LORD WOLAND ~ BELOW .....review

Glauco Fantini (bass and vocals),Nicola Girella  (guitar) and Francesco Angiolini (drums).are Lord Woland a three piece stoner/hard rock band hailing from the Italian town of Bolsena.

Formed in December 2014, the band have been gigging around Italy sharing stages with such underground luminaries as Gorilla Pulp, Banquet and Electric Taurus, among others. The band recently signed a deal with Irish record company Mother Fuzzer Records and are about to release their debut EP "Below"

"Abra Cabala" opens "Below" with a dark doom drenched refrain , all plodding heaviness and pounding rhythm, then suddenly morphs into a straight ahead stoner/hard rock groove that sees Girella laying down a gloriously catchy guitar riff over Angiolini and Fantini's thunderous wall of rhythm. Fantini as well as laying down gnarly bass also supplies vocals his ,voice strong and distinctive, leaning more towards the classic/hard rock spectrum than many of his stoner contemporaries giving the song (and the rest of the EP) an authentic late 70's heavy rock vibe.

"Woland's Hall" is up next and sees Lord Woland injecting a little bluesy swagger into their fuzz drenched stoner/desert grooves albeit mixing in a little lo-fi doominess into proceedings along the way. Girella delivers a thick crunchy fuzz drenched riff interspersed with scorching bluesy solo's superbly backed up by Angiolini's dexterous percussion work and Fantini's big booming bass and vocals.
"Rotten Apple" ramps up the 70's feel to eleven with a storming groovathon of blues drenched hard rock riffage replete with wailing, wah drenched lead guitar breaks underpinned by a gnarly bass lines and thundering drums and filled out with a strong vocal.
"Gloominade" throws the listener a curveball by moving away,  but only slightly, from the bluesy, late 70's. hard rock shock and awe of the previous tracks and taking on a more late 60's early 70's psychedelic rock groove. Fantini's vocals, slightly laid back and mellow, are backed up by his deep thrumming bass lines, combining with Angiolini's thundering percussion to create a deliciously dark lysergic groove that is further enhanced by Girella's sharded guitar chords and lysergic solo's.
Whether your a devotee of fuzzed to the max heavy stoner riffage delivered with attitude over hard driving rhythmic muscle or your an old rocker with a penchant for crunching 70's hard rock with psychedelic colouring then "Below" is an EP that will tick all your relevant boxes.
Check it out ......

DESERT PSYCHLIST'S BEST OF 2016

2016 has seen the world we live in at war with itself over Syria, ISIS, Brexit and Trump, it has also been a year when many of our musical heroes unplugged their earthly instrument cables and shuffled off  to that "great gig in the sky".
 Its not all been  grief and strife however 2016 has been a bumper year for the underground music scene with both established and brand new artists releasing some truly stunning albums, EP's and singles.
Here's Desert Psychlist's pick of 2016.....


25. GEEZER ~ GEEZER
What do you need to know about this other than its Geezer and its on Ripple, those two things on their own scream QUALITY!



24. KINGSNAKE ~ RESONANCE
It would be too easy to write Kingsnake off as just a bunch of Clutch sound-a-likes trying to follow in the footsteps of their heroes, that would be doing these Philly bluesters a disservice. It cannot be denied that there are similarities between the two bands but there are also marked differences and in this "underground" scene dominated by Sabbath worship a band influenced by Neil Fallon and Co is not a bad thing.
.

23. SOON ~ VOL.1
Stylistic blend of doom, sludge and psychedelics will have you drooling for a VOL 2!



22. THE GREAT ELECTRIC QUEST ~ CHAPTER 1
Rocks like a cradle in a hurricane



21.ELDER DRUID ~ MAGICKA
A touch of maturity has crept into Elder Druids heavy down tuned sonic attack and I for one fuckin' love it!

20.ORS ~ ORS
Awesome heavy prog/psych album with a "green" theme running all the way through its veins. A mix of Spanish and English vocals adds an extra level of charm to an album full to the rafters with musical excellence.



19. THE RARE BREED ~ LOOKING FOR TODAY
Sabbathian grooves of molten gold!
If you dig Freedom Hawk, Orchid and early Sheavy you will love this!



18.BRANT BJORK ~ TAO OF THE DEVIL
What can you say about a man with such a great pedigree, whether solo or as part of a band the drummer/guitarist, bassist and vocalist's name has always been associated with good music.



17. LOS DISDENTES DEL SUCIO MOTEL ~ HUMAN COLLAPSE
LDDSM have come a long way from the desert/stoner grooves of their first album, gradually moving forward via their second album to finally arrive here at "Human Collapse" a scintillating and at times disturbing listen.



16.NAEVUS ~ HEAVY BURDEN
Rifftastic doom infused stoner grooves from Germany

15. WIZZERD ~ DOOMCHILD
Wizzerd take you on a musical train ride that stops at stations doom, psych, stoner and desert along the way.



14.CYBERNETIC WITCH CULT ~ SPACEOUS CRETACOUS
A 9 track adventure through space, magic, fantasy and time.
Psychedelic, stoned, groovaceous, doomed and heavy:



13.RED WIZARD ~ COSMOSIS
Head spinning stoner doom that finds a nice middle ground between the proto-doom of Black Sabbath and the retro stoner blues/hard rock grooves of Graveyard



12.BORRACHO ~ ATACAMA
Gritty whiskey soaked vocals roared over hard edged riffage supported by thunderous drumming, pummel the listener with the sheer ferocity of their deliverance

11.LORD VAPOUR ~ MILL STREET BLUES
"Mill Street Blues" is one of those albums you will never get tired of hearing, one of those albums that you will come back to time after time, hearing it fresh, as if it was your first listen all over again



10.YOUNGBLOOD SUPERCULT ~ HIGH PLAINS
Heavy and at times hazy blues drenched psych/acid rock. Touches of doomy atmospherics twisted around gritty stonerized blues grooves and coated in mellow but effective clean vocals.



09.VOKONIS ~ OLDE ONE ASCENDING
Heavy psych/doom crammed to the roof with gnarly dark riffs, pounding rhythms and excellent throaty vocals



08.MAMMOTH WEED WIZARD BASTARD ~ Y PROFFWYD DWYLL
Over sonic grooves of substantial heaviness sit the haunting tones of vocalist/bassist Jessica Ball her haunting voice the polar opposite of the heavyweight grooves surrounding her, sweet and fragile they sit atop the doom laden metallic bluster beneath them like cream on a razor blades edge giving the album a balance of beauty and brutality that is truly startling.



07.HOWLING GIANT ~ BLACK HOLE SPACE WIZARD: PART 1
Stonerized hard rock fronted by excellent vocal melodies, salted with elements of space and psych, driven by heavy riffs and rhythmic grooves.
If this is only Part 1 then put my name down NOW for Part 2!



06.FIRE DOWN BELOW ~ VIPER VIXEN GODDESS SAINT
Absolutely fantastic collection of psyched out rock'n'roll. Listen once to dig the grooves then listen again for all the things going on in and around those grooves



05.THE HAZYTONES ~ THE HAZYTONES
With Graveyard and Ponamero Sundown calling it a day it's time for a new band to step up to the bluesy retro/hard rock/stoner plate.

04.SHOGUN ~ SHOGUN

Part proto-metal, part bluesy stoner, part heavy psych and coated with super smooth vocals this is a must have for anyone who loves good intelligent rock music.

03. SPIRITUAL BEGGARS ~ SUNRISE TO SUNDOWN
The Beggars return with another platter full of superb classic/hard rock played hard and extremely well.



02.YEAR OF THE COBRA ~ ..IN THE SHADOWS BELOW
Atmospheric tomes driven by Barrysmith's Bonham-esque pounding drum patterns and dominated by Tung's heavily distorted Rickenbacker bass and haunting vocals




01. FALL OF AN EMPIRE ~ CROWEATER: AN ECHO IN THE BONE
Absolutely essential listening for those that love their stoner a little bluesy and cerebral




Well that's it for this year let's hope the next is even better!

Festive greetings to all the musicians/PR's/ record labels/ fellow bloggers/podcasters and my fellow revolutionaries at HRR  who have helped Desert Psychlist so much throughout this year and to the readers whose feedback constantly amazes me and keeps me doing what i'm doing, thank you all!

HEAVY TRAFFIC ~ PLASTIC SURGERY ... review

Brooklyn, New York's Heavy Traffic are no strangers to those with their fingers placed firmly on the pulse of underground rock scene, the band originally  formed by friends Ian Caddick, (lead guitar) and  Tav Palumbo (drums/vocals)  have, since deciding to work together, released a steady stream of albums .EP's and singles to much critical praise. Caddick and Palumbo decided in 2015 that it was time to get serious and make things a little sonically larger  both on record and live and so recruited David Grzedzinski (bass) and Dan Bradica (drums) to fill the bands sound out, this line up are now about to release their first album, "Plastic Surgery" on Twin Earth Records. (December 17 2016)

"Plastic Surgery" takes its listeners on lysergic journeys through kaleidoscope soundscapes of sonic excellence populated by heavy guitar riffage and hazy psychedelic solo's that swirl and swoop over  heavy and intricate rhythmic drum and bass patterns and are overlaid by gloriously hazy shoegaze-like vocal melodies. From the first fuzz drenched bars of "Rule of Nines" to the occult-ish/doom-lite outro of title track, and album closer, "Plastic Surgery" the listener is bathed in a wash of seemingly unending warm psychedelic groove that, in places, recalls the hazy heavy psych of Canada's Quest for Fire but then mixes that vibe with the acid blues guitar pyrotechnics of  USA's Dead Meadow.
Heavy Traffic call "Plastic Surgery" their "most polished recording to date" and on the evidence found here it's  damn hard to disagree with that statement!
Check it out........

CYANNA MERCURY ~ ARCHETYPES ...review

Desert Psychlist returns once again to Greece the birthplace of philosophy and home of the legendary Spartans, this time for a band going by the name Cyanna Mercury, a quintet comprising of Spyreas Sid - vocals & percussion, Nick Sid - keyboard, Diamond Pr - guitars, Dennis Panagiotidis - drums and Dimitri Georgopoulos - bass.
Cyanna Mercury hail from the Greek capital Athens and were formed in 2014, after releasing a series of tantalising singles and one EP  the band have just released their first full length album "Archetypes".

"Archetypes" is an album that revels in it's diversity from the torch like opener  "Horse Dark As Night" with it's Morrison-esque vocal crooning, through the lo-fi doom of "The Lunatic" with it's eerie use of keyboards and bouzouki past the gothic tinted paean " Ode To The Absent Father" and the Doors-like "Snake" onto the quite surreal and utterly beguiling closer "There Will Be A Time"  Cyanna Mercury leave nothing that the listener can find to hang a convenient tag on to.
Wonderfully left of centre and defying any type of genre categorization "Archetypes" is an album that dazzles and disturbs in equal measure.
Check it out .....

RED MESA/BLUE SNAGGLETOOTH ~ SECOND COMING OF HEAVY: CHAPTER FOUR (SPLIT) ....review

Ripple Records have been doing a fine job of pairing together bands for their "Second Coming of Heavy" series of split releases and latest offering "Second Coming of Heavy: Chapter Four" is no exception putting together two of the undergrounds hottest bands, Albuquerque, New Mexico's Red Mesa and Ann Arbor, Michigan's Blue Snaggletooth.

Red Mesa kick "Chapter Four" off with four songs of spine tingling desert/stoner rock blended with touches of psych and classic/hard rock crunch. First tracks, "Cactus Highway" and "Low And Slow", are two fuzz drenched rockers tinged with bluesy hard rock swagger and psychedelic colouring coated in superb vocals. The following two tracks "Goin' To The Desert" and "Utopia" follow a more lysergic path with the former having an almost heavy stonerized Doors-like vibe and the latter  jamming a schizophrenic mix of heavy riffage, Captain Beefheart like mushroom fuelled acid blues and gentle acoustic passages. All four tracks are superbly executed, written and arranged and showcase a band totally on top of their game.

Blue Snaggletooth hit a more traditional stoner groove with their three offerings albeit spliced with a touch of bluesy proto-metal grittiness. "Sand Master" is first up and employs a deliciously addictive guitar motif over a hard driving rhythmic groove that is then enhanced by strong powerful vocals. At the halfway mark the song segues into laid back psychedelic passage before taking off into the stratosphere on a wave of howling guitars and pulsating rhythms then returns to earth with the songs initial groove to take things to the close. "Crystal Gaze" is a WAH pedal drenched journey into proto-metal madness replete with big vocals, big booming bass lines and tumultuous drumming that kicks more ass than is healthy. "Mystic Waters" brings Blue Snaggletooth's contribution to a close with a rousing hard rocking number that has at least one, if not both of the bands well heeled boots set squarely and firmly in the golden era of 70's classic/hard rock.

Two bands, similar in some respects, different in others but both with a one mission.... to melt your face off with the power of their grooves
Check 'em out ....

SUNFACE ~ OBSERVATORY ..... review

Desert Psychlist has said it before and will probably say it again, music coming out of Norway has an edgy slightly twisted feel that no other country seems to be able to replicate.
Sunface are no exception to this rule, the three piece, Martin Horn Sørlie (drums), Jon Haugnes Karlsen (guitar/vocals/lap steel) and Kyrre Sundt (bass), from Akershus, Norway jam a groove that although taking in elements of doom, stoner, psych and post-rock finds itself sitting a little to the left of centre to all of them, as can be witnessed on the bands new album "Observatory".

The dark distorted powerchords that introduce opening track "Tower Of The Sun" are an early indication of the dark destinations Sunface wish to take their listeners to with their brand of down tuned doom'n'roll. Songs like "title track "Observatory" with it's spacey doom groove, the instrumental "The Meteor pt 01" and the atmospheric and moody "Ancient Astronaut" weave elements of doom and psych into sonic tapestries of post-rock/space fabric, creating vast and intriguing soundscapes that are sometimes a little bleak and disturbing but always interesting.

Sunface fill every nook and cranny of "Observatory" with dark swirling swathes of doom-tinted refrains, supported by complex rhythmic patterns and gnarly bass lines, that are then coated in gloriously gothic type vocal melodies that although are not always an easy listen are nonetheless a rewarding one.
Check 'em out ....

PEARLY GOATS ~ DEATH AND RECKONING ...... review

Maryland's Pearly Goats describe what they do as " A heathy mix of riffs, doom. punk and hippie shit all blended together for some good old sonic escapism" and that just about sums up the bands fourth and brand new release "Death and Reckoning".

"The Hole" opens proceedings with a fuzzy mid tempo tune that has a touch of Drive By Truckers alt. country rockiness in its vibe, a vibe that is further enhanced by guitarist/vocalist Jay Schlosberg's excellent blend of indie/country tinted vocal tones.
"Paw Paw" is up next and sees drummer Wilmer Earl Berry Jr. and bassist Paul Kelley laying down a slightly alt./grunge groove around which  Schlosberg  provides a deliriously effective guitar motif and a vocal melody that listeners will be singing long after the track finishes.
"Sweeper" follows and has Pearly Goats drifting hazily into the realms of the lysergic and jazzy with a stunningly beautiful slow burning psychedelic tome that builds layer by glorious layer and sees Schlosberg laying down a swathe of shimmering guitar colouring over and around Kelley and Berry Jr's sympathetic backing.
"Be Them" ramps up the grungier elements of the bands sound but salts those elements with a touch of doom-like atmospherics giving the whole groove a sort of  Seattle alt. heroes Nirvana meets, Finnish doomsters, Vinum Sabbatum  feel, a strange blend but perfectly palatable.
"Slow Tomb" closes "Dead and Reckoning" with a riff fuelled instrumental groovathon of guitar led pyrotechnics that sees Schlosberg referencing everyone from The Byrds Jim McGuinn to Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page in his excellent choice of notes and sonic delivery all superbly held up by Kelley's liquid bass lines and Berry Jr's jazzy drumming chops.
Pearly Goats "Dead and Reckoning" sits a little left of field to much of the doom and stoner rock coming out of the Baltimore, Maryland scene but do not let that for one minute stop you giving this little beauty a spin, it rocks...a little differently but rocks nonetheless
Check it out.......