REVEREND BIZARRE II - "CRUSH THE INSECTS"
Spikefarm Records
Finnish slaves of satan fly the doom freak flag high.
It was a profound relief to discover after one profoundly rewarding listen that the idiosyncratic
Finnish doom juggernaut, 'Reverend Bizarre' [still the finest name for a metal band ever!] have exhumed
their desiccated carcasses from a trio of mouldering graves long enough to cement their
position as the premier doom metal act bar none, as "Crush the Insects" fly’s the doom
freak flag higher and prouder than most.
While their epic, lumbering, corpulent doom remains intact, the third album has a tauter, more
condensed attack which owes an even greater debt to Witchfinder General than ever
before. And while this is their most accessible, dare one say polished outing, it has
lost nothing of the morbid charm and head swirling riffage of previous outings... From the propulsive
NWOBHM inspired opener "Doom Over The World" to the final Tombstone crunch of "Fucking Wizard" both
Doom fans and those with a yen for sabbathoid, trance-inducing guitar dirges will find a veritable
treasure trove of Ghoulishly trenchant, ultra slow grooves...
And on a more personal note I find Albert Witchfinder to be one of the most useful Doom metal
vocalists outside of Wino, and his potent, maudlin larynx is on cracking form here.
As ever the songs are well constructed and the swollen, ponderous riffs ooze down ones ear
canals like warm fudge, and the sublime "Slave of Satan" is grandiose doom on the
scale of a malevolent El Cid, utterly gorgeous and heavier than a
bank vault full of bank vaults.
The production is suitably broad and muscular, allowing the denser-than-thou
riffs to penetrate the listener’s brain meat with the depth and murderous
efficacy of a Whaler’s harpoon. Essential Doom [as evidenced by "We Live", Electric Wizard
have a LOOONG way to go to usurp the mighty Reverend... "The doom king is dead... long live the doom King!].
Fans of: Saint Vitus, Witchfinder General, Sabbath, Cathedral, proscription painkillers.
jason
ROTOR - "2"
Elektrohash Records
Brilliant paradoxical jammage from Germany.
Rotor have returned from their in-depth exploration of the sonic elements - and, oh the findings they've surfaced
with. Each musician sounds fully competent in his skills and sensible enough to avoid slipping
into self-indulgent musical masturbation. With these talents soaring in glorious harmony, "2" is an
album that is, simply put, a trip-and-a-half.
Paradoxically, the album fuses elements of sturdy fuzz-rock
with a sort of groovy, jazz, free-flow. Save for two tracks that do have vocals, it's ROCK-SOLID instrumental
bliss. Some may dread the "I" word for fear of 12-minute songs with long, jammed-out soft sections. FEAR NOT! Things
may get spaced out at times, but nowhere on the release does the music ever get frail or
delicate. "2" is a durable ride from start to finish. A constant feeling of velocity
accompanies the music, no matter what kind of sonic channels are being used for propulsion. All you
have to do is go with the flow, man. Dig it.
dr.jones
GIDEON SMITH & THE DIXIE DAMNED - "DEALIN' DECKS"
Scarey Records
Mournfull but also sex-addled southern gothic.
Gideon Smith & The Dixie Damned released a six song EP, called "Dealin' Decks" in memory of their
former drummer and founding memeber Boo 'Creepy' Duckworth, who died in the summer
of 2002. The EP covers the band's creep-a-delic take on gothic southern rock. The music
is a swaggering mixture of heavy groove riffs lifted from The Cult, The Doors, Saint Vitus, Zodiac
Mindwarp and even Jimi Hendrix.
Gideon Smith manages to sound like Ian Astbury, Andrew Eldritch and Jim Morrison rolled into into
one and he really makes the band. That's not to diminish The Dixie Damned though, as they
absolutely rip -easily takin' off on southern death rock as well as cool stoner vibes and outerspace
jams.
Most of the lyrics deal with the loss of a band member and good friend, but Smith also encounters love, lust
and desire while dealing with psychotic girlfriends. "Dealin' Decks" is a profound testimony to Boo Creepy, and
it leaves me craving a new full-length [due out sometime next year on Small Stone Records].
walter
SPIRITUAL BEGGARS - "DEMONS"
Spv
Just don't call Spiriual Beggars stonerrock.
Spiritual Beggars latest effort "Demons" is the follow up to its rather disappointing predecessor
"On Fire". It was the first album with the band's new line up, which includes JB from
Grand Magus on vocals and bassist Sharlee D' Angelo. Happily, Spiritual Beggars Mark II comes to
full fruition on this album, sporting a genuine classic rock feel instead of turgid
stoner rock.
Firmly rooted in the heavy 70's [think Frank Marino meets Mountain, think Rainbow meets early Whitesnake], "Demons"
is the culmination of all the indivdual talents, but without the self-indulgent wankery. It's
Ludwig Witt's powerhouse drumming and the Hammond-driven sounds of Per Wiberg that allow
Michael Amott [ex-Carcass / Arch Enemy] to showcase some of his best riffs to date. This results
in a cool, self-assured delivery of classic-rock guitar styles. Add to that the remarkably
tight interplay between the musicians and the bluesy vocal leanings of JB and you can't
go wrong, especially with the well crafted songs on offer that are showcased by heavy,
aggressive production.
"Demons" is also an exciting album to dance to. Just listen to "Throwing Your Life Away" and "Sleeping
With One Eye Open" [Captain Beyond anyone?], you'll feel your body movin' to the massive
grooves. Spiritual Beggars are also introducing a new phenomenon to the rock hordes: "Through The Halls" will
leave you playing air-organ instead of air guitar [which most of us have been practising almost our
entire lives]. All in all, "Demons" is a great album, and a wake-up call to those who have their copy
of Deep Purple's "In Rock" on loan.
xander77
Spritual Beggars' JB about the making of "Demons"
"Demons" covers much more ground than the stoner rock tag which is so easily applied to Spiritual
Beggars. This album harkens back to the classic rock sounds of the heavy 70s and recalls the best of
Rainbow, Whitesnake and Frank Marino. Were you intentionally going for that classic rock feel?"
"Well, I don't think we do anything "intentionally" really, ha-ha! I think we already went a bit in that
direction with the "On Fire" album and I guess that "Demons" is a bit of a continuation of that. I
certainly agree with you that the Rainbow / early Whitesnake feel is there, but mainly in the
songwriting. The actual delivery is much heavier and modern I think."
What's the main difference between "Demons" and its predecessor, "On Fire"? It seems that Spiritual
Beggars Mark II has come to full fruition with "Demons"
"Yeah, I think "Demons" is a like a combination of the melodic aspect that "On Fire" kind of brought
and the heaviness and aggressive approach of the "Ad Astra" album. Hopefully the best of both worlds
so to speak."
Any plans to play live?
"With all of things going on with other bands that I'm sure you're aware of, there's nothing specifically
planned at this moment, but we're always on constant standby with Beggars and we love to play live.
As soon as there is an opening we'll return to stage. We don't need that much preparation, we'll
just do it!"
SUBARACHNOID SPACE - "THE RED VEIL"
Strange Attractors Audio House
Atmospheric instrumental soundscapes.
The latest CD by Subarachnoid Space continues their journey into delay-drenched psychedelic
soundscapes. All six tracks are instrumental and have the classic combination of
multi-tempo tracks and drones to suit all tastes and keep interest levels high throughout.
Subarachnoid Space's overall sound can be summed up as delay-drenched, wah-soaked psychedelia with a
killer crunch that stops them from going prog. The standout track is "Red Veil", a huge 10 minute
epic with subtle tonal shifts and layers of effects. The rocking opener "Honorable Mention" also launches
the album spectacularly. Highly recommended.
a.
SUICIDE WATCH - "GLOBAL WARNING"
Mausoleum
Retrograde thrash-core.
[Now a lot of Roadburners might wonder why I'm writing about what, for all intents and purposes, is a straight
up trash record. As I'm sure, fans of Electric Wizard & High on Fire will dig Sucide Watch's heavy trash-riffage]
During the halcyon days of 1980’s metal / crossover, an eager rivet head would gleefully fawn over
his vinyl with covetous pride as many of the profoundly lurid graphics would be as eye-wateringly
abrasive as the splenetic music within. And the glorious artwork of the much venerated Ed Repka
was as ubiquitous in thrash metal as the iron-flanked, heavy breasted, copper-toned Amazons in Boris
Vallejo fantasy epics. So I found myself in the midst of an adolescent flush of excitement
when I beheld the vibrant, apocalyptic, Ed Repka art that adorns the Suicide Watch
debut album, quite, quite wonderful and ALL GONZOID METAL!
So is this disc all mouth and no pantaloons? Fortunately both gob and pant are in rude health
as these retrograde thrash-core hellhounds deliver a suitably bellicose, metallithrash, aural assault
that not only does justice to the supremely apropos art but sends the listener down
a gloriously vertiginous time tunnel where one arrives bruised and battered in the mid 80's.
It was the era where Shades records in London stocked the latest vinyl releases by thrash overlords such as
Whiplash, Destruction, Tankard, Artillery, Nuclear Assault, etc next to the nascent
crossover genre -where the likes of The Crumsuckers, Excel, Ludichrist, D.R.I, Uncle Slam, Suicidal
Tendencies, The Accused fused the adrenalized technicality of thrash metal with the more
aggro, politico awareness of hardcore... And Suicide Watch are prime, albeit anachronistic examples
of said genre, that Suicide Watch have an ability to discharge omnipotent thrash buzz-bombs with
the best of 'em is redoubtable as the band's clear love of thrash-core translates
into something profoundly more exciting than masturbatory fan boy expertise.
They eschew the current vogue for low-geared g-tars, harmonic squeal-athos, sluggish
breakdowns and successfully generate a frantic, trebly 'pure' thrash core assault that is all
blitzkrieging, amphetamoid g-tar riffage. It charges out of your bucking speakers
with the dizzying velocity of a bungee jump, and brings to mind the spunky, thrash-chug
of Excel's magnificent 'Split Image' album. And ones inability to remain prone while
listening to "Global Warning" is ample proof that this fine album should appeal to far
more metallians than merely aging thrash junkies such as myself.
Suicide Watch are at their locomotive, thrashgodz best during the barnstorming title
track, 'Global Warning' which contains the gloriously anarco chant of "Fuck the Police,
fuck the Government..." and then segues into the most compulsive g-tar mosh down I've
heard since Scott Ian's, bludgeoning, Rhinosaur grooves in 'Caught in a Mosh' crippled a generation's
worth of neck bones...PHEW!!!
It was at this point that my fingers happily drifted from the keyboard and grasped my
phantom, shark fin Jackson g-tar and I proceeded to pound my head with such mania that should my
neighbour have spied me through the curtains it would have appeared that I was in the midst of a
murderous fit!
While the success of "Global Warning" is down to the cohesion of all the talented musicians involved, the star
of the show is Simon's g-tar skillz as his liquid fingers have clearly absorbed all the bravura pyrotechnics of
his thrashing mentors as he coaxes some truly exhilarating and incendiary riffage out of his white-hot axe, HUZZAH!
Production is crisp, effective, organic, unfussy, and a real moshzilla. Go buy!
For fans of: Tankard, Excel, Destruction, Nuclear Assault, Carnivore etc.
jason
THEE PLAGUE OF GENTLEMEN - "PRIMULA PESTIS"
I Hate Records
Following the footsteps of Celtic Frost, The Plague
of Gentlemen are here to spawn some lethal, demonic riffage upon the legions of hell.
This is lethal, scabrous, psychotic doom-core riffed out by four belligerent, Belgian barnstormers [try
sayin' that after a few skull-pints of Duvel!]. It would be fair to say that until now Belgium was
infamous for being infamous, well "Thee Plague of Gentlemen" have made such an ungodly, pulverising, cacophonous
noise with their debut album, "Primula Pestis" as to beggars belief.
To whit: If you have ever imagined what the incestuous union betwixt High on Fire, The Melvins & Warhorse' would spawn? Well, fret
no longer gentle reader as their slavering, homicidal progeny would be 'blessed' with tar-black, murderous sludge
riffs the size of mount Sinai, and a voice so demoniacal as to send a legion of Cenobites, cowering
and wet-panted back to the 10th circle of hell, and what manner of moniker would this
cankerous infant go by... "Thee Plague of Gentlemen."
In pugilistic terms these sludge-crazed Low Landers are a towering, heavy metal Steven
Seagal with comparable girth, and armed with a similarly devastating ability to gouge
eyes, snap limbs and poleaxe you before you have a chance to defend yourself.
Track one, "Greek Fire", adds enormous credence to Frederic Caure's moniker of 'SG Demonic Riffage' as he
cudgels you with the kind of apocalyptic, over-driven, low-end death-tone that is replete with
enough distortion to unscrew even the most elephantine of speakers.
Should the inevitable Martian invasion occur, as H.G Well's anaemic, tripod riding space vampires
were flummoxed by the common cold, there is a good chance that a repeat attack could be repelled
merely by the ballistic auditory holocaust that is "Primula Pestis." And while the album's enigmatic
title might sound like a misjudged brand of rancid soft cheese, I can assure you that the seven
tracks on display are granite-hard, skull bursting sludge-core.
For fans of Unearthly Trance, Warhorse, High on Fire.
jason
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