Pete's Top Ten of 2017

Let's do this shall we?

10. Hark - Maschinations It's a damn shame that these guys have just announced they're splitting up as they're one of the most technical and experimental with their riffing in the stoner genre. At least we have two excellent records to remember them by.

9.  Bell Witch - Mirror Reaper

You really need to spend some time with this record, not just because of the 83 minute running length of the one song here, but with its layers and emotional turmoil within. A wonderful tribute to a fallen friend.

8. Godhunter - Codex Narco

Heavy and beautiful Nine Inch Nails doing doom sounding album. This has been my nicest suprise of the year.

 7. Telekinetic Yeti - Abominable Two guys making this much noise in the stoner/doom scene is always something to behold. Fuzzy riffs upon slower fuzzy riffs make this an excellent debut release. 

6. OHHMS - The Fool If you get a chance to see these guys live, go do it! Much like their shows, this debut full-length is heavy, often chaotic, and often beautifully stripped back. A superb record. 

 5. Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs - Feed The Rats I still enjoy telling people about this band, mainly for the name, but because their sound is an awesome mix of stoner psychedelic pounding. There's only three songs here, but with two of them hitting the 20 minute mark, you know they're something special. 

 4. Spaceslug - Time Travel Dilemma These Polish stoners are going from strength to strength with each release, exemplifying the claustrophobic riffs with the hazy vocals and heavy-ass song structures, I can't wait to hear what they come up with next. 

3. Elder - Reflections of a Floating World I really don't need to say anything about this. Go read every other End of Year list that any publication has put out and you will see this on there. The best band in the genre at present.

 2. REZN - Let It Burn I've had almost an entire year to listen to this record on repeat over and over, and the heaviness of it all never fails to floor me each time. A truly excellent record.

 1. Forming The Void - Relic This has been the standout record for me this year, by some way, with it's psychedelic tendencies, doom riffs, stoner wanderings, powerful vocals (that guy can sing!!)and one of the best Led Zeppelin covers i've heard. We've had our eye on Forming The Void for some time now, and hearing 'Relic' makes us feel like proud dads. 

That's it from me this year, as a whole we've been a bit on the quiet side at Heavy Planet HQ, but we've never stopped listening to everything we've been able to get our hands on, that flame will never die out. I hope each and every one of you have had a great year, and I hope that you do everything you can to make 2018 an even better one.

 Stay heavy.

 Pete x

LP Review: Forest of Legend by Forest of Legend

Back in June of 2015, we said of Forest of Legend's demo that they 'have the potential in them to make an incredible record. Watch this space'. Well, we write this review with big gloating grins on our faces, the guys have come through with the goods!

The three piece Virginians have taken the doom genre by the scruff of the neck and spat bile down it's throat with their self-titled debut. The vocals of Gage Shanahan are dirty and pissed off, giving the drawn out riffs an added urgency of anger and guttural desperation that builds each crushing riff into a crashing display of power, prevalant on opening track 'Lightbringer' with elements of sludge thrown into their standard heavy doom riffing. To give these guys just a 'doom' would do a disservice to their other exploratory sounds as they often trail off into psych guitar solos or power riffs that will beat your brain to mush.

As the crawling 'Cursed By Night' rains down upon you, you begin to realise that these guys mean some serious business. Often elements of Sleep and Black Sabbath are at the forefront of what they do, but the references to their peers are a tribute, not a rip off, as layers of orgasmically crushing riffing comes over you in waves, and you accept it full force. With all tracks landing between 7-8 minutes in length, it's not a record for the feint hearted. The band flitter between slightly high tempo doom ('Neptune's Glacier')and the slow-crushing stuff we all adore ('Divine Greataxe') and they feed so well into one another.

Each track is a powerhouse standout, with tracks 'Bane of the Black Lung', 'Holy Throne' and 'Brotherhood of the Black Sun' all warranting the same superlatives such as "heavy as fuck", "crushing our spines" and "riff upon riff upon riff of glorious riffs". We said these guys would make something special, and how right we were. One of the underground doom albums of the year.

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