EP Review: "Impending" by Black Tremor

The notes on this next band had the makings of a total disaster…A three piece instrumental psych/doom band from the wastelands of Saskatchewan, Canada consisting of a bass, drum and violin. Yeah, violin mf’ers. Here’s the thing, this whole sound totally works. Black Tremor have found the secret to their unconventional mix: time. Each song unfolds with multiple movements; each section tumbling and folding over itself as if replicating the formation of the funnel clouds on the EP’s cover photo.

There’s a desolation in the music that conjures up imagery of the dry endless wastes on the edge of the Canadian steppe where the band is from.  Each musical idea seeds in the dust and germinates over several minutes.  The best example of this metamorphic style is on album highlight “Markhor”. The droning middle-eastern melody sheds its skin as the landscape reveals itself; a tribute to the home environs of its “devil goat” namesake.  The drums stutter forward as the bass levels everything in its path in constant waves of drone and noise.  The violin is a picture of restraint in this song. It sometimes darts around the edges to give color only to give way later to the lead musical theme. A truly incredible sound.

If Boston area Narco-pop legends Morphine had a baby with ISIS, the result would sound startlingly like Black Tremor.   The echoes of several bands are found deep within Black Tremor’s massive sound, but in the end there really is nothing else that sounds even remotely like these guys. Highly recommended for high speed psychic (or actual) trips through the desert in your red Cadillac convertible.

You can check out the entire album on their bandcamp and Facebook pages. Awesome stuff.

EXCLUSIVE STREAM: SWITCHBLADE JESUS

EXCLUSIVE STREAM: SWITCHBLADE JESUS

Since our first introduction to Switchblade Jesus back in 2011 as a "New Band To Burn One To" , this Corpus Christi-based band has found a place in our hearts here at Heavy Planet. This five-piece band has been tearing up the local scene since 2010 with their blistering live shows, been featured on a few killer compilations from Doommantia and The Soda Shop and came in a close second in our March Bandness competition with The Soda Shop back in 2011.

The band has gained some favorable reviews including one from our very own Nuclear Dog. Here is what others have had to say about Switchblade Jesus:

---"all I can say is, what Switchblade Jesus has to offer is some cutting-edge, blood-boiling, head-nodding, riff-rocking beast of a stoner rock strain, distilled from pure-bred trailblazing attitude and adrenaline junkie art. As glorifying as that might sound (or I tried to make it sound) I have no doubt in my mind that Switchblade Jesus will impress us with their full-length. Check these guys out. If you’re into rock at all, you won’t be disappointed, and if you’re into stoner rock, this is your thing, and if you like your stoner rock filth-encrusted and larger-than-life, it’s your drug. 10/10, keep it up."-Sarp Esin, Doommantia

---"The songs on the EP are heavy and hard rock with some metal moments. They’re fast paced and in your face, well in your face if it’s still there after the melting that Switchblade Jesus is capable of doing." Bill Goodman, The Soda Shop

We have been waiting patiently for the band's first full-length debut and are honored to present it to you in its entirety. The album will be available in much better sound quality on their Bandcamp page beginning on Friday June 28th.  Now without further adieu, get ready and crank this mutha up!


Heavy Planet thanks you Switchblade Jesus for letting us be a part of your impending success.

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Void Of Sleep - Tales Between Reality and Madness

Void Of Sleep are a four piece group hailing from the Italian city of Ravenna and they have really been having a great impact in the media. They totally caught me by surprise. Mostly because it is not usually to see many Stoner/Psychedelic/Doom/Sludge bands from Italy even though throughout the last years we have been introduced to great bands like Lento and of course Ufomammut.

They have just recently released their debut album called "Tales Between Reality and Madness". It is 45 minutes and 7 songs worth of pure Stoner excellence! 

Overall, it is a very creative and refreshing album with a perfect balanced mix of all the great elements of Stoner Rock, Metal, Sludge, Psychedelic Doom and some Hard Rock.

"Blood On My Hands" is a great way to show off what this record is all about: great songwriting and riffs that will keep you headbanging for hours. There are also some darker and "doomier" moments that might resemble bands like Opeth but that is mainly due to Burdo's voice. His voice does in fact remind me many times of Opeth's Mikael Akerfeldt. Besides these "darker" sections, we are also presented with great choruses that will stick in your brain. Catchy is the word.

Songs like "Sons of Nothing", "Wisdom of Doom" and "Lost in the Void" will certainly be great successes when played live as they are some of album's strongest tracks. I do think, though, that there is no actual weak song or "skipper". All songs flow very well as the huge riffs sooth you and bury you into the music.

We hope there is much more to come from Void Of Sleep after this magnificent debut. "Tales Between Reality and Madness" will definitely be in my top album list by the end of the year. Make sure you listen and buy this album. It is well worth it!

Void of Sleep are:

Burdo - Vocals

Gale - Guitar

Paso - Bass

Allo - Drums

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Mos Generator Release Single From 10th Anniversary Debut Album -- Available as Exclusive Limited-Time Download via Heavy Planet

For the next 24 hours, Heavy Planet is proud to offer to you a free download of "Lumbo Rock" from Ripple Music artist Mos Generator's 10th anniversary edition of their debut album. Below is the press release and the free download link. Enjoy!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Port Orchard, WA - Mark it on your calendars, the deluxe edition of the debut Mos Genrator album, featuring a full length LP, a CD with previously unreleased tracks and a full incendiary live concert, and a digital download of further live, demo, and jam tracks will be available throughout North America on April 10th, 2012! In conjunction with Nail Distribution, Ripple Music is proud to announce that this quintessential debut album and amazing musical package will now be available to a wider market of insatiable rock n’ roll fans.

And this Thursday, March 22nd, 2012, Ripple Music will make the lead track from the album, "Lumbo Rock!", available for free download exclusively at Heavy Planet! The free download will only be available for 24 hours, so if you haven't heard Mos Generator before and want to know what's what, now is the perfect time to dive in!

“This Mos Generator package is one of those sets that speaks to the lifelong Mos fan, as well as those who are discovering the band for the first time,” states Tony Reed, singer and guitarist for the band. “It was a goal for myself and the label to create a package that was affordable, something that looked cool, and was packed with some special moments from the bands ten year history.”

Featuring over two and a half hours of music, the Mos Generator 10th Anniversary Edition was designed with the music fan in mind. The package includes three popular formats for listening to the bands 70’s-inspired hard rock in the way of 12” vinyl, CD, and digital download, and all packaged in an eye-popping 12” gatefold jacket.

Here’s what the press is saying:

“ . . . like the rampaging inhabitants of a sonic Jurassic Park; thunderously heavy, jaw droppingly magnificent and maybe just a little bit scary. This is music that went extinct many years ago, but against all expectation and logic, here it is alive and thriving in the modern age. 4/5” -- The BCFM Sunday Rockshow

"Of all the second-wave Sabbath types, these guys were and remain by far the most original, with tricky prog tempos, tunefully sludgy Tony Iommi-style lo-register riffage and a sense of humor to rival their sense of purpose. If metal is your thing and you slept on this stuff when it first came out – and a lot of people did, this was before myspace, let alone youtube – now’s a good time to rediscover them." -- Lucid Culture

“Really a fantastic package all around. Once again Ripple Music not only delivers the goods, but they go the extra and exceed all my expectations on this one." -- Heavy Metal Time Machine



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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: BROOKLYN HEAVY PSYCH BAND NAAM COMPLETES WORK ON DEBUT ALBUM

I don't usually post news stories but this a cool band that deserves your attention.

Brooklyn, NY heavy psych rock band NAAM has completed work on its debut album. The fast-rising buzz band will drop the self-titled Naam on October 20, 2009 via NYC’s Tee Pee Records.

The follow up to the group’s three-song mega-EP Kingdom, Naam was recorded on an abandoned dairy farm in New York's Catskill Mountains and delivers pitch-dark, utterly hypnotic songs that resurrect the concept of space-rock for a new era. NAAM’s raw, feedback-powered sound pools densely distorted riff-o-rama with throbbing bass lines and echoey, buzzy vocals that seem to hang in the open spaces in between. Calling for comparison to The Stooges, MC5, Can, Loop and Hawkwind, the music of NAAM conjures both post-apocalyptic dazzle and unsettling feeling via punishing, deeply penetrating repetition and twisted vapor trails of guitar. NAAM pounds giant riffs into submission resulting in downered sub-blues melancholia that sounds like the soundtrack to a missing hallucination scene from Easy Rider. NAAM’s high-voltage power and addictive sonance has found favor with both metalheads and psychedelic rock fans alike, all of whom have talked up the group’s thundering musical muscle.

The final track listing for Naam is as follows:

01.) Kingdom
02.) Stone Ton
03.) Skyling Slip
04.) Fever If Fire
05.) Tidal Barrens
06.) Icy Row
07.) Westered Wash
08.) Frosted Tread
09.) Windy Gates
10.) Black Ice

Prior to the release of the album, NAAM will hit the road with Nebula and The Entrance Band and will premiere new material from Naam over the course of its tour trail. A full listing of upcoming NAAM live dates follows this message.

NAAM features Ryan Lugar (guitars, vocals), John Bundy (bass, vocals) and Eli Pizzuto (drums, percussion).

Updated NAAM news and tour information will be made available via the band’s online domains: www.kingdomofnaam.com / www.myspace.com/naamdestroysfaces, and the Tee Pee Records website: www.teepeerecords.com

"very tasty" – DECIBEL

“You see, Black Sabbath might be considered the first heavy metal band, but what they really were was a psychedelic blues outfit. In short, NAAM carry on the legacy of Black Sabbath. The true legacy.” – EVIL SPONGE

"In the case of NAAM, their rather thick, quasi-boogie rock does recall late 60s /early 70s psychedelic rock along the lines of Blue Cheer, but they mess with the songs enough to wriggle out of that straightjacket…this is a ride worth taking" - IMPOSE

“Fantastic...I'd recommend them to fans of Dead Meadow, the Black Angels, Om, Black Mountain, and other rad psychedelic shit.” – CRUSTCAKE

" Brooklyn's NAAM are the latest addition to Tee Pee Records' ever-growing, ever-badass roster. The band can best be described as heavy psychedelic stoner rock (with a few surprises along the way)" – AOL MUSIC’s NOISECREEP

“Blown out psych rock...blissful sub-retro fuzz” – STONER ROCK.com

NAAM tour dates:

August 22 New York, NY Santos Party House (w/ Nebula and Entrance Band)
August 23 Philadelphia, PA Johnny Brenda’s (w/ Nebula and Entrance Band)
August 24 Baltimore, MD Ottobar (w/ Nebula and Entrance Band)
August 25 Washington DC Black Cat (w/ Nebula and Entrance Band)
August 26 Richmond, VA Nara Sushi (w/ MARS)
August 27 Wilmington, NC Soapbox (w/ Nebula and Entrance Band)
Sept 10 Brooklyn, NY The Charleston!? (* Secret-ass Southern Lord show!)
Oct 11 Brooklyn, NY Europa (w/ OM and 6 Organs of Admittance)

Gnaw To Release Debut

Gnaw`s debut to be released Feb 20 via Conspiracy Records

Gnaw was formed in 2006 by Alan Dubin (ex-Khanate, OLD) along with Jamie Sykes (ex-Burning Witch, Thorr`s Hammer, Atavist), Carter Thornton (Enos Slaughter), Jun Mizumachi (ex-Ike Yard, 80`s NYC industrial legends) and Brian Beatrice (Emmy Award winning sound design/mix wizard).


Gnaw`s debut album, This Face, is the sonic culmination of over a year of sound experimentation. It`s a genre destroying journey that almost defies description. Sykes is a percussive madman blasting out anything from tribal beats to ultra slow tom killings. Mizumachi is a renown sound designer for film and TV and is a master of electronics including synth, factory noise, metal bashing and other craziness. Beatrice is also a sound designer and mixer for film and TV and was the mixer for This Face as well as experimenting and adding additional sounds. Thornton is a crafty musician who actually makes his own instruments. He played guitar, bass, piano and some unnamed home-made "things." Additionally, Thornton supplied field recordings and arranged many of the songs. Dubin rounds out the group with his gut-wrenching vocals, noise and arrangements.

Screaming, singing, whispers and chants can be heard throughout This Face. Dubin`s lyrics will fuck with your mind!

MySpace

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Lethe Announces Tracklisting For Debut

Psychedelic stoner rock outfit Lethe (who features Dylan Desmond and Joe Noel of Samothrace) have just released the track listing for Mnemosyne, their upcoming debut full-length for Reptile Records. The album will have five songs, clocking in at somewhere around 45 minutes, and the songs will be in this order:

1. Mother Milk Eyes
2. Therefore Let Us Feed The Beast
3. New Queen`s
4. Open Harvest
5. Mnemosyne


The album was recorded at Black Lodge studio and Mixtape Soundlabs in Lawrence, Kansas by Eric Graves from The Esoteric, and is slated for a winter 2009 release by Reptile Records.


To get a taste of Mnemosyne, head over to Lethe`s MySpace page and check out the brand-new song they recently posted - "Therefore Let Us Feed the Beast."

Finisher to Record Debut

Finisher hit up Mad Oak this weekend to record its debut full length, to be release in early 2009 by Witch Trial Records. The three-piece from the Boston area plans on recording 22 songs for their debut.

In November, Finisher will be hitting the road with label-mates Lord Mantis. Here are the dates:


Nov 8: Doylsetown, PA - Muggs, with Shatterhook
Nov 9: Allston, MA - O`Brien`s Pub
Nov 10: New York City, NY - Lit Lounge, with Razortail and Praqtiss
Nov 11: Columbus, OH - Bernie`s
Nov 13: Chicago, IL - The Mutiny
Nov 14: Dayton, OH - Dayton Dirt Collective
Nov 15: Murfreesboro, TN - Wall Street, with Under the Earth


Finisher plans on extending the tour and heading south from there. Those tour dates will be posted later.

Spiritual Beggars Debut Reissued by Regain Records

TRENTON, N.J. – Regain Records is proud to reissue the debut album from Spiritual Beggars.

Originally released in 1994 by Wrong Again Records (the label that later became Regain Records) the self-titled album was the world’s introduction to former Carcass guitarist Mike Amott’s hard rock alter ego. Through the course of six albums, all released as as Amott’s schedule has permitted in between his work with current band Arch Enemy, Spiritual Beggars has shaken its image as a mere side project and established itself as a genre-defining band in its own rite.

Wrong Again`s second release ever, Spiritual Beggars, has been a tough find for quite some time, and now more recent converts to the band will have the opportunity to sample the band`s beginnings. Older fans will also be interested to find four bonus tracks on the reissue: "Blind Mountain," "If You Should Leave," "Nowhere To Go," and "Sour Stains."

"You know, I spent at least five years diligently looking all over the US and Europe for this album, and after many frustrating dead ends, I decided that it`s one tough motherfucker to track down. Then one day, it appeared on Ebay, and for a mere $71.00, it`s finally mine, all mine, all fucking mine [and no you can`t borrow it, touch it or even think about asking me to play it for you]! So, what`s so special about Spiritual Beggars`...debut? ...Spiritual Beggars is a fucking amazing `70s/psychedelic/stoner rock band and I had to know what their debut sounded like. ...Mike Amott plays all guitars for the band, so you know that no matter how many years ago it was made, there`s got to be some killer guitar shit on this disc."
- Deadtide.com


"...the bonus tracks give the other songs a run for their money, surprisingly. Not filler at all. Everyone sounds great on this album though, especially Ludwig, his drumming is noticeably jazzy and well-executed."
- Metal-Archives.com