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

There's a Desertfest in London too, Apr 6-8, but missing my faves Colour Haze, Ufomammut and Motorpsycho. Wish the Berlin lineup could do one in the U.S.! Hell, even All Tomorrow's Parties in London May 25-27 is featuring SLAYER (performing Reign in Blood), FLOOR, MELVINS, MUDHONEY, SLEEP, SLEEPY SUN and YOB. No such lineups at the various ATPs in the U.S., of course. Argh.

Interview with Truckfighters, with good news on progress on their new album. I also learned that Pezo is doing double duty with fellow Örebro band Witchcraft. Glad to hear Witchcraft still exist, lol. http://theobelisk.net/obelisk/2012/03/08/truckfightersinterview-2/

I was watching the Truckfighters Fuzzomentary last night and saw in the bonus features that the director Joerg Steineck is working on a new documentary on the Californian desert rock scene, Lo Sound Desert. Like his last movie, it's completion depends on financial support from fans. http://losounddesert.joerg-steineck.com/donate/donate.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9InkRj0kY40&feature=youtu.be

oh yeah and there's this development:

http://open.soundrop.fm/s/Vw6FRBau3Qe1JQ0X

A Doom Metal room in Soundrop! Weee!

New album of the week - Horisont - Second Assault. Swedish band signed to Lee Dorian's Rise Above label for their excellent second album, with roots in early proto-metal era Judas Priest, Scorpions and Wishbone Ash. In stock at All That Is Heavy. Also out is another Swedish band, Ett Rop På Hjälp - Hur Svårt Kan Det Vara? (Transubstans), which I haven't heard yet. http://www.riseaboverecords.com/products/view/378

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHYdflHxoWI&feature=youtu.be

The Bad Light - Marrow Of Sound - Doomy swamp blues from Santa Cruz, nice stuff.
http://thebadlight.bandcamp.com/album/marrow-of-sound

Conan - Monnos (Burning World) Apr 2
http://soundcloud.com/i-like-press/sets/conan-monoss

My subwoofer is shaking my cube this morning with this album. Doesn't come out 'til Apr 2 but you can stream it above. UK Stoner/Doom/Sludge. If you like Electric Wizard and Sleep (who they're touring with), check 'em out!

Reviews: http://www.doommantia.com/2012/03/conan-monnos.html
"Conan...have always been great but this album is the absolute peak of perfection. I can say it right now, this album is my early pick for the album of 2012. Recorded at Foel Studios by Chris Fielding who has worked with Electric Wizard, Moss and Serpent Venom to name just a few has made a masterpiece out of this 6 track, almost 40 minute onslaught of monster-like doom and sludge-metal."

http://www.thesleepingshaman.com/reviews/album-reviews/c/conan-monnos-cd-lp-dd-2012/
"Monnos is amazingly accomplished, singular in its apocalyptic vision and densely layered. And by dense I don’t just mean the dropped-F tuning that the guys reportedly use. Not only are the songs heavy (and I’m talking heavy), they’re also strangely otherworldly. When Jon Davis’ lets out his signature siren-call it sounds like a message that has filtered through time, telling us of some long-forgotten massacre from the Dark Ages and the music acts as a grim backdrop to it all. As pompous as that sounds, these aren’t your everyday doom songs – this is a timeless doom record and it’s heavier than just about anything you’ve ever heard."

That Horisont song sounds like Witchcraft, which is fine by me. Don't hear Priest or Scorpions myself, but it's a good sound.

I loved the last Horisont album and will definitely check this one out.

Maybe Rocka Rolla and Fly The Rainbow era perhaps. I'm re-listening to their first album, Två Sidor Av Horisonten, which kicks off with a nice Thin Lizzy guitar lead on "Nightrider."

Many of you have probably heard that Southern Lord is reissuing a deluxe version of Sleep's Dopesmoker.

For the 2012 reissue, there are some very notable changes. The original studio tapes have been remastered presenting the album as the band had originally intended. The audio is clearer, louder, and at last brings a true representation of SLEEP's hour-plus Weedian chronicle. Exclusive to this Southern Lord edition is brand new artwork by long time SLEEP artist Arik Roper, to be unveiled in the coming weeks. Additionally, this reborn version of Dopesmoker boasts an unreleased live recording of one of the band's best all-time performances: "Holy Mountain" from San Francisco's I-Beam in 1994.

It's unclear to me, however, if they're comparing it to the Tee Pee version or the Jerusalem version.

I don't need another version of Dopesmoker. The cult of Sleep is one of the most inexplicable aspects of modern metal culture to me. Right up there with the cult of Om. The best thing Matt Pike ever did was leave Sleep and form High On Fire.

The Machine - Calmer Than You Are (Elektrohasch) Mar 24.
Dutch psych cosmonauts get a bit heavier on their fourth album. Their last one was Drie (2010).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIvHw0zWp8Y&feature=youtu.be

Anyone at SXSW? This Small Stone showcase tomorrow looks like a can't-miss event. I have not yet gotten to see Gozu or Wo Fat. Should be a smokin' show!

http://f0.bcbits.com/z/58/49/584914168-1.jpg

Small Stone Records SXSW 2012
Friday, March 16, 2012

Head Hunters
720 Red River Street
(512) 236-9820

7:00PM - Dwellers
8:00PM - Backwoods Payback
9:00PM - Gozu
10:00PM - Lo-Pan
11:00PM - Wo Fat
12:00AM - Dixie Witch
1:00AM - Tia Carrera

Sample the lineup: http://smallstone.bandcamp.com/album/sxsw-2012-showcase-line-up

http://www.wizardsmoke.net/tsos.png
http://www.wizardsmoke.net/

Wizard Smoke is Atlanta's premiere stoner metal band, or at the very least the favorite among people that go to all the garage rock/punk shows in town, or buy w33d from band members. They're pretty great, the first time I saw them was at an outdoor show on May 21, 2011, the day Jesus was supposed to come back. As they played I saw a glowing light rise up from behind them in the distance, hover in the sky, and then dart off. It was a UFO, and I turned to one of my friends and she looked at me like "I know! WTF?"

ok 'Wizard Smoke' has to be the most imagination-free name for a band like this ever

great cover though.

That Wizard Smoke album was posted about in last year's thread. It's aite; I'm probably due to give it another listen soon...

To Whom It May Concern:

I recently discovered the manuscript while rambling in the woods with my dog. It was a few weeks shy of the vernal equinox, and the fine ends of the trees had just begun to show green. My hound had left me alone on the trail to go nose about the scrub—and possibly ferret out something living to eat—when suddenly I heard him calling. I found him pawing furiously at the ground in front of a weird tree with a huge trunk and massive branches sprouting low. Its bark was hard as granite and almost blue in color. My dog ceased his digging and looked at me, seemingly imploring me to dig further. I loosened the soil with my knife and continued the excavation until I struck something hard: it was a bound volume bearing the engraving “Tome of the Future Ancients by Ice Dragon." Inside, the leaves were filled with inscrutable symbols, ritualistic diagrams, and illustrations of strange flora and fauna. Even the must that invaded my nose as I turned the pages was alien.

What had I found?

Once home, I began to research and quickly discovered that there was a musical entity named Ice Dragon who worked in a basement not far from where the book had been. I contacted them to see if they had hidden it as some sort of promotional stunt. When I mentioned the engraving on the front, there was a pregnant pause on their end of the line. They assured me they had no knowledge of the book. However, what they revealed next gave me pause:

They had just completed their third album, and it was titled Tome of the Future Ancients. It was to be released on the day of the equinox. Sure enough, this turned out to be true.

By now, I was almost certain they were simply in the business of creating hype. There was no doubt they were responsible for the creation and burying of the book. Or so I was convinced, until carbon dating proved ineffective, and my academic peers who specialize in cryptography responded to my inquiries with blank looks.

Then, quite simply, the book vanished. One day it was in my study, and the next it was gone. Perhaps one of my colleagues grew jealous of my discovery and stole it; perhaps the woman who cleans my house disposed of it in fear upon opening it. Truthfully? I’m almost relieved it is gone for I hadn’t experienced a restful night since bringing it into my home. My dreams were black, and my dog would bay at the threshold of the room that held the damned book.

For now, the only Tome of the Future Ancients by Ice Dragon available for study is this one. May it always be so.

—Professor Cepheus Hallow

http://icedragon.bandcamp.com/album/tome-of-the-future-ancients

why did none of you tell me about
http://truecultheavymetal.com/media/blogs/shop/Doom_Special_Cover_Final_lores.jpg
http://truecultheavymetal.com/index.php/2012/03/01/out-now-terrorizer-s-secret-history-of-doom?blog=13

Terrorizer has delved deep into the dark vaults of doom and traversed across its rich history to unearth the truth and tales told by some of the heaviest of riff wielders! From metal's very own nativity story, the birth of Black Sabbath, which changed rock music forever and created a genre deemed too evil for the young and impressionable, to the heroes of stoner doom, funeral doom, drone and sludge. We revisit classic interviews with the likes of Sunn O))) and Electric Wizard, and look back in time with Paradise Lost and Matt Pike (Sleep, High On Fire). Plus no special would be complete without our very own Top 50 essential doom albums and cover mount CD. Doom or be doomed!

You can buy it HERE

Inside we dissect:

THE BIRTH OF DOOM
BRITISH DOOM
THE A-Z OF DOOM
AMERICAN DOOM
DRONE
FUNERAL DOOM
EPIC DOOM

PLUS....

HAIL HORROR!
Electric Wizard's Jus Oborn reveals the horror films that inspired and shaped the music of one of England's most influential doom bands.

ESSENTIAL ALBUMS
From Black Sabbath's debut to Yob's 2011 opus, we trace doom's progression from 1970 to the present day

DARK ART
Where would doom be without some of the most inspired artwork in the world of heavy metal?

THEMES OF DOOM
From Christianity to heroin, doom has drawn on the depressing and the macabre since its humble beginnings... we delve into the mire

STONER/ SLUDGE
The drug use got messy and the riffs got distorted but the outcome was tremendous

BEYOND DOOM!
How can a 40-year-old genre survive in 2012? Terrorizer gazes through our crystal ball and predicts its future...

Iron Men
BLACK SABBATH
Tony Iommi joins in the celebrations and remembers how the four horseman of the apocalypse (or four blokes from Birmingham) created a genre that changed the world forever

CATHEDRAL
Lee Dorrian - Cathedral frontman and Rise Above Records founder remembers a time when no one cared

PENTAGRAM
From singing cover songs to Vietnam War Vets to fronting one of America's most legendary doom bands Bobby Leibling tells us his amazing story

ORAL HISTORIES
Wino, Trouble's Eric Wagner, John Perez, Victor Griffin and more look back on their doomed lives

SUNN 0))))
He played in Thorr's Hammer, Goatsnake, Sunn 0))) and he founded Southern Lord Records. Greg Anderson tells us about it all

LORD VICAR
The revered, true doom legend Peter Vicar recalls the Bizarre times

PARADISE LOST
King of Northern bleakness Gregor Mackintosh talks punk rock, touring and side-projects

CANDLEMASS
Leif Edling, the founding bassist of Sweden behemoths Candlemass tells us how he's still humble despite his band's legendary status

ELECTRIC WIZARD
Blonde bombshell guitarist Liz Buckingham is the Queen of Riffs - we raise a toast to celebrate Doom's First Lady

+ much much more.

BUY

I mentioned that in last year's metal thread. Simon Reynolds of all people mentioned it in his blog, and I searched in vain for it. I didn't know it wasn't to come out for another several months.

Buey - Universe Bellowing
http://buey.bandcamp.com/

Stoner rockers from Valencia, Spain. Blurb on Bandcamp page awkwardly translates to this, heh:

OX THE MUGIDO OF THE UNIVERSE A new wide-awake king in the mud. He still beats, insensible to his power: One… dwells heavy, dense, iron creature and brutal, forged in fat and ancestral resentment, joke and it watches to us fixedly, with the gathered frown: Cornuda his testuz announces the Devastation: King Buey has been born.

it came out march 1st apparently. I went down to smiths thismorning to get it + the new issue out today + the wire.

its the same # of pages as the normal terrorizer but £1.49 more expensive. It's £5.99.

They're pretty great, the first time I saw them was at an outdoor show on May 21, 2011, the day Jesus was supposed to come back.

was this Estoria Fest? I was there! love Wizard Smoke. I want to get roxy's band to come down and play a show with them.

Yes! That sounds awesome.

Lord Mantis - Pervertor (Candlelight)
http://candlelightrecordsusa.bandcamp.com/album/pervertor

Second album of blackened Chicago sludge. Produced by Sanford Parker (Nachtmystium, Pelican, Indian), they share members with some of those bands.

Some of you guys might be interested in the new 4-track demo from Finnish psych/kraut purveyors Hiso Detria. The title of the demo, Static Raw Power Kraut pretty much tells you where they're at. I'm really liking it, particularly the 15-minute cover of Canned Heat's "On the Road Again". Not a whole lot of information on these guys yet, other than a lot of obviously fake bio stuff that claims that Andreas Baader plays bass for them and that they've been a band since 1970 but have never released an album.

Download it for free at the Hisko Detria bandcamp.

HisKo Detria in that first sentence, obviously

think i posted in the other rolling psych thread but the new gunn/truscinski album is KILLER. http://threelobed.com/tlr/tlr087.html

i kind of feel like i'm going to get all lex with Hisko Detria and hype them up as much as possible

also they have a song called "Poserslave"

you had me at "15-minute cover of Canned Heat's "On the Road Again"". listening now, sounds groovy!

That Hisko Detria record is a blast.

This (Hisko Detria) is irresistible so far.

yeahhh. not nuts about the vocals, but there aren't many of those.

i was going to say, the vocals are probably the weakest link but they're pretty easy to ignore.

yeah, totally. don't think they're awful, a bit charming in a kraut-y (finn-y?) kinda way, but i don't *need* them there. otherwise, awesome!

lyrics on "hisko detria" are pretty lol!

i think they worked best during the little spoken narration bit of "Hisko Detria". really anxious to see where these guys go next, pretty impressive for a demo.

(xpost - ha!)

sucks to admit you found out about a band from pitchfork but hey CONAN

only saw mention of "horseback battle hammer" in the metal poll nominations thread, what do you all think?

i mentioned Conan a couple weeks ago in the rolling metal thread, but yeah, even if its pitchfork i'm glad to see them gaining traction, the new album is really good

Album of the week, obviously: Ufomammut - Oro: Opus Primum! I've been slavering and anticipating this one for nearly a year. Not a big departure from the sound of their last album Eve (2010), especially to those who don't regularly bathe in the epic doom/sludge/psych of this Italian band, but definitely a step forward. In my excitement I initially gave it a 10, but it does seem a part of a greater whole. It's a uniquely tricky situation where you don't get to hear the second half until months later. For now, I'll just enjoy. I pre-ordered on Amazon thinking I'd get it quicker that way, but not the case. Can stream here: http://www.roadburn.com/2012/04/ufommamut-to-stream-oro-opus-primum-in-its-entirety-exclusively-at-roadburn-2-new-video-teasers-availabel-as-well/
Review - http://www.doommantia.com/2012/03/ufomammut-oro-opus-primum.html

Baby Woodrose - Third Eye Surgery
Also new this week, Danish psych rocker. http://theobelisk.net/obelisk/2012/04/18/babywoodrosereview-2/

Other recent albums I'm feelin:
Horisont - Second Assault (Rise Above)
Greenleaf - Nest Of Vipers (Small Stone)
Ancestors - In Dreams And Time (Tee Pee)
The Machine - Calmer Than You Are (Elektrohasch)

this new thing from David Daniell and Douglas McCombs is sounding awesome.
http://www.thrilljockey.com/thrill/David-Daniell-and-Douglas-McCombs/Versions

Arenna - Beats of Olarizu (Nasoni, 2011)
http://arenna.bandcamp.com/album/beats-of-olarizu-2011

This Spanish stoner-psych band continues to grow on me. I'd been eyeing their CD at AllThatIsHeavy, but the $28 tag was too much. Fortunately they're finally offering not only the full download for just €4, but they added the three bonus tracks that come with the vinyl.

Snail - Terminus (Snail) May 1
Exciting new release this week. This album popped up on the All That Is Heavy site just as I was finishing putting in an order. Once I heard it, I knew it's a must-own. Snail recorded their debut way back in 1993, recorded at same studio that Sleep did Holy Mountain. I grabbed it off their Bandcamp page for $5. It's kind of cool, but can understand why it slipped under the radar, as it had maybe a bit too much grunge influence. After an EP they disbanded, and reunited in 2008 and released Blood in 09. That's where their sound really started coming together. Many of those songs were once left over from the 90s era that they completed, so Terminus is truly the best representation of the band's full capabilities. Available temporarily as name yr price. They're allotted 200 free downloads, but if you just chip in at least a dollar, it'll make that last longer. This is a great album, currently in my top 15, and well worth at least $10. Review - http://theobelisk.net/obelisk/2012/05/04/snailreview-2/
http://snailhq.bandcamp.com/album/terminus

Moonless - Calling All Demons (Doomentia) May 8 - Excellent stoner/sludge from Copenhagen, Denmark.
http://doomentiarecords.bandcamp.com/album/calling-all-demons

Born To Hula - Tales Of Love (Born To Hula) - Obviously QOTSA influenced, I think from Greece.
http://borntohula.bandcamp.com/

Zodiac N Black - The Aftermyth (Zodiac N Black) - London stoner/desert rock, but very polished. Still wrapping my head around the sound to decide how much I like 'em. Doomantia - http://www.doommantia.com/2012/05/zodiac-n-black-aftermyth.html
http://zodiacnblack.bandcamp.com/album/the-aftermyth

Psyconauts - Planet X (Psyconauts) - Italian space rock.
http://psyconauts-stoner.bandcamp.com/

Stoned Jesus - Seven Thunders Roar (Moon) - Ukranian stoner/psych. Cover art has uncanny similarity to Ancestors' Of Sound Mind. A tribute?
http://stonedjesus.bandcamp.com/releases

Big couple weeks of releases coming:

May 22
Royal Thunder - CVI (Relapse)
Jess and the Ancient Ones (Svart)
Superchrist - Holy Shit (Hella Headbangers)

May 25-29
Dawnbringer - Into The Lair Of The Sun God (Profound Lore)
Undersmile - Narwhal (Future Noise)
Witchsorrow - God Curse Us (Rise Above)
Grand Magus - The Hunt (Nuclear Blast)
Ides Of Gemini - Constantinople (Neurot)
Sabaton - Carolus Rex (Nuclear Blast)

I swear dude; the only reason I check out these bands is because of the awesome names!

OMG I need that Snail album

Sabaton: most definitely not stoner/psych/doom/sludge/retro/drone/space.

True, that rascally Sabaton just slipped into the brood like a Cuckoo bird.

Any of you fans of The Devil's Blood and Blood Ceremony heard the Jess and the Ancient Ones? I'd think this would be an ILM favorite, given how high the aforementioned bands placed in the metal poll. Perhaps because it's a debut from Finland, and not a lot of coverage yet. You can get the CD/vinyl with free shipping for $15 or under from Svart, and tack on Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats if you don't already have that - http://www.svartrecords.com/shoppe/1018-jess-and-the-ancient-ones-cd.html

Orcus Chylde (World Of Sound) Jun 15
I'm listening to this right now on the Soggy Bog cast - http://thesoggybogofdoom.podomatic.com/entry/2012-05-01T20_53_52-07_00. I don't normally listen to podcasts, but this is a great one, with Mastodon covering Feist (!), new Candlemass and Ahab, Terra Firma, Burning Saviours, Abramis Brama, etc. New six piece band from Germany, this review mentions Graveyard and Witchcraft, but a bit more dreamy with organ bits.

Kadavar (Tee Pee) Jul 10
Just as good but more raucous and garagey is Kadavar from Berlin. The vinyl is already available on import from This Charming Man, and comes out in the U.S. on Tee Pee. I love the sound of the drums on this. The label drops names like Sabbath, Hawkwind and Witchfinder General. "You can’t reinvent the wheel, but you can roll it!"

Trippy Wicked & the Cosmic Children of the Knight - Going Home - St Albans band formed in 2006, and play bluesy stoner rock with a touch of sludge/doom, along the lines of Wo Fat. 2009 album Movin On is worth hearing too, both free!
http://trippywicked.bandcamp.com/album/going-home

Sun Preachers - Faces Of Ashes - French stoner/psych. Really kicks on on "Nail King". Was free, now a whopping $.50.
http://sunpreachers.bandcamp.com/album/faces-of-ashes

Blues Pills - Bliss EP (Crusher)
While I die of anticipation for the Spiders album, here is another great rockin' female lead band from the same Swedish label. ATIH blurb: "After departing from Radio Moscow in September 2011, drummer Cory Berry and bass player Zack Anderson joined up with Swedish lead singer Elin Larsson and Swedish drummer Jonas Askerlund. Heavy, driving bass lines, colossal drums (via Jonas Moses Askerlund, drummer of Swedish band Dead Man), and Berry’s ferocious, riff based, soul-penetrating guitar work are a sublime compliment to the vocalist. Tied together by the soulful Elin Larson (sometimes singing in her mother-tongue), her stage presence gives one the impression of being seduced by some Valkyrie’s love song — or maybe her battle cry." On vinyl 10-inch or MP3s on Amazon.

That first Trippy Wicked album is great, I think I nominated and voted for it in that year's metal poll.