Earthless - Live at Roadburn

Lovingly pinched from StonerRock.com: The trick of free-flowing instrumental jams is keeping it interesting for long stretches of time. If there’s a group currently out there that knows this better than Earthless, I’d like to know who it is. From my vantage point, Earthless is the cream of the psychedelic rock crop, and while that opinion was solidified well before I heard Live at Roadburn, the San Diego-based band’s latest reinforced that feeling tenfold.

This two CD/LP release, recorded live and without any overdubs at this year’s (2009 -ed) prestigious Roadburn Festival (You don’t know about this? What are you, dense?), may take awhile to get going, but once it does, the band’s impossible to stop.

Continue reading:  StonerRock.com – Earthless – Live at Roadburn.
Please click HERE for the audio stream of Earthless – Live at Roadburn.

Harvey Milk - st

Lovingly pinched from StonerRock.com: I’ve gone over my history with Harvey Milk in greater detail before, but for context’s sake, the condensed version is thus: Once upon a time, I was a no-nothing mainstream metalhead who had grown tired of the crap I listened to. Then I discovered Harvey Milk and it was, more or less, a musical rebirth. I still don’t know a hell of a lot, but thanks to Harvey Milk, I know more than nothing.

I owe the band a debt of gratitude, one that I gladly repay a small portion of every time a new release of theirs hits my desk. Even when the material isn’t a game changer – like the good-but-not-great contribution to their recent split with Wildildlife – it deserves a mention, because, well, it’s Harvey Milk. It may be genius or it may fall short, but it’s still worth a listen.

That said, their s/t (something tells me that’s the actual title and not an abbreviation for “self titled”), also known as The Bob Weston Sessions, also know as “The Debut That Never Was,” is another essential Harvey Milk album. But in this case, the target audience is a little more precise, namely those already on board with the band. Why? Because you've heard it all before.

Continue reading: StonerRock.com – Harvey Milk – s/t.

Zoroaster - Voice of Saturn

Lovingly pinched from Stonerrock.com: The last time fans of all things heavy heard from Zoroaster was on the widely acclaimed Dog Magic, which showcased the Southern-friend sludge trio’s oppressive density, their occasional forays into the realm of experimentation, and an ability to lock into a nasty groove for prolonged periods of time without boring listeners to tears. For the most part, the far too brief follow up, Voice of Saturn, picks up where Dog Magic left off.

Standouts “Spirit Molecule” and “White Dwarf” are lumbering monsters that lock in early and are anchored by the monolithic drumming, chest rattling bass, menacing vocals and well-executed surprises that listeners have come to expect from Zoroaster.

Continue reading: StonerRock.com – Zoroaster – Voice of Saturn.

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.

The Devil's Blood - The Time Of No Time Evermore

Lovingly pinched by Stonerrock.com: This six piece band out of Holland delivers a sophisticated and layered album that is taking the world by..a tsunami of stage blood! Let’s get the obvious out of the way first: Yes, their live show consists of smoke machines, candle sconces and a basting of bloodied musicians who look like they’ve climbed out of a Dario Argento flick but, if you look beyond the ostensible appearance, you’ll find that their theatrics complement the music quite well and will have even the most acerbic concert-goer, (who’s eyes, at first, will undoubtedly roll toward the empty heavens), place his knitted brow in his back pocket with ears pricked, entranced in ecstasy to the sonorous guitar harmonies.

It would be easy to name all the retro/occult bands that obviously have shaped the vibe and direction in which The Devil’s Blood strives for but, that would be missing the point.

Continue reading:  StonerRock.com – The Devil’s Blood – The Time of No Time Evermore.

OM - God Is Good

Lovingly pinched from Stonerrock.com: It’s irrational, I know, but when a band I like loses half of its original members, I tend to get a little worried. It’s not as if there’s a proven mathematical formula that separates creative from uncreative, good from bad, but after a certain point, I can’t help but think the core ideal of the group gets compromised.

Especially when the members are so intertwined, as was the case with Al Cisneros and Chris Hakius. When news broke that after three full-lengths, one live album, and a slew of splits, Hakius was leaving the two-piece, my reaction was, “Well, so much for that.” New drummer Emil Amos had an impressive enough resume – Grails came close to stealing the show when they opened for OM in Boston – but in my mind, OM was the sum of Cisneros and Hakius. Early clips of OMv2 had the pair coming off as disjointed, with Cisneros’ rumbling, hypnotic bass lines working against Amos’ busier playing. That only reinforced my assumption.

Turns out it was just growing pains. With God Is Good, OM finds itself not only sure-footed but marching forward in a new direction. Don’t get me wrong – it’s still unmistakably OM, right down to Cisneros’ mystic spirituality gobbedly-gook lyrics (I guess I don’t read the same books as him), but as the album progresses, it’s obvious that the change in drummers has created a new sense of purpose.

Continue reading: StonerRock.com – OM – God Is Good.

The Gates of Slumber - Hymns of Blood and Thunder

Lovingly pinched from our friends at Stonerrock.com: If The Gates of Slumber’s sophomore album, Suffer No Guilt, proved they could write undeniably great songs and follow-up Conqueror showed they were able to write a consistent album, Hymns of Blood and Thunder demonstrates they can do both at the same time.

What that means is Hymns of Blood and Thunder has a hard-hitting immediacy that doesn’t let up until the last note. Opening track ‘Chaos Calling’ packs a stronger punch than Suffer’s ‘Angel of Death’ and Conqueror’s ‘Trapped in Web’ combined, no small feat. It’s a classic metal juggernaut, mixing brute force and grandiosity with some absolutely killer riffs.

Continue reading: StonerRock.com – The Gates of Slumber – Hymns of Blood and Thunder.

Abramis Brama - Smakar Sondag

Lovingly pinched from Stonerrock.com: In many ways, Abramis Brama is the crazy old uncle of the Swedish retro rock scene. Most people will place Witchcraft at the top of the heap, assuming they kicked the whole sub-genre off. But Abramis has been at it just a little longer and yet never managed to grab that brass ring.
Those in the know laud the group, but to the vast majority, Abramis is at best a band they’ve heard of but not actually heard.

Here’s hoping Smakar Sondag changes that. My experience with the band is limited to Dansa Tokjavelns Vals and their live album from a couple of years back, but compared to those two, Smakar is a noted progression.

Continue reading: StonerRock.com – Abramis Brama – Smakar Sondag.

Please click here for the audio stream of Abramis Brama live at Roadburn 2006.

Colour Haze - Burg Herzberg Festival 2008

Lovingly pinched from Stonerrock.com: Quietly issued while everyone’s back was turned and intended as a stopgap to sate those eagerly awaiting the material recorded at Duna Jam in Sardinia, the new live record from Deutsche heavy psych magnates Colour Haze — appropriately titled Burg Herzberg Festival 18.Juli 2008 — captures over two hours’ worth of the trio’s set from the traditional hippie fest.

Since their studio albums basically are intended to recreate the band’s sound in the most natural way possible, there’s not much of a leap in terms of how they actually pull off the songs, but like any live record worth a damn, there are tiny imperfections and changes to make it special for fans and other repeat customers.

Continue reading: StonerRock.com – Colour Haze – Burg Herzberg Festival 18 Juli 2008.

Please click here to listen to the audio stream of Colour Haze live at Roadburn 2007.

Harvestman - In A Dark Tongue

Lovingly pinched from Stonerrock.com: If the creative purpose behind Neurosis is a distillation and that of the solo material guitarist / vocalist Steve Von Till releases under his own name is a reverential composition, then the noise-laden drone and effects of Harvestman can really only be a deconstruction.
Though the songs on the second Harvestman outing, In a Dark Tongue, aren’t completely obliterated — elemental, often simple melodies remain in many of the tracks, delivered via acoustic or electric guitar — the rye is well lashed and it is plain to see the experimental vision is the driving force of the project.

Armed with a home studio, The Crow’s Nest, Von Till is free to fill out these songs with multiple layers and sounds, balancing the creation and destruction against each other. Don’t be mistaken, this isn’t outwardly violent music. The closest Harvestman comes to straightforward songwriting is probably the 13-minute ‘By Wind and Sun’,  and though Von Till is joined by what’s essentially a full band behind him, the brand of “heaviness” the song presents is more like a Tee Pee Records-s t y l e psychedelic drone jam than anything as crushing as Neurosis.

Continue reading: StonerRock.com – Harvestman – In a Dark Tongue.