LP Review: To Dethrone A God by The Sun The Moon The Stars

With a crushing mix of hardcore riffs, sludge guttural howls, and a pounding rhythm section to crush you into next week, New Jersey’s The Sun The Moon The Stars have come with a mission statement on their full length To Dethrone A God, and it’s one of perpetual terror, dark warnings, and a whole load of head thrashing fun.

The record opens with Matthew Dwyer spiting Dillinger Escape Plan-esqe screams all laid over Black Tusk devouring musicianship, which basically makes you sit back and say Woah! It’s a powerful combination that supplements chugging stoner riffs in amongst the hardcore anger, and genuine crafted instrumentation that flows at break neck speed whilst keeping its composure. What the band do though is make it impossible for them to be labelled alongside one genre of heavy music, as all corners are tested, with the guys excelling most when they cross into doom/stoner metal territory, as heard on track ‘The Whispering Ones’, with their use of deeper demonic screams alongside their usual higher pitched howls, drawn out hallucinogenic riffs, and devastating bass lines, that make you howl at the moon.

To Dethrone A God may only be six tracks long, but The Sun The Moon The Stars pack more into those 25 minutes than a lot of bands do in their entire careers. For many stoners out there, the band may push at the boundaries of their comfort zones, but hell, that ain’t no bad thing. If you let The Sun The Moon The Stars absorb you, you’ll never be able to leave.

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New Band To Burn One To: PURPLE SUNS

HEAVY PLANET presents...PURPLE SUNS!

BAND BIO:

Hailing from Neptune, New Jersey, Purple Suns are a four piece rock outfit designed for making awesome music and playing great live shows. Their 2nd EP, Yours, is currently out on the airwaves.

Purple Suns is:

Jay Hernandez

Tanmay Buch

Jon Troncone

Andrew Gallagher

THOUGHTS:

"So far in 2013, New Jersey natives Purple Suns have released two killer EPs both on very different ends of the spectrum. The first release "Mines" is full of straight up grunge-fed heavy rock, while "Yours" is a little bit more edgy and experimental. It would have been really interesting to have seen how these two EPs would have been put together as a full-length, but I don't believe that was the band's intention and I am not sure how cohesive it would have been because both are equally good in their own right. Both EPs ooze with intensity, groove and passion, although for my tastes I kind of prefer the first release a little more. It is more riff-based and is the more "stoner" of the two. Don't get me wrong, "Mines" has it's shining moments too, such as the bad ass brawny stomp of "Villian" and the darker and more progressive track "Termites".  The high pitch snarl is sometimes reminiscent of early Ozzy and soars above the music. Give these guys a listen. Both EPs are available for a "name your price" on Bandcamp." I look forward to what this band has up their sleeve. Maybe another release in 2013? We shall see.

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Sunday Sludge: Clamfight - "I Versus the Glacier"

It's easy to post a meme to your facebook wall that says "Live Life With No Regrets." Well, let's be serious. I think we've all looked into our past and wondered what the fuck we'd been thinking at the time. The Butthole Surfers taught us to regret doing something rather than regret NOT doing something, but that's exactly the net I fall into. I regret ending that last sentence with a fucking preposition, but what I regret NOT doing is starting a band with three of my high school buddies fifteen-or-so years ago. I regret NOT frying my Stratocaster and Peavey box amp instead of watching Beaver and Butthole on MTV. I regret going to college and NOT rolling in the glamorous pussy that comes with stoner-sludge stardom.

Alright, Clamfight play "music for fat dudes and the buxotic women who love them," but I doubt they're left with any regrets of what they started in a basement back in 1996. Following up the fucking killer 2010 release Volume I, Clamfight return this Tuesday with I Versus the Glacier, an ambitious and groove-swollen stomp toward stoner-sludge immortality. Expanding and improving as they unfold, each of the nine tracks are sharply realized and delivered with impossibly-patient timing.

Icy drones spiral into dense, tightly-spun rhythms on The Eagle. Monster riffage manages to peel off the stink for a brief spell with a cool breeze, but the premier-caliber stoner-sludge stomp paces into a confident gallop. The descent of sludge crafts a mudslide that doesn't begin to showcase all the disc offers, leading into a triptych of sped-up shred and sticky thunder. Clamfight comparisons to C.O.C., Orange Goblin, and High on Fire only hold so much merit. What rests between the bookends is a litany of massive promises followed by gargantuan delivery.

Sandriders can't shake the thickness, but the buzz/slice/buzz floods your home and spits at rescuers. The hollow swarm of guitar splices on Shadow Line pulls you from questions on how Andy Martin balances violent drum crushes with poignant, weathered vocal observation. And on I vs. The Glacier, Clamfight discover their cool stoner swing betwixt sticky storm choruses. Listeners welcome the icy time warp warbling and flirtation of doom, exhaling until squeegee plucks graduate to death knell sirens. Are you alright, man?

Clamfight did their best to wear you out, but the disc's back end is what's impossible to dismiss. The repetitive, deliberate River of Ice is slower but hardly subdued. Spacy riffs marry hazy backdrops as crunchy sludge peppers your grandma's panties. On the album's most complete track, Martin's vocals shine and the band's tempo is perfected. Riffs are choppy and the increasingly expansive elements work together to strap on a leather mask and face the wind. The implosion of Mountain is absolutely massive, grinding slowly on a hitch of Goliath's shoulders. Dusty guitars push to the forefront and steer straight through walls.

The closing tandem of The Green God of Yag and Stealing the Ghost Horse may be the finest pairing we feature in all of 2013. That's a bold statement, but the drawn-out hum of Yag and Horse's sonic juxtapositions are fucking incredible. Superior rhythmic movements on the former's instrumental unraveling marks a baring of soul. Stoner-buzz cadence sharpens under riffs that fistfight and shake trailers. Yag easily holds some of the collection's most beautifully realized concepts. And as for the seven-minute denouement that is Horse, this is the perfect encapsulation of all that Clamfight's been over the last decade. Crafting a field of electric and eclectic heaviness that teems with ingenuity and invention, their sound continues to fester. The grit masks the improved production, leaving no trace of cleanliness or complacency.

Developing a pulse all their own, these songs flee their captors and discover themselves. There's a deceptively sticky catchiness, but don't you dare call I Versus the Glacier accessible. Swooning and swaying through burning lands, these Jersey sludge mongers exercise a militant focus hidden beneath gooey porch treatment solos and sludge stick-ball passions. Shifting and shredding is a scratch to the surface. Carve underfoot through several layers of milk and mire and it's easy to dream skyward at these cumulonimbus assertions. Clamfight are just hitting their stride, and they don't have to regret a single note on Glacier. But you? You'll regret passing it up.

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Nuclear Dog's Atomic Split: The Great Khan - "The Great Khan" / Ruby the Hatchet - "Ouroboros"

Bluesy riffs and heavy, psychedelic jams accompanied by smoking hot vocals kick off today's supernova fission explosion from Philadelphia's Ruby the Hatchet, a new band with an experienced sound, a sound that is huge and fuzzy, energetic and heartfelt, unrelenting and joyful. They are incredible and pleasurable and a sheer delight for the most discerning of fans of heavy, bluesy, stoner music. On their heels comes the southern fried sounds of The Great Khan, a solo effort from Gregg Buzzer of Buzzer fame, a band and an artist that have perfected their southern rock sound from the distant shores of Tel Aviv, Israel . . . yes, Israel, something you would never know by exclusively listening to their music alone. The Great Khan has assembled a collection of songs that are sure to satisfy that deep fried, extra sweet, scorching summer sun desire that all fans of the sounds of the south eternally pursue.

RUBY THE HATCHET - "Ouroboros"

Hailing from Philadelphia come Jillian Taylor (vocals), Johnny Scarperia (guitar), Owen Stewart (percussion, vocals), and Mike Parise (bass), comprising the new band Ruby the Hatchet and offering up their first full length album, "Ouroboros", a collection of nine bluesy, psychedelic songs that are heavy and low and jam packed with wonderful, fuzzy, down tuned riffs, catchy melodies, red hot solos, and hooks aplenty, all topped off with ardent, soulful vocals, powerful in delivery, and haunting in spirit. 

The tone is set right away on the opening track, "Taking Sides", where the opening riff leaves a trail of fuzz and delight in its wake and on its fast tempo way toward a catchy, guitar laden foray into a bluesy landscape.

One of my favorite songs on the album is track #3, "Can't Get Him Away". It starts out without too great a sense of urgency, the focal point being Jillian's powerful, forceful vocals as much as anything. Nearly halfway in the urgency kicks in, however, as Owen joins Jillian in a vocal sparring session that combines with guitar work that has suddenly found the boogie and is jamming with intensity and intent. This song is incredibly enjoyable as it hooks and jabs, bobs and weaves, ducks and slides its way through massive riffs, powerful vocals, and a frenetic tempo.

Ruby the Hatchet show off a bit of writing dexterity with both "Holy Father" and "Nowhere", supremely soulful tunes that are haunting and beautiful, both showcasing some beautiful guitar and drum combo work overwrought with muted, ethereal vocals that cut straight through to your inner core with their powerful, fervent sound.

The closer, "Good God Damn" is a rollicking good time, chock full of huge, fuzzy guitars, harmonic, sere vocals, melody of note and delight, a psychedelic trip of wonder and rapture that carries you along on soulful, hooky, sweet riffs of sheer glee.

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THE GREAT KHAN - "The Great Khan"

The sound has a southern feel to it, but the origin is the Middle East. Greg Buzzer hails from Tel Aviv, Israel and has been the driving force behind Buzzer since 2004, but this time ventures out on his own, delivering a classic set of stoner rock goodness - 7 wonderfully rendered gems that are chock full of monster riffs and blazing solos topped off with Greg's macho, raspy vocals. This album is aptly named for the great Kha Khan as it resembles an armed campaign that rolls across the land in a thundering, unending roar of sound and vibration, power and portent, destroying all before it, leaving nothing in its wake save quivering masses of demolished victims. There is nothing in history quite like The Great Khan, which in this case is a wonderful thing.

As with all gifted artists and musicians, Greg displays an adept ability for composition, creating songs that upon first listen are hard rock in nature, southern in flavor, but closer inspection reveals songs that are balanced perfectly within the overall melody, allowing hooks and riffs to develop and deliver, and creating room for all instrumental participants to showcase and shape each song with their own exceptional sound.

The opening song, "Eye For an Eye" sets the tone with a blitzkrieg assault that is equal parts raw power and timely execution. The solos are perfectly placed and beautifully rendered while the riffs are mouthwateringly spaced throughout, complementary when solos are blazing or when vocals are on point, or leading when hooks are instead established.

"Papa Was an Alligator" is obvious in its intent to deliver southern fun where life is unique and often provides one of a kind experiences, just as does this song commemorating a slice of southern life, unique in flavor, full and rich in experience, and incredibly gifted in ability.

"No. 4" has a wonderful tempo, clipping along at a near perfect pace, somehow tapping into the tribal rhythm deeply embedded into our dna, stirring the ghosts of indigenous dances centuries cold, but somehow now brought to life, blazing and hot in all its perfection and sheer pleasure. If radios played rock songs in their agendas, this one, in my opinion, would make for one of the more anticipated tracks in daily rotation.

"Lay Me Down" delivers a slowed down tempo, which allows for the power of guitar and vocals to kick up a notch. The song is powerful and unyielding in delivery, forcefully moving forward in near perfect tempo.

"Dia De Los Muertos" has a bull fighting flavor to it with herald trumpets interspersed throughout, accentuating the tale of woe and loss that The Great Khan relates in its typical methodical and powerful unfolding of riff and solo. The solos in this song are also accentuated with trumpetwork that is at once unique and well suited.

Overall, this is a powerful and pleasurable journey of unique, artistic, and enjoyable metal music showcasing an exceptional delivery of instrumentation and vocal stylings that present the listener with a radical, memorable, metal experience.

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Sunday Sludge: Fight Amp - "Birth Control"

You've gotta make it to the club on time, fellas. St. Vitus opened for someone, right? Pentagram? Yep. Eyehategod, Candlemass, Sunn O)))? Fuckin' right. I caught enough of Fight Amp's set to know I needed to pay attention. Weedeater's Dixie chugged Evan Williams Bourbon onstage, soon after vomited, and I still managed to walk away from the show with a memory of how thick and callous New Jersey's Fight Amp sounded.

Fast forward to September 25th, 2012, when the band releases Birth Control, their third and most jaw-dropping release of their eight-year existence. Simmering with sinuous vigor and unchecked animosity, Fight Amp enter a career-defining era with these eight tracks. Buzzy flutters and a whole lot o' cool are no match for the twisted steel fibers spun through this release, and any fool with a dick can tell you this is Fight Amp's best release to date.

The distant, muffled riffs that open Fly Trap hardly characterize the balance of the album. We're immediately shaken to life with low fuzz and stomping, galloped rhythms. We choke on burning buzz and shiver as things get pretty sticky. Noise rockets go slumming in every direction, slung low and wet as frogs' armpits. The abrupt transfer to White Pickett induces a very loose, very cold canyon of fear and lost identity. Vocals spiral, quick sludge is held to a torrid clip, and bass chugs and hums like a cold January engine. The chamber of chains and rails creepily echoes as a lead-out, and we're on our way to one mindfuck of a Sunday Sludge record, kids.

Creepy Kicks swarms on dense, hollow drums. Sure, guitars swarm as rhythms adjust. But those cymbals fucking clobber. There's a sticky, shit-caked malevolence to the track, but the strong structure is easily lost in the rough edges. This growing, expansive opus could burst at any moment, and its follow-up knows it. Should've Worn Black bounces with riffs laid on flattened soil, eight and a half minutes of unsettling and unrelenting perversion. Cool moods succumb to fear and turmoil, and it's hard to argue when Fight Amp assures "God is dead, so am I." The canopy of filth takes top billing until the sound slows and ominously circles everything. Swampy sludge is strung tenuously through the cool, atmospheric static of closing Nosferatu piano. Sounds like Fight Amp found their stride.

Ah, but that quick punk element is fully exposed on Shallow Grave. Under a cool stream of thickly oozing sludge, the song smears itself from left to right and never feels bad about it. Growing choppy, the song contains some of the disc's most aggressive moments, entering a Coal Chamber-esque hollow guitar buzz. Goner is another story entirely. Buzzing, subdued, and slowed to an industrial urban decay, Fight Amp roll, slur, and progressively set fire to themselves. There's a true sludge toil here, but listeners will love getting stuck in this mire. The rainy day patience is one of the band's assets, and Fight Amp certainly sound like they've had many a rainy day.

But let's discuss the thickest, loosest, most-depraved moments of Birth Control. I Am The Corpse's distant, despondent licks are pure horror growing into an amalgam of grooving heaviness. Pace increases with each refrain as the closer evolves and becomes a low-burning spread of empty death, matched in complacency only by energy and gravity. Riffs form a sidecar to rhythm, rolling through everything in earshot. The brilliance stubs a toe on swampy jams, buzzing through brush and moss. Shake your head.

Holding true to form but spreading seams with growth, Fight Amp know their way around. Birth Control finds the band encrusted and fully-formed, leaving little room for any argument against their claim to sludge-noise dominance. The album's structure is no match for its weight, but that's hardly a collapsible formula. This trio somehow strikes balance, whether they like it or not. Every biting moment buzzes, and every buzzing moment bites.

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New Band To Burn One To-Black Ocean

The "New Band To Burn One To" today is Black Ocean.

Bio:

BlackOcean was formed early 2008 by long-time friends and songwriters Jason Burchfield and Steve Hunter. The initial lineup consisted of bassist Spike Justis, who departed the band in early 2010, and replaced with long-time friend Joe Maurone from Philadelphia. In 2010, BlackOcean acquired guitarist Zack Blickos to complete the final lineup.

With their many influences, ranging from Metallica, Dream Theater, Rush, Sabbath, Life of Agony and so many others, this unique band delivers the hardcore sounds, technical styles and signature tempos that separate them from most music that is out there today!

Taking 90's influences such as White Zombie and Deftones and mixing it together with progressive metal and a blistering groove, New Jersey's Black Ocean will drown you with their tidal wave of crunchy guitars, sonic drum blasts and inspired songwriting.



BlackOcean plans to release its debut album "Sea Of Darkness" sometime early 2011 on Toil Records. The album was recorded and engineered by Kevin Hogan from KHSTUDIO in NJ. Stay tuned for the official release date, coming soon...

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