Fusskalt ~ Delicious Danish Desert Rock

There’s a lot of stoner/desert bands out there who are experimenting with amalgamating a plethora of styles into their sonic cannons, adding some psych here a little doom there a touch of jazz, a little reggae and generally mixing it up. This is all great and can only be good for the scene as a whole but now and then I still get a yearning to hear some of that old school balls to the wall, fat juicy fuzzed up stoner/desert the way it sounded back in the day. Fusskalt deliver this in spades.

Fusskalt are from Aarhus, Denmark and consist of five dudes who take their lead from bands like Kyuss, Red Fang and Monster Magnet in other words they play stoner/hard rock with big chords, big riffs and truckloads of passion and attitude. Guitars are handled by Nick Jenson and Thomas Brandt, Jenson laying down the grit and fuzz on rhythm and Brandt serving up delicious solos and licks over the top. Beneath and below are the powerful engine room of Janus Kinke Pederson(bass) and Jonas Emil Nielson  (drums) keeping it tight and solid as they drive the music forward. Vocals are handled by  Lars Frederiksen whose gritty, slightly throaty roar fits the bands sound like a hand in a velvet glove, forceful and strong yet gruffly mellow when a songs dynamic calls for it.

Fusskalt recently released their third recording “Overdrive” a thunderous collection of stoner anthems that showcases not only their musical chops but also shows they can write a good tune …or five. Tunes that are full of infectious hooks and melodies and that go to prove this is not just a band who are going to rely on a few riffs to see them through but a band who know how to construct a song from top to bottom and making it work on every level.

Check these guys out, Fusskalt are not doing anything genre changing or radical musically but what they are doing is making passionate, extremely well played rock music that has a lot more to it that than you might first realise

 

 

Myopic Empire .......A South Essex Doom Duo

It is not often I get to introduce a band who come from my part of the world and even rarer that the band ply their trade in the doom genre.

Myopic Empire are from Southend-on Sea in South Essex, UK an area better known for its connections with blues and blues-rock, spawning bands like Dr. Feelgood, The Kursall Flyers and both guitarist Robin Trower and Procul Harem vocalist Gary Brooker, among others.

 Made up of two guys, Dean Derron  and Tom (no last name given) ,  who play guitars and basses, and aided by various bits and bobs of technology Myopic Empire create a doom sound that is very bottom heavy and very infectious. Vocals are handled by Derron and are clean, rugged and in places call to mind the desert grittiness of John Garcia, albeit with a South Essex accent, and are a perfect foil to the six string mayhem circling around them.

To date Myopic Empire have released two EP’s Myopeia (2013) and Doom (2015) both of which blend rumbling doom with elements of stoner metal distortion and Kyuss type heavy desert fuzz and I would recommend both of them to anyone who likes their doom a little sandy.

Sisters Ov The Blackmoon...... Blood Cauldron EP

Blood Cauldron is an EP you need to own, an EP that promises so much for the future and an EP that actually blew a speaker on my PC. To be honest I think the speaker was on its way out anyway but never mind this is still a super EP.

The band who created this superb EP go by the name of Sisters Ov The Blackmoon and play a blend of gritty bluesy stoner and occult doom-ish rock. Exploding  out of Los Angeles the band consist of Josh Alves – drums, Andrew Vega – guitar, Dan Schlaich – guitar and Jared  Anderson – bass but it is  the powerful bluesy tones of Sasha Wheatcroft on vocals that sets this band apart from others ploughing a similar musical furrow.

Blood Cauldron sets the tone for the EP with “Haunt”a barnstormer of a track that opens with the sound of cicadas chirping and an owl hooting and segues into a rolling guitar riff with a  horror movie soundbite over its top, then the guitars pick up the volume, drums crash and pound just as it gets gnarly everything drops down for the verse. Here is where you first get the “Wheatcroft” experience. With a voice that mixes Beth Hart’s bluesy holler with Miny Parsonz’ (Royal Thunder) smokey stoner howl, Ms. Wheatcroft is a revelation, her voice dripping with passionate power and control making every phrase and inflection count. One person does not make a band though and the other “sisters” more than prove their worth on this collection of songs. Vega and Sclaich complement each other perfectly on guitars coming on with earth shattering riffage and sublime solos and every now and then breaking into Lizzy-esqe twin melodies. The bottom end is held up just as well too with Alves and Anderson locking in as tight as Scotsman’s purse and creating a solid base for everything going on above them.

This EP shows a band on fire and I for one cannot wait for a full album.

Introducing Druid....Proto-metal for the 00's

One of the reasons  why I joined Bandcamp and why also I started this blog was to find and write about bands like Druid and to let others know about them because music this good should not be allowed to fade away into obscurity.

Druid are from Athens .Ohio and got together in 2014 and for a band who have only been together for roughly a year they should not be this good….but they are. Consisting of Kaleb Shaffner: Guitar, Vocals, Max Schmitz: Bass, Vocals and recent addition Adam Mayhall on  Drums ( original drummer Lous Eyerman plays on both "Druid"  and "Paper Squares") Druid take elements of 70’s proto –metal and blend it with 00’s stoner and doom and throwing a little blues and psych in. just to make things interesting.

In March this year (2015) they released their self- titled debut album, an absolutely stunning set of tunes that I called “a fantastic album” in my review on Bandcamp. Full to the brim with great tunes and great playing Druid also paid tribute to their influences by tagging the “Luke’s Wall” riff from Sabbath’s “ War Pigs” on to their song “Mushroom Fields”. A bold move but it worked a treat. The biggest nod to their heroes though is on the opening track “Roots and Beings” whose intro welds Hendrix’s “Voodoo Chile” to Status Quo’s “Pictures of Matchstick Men” Having said all that do not be fooled into thinking these guys are just a bunch of plagiarists and pirates, when it comes to writing good tunes these guys are very good. Take for instance “Rid This From My Eyes” a stunning song that starts off with a filthy bass intro before blowing the roof off when it goes into the oh so proto riff. They can even lay it out as on “No Good Man” with its Lynyrd Skynyrd meets Grand Funk vibe. Vocals are shared between Kaleb and Max and both are fine singers and both bring something good to the table individually but when they harmonise it sends shivers down the spine. Special mention has to go to the sterling production work of Greg Omella who manages to capture that organic 70's sound that prevails throughout the album, he also plays rhythm guitar on the album and sings lead on both " No Good Man" and "Roots and Beings".

Today (03 June 2015) saw the band release a three song EP “Paper Squares” which highlights the heavier side to their sound with two original tunes and a cover of Sleep’s “Sonic Titan”. The two self- penned songs “Altarsong” and “Paper Squares” are powerhouse displays of proto-metal/acid rock madness that evoke memories of Blue Cheer and The JPT Scare Band, full of scorching guitar solo’s and heavy bluesy riffs. The cover of “Sonic Titan” shows these guys can do stoner doom and do it well.

I really hope this band manage to climb the hurdles that road weariness, ego’s, music business politics etc. will inevitably throw in front of them, and stick together as I would love to see how this band progress.

Murder of Reality...Release Third EP!

Hamburg's Murder of Reality return with their third and best EP to date.
Musically "Walking Dead"  owes a large debt to Heaven & Hells "The Devil You Know" album it has that same more mature, darker riffage that Iommi employed at that time. Vocally though Captain Creek is his own man powerful, clear and with just the right amount of epic doom phrasing mixed in with a little grit in the upper register.

The first track "Walking Dead" is a brooding mid tempo doomy observation on the futility of people  marching to the beat of large corporations, following a path mapped out for us and excepting our lot in life. It is this track that  highlights that Heaven & Hell comparison with it's deep rumbling bass line leading the way before the guitar explodes into the main riff then collapses back down for the verse. The vocal for this song is just sublime, Captain Creek just nails the balance of frustration, anger and menace that the lyrics call for. This has got to be my favourite Murder of Reality song to date.

Track two "Pineal Variations" lyrically reminds me a little of Sabbath's" Into The Void"
 in that it uses space as it's theme but that's
where that comparison ends. "Variations" employs a superb stuttering riff backed up by some tight solid drumming that I defy you not to nod along to. For the first time on this record Captain Creek sounds a little Ozzy-ish with his delivery albeit with a little more grit. There is a great use of soundbites in the final third of this tune, a trend often overused in rock music but it works perfectly here.

Abyss the third and final track rounds things of nicely with a stoner paced groove and a slight nwobhm vibe. Captain Creek goes all out on the vocal here, never letting up and Adam Lake rips off a stunning Iommi-esque solo while all the time Jôrn Dackow on drums keeps everything grounded with exceptional timing and skill.

All in all if, like me, you are a fan of excellent trad. doom/hard rock then check these guys out NOW!

Limb To Limb ~ Classy UK rockers new EP

Limb To Limb have released their second EP “For Machines” a five track celebration of all things classic/hard rock that again highlights the truly wonderful golden pipes of vocalist Charlotta Ekebergh whose strong clean bluesy tones take the bands sound to whole new level. Don't think that this band are a one woman show though as the rest of the guys are no slouches either serving up delicious slabs of groove laden rock that is slick, classy  but with enough grit to please any stoners or doomers who might be thinking of checking these guys out. The twin guitars of   Vinnie Holmes and Nicos Christodoulou rip chords and solo’s that both burn and smoulder while Massimo Tortella (bass) and Ben Nicoll (drums) create a bedrock of rhythms that'll have you leaping around like a kangaroo with a wasp in it's pouch.

Limb To Limb may not be the greasy, unwashed, hairy, stoned out shorts and sandals delinquents we are used to in this genre but what they are is a solid, talented group of musicians who know how to write and rock a good tune

ElCam ~ French Instrumental Duo Release New Album!

Rock duo’s seem to be ten a penny now days, and I suppose it makes a lot of sense really, less equipment to haul around more room in the van while on tour and an even split when it comes to getting paid. In ElCam’s case, being an instrumental band, there is also no having to deal with a singer’s enormous ego!.... Win,win.

ElCam are from Sains-en-Gohelle in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France and to anyone who is familiar with their 2013 album “Orchard” will know that these guys play hard fuzz pedal driven instrumental stoner rock that belies the fact that the noise you are hearing  comes from just two guys, Aurel on drums and Jey on guitar.

The guys have just released their new album “Shaft”, via Bandcamp, a collection of six of the most fuzzilicious, spine tingling jams you’re likely to hear from two men this side of Christmas. Don’t make the mistake of lumping these guys in with the likes of the White Stripes or the Black Keys, oh no, aside from having no colour associated with their name these guys are more like a two man Karma to Burn than Jack or Dan’s outfits, just listen to the opening track “Life in the Ruts” to confirm that fact. Killer stuff!!!!!