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

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.

You got info on the Fellwoods album, or just the art that's on their FB page?

Looks like its streaming on their Bandcamp page now. 2013 album out on Svart called Gyromancer. Looks to be an EP, actually.

1. The Dark Horn 06:53
2. Interdimensional Grid 04:11
3. Gyromancer 03:58
4. Destroyer 05:03

http://fellwoods.bandcamp.com/

Ah, the current EP, I didn't realize they updated with a 2013 release date with Svart. I was excited that they have another full-length coming, but guess not.

Oh, sorry to get your hopes up. I missed seeing news on it earlier, so I thought it was brand new.

It's been available on Bandcamp since summer, so it's #33 on my list. Guess I should take it off now that the release date will be next year.

quick Ice Dragon liveblogging:

Dream Dragon: just got done listening to this. Didn't quite like this as much as Sorrowful Sun but it hits enough of my SF Sorrow/Think Pink buttons that I will be returning to this. Definitely a B+ (for now)

greyblackfalconhawk: in one sense, this seems way less immediate than Dream Dragon, but in another sense it seems kind of standard doom. I can't shake the feeling that I and my sleep-starved mind are giving this less than its fair shake, but I walk away from this nodding approvingly about the creative breadth of this band and little else. exception: "ifnotforthispatheticheart", which kind of reminds me of some of the more mellow stuff on last year's Obake album.

actually now that I've brought up Obake as a comparison point I'm actually starting to dig gbfh a bit more

Still got a pile of about twenty releases I want to hear before starting my lists, so I'm playing catch-up. Loving the shit out of that Wight album.

that Wight is a fun one. The record that has it's hooks in me at the moment is the new Eagle Claw, Timing Of The Void. They opened for YOB last spring and I was impressed, but the album I bought from them at the show was a bit of a dud. This new one captures their live sound pretty damn well. Instrumental stoner doom jams with riffs a plenty.

Not sure if it's a housecleaning of old recordings or a warm-up for their upcoming Nuclear Blast full-length debut, but Orchid's Heretic EP is great doomy fun.

Blackwolfgoat - Dronolith from last year is DESTROYING my brain right now, guys. Unbelievably successful hybridization of everything in the thread title.

off to bandcamp! If it sucks I want my free download back.

Ha ha, I didn't even realize it was on Bandcamp for free/name your price! I got it as a promo download. Anyway, it's here: http://blackwolfgoat.com/

I want my free download back. Or at least the time I've spent listening to this record. I wish I was hearing what you were J3ff.

Unless the last ten minutes of the final track blow my mind. I guess that's possible.

I don't know what's not to like! Man, you are hard to please.

At about the 7 minute mark the title track gets nearly great.

I just found it incredibly boring. I'm way more the psych end than the drone end, and this was way too hookless for me.

Are you sure you aren't listening to Wolfgoatblack?

nope. Went to their website, downloaded it, queued it up and waited for a hook; until halfway through the title track I was bored.

I don't know man, you know me. I love big hooks, and normally I'm not into drone, but the repetition of these particular riffs really grabbed me.

The deadline for the Stoner HiVe top 20 albums poll is upon us. You have until end of day tomorrow to send in your top 5, 10, 20 or 63 to stonerhive at hotmail dot com. The countdown starts on December 12th!

The rollout begins!

http://stonerhive.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-ultimate-stoner-hive-top-20-albums_12.html

So far #20 and 19 revealed. I nearly went insane trying to catch all the best stuff in this genre, and I still missed #20 ;)

That Major Kong record is fun. Didn't consider it one of the best of the year, but a solid piece of work.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8kN8hnn6Ikg/UMhkZ_IopyI/AAAAAAAAD-o/rgJrmh82x6E/s320/Number20-Black_Sun.jpg

“I saw when he opened the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake. The sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became as blood.” Revelations 6:12

This instrumental trio pays homage to the godfathers of the ‘scene’ and immediately also show which direction they are heading. Massively ponderous and meant for charcoal and withered landscapes; not some hot and steamy desert. Apart from that they also honor the coming apocalypse. Not only with their album title; but also with their thunder heavy drums and dark and dangerous riffs. They move and weave and dance on the very edge of the world with their enigmatic and doomed blues. So stand in attention and salute the Major…

Major Kong – Doom for The Black Sun

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mwdEUbIhJp4/UMnEmp8-6PI/AAAAAAAAEAQ/gjoOnvvO6wU/s320/Number19-Tornado.jpg

"Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword." Matthew 10:34

On their fourth studio album these four freaks make their stoner metal grow a set of wings and take off like a malicious bird of prey. Propelled ever faster and with more precision their songs bulge of impressive vocals and lyrical hooks that take aim and destroy before you can blink with your left eye. And as the beast takes flight again its looks to see the earth scorched by awesome riffs, wicked variations and excellent solos. And thanks to the drum powered groove the entire structure of the album rumbles and grumbles and shakes and torments the very soul of the earth. And hidden within it all is the desire to shatter the anvil and take up The Sword to conquer the world…

The Sword – Apocryphon

The Major Kong is probably just outside my Year End list (which isn't just Metal stuff). Been following them for a while hoping for a non-download release & it didn't disappoint, although yeah 'solid' is a better description than 'Top 20'.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5GNByOFNQDQ/UMsHvfpAJ0I/AAAAAAAAEB0/fQbLe-H9dUs/s320/Number18-WaveStatuejpg.jpg

“They cast their silver into the streets, and their gold is like an unclean thing. Their silver and gold are not able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord.” Ezekiel 7:19

These three guys turned in a bit of a puzzle for our inadequate but heartfelt List; a tiny head scratcher so to speak. But since some of you only voted for one of them or even separately and rating one higher than the other one. I ran with that suggestion. And for the ones that voted for them together; those points got divided evenly. Aha; so now you already know which Italians occupy Number 18 with their spacey, groovy and top heavy doom that is both atavistic and visceral. Meant to be listened to in one entire session the guys delivered two albums this year. This one is meticulously built; like an intricate clockwork of riffs, rhythms and rumbling drums without ever destroying their very own complex mechanisms. So, one of them we find on 18; but which one is it and has the other one made the list also?!

Ufomammut - Oro: Opus Alter

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-M88ayZSpNhQ/UMydavGry5I/AAAAAAAAEDY/c5UxyBKApdU/s320/Number17-EndOfTheWorld.jpg

“Whenever there is decay of righteousness… and there is exaltation of unrighteousness, then I, Myself come forth… for the destruction of evil-doers for the sake of firmly establishing righteousness. I am born from age to age.” Bhagavad Gita, fourth discourse

These guys turned out to be one of the best bands on Speedfest this year. Something I had not expected given the nature of the festival and the concrete industrial halls, which could be too big for such a band and distort their sound. And given the hour of the day and the long lines outside there were unfortunately only a handful of devotees to witness their tight spaced out show. It was their last evening of the tour with Monster Magnet and it was clear for the ones that were there that the guys had learned a lot. The played their set amazingly firm and strong and visited their 2012-released fourth album. Like true nectar of gods their sounds weave and float through your mind and expand it in true psychedelic fashion. So drink up and let the hardy taste transport you to another world…

My Sleeping Karma – Soma

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FIEzaTnhe98/UM4XWoUsikI/AAAAAAAAEFI/sA0dPkpSxfs/s320/Number16-RedDust.jpg

“And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.” Revelation 6:4

And during this doomed final year of mankind the love for the old guard has once again been ever present. For we all know and love the resurgence of the ‘retro’ styled old school rock these past few years. And there were a great deal of releases in that good stuff corner and for some weird reason most of the good records seem to come from Scandinavia or even Sweden. The guys we find on Number 16 produced an intensely groovy, blues-based seventies rock record. Nostalgic in the good sense of the word and hard rocking all over all of the obvious heroes and inspirations of that era. But I do reckon this album making the list a bit of a surprise since the album does dwindle in conviction fairly quick. Still; it has some tasty jams on it and I guess all those people voting for them deservedly pushed them on to that Number 16 spot. Let’s get ready for a third attack!

Horisont - Second Assault

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mZVRMUGsxT0/UM7-zSObDfI/AAAAAAAAEGs/cReQf5JPchk/s320/Number15-DustStorm.jpg

“For dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return...” Genesis 3:19

So here it is. The other part of the psychedelic doom metal adventure into tonal space. And as we listen to the sounds building and cascading and erupting and imploding we hear the Italians making every single tone count and hear them execute with extreme precision a highly intense journey where every sonic touch seems to be a stroke of genius. They balance beautifully on a chessboard of dynamics and never seem to want to go for the easy way out. Without any hesitation they sacrifice their queen and knights; and make the simple pawn their chief attacker in the audio assault. There is no doubt that this years Opus is a definite checkmate; and it does not seem to matter at all that the albums were released months apart and that one has gotten more votes than the other…

Ufomammut – Oro: Opus Primum

Looks like Burning World records is putting up some of its Roadburn live albums for name your price on Bandcamp – Bongripper and Church of Misery right now.

http://burningworldrecords.bandcamp.com/album/live-at-roadburn-2012

http://burningworldrecords.bandcamp.com/album/live-at-roadburn-2009-2