Posts Tagged ‘heavy 70′s’

Album of the day: Fellwoods – Wulfram

Posted on Tuesday, February 7th, 2012

Lovingly pinched from The Sleeping Shaman: In music as with cinema, there has been a resurgence over the last few years, of art that gets labeled as “retro”. Al Mabon of At War With False Noise even went so far as to label this superb release as “retro rock”, but to take such categorization seriously would be to miss the point completely. You see, I believe most art that is self-consciously retro falls flat on its arse.

The reason is that the artists in question are merely ape-ing that which came before them, and thus the album / film falls into irrelevance quicker than the latest PR-exercise being pimped out courtesy of your television and radio. Which doesn’t mean these “retro rock” bands don’t enjoy considerable success (quite the contrary really!), I just get very bored of them very quickly (whilst, it must be said, not really finding them in any way disagreeable).

The fact of the matter is that the bands that stick out are the ones who hark back to the Seventies merely in the sense that they use the simplest formula in the book: write good songs. Cinema and music are two art forms that (for me) were perfected in the Seventies, and the crest continued until the late 80s, when the flow of jaw-droppingly good releases became more of a trickle as art and popular culture became more and more the weapon of virulent consumerism that we now know.

Production and the art of the riff was perfected many years ago, and it could be considered a mere coincidence that this wonderful album sounds as if it could have been recorded back then. The influence of Sir Lord Baltimore looms heavily over this record, but not for an instant does it feel forced, as this very talented bunch of people (formerly known as “The Moss”) have welded their talents into a beast very recognizably their own.

Wulfram starts off with a bang, no build up or samples, just a unified clash of noise and blues that grabs your neck and gets you nodding your head quick as can be – interestingly enough, Orchid’s fabulous Capricorn used a similarly no-holds-barred, stripped down approach to starting their record. As the opening track (“Mercenary”) rolls on, the grin on my face simply broadened, as shades of early Priest begin to show through the soaring vocals! Fucking RIGHT ON!

And as the album progresses, you’re treated to more of the same, through the ultra catchy ‘Widow Trakk’ (“…everywhere I go/The widows follow…”) that carries on where MC5 left off, killer drum breaks and gorgeous solos abound! There is the obligatory mellow lull in the proceedings for ‘It Would Come To Pass’, with its mellotron and vibraphone keeping a dark, otherworldy atmosphere before you’re grabbed by the bollocks and thrust into “Crown”, a track that Deep Purple would have been proud to have penned.

But the interesting thing is (and this is what makes Fellwoods so much more than another bunch of hippies living in the past) that there is just a tad of dissonance to the chords on occasion (a characteristic that colours the whole album) and although I’m probably way off the mark with this, it’s almost as if they were trying to channel the spirit of Voivod through 70s proto punk! As if to reaffirm this, the listener’s ears are subjected to ambient weirdness in the form of ‘Horsemeat’!

Continue reading: Fellwoods ‘Wulfram’ CD/LP/DD 2012 review | The Sleeping Shaman.

Tags: Album of the day, At War With False Noise, Fellwoods, heavy 70's, Saúl Do Caixão, The Moss, The Sleeping Shaman, Wulfram
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The Day After The Sabbath: Vol 61 – In Your Room Posted On Line!

Posted on Monday, February 6th, 2012

The Day After The Sabbath is a blog specialising in regular compilations of obscure heavy 60s and 70s rock. It’s Rich’ aim to reveal the secret world of bands that were inspired by the early psychedelic, doom and hard rock greats but were too short-lived, un-commercial or just plain unlucky ...read more

The Day After The Sabbath: Vol 60 – Where There’s Muck Posted On line

Posted on Sunday, January 22nd, 2012

The Day After The Sabbath is a blog specialising in regular compilations of obscure heavy 60s and 70s rock. It’s Rich’ aim to reveal the secret world of bands that were inspired by the early psychedelic, doom and hard rock greats but were too short-lived, un-commercial or just plain unlucky ...read more

The Day After The Sabbath: Vol.59 – Too Much of Nuthin Posted On line

Posted on Monday, January 16th, 2012

The Day After The Sabbath is a blog specialising in regular compilations of obscure heavy 60s and 70s rock. It’s Rich’ aim to reveal the secret world of bands that were inspired by the early psychedelic, doom and hard rock greats but were too short-lived, un-commercial or just plain unlucky ...read more

Album of the day: Dust – Hard Attack

Posted on Sunday, January 15th, 2012

Praise for Dust‘s Hard Attack from San Francisco’s aQuarius Records: Dust’s two early ’70s proto-metal classics had been out of print on cd for far too long – and even the last time we had ‘em, YEARS ago, we could only get a few drilled, cut-out copies. But now, huzzah, ...read more

Album of the day: Dust – Dust

Posted on Saturday, January 14th, 2012

Praise for Dust‘s Self/Titled from San Francisco’s aQuarius Records: Dust’s two early ’70s proto-metal classics had been out of print on cd for far too long – and even the last time we had ‘em, YEARS ago, we could only get a few drilled cut-out copies. But now, huzzah, import ...read more

Yob’s Atma: Album of 2011 According To Roadburn Readers, Friends and Associates!

Posted on Tuesday, January 3rd, 2012

In the beginning of December 2011 we asked you, our beloved Roadburn readers, friends and associates, to list your top 10 Roadburn-worthy albums of 2011. By January 2nd we had received 160 lists. Thanks to everyone who took the time to send us their list! This is how we compiled ...read more

The Day After The Sabbath: Vol.58 – All Thy Sons Command Posted On line

Posted on Monday, January 2nd, 2012

The Day After The Sabbath is a blog specialising in regular compilations of obscure heavy 60s and 70s rock. It’s Rich’ aim to reveal the secret world of bands that were inspired by the early psychedelic, doom and hard rock greats but were too short-lived, un-commercial or just plain unlucky ...read more

The Day After The Sabbath: Vol.57 – Speedball Morning Posted On line

Posted on Monday, December 19th, 2011

The Day After The Sabbath is a blog specialising in regular compilations of obscure heavy 60s and 70s rock. It’s Rich’ aim to reveal the secret world of bands that were inspired by the early psychedelic, doom and hard rock greats but were too short-lived, un-commercial or just plain unlucky ...read more

Blood of the Sun: Good & Evil Featuring Wino on Vocals Posted On Line

Posted on Tuesday, December 6th, 2011

Southern heavy 70s aficinados Blood of The Sun posted a cut from the upcoming album Burning on the Wings of Desire, featuring Scott “Wino”Weinrich (on vocals) and members of Saint Vitus, Stone Axe / Mos Generator, on line. Listen to Good & Evil below.