his guitar, full of power and effortless grace; the second being his incredible voice, deep, rich, and vibrant, soulful and sugary sweet.

The next three songs are heavy blues rock pieces, laden with fuzzy guitar, rife with beautiful vocal delivery that doesn't conform to typical blues lyrical repetition, but instead plays out like standard rock tunes, moving seamlessly and enjoyably through the songs in a mesmerizing odyssey.

"Let Me Be" has Thaddeus stretching his writing chops and coming through beautifully. For me it has a nice original sound to it, incorporating what he knows with a vision of how to play it out in a style all his own. The guitar is haunting and deliberate with an incredible extracted solo of sheer beauty and grace.

"Midnight Snow" is the bittersweet loss of affection and the unrequited love of the one you just knew was the one, all magnified through the prism of blues rock guitar, where heartfelt hurt comes in the form of razor sharp solos and incredible riffs of soul scarred clarity.

The penultimate tune, "No More", is a powerful play of deliberate, forceful pace, relaying a haunting tale of woe and pain and pent up anguish. This song demonstrates a maturity of song writing ability, refraining from simply throwing guitars tricks and laser beams at the song, but instead laying down a preciseness that accurately reflects the discomfort felt by the teller of the tale.

The closer adds a bit of a country / americana twist before ending with a sample that seemingly describes a nuclear blast, but perhaps, instead, gives fair warning to anyone who cares to listen that the radiation initially felt is only a precursor of what's to come. We can only hope this is indeed the case.

"Directory of Thieves" is available as a download from bandcamp, Amazon, as well as iTunes.

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Thaddeus Greene: Live From Bad Racket from Bad Racket on Vimeo.

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HOT LUNCH - "HOT LUNCH"

In San Francisco Parchman Farm was well known and well liked, but not destined to stay together. Eric Shea, the lead singer for the ill fated band, knew he wanted to continue to create and play punk n' roll music, so called on some of his favorite musicians from other area bands to form Hot Lunch. He was fortunate in obtaining the services of Aaron Nudelman on guitar, Rob Alper on drums, and Charlie Karr on bass. For those of us unfamiliar with the San Francisco skate and music scene perhaps this incorporation doesn't mean much beyond the obvious sound they were able to create and display on this debut LP, but for Shea and Nudelman it was, to use one of the worst cliches ever, a dreamteam of raunchy, raucous, raw, and ridiculous punk acid rock n rollers the like the world has never heard and will likely never hear again beyond whatever Hot Lunch conjures beyond this initial release.

Hot Lunch are incredibly unique, fitting no mold, no genre, although they do have a similitude for some of the bands reviewed in past posts on Heavy Planet such as Lecherouse Gaze and The Shrine. I would even say there is some similarity to Admiral Sir Cloudesly Shovell. Similarity means only sharing some aspects. Hot Lunch are an incredible blast of hot dragon breath melting your face on every riff and frying your bones with gatlin blasts of molten solos. The particular heat, intensity, and smell of what they produce isn't replicated anywhere else, nor should it be. If you think you can take it, and I'm sure you can, stout hearted purveyor of Heavy Planet, dig into some Hot Lunch, morning, noon, and most especially night.

Right away on "Handy Denny" you are treated to the raucousness of Nudelman's guitar, it's overwhelming power and drive, and the multitude of layers laid down throughout the song. Nudelman is a virtuoso of cutting loose and playing dirty with purpose. Shea's lyrics only enhance it immensely. It's a controlled screech, a wail of the bastard son of a wendigo raped by a banshee on tour with a 17th century traveling Irish circus. All the rock bands that use the guttural growl for vocals could improve greatly on their music by switching to something with this kind of sheer and exquisite effluence.

Throughout the album you can see why Shea and Nudelman heavily recruited Alper for the drumwork. Delicate opening interludes or all out assaults are handled with equal dexterity and exultation. This is rhythm work that doesn't sit in the background, but rides up front with the main drivers, exhorting directions in which the troupe should take.

And lest you think the bass sits under the stairs as so many do, it's not happening here. Never to be outdone by the flashy frontman and his axe wielding accomplice, Karr plays the bass dexterously and energetically, piling up heavy, dripping, sludge that coats everything in a perfect glaze of  rock and roll gravy. Perhaps the best example of his dexterity and grace is displayed on "Tragedy Prevention".

There are ten tracks on "Hot Lunch". Pick one if you want. You can't find one that will bore you, or that you will ever think to listen to just once. Taken together they are a tremendous ride on top of Panzer Division tanks blasting through urban streets of old concrete and corroded steel, filling the countryside with a sound that trumpets the coming of awareness and excellence in foreign yet exciting cadence and timbre.

"Ripped at the Seam" is a perfect example of how a band can conjure pure excellence using sounds and tempo fitted to match perfectly to all contributors. It's a hot furnace blast of pure exhilarating energy.

Just when you're in a groove of heavy punk n' roll, Hot Lunch throw a curve with a Medieval Fair offering in "Lady of the Lake" that still manages to out raunch the most lilting of Emerson, Lake, and Palmer style music, making it incredibly intriguing and totally gorgeous in its audacity and impeccable delivery.

My favorite song on the album is the one that takes you on an eight minute journey through the best of the exquisite sounds Hot Lunch fry up and slather with punk n' roll grease on a hot summer day. Starting out like some perverted Gregorian chant it slides right into the main groove that somehow plays on a deep tribal rhythm coursing through your core, energizing that part of your inner soul over and again, continually adding layers of spectacular guitar, moving the tempo in and out, rolling a flurry of drumwork, bomb blasting the bass, slowing down for the monks to echo a chant before revving the engines again for flight on Nudelman's guitars and dispatching enemy intruders with Shea's glass shattering vocals. It's just a beautiful ride of a song that is as enjoyable to experience as a song can possibly be.

Hot Lunch has an official release date of March 12 at which time it can be downloaded from iTunes, where you will get 2 bonus tracks, from bandcamp, and from Amazon, where you can either download it, get the CD, or order the vinyl.

The Atomic Split today provided some pretty groovy music, special songs, and incredible performances. I suspect one or both of these albums will show up again in 11 months when this 2013 journey has come to a close. We'll see. There's a long way to go and lots of great music to discover. Today we discovered some of it, to say the least

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Nuclear Dog's Atomic Split: Great Western - "Warrior of Light" / Stone Roots - "Don't Turn Me In"

Disparity, variety, and miscellany are the name of the game again today, ladies and gentlemen. ( I wonder how many ladies do read our posts. I hope it's lots. ). We offer up two bands, two albums, two sounds that both fill up their respective, but opposite ends of the golden basket of Heavy Planet music. Stone Roots offer up music that could almost be classified as Americana with some Country influence, except they must have found their instruments at a Five Horse Johnson yard sale because the riffs are huge, heavy, and chock full of delightfully distorted fuzz. Great Western, on the other hand, having surely procured their own instruments from whatever sources rock bands procure them from, are a hard hitting, punch in the mouth, sludgy, grungy meat pie of a hard rock band, providing straight up rock that is juicy and lip smacking flavorful. These bands may not sound much alike, but they bring their guitars and their heart and use them along with immense talent to produce insanely good music.

GREAT WESTERN - "Warrior of Light"

Great Western, of South London, are a trio that tend to demonstrate the very best parts of rock in their music without using any part or parcel of gimmicks- no samples, no dubs, no spacy, unnecessary intros. These guys come to the fight armed to the teeth with lethal weapons and nothing more, weapons they've honed to killing blow sharpness, weapons they waste no time in wielding as they slice and cut their way through the "Warrior of Light" EP with efficiency and zeal.

Great Western are comprised of these three young gentlemen:

Frederick Fuller - baritone guitar, backing vocals
Rufus Miller - lead vocals, lead guitar
Ralph Fuller - drums, backing vocals

Great Western are making their way in an arena that, while not necessarily crowded, certainly has plenty of competition, which, if "Warrior of Light" is any indication, has only honed their ability to create and express important and interesting music to a rarefied level. They don't fit neatly into any one genre, generously moving in and out of several on song or album. They employ the main hallmark of stoner/doom music with low tuned guitars, in fact they employ a baritone guitar as one of their standard instruments, while not shying away from the occasional guttural sludge vocalization. A hallmark of this talented trio is their ability to create memorable melodies that provide intriguing, interesting, impressive lyrics, hooks, riffs, and refrains on every musical iteration.

"Warrior of Light" kicks off with "Son of a Gun". It wastes no time, jumping right in with huge, heavy, up tempo, down tuned guitar riffs that drive the song relentlessly forward, accompanied by primal scream vocals, bunker busting drumwork, and napalm drenching solos that cling and burn til all has been scorched beyond recognition.

The tempo is quick and primal on "New Government", allowing ample time for familiarization before moving into the blitzkrieg guitar onslaught that relents only when all before it has been pulverized and leveled.

"Grand Parade" is grand indeed, huge in scope, haunting in delivery. It burrows it's way to the very center of your heart and psyche, preying on your primal timbre with instruments of cold steel and blue fire, eliciting emotions pure and visceral in reaction. This is music in high virtuosity, searing its imprint for eternity.

The album closes with another haunting masterpiece, "Be at One",  that broods dark and drear, slowly flowing through a distorted landscape wrought beautiful and severe by the sheer weight of booming instruments and canyon echo vocals. It's an onslaught of allure and gloom, deftly delivered by wizards of their own magic.





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STONE ROOTS - "Don't Turn Me In"

There is not much information available on this band out there in the etherworld. Not yet anyway. They hail from the heart of country rock, San Francisco, California. The lineup for this talented group of rockers is:

E. Semak on guitars and vocals
Rob Becker on bass
Lexington Vermouth on drums

The music has a heavy country / americana slant, as previously mentioned, but is also very clean in its production, without superfluous additions or overproduced instrumentation, creating space that becomes intriguing and essential to the songs, especially when combined with perhaps the greatest quality of these west coast rockers, their song writing skills. The songs on this album are well constructed, full of melody and hooks that will engage and energize as only quality songs can. The guitar work on these melodies is what lands this music squarely in the middle of worthy stoner rock, as they provide the two main essentials of guitar delivery - refrain riffs that are low and fuzzy, huge and heavy, combined with solo segments that lay waste to the landscape from the concentrated heat of laserbeam rampages. Add to it the perfectly matched vocals of guitarist Semak and you have a sound that, while not necessarily rare, certainly rises to the top of the immense heap of good and great stoner rock.

The opening track, "Horns", is a prime example of every one of Stone Tools' qualities, combining deft melody with riffs of vision and hooks of delight, wrapped in bullseye rock vocals. Low and fuzzy, loud and raunchy, it's a perfect kick off to a fantastic collection of tunes.

Track four, "Don't Turn Me In", the title track, picks up the pace, as rock bands are always wont to do on at least one song of albums of a more deliberate gait. The song clips along at a great pace and tempo easily sliding into a scorching solo that itself slides into a large, deliberate, and beautifully rendered finale.

The closing track, "Twenty Nine", as is also often the case on albums, is perhaps the biggest, most ambitious song on "Don't Turn Me In", and after listening to it a time or two should quite rightly stake claim as the album's best track. It has the beautifully rendered big guitars, heart piercing vocals, hooks that soar, and solos that carve a finely tuned crease through the middle of it all.

I've failed to pay tribute to the work of the bass and drums. Too often the work, the product, of the rhythm section is overlooked. The sheer genius of simplicity for what they provide makes it hard, too, to say what is so incredibly obvious without overstating it over and again. But the basswork and drumlicks on this album are superb, exquisitely rendered by gifted musicians that deftly provide exactly the right weight and time to a solid base and primal center.





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Zac's "Double Dose": Hot Lunch / SNARF

Hot Lunch: Killer Smile 7" 

Sometime it's best to regress. San Francisco's funky foursome Hot Lunch have done so in a righteous acid rock / punk hybrid fashion. All of the tones and notes are extra fuzzy and distorted without sounding like the over glorified genre that is 'garage-rock'. The vocals are down right viscous in a way unheard in the metal and rock community today and the guitaring is some mutant spawn of proto-metal genius, classic rock flair, and punk catchiness. Oh yeah, and the drum tracking is completely phenomenal. You want to kick out the jams? Lose the silly mustasch and tube socks and pick up a 7" from Who can you trust? records.
 

Members: 

Aaron Nudelman - Guitar 

Charlie Karr - Bass 

Eric Shea - Vocals 

Rob Alper - Drums

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SNARF: Arrak Bisa Ular 

If you were to ask me to describe SNARF's latest release Arrak Bisa Ular in one sentence, I would answer, "A prolonged sense of paranoia". The recording is a thirty minute "monster-piece" that slowly winds in and out of dark caverns and underground pools of stagnat water. The entire experience is haunting and eerie, a psychadelic drone-er, and the only thing fuzzy is the bass line. The lyrics are soft sung and accompany plenty of bone-chilling reverb and distrortion. All which become a venom, gradually running through the blood of your veins ending in state of paralysis... Sound like your cup of tea? Get a copy from Acoustic Desaster Records.

 

Members: 

 Benji - Guitar // Vocals 

Joe - Bass 

 "V" - Drums

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New Band To Burn One To: DISASTROID

Heavy Planet presents today's "New Band To Burn One To"...DISASTROID!

Band Bio:

From time to time one stumbles on a record that simply kicks ass. Disastroid's upcoming LP "Money and Guilt" is no exception. This rock epic takes the listener on a ride through a minefield of tempo changes, metric modulation, and other surprises that turn your guts. By and large it employs the best that rock has to offer while showcasing refined musicianship and purpose.

Huge guitar tone, heavy riffs, driving rhythms, and melodic vocals are the salient components of Disastroid's music. While their sound can be reminiscent to some of the heroes of 90's rock (Melvins, Rollins Band, Jesus Lizard, Soundgarden, etc.), the band has a hard time labeling their work. As frontman Enver Koneya points out "We have no real formula... we just make music that pleases ourselves. It just so happens that others like the sound as well."

Enver assembled Disastroid in San Francisco from spare parts he found on Craigslist. After recording an EP on his own, Travis Williams jumped on board taking over the bass chair. Travis has had great influence on the direction of the group and over the past three years he and Enver have prolifically written and recorded three albums, most recently with Braden McGaw on drums.

Since their inception Disatroid has been busy. In addition to recording the group has been gaining fans steadily as they perform along the west coast. They've also managed to amass a devoted following in their home base of San Francisco, a city which tends to be oriented toward the clinically critical and the cynically hipster. They were recently featured in Thrasher Magazine and have accumulated tons of local and national attention. On Disastroid’s horizon is a tour to the Pacific Northwest to support of the release of "Money and Guilt".



Thoughts:

"This is what you get if you put Queens of the Stone Age, Soundgarden, and Melvins into a blender and hit mix. With balls-out Cornell-like vocals, jagged bouncy rhythms, a bit of deafening sludge and an aura of awesomeness, Disastroid will have you stomping your feet and bashing your head in no time. These three songs are an incredible representation of what this band is capable of. Pure, fun, energetic and unexpergated rock and roll.  Only three songs, damn!"

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