New Band To Burn One To: SWAMP

There are some badass menacing grooves lurking their way out of Budapest, Hungary, in the form of five-piece stoner sludge metal behemoth SWAMP. With their debut EP tow, these guys are ready to smash you straight in the teeth with their combination of sludge-like grooves of guitar licks, vocals that range from passionate stoner to the darkest depths of hell growls, trudging guitar riffs charging the song along its barb wired story, but ultimately really good songs that pack a punch.

For fans of everything heavy, stoner, sludge, riffs, and well thought out song writing, SWAMP are one for you to roll a fat one to, sit back, and contemplate your next move.

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Sunday Sludge: Grizzly - "Rapturous Decay"

For all the early-morning fog, sweet-spiced coffees, and open-mouthed gazes toward changing colors, there's also plenty I never trusted about the autumn shift. Something seems underhanded and sinister to the point of my guard lifting. And to be fair, that's why it's so great. But don't you get tired of everyone saying they love fall?

Two years ago, we introduced ourselves to Budapest's sludge-n'-rollers Grizzly, an overtly violent quintet of pissed-off stoners committed to unleashing hot, gnarling malevolence on unsuspecting lemmings. Their six-track Fear My Wrath stayed on my radar through year's end, cemented as one of the year's best, as I saw it.

With their follow-up, the band adopt autumn's roundabout, nuanced administration of subversion. Rapturous Decay offers a rollicking half-dozen meaty slabs of hate, masked in groove and caked with steaming shit. Grizzly have discovered an element of patience, making their toxic blend of Southern stoner-sludge all the more dangerous. Monolith opens markedly more subdued than The Cultist, rolling smoothly until Grizzly find their fangs. The track is coated and self-assured, so perhaps the mere threat of lurking evil is even more effective than a blade in your nostril. Slick resin, buoyant rhythms... The boys are back.

Pass Those Pills follows with effective pregnant pauses that heighten anxiety. This cool roll in the hay dizzies as it soaks, and the head-shaking search for answers proves this band is maturing. Bluesy lament and self-realization were never expected. Ride Along is more upbeat, not giving two shits about spilling. The trademark middle finger is back, kept greasy via Knapp's grimy pipes. They're still Grizzly; nothing ever shines for long.

Serving as a harbinger of evil, The Silver Key is fucking fed up. This chugger rolls slow and gathers momentum, churning and flattening with unhinged riffs. What follows on the closing tandem, however, pairs nine minutes of beer-swiggin' bar blues and a potent wall-to-wall stagger. Rapturous Decay Pt 1 is all-inclusive, no less dynamic given the muted aggression. Sitting dockside with a harmonica, an empty bottle, and more than a few rough thoughts, we're hardly prepared for what's hovering and taking shape above. Part 2's stoner foundation is spiked with roaring rants, promising Grizzly's lack of regard for consequence. Calm nods and long breaths briefly deceive us until the shakes return. Tension grows, coils tighten... These guys are gonna snap. One slam after another and we're spent.

Grizzly's swampy stoner roots remain intact, and the intentions still ice the spine. So the band found their own fog in the form of cool plucks to ease the burn. We're given time to be frightened, questioning all around us. We get stuck in the mud, we scratch for branches, and we briefly believe we've found a foothold for a fighting chance. Nope. Turns out the murderous Hungarians are still pissed. And hungry. And breathing on your neck.

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Zac's "Double Dose": Sleepers Awake / VolumeFeeder

 

Sleepers Awake: The Fulcrum Single 

Commencing in a sonorous roar and a clash of metallic instrumentation Columbus, Ohio's Sleepers Awake introduce us to their latest single The Fulcrum from the soon to be released full length album Transcension. Formed in 2005 this quartet have focused their talents on creating over-the-top epics through a progressive mentality, citing influences from Mastodon to Queen. I say epics because the band likes to stick to a concept and also fully appreciates albums as entire pieces of art, leading to what I believe is an epic disposition. So, The Fulcrum is a very small corner of a twelve track sonic painting due out the seventeenth of June (those interested in pre-ordering Trancension can do so at the bands web-store). Now, the question is, what can we dissect from this sample of the illustration in regards to the entire piece and more importantly how much metal can we find within Trancension? Well, first and one of the most prominent features of The Fulcrum is the triumphant vocal prowess of Chris Thompson. The potency in his proclamation throughout The Fulcrum could carry an album on its own and instills a promising outlook for the full length release. Next up, the brilliant percussion of "Ambrose", or Chris number two, Burnsides. His volatile drumming patterns, transforming from complex strikes to a tribal wallop, will encircle your cerebral cortex and leave your mouth agape. Finally, we come to the interlacing guitars and bass. Chris [Thompson] and Rob Bradley find themselves engaged in twin guitar slinging duels one moment and the next feeding off of one anothers booming RIFFS, while Kedar Hiremath's bass supports the battle-front. The track approaches its climax with a tolling bell mixed into Ambrose's Dany Carey-esque rolling patter. This soon evolves into a full spectral blast thanks to those swelling guitars and there you have it. The Fulcrum ends as abruptly as it began. So, lets return to our initial question. "How much metal can we find...?" Well, I'd say an oceanic proportion of metal on Trancension. Within the six minutes of The Fulcrum we find a depiction of RIFFING swells, heroic singing, and voracious tides of percussion adorning Trancension's canvas. Check it out below and get out there to support these guys. Word on the street is they have played shows with Heavy Planet favorites The MIdnight Ghost Train and Neon Warship! How could anyone in their right mind want to miss that show?

Members: 

Christopher “Ambrose” Burnsides - Drums 

Chris Thompson - Vocals // Guitar 

Kedar Hiremath - Bass 

Rob Bradley - Guitar

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VolumeFeeder: Crowns and Chains 

VolumeFeeder, this weeks follow-up 'Dose, hail from Hódmezővásárhely, Hungary. No, I have no clue how to pronounce that city's name and that's okay. Why? Because what is important here are the tunes. With their latest EP, entitled Crowns and Chains, VolumeFeeder have found a delightfully groovy way to indulge aggression. This trio has been creating a Hungarian-take on that Southern Louisiana sound for some ten years now and after listening to the three tracks available on Crowns and Chains, I plainly hear why. These three know how to work off of each others creativity and the outcome is just straight groove-laden metal hooks and RIFFS, RIFFS, RIFFS. You will not be sitting still for long when you plug Crowns and Chains in. So, get yourself over to bandcamp where the entire EP is streaming and available at a "Name Your Price" download. But support these guys in anyway you can. Then we can hope for a full length release.

Members: 
"Imi" Imre Balázs - Vocals // Guitar 
"Geri" Gergő Drahota - Bass 
"Robi" Róbert Jaksa - Drums

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New Band To Burn One To: BUSO VON KOBRA

HEAVY PLANET presents...BUSO VON KOBRA!

BAND BIO:

Drop tuned guitars, melodic vocals, mid-tempo songs, straddle-legged epic rock poses, lots of beer and energy drink, and some spirit. In 2008 these things blended together in the Buso Von Kobra feeling. Since then we added visual effects, special montages from classic Z-category movies by Ed Wood (Bride Of The Monster and Plan9 From Outer Space) and from the cult sexploitation and zombie motion pictures. So BUSO VON KOBRA band makes audiovisual gigs that activates all of your senses.In January 2013 we released a 5 song EP that’s available for free download. We plan to release another 5 pieces EP later this year.

Vox - Rob Csordas

Drums - Tom Kiss

Bass - Tom Benedek

Guitar - Akos Berke

THOUGHTS:
"If you like your rock with a bit of gusto like I do then you will appreciate the melodic and heavy sounds that Buso Von Kobra have created for you. Featuring soaring vocal harmonies, tight riffs and an insatiable appetite for cheesy yet out of this world horror flicks, Hungarian band Buso Von Kobra coil themselves around an undeniable melody and don't let go. Their latest EP features five superb jolts of, dare I say, "radio friendly" heavy rock crunch. Songs such as "Action/Reaction" and "Away" are just dying to be heard. This shit is solid!"
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Sunday Sludge: Grizzly - "Fear My Wrath"

There's a feeling that pokes the pit of your stomach. It sputters somewhere between fear and excitement while the better judgment telling you to turn toward home is smashed with curiosity's brick.  This is how people get themselves into pretty deep shit.  This is how every horror film starts. This is how every Gacy and Dahmer victim began their trip to hell.  This is how I fell in love with Budapest's Grizzly.

Despite the aggressive tones and jaded moods we frequently enjoy on these sludge Sundays, we're rarely met with material this overtly homicidal and self-satisfied. Lyrics can be oft-considered sludge's afterthought, shouted or muffled or buried in brilliant rotting moss. Grizzly's vocal delivery on Fear My Wrath perfectly ensnares listeners by snagging a fish hook in your lip, rubbing your skin raw with sandpaper, and leaving spit-trails of hostility dripping from your hair.

Grizzly waste absolutely no time in asserting their dominance on The Cultist.  The shit-caked aggression is unmatched, the energy is ruggedly intense, and the in-your-face approach is as exhilarating as it is intimidating.  Blistered pacing is hardly curbed by the low-slung drag over wet gravel, but the break into spooky, moody stoner-weaves and bobs appears second-nature to these hungry Hungarians. Dump glass into your morning coffee and find the day's mood.

Stabbed Beast fails to break the jackrabbit sludge hum, sounding like a predatory savage gnarled with mange. Grime cracks long enough for cool bass to hover on mud-puddle drum-pissings.  Rhythms stay low and loose and guitars are allowed out of their cage before squeezing and choking the filthy fuckin' burnouts.

Pay attention to Dead for Fifty-Two Hours. Sure, Grizzly slow to a bass thump and zoom on weird shit that only happens "in the next room."  But the elemental tributaries saunter in and the gradual build-up can only be held for so long.  The dam breaks, and a choppy malignance actually highlights a murderer's perspective. This stoner-sludge nightmare rolls into a rain-soaked, siren-bled Kentucky morning. One dead, one guilty. Maybe we shouldn't try to make sense of this.

A return to the wooded clusters is the riff-drenched Fading Out. Stoners can roll as sludge-lovers drag their armpits across a bed of hot tar. Cool licks punctuate rhythmic shifts, and it's easy to imagine your name being toasted as Grizzly knock out your chipped teeth.  Those same licks juxtapose the crunchy bass lines, and this band has climbed into your brain and pitched a stained, makeshift tent.

Outlining the life and trials of a fucking mess of a man, The Guilt sounds downright evil.  Grizzly return to their use of the pensive pause, effectively. Imagine yourself sitting in the ditch, holding that knife, breathing heavily... Take an existential inventory and let me know if you have trouble identifying with these guys. Riffs are balanced and perfectly-executed when the skyshots don't steal the marquee, but the grind leaves the track brilliantly half-buried.

Dagon closes this 20-minute mindfuck of an album, chopping with low-slung, buzzing sludge.  Riffs crunch under your nails as you claw at loose tree bark.  Smell that sweat, taste your own blood, and don't dare laugh at the coveralls. Grizzly's vocal is at its most-effective here as the track builds toward the crunch and chop of the album's closing moment. This one's gonna rattle your head for a while.

It's difficult to fully demonstrate how much you love an album without explicitly stating you love an album.  Fear My Wrath is as intense, heavy, and well-paced as anything I've heard this year.  The disc's brutality is confident and disturbingly honest, while the musicianship demonstrates a nod to varied styles.  Consistent across these six tracks is the perfect, formidable tandem of stoner rock and sludge metal.  The transitions are as smooth or as rough as they absolutely should be, while the album's consistent, violent promises are delivered. Grizzly needs a sparring partner. Lace up, puss.

Grizzly is:
Knapp Oszkár
Horváth Arián
Mihály Ármin
Lippai Zoltán
Domonkos Zsolt

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Heavy Planet Podcast #05 - EASTERN EUROPE: HUNGARY, POLAND, RUSSIA, SERBIA, & UKRAINE

Heavy Planet Podcast #05

I hope you all have rested and recovered from Toby's road trip up the Atlantic coast... because it's a new month and that means its time for another Heavy Planet Podcast, courtesy of Grip of Delusion Radio!  Pack your over night bags, because we're taking a long flight.  First stop is one of my favorite places in the world, Poland, to reap the riffage from their abundant harvest.  We will also be stopping in Hungary, Russia, Serbia, and Ukraine.  You won't want to miss it.  Tune in this Sunday (February 19, 2012) from 4:00 to 6:00 PM EST and join us for this adventure for the finest desert, stoner, psyche, sludge, and doom around Eastern Europe and Russia.

BANDS OF HUNGARY, POLAND, RUSSIA, SERBIA, & UKRAINE

DJ-Zac

Poland:

01 Palm Desert - "Chase the Sun"

02 Elvis Deluxe - "This Time"

03 Fifty Foot Woman - "The Black Hills"

04 Corruption - "Murdered Magician"

05 Botulinus Toxic - "Balancing on the Edge of the Desert"

06 Satellite Beaver - "Mighty Sasquatch"

07 J.D. Overdrive - "Guilt and Redemption"

08 Leash Eye - "Lee the Sky"

09 Black River - "Morphine"

10 The Vagitarians - "Shallow Grave"

11 Sunday Driver on Tour - "Brother the Snake"

Hungary:

12 Head for the Sun - "Another Day"

13 Magma Rise - "Five"

Serbia:

14 Svarog - "No Right to Breathe"

15 Tona - "Grafit"

16 Fluid Underground - "Jesen"

Ukraine:

17 Etheral Riffian - "Part II Beyond (The Search)"

18 Slow Ride Home - "Redefining Happiness"

Russia:

19 Re-stoned - "Crystals"

20 Cosmonauts - "Cave of Trees"

21 Sex Type Thing - "Get Rid"

Go here to listen and download previous podcasts.

*This podcast will be available for streaming and download 24-48 hours after original air date.

New Band(s) To Burn One To: URANIA/WHOREDIESEL

Today's "NEW BAND(S) TO BURN ONE TO" are Urania and Whorediesel.

Bio:

Urania is a one-man project. Aiwass writes and plays the songs alone. The sound of Urania is a mix of stoner, psychedelic, space rock. Whorediesel is another project from Aiwass! Both come to you from the Hungarian label Stone Rise.

Review:

"This dude simply known as Aiwass is a one-man wrecking crew. Releasing two different projects on the Hungarian stoner label Stone Rise, Aiwass has managed to immerse the listener into two entirely diverse slabs of riff-drenched stoner tuneage. One project known as Urania and the other as Whorediesel. Let's start with Urania first shall we? Urania's latest "Carphatian Woodoo" is filled with tasty grooves and wah-wah smacked riffs. The grinding fuzzed-out guitar tone takes prescedent over the steady rhythm and piercing bass line as the funky grooves blast you into intergalactic heaven.


Whorediesel is more bottom heavy and sets the tone with a low and slow desert groove. With song titles such as "Acid Blaze", "Acid Sun" and "Solaria" these Kyuss-inspired jams will rattle your skull and sizzle your soul."

Urania
Urania-Carphatian Woodoo by stoneRise

Whorediesel
Whorediesel by stoneRise

Stone Rise|Urania Facebook|Aiwass

New Band To Burn One To-Conan's First Date

The "New Band To Burn One To" today is Conan's First Date.

Bio:

"Conan’s First Date incarnated in the city of Szentendre in late 2008. Tuned down to the ground, touched by various influences, CFD delivers a modern, catchy, dynamic but yet brutal, complex and traditional metal music involving elements from death and thrash as well as from stoner and southern rock. Such bands would come to mind as machine head, BLS, soilwork, entombed, nevermore or pantera. The very first record of the band was self-made and gained success around the Hungarian rock and metal media. One of the most frequented webzine of Hungary, heavymetal.hu labeled CFD as the ‘already one of the biggest surprises of 2009’, while other magazines also concordantly agreed that this shouldn’t stay inside the walls of the country. Since the summer of 2009 the band is promoted by Powerground management, which supplies local, but widely successful bands such as Watch My Dying, Slytract or Cadaveres. Effigies consist of two different materials including the first recording, ‘The Werewolf Rising’. This ‘double EP’ is an essential record leading from the heavyweight mayhem of Killing Machine to the floating space trip of Million Miles From Home, a cover song from the 90s rave/techno act, Dune. The self-productive effort of the band became stronger as the band created its first video without any involvement of an outside production studio. The video was shot for the song ‘The Werewolf Rising’ from the identically titled debut EP."

Conan's First Date from Hungary creates a devastating mixture of in-your-face Death n' Roll. While listening to their tunes on MySpace I could hear elements of Stoner/Southern Rock and Death Metal. Fans of Entombed, Down, and Black Label Society will rejoice.




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