SardoniS - SardoniS

Lovinly pinched from The Obelisk: Even though there’s only half of what’s commonly regarded as a full band comprising the lineup of Belgian doomers SardoniS, you can’t argue with the mission of their self-titled MeteorCity debut LP. At their core, guitarist Roel Paulussen (also of Solenoid) and drummer Jelle Stevens seem hell bent on stripping stoner doom to its basest core and dwelling in the harsh reality of iceberg riffs and tectonic crashes. The album is instrumental, and rather than missing the vocals, the effect the nine songs have is one of unimpeded groove. In a genre where the riff is the central component anyway, SardoniS take it to the extreme. Not only is the riff central, it’s all there is.

Continue reading:  The Obelisk » Blog Archive » SardoniS: The Last S is for “Severe”.
(Special thanks to JJ Koczan for the kind permission)

Freedom Hawk - Freedom Hawk

Lovingly pinched from The Obelisk: Freedom Hawk, out of Tidewater, Virginia, are a four-piece on a mission geared toward ’90s stoner space with just a touch of southern flair. Their self-titled MeteorCity debut, following last year’s nine-song Sunlight on Magic Lady Records, hails a ride in Fu Manchu’s boogie van while jamming out on garage-flavored Sabbath and putting back a couple of Legend brews, raising hell through the countryside.

Vince Burke (Beaten Back to Pure, Hail!Hornet, etc.) recorded, mixed, mastered and remastered the totality of Freedom Hawk, and he did a noble job of bringing forth the Orange-colored fuzz. I caught the band last year in New York after it was announced they’d be working with MeteorCity just to check them out, and compared to their live show, Freedom Hawk on record is a little tighter. Guitarist/vocalist TR Morton runs his voice through a processor basically throughout, and though that can get tiresome, it’s nothing unbearable, especially for fans of Sheavy or the aforementioned Fu Manchu.

Continue reading: The Obelisk » Blog Archive » Early Morning Review: Freedom Hawk, Freedom Hawk
(Very special thanks to JJ Koczan for the kind permission)

Egypt - Egypt

Lovingly pinched from The Obelisk: Rare are the times in my life where the phrase, “Fuck yeah, Dire Straits!” has crossed my lips. In fact, I can only think of one instance, and that was the first time I heard the uber-fuzz guitar tone on ‘Dirty Witch’, the third of four songs on Fargo, North Dakota, trio Egypt’s self-titled EP.
Originally released on vinyl in 2007 via Lyderhorn Records (since relocated to Norway), Egypt finds its first CD issue courtesy of MeteorCity’s ongoing reconnaissance program to unearth quality, unheard Sleep-style stoner metal.

Sure enough, Sleep is a chief reference here, as it is for much of MeteorCity’s latter day output, but Egypt work in an even more classic rock vein, bassist / vocalist Aaron Esterby having a far-off-the-mic feel to his approach that sounds like it would go well over an enthusiastic crowd at a sweltering summer festival. Likewise, Ryan Grahn’s guitar is warm and easy on the ear in a classic style, sounding particularly sweet on closer “Touch Ground”, the first two and a half minutes of which unfold calmly and casually so that when the massive riff around which the song winds up being based comes in nearly 30 seconds later, it’s all the more grandiose. Kudos to drummer Chad Heille for morphing his style to suit the situation at hand, be it the jazzy snare work that starts the song or the rampaging crash cymbal that finishes it.

Continue reading: The Obelisk » Blog Archive » Egypt is Ready for the Digging.
(Very special thanks to JJ Koczan for his kind permission)

Ararat - Musica de la Resistencia

Lovingly pinched from Stonerrock.com: Even looking at the two titles with which he’s chosen to represent his first solo outing apart from Los Natas, it’s plain to see Sergio Chotsourian is working to reconcile two sides of himself.

For a band moniker, he’s chosen Ararat, the highest mountain in and national symbol of his ancestral Armenia (actually it’s located in Turkey now, but everyone pretty much considers it Armenian anyway), and for an album title, Musica de la Resistencia, which is inextricably linked to the Latin American revolutionary ideal. The Argentine guitarist/vocalist lets loose this cross-cultural interplay across seven mostly experimental tracks on Ararat’s MeteorCity debut, making a marked sonic departure from his main outfit – at least mostly.

There are two extended tracks on the mostly instrumental Musica de la Resistencia, and the first of them is opener “Gitanoss,” named for the Romani peoples of Spain. The song begins with an echoey sample and high desert tones with drums underneath before devolving into more ambient territory. Chotsourian wastes no time establishing the fact that Ararat is not going to be a band with one particular approach and a darker track such as the organ-infused “Gitanoss” is only one face he might choose to show at any given time.

Continue reading: StonerRock.com – Ararat – Musica de la Resistencia.

Actually, limiting Elder’s sound to just Fu and Sleep is selling them way short as they have many subtleties at work in their music like amazing background keyboard textures and cleverly layered guitar elements to vary the space and density of their work. There is also a bit of a “classic” metal influence to be found in their guitar work.

Elder - Elder

Rest assured though, these erudite elements only serve to buttress the main point — stoner rock riffs rule. Elder may not be the first to make that point, but they just might be the best there is right now.
Drew Webster

Black Pyramid - Black Pyramid

Lovingly pinched from StonerRock.com: Massachusetts doomers Black Pyramid meet at the point of the road whereby the venerated riffs of Sleep cross paths with the modern beastly aesthetic that has come to replace the boogie vans and pot references as the go-to subject matter for new school stoner metal.

Guitarist /vocalist Andy Beresky has a voice caught between a gruff and clean delivery that sounds like it’s coming right out of the side of his mouth as he describes his plot to ‘kill the Sagittarius’ on ‘Visions of Gehenna’ –track two of nine following the intro ‘…And the Gods Made War’  –and the mission of heralding the genre’s past while marching it into the future is clear. Black Pyramid is next gen stoner (whatever wave we’re up to now -I can’t keep count).

Please read the full review at: StonerRock.com – Black Pyramid – Black Pyramid.