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ALTAMONT - "Our Darling"
BORIS - "Absolutego+"
MAMMOTH VOLUME - "A Single Book Of Songs"
NOVADRIVER - "Void"
OLD MAN GLOOM - "Seminar II / Seminar III"
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ALTAMONT
"Our Darling" [ CD - Man's Ruin Records ]
Everybody must be clued in to Dale Crover's side project by now.
"Our Darling" is Altamont's second full length cd after a split 10"
on Man's Ruin with Acid King. The band has been together long
enough to have developed a solid chemistry and have been
steadily evolving their sound. Their evolution seems to be
speeding up. In contrast to the sludgy southern rock
by-the-numbers "Civil War Fantasy", "Our Darling" is a varied
collection of heavy riff rock.
"Our Darling" still sports a southern flavor, but only as a starting
point. "Short Eyes" is a southern rock/punk blaster. "Our Darling"
is reminiscent of The Gun Club's "Fire of Love" sound, at least
until the weird horn part comes in. Yeah, there are even horns
here. "Chicken Lover" sounds like early 70's Stones with more
complex stop/start playing. "Peace Creep" throws a Nirvana-ish
twist into things. Then there's the really far out stuff that makes
this album shine. "Swami" is a lurching, grinding beast of a song
that sounds like the product of a melvins/marilyn manson tryst.
Unsettling, but very satisfying. The most unexpected track of all is
an ambient soundscape called "Stripey Love" which somehow
seems to fit into the scope of the whole record. "Our Darling"
also has two covers on it -- "Pirate Love" is a very straight forward
take of the Johnny Thunders song, and "Young Man's Blues"
sounds true to the Who's version.
Finish everything off with gritty, vibrant, live sounding production
from Tim Green and you have by far the best Altamont yet. Who
says drummers can't write good songs?
drew
T R A C K L I S T
1. Saint Of All Killers
2. Short Eyes
3. Our Darling
4. Pirate Love
5. Chicken Lover
6. Dead Car
7. Swami
8. Peace Creep
9. Stripey Love
10. Young Man's Blues
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BORIS
"Absolutego+" [ CD - Southern Lord Records ]
Boris is here. Finally. Criminally neglected outside of Japan, that
nation's heaviest power trio has finally gotten one of their albums
rereleased in the U.S. and Europe thanks to long-time fan Greg
Anderson at Southern Lord. Boris has been around for around 7
years -- exact details are a little hard to come by though. Their
sound has continuously changed since their beginnings as a
Melvins meet hardcore-metal band. They began with a split 10"
in 1995 that featured their hard punky metal along with the
Barebones. "Absolutego" followed in 1996 and found the band
in a drone/ambient/sludge (influenced by Earth) phase. They
would further refine this sound and incorporate it into rock song
format on their masterpiece "Amplifier Worship". Trust me when I
tell you that "Amplifier Worship" is one of the five best heavy riff
albums EVER (rumor has it that Man's Ruin will re-release it this
year!). From there, Boris explored the modern japanese
tribal/psychedelic style (Acid Mother's Temple, "Visions..." era
Boredoms) on their split with Choukoku No Niwa. Their latest
release is "Flood" which I have yet to hear, and their very latest
recordings (in demo form) show they have come full circle (sort
of) and are now exploring short, hard, rock songs.
The recording at hand "Absolutego +" has the 65 minute long
title track and a bonus track, the previously unreleased "Dronevil
2". "Absolutego" is an enormously challenging beast of a track
slowly unfolding from its drone beginnings into a song so slow
and heavy that it makes the Melvin's "Lysol" look like speed
metal in comparison. The remastering on this track is
spectacular, there is actually significantly more audible content
than on the original release. When you're dealing with drones,
every bit of sound is important! The bonus track is from the
following summer (1997) that "Absolutego" was recorded so the
style is very similar although the song is much shorter at only 8
minutes. Essential for drone-ologists and early Melvins fans
alike.
drew
T R A C K L I S T
1. Absolutego
2. Dronevil 2
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MAMMOTH VOLUME
"A Single Book Of Songs" [ CD - The Music Cartel ]
Balancing on the edge of my chair with anxiety whilst slipping a silver disc
into the player... it's been a while since I've last done that. Mammoth Volume from Sweden had
floored me with their previous releases, so knowing what I knew, stakes were
high. And I just hate to be disappointed.
The opening track "To Gloria" sets the record straight: setting sail to broader
horizons in all subtlety, it hardly takes 30 seconds to fling this song into a
tsunami of heavy rock barrage. This track could have been on last year's "Noara
Dance" EP, as it sports the same warm 70s atmosphere. Now, I know this band has
never chosen to go the easy way, but what
they put on display in the following songs is of unequalled diversity. "Vipera
Berus" is straightforward and cocky, the acoustic "Aum" is strange and
unseizable and "What Happened In Antioch [Including a Myrriad Of Sounds]"
(how's that for a ProgRock-stylee title, huh?) is just about the best track the band has done so far.
Not many bands have the talent to succesfully mix different musical styles, but these guys definitely have, without choking themselves in artsy-fartsyness. The progression they've made since their last release is remarkable. Given the right opportunity, this band could easily surpass the underground and make it onto glossy magazine covers, like QOTSA before them. Just lend an ear to the almost symphonic grandeur of "Brave Manic Mover", the wild riffing of "Noara Dance" or the modern psychedelica of the closer "Instead Of Circles". Nuff said.
Sometimes it's nice to have some certainties in life. Mammoth Volume releasing wonderful records has by now become one of them.
chris
T R A C K L I S T
1. To Gloria
2. Vipera Berus
3. K
4. Aum
5. The So Called 4th Sect
6. What Happened In Antioch?
[including Myrriad Of Sounds]
7. Evening Streeted
8. Pleroma
9. Brave Manic Mover
10. Out Take
11. Noara Dance
12. What If
13. Instead Of Circles
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NOVADRIVER
"Void" [ CD - Small Stone Records ]
Hot on the heels of their last excellent release (Five Horse
Johnson's "The No. 6 Dance"), Small Stone Records delivers
another stunner by newcomers Novadriver. A twisting, turning
hard rock/psychedelic riff extravaganza, "Void" rocks your ass
with melodic grooves and treats your ears to glorious sonic
pleasures. This Detroit based quartet uses the effective
simplicity of "Detroit Rock" (think Iggy, MC5 etc.) to grab your
attention, but then fleshes things out with closely attended
details so the songs have staying power over repeated listens.
And I did listen repeatedly, I played this more than any other cd
I've ever reviewed...
"Satellite Night" comes on very slow and Kyuss-like before
exploding like Iggy Pop at a Fourth of July music festival. Massive
rock riffs delivered uptempo with huge bottom end and
unapologetic rock lyrics. The exact prescription for your rock
malaise. "Spinning Into No Future" visits classic 70's hard rock
riffing and fleshes it out with super thick production that makes it
sound SO GOOD. Then they spin out an acid guitar-fueled bridge
that forces your head to snap up and down while your ears are
overwhelmed with a wash of dense wah pedal psychedelia.
Includes a nice version of Aerosmith's "Seasons Of Wither" to
make sure you know where they're coming on. Believe me, they
make that point just fine all by themselves.
In addition to everything else, the packaging on this cd is ace.
The cool illustrations and thematic presentation enhance the
overall experience. This is the Big Hard Rock Record that will
transport you back to feeling like a teenager. Can you ask for
more than that?
drew
T R A C K L I S T
1. Satellite Night
2. Rocket Superstar
3. Spinning Into No Future
4. End Of The Universe
5. Sleep
6. Shoot The Sky
7. Void
8. Sixty Seven
9. Particle Explosion
10. Seasons Of Wither
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OLD MAN GLOOM
"Seminar II / Seminar III" [ CD - Tortuga Recordings ]
If there was such a thing as a Master's Degree in rock music, the
members of Old Man Gloom would all have one. This is not yer
basic simple A-B-A-B verse structure, or pentatonic scale riffery;
this stuff is hard. Hard to get and hard to hear. Hell, it looks like it
was even hard to release. It comes on two separate cds, each
with beautiful and interchangeable packaging. Check out the
super high gloss finish, or the textured matte paper, or the silver
printing. If you're a music scholar in the mood for something
different, or burned out on the 'same old thing', or into intensely
visual soundscapes and huge violent riffs, this could be what
you've been studying for.
If Neurosis were to make a stream-of-consciousness record as
soundtrack to a movie about a genius speed freak who has a
nervous breakdown, it might sound like "Seminar II". There are a
number of "songs" that consist of ambient dronescapes, "Breath
Drops Out in Ice Glass", "Brain Returns to Initial State", "Roar of
the Forest Rose to Thunder", etc. There are Floydian acoustic
moments, "Clenched Tight in the Fist of God". There are "songs"
that consist of manipulated recordings of static, "Radio Crackles
Spill Down My Face". Of course there are also the songs that
knock you right square on your ass with enormous riffs like
"Rape Athena", "Branch Breaker", and "Deserts in Your Eyes".
The "Seminar III" disc consists of the 27+ minute single track
"Zozobra", which probably just didn't fit timewise onto one disc.
"Zozobra" is an amalgam of all the bands various styles, but
comes across on the mellow side as a whole. Not quite relaxing
late night listening, but almost... come to think of it, it's perfect
music to study by. Students welcome.
drew
T R A C K L I S T
"Seminar II"
1. Brain Returns to Initial State
2. Bells Dark Above Our Heads
3. Branch Breaker
4. Radio Crackles Spill Down My Face
5. Hot Salvation
6. Breath Drops Out in Ice and Glass
7. Rape Athena
8. Roar of the Forest Rose to Thunder
9. Clenched Tight in the Fist of God
10. . . . Only Dogs Hear (Here)
11. Jaws of the Lion
12. Smoke Out Loud
13. Deserts in Your Eyes
14. Meditation in B Parts V & VI
15. Cinders of the Simian Psyche
16. Three Ring Ocean Sideshow
"Seminar III"
1. Zozobra
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