Rolling Stoner/Psych/Doom/Sludge/Retro/Drone/Space Thread 2012

Video not showing, hrm.
http://youtu.be/AVx0_FCiRj8

Wo Fat – The Black Code (Small Stone
http://fastnbulbous.com/wo-fat-the-black-code/

Small Stone have been releasing the albums on Bandcamp months in advance lately which is awesome, but I worry there isn't enough fanfare on the actual release date. A Wo Fat release should be an event!

Also tripping out on the Golden Void album on Thrill Jockey, out today. Only heard it once for the first time last night, so I need more time with it. Aquarius had this to rave:

We first heard Golden Void, via their debut single on local label Valley King, and were immediately blown away, so much so that we could pretty much only muster up a bunch of wild gushing to explain how much we loved it. It went like this:
"Golden Void's sound is SO kick ass and SO hits the spot, totally heavy, hooky, groovy stoner rock, big riffs, lots of organ, soaring vocals, and yeah, of course some seriously shredding leads, totally catchy, a modern take on some mix of all your teenage faves, Kiss, Thin Lizzy, Skynrd, just totally rocking, laced with plenty of psychedelic swirl, and a distinctly laid back classic rock vibe. Also reminds us a LOT of aQ stoner rock faces Freedom Hawk, the A side of this here single, might be THEE rocking jam of the summer. And we're thinking that when these guys come out with a full length, we might just have us a new favorite record..."
Well, we pretty much called it, cuz these guys DO have a new record, and it most absolutely IS our new favorite, in fact, we got a copy a while back, even though it only just came out, and it has to be one of THEE most played records in the store, by pretty much everyone here, and almost every time we played it, customers in the store had to find out what it was, and more often than not, ordered themselves a copy.
So yeah, Golden Void is the new band from Earthless' Isaiah Mitchell, along with Camilla Saufley-Mitchell (his wife?) from Assemble Head In Sunburst Sound, as well as few other locals, and they have come up with easily the best retro rock, heavy psych record of the year. In addition to the above mentioned outfits, we hear plenty of Captain Beyond, Ozzy era Sabbath, Blue Oyster Cult, even Witchcraft, the sound is heavy and hooky, the songs good enough to actually BE classic rock tunes, not just sounding like them, had this record come out in 1976, we'd be hearing this shit on classic rock radio non stop. Sun baked and blown out, more mellow than metallic, very California-esque in its vibe, a totally classic, vintage seventies sound, right down to the recording, and again, the songs. We can't tell you how many bands have the sound nailed but not the songs, but every track here is perfect, and impossibly catchy, the sort of songs you'll have stuck in your head forEVER.
"Art Of Invading" starts things off, organ driven proto metal psychedelic radness, wild drumming, the vocals bathed in reverb, the sound stone-y and heavy, super dynamic, and it is Mitchell's band after all, so plenty of super melodic, wildly shredding leads. "Virtue" cranks things up a notch, and weirdly reminds us of the sort of sound that aQ faves Malachai were conjuring up in the studio, super heavy, riffy, laid back vox, and hooks galore, and the drumming, holy shit, crazy busy, but perfect for the song, which leads directly into "Jetsun Dolma", the slow groover of the record, the psychedelic ballad, that has a bit of an Allman Brothers vibe, laced with woozy swirls of washed out organ, and killer wah guitar.
It's at this point that the record gets REALLY good. Even better than the first half. "Badlands" might be our most played song on the record, with its churning organ heavy groove, crazy catchy chorus, and killer proggy breakdown midsong. Then come the two tracks from the Valley King single, which along with "Badlands", are absolutely the perfect retro psych heavy rock one-two-three punch. "Shady Grove" is the band at their poppiest, and sort of Southern rockiest, such a goddamn great song, and the main melody, especially when Mitchell solos off of it, untouchable. And then there's "The Curve", which might be even poppier, but is also heavier, some of us hear Kiss like crazy, but a smarter, heavier, more psychedelic version of Kiss, more killer guitar harmonies, and probably the catchiest leads on the whole record. There's also the bluesy breakdown midsong, which is so seventies, Mitchell lacing it with all sorts of subtle guitar shreddery, and then the slow build back to the main riff, pretty much impossible to resist headbanging or air guitaring or BOTH.
Finally, the record finishes off with "Atlantis", which might be the most psychedelic of the bunch, with its slithery main melody, and washed out vocals, the whole thing hazy and tripped out, but still heavy and groovy, slipping from the dense drum heavy verses, to the soaring swoonsome chorus, the two separated by a super cool angular guitar break. The second half of the track adds extra guitar shred, and a bit of sonic heft, before the music drops out, leaving just the vocals to fade out in a druggy haze.
Holy shit. Even after maybe a hundred listens, we're still not tired of this. Anyone into any of the above mentioned outfits, as well as obviously Earthless, Assemble Head, Comets On Fire, etc. will definitely lose their shit over these guys, as will most folks into heavy, hooky retro rock heavy psych radness, which we're guessing is probably a whole lot of YOU.

Also new Eternal Tapestry out on the same label, which I mentioned on the "little sister" psych-drone thread, lol.

lol I'm pretty sure this thread is actually an unplanned child between psych-drone-freak and rolling metal

Troubled Horse – Step Inside (Rise Above/Metal Blade)
http://fastnbulbous.com/troubled-horse-step-inside/

Golden Void (Thrill Jockey)
http://fastnbulbous.com/golden-void/

Owl - First Album (Magick Hermit/Lummox)
http://fastnbulbous.com/this-weeks-album-rundown-121114/
http://owlbrotherhood.bandcamp.com/album/first-album

Groan - The Divine Right Of Kings (Soulseller)
http://fastnbulbous.com/this-weeks-album-rundown-121114/
http://groan.bandcamp.com/track/atomic-prophets

Listening to the new Cosmic Dead, The Exalted King, right now: http://thecosmicdead.bandcamp.com/album/the-exalted-king It's good, though a little less immediate than I'd like.

Any band called Troubled Horse is okay by me. Are they good?

Read my review.

And they're more than good, the album might make my top 5 *reaches out of monitor and slaps you with mitten*

cool, they do sound good. PS. please stop hitting me.

Be glad you weren't slapped with mutton.

new drcarlsonalbion Latitudes thing with femme vox is all kindsa rad. Kinks cover! Bert Jansch cover too but that's a little more expected I guess. Also, late to the party with this, and I'm sure it's been discussed upthread, but the second David Daniell / Douglas McCombs thing on Thrill Jockey is really sweet, too.

yeahhh, i love that daniels/mccombs record. don't know if it's been in this thread...

I need to hear that.

Given that end-of-year polls are coming up, a reminder that if any of you all haven't heard Colour Haze's She Said yet, you really need to.

I have! Don't know if it's going to make my year-end list, but it is good.

Fuck. I really want to hear the Golden Void and Eternal Tapestry records, but my record shipping woes continue. Email confirmation that they were shipped over two weeks ago, but nothing yet. Also, fwiw, I'm in the exact same city as the label.

Guess that has nothing on the four months I've been waiting for my fucking Krallice album. Over $50 I've flushed down the drain on ordering records that have never shown up this year.

does your neighbor like music too?

or your mailman

That would be a good thought, but this is to two different addresses now. After the first issue with the package not getting to my house, I switched to having things sent to my office instead. Apparently not helping.

the last time i moved it took me several months to realize i had been giving out my new zip code incorrectly.

jvc, not to overly concern/enrage you, but my recent order to thrill jockey took just a few days to arrive. i assume you've called and talked to a human about it?

Not to rub your nose in it, but both albums were available used at Reckless the weekend before the release date. They of course stock the new copies too -- you could just ask for a refund and buy 'em there today...

are you guys trying to push jvc into a hostage-taking situation or something

I'd like to encourage everyone here to participate in the Stoner HiVe poll! Since the demise of Stonerrock.com, Stoner HiVe has done a great job in picking up the slack in polling for this kind of music, going from 18 ballots in 2009 to 37 in 3010, and 48 in 2011. Would love to see some ILMers add to those numbers. They'll take votes for 5, 50, 100, whatever you care to vote for - stonerh✧✧✧@hotm✧✧✧.c✧✧. It's not clear what the deadline is, but they'll start rolling out on December 12, so get them in by next week to be safe.

http://stonerhive.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-ultimate-stoner-hive-top-20-albums.html

Last year's results:

Stoner HiVe Top 20 Of 2011

1. Elder – Dead Roots Rising
2. Graveyard – Hisingen Blues
3. Lo-Pan – Salvador
4. Skraeckoedlan – Äppelträdet
5. Red Fang – Murder The Mountains
6. Mars Red Sky – Mars Red Sky
7. The Atomic Bitchwax – The Local Fuzz
8. Yob – Atma
9. Heavy Eyes – Heavy Eyes
10. Karma to Burn – V
11. Freedom Hawk – Holding On
12. Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats – Blood Lust
13. 1000Mods – Super Van Vacation
14. Lonely Kamel – Dust Devil
15. Mastodon – The Hunter
16. Monkey3 – Beyond The Black Sky
17. Been Obscene – Night O Mine
18. Radio Moscow – The Great Escape of Leslie Magnafuzz
19. Elvis Deluxe – Favourite State of Mind
20. DeWolff – Orchards / Lupine

More - http://stonerhive.blogspot.com/2012/01/onwards-and-upwards-in-2012.html

what's up with this eternal tapestry song that sounds exactly like "summer breeze"?

I mentioned that in my capsule review. They don't seem to credit the Isley Brothers. Maybe they were so high they thought they'd written it?

fastnbulbous, your site is rife with ripe tendrils.

http://honeymiiktea.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/2661738246_cd16a15e4f.jpg

http://store.bevarsea.com/album/bevar-sea
Really great stoner/doom from Bangalore.

http://mamont.bandcamp.com/
Stoner fuzz rock from Nyköping, Sweden

Oh man, the new Sula Bassana record, Dark Days, is a corker. More guitar heavy than 2009's The Night (which I love to pieces), it is supremely groovy space rock. You can hear the title track here:

http://soundcloud.com/sulabassana

― EZ Snappin, Tuesday, October 30, 2012 10:41 AM (4 weeks ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this is tight

Golden Void covers “1983 (A Merman I Shall Turn To Be)” in honor of Jimi Hendrix‘s 70th birthday. “I heard the song for the first time when I was in my teens and I remember I staring off into a lit fireplace listening to the song melt into ‘The Moon Turns the Tides Gently Away’. Changed my life forever.” - Isaiah Mitchell

http://soundcloud.com/thrilljockey/golden-void-1983-jimi-hendrix

re: "summer breeze" on that eternal tapestry record -- http://www.foxydigitalis.com/foxyd/?p=40659

OK, immediately the first thing that stood out for me was the riff in ‘Apocalypse Troll’. I couldn’t put my finger on it for ages, and then I caved in and asked. It’s ‘Summer Breeze‘ by Seals and Crofts and you’ve rocked the hell out of it.
NB: There’s a touch of history to the co-opted use of a 70′s jam riff. Eight, nine years ago I played in a skronky, no wave group called Hustler White, and I would inevitably end our sets by riffing out on either [Iron Butterfly's] ‘Inna Gadda Da Vida’, [Cream's] ‘Sunshine of Your Love’ or the break down riff from Fleetwood Mac’s ‘The Chain’. Not usually a pretty sight, but we were, ya know, all about a good time. I’ve always loved the riff from ‘Summer Breeze’, so I thought “let’s rock it the fuck out, right?” And so ‘Apocalypse Troll’ was born! You don’t think they’ll sue us now that I’ve admitted that do you? They’re pretty chilled out Baha’i dudes if I’m not mistaken…

ok I am listening to Third by Flavor Crystals, and it is fantastic

bandcamp page: http://flavorcrystals.bandcamp.com/album/three

that's Three--Third is the name of the boss record Aqua Nebula Oscillator released this year

So anyone send votes to StonerHive? They said they'd even take lists of 5.

It's a bit early for me but what the heck, here's a hondo for 'em:

1. Colour Haze – She Said (Elektrohasch)
2. Ufomammut – Oro: Opus Primum / Opus Alter (Neurot)
3. Graveyard – Lights Out (Nuclear Blast)
4. Witchcraft – Legend (Nuclear Blast)
5. Troubled Horse – Step Inside (Rise Above/Metal Blade)
6. Golden Void – Golden Void (Thrill Jockey)
7. Royal Thunder – CVI (Relapse)
8. Spiders – Flash Point (Crusher)
9. Christian Mistress – Possession (Relapse)
10. Goat – World Music (Rocket)
11. Motorpsycho & Ståle Storløkken – The Death Defying Unicorn (Rune Grammofon)
12. Horisont – Second Assault (Rise Above)
13. At Devil Dirt – Chapter II (Vulgo gratissimus auctor) (At Devil Dirt)
14. Wo Fat – The Black Code (Small Stone)
15. Captain Crimson – Dancing Madly Backwards (Transubstans)
16. Jess and the Ancient Ones – Jess and the Ancient Ones (Svart)
17. Castle – Blacklands (Ván/Prosthetic)
18. Witch Mountain – Cauldron Of The Wild (Profound Lore)
19. Owl – First Album (Magick Hermit/Lummox)
20. Greenleaf – Nest Of Vipers (Small Stone)
21. Wight – Through The Woods Into Deep Water (Bilocation/Fat & Holy)
22. The Machine – Calmer Than You Are (Elektrohasch)
23. Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell – Don't Hear It? Fear It! (Rise Above/Metal Blade)
24. Corsair – Corsair (Corsair)
25. Orcus Chylde – Orcus Chylde (World In Sound)
26. Elder – Spires Burn EP (Armageddon)
27. Om – Advaitic Songs (Drag City)
28. Bevar Sea – Bevar Sea (Bevar Sea)
29. Alunah – White Hoarhound (PsycheDOOMelic)
30. Black Moth – The Killing Jar (New Heavy Sounds)
31. Kadavar – Kadavar (Tee Pee)
32. Heat – Old Sparky (Electric Magic)
33. Fellwoods – Gyromancer EP (At War With Noise)
34. Redgrave – National Act EP (Lovitt)
35. Blues Pills – Bliss EP (Crusher)
36. Ice Dragon – Dream Dragon (Yersinia Pestis)
37. Mamont – Passing Through The Mastery Door (Ozium)
38. Trippy Wicked & the Cosmic Children of the Knight – Going Home (Trippy Wicked)
39. Deepspacepilots – Deepspacepilots (Deepspacepilots)
40. Ice Dragon – Tome Of The Future Ancients (Yersinia Pestis)
41. Ivy Garden Of The Desert – Blood Is Love (Nasoni)
42. Snail – Terminus (Snail)
43. Baby Woodrose – Third Eye Surgery (Bad Afro)
44. Conan – Monnos (Burning World)
45. Ancestors – In Dreams And Time (Tee Pee)
46. Groan – The Divine Right Of Kings (Soulseller)
47. Bison Bison – Bison Bison (Bison Bison)
48. Seremonia – Seremonia (Svart)
49. Gypsyhawk – Revelry & Resilence (Metal Blade)
50. Larman Clamor – Frogs (Small Stone)
51. Cortez – Cortez (Cortez)
52. Black Pyramid – II (MeteorCity)
53. Pallbearer – Sorrow And Extinction (Profound Lore)
54. Windhand – Windhand (Forcefield)
55. The Midnight Ghost Train – Buffalo (Karate Body)
56. Mares Of Thrace – The Pilgrimage (Sonic Unyon)
57. The Graviators – Evil Deeds (Napalm)
58. Undersmile – Narwhal (Future Noise)
59. Crippled Black Phoenix – (Mankind) The Crafty Ape (Cool Green)
60. My Sleeping Karma – Soma (Napalm)
61. Vinum Sabbatum – Bacchanale Premier (Eyes Like Snow/Northern Silence)
62. Pale Divine – Painted Windows Black (Shadow Kingdom)
63. Amenra – Mass V (Neurot)
64. The Cosmic Dead – The Exalted King (Cosmic Dead)
65. Black Magician – Nature Is The Devil's Church (Shaman/Burning World)
66. Naam – The Ballad of the Starchild EP (Tee Pee)
67. Larmoan Clamor – Frogs (Small Stone)
68. Saint Vitus – Lillie: F-65 (Candlelight)
69. Widowmaker – Dragged Into Sunlight (Prosthetic)
70. Glowsun – Eternal Season (Napalm)
71. Blood of the Sun – Burning on the Wings of Desire (Brainticket)
72. Ice Dragon – Greyblackfalconhawk (Ice Dragon)
73. Stubb – Stubb (Superhot)
74. Serpentine Path – Serpentine Path (Relapse)
75. Aluk Todolo – Occult Rock (Ajna Offensive)
76. Necronomicon – The Queen Of Death (Hydro-Phonic)
77. Norska – Norska (Brutal Panda)
78. Bedemon – Symphony Of Shadows (Svart)
79. Orange Goblin – A Eulogy For The Damned (Candlelight)
80. Black Lizard – Crawl To The Rock (Fat & Holy)
81. Pins Of Light – II (Alternative Tentacles)
82. Bloody Hammers – Bloody Hammers (Soulseller)
83. Mothership – Mothership (Mothership)
84. Paradise Lost – Tragic Idol (Century Media)
85. Mos Generator – Nomads (Ripple)
86. Nightstalker – Dead Rock Commandos (Small Stone)
87. Sons Of Otis – Seismic (Small Stone)
88. Hour Of 13 – 333 (Earache)
89. D – Maen (D)
90. Down – Down IV Part I - The Purple EP (Down Records)
91. Moon Curse – Moon Curse (Moon Curse)
92. Svolk – Nights Around The Round Table (Napalm)
93. SardoniS – II (Meteor City)
94. Lord Fowl – Moon Queen (Small Stone)
95. Ides Of Gemini – Constantinople (Neurot)
96. DSW – Dust Storm Warning (Acid Cosmonaut)
97. Moonless – Calling All Demons (Doomentia)
98. Candlemass – Psalms For The Dead (Napalm)
99. Witchsorrow – God Curse Us (Rise Above)
100. Earthen Grave – Earthen Grave (Earthen Grave)

no Moon Duo?

but seriously there's a ton of great records there, but not reading the site I'm not completely sure what makes the cut and what doesn't

so goat's "world music" is what's up, yes?

I suppose, I kind of agree with EZ on it though--it's not great psych and it's not great Afrobeat, it isn't even great Clinic soundalike. Album is good but nowhere near Amazing! or anything. Prob on par with new Moon Duo or Beak> (lol maybe not the greatest signifiers for overrated above-averageness)

Goat has run up and down my list half the year, haunted my dreams and nightmares. Sometimes I'm annoyed that it tops peoples lists while they ignore other great heavy stuff with better songs, other times I'm so entranced by the few perfect tracks on the album that I gotta give it respect. Generally I tried to focus on the heavy stoner vibe, which is what readers on that site vote for, so I left off the likes of Moon Duo, who also have elements of electro pop, kosmische and indie. I could not get into the Beak> as much as I thought I would.

Feel free to vote for whatever you like though! The official latest deadline for that poll is December 11th so there's still time!

There's also some stuff I think of as more traditional metal that I left off but will most likely get plenty of votes and I'm guessing won't need my help, like:

Venomous Maximus – Beg Upon The Light (Cutthroat)
Dawnbringer – Into The Lair Of The Sun God (Profound Lore)
The Sword – Apocryphon (Razor & Tie)
High On Fire – De Vermis Mysteriis (eOne)

On second thought, Venomous Maximus deserve a push, so they'd be at #20.

So I still haven't gotten my Thrill Jockey package yet and god knows if I ever will. Anyone know if Golden Void and Eternal Tapestry are on Spotify (at work, can't connect to it now)? Otherwise I have to figure out somewhere to illegally download them so I can hear them before I do my year-end list. Fucked if I'm going to pay for them again.

Email me J, I'll hook you up.

Done, thanks.

totes gonna check out the majority of that list, Fasty... Sent my ballot to StonerHive, but it was only a top 10. I can say that the new Witchcraft featured high on it.

Feel like this is a good place to talk about Ice Dragon, seeing as how Fastnbulbous (huge thanks, by the way!) has them on his list. So far they've released five albums, three in 2012 I believe, for pay what you want on Bandcamp. Mostly doom, but tons of other influences here - stoner rock, heavy psych, etc. Lots of material, but a surprisingly high hit rate. Excited to see where they go next.

They're pretty solid. I think Dream Dragon is my favorite of their three 2012 releases.

Yeah, I'm leaning towards that as my favorite too. I do wish there was some more low-end at times though, especially on "Maximum Trip", which sounds like a lost Fu Manchu demo or something.

Although, lol, the chorus of "Stumble Onto Magic" REALLY sounds like Kings of Leon to me.

Yeah, it took me a while to get used to their lo-fi thing, but they won me over. Be sure to check out Fellwoods too, who they released a split single with as you'll see on their Bandcamp page.

xp Keep those votes rolling in! The more ILX voters the more interesting the results I'm sure! Another one of my favorite blogs, The Obelisk, is taking submissions too, with a handy form for your top 10 list (which goes to 12 if you like) - http://theobelisk.net/obelisk/2012/12/03/top-20-of-2012-readers-poll/

I ended up loving last year's Ice Dragon album The Sorrowful Sun. Dream Dragon and greyblackfalconhawk I haven't heard yet but they're high on my stuff to check out still...

I need to get through a whole stack of things before I'm ready to put together any sort of list. Fellwoods is good too, I like how all over the place they are when it comes to album art and logo design. Their upcoming 2013 release switches up to like a Vektor inspired space logo.