TROLL ~ LEGEND MASTER ....review

It could be argued that "doom" began life when four working class guys from Birmingham, then called Earth but now known as Black Sabbath, discovered that by slowing down their heavy grooves they actually sounded heavier and more menacing. This newer slower heaviness took off and was soon embraced by bands from right across the globe with bands, like Candlemass, Solitude Aeturnus, Pentagram and Pagan Altar, picking up the mantle Sabbath had forged and putting their own spin on it, in turn inspiring others to do the same. Doom has gone through many changes since Tony Iommi's slow vibrato kicked started the movement and doom these days comes in a variety of flavours ranging from harsh and brutal through to low, slow and funereal but even today, and despite all its sub-genres and offshoots, that original doom sound still holds sway and can still send shivers rippling down the spine.
Portland Oregon's Troll, Rainbo (vocals), Wayne Boucher (bass), Ryan Koger (drums) and Lou VanLanning (guitar), understand this and that knowledge and history has inspired them to create "Legend Master", a true doom masterpiece!

"Legend Master" is no ordinary doomic tome, here we have five intelligent and well constructed songs put together with a lot of thought and a high level of musical skill. "Legend Master" is a concept album. the second instalment of a trilogy, that tells its tales of dragon ships, eternal battlefields and spiral eyed goddesses swathed in an atmospheric blend of progressive rock and doom, traditional, proto and stoner, the band seamlessly weaving these styles/genres together to create a sound that is as beautiful as it is bleak. The words "sinister" and "menacing" tend to get a used quite a bit whenever we talk about anything doom related but those words become redundant when applied to "Legend Master" as like all the best fantasy/sci-fi novels there is an air of sorrowfulness and regret to be found amidst the albums lyrical content, a feeling that the main protagonist's sword rattling and shield brandishing is executed with a sense of regret rather than any sense of malice. Musically "Legend Master" is equally on point with Koger and Boucher laying down thick. solid layers of intricate and complex groove for VanLanning to hang his thunderous power chords and swooping solo's on while Rainbo spreads the icing on the cake with a voice that is as emotive as it is powerful, his weary melancholic tones sitting perfectly with the mournful nature of the albums lyrics and the sombre heavy music they are surrounded by.

"Legend Master" is that doom album you always wanted to hear but never expected to be made, an album that is intelligent as it is groovesome, an album that marries the old with the new without the need to go into extreme territories, an album you have to hear.
Check it out ….

© 2019 Frazer Jones

DOOMICIDAL ~ SHADOW OF THE GALLOWS ...... review

From the apple flavoured mists of a Somerset dusk emerge three men dressed in a variety of dark attire, three elders of the doomic altar with tales to tell, tales that will cause eyes to widen and spines to shiver, tales they tell while sipping rough cider from earthen jugs beneath the looming shade of the gallows their lifeless bodies will soon be dangling from.
Well not exactly but it seemed a poetic way of describing the doomic themes and lysergic imagery of West Country trio Doomicidal's debut album "Shadow of the Gallows", a seven song opus that has its roots set firmly in traditional doom but its branches spreading out into the full gamut of doomic sub-genres and rock styles.

Doomicidal, Roger Densham (bass), Migo Gage (guitar/vocals) and Barney Clements (drums), are not exactly what you would call spring chickens but neither could they be considered elder statesmen either. There are high levels of vibrancy and vitality to be found within the grooves of "Shadow of the Gallows" that many of the scenes younger guns could only wish to aspire to but there is also a fearlessness that comes with age and experience. Doomicidal do not need to set their stall out to capture a specific demographic, these guys are long enough in the tooth to know that trends tend to come and go so instead spread their net wide enough to capture elements not only from the full doomic spectrum but also from music genres further afield. Hawkwind-ish space rock, 70's proto bluster, heavy folk metal and blackened doom are all explored and are all delivered with equal expertise, driven hard by Clements solid, tight percussion and Densham's earth shaking bass and enhanced by Gage's crunching riffs and swirling solo's. Over these grooves of various doomic shades are delivered vocal tones that range from clipped and gothic ("Hangman"), manic and sinister ("Rats In The Wall") to blackened and harsh ("Autumn") with a guest vocal, from fellow West Country pal Cookie Turvey, giving an almost theatrical vibe to "Bride of Baphomet", the differing and diverse array of vocal stylings bringing a whole different dynamic to each individual song and in turn giving the whole album an added dimension of interest.

Despite the dark gothic lyrical imagery, that permeates every pore of "Shadow of the Gallows", there is an Englishness to Doomicidal's sound that gives their new album a slightly eccentric and left of centre feel and it is this off centeredness that is its greatest asset and makes "Shadow of the Gallows" such an enjoyable and rewarding listen.
Check it out ….

© 2019 Frazer Jones

PRAISE THE SUN ~ IN: THERMOGLOBAL ENDPOINT ..... review

Norway is probably best known, in musical terms, as the spiritual home of black/death metal but there are plenty of other reasons to check out Norway's thriving underground rock and one of those reasons is the subject of this review.
Praise The Sun are a band who like to retain an air of mystery, the Norwegian doomsters keep a very low profile regarding their identities, no band pictures on their social media, no line up information on their Bandcamp pages, nothing. What we can tell you however is that the band jam grooves of  a dark stoner doomic nature and have released two EP's, "Overseeing the Mountain Void" and "E-Scriptures from the Summit", prior to releasing this their first full length album "IN: Thermoglobal Endpoint".

In keeping with their veiled profile Praise The Sun's music is equally veiled and mysterious, the band telling tales of old gods and cold dark places in monosyllabic vocal tones over low slung down tuned refrains that have an almost ritualistic aspect to them. Vocals throughout "IN: Thermoglobal Endpoint" are not so much sang as intoned and add a sinister and almost monastic edge to the proceeding giving the listener an overriding impression that what they are listening to is not the latest album from a Norwegian doom band but some sort of satanic rite set to a soundtrack of brutal metal. There is not much light to be found on "IN: Thermoglobal Endpoint" but with songs with titles like "Everything, crystallized", "Voidwalker Reborn" and "Fractured" there was never any likelihood there would be, this is an album that wallows in its own shade, a celebration of old ways and Pagan deity's, an album that targets the darker ancient beliefs that still dwell deep in our subconscious and reminds us that before we had God we had GODS!

This is not an album likely to be put on to get a party started neither is it an album for the casual listener, "IN: Thermoglobal Endpoint" is an album that requires your full attention, from start to finish, so as to better appreciate its mesmeric nuances, its hypnotic subtleties and its dark spirituality.
Check it out ….

© 2019 Frazer Jones

KOOK ~ II ..... review

Kook, Troy Aschenbrenner (vocals), Eric Wilkins (drums), Jeff Wilson (bass) and Karl Larson (guitar), came into being from a variety of different directions the four members having played in numerous bands and projects. In Kook the quartet bring all those experiences and knowledge acquired elsewhere together in one place to create a groove unlike anything you may have heard before, a groove that is forever shifting and changing in both direction and dynamic. It is a sound that they first explored on their excellent debut "Kook" and is honed to perfection on this their second album "II".

So what is your musical poison of choice? Are you doomster looking for darkness and dankness, are you a stoner/hard rock aficionado looking for crunch and swagger or are you a lover of the lysergic wanting to get off on swirling lead breaks and flights into the musical cosmos? Well if you answered yes to any or all of those questions then "II" is all your Christmases and birthdays' come together, if you cannot find something here that does not float your particular musical boat then my friend your boat has sprung a leak and should not have been on the water in the first place. "II" is a smorgasbord of styles, grooves and genres seamlessly weaved together in a tapestry of sound that not only incorporates all those elements mentioned but also manages to nod its hairy head towards heavy blues, indie flavoured goth-rock and good ol' fashioned heavy metal. Kook do not recognise musical borders and routinely criss-cross through and over genres and styles, a band who are as likely to tug at your emotions with a bluesy torch song ("Left Behind") as they are to have you creating your own solitary mosh-pit with the raucousness of their riffs ("Chased By Monsters") while at the same time unafraid to take a risk and set off into dissonant lysergic tinted waters ("Frequency 8").

"II", we are told, is based around a concept of "the fight for survival...of the individual and the species...in an insane galaxy filled with monsters", well if this album is the soundtrack we walk into battle hearing then ….we might just have a chance.
Check it out ….

© 2019 Frazer Jones

EnFire ~ JUNIPER LANDING ..... review

New Zealand's underground rock scene may not be the biggest but that does not mean we should ignore it in favour of music from more prolific countries. NZ bands such as Beastwars, Mothra and Arc of Ascent have been turning out consistently excellent underground rock for some time now and have garnered interest not only from the rock press of their home country but also from further afield. Today Desert Psychlist are pointing our calloused fingers in the direction of a trio from Christchurch going by the name EnFire, a stoner doom outfit consisting of Nik "The Woods" Ward (drums), Dave Van Eerden (bass) and Cameron Taylor (guitars/vocals) who have recently released their debut album "Juniper Landing"

We did describe EnFire as "stoner doom" in this reviews opening piece but to be honest that is not strictly true, yes there is plenty of stonerized doom to be found on "Juniper Landing" but there are also elements drawn from the full spectrum of the underground rock scale, we are talking everything from swampy sludge to spacey garage psych here. Crunching downtuned guitar riffage, grizzled low slung bass and a bombardment of percussion are EnFire's tools of trade and they wield them with unerring levels of skill and aptitude, the band utilising a blend of clean and harsh vocal tones to add the finishing touches to their dark, dank musical constructs. From opening track "Dark Dungeon", with its droning fed back intro and dark throbbing proto -doomic groove, through to the excellent cover of Haunted's "Silvercomb" that closes the album (featuring Moonflower's Nicole Schaap on vocals and Josh Fairless on guitar) EnFire never miss a chance to dazzle, delight and entertain their listeners with their relentlessness and drive the band only dropping below incendiary for the excellent trippy and Planet Caravan-esque "Goodbye, You Great Fool", the song a moment of calm in an otherwise gloriously chaotic onslaught.

Unruly and anarchic would be a good way to describe the grooves EnFire bring to the feast with "Juniper Landing", there is an underlying sense of turmoil and disarray prevalent throughout the albums eleven tracks that sees the band walking a precarious razor edge width between discord and harmony, an edge that, to their credit, they manage to negotiate with consummate ease.

Check it out ….

© 2019 Frazer Jones

HEAVY TRAFFIC ~ GARAGE: BAD DREAM ADVENTURE ..... review

Back in 2016 Brooklyn's Heavy Traffic released "Plastic Surgery" an album that was hailed in some quarters as the perfect combination of heavy psychedelic stoner rock swagger and shoegaze melody. A lot of water has passed under the bridge since then and along the way the band have slimmed down to a trio, a move that has seen vocalist Tav Palambo, alongside Ian Caddick (guitars) and Dan Bradica, taking up the vacant bass duties. Heavy Traffic may have lost a member but that loss has in no way diminished the hazy psychedelic impact of the bands music, in fact it on the evidence of their latest release "Garage: Bad Dream Adventure" it seems to have galvanised them as a unit.

When reviewing Heavy Traffic's "Plastic Surgery" we compared them, in part, to defunct psychedelic rockers Quest For Fire, there was a similar element of lysergic haziness and heavy psychedelic grooviness to what Heavy Traffic were trying to achieve that ran along similar lines to that of the Canadian psych outfit. Those similarities can still be found on "Garage: Bad Dream Adventure" but this time around Heavy Traffic have added to their hazy acid drenched refrains an air of left of centre vocal quirkiness and off kilter musical dissonance. Desert Psychlist is not going to pretend that "Garage; Bad Dream Adventure" is an easy listen , it's not, and it is not made any easier by the albums flow being interrupted by its weird array of off the wall musical interludes, but the vibe you get from this quite stunning and unconventional album is one of a band challenging all the usual rules of structure, form and melody, a band allowing their music go where it needs to go with just the minimum of steerage.

Weirdly wonderful and wonderfully weird is probably the best way to describe "Garage: Bad Dream Adventure" an album that is as loose and free as it is solid and tight!.
Check it out …..

© 2019 Frazer Jones

KHOX ~ MOTEL SEX ..... review

Aggression is something frowned upon in polite society but in music, and especially amongst the  metal community, aggression is something we tend to gravitate towards. Now Desert Psychlist is not suggesting metalheads, doomsters and stoners are people to be avoided due to their aggressive natures or dangerous personalities because that would not be true, we are talking strictly in musical terms here. Hard, fast. loud  and aggressive music has a way of getting the blood flowing, if you've ever witnessed or been part of a mosh-pit at a live metal gig you will totally understand what we mean, the pace, the power and heaviness of the grooves just speaks to something inside us that other music's just can't reach.
Khox, a five piece from Quebec, Canada consisting of Maxime Gelinas (guitars), Francis Beausoleil (guitars), Dzemal Trtak (bass), William Lapointe (vocals, keyboards) and Alexandre Savard (drums). play their grooves with a feral eyed ferocity that could not be described as anything other than aggressive. The band drawn together from members of such notables as Unfallen, Sandveiss and The Aftermath have just released their debut "Motel Sex".

 "Snakecharmer" erupts out of the speakers like a fledgling xenomorph bursting out of John Hurt's chest and sets the tone for an album that gives no quarter and takes no prisoners. Hard rocking guitar refrains are the order of the day throughout "Motel Sex" pushed hard by a combination of growling bass and incessant percussion over which wild eyed, throat shredding vocals of furiosity and anger are not so much sang but are spewed out with venom. Subtlety is not something  high on Khox's musical agenda this is a band whose modus operandi is one of attack attack ,attack and they do so with a relish that would make a Viking Berserker shed a blooded tear of pride. If you are coming to this release hoping for moments of serene ambience and elements of trippy lysergic navel gazing then maybe you better look elsewhere as what Khox deliver to the ear canals is a full on assault to the senses, the band crashing through twelve songs that never let up in either their intensity or pace. From the raucous riffage of the aforementioned "Snakecharmer" to the chugging metal groove of final track "Dominatrix" Khox never let the temperature drop a degree below searing, scorching the earth before them with a sound that although may not kill you will leave you with life changing injuries.

Filthy mouthed, hard, loud and totally unrelenting Khox's "Motel Sex" is everything your mothers warned you against, and for that reason alone you should...
Check it out ….

© 2019 Frazer Jones