New Band To Burn One To: Bautastor - Bautastor

Obscure, but incredible. Unheralded, but magnificent. Disbanded, yet eternal in legacy. This describes too many capable stoner/doom/psych/blues rock bands across the globe that vie for our attention and appreciation. Thank goodness for the interdubyas, granting us access to a trove of rich, delicious, riff laden, fuzz-dripping morsels of guitar driven greatness, regardless of any band's status post release.

Hailing from Sweden, an historical bastion of stoner rock greatness, Bautastor, a 4 piece group of gifted rockers have managed to release at least one album that has melded together the soulful sounds of blues rock, the crunchy, crackling riffs of stoner rock, the sweet melodies and hooks of the denizens of the desert, and the engaging, intricate psychedelic sounds of progressive rock. It's an album that clicks in all categories, pegs the needle on all capacities, and engages you in deep reveries of musical wonderment.

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LP Review: Dying Surfer Meets His Maker by All Them Witches

“Call Me Star” soothes the soul and invites the listener into Dying Surfer Meets His Maker, the newest recording by Nashville’s own, All Them Witches. You can almost see the band playing their acoustic instruments on the front porch overlooking the Tennessee Valley. But don’t be fooled by the backwoods, mellow vibe on the opening track. All Them Witches delivers on both atmospheric beauty as well as driving riffs.

The Witches are Charles Michael Parks, Jr. on vocals and bass, Ben McLeod on guitar, Allan Van Cleave on keys and Robby Staebler on drums. From their Facebook page, “Heavy, heady and hypnotic, All Them Witches concoct a powerful and potent psychedelic sound that fuses bluesy soul, Southern swagger and thunderous hard rock.”

With obvious influences ranging from Jimi Hendrix to Kyuss, these guys take the soundscape and extend it beyond convention. “El Centro” leads with a mesmerizing riff and feeds a spooky dynamic while “Dirt Preachers” brings a more straight-up hard rock vibe. “This is Where it Falls Apart” will remind you of the loose, bluesy jams of the Allman Brothers while “Mellowing” has more of a “No Quarter”/Led Zeppelin feel. “Blood and Sand” closes the record with a seven-minute-plus heavy jam that will leave you wanting more.

Dying Surfer Meets His Maker is a fundamentally diverse and polished recording that somehow still captures the vibrant essence of the open jam. All Them Witches deliver an exotic mix of experiences that are so interesting that you’ll want to spin the record over and over again, listening for the little gems you missed on the previous pass.

Dying Surfer Meets His Maker is now available from the band’s website and you can listen to cuts in the usual places, including the Bandcamp embed at the top of this review. As of fall 2015, All Them Witches is on tour so make sure you get to a show. I’ll see you there.

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Song of the Day-Seedy Jeezus-"Echoes in the Sky"

"Echoes in the Sky" is a 16 minute studio jam that eventually evolved into Side A of the band's European tour vinyl. Visually the band's artwork is eye candy, aurally the band's music is ear candy, and this jam is no exception. Hold on and brace yourself as you are propelled into a heavy cosmic odyssey filled with 60's inspired psychedelia, trippy and transcendent soloing, a kaleidoscopic atmosphere and the mastering brilliance by Tony Reed of Mos Generator. For more information, please check out the following links: Facebook | Bandcamp | Website

New Band To Burn One To: Crypt Trip

HEAVY PLANET PRESENTS ... CRYPT TRIP!

BAND BIO:

Texas

Members:

Ryan Lee

Sam Bryant

Mario Rodriguez

THOUGHTS:

There isn't a whole lot of information out there about this threesome from Dallas, so all we can do is let their music do the talking. Which it does quite sufficiently. Crypt Trip include all the best elements of stoner, doom, psych, and retro rock into this 5 song EP. It's heavy, it burns, it hits all the right primal chords. Uptempo scorchers like "Phantasm", measured gloom like "Mrs. Absinthe", stoner fuzziness like "Wraiths" all rock your face off. So, turn it up and enjoy.

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LP Review- Midwest Electric by The Heavy Company

Some bands are too good for their own good. Some bands try and polish their sound till their album is 'bout as dull as a Steely Dan record. But some bands just go for it, loose and lean, like they were back in the garage- or woodshed. The Heavy Company (THC) are one of these bands. They just wrapped up production on their new album Midwest Electric, and this loose, jammy, heavy album proudly displays its warts for all the world to see. This album is rough and wonderful, a throwback to the sounds of yore, when rock bands weren't into categories and would throw anything into their sonic stew without worrying about what any scene might think.

This experimental mindset, coupled with conviction, drove THC to make the album they'd want to hear. They've pieced together Hawkwind effects and scope, Greatful Dead noodling, and riffs when needed to create a compelling piece of Hoosier rawk. Here's a quick rundown of the album.

The Humboldt County Waltz starts things off with a cough, before garagey guitars accompany Ian Gerber's skillet fried warble as he asks for what we all want; "a stash like Willie's and some/room to breathe". This line sums up the bands philosophy, and likely more than a few of you can relate. A Groove a Mile Wide drips like frozen molasses from the speakers with minimal guitar and hints of drone and echo. Neil Young is a ballad that name checks the godfather of grunge, Greasy Mush is an instrumental with stuttering boogie riffs and leads that ring while some wicked synths gurgle in the background. One Big Drag can be heard below, so I'll spare you my description. Sailing Towards the Setting Sun is the trippiest track on the album, which you might have gleaned from the sci-fi title. The tune drones and floats and the narrator sings about existential space concerns. The tune might seem out of place on an album by a band who gave a shit about making all their tunes a copy of the previous one. The album ends with a bang, El Bango Grande gallops out the gates with country inflected vocals which give way to whooshing effects and Pink Floyd style sparse guitar scapes. An eclectic end to an interesting album.

Find this one on Bandcamp, in digital or CD. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for vinyl.

  

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