RED HANDS IN BLACK SAND ~ RED HANDS IN BLACK SAND ..review

Thessaloniki, Greece, a city named in honour of Alexander the Great's half-sister, is also the home of hard rock stoners Red Hands in Black Sand, a band whose line up, at the time of writing, is somewhat of a mystery but whose fuzz drenched, groove heavy self-titled EP is sure to blow their cover.

As soon as the first bars of opening track "Roll" come thundering out of the speakers it becomes fairly obvious that RHiBS are not the sort of band who are going to have hordes of fans holding lighters aloft and swaying along to their latest power ballad, ..no these guys are more likely to induce vigorous head nodding and heavy moshing due to the power and fury of their fuzz drenched hard rocking grooves. Crunching chainsaw riffage combined with thunderous bass, pounding drums and strong raw edged vocal ensure that songs like the aforementioned "Roll", "Closer", "Diamonds on the River" and  the superb sludge-lite "Underwater Lightning" remain ringing, sustain -like around, the listeners head long after the last note has faded.
Check 'em out .....

EMBER ~ 261 .... review

It's no secret that Desert Psychlist is a sucker for female vocals especially when they are set against a background of heavy riffage and heavier rhythms. Birmingham, Alabama's Ember, Crystal Bigelow (Vocals), Jeremy Allen (Bass), Jon Reid (Guitar), Justin Treece (Guitar) and Eric Bigelow (Drums), create a groove and a sound that ticks all those boxes and more as can be heard on the bands debut EP "261".

"261" begins with "7th Circle",  its intro of heavy crunching, distorted riffage slowly dissipating into shards and fragments as Crystal Bigelow's vocals enter, her hauntingly ethereal but strong tones telling tales of "shattered souls" and "pits of snakes" over a backdrop of groove heavy exotic doom.
"Niche" is up next and jams a stuttering metallic doom groove around which Bigelow weaves dark lyrics pleading for someone to "pull me down to the grave" , her voice soaring above the rhythmic patterns  bassist Allen and drummer E. Bigelow lay beneath her, and wending around the riffs and solo's Reid and Treece use to accompany her semi-operatic tones with.
Final track "Living Bones (Dying Flesh)" sees Ember hitting a groove that at times sails a little close to the symphonic nu-metal of Evanescence but is saved  from this fate by its excursions into areas of heavy psyched doom and occult rock, shifting through a myriad of differing dynamics and subtle time changes with Bigelow's vocals swooping and soaring majestically overhead.

"261" is  a stunning EP brimming over with class and quality and one that promises much for the future.
Check it out.......

BLACK PRISM ~ BLACK PRISM .... review

After teasing us with a couple of tasty sounding singles "Satan's Country" and "Eye For An Eye" Californian four piece Black Prism decided it was time to throw the cat another goldfish and give their growing fan base something a little more substantial a decision that has resulted in the release of the bands first full album, the self-titled "Black Prism".

From the moment the first bars of opening number "Lone Pine" hit the ear canals there is no escaping the Black Sabbath influences hovering above this album, Iommi-esque riffs and solo's permeate the proto-metallic grooves displayed throughout and when you add to this the Ozzy-like nasal whine of the vocals then comparisons are bound to be made. What saves "Black Prism" from becoming just another Sabbath -like album however is the manner the band goes about putting their own stamp on a sound already familiar to so many, songs like "Alaska", with its fragmented riff and dazzling drumming, "Psychomania", with its bluesy occult rock groove and the excellent psych meets proto-doom drenched "Black Mountain Road", have a  Sabbath-esque feel but are delivered slightly off-kilter with a heavier reliance on psychedelic texturing and lysergic colouring giving the whole album  a feeling very much of today rather than that of yesterday.
Check it out ......

BOOK OF WYRMS ~ SCI-FI/FANTASY ...... review

Richmond, VA's Book Of Wyrms, Jay Lindsey (bass),  Ben Coudriet (guitar), Kyle Lewis (guitar),  Chris DeHaven (drums) and Sarah Moore-Lindsey (vocals, effects),describe what they do as "space rock" and given the vastness and scope of the bands sonic palette that's not a bad description. It also goes a long way in explaining the title of the bands brand new album "Sci-Fi/Fantasy" released today (January 1st 2017) on Twin Earth Records.

First track "Leatherwing Bat" comes chugging out of the speakers like a freight train driven by booming bass, pounding percussion and overlaid with gnarly fuzz heavy twin guitar attack of Coudriet and Lewis. The band jam a few bars of stoner-ish heavy metal before Moore-Lindsey enters centre stage and completely alters the dynamic, her powerful yet hauntingly sweet folkish tones a total contrast to the bombastic heaviness surrounding them and giving the bands sound an almost proggish heavy folk vibe not unlike that of 70's British troubadours Curved Air.
"Infinite Walrus" opens with a stuttering guitar riff underpinned by J. Lindsey's liquid bass runs and DeHaven's industrious drumming. A short but tasty guitar solo heralds the arrival of Moore- Lindsey's vocal, her voice sweetly swooning over the Sabbath-esque psychedelic grooves the band lay beneath her.
"Cosmic Filth"  begins with a slightly off-kilter guitar motif then moves into desert rock territory with Coudriet and Lewis trading off licks and motifs over a backdrop of  sandy rhythmic groove interspersed with moments of progressive/psychedelic complexity and colouring enhanced by Moore-Lindsey's slightly spacey, mellow vocal delivery.
"Nightbong" is next and has a 60's psych/pop feel to it's initial, deliciously addictive, groove,  a groove that is enhanced by the addition of keyboards and Moore-Lindsey's superb vocal tones. As the song approaches the halfway mark the mood abruptly changes and the groove gets a little darker and heavier with the band moving into ambient space/heavy psych territory before taking things to the close on a wave of doom drenched heavy riffage, ethereal vocals and pounding rhythms.
"All Hollow's Eve" starts with clips of spoken narrative over shimmering percussion, booming bass lines and bluesy guitar solo's, all paving the way for Moore-Lindsey to enter with a haunting mellow and sweetly ethereal vocal, her voice weaving in and around a groove that is part slow blues, part prog/folk but all Book of Wyrms.
"Transcendental Migraine" mixes aspects of the bands Appalachian roots with traditional heavy metal grooves creating an almost Thin Lizzy/Judas Priest hybrid feel with the two guitarists trading off and harmonising guitar parts over a backdrop of hard and heavy rhythmic grooves.
"Sourwolf" closes proceedings with a song that leans slightly away from the bands space/psych core and edges more towards the doomier side of the tracks. Heavier than what has gone before previously the song sees the band fully embrace their dark side with  Coudriet and Lewis  employing Iommi-esque guitar licks,solo's and riffs over J. Lindsey's low gnarly bass lines and DeHaven's thunderous doomy percussion all finished off with  Moore-Lindsey's beautifully mellow/sweet tones soaring majestically over the top.

Heavy, in the old metallic sense, yet infused with elements of space and psych coated with gloriously haunting vocals "Sci-Fi/Fantasy" is an album that revels in it's contrasts and is one you really should check out......

SPACEGOAT ~ SUPERSTITION ... review

Back in 2012 Spacegoat, a four piece band from Monterrey, Mexico, released "Spacegoat EP", five tracks of delicious 70's inspired classic/hard rock grooves blended with aspects of lo-fi doom and occult rock coated in gloriously serene female vocals, an EP that garnered a lot of interest both in their Mexican homeland and that of the wider world. Unfortunately due to financial restraints and other more mundane reasons the band, Gina Ríos (Vocals & Guitar), Miguel Ríos -(Lead Guitar), Rigo Vigil -(Bass) and Rey Fraga (Drums), were unable to immediately follow up on this  interest with a full album and so the band decided to go down the "Kickstarter" route and ask the fans to help out with contributions, a move that has resulted in the release of this their debut album "Superstition".

From the classic rock toned guitar riff that introduces first track " Doomensional" to the Hawkwind-esque swirling outro of final track "Sleeping Hours" the listener can be assured that every penny/euro or dollar contributed to the bands Kickstarter campaign has not been wasted or misused in the pursuit of hedonistic pleasure but has instead gone to making the best damn album possible with the funds available. Songs like the native tongued "Transmuta", title track "Superstition" and the slow bluesy "Astral" have their roots buried way down deep in the classic/hard rock of yesterday but are infused with elements of today's doom, psych and stoner giving them a fresh contemporary "now" feel. Spacegoat's sonic attack is further enhanced by rhythm guitarist and vocalist Gina Rios, her strong clean vocals soar and swoop over the molten hot grooves Vigil, Fraga and brother M. Rios lay beneath her, giving the songs, at times, an almost "symphonic" feel and on the beautifully tranquil "The Wooden Path" a folk vibe.
All in all "Superstition" is an album of well written and executed songs made by a band of extremely talented musicians who know how to blend yesterday with today to create a sound for tomorrow.
Check 'em out .....

KINGLORD ~ KINGLORD ....review

Sweden has an uncanny knack for turning out quality underground music, especially that of the doom variety, whether your looking for something traditional (Candlemass, Count Raven), something with a touch of desert/stoner colouring (Witchcraft, Serpent) or something a little low-tuned and heavy (Monolord, Spelljammer), Sweden always seems to deliver.
Kinglord from Stockholm definitely fall into the latter category, playing downtuned, riff heavy atmospheric grooves coated in powerful clean vocals as can be heard on the bands brand new self-titled EP "Kinglord"

First track "Salmon And The Snake" opens with a droning synth and heavily effected guitar motif and is then joined by the bass and drums in a pulverising bottom heavy refrain that repeats for a few bars before morphing into chugging heavy stoner doom groove that lays the foundation for the vocals. Powerful and clean the vocals swoop and soar above the monolithic grooves beneath them and giving those already quite substantial grooves a whole extra sonic dimension.
"Judas Priest" follows and begins with foghorn-like synth effects, evoking an image of ships crossing mist shrouded waters, before segueing into a slow plodding heavy doom groove overlaid with a powerful slightly gothic vocals. Atmospheric and moody, with clever injections of synth and guitar colouring weaving in and out of the heaviness, the song slowly builds until finally exploding into an uptempo stoner doom groove in its last quarter and taking things to a gloriously noisy finale.
"Kim Bong II" lays down the fuzz heavy and hard over a backdrop of deeply distorted bass and thunderous pounding percussion interspersed with synthesiser/keyboard flourishes and deliciously dark clean vocals and brings to a close an EP that ticks all the boxes the listener expects to be ticked when dealing with quality Swedish doom.
Check it out .....

ELBRUS ~ ELBRUS ....review

One of the many highlights of 2015 was the release of an eleven minute track of bluesy psych and doom called "Far Away And Into Space Pt.2" released via Bandcamp by Australian band Elbrus. It's now been just under a year since that tracks release and a lot has happened in the meantime, firstly the Melbourne based band signed a deal with Bilocation Records and secondly the band have released their self titled debut album "Elbrus".

"Tall Shadows" opens proceedings, its scintillating hazy psych blues groove enhanced by Ollie Bradley-Smith's fragile vocal tones The guitarist/organist/vocalist's smooth, laid back, yet deceivingly powerful, tones float within the songs groove rather than over it and are  perfectly complimented by bassist Mafi Watson's counter vocal, her slightly fragile sweeter tones the perfect foil for Bradley-Smith's mellower bluesy moan.
"Break The Machine" follows next and jams a slightly more straight forward and traditional heavy blues groove that sees guitarist Ringo Camilleri laying down cool jazzy chords over a slow blues shuffle, provided by Watson and drummer Tom Todorovic, then explodes Zeppelin -like into a blustering heavy blues rock refrain before falling back into its initial mellow groove. The song swings back and forth between these two dynamics with Bradley-Smith's vocal following suite, the singer switching between hazy blues moaner to full on rock roar as an when the groove dictates as well as also supplying some nice keyboard flourishes around Camilleri's scorching lead work. Special mention should go here to guest musician Christi Hodgkins whose superb wailing blues drenched harmonica takes the song to whole different level.
"Eyes Of The Mammal" begins with Elbrus briefly introducing a little bluesy funkiness into their hazy delta grooves before taking off into a fuzz and distortion drenched flight of riff heavy stoner doom ably driven by Todorovic's pulverising percussion and Watson's throbbing bass.  Camilleri and Bradley-Smith fill out the groove with a superb mix of heavily fuzzed guitar and keyboards over which the singer/organist applies another great vocal.
"Far Away And Into Space Pt.1" is a short and highly entertaining instrumental that sees the band showcasing the more lysergic aspects of their sound as well as serving as the perfect intro into the gloriously acid-rock/proto-doom monster that is ....
"Far Away And Into Space Pt.2"... Bradley-Smith's keyboards, having played more of a supporting role on previous tracks, are here pushed closer to the front sitting on an even keel with Camilleri's gnarly distortion soaked guitar and giving the song an almost progressive feel albeit one that has a heavy element of psychedelic bluesy doom in its makeup. Musically the band are on fire throughout the songs 10;52 duration with Watson holding down the bottom end superbly, her big bold bass lines locking in tight with Todorovic's  powerful and dexterous drumming as well as supporting and complimenting Camileri's huge riffs and swirling note perfect solo's. Bradley-Smith delivers over this tumultuous barrage of gloriously addictive noise a truly stunning vocal, crooning with feeling one minute wailing like a madman at the top end of his vocal range the next, his vocals distinctive and controlled are the icing on a very tasty musical cake.
"Three Walls" closes the album with a slightly more downtempo, but no less intense, song that wends its way slowly ,via a slow burning lo-fi doom groove replete with moodily delivered  vocals, to a stratospheric guitar screaming finale.
Elbrus set the bar high when back in 2015 they released "Far Away And Into Space Pt.2" as a teaser for their forthcoming album, so the question that must be asked is have they lived up to that expectation? Well on the evidence presented on "Elbrus" the answer would have to be a most resounding YES!
Check it out .....