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

Albums Of The Year 2014: Pete's choices

I started off with the intention of simply doing a Top Ten, but when I sat down and looked at what came out over the past 12 months, the list soon grew and grew. There are so many great new bands coming out all the time that it's hard to keep up, but we at Heavy Planet are striving to make sure the best of the new underground crop are brought to your ears. Also what's great about this list is that it's truly international with bands from Mexico, Germany, USA, Wales, Greece, and French-Canadian all rocking to the same beat, whether it's Sludge, Stoner, or Doom, it's a sound that unites us all. 

Anyway, here's my favourites from this year, plus look out at the end for my favourite artwork of the year.

20. Grifter - The Return Of The Bearded Brethren 

The ever brilliant Grifter returned with their grooviest most solid record to date. There weren't many better records which made me dance my ass off this year!

19. Black Khox - AKAB

Tremendously aggressive assault to the senses from Quebec City's latest aggressors started the year off on a high note and has stayed in my senses ever since.

18. Sigiriya - Darkness Died Today

 Superb husky vocals coarsing through thick heavy riffs was exactly what we needed to hear, and Sigiriya delivered with ease. Only great things to come from these guys.

17. Planet Of Zeus - Vigilante

Opening track 'The Great Dandolos' has made its way into every playlist i've created throughout the year; just simple, great, thick, rock. Nice!

16. Mothership - Mothership II

It may have only been released at the very tail end of the year, but with these riffs and songs about suprise transexuals, there was no way it wasn't going to make it onto this list. It'll probably kick in just how good this album is once 2015 is fully under way.

15. Horsehunter - Caged In Flesh

There isn't a great deal of Doom on this list, but the debut record from these Australians is too stunning to disregard. Search for a dark place in your soul to bury it.

14. MuckRaker - Karmageddon

 Politically charged Helmet-inspired riffs have had me thumping my way around my work and home-life for the second half of the year with great pleasure. RISE UP ALL YOU LOGGERHEADS!

13. Monolord - Empress Rising

Long relentless driving riffs; what more can you ask for?

12. Leather Lung - Reap What You Sow

Thrown my way courtesy of Seth's Sunday Sludge, these Bostonians tick all of the right boxes, so long as those boxes are marked dirty, angry, and full of weed.

11. Gurt - Horrendosaurus

Gurt have the knack of making you feel extremely violated with their demonic vocals and down right dirty guitars. Horrendosaurus was a record i needed to play with the curtains closed.

10. Sumer - The Animal You Are

This record stands out on my list as it's essentially post-rock (just a bit heavier), a genre which no other record this year in the genre has stood out from. Sumer are the new leading light in the British scene, and The Animal You Are is a spellbinding listen.

9. Face On Mars - Face On Mars

Another recent release which has had such an impact on me, knocking many other stoner psych rock records out of the park, and with just being their debut, it makes their effort all the more praise-worthy.

8. The Picturebooks - Imaginary Horse

This visceral blues record from the German duo is a soul clenching record which focuses heavily on vocals and stripped-down laid back sounds that becomes a mesmerising listen. It encompasses your body with every listen. Essential is an accurate description.

7. Cardiel - Local Solo

When this South American duo's debut full-length kicked its way into my ear drums, it was impossible to shift, blending ferocious elements of punk, stoner, psycho-dub, it became an eternal ear-bleeder which brought you back for more and more and more.

6. Rhin - Bastard

Full of sledgehammer riffs and venemous vocals, Rhin's Bastard is a record so full of potential and experimentation that it's suprising it can be contained. Echoing the early excitement of a young Melvins, Rhin are sure to be covering patches on everyone's leather/denim jackets the rebel world over. Awesome record!

5. Bar De Monjas - In Fuzz We Trust

The best Fuzz record to come out this year, by far. Packed full of frenetic head-banging party riffs, Bar De Monjas saw their potential flowing through their demo and grabbed it with both hands (well four of them, they are a duo afterall). Often showing as many pop elements as rock, In Fuzz We Trust was the party record of the year.

4. Mother Corona - Reburn

The Oxforshire bands' second record has been a huge grower on me, having initially made a solid impact with their heavy 70's stoner riffs, repeated listens have revealed greater levels to their musicianship with great songwriting and layered instrumentation that makes Reburn the complete stoner rock album this year.

3. Whalerider - Thanatos

Thanatos is a record dipping its toe into stoner and grunge circles, while carrying psychedelic tendencies, and basically it's brilliant. A proper album that you need to fully divuge yourself into. The German group's debut full-length has raised the bar for every band, for them to basically put up or shut up: Thanatos is that good!

2. Hark - Crystalline

Always to be linked back to the missed genius of underappreciated Welsh rockers Taint thanks to frontman Jimbob Isaac, Hark arrived at the beginning of the year like a breath of fresh air to the rock scene, full of intelligent riffs, mind-bending time changes, and songs that can beat you to a pulp. Their sound is youthful, interesting, and hypnotizing. Crystalline is a game changer.

1. Rodha - Welter Through The Ashes

Again back to Seth's Sunday Sludge for putting Rodha on my radar when they released their demo Raw back in 2012, so i've been waiting for this record for two years, and it is everything I had hoped for: aggression, emotion, driving-rhythms, destructive riffs, heartfelt vocals, raw power. It's not just the sludge record of the year, it's my complete album of the year as it encapsulates everything I love, not just about Heavy Planet, but everything I love about music. Own this record!

Top 5 Album Artwork of The Year
Here's a short appreciation of some of my favourite artwork this year.

5. Okkultokrati - Night Jerks

4. Moss -Carmilla (Marcilla)

3. Wolves In The Throne Room - Celestite

2. Monster Magnet - Milking The Stars: A Re-imagining of Last Patrol

1. Grifter - The Return Of The Bearded Brethren

Just look as this sexy bastard. Enough said!

 

LP Review 'Crystalline' by HARK

For 16 years, between ’94 and 2010, Welsh heavyweights Taint led an almighty siege on the stagnant rock scene filtrating the masses, with great energy and savagery that was a thrill to endure. Their debut The Ruin Of Nová Roma will be a record that won’t be appreciated for another 10 years probably, but it’s a one which echoes just what the scene missed out on at the time. Less of a phoenix from the ashes, but rather a pulsating futuristic time travelling behemoth, Taint frontman Jimbob Isaac has offered us a chance to redeem ourselves a second time round with his new band HARK, and their highly anticipated debut record Crystalline, released on Seasons Of The Mist.

Carrying many of his previous band’s sound forward, Jimbob (alongside former Whyteleaf members Nikolai Ribnikov and Simon Bonwick) has honed his craft to an art form that stuns and mesmerises, whilst subtly pounding away at your guts. Opening track ‘Palandromeda’, sounding like a UFO landing from the planet HELLFUCKINGYEAHATROPIA, lays as many heavy stoner riffs as it does progressive nuances. The guitar breakdowns and relentless assault of the rhythm mechanics bring you to your knees. The essence of HARK lies in their thumping riffs that are refreshing and groove laden. It would be easy to thrw the “experimental” tag at HARK, but they know fine well just what the hell they are doing, as layer upon layer of riffs lash away at your face.

Jimbob has plenty of aggressive anguish to his vocals, which can cut through your throat like a blunt knife. His range is best experienced with ‘Sins On Sleeves’ as deep curdling growls are combined with stretched out end-of-your-life gasps. Having been previously been released as double A-side with ‘Mythopoeia’ in 2012, the track as significantly lost some RPMs making it a much more dramatic doomier affair, losing none of its effect. 

The beauty of Crystalline is not so much the album as a whole, but the truly destructive beauty of each song as an individual testament. ‘Black Hole South West’ is every rocker, stoner, doomers ideal song rolled up into a tight 4 minute package, ‘Breath and Run’ and ‘Scarlet Extremities’ are  breakneck metal experimentations, and ‘A Clear Light Of...’ is a 10 minute galloping metal opus that Taint became so overlooked for (not to mention Clutch’s Neil Fallon sharing vocal duties).

It would be sheer utter criminality if HARK were to go the same way of Taint, under the radar of the inferior bands of the time, leaving behind a catalogue of misunderstood records deemed “before their time” (If you don’t go and check out a Taint record after listening to Crystalline I’ll owe you a drink) . This is a record which needs time to settle in to your soul, it’s experimental without being pretentious, it’s heavy without being void of structure, and above all else, it’s a bit of a game changer.

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