Album Review: Howling Giant - "Black Hole Space Wizard: Part 2"

This!  This.  This is something special.  The attraction was immediate, unstoppable and obviously inspiring as it got me to write my first review of the year and this is September.  People, you need to hear this record.  Howling Giant, the Nashville, Tennessee three piece tickled my fancy with this album and made me write a review.  My fancy so likes their brand of tickle.

As the second release of an expected three EP set, Black Hole Space Wizard: Part 2 is an impressive endeavor.  The tones are perfect.  Roger Mark's bass has thicker fuzz than meat left on the counter upon your return from a cruise around the world, best displayed in the song Pioneer.  Tom Polzine's guitar ranges from the massive crunch of a drill rig burrowing to the earth's core in Circle of Druids all the way to a wind chime on a sun bleached porch during the beautiful The Forest Speaks.  The drumming of Zach Wheeler is outstanding throughout, a true joy to hear as he pushes and pulls the tempo with intrepid style and unrepentant dominance.  The addition of the organ/synth work by Drew Harakal is so tastefully done and understated but yet adds so very much to the overall sound of the record.   Polzine, Marks and Wheeler all contribute to the vocal harmonies which wrap up this gift from outer space with a message of ascension against all odds and evils encountered.

Black Hole Space Wizard: Part 2 is a journey you have to take, not because it is our job or what is expected from us, but because it is what is right.  The album is a heavy, progressive, quantum theory of groove that will take you through the wormhole with a smile on your face for the entire ride.

Absolutely one of my favorites this year and will, without question, be making my year end list.

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WM

Quick Trip: ORANGE SUNSHINE - "HOMO ERECTUS"

A stunning blend of great late 60s, early 70s style psych-rock with heavy stoner fuzz sensibilities has been captured on this nearly 2 decade old album by Orange Sunshine. Listening to it is sort of a double deja vu by going back to the band's early days of the new century where they brilliantly captured the sound of 4 decades prior, the decades of flower power, of tripping on mind altering pharmaceuticals and mind blowing heavy rock, the decades of musical captivation and discovery.

The music on this album has an almost magical immersive quality to it, whether you lock yourself into your mancave and test the limits of your speakers, lock yourself out from your surroundings with headphones, or utilize your car's bluetooth functionality on that long roadtrip, you will quickly find that even without the help of pharmaceuticals your mind is expanding in pleasurable and exciting ways. The spells cast on this album are rendered with mystical guitar work that colorfully penetrates to a pulsing primal core, led by vocals that use that great breakout quality of rock vocalists of the era and accompanied by a superior, groovy beat of drums, and rapturously cool bass bonanza.

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New Band to Burn One To: PUSSYCAT AND THE DIRTY JOHNSONS

Directly from the sandy beaches and hot sun of...London, England...comes a raunchy, bawdy, in your face trio of rockers who deliver a high energy brand of rockabilly retro skate surf punk fuzz. The wailing, confrontational, all out vocals of frontwoman Puss Johnson (She's going to have to marry a Hampton, I think) are reminiscent of Sleater-Kinney's incredible Corinne Tucker. The dual guitars of Johnson and lead riff-meister Dirty Jake are a colossal sonic concoction of blistering be-bop and monstrous, memorable melodies. Filfy Antz drives it all forward in breakneck crescendo and perilous climax. This trio isn't climbing into any typical box of the usual fuzz labels, but the retro punk vibe is loud, raucous, and diabolically fun.

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Quick Hit: THE ELECTRIC SHAKES - "ELECTROHYPNOSIS"

Europe gives us a TON of great underground rock bands that run the gamut of styles we lump into stoner/doom/psychedelic/desert/retro/blues rock (even the genre lump is sizeable), and the UK is no exception. The trio The Electric Shakes, out of Bournemouth, are another of an impressive group of UK fuzz monsters.

Most trios are set up as one member doing double duty as the vocalist in addition to playing an instrument, but one impressive aspect of The Electric Shakes, in addition to their awesome fucking moniker, is that each brandisher of a musical apparatus performs vocal duties as well. The more vocals the better, whether it's a sharing of song leads, furnishing backup service, or in harmony, and these guys sweep all obligations.

The music they make is infectious, rawking, and fun. It's heavy on the riff and quick on the tempo. The drums are virulent and catchy, engaging head and hips in a dance of infectious rhythm. Monstrous basswork bolsters the heaviness of tracks that otherwise rocket and zoom in gravity defying exhilaration. The guitar brings all the highlights expected of excellence and quality, with a colossal fuzz enclosure punctuated by searing, soaring solos. The songs themselves are melodic masterpieces of amalgamated rock standards with traits of punk, stoner, garage, blues, and 70s era rock. The Electric Shakes' approach to music is a brilliant combination of those great rock sounds of past and present without any direct reflection of one legend over another, which allows them to forge something exciting and new and wholly their own.

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New Band To Burn One To: COBRAJAB - "COBRAJAB"

Doom is the tenor of the day, with psychedelic bracing, stoner overtones, and profligate subterranean darkness, emanating from the capital of wholesome goodness, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Cobrajab, a foursome of visionary metalheads who, despite a 'just getting off the ground' presence online, have managed to produce and release an EP and an LP in the past two years, both of which are collections of magnificent riffage amalgamations. An unstoppable, steady force of deeply toned reverberation trudges unerringly, inexorably forward, opening pathways of psychedelic excursions of brilliance, as well as energetic bouts of stepped up fuzzery along the way, but never wavering from the melodic miasma of mighty metal machinations this band has so brilliantly conjured in their spells of doomweave. Their music is engaging, at times hypnotic, at others primal and spiritual, providing instant gratification while forging memorable long-term memory positions in the minds of DOOM aficionados.

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EP Track Stack: KING BOLETE - CANIBALES - GOATSCHLAGER - MAD CHICKEN

There are lots of quality EPs out there, both from known and established bands as well as from artists just trying to get something out there that might garner interest in what they've newly created. This is a classic case of intentionally avoiding the use of labels or identifiers and instead judging something based on its own merits. If an album has only two tracks, but those 2 tracks are pretty damn tasty, then I'm glad they've released it so I can enjoy. So, in the spirit of enjoying what's been made available, here are 4 EPs that provide only 10 tracks between them, but they're ten tracks worth your time because chances are there will be pleasure gained, satisfaction achieved, and perhaps a newfound interest in something of which you weren't aware yet was out there.

King Bolete hail from the Warrior Isles of England...and beyond that not much is known about this newly formed band. Their music is a straight up psychedelic stoner blues rock fuzzorama. What they've given us here is too short and extremely sweet. Hopefully more is to follow soon.

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Canibales is a three man band from Guadalajara, Mexico. They are veterans of stoner blues rock having formed back in 2005 and having released several albums in the interim. The music is primal and addictive. Luckily they have a sizable library on which to feed that addiction starting with the two ass-romping tracks on this new EP.

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Goatschlager, a four piece from Northern Ireland, have featured on Heavy Planet before as a New Band To Burn One To in 2016 with an initial 4 track EP, "Space Apache - Vol. I". Earlier this year they released another 4 track EP, "Dirt Mammal - Vol. II", and now this 2 track beauty "Welcome to Hog Valley" which they say was borne of the creative process for their impending "Vol. III". The music is heavy, hard, deep, and destructive, grinding out stoner vibes and subterranean riffs in memorable melody.

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Mad Chicken, are last but not least. This is a 4 track blitzkrieg of heavy metal from a 5 man Brazilian power troupe, expertly delivering an amalgam of every type of hard rock you may have listened to over the past 4 decades. Incomparable vocals lead the way for twin guitars of explosive fury and a rhythm section of shock and awe.

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Quick Hit: SIMPLE JACK - "BRAND NEW EYE"

Stoner Punk? That's the label I'd give Simple Jack's music, perhaps. As with all labels, though, it never tells the complete, or even correct story. Simple Jack's music isn't punk necessarily. It is brash and bold and unpredictable in its familiarity. Or maybe it's familiar in its unpredictability. The music is massive, with colossal guitars that riff and burn in grand stoner metal style on songs that carry incredibly clever melodies that are never sweet but always clean. Vocals are athletic and perfectly strained, adding a rapturous element to the whole. Subterranean rumble, like quarry explosions, emanate from the muscular bass riffage while the drums are immense, nimble, and deeply engaging of their own accord while still providing complementary assistance to each track

The cinematic image that comes to my mind is grainy black and white with a single Samurai slashing and dancing his way through a horde of challengers. The instrument is sharp and shiny and supremely deadly in the hands of its brash yet masterful wielder who eschews the traditional killing methods for his own lethal style.

Simple Jack are something new, something unique, something out of the standard mold yet still delivering the appropriate weighty sound as well as the important rush of primal triggers. They're raw yet precise, ragged but clever, and a whole lot of fun.

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Quick Hit: CORTEZ - "THE DEPTHS BELOW"

Veteran Boston rockers Cortez have advanced their long, high caliber legacy with a new, full length LP, their third album since inception back in 2006. This latest album by the quintet is a testament to their longevity as it provides some of the best tracks they've yet produced, music of the highest stoner metal caliber offered up over the past 11 years.

"The Depths Below" run a distinctive gamut of loud party fun, melodramatic psychedelics, hard, heavy, slabs of towering stoner metal resolve, and even a frolicking, hip-hop inspired romp of a hard rock bent. The melodies are intelligent and magical, providing sharp, indelible hooks, while the vocals are of a quality rarely experienced from within the hordes of underground rock bands. Riffs of twin guitars are piled high and loud, bringing steel wool fibered fuzz of rarefied magnificence. The rhythm sector is never overshadowed, displaying clear, unyielding stickwork of immense cleverness and ferocity as well as bass guitar of thick, gargantuan reverberations of primal explosion.

I had the privilege of reviewing Cortez on their eponymous sophomore release back in 2012, cutting my teeth on music easy to both enjoy and attest to. Five years later I get to do so again, an opportunity as satisfying as is their music to which I immensely enjoy.

While going over their discography I came across a single track they had released early in 2016, a cover of one of the premier rock bands of the 70s, Deep Purple. Cortez' rendition is a brilliant emission of a brilliant, but unheralded classic. I include it here for the sake of fun.



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Quick Hit: HEY SATAN - "HEY SATAN"

Trios kick ass much of the time. There's just no getting around it. The Lausanne, Switzerland trio Hey Satan kick ass from a number of angles on their debut eponymous release. To begin with this album RAWKS, and rocks hard. It's meant to be played loudly, and to be enjoyed completely. The music will absolutely flow through you like some dark, demonic doomspell. There are ten tracks on this inaugural LP and not one of them misses a cloven-hoofed step. Each is spellbinding with magical melodic imagination, a feat of epic proportions, and none of them are carbon copies of neither themselves nor of any stoner metal legends, providing ten dark, dewy songs on which to guzzle and savor. The stoner/doom influences are obvious as the gargantuan guitars reign supreme with riffs of deepness and distortion as well as searing, soaring solo runs, but obvious homages are rare as this trio's grand abilities forge their own armored merchandise of dark and hefty metal. Vocals provide a searing focal point with a superb rawness and range brilliantly matched to the music. Overall this is one hell of a debut, a memorable and savage romp that should solidify a place in end of year retrospections.


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Quick Hit: EARTH WITCH - "OUT OF THE SHALLOW"

Earth Witch have been producing and playing high energy, heavy metal doom rock since they first formed on Halloween night in 2012 playing Black Sabbath covers. An early EP, released on Halloween in 2013, was a brilliant admixture of psychedelic Black Sabbath doom. For their next offering to the dark fandom gods of haunting melodies and mammoth black-bottom riffs Earth Witch have stepped up their game, submitting a full-length LP of masterful musical acumen. The melodies are exciting and memorable, the riffs are an amalgam of searing psychedelic solos, subterranean rumbles of earth and stone, with characteristics of stoner/desert sounds sewn perfectly into the patchwork of deep doomness and ephemeral wisps of phantom Sabbath spirits. All of this comes to you in afterthought as you listen because the immediate response is joy, joy in experiencing music that masters every trait that we love about low-tuned massive, heavy metal. It's a forty minute escape, much more capable than any current virtual reality gimmick. It's an ode to past brilliance yet still a discovery of fresh raw power entirely attuned to primal urges of amplified sound.

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New Band to Burn One To: SPACE DEER

So far it has been a banner year for album releases with several albums either released or soon to be released from many of our favorite bands such as Sasquatch, Mothership, Elder, Steak, Geezer, The Midnight Ghost Train, and at least a dozen more. So, it's always such a sweet surprise when someone new can find their way up through the dark, teeming undergrowth of HUNDREDS of stoner/psych/desert...FUZZ... bands and THOUSANDS of fuzz albums to the sweet light of discovery. Space Deer, a provocative trio from Madrid, haven't yet found explosive recognition, but they should be on their way toward at least expanding their base because the sound they have managed to create is both recognizable and fresh, which is quite the trick in any corner of the musical world. Space Deer's sound is recognizable at once as a standard bearer of stoner fuzz rock, heavily ensconced in catchy melodies and memorable riffs. What makes them much more than a run of the mill knock off of amplified fuzz are their beautifully written and executed melodies, songs that instantly engage your rock n' roll soul all the way down to its primal core, engendering an instant spiritual euphoria of pleasure and escape. Sure the sound is familiar. That's what we love about it. But it's new, it's brilliant, its riffs are instantly exhilarating, its vocals immediately engaging and alluring, and its rhythm duo of bass and drums supply the dark heaviness of great metal sound.

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Quick Hit: EGYPT - "CRACKS and LINES"

North Dakota's premier stoner/doom rockers Egypt return with a darkly sizzling 5 track scorcher of an album that once again showcases their penchant for wielding massively heavy, wickedly sharp metal music in their inimitable stoner/psych/doom style, led by the singular vocals of Aaron Esterby, whose natural rawness far surpasses all the guttural affectations of heavy metal mimickers and followers. This band is genuine in their motivations and abilities just as their music is the real thing, tasteful and memorable, primal and heavy.

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LP Review: Shrooming Widow by Void Commander

As a great big fat choking smoke cloud descends upon you, filling your lungs with a dense clogging clawing, commanding every gap and hole it finds, becoming one with you, you manage to exhale within the last gasping inch of breath you've got left, right before the next fuzzed-up doom riff smothers you again. It's as glorious as it is suffocating, and Void Commander pummel you in droves with one dense heavy riff after the next. It's not a record for the faint-hearted.

Hailing from "the dark forests" of Sweden, the trio of Bobby K, Linus O, and Jimmy J have released their debut full-length record of heavy HEAVY stoner doom distorted psychedelic riffs in the mammoth Shrooming Widow, and it's fits perfectly between Sleep and Spaceslug on the drifting-alone-in-outer-space-high-as-fuck-being-pulled-apart-by-a-black-hole noise spectrum: so you can see why we love it.

With tracks like, well, every damn track here, but in particular '2061' reaching such earthly decimals to rupture your eardrums, and make you nauseas from the pounding drumming and doom-chainsaw guitar work, you find yourself constantly caught between banging your head 'til death and riding that magical carpet into the higher plains of your existential mind. When one mind mulching track ends, another starts up right where they left off, 'Acid Queen' continues the powerful dooming riffs setting the stoner tempo as high as they dare to go. The instrumental bass heavy 'Tongue Whip of the Alien Mothership' is the marker that separates the pretenders from the real lovers of all that is HEAVY as the record continues for another ten songs of the same smothering riffs in glorious succession.

'Days Will Pass and Years Will Die' is our standout track on Shrooming Widow, with Bobby K's haunting vocals tripping over the top of some of the sharpest riffs the band have to offer. The song encompasses everything the band are about, with their psychedelic tinged astral riffs, crushing doom-laden bass riffs and drumming, and droning, continuous drug-fuelled riffs (they have a lot of riffs) all within the same glorious 8-minute wonder.

Shrooming Widow is an excellent debut record from a band that we're certain to hear a lot more from for years to come, if our eardrums can honestly handle it.

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Quick Hit: RUFF MAJIK - "THE HARE AND THE HOLLOW"

Mega-Fuzz rockers Ruff Majik have quite quickly returned with a new release....of sorts. It's only been two months since they issued the brilliant "The Swan", but Ruff Majik have something quite new, yet quite familiar, up their fretboards with what is apparently the initial three tracks of an eventual full-length album that will span a wondrous tale of fantasy. Their plan is to release a fourth of the album in time with each of the changing seasons of the southern hemisphere from which they dwell. This is exciting news, both for its creativity and its anticipation. The three songs that have burst forth through the ragged fissures of this threesome's psyche are earth devouring melodies of titanic proportions, ragged in riff, raging in solo, and gargantuan in rhythmic explosions. More to come is only welcome news for fans of their obsidian assaults.

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Album Review: STEAK - "NO GOD TO SAVE"

STEAK have assiduously become a staple of underground fuzz, having previously released quintessential stoner/psychedelic hard rock albums in 2012, '13, and '15. Now, having signed with Ripple Music, they have released another full length album of ten thundering, riotous rock melodies that once again showcase the musical brilliance and deep-tuned craftsmanship of this Warrior Island battery of four preeminent metal artisans. "NO GOD TO SAVE" has allowed STEAK to bring to the fans of stoner rock, of fuzz-fueled, low-tuned loudness, a collection of songs that completely appease the most hooked addicts with hooks of amplified fervor.

STEAK are a brilliant group of metalheads, rendering songs that do much more than relay a particular sound quality. They certainly are adept at creating and playing extraordinary hard rock music that is rich in low tones and euphoric amplified distortion, music that combines clean, razor-sharp riffs with serrated edge keenness and a mammoth aural presence. But they are also adept at doing so over melodies of near genius, crafting songs that instantly excite while embedding snares of long term memory that will haunt its victims for years to come, songs such as "Overthrow", "Clones" "Living Like a Rat", and "Mountain".

"NO GOD TO SAVE" not only showcases their variety of fuzzy metal music, but does so in perfect harmony of their extraordinary vocalist, Kip, who is impeccably matched to their brand of heavy with his deep, mellifluous vocal tones that easily scale the highest peaks the music requires without ever resorting to any sort of rebel yell, guttural utterance, or falsetto flippancy, as well as complementing the band's six-string slinger Reece's samurai brilliance, or without ever overpowering the mighty drubbing of Cam's bass magnificence, or never overshadowing the wielder of wood, slayer of skin, drummer Sammy's stickwork.

When you look at the legacy STEAK have begun to build you can see this London clan possesses something as special as any metal band around, regardless of attempts at genre identification. They struggle like everyone else in the underground world of heavy rock, but have managed to advance their music, and hence, their careers, when doing so is never ordained. They now are part of Ripple Records, which in itself is a mark of accomplishment, and they have already given us an unerring library of amplified addiction. With "NO GOD TO SAVE" they have bestowed upon us one of 2017's preeminent heavy metal, hard rock, stoner rock albums, proving they are poised to become the legends their burgeoning legacy reveals them to be.

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Album Review: SASQUATCH - "MANEUVERS"

Alright! The fifth album from one of rock's unsung practitioners has been released. Any spin through any one of the, now five, albums put out by the Los Angeles retro/stoner rock trio Sasquatch will provide opioid level euphoria through a delivery system of dense metal and decibel distension, packaged in razor sharp hooks and monumental melodies. This is the case with the first song on the first album through to the last song on the latest album, the freshly available "MANEUVERS".

The musicians that recorded "MANEUVERS" include:

Keith Gibbs - guitar, vocals
Jason Casanova - bass
Craig Riggs - drums

Where's Rick Ferrante, the longtime drummer for the band, you ask? He's very much still a part of Sasquatch. How could he not be? He's been there from the inception, providing a quality of rhythm drumwork rarely matched this side of Ginger Baker. Craig Riggs, himself an accomplished drummer, as well as vocalist, for the stoner rock legends Roadsaw and supergroup Kind, has been tasked with the skin-thumping duties on #5 as Sasquatch launch their campaign through Europe in support of the new album. Many, if not most, of the gifted musicians that ply their wares in the underground world of stoner/fuzz rock, do so outside of their regular job work schedules, so making extended forays away from those jobs isn't always possible. Rick, though, has other venues lined up for his phenomenal skills, both as a full-time member of The Ultra Electric Mega Galactic and playing live venues with the up and coming underground superstars Aboleth (is that an oxymoron - underground superstar?)

"MANEUVERS" consist of 8 intensely amplified tracks of thick, syrupy mega-fuzz in which Keith Gibbs' wonderfully mellifluous vocals match perfectly his sledge hammer heavy riffs and ozone searing solos, where Jason Casanova's bass is forcefully wielded, relentless in muscular ferocity, and Craig Riggs' steady rhythms sting and pound in incessant brilliance. The overall tone is a soulful resonance, somber, edgy, and nostalgic, unyielding in its sheer power.

"Rational Woman" kicks off the show with gargantuan raggedness, beautifully laid down in primal tempo, showcasing Gibbs' rich, powerfully melancholy vocals. "More Than You'll Ever Be" is steady and relentless, advancing in magnetic forcefulness. "Destroyer" demonstrates the raw might of haunting tonality. "Bringing Me Down" is reminiscent of early Sasquatch songs in sentiment and style, a welcome memory for some, a fresh introduction into past glory for others. Funky and on fire, "Just Couldn't Stand the Weather" brandishes a unique melody and style, a departure that doesn't stray too far from the path marked 'Sasquatch', but is populated by some intriguing mutations, riff creatures at once familiar and uncanny. "Drown All the Evidence" is Americana, magnified, amplified, and wracked through with distortions of flagrant pleasure, punctuated by elegantly ragged, bruising solos. "Anyway" is a psychedelic charmer, a brightly colored panacea, recharging batteries in color and brilliance. The closer is the massive and melancholy "Window Pain". The blue pain and gray fog atmosphere of this song is punctuated by the rare use of keyboards, highlighting the feeling of loss and a damaged soul. Solos reminiscent of Ernie Isley rip through the gray morass in sharp, keen doses.

Overall this album delivers a massive load of essential feels. The music is nostalgic and new, familiar because it's crafted by masters of more than a decade of accomplishment, as well as fresh in a package of nascent material that expounds on a proven formula without a hint of staleness. It's a sound that hearkens back to the last decade when stoner rock was still new and Sasquatch were new kids on the block. The guitars come in every satisfying form, distorting the edges, and burning the center, tapping into those primal cords that run central to us all. Gibbs' vocals are solid, full of heft and strength, and forging soulful connections over and again. Fierceness and joy, the hallmarks of those who love the weapons they wield, are on perfect display through Casanova's masterful, subterranean riffs. And Riggs steps into what would normally be a massive void, shouldering expectations and delivering brilliance with his consummate rhythmic execution.

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Riff Hit: ATTALLA - "GLACIAL RULE"

In June of 2014 Attalla released their self-titled first album which quickly garnered acclaim from consumer and critic alike. It was the type of album that, by the time you'd taken in all it's ragged riff glory you began craving the next release. It's taken nearly three years for them to issue a sophomore production, time, one must presume, they took in creating and mastering the contents of the doomrunner-up. It was time well and perfectly spent as "Glacial Rule" fairly detonates in controlled eruption on each track, delivering dense fuzz in dark doom licks, a more controlled assault, more measured in pace, than on the first album, deeper, thicker, but still melodic and hookish. It's perhaps evidence of growth that this foursome didn't rest on the laurels garnered by their initial release, but instead put in the time and work to craft something more, something still of themselves but delving into the gloom, down uncharted tunnels of thick atmosphere and impenetrable doom.

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Album Review: CLAN - "CARNIVORES"

Clan are a stoner rock band from Norwich, UK that exemplify the sound of the genre as well as any band of this century or the last. The mix of sound and style they are able to seamlessly incorporate into their music makes for something exciting, something quite fresh and new within perfectly executed familiar sounds. The fuzz packed riffs on every song are thickly sweet and mesmerizing. The vocals from front-man and lead guitarist Matt Pearce are singular, powerful, compelling, exotic, and provocative. Yes, they are that good and that unique.

Clan consist of:

Matt Pearce - vocals/guitar
Matt Rabong - bass
Ben Giller - drums

There are 9 songs and an intro on this full length album, so the achievement is commendable in that each track is an intricate, hooky, and memorable display of the band's tapestry of skill and endeavor. The melodies are fun and addictive, whether letting the power of Giller's stickwork course through the inner pathways of your neural system, or allowing the immense horsepower of Rabong's deep bass rhythm overwhelm your sensory presence, or thrilling to the double onslaught of Pearce's vocals and masterful riff-bringer guitar.

Clan bring a lot of old school mentality to their brand of hard rock by focusing first on melody before overlaying their well-crafted ditties with powerful, familiar stoner fuzz, which makes for great excitement on the first spin through the nine tracks, and immense enjoyment on each subsequent spin.

"Carnivore" comes out of the gate with a scorching intensity on the first full song, "Burning Bodies", setting the stage beautifully for what's to follow. The title track is an immense mammoth of sound and splendor as is it's follow on, "Jackal". "Haunt Your Ghost" and "Wolves" pummel through with relentless power and heft. "True Believer" is perhaps the bellwether track, the one that ignites immediate interest and excitement, leaving an indelible bruise of sweet darkness. "Sleep in Salt" showcases the brilliance of the rhythm duo of Rabong and Giller throughout the slightly melancholy and memorable melody. "White Spider" rivals "True Believer" as a signature track, one that radiates with special sweet, ebon melody brimming with dark fire and subterranean power.  "Blood of the Father" closes out this darkly shining gem of an album with the most haunting, slow burn song of the bunch, a viscous and succulent morsel that leaves you yearning for more before you're even done listening.

It's been three years since Clan have released an album, but the wait has been well worth it with this wonderful, witty, and addictive collection of great melodies and powerful stoner metal music.


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New Band To Burn One To: MASTEROID - "HOLLOWED BEINGS"

MegaStonerRetroPunkFuzz has been quite brilliantly captured on this raw, garage rock of an album from a threesome of young and imaginative musicians out of Phoenix. It's a simple sound, yet for all the novice hallmarks of this album it manages to bestow an elegance in that simplicity as well as near genius in its melodic composition. The magnitude of the riffs is towering, brutal, and primordial while the dexterity displayed in the hooks and simple interludes is addicting. The drummers display a magnificent proficiency of timing, power, and heart. The bass is savage, ruthless, and unyielding in its driving rhythms.

These young musicians seem to be ramping up for a career in the low, dark arts of stoner/doom style music. Their inaugural oblations indicate more brilliance to come if they can manage enough notoriety. Here's to hoping that is indeed their fate, and ours.

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Quick Hit: Långfinger - "Crossyears"

Smallstone Records has been a 'go-to' place for great fuzzy music since their inception back in 1995. There is north of 80 rock bands in the annals of Smallstone, many of them pioneers of underground stoner rock, including Sasquatch, Dozer, Lo-Pan, Gozu, and Wo Fat, as well as many up and coming finds that have chosen the venerable label to ply their fuzzy wares, such as the focus of today's Quick Hit, Långfinger.

Gritty, imaginative, hard, and loaded with heavy, pulse-pounding riffs of an old school style, "Crossyears" is a rock solid and laudable Smallstone debut for this Swedish threesome out of Göteborg, who already had two 10" and two 7" productions in their canon before making their way to the notoriety of Detroit's Smallstone Records. Their music crackles with burning, searing, unfiltered energy, engulfing the listener in thick metal smoke of a euphoric atmosphere, carried brilliantly throughout by perfectly matched rawk vocals.

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