Solace have never been shy about veering into and out of stoner rock convention, and they do so deftly on their latest as well, with opener “Disillusioned Prophet” boasting a solo that calls out Tony Iommi’s from “Heaven and Hell” shortly before uni-monikered vocalist Jason comes on with some of the track’s most powerful singing. Songs like “Six Year Trainwreck” mark themselves out with memorable riffing and interplay between Southard and Daniels’ lead work. At their heart, Solace is still very much a guitar band.

That said, it’s impossible not to acknowledge the time that’s passed since 13, and the inevitable growth the players have undergone since then. A.D. is unquestionably Solace’s most elaborate, constructed work to date.

Continue reading:  The Obelisk » Blog Archive » Solace Begin a New Era with A.D.
(Special thanks to JJ Koczan for the very kind permission)

Bison B.C. - Dark Ages

Lovingly pinched from The Obelisk: Vancouver bud metallers Bison B.C. show some shocking maturity on their sophomore outing for Metal Blade, Dark Ages. There’s still plenty of the hellraising atmosphere that so deeply permeated 2008’s Quiet Earth, but the band is beginning to sit back a little and feel out song dynamics, allowing tracks to develop more fully. They haven’t lost any of their heaviness (which I feel is unfortunately implied when discussing a band’s maturity), but they’re just starting to approach that heaviness in a new way, and Dark Ages captures the four-piece at this fascinating moment in their development.

Opener “Stressed Elephant” tops eight minutes, boasts complex melodies and arrangements and still somehow manages to leave a black eye when it’s done. It’s this duality that Dark Ages does such a good job of framing. Even when Bison B.C. are at their most Mastodon-ish, arguably the early moments of “Two-Day Booze,” they’ve begun to retain their own personality, and that comes through in the riffs and rhythms. The vocal trade offs between guitarists James Farwell and Dan And sound more plotted out in “Melody, This is for You” (after the three-minute heavy jam that precedes the vocals, anyway), but that only seems to enhance the overall affect of the song, which is a Dark Ages highlight.

Continue reading:  The Obelisk » Blog Archive » Bison B.C. Give Light to the Dark Ages.
(Special thanks to JJ Koczan for the very  kind permission)

The European version of the album includes one bonus track. The deluxe gatefold 180-gram vinyl edition contains the aforementioned bonus track, the album on CD plus a cover art poster as additional goodies.

Continue reading: BLABBERMOUTH.NET – HIGH ON FIRE Members Talk About Making Of ‘Snakes For The Divine’.

High on Fire - Snakes for the Divine

Lovingly pinched from Pitchfork: High on Fire make burly music; that’s the only thing you can really call it. The Oakland power trio’s thundering roar isn't dumb; there’s a clear technical virtuosity on display in Matt Pike’s squiddling solos, and the songs move confidently through multiple riffs and movements without ever relying on time-tested verse-chorus-verse formatting or compromising their brutality. But there is something elemental about their assault. While peers like Mastodon construct overthought concept albums, High on Fire do one thing, and they do it very well. They pummel.

Matt Pike growls out his badass nonsense lyrics like a more gnarled Lemmy, if that’s even possible, and rips out one gut-busting riff and shattering solo after another. His rhythm section does their best to imitate an elephant stampede. Their basic format might vary a bit over the course of an album; they’re not averse to floridly acoustic intros or eastern-tinged psych moments. But their fundamental mission won’t ever change. They make tough, fast, snarly stoner metal. It’s just what they do.

Snakes for the Divine is the band’s fifth album. For this one, they’ve decamped from the venerable metal indie Relapse to the way-less-venerable indie E1. On their previous two efforts, the band worked with legendary scuzz-rock producers (Steve Albini on 2005′s Blessed Black Wings, Jack Endino on 2007′s Death Is This Communion). On this one, they switch things up a bit, working with Greg Fidelman, who produced Slayer’s 2009 comeback album, World Painted Blood, and worked on a whole mess of recent Rick Rubin projects.

Fidelman’s not as natural a fit for High on Fire as Albini or Endino, and the very, very slight sheen he brings to the proceedings doesn’t do them any favors. The drums don’t wallop quite as hard, and Pike’s guitar doesn’t sound quite as much like the sound of a swamp demon bellowing. But Fidelman’s smart enough to keep his tweaks from interfering much, and the band’s apocalyptic fury sounds undiminished even after the last masterful two albums.

Continue reading: Pitchfork: Album Reviews: High on Fire: Snakes for the Divine.

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)

Kylesa - Static Tensions

Roadburn’s Sarah Kitteringham wrote five Album of the day reviews for the week of June 7th to June 13th, including Kylesa’s Static Tensions:

Once the needle drops on Kylesa’s fourth full length Static Tensions, much is immediately obvious.

The revolving lineup of past years finally feels solidified, headed by the very capable duo of guitarists and vocalists Laura Pleasants and Phillip Cope, and rounded out by bassist Corey Barhorst and drummers Eric Hernandez and Carl McGinley.

Whereas the groups past full lengths, including the messy yet massive To Walk A Middle Course and Time Will Fuse Its Worth, felt as if much could be improved, nothing should be changed this time. The Savannah quintet bursts out the gate roaring on the thunderous ‘Scapegoat’,  melding psychedelic sludge with catchy rhythms that let up only at the discs abrupt end.

Kylesa has improved much about their sonic assault. Pleasants has been pushed to the forefront vocally, allowing both her gruff howl and feminine croon to shine through. Cope’s vocals are much more discernable and melodic. The drumming duo has solidified, now as precisely and massively executed as the Melvins / Big Business fusion.

The group has shortened their song times and injected more groove, resulting in songs that pound harder and heavier than ever before. Happily, Cope’s production has captured the pummeling energy of the group’s fantastic live show. And, unlike their previous works, the disc is completely consistent; resulting in what could be the best metal album of 2009. It also doesn’t hurt that the chilling album art was provided by Baroness’ John Baizley, an unsettling rendition of what appears to be Batman’s nemesis Poison Ivy.

Several tracks are worthy of mention, including the furious ‘Insomnia for Months’,  the massive polyrhythmic percussion and furious howls of ‘Said and Done’ and the piano opened ‘Running Red’, an unsettling and subdued track that opens with darkly atmospheric undertones which eventually burst out with battering instrumentals. Followed by the aching ‘Unknown Awareness’,  than peaking again on the more-is-more approach of Perception, the disc has nary a weak moment.
Sarah Kitteringham