Album Review: Slumber Dust - "Slumber Dust"

Fuzz, beautiful fuzz. It's what rock music these days in the mainstream is missing more than anything, it seems to me. The seeming reckless unleashing of the guitar in wonderful variation makes for beautiful metal musical constructs, vehicles of dank, dusk, and gloom that exhilarate and soar, deftly gliding through gritty, grimy filters of string and skin . We call it stoner, desert, doom, and sludge. It began in earnest as a genre in the 90s and exploded in that first fertile decade of the new century. And so now it forcefully powers through its third decade, hurtling fiercely toward a fourth, as strong as ever, witnessed by the massive number of artists and albums releasing new music almost daily on a worldwide scale. A hallmark of this ever awesome underground reverie is the subject of today's review, Slumber Dust, hailing just a stone throw from Buffalo, across the border in Saint Catharines, Ontario, Canada. Slumber Dust are a three piece faction of foot stomping, ass grinding metal rockers who bring an essential musical, metal deference to their brand of stoner rock and their initial self titled EP release.

At the time of recording, Slumber Dust were comprised of 3 members:

Geoff Graham - Vocals, and Guitar
Mike Manseau - Bass
Chance Watt - Drums

But the early history of the band was that of Geoff writing and playing songs with Kevin King, who can be heard on the underground recording of "Saturn's Basement" that is comprised of two of their songs, and seen in the accompanying video below. Well before Slumber Dust were able to properly record the album in a studio, Kevin passed away. Undaunted, Geoff formed the three piece named above and engineered the EP's recording and release on BandCamp.

Since the release of "Slumber Dust", Chance has been replaced with Eric James, and the new three piece arrangement are hard at work on 8 new monstrous tracks for their second release.

The EP opens with "The Last Starfighter", which quickly establishes the wealth of gifts these three Canadian lads have on offer. Guitar, bass, and drums are all immediately established with a clamor and commotion of fuzz galore. Following not long after are Geoff's vocals, a perfect complement to the underlying undulations. The song is heady, steady, and huge, with a persistent one two punch of rhythm that soon gives way to a mind bending instrumental stretch.

The tempo is tightened on "Angels", crunching and crackling with a blue spark of elecrtricity. "Pryamids" follows with a stoner huzzah, brandishing an engorged feast of melodic fuzz. This song will be on my 2016 mix, and beyond, as one of special quality.

"Samadhi" continues the established trend with huge and hungry guitar leading the way through a fun and original melody, this one with an exquisite haunting quality that flashes into your consciousness immediately, staying long after. "Ksitigarbha" is a sloshing, slogging doomcast of dark and dangerous undertones, leading perfectly into the finale, "Bad Karma", which again establishes Slumber Dust's keenness for melody wrapped in heavy, syrupy blankets of muddy fuzz.

I've been quick to note the guitar work and outstanding vocals of frontman Geoff Graham, but equally gifted and energetic on this album are both Mike Manseau's bass and Chance Watt's drums. Mike makes the bass soar under the reedy landscape of melody with his own expert riffs of low bliss. Chance's drums are simply fun incarnate, never taking a backseat to the renown of riff or lead of vocal, while complementing both.

Slumber Dust are a young band, just getting started on their long, musical assault of stoner riches. We look forward to what they have in store for us in the future.



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LP Review: Mona by Crux of Aux

Canadians Crux of Aux have been a band for a decade, and only now do we finally get to see the release of their debut record, Mona; and it is brutal! The band features former members of Cursed, Shallow North Dakota, and Sailboats are White, peddling their own hybrid of Noise, Sludge, Hardcore, and heavy riffing with devastating aplomb.

The record opens with the mosh-inducing ‘Purgatory Cop’ menacingly carrying a crushing riff over four minutes of scorched vocals stalking your every move. The vocals are full of a pain and anger that breathes life into the music as much as it feasts on its corpse. The guitars drag you kicking and screaming into an uncomfortable plain of head-banging, while the drums all but countdown to the tracks ultimate end: it’s destruction but in a beautifully artistic approach. The hardcore/(early)Mastodon-esque pummelling of ‘Sewer Ghost’ show that the band aren’t afraid to throw their hat into a breakneck speed ring, carrying a punk aesthetic to their shredding.

The record is as raw to the bone as it gets: ‘Body of Shale’ captures the band at their brutally diverse best, mixing jarred guitar riffs, pummelling drums, all covered with deathly vocals intertwined with sludge and noise, with even the tiniest hint of psychedelia just to fully throw you off balance. There are elements of grind in ‘Splat Splat’ and ‘Cestoda’, but ultimately, the sludge, Noise, and simply sheer heaviness of Crux of Aux shines through brightest, culminating in a record which is as brutal and unsettling as it is party-like and moshable. Mona is a must for fans of all thing HEAVY.

No Why Records

Nuclear Dog's Atomic Split: Jaw Horse - "Cancer Creek" / Enchantress - "Visualize"

Today I'm doing something I've not done before. I am taking inspiration from my Heavy Planet compatriot Zac, who was already the inspiration for the Atomic Split with his excellent weekly feature Zac's Double Dose. Both 'Double Dose' and 'Atomic Split' bring to you 2 albums in one review because quite frankly and quite awesomely there is a LOT of great new music out there which compels us to give our best shot in bringing it all to you. Today's Atomic Split features bands that were originally featured on Double Dose, bands that have now released full length albums of music that fulfill the promise Zac uncovered in his original reviews. And by fulfilling promise I ain't just whistlin' dixie, as my grandmother used to say, these bands are kick ass quality, delivering noteworthy and memorable music beyond typical stoner or metal fare. So, if you recall your first go around via Zac's Double Dose of either or both of these fine bands, you are now primed to experience sensory overload, and who doesn't love that!
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JAW HORSE - "CANCER CREEK"

Originally featured on Heavy Planet nearly a year ago in March, 2012 with a 3 song demo, Jaw Horse have now delivered a full 12 track album, "Cancer Creek", that is without a doubt a righteous dozen of fine rock and roll revelations. Jaw Horse employ a frenetic, energetic tempo to a blues fueled, swamp gas blend of nitro and blissful exertion. You might just end up sweating at the end of a song, and certainly by the end of the album, after romping through the paces set by the energy and power demonstrated all around, by all the members working like a well oiled, top fuel dragster spinning powerfully, resoundingly, inexorably toward a place that simply marks the end of the fun.

Jaw Horse are -

Kramer on guitar
Adam on guitar
Pugh on drums
Jovi on vocals

While they hail from central Pennsylvania their sound is more closely associated with southern climes given their penchant for blues infused heavy rock and vocals as deep fried and resonant as a fast moving thunder storm unleashing fury and might unexpectedly, horribly, and pitilessly across an unsuspecting landscape. Guitars are simply incredible on these songs, beyond comprehension. They seem to have taken the very best of blues rock, electrified, fuzzified, and amplified and kicked it all up a level, perhaps not breaking the paradigm, but managing to add to its definition.

There is only pleasure in listening to any of the twelve tracks on "Cancer Creek". The second track, "Don't Call it Holy" is memorable in a stoner blues foray of power and pleasure as Jovi's vocals provide the focal point upon which the song's excellent melody is played out in power and passion where guitars scorch and burn and drums are vigorous and unyielding in execution.

"Go Man Go" draws immediately upon early boogie rock while embellishing it with updated amplification and well placed distortion, making for a fun and memorable turn of nostalgic rock with a powerful modern imprint.

"Hang in There", while not quite as melodic as "Don't Call it Holy" instead provides a platform for a powerful, memorable romp just beyond the opening stanzas in which the engine of Jaw Creek's top fuel dragster guitars gets kick started, pumped full of nitro, and unleashed in an unfettered onslaught of guitar brutality.

Perhaps the signature song is "Mother Mary", a pacy, heart pounding tale that moves through different tempos while relaying a tale presumably of whoa which is accentuated perfectly by Jovi's ability to present a powerful, in your face presence without ever detracting from the equally powerful guitars.

A beautifully rendered and haunting blues romp, "Wrong Side of the River", closes out the album, with deep fuzzy guitars, bright insistent guitars, and chained lightning guitars of brilliance and joy.

All in all this is an album of pure enjoyment, where elements of stoner rock, blues rock, retro rock, and southern rock are combined with an exceptional amount of talent and a fierceness in the joy they take in playing their music.

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ENCHANTRESS - "VISUALIZE"

Enchantress was featured on Double Dose back in November of 2011 when they had released an EP entitled "Volume 1: The First Few". Today we are featuring their first full length endeavor, "Visualize", seven songs that can quite confidently be classified as unique among stoner/doom/psych music.

Hailing from Toronto this trio play a stripped and bare brand of rock, exposing all the wonderful and jagged edges of their music that gets smoothed over by razor sharp vocals of exquisite clarity and range.

The guitars are a total fuzzfest of distortion and tribal rhythm, fun and endearing in tempo and delivery.

The opening for the album is "Blue Moon Rise(Visualize)" where we are introduced immediately to beautiful stoner guitars that set the tone for the type of ride "Visualize" as an album will be. Once the vocals come in the setting is complete as we get initiated to the unique vocal execution of Enchantress' lead singer, something quite rare and enjoyable.

"Rain Maker" picks up the tempo a bit, but is quite similar to the opening track, which in this case is not a detriment but a further chance to be immersed fully into a trancelike state sparked by the unique vocal/fuzz combination Enchantress deliver.

"Elder Tree" is a slowly boiling volcano of white hot guitar magma, tempered by the tempo, and the strategically placed vocals.

"Locomotive" is the crown jewel of a stellar album, one with no weak points, but with a definite and shiny example of Enchantress' potential in this song. The melody is deliberate and steady, again punctuated by the strategic vocal delivery, pushing beyond heretofore established boundaries, mesmerizing in its eloquence and uniqueness, while cleverly offsetting the main thrust of the song.

"Frozen Sky" kicks up the wattage a bit from its predecessors, demonstrating a snappier tempo, an increase in distortion and power, and utilizing a falsetto like vocal delivery wrapped tightly in fuzzy riffs and white hot solos.

Just as power increased on the penultimate song, it once again ratchets up a degree on the closer, "Buck Thorn Queen", with falsetto once again claiming a stake in execution and delivery, but not exclusively, as a duet unfolds, tempering the vocals, and enriching the overall quality.

"Visualize" is quite unique, compelling, and mesmerizing, blending a raw and fuzzy stoner sound with singular vocals not typically associated with this style of doom or psychedelic rock, all of which makes for a rich tapestry of sound and quality.

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Nuclear Dog's Atomic Split: Indian Handcrafts - "Civil Disobedience For Losers" / Binford - "Binford"

Many of the artists we showcase on Heavy Planet have similar experiences when forming their current bands. Members have previously played in other bands, that over time don't quite work out for whatever reason, but not before deep and almost spiritual relationships are formed between like minded musicians, either from within the old band, or from other bands going through similar experiences. which leads to the creation of new bands, often with amazing, spectacular results. Most of the bands I've had the good fortune to review this year have traveled down this road, a karmic path where mighty axes of doom forge kinships resulting in the finest music imaginable throughout the far reaches of the cosmos. While the exact styles of today's two features are solar systems apart, the inner core of their sound, of what they play remains the same - supernova guitars that reverberate with the force and the fury of the universe's first instant, expanding outward in an onslaught of power and brilliance. Binford from the Netherlands and Indian Handcrafts from Canada are, each, quality artists, one of a kind musicians, a considerable grade above the norm, with music seemingly crafted in the finest cosmic forges the universe has to offer.

INDIAN HANDCRAFTS - "CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE FOR LOSERS"

Indian Handcrafts are 2 guys from Ontario, Canada, or The Land of the Ice and Snow, as they describe on Facebook.

Brandyn James Aikins takes care of drums and vocals while Daniel Brandon Allen handles guitar and vocals. No place for bass. Interesting.

There may only be two guys . . . one guitar and one trap kit between them . . . but there is a ton of music in their songs. These are the kind of songs in which you discover something new each time you listen through the album. There is more than just one guitar lick, more than one riff, more than a simple straightforward rendition of rock music from beginning to end.

The standard traits found in good stoner/doom music is, of course, here, with the huge, down tuned and fuzzy guitars driving the sound throughout. They make it abundantly clear on the opening of the first track of the album, "Bruce Lee", that they are a stoner/doom kind of band. The sound is one you've heard a million times, one you cherish as part of the signature sound of this great music. But very quickly you will discover that Indian Handcrafts are more than typical when the vocals kick in. This band's vocals are quite unique, a sort of modulated screech, which sounds too harsh in description, but is quite exquisite in actual rendition. The singularity of the vocals alone place their music up on a high standard. There's nothing quite like it out there that I've heard. The closest I could get is probably Corinne Tucker's beautiful screeching vocals for Sleater-Kinney, but Indian Handcrafts use more harmony on their vocals, modulating the sound for a truly beautiful quality that serves the rock and roll universe well, and is uniquely their own.

In addition to the incomparable and splendid vocal stylings of this Canadian dynamic duo are the songs themselves. Indian Handcrafts have handcrafted ten superbly written and executed songs, where both lyric and instrumentation combine to create the most pleasurable of stoner rock experiences.

"Worm in My Stomach" begins with a steady forward advance through melody and fuzz and ends with a superb up tempo stretch of sheer delight. This is followed by a quick and deadly onslaught of fury and speed in "Terminal Horse" where the drums of Aikins are front, center, and deadly in delivery, but not to be topped by Allen's demented and crazed guitar blitzkrieg.

Haunting and beautiful, wrapped in distortion and fuzz, "Coming Home" is memorable, powerful, and brilliant.

Another top song on the album is the equally beautiful "Centauri Teenage Riot". The vocals are ferocious and haunting, the guitar and drums unrelenting. The album closes out with "Lion at the Door" an adventurous, return on your investment kind of song, chock full of wonderous forays of voice and string, executed with heart, acrimony, and dexterity.





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BINFORD - "BINFORD"

Hailing from Roosendahl, Netherlands, and formed just last year in 2011, Binford are very much an up and coming band. They have a front woman who really belts out the vocals and are comprised of four additional musicians of the highest order.

Binford consist of:

Esther Vroegop - Vocals
Don Leenders - Bass, Backing Vocals
Stefan van Geel - Rhythm Guitar, Backing Vocals
Arjan Nieuwlaat - Lead Guitar
Jonathan Skip - Drums

These guys go all out in their music, writing wonderful standards and playing at full tilt, fronted by the beautiful and powerful vocals of Esther, showcasing the scorching laserbeam guitar work of Arjan, and perfectly wrapped up in the retro stoner sounds of Don's bass, Jon's drums, and the mega fuzz guitar of Stefan.

"Slate" pefectly opens the album, quickly displaying the beautiful guitar work found throughout this album. Esther's vocals quickly, too, are front and center adding to the aesthetic nature of the music with her full, rich, effortless vocals. Binford don't so much play solos as much as they are constantly expressing different riff stages throughout the song, some solo-like in intensity and tone, some displaying more fuzz and power, but always accompanying the underlying melody and rhythm as well as the vocals.

"Overdrive" could be said to be a retro type of song as the melody and rhythm are similar to some of the best rock songs in history while somehow managing to display it's own unique aspects to the delivery, adding special touches in distortion and vocalizations, as well as powerful outbursts of change and joy.

A more haunting melody in the beginning, "Forgot Your Name" manages to showcase Esther's vocals before and after a solo bridge in which the song executes an increase in tempo, as well as brandishing the dexterity and sound of bass, drums, and scorching solos.

"Subterfuge" is a high energy beauty, with melody once again front and center, delivered exquisitely by the band's superb instrumentation of power and brilliance. The solo section on
this song is perhaps the album's best.

Binford save the biggest, fuzziest songs for last, as stoner bands tend to do. Both "Red Light Changin'" and "Irish Red" are an absolute barrage of down tuned, distorted guitar that plays like a dream, embellished perfectly, once again, by Esther's vocals. They are perfect songs to close out a near perfect album.

Binford are immensely talented and supremely motivated. The stars seemed to have aligned for them with the formation of these 5 well matched musicians who both take their music seriously and have an immeasurable amount of fun playing it, as much fun as you will surely experience when listening to their wonderful stoner rock sound.


AFTER HERE



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