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.

bandcamp <{}> facebook <{}> instagram <{}> big cartel

Band Submission: Grim Comet-Grim Metal From Madrid, Spain

Band Name: Grim Comet
Genre: Grim Metal
Location: Madrid, Spain
Brief Bio/Description: Formed in 2014, Grim Comet is a power trio that combines influences from stoner, rock and doom metal.

In November 2014 they released their first album Pray for the Victims through Art Gates Records, which started to give them a name in the Spanish metal scene. Their first work received astounding reviews for both their live performance and studio effort.

In these two years, the band has played more than 30 shows throughout Spain to introduce their first album, opening for the Swedish band Casablanca in 12 of those dates.

Additionally, they have released different videos to promote their songs “Ghost”, “Echoes”, “Virgins of Madness” and “Worn Out.”

And now, their new record God is Dead, Let´s Eat Him will see the light on May 30th 2016.
Band Members:
Willy Black: Guitar/Vocals
Alvarito Arias: Bass
Jorge Mánver: Drums
Links: Facebook | Bandcamp

LP Review - Multiverse by Electric Valley

The sound of lo-fi stoner fuzz rock flows through Spaniards Electric Valley, with one ear firmly placed in the Kyuss inspired base, with the other finding its own voice in today’s market, their debut full-length record is drenched in nostalgia as much as it is leading the way forward in the stoner scene.

The vocals of Miky Simón carry the same muffled strain of a younger John Garcia, perfectly encapsulating the fuzzy muffled tones of the guitars and mid-paced jams, adding touches of adrenaline where necessary. The record opens with ‘Lizard Queen’, showcasing the band’s excellent ear for song writing, mixed in amongst the sounds heard throughout the record of hushed guitar riffs, buried under sand dunes of fuzz and bass-led guitar changes, but it’s a lo-fi sound which lets the vocals really cry out at times, before descending into psychedelic tinged instrumental jams, common place throughout Multiverse.

The Madrid band’s sound is exemplified on the track ‘UFO’s Rain’ as a grunge tipped vocals lead the band into their biggest chorus on offer as the guitars and vocals become their angriest, and therefore at their greatest range. By the time album closer ‘Minutemen’s Ballad’ has caressed and sent you down a stoner head-tripping swirl of muffled distortion, you begin to understand what Electric Valley are all about, a band who don’t copy the past, but one who wear their influences proudly on their sleeves, using the sound of the desert to portray the anger in their own lives. If it was a record released 20 years ago it would be lauded over, so no reason why it shouldn’t get the same praise today. 

Facebook|Bandcamp

Sunday Sludge: MotherSloth

Stripping away expectation and ignoring trends appear to be parallel endeavors. Depending on subjects and themes, turning off can be either second nature or an exercise in futility. And perhaps I shouldn't cluster heavy instrumental acts into a "trend," that's not fair. What's really going on is that I lately find myself drawn far more to instrumental acts than ever before, which is nowhere more evident than right here every Sunday morning. So rest your weekend ennui on my shoulders, will ya?

If there's an antidote to the tedium and a break from the mold, you'll find it on MotherSloth's five-track sophomore effort, Moribund Star. Following up their 2012 debut with this (mostly) instrumental shape-shifted colossus demonstrates the band's thickened mettle via stoner-sludge tread balanced by soft, subtle doom-rolls. Looks like these four Madrid heshers are done fuckin' around.

Buoyant plucks introduce Hazy Blur of Life, a twelve-minute layered fuzz bath that, as it expands, takes in as much as it gives off. Elements emerge as the track braces for a cosmic death, haunting with gorgeous blur through smooth whispers. Growing to a stomp and hitting incredible depths without alert or apology, the awesome cathartic buzz is an easy Sunday start. Holy Wall, however, follows with jagged guitars and deliberate, jarring slugs. The gentle lead has become a stern yank away from our creature comforts. Pacing shifts, passages are entirely unpredictable, and the subtropic tip-toe is barbed with poisoned arrows and a barrage of cascading flames. As a doom grind descends, we learn peace was never really in reach.

Ominously hovering with long, drawn-out doom, Death Flower is pensive and damn-near vision-inducing. And there's the mask of what's really going on. A hidden, molten landscape unveils and spreads as accomplished guitar licks tickle our feet. Again, there's a betrayal of expectation as calm breaks for mammoth stomps growing in both size and frequency. The brief, intermissionary Blackened Dawn is simple, but bold in its unclad style, offering placid breaths before the closer, Dry Tears. Easing in on tender guitar, there's really a circling of targets. Ghastly tapestries drip with sticky riffs, splitting open and gradually shuffling toward an imminent end. Just as an embrace of cold death seems to blaze all hope, a vocal breathes re-birth into a dying star. Swelling with plod and swirling with stoner-sludge, these sounds hang their heads but boldly face forward.

Rather than shudder and bark back, MotherSloth stare down fate with self-assured structure and weave a nebulous, therapeutic trail of tears. Moods shift with tempos, and expectations (fuck, there's that word again) drown before they even see daylight. Moribund Star hits all the stops without ever detouring, pinching together contemporary progress with a reverence for all that's classic in heavy music. There's no fucking trend. But this is an album I can blame for my amped loyalty to prophetic instrumental peril and the journey on which it takes us.

For fans of: Karma to Burn, Horn of the Rhino, Colour Haze
Pair with: #9 Not Quite Pale Ale, Magic Hat Brewing Company

Facebook | Bandcamp | Twitter | ReverbNation