KP's Top Ten Stoner Rock Albums of 2014

There is something about the proverbial changing of the calendar that prompts within us all an inclination towards contemplative reflection (and for some of us an apparently concomitant inclination towards redundant verbiage). We all seek to categorize events into convenient yet ultimately arbitrary chunks of time with the hope of identifying the particular events, trends, fashions, books, movies, and (of course) albums that we feel encapsulate the zeitgeist of that particular chunk of time more than any other. It is ultimately absurd and futile folly. But then again, I love ranking shit as much as the next guy so fuck it here's my list of the ten stoner rock albums that I feel best encapsulate the zeitgeist of 2014...or somesuchshit.

10.  Foghound - "Quick, Dirty and High"

Foghound released their debut so early in 2014 I almost overlooked it for inclusion in this list. Thankfully, an almost criminal omission was averted. "Resurrect the Throwaways" indeed! Propelled by the propulsive opening track "Easy Come, Easy Go" (a balls out rocker which augments the obligatory gang vocal choruses with gang vocal verses to boot!), "Quick, Dirty and High" lives up to the billing of its title and offers the kind of greasy lo-fi bongapalooza that Fu Manchu perfected. Foghound actually pays homage to the mighty Fu in their own endearingly off kilter way on "Get in My Van". However, unlike their Orange County brethren, this is no invitation for a sunny beach blanket bongout. No, in the grimy hands and dirty minds of these sick Baltimore fucks, "Get in My Van" becomes the soundtrack to the perverse entreaties of a serial rapist.

9. Crobot - Something Supernatural

Hailing from the appropriately named Pottsville, Pennsylvania, Crobot have been honing their chops with incessant touring across this great land of ours until finally releasing their first full length LP, Something Supernatural this fall. On such full throttle rockers as "Legend of the Spaceborne Killer", Crobot have showcased their signature sound. With Brandon Yeagley's multi-octave vocals soaring over the band's funky, metallic aural onslaught, Crobot are the answer to the question of what the bastard child would sound like if Wolfmother and Rage Against The Machine engaged in a bit of in flagrante delicto. Naturally, such a band would be more predisposed to bombast than to subtlety. It is thus a little surprising that Crobot actually hits their stride and really shines on the more atmospheric and evocative tracks like "Queen of the Light" and "La Mano de Lucifer", on which they breathe musical life to lyrics such as "It's better to reign in Hell than to serve God's will". Amen.

8. 1000 Mods - Vultures

Those Greek psychedelic stoners 1000 Mods returned from their great super van vacation to show that the promise from their debut lp was merely a harbinger of things to come on their latest album, Vultures. Chock full of jangly guitar riffs, grungy atmospherics, and a molasses-like morass of feedback-driven fuzz, it's an album which oddly sounds as if it exists simultaneously in the late sixties and the early nineties. 1000 Mods specialize in rock that is slow and grungy and bloozy as evidenced on "She", a Bataan death march of a tune highlighted by a guitar solo that's as incisive as a switchblade to the gut. Far and away the coolest track on the album, however, is the instrumental closer "Reverb of the New World". An itchy riff scrapes across a hypnotic percolating bass line before the drums propel the whole goddamn thing into a full throttle cosmic rocker that hyperdrives itself into spaced-out oblivion.

7. Planet of Zeus - Vigilante

Like Toby, I was struck by the emergence of two Greek bands producing such strong efforts that together they occupy 20% of my top ten list. What is really cool is how they both achieve greatness in markedly distinctive styles. In sharp contrast to 1000 Mods' laid back cool, Planet of Zeus adopts a much more aggressive style, coming off as the little brother who forgot to take his Ritalin. On Vigilante's opening salvo "The Great Dandolos", the band explodes in propulsive fashion, sounding like the Hellenic answer to Clutch as Babis vacillates between swaggering vocals in the verses and shouty screams on the choruses, all over a piledriving riff and throbbing backbeat. Other highlights from the album include the title track, which sounds like the bastard stoner grandchild of Black Oak Arkansas. It all culminates in "The Beast Within", an epic track that truly has it all:  a main riff that is colossal, circumlocutional, and abjectly brutal; a melodic Mediterranean midsection; and lead vocals so deranged they sound like Phil Anselmo overdosing on bath salts.

6. Electric Citizen - Sateen

Opening acts on summer tours are a lot like Cracker Jack surprises in that you never know what you're gonna get but it's usually gonna be disposable and altogether forgettable. But occasionally you'll get something cool like a pack of bitchin tattoos. When Cincinnati Ohio's Electric Citizen opened up for Fu Manchu this summer, we all saw something really cool, a young band positioning themselves as the potential breakout stars for the Sabbath Worship sect. When their highly anticipated debut, Sateen, was finally released, it appears the soothsayers were right for once. While incorporating a decidedly doomy seventies sound, Electric Citizen elect to eschew overt deviltry in favor of more nuanced sinister tones to achieve their own distinctive foreboding vibe. They also underscore the notion that on the rare occasion when keyboards should be employed in metal, they should sound as evil as fuck like they do on "Burning in Hell". But, unquestionably, what sets them apart from their peers is vocalist Laura Dolan, who smartly chose an approach that is more siren than succubus. Laura's mellifluous voice, whether on the hypnotically haunting "Hawk Nightengale" or the pulsating pounder "Light Years Beyond", is so enchanting it can only lead to a rapturous doom.

5. Fu Manchu - Gigantoid

Speaking of Fu Manchu, they released their highly anticipated Gigantoid in 2014 and it is easily their best album since the Mammoth Records days. Kicking the album off in ripsnorting fashion is "Dimension Shifter", which starts out as a balls-out snarling affair before the band steps in a time machine midsong and transport themselves back in time to 1997 and settle into a sludgy Sabbatherian groove accentuated by oscillating guitar licks. Other highlights include "Radio Source Sagittarius", perhaps the most quintessential Fu Manchu tune on the record, with its serpentine riff and obligatory cowbell, as well as "Evolution Machine" on which they evoke B-movie cool as only they can.  However, it is "Anxiety Reducer" which is clearly the album's transcendent track. Its' fuzzy gargantuan riff is otherwordly, otherweirdly, and as subtle as a drill bit being bored into your skull!

4. Mothership - II

On Mothership's second album, imaginatively titled II, this Dallas-based power trio have produced what for me is the most surprisingly badass album of the year. The album cover is in the same DIY indie label early 80's metal style that the debut sported, but the tuneage is light years beyond. Of the eleven tracks contained within, eight of them cohere around a mystical/fantasy-based theme. Most notable of these are actually two instrumentals, the beautifully grandiose "Celestial Prophet" and the wickedly exotic "Tamu Massif". Other standouts include "Priestess of the Moon", a relentless riff-fest that bludgeons in the style popularized by The Sword and "Eye of Sphinx" which is  alternately cruising and crushing. Unlike the typical fantasy-based band, Mothership elect to periodically interrupt the mystical proceedings by throwing in a couple of curveballs that sound like AC/DC momentarily hijacked the album. In lesser hands, it would make the recording come off as half-assed. But Mothership rock the tunes so freakin hard that they achieve the affect of appearing disarmingly unhinged. In fact, it is one of these curveballs, "Shanghai Surprise", a tale of transsexual shenanigans, that is easily the standout track on the whole album.

3. Greenleaf  - Trails & Passes

Greenleaf  have always occupied a unique niche in the world of Swedish stoner rock. As a side band with a rotating roster, they exist essentially as the musical equivalent of a superhero team. Part of the fun is seeing who shows up when guitarist Tommi Holappa yells "Avengers assemble!" As a consequence to all the lineup rotations, Greenleaf  have exhibited a chameleon-like quality to shift from muscle car fuzzouts ("Witchcraft Tonight") to struttin blooze ("Stray Bullit Woman") to haunting epic ("Nest of Vipers"). On their latest album Trails & Passes, the band has produced a record that is decidedly mature on the surface but deceptively subversive at its core. The album kicks off in blistering fashion with full-throttle rocker "Mother Ash" and extends to funky strutter "Humans". "With Eyes Wide Open" begins with a scraping intro that segues into a laid-back spacey vibe. With the refrain of "open up your eyes, don't trust their lies" chanted over hypnotic tribal drumming, the track is easily the record's resident smokeout bong star and would easily be the best tune on the album if not for the monumental title track. Over fuzzed-out bass and a hard charging beat, "Trails and Passes" rips along at a driving pace until erupting in a volcanic avalanche of searing licks.  

2. Wo Fat - The Conjuring

On The Conjuring, Dallas power trio Wo Fat returned to treat all the psychedelonauts to another heaping helping of their trademark brand of malevolent blues rock. That their latest would be their greatest is evident from the outset, as the title track opens with a sinister intro that sounds like a cauldron bubbling or perhaps Satan himself cooking up a pot of Texas chili before kicking in with a chugging guitar over a lumbering rhythm recorded at the precise speed at which zombies ambulate. For anybody that has experienced Wo Fat in person and has felt how murderously loud they can be, you can just imagine how wicked this tune translates in a live setting. The undisputed standout of the album though is "Beggars Bargain", a struttin' cock of seventies boogie double baked by the sweltering Texas sun and too many bong hits. Augmented by a hellacious solo and the judicious use of cowbell, the song is a veritable blitzkrieg assault of aural rapage. Closing out the album in epic fashion is the sprawling 17 minute "Dreamwalker. The track smolders its way at a diabolical pace as Luciferian licks insinuate themselves in your brain, eviscerating the last vestiges of your sanity.

1. Truckfighters  - Universe

Perhaps it is a sentimental choice, but for the number one album of 2014 I chose the first album I reviewed for Heavy Planet, Truckfighters' Universe, their conceptual opus centered around the conspiratorial machinations of clandestine forces surreptitiously orchestrating events. The whole thing kicks off with the serpentine riff of "Mind Control" and the band quickly settles into their trademark Swedish groove which seamlessly segues into "The Chairman" and its bubbling bassline that percolates like bong water. The hidden gem of the record is "Get Lifted".  "The beautiful soul that dies can't get out until the colours dry" sings Ozo over a hypnotic, ethereal melody until it is interrupted by a heavy growl of fuzz that becomes ever more urgent and more insistent until it finally explodes in what can only be described as a snarl.  It all ends with sprawling epic closer "Mastodont". Thematically, the song speaks of a soul being sent out to space to die, a cosmological update on the traditional Viking funeral. Intricate guitar lines build the tension like cryptic ciphers until what is created is nothing less than the most gargantuan of riffs that threatens to blow your speakers as well as your mind.  

Toby's Top Ten of 2014

I realize it’s kind of lame for me to have been absent around these parts for the better part of 2014 only to show up now spouting off my opinions on the best music of this past year.  You can rest assured though that I did my best to keep up with the listening part of this job just as much as I ever have, it was just the writing part…or I should say the time required to do so…that escaped me last year.  But even though I may not have reviewed the records I fell in love with in 2014, I took notes and jotted down each and every band and album that left its indelible mark in my brain.  And as much as I loathe the idea of New Year’s resolutions, which are really just empty promises people make to themselves, I’m gonna go ahead and say that in 2015 my goal is to re-establish myself as a frequent collaborator here at Heavy Planet.  So with all of that said, I give you my favorite records from 2014 and encourage you to look for more input from me in 2015.  Happy New Year.

10) Wasted Theory - Death and Taxes

Delaware’s Wasted Theory came out of nowhere this year with Death and Taxes (review here) and to take nothing away from their 2013 debut Godspeed, the improvement in both songwriting and musicianship from that album to this one were simply astounding.  Of course, having seen the band at this year’s Moving the Earth Festival back in March (recap here), I already knew that they were solidly behind these songs when their set consisted exclusively of material from the new album.  Tracks like “Dead is Dead,” “Hellfire Ritual,” and “Black Widow Liquor Run” were seething with whisky drenched vocals, Southern-fried swagger, and a mountain of groove.  With a name like Death and Taxes, one could assume that Wasted Theory figured this album was a certainty, and after listening to it over and over this year, I tend to agree with them.        

09) Stubb – Cry of the Ocean

I had never heard Stubb’s self-titled debut prior to hearing this album, so I went in with no pre-conceived notions of what to expect.  Little did I know, that what I would hear was the sound of a bygone era when rock n’ roll could fill football stadiums and guitar solos dominated the radio dial.  Modern day revivalists of the classic power trio, these Londoners put heartfelt emotion into Cry of the Ocean.  Whether it was the combination of heavy fuzz with soul in “Cry of the Ocean, Part Two,” the acoustic buildup and subsequent slide guitar finale on “Heartbreaker,” or the obvious Hendrix worship found on “Devil’s Brew,” I couldn’t get enough of Stubb’s sophomore record and it’ll likely be in my heavy rotation for the foreseeable future.   

08) Jeremy Irons and the Ratgang Malibus - Spirit Knife

Hailing from Sweden, Jeremy Irons and the Ratgang Malibus (I'd love to know the origins of that name) play a chill inducing style of meandering, psychedelic rock that sticks with you long after the final chords fade from your speakers.  Their latest, Spirit Knife, was an odyssey of musical peaks and valleys awash in beautiful layers of fuzzed out reverb.  This was a quintessential headphone record, one where the guitars gently shimmered and violently crashed, and the drums were kept purposefully loose, serving mainly to keep the ensemble from teetering too far out of control during the instrumental passages, of which there were many.  But what kept JIRM firmly cemented in my frontal cortex were the powerful, mesmerizing vocals, which were sporadic, but frequent enough to keep me engaged.  Look no further than the album’s opening track “Fog by the Steep” for a sample, but the entirety of Spirit Knife is a journey you should experience.  It was one of the best I took in 2014. 

07) 1000 Mods - Vultures

This is the first of two bands on my list this year who hail from Greece…is something sinister in the water of the Aegean or what?  From the opening fuzzed out riff and seamless mix of laid back and shouted vocals on "Claws," 1000 Mods throw haymakers from the very get go, and they never let up throughout this album.  Being veterans of the very first Heavy Planet compilation Bong Hits from the Astral Basement, I can't help but feel a sense of pride seeing these guys develop and grow as a band.  Give a listen to "Big Beautiful" or "Horses' Green" if you'd like a sample.  Call it stoner, call it desert…shit man, call it whatever the fuck you want, but Vultures was by far some of the best heavy rock I heard in 2014. 

06) Planet of Zeus - Vigilante

This is the second Greek band on my top ten list of 2014…who knew?  If these guys (and 1000 Mods) aren't touring together throughout the Hellenic Republic, then I don't know what the fuck to say.  With a sound that manages to simultaneously harken early Clutch and the 70's excess of KISS, Planet of Zeus combine a righteous layer of fuzz alongside funky beats, aggressively throaty vocals and anthemic, fist-pounding hard rock.  The result is a sinister concoction of heavy groove, sing-along choruses, and potent rhythms.  Take a listen to "Second Coming," "Burn This City Down," "No Tomorrow," the title track…hell just take your pick because they're all solid.  Vigilante is easily one of the best albums of 2014 and should definitely accompany your next foray into drunken debauchery…if that's your sort of thing of course. 

05) The Whigs - Modern Creation

Seems like every year I include one band in my top 10 that arguably doesn't belong amongst the fuzz and sludge typically covered here at Heavy Planet and this year that band is Athens, Georgia trio The Whigs.  So yeah, this is a rock band with "pop" tendencies, and they'll likely cause you to sing (not scream) along with them, but here's the rub…like Stubb earlier, this is a power trio in the truest sense of the term.  Heavy Planet readers will likely dig tunes like "Asking Strangers for Directions" and "The Particular" which skew towards the heavier end of the spectrum.  Another reason you need to be listening to The Whigs and why they find a place in my top ten is that they easily have one of the best drummers on the circuit today and that's evident as you listen to Modern Creation.  This is straight up rock n roll, layered with pop melodies and sing-along choruses.  Frankly, I couldn't agree more with the band's own assessment as they sing on "Too Much in the Morning"…this music is "so good, so pure."

04) Fu Manchu - Gigantoid

This one seems like a no brainer, I mean c'mon man, it's Fu Manchu.  From the opening pummel of "Dimension Shifter," everything I've always loved about these SoCal stoners was there in spades.  From the chilled out, surfer vibe of the vocals, to the massive reverb and fuzz of the dual guitar attack, and the ocean sized rhythm section, Gigantoid was a worthy addition to the Fu Manchu legacy.  Songs like "No Warning" and "Triplanetary" dabbled in the hardcore punk of the band's origins, but the sound never strayed too far from the surf and skate jams that have always been their bread and butter.  Want to hear my favorite?  Check out "Evolution Machine," which was a spot on example of Fu Manchu continuing to do what they do, while simultaneously pushing the envelope of heavy music.  For a band whose first album was released 20 years ago, that's a damn fine achievement if you ask me.    

03) Slow Mover - Move Slower

What can I say about Boston’s Slow Mover and their hilariously titled sophomore record Move Slower, other than that they're spastic, have a killer sense of humor, and when they decide to let loose, they fucking destroy.  I immediately knew this album would be interesting when the first track “Home” opened with chaotic blast beats and grindcore guitars, before settling into an infectious, bouncing groove.  And I could be wrong, but based on the lyric “you have died of dysentery” I’m fairly certain that song is about the old computer game The Oregon Trail.  Subsequent tracks like “Crane Collapse” and “SFCA” continue the berserk mash-up of styles, which falls somewhere in the realm of Fu Manchu jamming with Pig Destroyer, and feature that same wicked sense of humor…”are you a wizard, I am a wizard!”  It’s safe to say, Move Slower was by far one of the most entertaining and eclectic listening experiences of 2014.     

02) Crowbar - Symmetry in Black 

How is it that nobody mentions Crowbar anymore when talking about the best doom and sludge albums on the planet?  Look, it would be easy for me to sit here and tell you that Symmetry in Black is Kirk Windstein and company returning to the form found on their classic, 1992 self-titled sophomore record, but here's the truth of the matter…they never fucking stopped delivering.  With unbelievably weighty rhythms and a downtrodden plod that only Crowbar can conjure, these vets…nay, innovators of the New Orleans sludge scene added yet another classic to an already impressive catalogue.  With tracks like the album opening "Walk With Knowledge Wisely" and "The Taste of Dying" just to name a couple, the old adage about Crowbar remains just as true today as it did back in the 90's…None Fucking Heavier.

01) The Skull - For Those Which Are Asleep

After interviewing ex-Trouble vocalist Eric Wagner, drummer Jeff Olson, and bassist Ron Holzner back in 2012 (here) about their latest project The Skull, I quickly dubbed the piece "More Trouble Than Trouble" due to their seemingly unrelenting goal to rekindle the sound and vibe that defined the early days of their former band.  Fast forward to 2014 and with their debut full length For Those Which Are Asleep, the title of that interview has never seemed more apropos.  What The Skull created was a collection of ten tracks representing the heaviest, most somber doom that you were likely to find this year (ever?).  Mixing Sabbath inspired grooves with Beatles-esque harmonies, The Skull (like early Trouble) are a lesson in musical agony and ecstasy.  From the lumbering weariness of "Sick of it All" to the bludgeoning skepticism of "Send Judas Down," For Those Which Are Asleep was the best any fan of heavy music could hope for…the revival of a classic sound married with a modern perspective.  For that reason, The Skull’s debut sits atop my favorite albums from 2014.

Planet of Zeus - "Vigilante"

Planet of Zeus,  those preeminent purveyors of that particular Greek brand of stanky skanky stoner rock, are back with Vigilante, their latest and most pathologically potent platter of primordial pandemonium.

On opening salvo "The Great Dandolos", the band explodes in propulsive fashion, sounding like the Hellenic answer to Clutch as Babis vacillates between swaggering vocals in the verses and shouty screams on the choruses, all over a piledriving riff and throbbing backbeat. The Clutch influence is particularly evident on funky strutter "A Girl Named Greed" with its slithering serpentine riff and Fallonesque vocals. Elsewhere, the warfare on your woofers continues on the syncopated bakefest "Second Coming", highly infectious "Burn This City Down" (appropriately named considering the incendiary solo contained within) and the relentlessly kickass larynx shredder that is "Tornado".

With its soulful vocals and fabulously filthy guitar tone, "No Tomorrow" is the deceptively cool track on the album, highlighted by a magnificent mesmerizing guitar solo. It's a perfect segue into the title track. Brewed with bluesed, boozed, and bruised attitude, "Vigilante" sounds like the bastard stoner grandchild of Black Oak Arkansas. It all culminates in "The Beast Within", an epic track that truly has it all:  a main riff that is colossal, circumlocutional, and abjectly brutal; a melodic Mediterranean midsection; and lead vocals so deranged they sound like Phil Anselmo overdosing on bath salts.

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Album Review: Planet of Zeus - "Macho Libre"

Given Greece's recent political and financial fits, it only makes sense that the public demanded a heavy-handed rock band to compose a soundtrack to play during 2011's demonstrations. What makes little sense to me is how a hillrod four-piece from Athens manages to issue a sophomore effort that any American could fall in love with on a road trip from Louisiana to Death Valley. Macho Libre is equal parts fuzz, moss, tar, and Southern Comfort, set on fire and chased with space candy.

Doteru wastes no time in setting a stoner tone fit for a road lizard. Babis's gruff vocals could fill any Big John, while he and Yog trade guitar buzzes and leave Greek highways burned. A sweet, sticky solo punctuates the track, not long before an abrupt fadeout leaves you licking Sriracha from the corners of your mouth.

The fretwork on Dawn of the Dead falls somewhere between Dimebag and Zakk Wylde as Syke slaps you with one drumstick and crushes you with another. Choppy and crunchy, the groove is steady until a spacey haze settles over a Dave Wyndorf homage. You'd think a power drill was leading you out the door as guitars and drums plug away and vocals fade.

Leftovers teems with twang and C.O.C. vibe, floating on notable musicianship and the abandonment of conventional time signatures. You may detect Orange Goblin here. Then again, you might pay close attention and see one man's sardonic perspective on what's going on in his own country (all with a half-can o' Copenhagen tucked into his muzzle).

Hooks and grooves are Macho Libre's bread and butter. The guitars on the title track combine with JayVee's chewy basslines to blow exhaust in your ear and a boil into oblivion is the song's only logical conclusion. Vanity Suit is rolled out more like a storm-cloud than a song, a perfect roll through a hostile small-town bar (where Neil Fallon is your only friend). The Game and Scream stomp straight to your doorstep and jack your jaw with fist-pumping southern metal. There's no way in hell the guitar necks weren't wrangled after this 11-track galumph was complete. Whew.

The Alabama Thunderpussy-brashness doesn't quite get its chance to drown the listener in sweat and cheap beer. Tracks like Unicorn Without a Horn and the AWESOME Hazelnut (R.I.P.) are haunting, pensive melancholy wrapped in sufficient subtlety. The guitars echo, pushing the listener along an empty street abandoned by both the forlorn and the hopeful. Hazelnut's distant buzz echoes TooL's Lost Keys (Blame Hofmann) until guitars gulp and gasp. The song moves to marching soldiers, plodding drums, and a whisper of cosmic psychedelia. Planet of Zeus were saving the best for last, you could say.

A Greek equivalent of the Mason-Dixon line may not exist, but nobody told these guys. Greece will no longer extract thoughts of gyros, solipsism, or the Parthenon's Doric columns. I'll now think of hollow, distant guitar pleas for Ronnie Van Zant's resurrection. Southern heroes have plenty to be proud of on Macho Libre. They might even get a little jealous. This stuff is thick, deep-fried, and indulgent.





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