HEAVY RELIC ~ THE APPARITION OF THE GRAND CABALA ...... review

 

Let's be honest here, Desert Psychlist is unsure whether Heavy Relic is the work of one man (Nick Toone, a self confessed Earthless/Ozric Tentacles/ Samsara Blues Experiment fanboy)) or the work of that same one man in collaboration with a bunch of unnamed musicians, especially as Heavy Relic refer to themselves (or himself) as "we" in their/his on-line presence. For the purposes of this review Desert Psychlist is going to assume that Heavy Relic are maybe a bit of both, if we are wrong we are wrong but at the end of the day its the music that matters and not the personnel, and the music presented to us on Heavy Relic's eleventh release "The Apparition of the Gran Cabala" is something a little special!

Heavy Relic's new opus kicks off with "Tritone Heavy" a track inspired by the discovery (to Heavy Relic) of a new tuning that in their words makes things "pretty weird". Weird is a fairly good description of the sounds Desert Psychlist is hearing emanating from our battered speakers as this track unfolds, with dark, ominous and dissonant three other words we could easily add to that list. There are points during the tracks duration where the guitar solos seem to be fighting to break free from the directions the rhythms thundering out beneath have planned for them but strangely this is something that works in the songs favor creating a twisted warped feel to the proceedings that gives everything a pleasing off-kilter feel.  "Nocturne" is no less twisted and warped than its predecessor, in fact it may even be more so, its dark and swirling guitar work swooping in out and around a groove that starts off low slow and doomic then gradually increases until almost reaching a thrash like meter. We mentioned dissonance earlier but we were, maybe being a little premature as next and title track "The Apparition Of The Grand Cabala" knocks any atonality and discordance that might have gone before into the proverbial cocked hat. Here we have a song that refuses to adhere to any rules, it is a song that is as ugly as it is beautiful and as chaotic  as it is structured, a perfect storm in musical form that defies written description and needs to be heard to be believed. Finally we come to "Henbane" the second longest track of the album and probably its most doomic, its thunderous dank groove the backdrop over which lysergic laced lead breaks scream and screech and strange space-like effects sporadically burble and bleep making Heavy Relic's earlier "pretty weird" description seem somewhat of an understatement.

It was announced on its release that Heavy Relic's last album, "Opalescent". was going to be the band/artist's swansong but along came Covid and with nothing much else to do other than make music instruments were once again picked up. There are not too many positives to be found in a global pandemic but we at Desert Psychlist think "The Apparition Of The Grand Cabala" could well be one!

Check it out ....

© 2021 Frazer Jones

BLACKJACK MOUNTAIN ~ HOLDING TIME ..... review

"Old school" is a phrase we often use in music to describe something that has an essence of the past, there are some that consider anything tagged as "old school" to be generic and maybe a little past its sell by date, and there is no denying that in some cases this can be true, however done right "old school" can still sound as fresh and as vital as anything that is considered cutting edge and progressive in today's music scene. Georgia's Blackjack Mountain take their lead from the golden age of rock, their grooves have an unmistakable 70's classic rock bias mixed with a little down-home southern swagger but those same grooves are infused with enough "new school" grit and growl to please even the most anti of "old school" music fans. Don't believe us?,, well then give their debut "Holding Time" a spin.

"Holding Time" starts off with "Intro", a track that samples some good 'ol boys decrying the morals of the rock'n'roll listening youth, that then erupts into "What I Need" a furiously paced hard rocker with an infectious vocal melody tied to a groove that is part southern rock swagger and part stoner/hard rock bluster. "Red Eagle" follows and here we find Blackjack Mountain putting aside their southern influences and embracing a more commercial hard rock sound, a sound  that would not sound too far out of place on one of KISS' better albums. Road song "Loaded Gun" is up next and sees guitarist Tyler Bates laying down chugging powerchords, over a backdrop of growling bass and solid steady percussion expertly provided by Clayton Kingsmill and Michael Bearden respectively, the songs lyrics telling us of "switching lanes and switching gears" while also boasting a chorus that will stick in the mind long after the track finishes. "Witch Of The Swamp" reignites Blackjack Mountains southern flame with a song that lyrically references a Cajun lady with the power to grant wishes while following track "Nevermore" throws a little funkiness into the equation while still maintaining an air of metallic bluster. "Nevermore" is followed up by "Devil In The Dark" is an out and out rocker that in places reminded Desert Psychlist of the excellent Raging Slab in their prime. On "I Don't Mind" the band decide to mix things up a little, the songs vocal melody having the feel of a power ballad but the songs backdrop of crunching chords and thundering rhythms feeling anything but. Penultimate song "River Flows" comes out of the traps with swaggering southern attitude on a stuttering hard rock groove before the band bring things to a close with "Echoes Of Time" an unexpected mix of lysergic haziness and southern crunch that in some ways pays tribute to all those southern rock bands that have paved the way (and some who are still laying the stones), its vocal harmonies laid back and hazy and its grooves, either intentionally or unintentionally, referencing everyone from The Allman Brothers to Black Stone Cherry.

"Holding Time" is an album that cleverly traverses that gulf between what is considered mainstream rock and that which is considered underground, it is an album full of songs that would have any stoner worth his weight in fuzz drooling and dribbling over its crunching refrains and powerful rhythms yet it is also an album that should appeal to those who like their grooves melodious, catchy.and "old school".

Check it out ....

© 2021 Frazer Jones

PUENTE DIABLO ~ SOL NEGRO ...... review

Very rarely does Desert Psychlist review releases with less than three or four songs but we felt that an exception had to be made in the case of Puente Diablo's latest release "Sol Negro" a two song outing that not only showcases a band at the height of their powers but also is a fine example of the quality of music currently coming out of Chile. 

Puente Diablo's previous releases, "Demonizado" (2016) and "Tierra Ancestra" (2017), were very much straight ahead affairs with the band finding their feet by delivering grooves that sat at the more stoner/hard rock end of the rock spectrum , the trio fleshing out those grooves out with only the occasional forays into doom and psych. "Sol Negro" is a different animal altogether, the songs that make up this two song opus still draw from the same musical pools explored on previous releases but those doom and psych aspects of the bands sound have this time been pushed much more to the fore. Title track "Sol Negro" is a prime example of this more swirling psych/doom dynamic, it begins with crunching guitar refrains and thunderous rhythms, decorated with clean gritted vocals (sung in Spanish), but then takes a detour into a more ambient psych territory that sees Alex Retama (bass/vocals) and Mauricio Navarro (drums) laying down an ambient post-rock/fusion groove over which guitarist/vocalist Daniel Alarcón delivers ringing arpeggios and fractured chord voicings as well as a little traditional Andean pan piping, the band finally returning to crunch and thunder mode to take things to the close. Second, and final, song "Largo Viaje" is an atmospheric and somewhat emotional tour-de force that begins with a stunning psychedelic intro built around low deep bass and shimmering percussion over which Floydian guitar textures swell and swoon. The song slowly morphs into a mid to slow heavy doomic groove that is cleverly tempered with exquisite blues flavoured guitar solos that swoop and swirl over and around some superbly pitched vocal harmonies and the occasional sampled narrative, the songs only downside being it has to end.

They say that from small acorns great trees will grow and if we consider the two songs that make up Puente Diablo's "Sol Negro" to be the seeds of a more expansive and experimental sound for the band to build upon in the future then let's hope that these two trees soon turn into a forest or better still a full album!

Check 'em out ...

© 2021 Frazer Jones

AFGHAN HAZE ~ NIHILISTIC STONER HYMNS .... review

Sludge is often described as the place where stoner rock, doom and the blackened metals meet and hang out together and some might regard "sludge" as the perfect description for what, Afghan Haze, the subject of this review, bring to the table with their latest release "Nihilistic Stoner Hymns". Trouble is Afghan Haze don't quite fit into the neat little box "sludge" provides, their music is blackened but not overly brutal, their grooves are stonerized but not overly fuzzy and their doom is dark but not exactly dank. So where does this leave these Connecticut riffmeisters in the great scheme of things? The answer is exactly where they want to be.

Afghan Haze are a band driving a cherry picker through the orchards of underground rock and metal, plucking grooves from the assorted genres and sub-genres like fruit from trees, using what they deem fits them discarding what they feel doesn't. Afghan Haze could be described as a band who play heavy music but the truth is most of the bands "heaviness" comes not from their music, which is a mixture of gritty stoner rock, spaced out hard rock and doomic psych, but from the vocals they choose to decorate that music with. Low, graveled vocal tones, growled in a style that brings back memories of early Opeth, and in places Ordos, are the tones that adorn each and every one of the seven songs that make up "Nihilistic Stoner Hymns" and it is these tones, often incanted rather than sang, that gives songs like "Burn The Goat", "(Welcome) To Drug Mountain" and "Southern Bastard Church" an impression of heaviness that is not always reflected in their grooves. Don't however begin to think that the grooves surrounding those distinctive vocals are bereft of heaviness, because that is not the case, you will find all the requisite crunch and thunder you could ever hope for from an album carrying tags that include doom, metal and stoner it is just that those elements of crunch and thunder are tempered by aspects of swirling psych and bluesy old school hard rock that are delivered with a clarity and cleanliness that, on occasions, belies the vocal tones that those grooves support.

Visceral and brutal are words often used to describe music of the nature Afghan Haze present us with on "Nihilistic Stoner Hymns" and often music described as such tends to lose a little of its musicality due to its harshness and ferality. Although there are moments when those two words could well be brought in to play when describing Afghan Haze's sonic attack the truth is those moments are few and far between and instead we are presented with a music that is certainty loud, certainly gritty but at the same time, and despite its blackened approach, is at all times musical.
Check 'em out .....

 

© 2021 Frazer Jones

DRUIDS ~ VOL.1 ..... review

It is pretty obvious from the artwork gracing their debut EP "Vol.1" that Italy's Druids are another of those band with a Black Sabbath fixation. Druids, however, are not your archetypical Sabbath clones, yes there are plenty of Iommi-like riffs to sink your teeth into on "Vol.1" but you won't find any Ozzy-like vocal tones, no matter how hard you listen, and nor will you find this band just sticking to a Sabbath-esque blueprint in order to get their grooves heard.

Given the bands admission to being apostles of the Black Sabbath sound Desert Psychlist is fairly sure that the first track of "Vol.1", the playfully titled "Lord ov the Riffs", is a veiled homage to both Beelzebub and that riffmeister extraordinaire Mr. Tony Iommi, certainly lyrically it references the horned one but musically we are not sure so it is quite so Sabbath-esque as the riffs used to decorate this song lean a little more towards the occult rock-doom of the 00's than they do the 70's proto-metallized doom of the Birmingham Four. Having said that there are numerous places on "Vol.1" where those two dynamics crossover but the biggest difference between Druids and their heroes is the Italians penchant for throwing off the shackles of their Sabbath influences and walking paths a little less travelled as they do on the excellent "Proceed the Weedian" where they mix a little gothic bluesiness and torch-like balladry into their occult-rock meanderings and come up with something quite unique if not a little brilliant. Vocally Druids are as far removed from Sabbath as it is possible to get with vocalist Luca possessing a voice that would not sound out of place fronting a band from the UK's late 70'/early 80's post-punk goth scene, his clean clear baritone the perfect match for the excellent and eclectic doom-lite grooves guitarist  Marco “Ciccio”, bassist Riccardo and drummer Gabriele serve up around and beneath him. It is these vocals combined with the bands dank, but not overly heavy,  grooves that make "Vol.1" not just an enjoyable listen and but also an essential one.

Italian doom is a unique animal, much like they did with their cult horror movies in the 70's the Italians have a tradition of bringing something a little different to the table with their doom, there is something a little more atmospheric, a little more theatrical and dramatic about Italian doom that you very rarely find outside of that country and with "Vol.1" Druids have more than upheld that tradition.

Check it out ..... 

© 2021 Frazer Jones

HEBI KATANA ~ HEBI KATANA ...... review

 Sabbath worship is an international commodity these days with bands from all over the globe chancing their respective arms to capture an essence of that sound once forged by four working class lads from Birmingham. UK's backstreets. Today we are reviewing an album by one of those bands for whom Sabbath's sound is somewhat of the golden chalice, a band hailing from Tokyo, Japan who although obviously inspired by the Birmingham four are not strictly tied hard and fast to that sound preferring instead to bring into that sound aspects from the full gamut of 70's and 80's rock. The band are called Hebi Katana and their album shares the same name.

Opening track "Directions For Human Hearts" is the perfect example of Hebi Katana's penchant for melding their proto-doom with elements gleaned from the full spectrum of the rock cannon, the songs Sabbathesque riff is decorated in Ozzy(ish) vocal tones, with just the right levels of nasal delivery, but those tones are then placed into a grunge-like vocal melody, part of which is an obvious lift from Nirvana's "In Bloom". If you are not confused by now you will be when the song then takes a sudden detour into straight down the line anthemic instrumental hard rock territory in its last quarter. The confusion doesn't stop there either, on songs like "Reptile Machine", Inu Song" "Struggle With a Lie" and "Don't Know My Name" the listener is presented with aspects gleaned from greasy glam metal, hazy doomic psych, grungy alt-rock, hard rock and old school metal and that's without mentioning the acoustic interludes offered up on "Witch's Dance" and "Zephyr Phobia". Sabbath fans will lap up Hebi Katana's proto-doomic flavoured grooves but so will fans of  Dope Smoker, Soundgarden, Nirvana and even Guns'n'Roses, there is a little something here for everyone. 

It could be said that what Hebi Katana are doing on their self-titled album is much like that which those scavengers found in the Star Wars movies do, constantly deconstructing something in order to construct something new. There is nothing here that you would not have heard elements of on a thousand albums by a thousand other bands working in a similar proto-doom/metal field but it is the way Hebi Katana put those elements together that makes this album work and sound so fresh to ears that may have thought they had heard it all before. 

Check it out ....

© 2020 Frazer Jones

DESERT PSYCHLIST'S BEST OF 2020

 

What a year this has been and mainly for all the wrong reasons, Presidential elections getting nasty, Governments making endless u-turns, Hollywood sex scandals, Royal Princes in disgrace, armed militia marching through streets, police brutality, racial tensions and a potentially lethal virus spreading like wildfire around the globe, however musically 2020 has been, what we call in Britain, an absolute corker! Musicians whether because of or despite of the virus have really stepped up to the plate this year and delivered killer albums/EP's with an almost factory line regularity, and its not just been the usual suspects who have delivered the goods, many of this years best releases have been debuts.

Here are 30 of Desert Psychlist's 2020 favorites, we could have easily stretched this out to 100 but time and space dictated that we kept things to a bite size portion. Of course you will have your own favorites from this strangest of years and your list may be completely different from ours but that is the beauty of music, one persons golden goose could well be another persons turkey, anyway here we go... 

#30:   El Rojo ~ El Diablo Rojo

When rocking on a heavy groove El Rojo attack like a phalanx of Roman Infantry, their raucous riffs and rhythms coming at you in waves of overwhelmingly punkish ferocity, however when they momentarily step off the gas and allow their Jekyll to overide their Hyde you find they are also a band who can surprise you with their subtlety and lightness of touch.

 

#29:   Temple ~ Funeral Planet

If your a fan of bands like Windhand, Haunted (Italy) and Electric Wizard then Temple's "Funeral Planet" is an album that will tick all of your relevant boxes, it is an album that trades on treacle thick doomic riffage and ponderous thundering rhythms but also one that has a few unexpected surprises concealed within its black clad sleeves.

 

#28:   Planet of the Dead ~ Fear of a Dead Planet

Big sounding stoner metal from the land of the Maori, heavier and scarier than an All Black's front row dancing a Haka!

 

#27;   Elder Druid ~ Golgotha

Elder Druid's mix of blackened sludge and doomic stoner metal is harsh , heavy and relentless which is three reasons why we love what they do...

 

 #26:  Superlord ~ Vs. Gargantuan

Solidly packed with everything that makes a great album, "Vs. Gargantuan" could well be considered one of the best albums to come out of the UK this year of our Lord 2020!

 

 #25:  Slomosa ~ Slomosa

Desert rock from a band hailing from a country with no deserts, don't that let you be put off however because this is an album that captures the essence of sandy dunes and cactus better than some albums made by bands born into that environment.

#24 ;  Gaupa ~ Feberdröm

These off the wall and unconventional Swedes deliver once again with Bjork-like vocals swooping and soaring over a mix of hard rock, psychedelic folk and heavy prog.
Absolutely essential listening!!!!!

#23:   Malsten ~ The Haunting Of Silvakra Mill

Malsten take the listener on a tour of Silvakra Mill a place where the spirits don't come in a bottle and wheat is not the only thing that gets ground to dust!
Spinetingling!

#22:   Vitskar Suden ~ Vitskar Suden

Don't try placing Vitskär Süden into a any genre, category or neat little labelled box because they don't fit into any, they are what they are and what they are is a very talented group of musicians creating music that is moving, meditative and beautiful. 

#21:   Hammada ~ Atmos

"Atmos" is not one of those albums that smacks you around the head and demands you immediately fall in love with it, it is instead an album that uses stealth to achieve its goals, an album that slowly creeps up on you, song by song, gradually breaking you down with its mix of undulating grooves and thundering riffs until it finally becomes that go to album you never want to be without.

#20:   Rollin' Dice ~ Reroll

Dio-esque vocal pyrotecnics roared over crunching riffs and screaming guitar solos, driven from beneath by a tight and adaptable rhythm section give this album a truly "authentic" 70's hard rock feel.

#19: Forming The Void ~ Reverie

"Reverie" finds Forming the Void fully embracing their prog/psych side yet doing so without compromising on their signature sludgy heaviness.

#18:   Tortuga ~ Deities

Tortuga use atmosphere as if it were an instrument in its own right and they play the fuck out of it!

#17:   Gypsybyrd ~ Eye Of The Sun

Burn Ritual's Jake Lewis comes at you with a hazy, lysergic collection of spaced out grooves that will blow your mind to smithereens.
This is a trip!

#16:   Queen Marsa ~ Queen Marsa 

A vocalist with a voice that has a blend of AC/DC's Bon Scott and Budgie's Burke Shelley and grooves that sit at the more 70's end of stoner rock, how could i pass this up!

#15:   Sleepwulf ~ Sleepwulf

There are no meandering twenty minute guitar solo's to be found here, no overly complex arrangements that confuse and confound nor are there an endless array of constantly shifting time signatures to deal with, instead we get a dazzling collection of superbly crafted rock songs built around that age old blueprint of intro, middle and outro, simple, basic and wholly effective.

#14:   Arcadian Child ~ Protopsycho

Cyprus' jewel in the stone(r) Arcadian Child return with their best yet, the band tapping into both their European and Middle- Eastern heritages to amaze and delight us with their lysergic laced grooviness.

#13:   10 Code ~ Ride

10 Code hail from Athens and jam a groove that takes a little classic/hard rock, sprinkles it with a pinch of grungy alt-rock and then tops it all off with with some nicely warmed stoner fuzz, a recipe that makes their latest release "Ride" a very tasty dish indeed.

#12:   Acid Mammoth ~ Under Acid Hoof

"Under Acid Hoof" is a superb follow up to the bands debut "Acid Mammoth" and should go a long way to cementing their place as one of the leading lights on Athens burgeoning doom scene, now go tell the Spartans!

#11:  Swamp Thief ~ I

Two man stoner unit from Swansea, Wales cranking out filthy toned guitar riffs and thundering rhythms over which are poured gritty clean vocals.

 

#10:   Somnus Throne ~ Somnus Throne

Somnus Throne do not write three minute ditties, neither will you find this band penning lyrics detailing the vagaries of unrequited love, this is a trio that have travelled down the dark highways of life and those experiences are reflected in the music they make and the lyrics that decorate that music.

#9:   Rosy Finch ~ Scarlet

Mireia Porto promised, in press releases, that the new sound of the band would be "very visceral and heavy" and Desert Psychlist can confirm that, with "Scarlet", Rosy Finch more than delivers on that promise.

 

#8:   Sound of Origin ~ The All Seeing Eye

Sound of Origin return with a new album, a new singer and a new sound. Harder, edgier and heavier than their debut "The All Seeing Eye" floats like a shark and stings like a scorpion!

#7:   Dixie Goat ~ There's No Light Without Darkness

If your not familiar with Chile's  Dixie Goat and are wondering why you should be bothering listening to music from a band situated at the ass end of the Southern Hemisphere well then wrapping your ears around the bands new album "There's No Light Without Darkness" will explain all!

#6:   Thammuz ~ Into The Great Unknown

Thammuz deliver a sound that runs the whole gamut of "underground rock" from dusty sand blasted desert rock through to dank doomic stoner metal, touching on blues. psych, punk and classic/hard rock along the way!

#5:   Ethereal Sea ~ Forgotten Memories of Tomorrow

Swinging, soulful, a touch psychedelic and with just the merest hint of country rock edginess and blusesy swagger "Forgotten Memories of Tomorrow" is an album that marks a huge leap in Ethereal Sea's development.

#4:   Sun of Grey ~ Outerworld

It has been three years since Sun of Grey blasted our brains with their self titled doomic two tracker but its been worth the wait, awesome is too small a word!

#3:   Iglesia Atomica ~ La Guerra del Fin del Mundo

Absolutely mind-blowing instrumental jams from the masters of the art! Our personnel opinion is this is their best yet!

#2:   Troll Teeth ~ Goes Nowhere, Does Nothing

Concept albums are always a little hit or miss but Troll Teeth's "Goes Nowhere, Does Nothing" is all hit! This is a concept that tells its story just how you might read it from a book, easy to follow, full of the requisite villains and monsters that you would expect from a good tale but also with just the right amount of mystery and ambiguity to keep you guessing right up to the end.

#1:    REZN ~ Chaotic Divine

What is it that makes bands like Tool, Elder and All Them Witches stand out from the crowd when that crowd is made up of very adept bands full of equally adept and skilled musicians? The answer is risk! The bands mentioned at the top of this piece possess a fearlessness that sets them apart from the following herd simply because they are willing to experiment, to take chances and steer their music down unexpected avenues that may take them down cul-de-sac's but could equally open up whole new musical horizons. Chicago's REZN are not quite yet in the same league as those bands mentioned above but the quartet of Rob McWilliams (guitar/vocals/oud); Phil Cangelosi (bass/vocals/bağlama/rainstick); Patrick Dunn (drums /percussion/ sitar) and Spencer Ouellette (synthesizer /saxophone/flute/percussion) are certainly heading in the right direction if the bands latest album "Chaotic Divine" is anything to go by.

                                          

Well that's it folks Desert Psychlist's list of our favourites from 2020, it's been a a hell of a year but one set to a fantastic soundtrack!

So now it's time to thank all those that have played their parts this year, Michele for her endless support, hugs. kisses and transport duties, Vikki, Billy and Sian for being the best kids a Dad could ever hope for, grandchildren Ethan, Austin, Rowan and Amber for filling my heart with a new kind of love, Sreve Howe (of Outlaws Of The Sun) and Reek of Stoom (of Howls From The Hollows podcast) for constantly pointing us in the direction of new grooves and for late night chats, Joop Konraad (of Stoner Hive) for support and shout-outs, all the members at Retro Rockets for reminding us of our roots, Leanne Ridgeway (of Riff Relevant) for support and laughter., Bucky Brown ( of The Doom Charts/ The Ripple Effect) for all his hard work and cooking posts, all the contributors at The Doom Charts who monthly go that extra mile, all the record labels and PR companies for the promos and updates and last and but not least all the musicians and artists who constantly provide the grooves that shine a much needed light into our often drab lives. THANK YOU ALL!!!!

© 2020 Frazer Jones