Atlanta’s swaggering smooth alternative rockers The Buzzards Of Fuzz are preparing to release a new single “You Never Bring Me Any Flowers” b/w “How Could You?” on July 15th. The band’s laid back, heady demeanor is a real blues-infused treat for rock fans as evidenced by the Soundcloud embedded streams of the songs below. They serve as the The Buzzards Of Fuzz first new material since their critically acclaimed debut EP Buzzard Custard was released.
In related news, The Buzzards Of Fuzz were recently named as one of the many bands that will perform at Asheville, North Carolina’s “Only Real Rock N Roll Music Festival”: the 828 Festival 2! The latest round of this event sees it growing to encompass three stages at The Boilerroom, Scandals and Club Eleven. It all happens in AVL on Sunday September 17th, 2017 from 2pm-2am. Find more info and details here.
UNCOMMON EVOLUTION Junkyard Jesus EP – All Formats Argonauta Records – Release Date: June 30, 2017 Review By: Pat ‘Riot’ Whitaker
From the high end low country of rural Montana comes the next step in the Darwinism advance of heavy rock, Uncommon Evolutionand their latest 4 song EP, ‘Junkyard Jesus‘. Due for release this Friday, June 30th from Argonauta Records, this granite-hard slab of stupendous stoner rock is a monstrous movement crammed into a short-playing offering. Not unlike the Uncommon Evolution‘aries neighboring state South Dakota’s National Monument Mt. Rushmore, ‘Junkyard Jesus‘ deserves his very own recognition. Perhaps the residents of Montana might see fit to create their own tribute to their imminent favorite sons, Briar Gillund (vocals/guitar), Matt Niles (drums), Rick Bushnell (bass) and River Riotto (lead guitar).
What this fantastic foursome has carved out on this EP is nothing short of powerful and astounding, as well as energetic and enthralling. With mile-wide fuzzened riffs fueling these four cuts, they slither forward with swagger and surety. Gravity-generating grooves so deep they seem bottomless twist and turn without warning, pulling you along for the ride. All of this begins the very instant that the opening title track begins as “Junkyard Jesus” unfolds the tale of the regal one of refuse, the lord and master of scrappin’ himself, J.J. Rife with bluesy overtones and tightly packed rhythms, the song is an anthemic ode that serves to set things up for what may be my favorite song, the second cut, “Highly Modified Son Of A Bitch“. This slowly simmering scorcher is the kind of song only crafted after lengthy influence from the likes of Clutch, Planet Of Zeus or Wasted Theory. Its intertwining music and vocals yields a beefy number that is impossible to ignore.
The super cool infused sonics continue with the semi-doomish blues of “Feather Short Of Flight” as it alternates between slow jam verses and increasingly more uptempo choruses. Fat bottomed guitars churn and chug it out while the gargantuan, gravelly vocals spin yet another intriguing yarn you will refuse to resist. The subtle synths bubbling beneath the surface of the song at certain points is a damn fine touch too. Things end with the fourth and final track “King Of The Heep“, a furiously quickened cut that rips and tears along with some dizzying drums and outright intensity. The much more effect-heavy vocals are more aggressive, muddied with a seeming bloodthirstiness that works well within the confines of the song itself.
Grit, swagger, balls and burly machismo permeate each fiber and every moment of Uncommon Evolution‘s ‘Junkyard Jesus‘ EP. Still a relatively young band, one that formed in 2013 and has released two prior EPs, this latest effort from the irregular mutations is, simply put, remarkable. It is a fiercely unforgiving salvo of heavily southern-imbued stoner rock awesomeness and it will flat out rock you to your very core. Allow it to do so now via the Soundcloud embedded stream below and then go get this sumbitch this Friday, June 30th on Argonauta Records (purchase here).
LLNN/WOVOKA Split – CD//Vinyl Pelagic Records – Relase Date: June 16th, 2017 Reviewed By: Pat ‘Riot’ Whitaker
LLNN’s and WOVOK’s Marks/Traces split will see release June 16th via Pelagic Records on CD, LP, and digital formats. It remains to be seen if the planet’s fans of atmospherically dense, crushing doom heaviness are able to withstand this bleakly oppressive effort. The seven song Split sees Copenhagen, Denmark’s LLNN contributing six of those selections while Los Angeles, California’s WOVOKA add one rather lengthy number themselves. But it is the results that matter here I suppose and in this case, those are impressive…perhaps depressive too for some but either way, this is textural doom in all of it’s glorious greatness.
The beginning of the Split does so with the superb LLNN track ‘The Guardian‘, a melding of post-hardcore and noise rock with obvious doom and metallic overtones. The track’s rhythmic, pattern-like pulses act like a slow-grooving juggernaut rendering all before it asunder. Tribal drumming and intermittent walls of sound host the acidic vocalizations that permeate the song. Subsequent cuts like ‘Swarms’ and the blast furnace ferociousness of ‘Engineer Of Ire‘ only drag you further downward into the mire of this sludgened bog. The stand-out content provided by LLNN definitely is delivered in the back-to-backs tracks ‘Nostromo Falls‘, ‘Eye Of The Covenant‘ and ‘Gravitated‘. The latter one an instrumental delivering a slow deluge of electronica, rumbling undercurrents of bottom-end heaviness and shadowy, eerie vibes altogether. There are haunting vocal chants that remain ethereal and quite ghostly as well.
‘Traces‘ is WOVOKA‘s one lone, long-playing selections at over seventeen minutes playing time. After a brief intro piece, a barrage of molasses-molded riffs, skull crushing rhythms and drums driven by what sounds like axehandle-hewn strikes arrive. Hellish, anguished vocals cascade from within the cacophony, flowing across turbulent tempos and resting harshly upon your soul. Everything feels as if it is gradually increasing, building ever so subtly like a slow rising tide that will eventually overcome you..and it does. Aggressive transmittances ebb and flow, rise and crash within this swirl of tidal tonality until a break point is reached. From it, things settle into a less chaotic state as some massive bass lines and tightly wound drums take the reigns. Eventually they are accompanied by some intriguing, emotionally-enhanced clean vocals as the cut takes on a more definitive alternative, almost showgaze-y styling of post-rock content.
The pairing of these two bands on this Split from Pelagic Records is an ideally intelligent move. Both LLNN and WOVOKA work well in complimenting each others’ contribution. While there’s currently just a track from each band above (a press promo copy of the album was used for this review), it is more than enough for you to fathom exactly what we are dealing with here. ‘Marks/Traces‘ is a volatile offering that is simultaneously dangerous and daring for all the parties involved..them, you, me, us..everyone. See all ordering links below.
PHE S/T – DD Self-Release – Release Date: June 2, 2017 Reviewed By: Pat ‘Riot’ Whitaker
From Helmond, Netherlands we have the arrival of a hereunto somewhat secret trio Phe and their just-issued 5-song self-titled album. Secret or not, the cat (or PHEline) is out of the bag with this debut and whatta cat this is! Constructed upon all of the prerequisite fundamentals and components that make Stoner Rock the substantive treasure it is, the musical realms explored on Phe are quite diverse. Sure, it is all deeply rooted in the basics of heavy rock but the boys add in ample amounts of blues, fuzz, alternative and more into this stunning effort.
Things roll out off the line with the heavy stomp of ‘Heaven’s Hell‘, immediately finding an open-ended groove while a tight-knit rhythm section anchors things into place. Fuzzy riffs reverberate as a bit of husky, well-graveled vocals join the movement. We all ride this circuit together until things power down some toward the mid-section for a bit of stripped down vocals with bass and drum accompaniment. ‘Hide‘ begins with a much doomier introduction, a slow churn of guitar, bass and drums before yielding to to a minimalist amount of music during the verses. Reaching an almost hypnotic pattern at times while the vocals switch from melodic and airy to angst-y and intense.
Effect-laden guitars unfurl the middle-marking point of this album, ‘Grow Old‘, before they merge with the others for another intoxicating rhythmic ride. It pulsates and ripples before going off the rails during the amped up choruses while heady vocals do their thing. Those choruses become huge walls of sound where a frenzied delivery rages ever so briefly before powering down back to the melodic verses. In fact, the fourth song’s title sort of describes this best, ‘Rage Down‘. Ethereal bass lines reverberate as an equally airy type of vocal combine with its desert rock music for a bit of a progressive feel to the track itself. Then we arrive at my favorite song of the five, the album-closing ‘Up On The Mountain‘, a track chock full of stoner grit. It combines that grit with a bit of a gothic doom feel while providing some of the burliest riffs yet. A brief pause in the music becomes the shove off point for a fantastic jam session that ultimately ends this fine song and PHEnomenal outing.
LÂMINA Lilith – DD Raging Planet Records – Release Date: June 2, 2017 Reviewed By: Pat ‘Riot’ Whitaker
From one of planet Earth’s ongoing hotbeds of psyche-infused heavy rock, Portugal, comes the 7-song ‘Lilith‘ debut from LÂMINA. Just released this past Friday, June 2nd, LÂMINA are poised to make their mark upon the global underground music scene with this release. With the quartet of Vasco Duarte, Katari, Evil and Filipe Homem Fonseca fueling the music upon this effort, what they’ve crafted is an energetic, enthralling entrance into another world. That world is a musical realm where hazy, lysergic hard rock melds with desert and grunge elements to render a powerful introduction to LÂMINA.
The diversity of music and genres explored on ‘Lilith‘ is an impressive example of the band’s ability to move within their music with cohesion and fluidity. From the heavily riff-driven opening song ‘Cold Blood‘ there is an underlying sense of urgency rippling within this cool tune itself. The band keeps things tight knit and moving at every twist and turn, up to a point where they delve into some headier aspects of the psyche-tinted variety. Explorations like that are rampant on subsequent tracks like ‘Maze‘ and ‘In The Warmth Of Lilith‘, especially the former as ‘Maze’ is a 20 minute plus excursion into otherworldly awesomeness.
But perhaps your tastes appreciate the heavier side of things and there is an abundance of such here. Just check out such stellar songs as ‘Big Black Angel‘, ‘Evil Rising‘ or ‘Education For Death‘. In fact, you should just go and check out the entire LÂMINA ‘Lilith‘ album via the Bandcamp embed below. Once there, you can reap the added bonus of it currently being available as a FREE download so it is truly a win-win for you (us) in every way.
BØG JIM – CD//DD Self-Release – Release Date: June 10, 2017 Reviewed By: Pat ‘Riot’ Whitaker
Having just celebrated their third year of existence in April, what better time for BØGto release a new studio offering than right now, huh? Well, that’s exactly what the Melbourne, Australia-based trio of bassist/vox Dain Fewings, drummer/vox Eric Stone and guitarist/vox Tim Jacka are preparing to do. The 5-song ‘JIM‘ will be unleashed on June 10th and when I say “unleashed”, that is exactly what I mean. See, JIM is a humongous beast of a release, a densely crushing recording where terms like volatile or savagery just scratch the surface of this thing’s overall heaviness.
The trio of BØG meld some diverse elements into their music on this outing, everything from sludge, doom, and death metal to ambient, atmospheric and psychedelia. There is an underlying hellishness to the content, a deep darkness that permeates it while channeling a sense of bleak despair. Those elements are solidly represented during the opening cut, ‘Original Hate‘, as a veritable locomotive-like slow groove churns things along. Tortured, acidic vocals, occasionally guttural ones too, navigate the music and at nearly ten minutes in length, there’s some places to explore.
Exploration sums things up nicely when referring to the haunting, heady songs ‘Fractured‘ and ‘Warm Smell Of The Dredge‘. Both seem somewhat minimalist but these are cases where less truly is more as trippy psyche nuances flow throughout the semi-funeral doom styling of the songs. I keep finding myself reminded of the genre classification “Outersound” that my friends in Swallow The Sky turned me on to last year. The music of BØG is most definitely that of the outersound nature and it does not get more outer there than ‘Siding With King Mort‘ and ‘Peat For Scars‘. These pair of back-to-back album ending tracks are two of the more experimental ones here with the former, ‘Siding With King Mort‘, being my favorite of the five.
Bludgeoning brutality with pummeling punishment derived from a truly sonic-based battery, BØG absolutely embodies such in their music. It’s relentless and constantly crushing you beneath its compacted weight, like the mass-condensing ability of a black hole. BØG are like an aural quicksand that you cannot escape from, they pull you inward and under their amplified mire. Be you doomed or damned, ‘JIM‘ is one hell of a way to go. Here’s your chance to stream it in full below…if you dare.
The avant-garde musical technicians known as SikTH just released their latest album, ‘The Future In Whose Eyes?‘, via Peaceville Recordson June 2nd. To celebrate the latest effort from one of metal’s more eccentric, most unique units, Taste Nation LLC is pleased to present you the new album streaming in full below. You can also purchase the album at this location.
France-based doom stalwarts Witchthroat Serpent will release their new single Striped Dragon on June 15 through Svart Records. The newest offering from guitarist/vox Fredrik Bolzann, drummer Niko Lass and bassist Lo Klav finds the trio adding some psyche-heavy flourishes to this superb selection. The song and its B-side were recorded live at Drudenhaus Studio during the sessions for the band’s previous release, 2016’s Sang-Dragon. It is arriving just in time for the trio’s upcoming road trek (dates below).
“Striped Dragon” is presented in a deluxe gatefold cover, a carefully-crafted work of art by Branca Studio. This piece is limited to 300 copies and is a one-time pressing.
– Pat ‘Riot’ Whitaker
WITCHTHROAT SERPENT “RISING SUN TOUR” June 2017:
19/06 BE Antwerpen “Kid’s Kaffee”
20/06 GER Berlin “Tiefgrund”
21/06 GER Dresden “Ostpol”
22/06 GER Leipzig “Black label Pub”
23/06 GER Nuremberg “Kunstverein”
24/06 GER Munich “St Helena Festival”
25/06 FR Paris “Dr Feelgood”
I recently shared a blurb on the Taste Nation LLC Facebook timeline about with an introduction to the new Swedish band Kryptonite. Today I am happy to bring you all a full article with more details about the band, their upcoming debut album and an Official Video premiere from said album as well. The video is for a track titled ‘Chasing Fire‘ which hails from the band’s upcoming self-titled debut due on August 4th from Frontiers Music SRL.
Kryptonite itself is a special project that began when The Poodles’ Jakob Samuel and producer Alessandro Del Vecchio decided to pursue putting together a band after working on another project. Soon they had brought in former The Poodles bassist Pontus Egberg (now in King Diamond and Treat) who was then followed by Robban Back of Mustasch (ex-Eclipse). The final piece of a guitarist soon fell to Mike Palace of the band Palace, a younger and extremely talented, impressive player.
The band Kryptonite play a more melodic style of rock music, not far removed from what many might call AOR Music. Of course that means it is more radio-friendly content and when it comes to exposure or increasing ones’ fanbase then there is nothing wrong with that. Check out Kryptonite for yourself via the clip for ‘Chasing Fire‘ below.
– Pat ‘Riot’ Whitaker
Tracklisting:
“Chasing Fire”
“This Is The Moment”
“Keep The Dream Alive”
“Fallen Angels”
“Across The Water”
“Love Can Be Stronger”
“Knowing Both Of Us”
“Get Out Be Gone”
“One Soul”
“Better Than Yesterday”
“No Retreat No Surrender”
THE ARTICLE SIXTIES Gods Of The Multiverse EP – DD Self Released – March 31st, 2017 Reviewed By: Pat ‘Riot’ Whitaker
From Bruges, Belgium comes The Article Sixties with their debut EP, ‘Gods Of The Multiverse‘, like a bullet out of the blue. Similar to that ordinance, this EP is a dangerous hunk of steely hard rock. Steeped in Seventies-style heaviness but with a clearly modern bent to their sound, this 4-song outing is chock full of energy. The quartet comprising The Article Sixites are Nick Anne (vox), Michiel Henneco (guitar), Marijn ‘Danger’ De Craecker (bass) and Niels Vanthourenhout (drums).
Things immediately burst out of the gate with the introductory cut ‘The Lucky Few‘, a heavy stomp of animated riffs and super-grooving rhythms. Stellar drum work powers out throughout the song while the vocals are quite solid. The song never pauses nor takes a breather and before you know it, ‘Outlaw‘ arrives. Another ripping, tight-knit track with some bluesy overtones where again, the guitar playing is intensely active. Things get quite groove-based in the bridge, I especially like the stripped down section of isolated bass lines and feedback. We receive our first real breather as the lighter vibes of ‘Little Sister‘ begins, melodic and a bit musically haunting. Things soon delve deeply into a bit of psychedelia before a full-on eruption into driving rhythms and vocals with a sense of urgency. That feeling continues to build and build but before the song is over, I swear it takes on a styling that reminds me of The Misfits and TSOL (True Sounds Of Liberty) both. We get to ‘Match‘, the last song and my favorite of the four. Another energized number with a bit of W.F.O. attitude in the thick guitars, amazing rhythm section’s back and forth and the album’s best vocal performance in my opinion.
The Article Sixties ‘Gods Of The Multiverse‘ EP is a superb introduction to the band as well as just a rocking release in general. It is no crap rock and roll and as such, it is good and it kicks ass, simply put. Check it out via the Bandcamp embedded stream below.
