Tag Archives: stoner

Underground Sounds: Bantha Rider – S/T

Label: Vintage Records
Band: Bantha Rider
Origin: Poland

Do you remember that glorious cover of ‘Dopesmoker’ by Sleep? The procession through the desert? Amazing artwork, is it not? Now… don’t those guys look like the sand people from Star Wars? You get where I’m going, because Bantha Rider clearly takes inspiration from the Star Wars universe (where a Bantha is a beast of burden) and the reknowned stoner kings.

This group doesn’t hail from a desert region though, but from Poland. The country seems to have a fair share of wacky stoner bands on offer. I’ve previously enjoyed the work of Spaceslug for example, which is one of the most puzzling names in the extreme metal scene. But it’s good stuff and that goes for Bantha Rider too.

‘Sandcrawler’ opens this instrumental journey with a bass heavy trajectory of glowing, sandy hills. There’s the bleakness of endless sand captivated in the music. Repetitive, captivating riffs guide the music through the waste land that makes up the home of the sand people. The bumpy ride on a Bantha must sound pretty much the way this tune does.

‘Uta tuta Solo (Greedo’s Funeral)’ just continuous on the same trod. A dry, unpolished sound is mostly the result of the production, but that actually works in favor of the band in this cace. On ‘Jawa Juice’ we get some spaced out sound, where apparently the juice is causing some ruckus it seems. Soaring, floating guitar work seems to incoherently roll forward, without much of the tightness  we heard before. It’s a cool moment of lingering in the sonic haze.

Closer of the EP is the stomping ‘Sarlacc’s Pit’. A furious assault of thunderous drumming and growling guitars. It’s the feisty stomping sound to send the listener of. The sand people raise their sticks above their heads and shout it out in victory!

Underground Sounds: Kylver – The Island

Label: independent
Band: Kylver
Origin: United Kingdom

These gentlemen from Newcastle in the United Kingdom are not just musicians, they are storytellers with a clear affinity to the works of H.P. Lovecraft if I’m not deceived by what I read about ‘The Island’. This is the second album from the Geordies (if you can use that still to refer to normal people as well) and well worth your time. Time to listen to Kylver.

The four piece has a story to tell about sailers who get lost on sea, ending up in a different realm where an ancient race dwells. The confrontation is crushing the human minds, which are not accustomed to the awesomeness of such vast knowledge and wisdom and the sole survivor begs to be released. This is a wild concept, not unakin to some of the dream-sagas of Lovecraft, but brought to you in an instrumental rock/doom/stoner way.

The sound of Kylver is progressive and explorative, combining elements of the stoner/doom sound with more playful elements, like keyboards to create these meandering passages and paint the vistas of the story. The threatening tone that you often hear, specially on albums with a nautical theme it seems, remind me of artists like Ahab. It feels like a typical stylistic direction, where the vibe of the ocean is put into the music.

The album is a continuous progression, where the progressive elements create debt and coloring to the sound. Sometimes sounding haunting and omnious, like the (almost) 10 minute epic ‘Monolith’, but other times picking up the right timbre and emotions for the section of the story the band wishes to adress. What’s most impressive is the cohesion of the tracks and the whole album. Never do your feel like you’re listening to separate songs. Though it is not very common, they could have released ‘The Island’ as a 40 minute track and it would be awesome (but tricky for the hopefully soon to be released vinyl).

The closer ‘The Great Race’ is an almost teasing, slightly remorseful tune with thunderous drums, where the proggy qualities of the band really shine for a bit, in the way the dense atmosphere is put down. This record is an experience. Did I mention the wonderful artwork? Because I should, it’s great.

Underground Sounds: Spaceslug – Lemanis

Label: Independent
Band: Spaceslug
Origin: Poland

I’am still lookin for shrines and altars
Mind’s ignoring, what eyes have shown
– ‘Photon Lander’, Spaceslug

If you like surfing on those astral waves, than you need the right soundtrack for being weightlessly floating and slowly wobbling along. Polish stoner titans… wait, that sounded way to solid… Polish massive space slugs Spaceslug (it’s not perfect, but kinda cool sounding) from Wroclaw have exactly the sountrack for you.

The sound of these gentleman is somewhere in between My Sleeping Karma, Radar Men From The Moon en Earth or Sleep (not sure yet). The group has released with Lemanis their very first album and it’s a homerun. The cover is already epic, depicting a snail or slug facing the enormity of the galaxy, depicted in its full awesomeness.

Opener ‘Proton Lander’ is like one of those hypnotic clouds in space you sometimes see depicted, you get lost in a swirling mass of riffs and repetition that feel so loose and relaxed that you just soar away with them. When the cool guitar lines start to build up the vocals kick in, with a repetitive line being chanted: “I know the space, I know the haze”. It says a bit about the imbibed inspiration I suppose.

It also works to connect the band to the more spaced out stoner scene, though apart from the heavy foundations, there’s something way more spacy in the music of these guys. Meandering guitar tones, wavery bass lines and drums that keep it all together to create slowly cascading tones of the infinite. A track like ‘Hypermountain’ illustrates this well.

The vocals offer the aura of mystery and being in a sort of cultish environment. As if the vocalist has secrets to offer that no one knows of. In the mean time the music just warbles on in a manner that displays little care for things like gravity, which is interesting to listen to.  I absolutely dig this record full of space stoner. “I know the space, I know the haze, alright!”

Possessor: a horror film disguised as a band

Did you hear that awesome album by Possessor yet? You should, because it blends all styles into a potent cocktail of gritty,  grimy horrorcore sludge.

You can probably rant on about the Sabbath-esque influences and noisey southern swagger, but these Londoners sound unique and awesome, so I thinought it would be a good thing to get in touch with them and get into it with these gentlemen.

Graham Bywater, Matthew ‘Bean’ Radford and Marc Brereton were keen to answer some questions about their music, horror films and their new album.

How did Possessor get started? Were you guys involved with other bands before?

Marc: I was in quite a few bands before Possessor and I still am, but this is definitely the most fun. I’ve known Graham for years as we met back in college and used to record stuff in his bedroom. We always talked about playing together, but it took until now to come into fruition but when Graham asked me to be a part of Possessor it didn’t take long to commit when I heard what he was pumping out.

Graham: Marc was the only person I met at college who didn’t really have strict guidelines and restrictions to what he was into. He wasn’t ashamed to say he loved Green Jelly. The dude had literally no pretensions. He also immediately reminded me of Sasquatch so that was good.

Bean: I know that Graham and Marc have known each other since they were very young, but my personal involvement with Possessor began shortly after Electric Hell was released. I met Graham by complete coincidence. We were both on our way to a Fu Manchu gig in London and had stopped at the same pub before the show for a few pints. My Iron Monkey T shirt was enough for Graham to start a conversation and we soon started talking about music. Graham mentioned Possessor. I’d actually heard of them and had really liked them; they were also looking for a permanent drummer so I offered my services.
My “audition” consisted of a night together, drinking beer and talking about Guns n’ Roses. By the end of the evening Graham had gone missing and Marc had seen my girlfriend naked. This pretty much set the benchmark we have followed ever since!

So what bands do you guys like and influenced your sound?

Graham: It varies greatly depending on the mood. We drove through a rain storm listening to ‘Canadian Metal’ by Darkthrone on the way to a gig recently. That was a very heavy and inspiring moment and has kinda stuck with me. That album, ‘F.O.A.D’ seeped its way into the sound of Dead by Dawn. Other bands that have been on repeat recently are Midnight, Pentagram, Enslaved, Death Evocation, Misfits and some band called Metallica. The Shrine and Bongzilla have been on my iPod a fair bit and that new Kvelertak album is crazy. I normally aim to discover a band a day if possible. Even if they suck.

Marc: Everything.

Bean : I feel really passionate about music. I listen to blues, classical and jazz but at the center of it all is a love for heavy metal. Black Sabbath are the beginning, middle and end for me and they are a huge influence on my playing. From there my tastes go in a lot of different directions. All the way from LA Glam to Death Metal. Classic stuff really. Obituary, Priest, Black Flag, Iron Maiden, Love/Hate, Entombed; I could go on and on.
In terms of influence on Possessor: For me it’s about those bands who can capture an energy and put that on tape. Motorhead’s Overkill comes to mind as does Charles Mingus’ Blues and Roots. On the Mingus album you can hear the band whooping and howling as they play. It’s such a live, un-tampered, vibrant sound. It’s an odd comparison but it’s exactly how I’d like Possessor records to sound.

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I understood that you guys are not originally London folk from an interview with Doomed and Stoned. Where do you guys hail from and is how would you say it impacts your sound?

Bean : I’m originally from a small village in Kent. It’s fair to say that it was a fairly isolated place without easy access to town. As a result my childhood was spent reading and writing stories and playing in the nearby woods, close to churches and graveyards! All of this helped me to develop a good imagination which in turn guided my interest towards fantasy tales and horror stories. Ever since I’ve had a disposition towards the occult as an aesthetic, which is why I find Possessor so appealing. It’s also why I’d love people to experience the band in the same way as they would a ghost story or slasher movie!

Graham: Kent. Staplehurst via Sevenoaks. I’ve always been more inspired by nothing than everything.

Horror flick are as I understood an inspiration too. How do you know you’re catching that vibe when writing a song?

Graham: Possessor are basically a horror film disguised as a band. It’s just a natural part of our sound and is effortless. I guess it has a lot to do with the decade we were born in and to this day I don’t really know anyone who isn’t totally nerdy about cinema. I got into bands like Maiden and Helloween around the same time I discovered films like The Terminator and Re-Animator and I knew from a very young age that music and film go hand in hand. People seem to pick up on that with Possessor which is good.
When we younger me and Marc used to spend our Sunday afternoons watching Hills Have Eyes and Evil Dead and the natural instinct was to follow it up with a beer and a jam.
Maybe we should write a musical. I reckon we could do a gig within a film, like in the woods with the Blair Witch or in the kid’s dreams in Nightmare on Elm Street.
Bean : For me, a good example of this would be The Creeps (from Dead by Dawn). It started as a jam on some percussive ideas for another song, but hearing the drum played back in isolation was so evocative of all things voodoo. It put an image in my mind of cannibals dancing under a volcano while their cooking pot boiled. I think the best Possessor songs can make a direct connection to the mind’s eye.

How do you guys pick your artwork? Because it instantly gives off that film vibe. Is it created from scratch or do you use existing images?

Graham: This album took a bit longer as we wanted to outdo our previous concepts without losing the originality. We always go for simple and mysterious imagery but the idea of the faceless character of past releases has become something else with this design as it reveals slightly more.
We often use really old public domain photos that just jump out at us. I normally edit and rework the image until it looks like something new and creepy but always surreptitiously empowering. We don’t talk about the art much as it really should just speak for itself. We like mysterious figures and forms, not blood and gore.

 

If Possessor was allowed to do a live soundtrack to a film, like bands have been doing on Roadburn Festival for example. Which film(s) would you love to do the score to and why? (and how would it sound)

Marc: Lord of The Rings!! (needs no explanation)

Bean : Something thrilling, visceral and brutal. Texas Chainsaw Massacre would suit us perfectly. That, or a compilation of machete attacks from Friday the 13th.

Graham: The Lost Boys or perhaps Motel Hell? Something trashy and eye catching. Or perhaps it would be even more insane if we played a heavy set to something like Open Water or even a collection of bits from Jurassic Park. Dinosaurs stomping and sharks chomping to the riffs!
A festive gig set to Christmas Evil could be good too.

How would you describe the writing and recording trajectory for your latest album (which is so awesome)?

Graham: Pretty natural. There’s a certain sound, style and spirit to Possessor that writes itself. Having said that this album is definitely edging more towards being filmic and the end result certainly feels more like a group effort this time round. We took a while creating this album because of time restrictions and work but the actual performances themselves were done live and on the spot. One take on most tracks.

Bean : It was recorded really quickly. The drum tracks were done in a single afternoon and in the majority of cases they are first takes. We really wanted to retain the energy and spontaneity of those fresh takes so we deliberately moved through the process quickly without poring over the details or refining them. We wanted this to be a brutally real album with imperfections and accidental highlights. I’m proud to say I think we really achieved that.

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If I say that you guys sound like Black Sabbath and Kyuss meeting at a Danzig show, how does that score on the chart of interesting comparisons you’ve heard?

Graham: Well I love Kyuss and Sabbath so that’s fine with me. I’ve noticed we have been compared to Venom and Therapy? a fair bit, and to be honest I don’t get that at all. One review said we sounded like early Electric Wizard crossed with Bathory (?) I think I prefer your description mate but to be honest I don’t really think much about comparisons. We sound like Possessor.

Bean : One of things I really value about Possessor is the wide variety of comparisons that have been applied to us.
People have said we sound like Metallica, L7, Prong, Ministry, Slayer, Pantera and Rob Zombie too. I love that it is difficult to pin us down. The best bands always have something unique about them which is exactly what I think Possessor are striving for

What is a Possessor live show like and are you guys planning to hit the continent soon?

Bean : The Possessor live experience is a heavy one. Our hope is the audience gets on board in the same way we are; basically to celebrate heavy music and have a good time.
We would LOVE to play future shows on the continent. Our recent show at Sonic Blast in Portugal was a huge success. European metal fans made us feel so welcome and really seemed to “get” what we do. I’d be happy to experience some more of that.

Graham: Yeah, that was great fun. I think our live performance often depends on how well we are rehearsed. We like to keep it raw and exciting and ever so slightly theatrical. Depending on the night and the beer intake we may wear a form of war-paint or corpse paint purely because it amuses us and brings to mind the old school craziness of Alice Cooper or Gwar. Other shows can be pretty slick with heads down and feet on the monitors. I think that sometimes a sloppy gig with shit loads of passion and energy is more memorable than being a predictable and routinely structured one. I don’t know why anyone would want to see the same exact performance twice.
We would love to travel and play more outside of the UK, so…

Marc :..Set us up with some dates.

What are the future plans for the band?

Graham: Have some fun and try not to go insane in the meantime. We will be releasing a special something for Halloween this year so keep an ear out for that. One thing we really want to do and have discussed in depth is put out a covers EP. That would be fun, but it could go either way. The songs would have to be weird enough to be worthwhile. We wouldn’t just be covering Ace of Spades and War Pigs.

Bean : In the immediate future? Hopefully more shows. I’d really like to take Dead by Dawn on the road and see people react to these songs. We’re at a stage now where we’re trying to build the profile of the band and that means getting out there and showing people what we’re all about. Beyond that… Write. Record. Do it all again, only bigger and better!

Marc: Burn stuff!

Finally, if you had to describe Possessor as a dish, what would it be (and why)?

Marc: Spicy shepherd’s pie, it’s heavy and hot.
Graham: Fajitas. Loads of heavy flavors with some added cheese.
Bean : Old fish heads and beer – because our food budget will ALWAYS be weighted towards beer.

Any other thing you want to share? 

 ALL: Thanks for having us. And Stay heavy.

Sounds of the Underground #40

Some heavy stuff from the underground this time with Vails, Merlin, Wilt and Plebeian Grandstand. There’s so much stuff coming out of the woodwork that simply sounds amazing, how to keep up?

Well, I particularly liked these four.

Vails – Fuckpuncher
When Planets Collide

source: bandcamp

If you name your album ‘Fuckpuncher’, you probably don’t play music full of gentle and soft elements. You probably do something that feels fucking hard and punching. That pretty much would sum up the sound of Vails.  The band hails from London and is a two piece, that produces a punked up, bristling version of sludge without much further decoration. Owen Street batters his bass and provides the singing and Matthew Ham  is slaughtering his drum kit to provide a rumbling backdrop for the whole experience. The necessary effects do the rest.

The sound is one full of grit, distorted and with barely contained violence. It’s not the creeping kind of sludge, but the battering, angry sort that propels itself forward on its rhythm based barrage. ‘Fuckpuncher’ is a raw record that reminds me a bit of Crowbar meats Eyehategod with the intensity of Whores. It definitely has some swagger in its bass riffing, for example on opener ‘Klabautermann’. The sound is sleazy and full of biting, heavy distortion, which only adds to the ferocious charm of this duo. This is one to play in your car for sure. On the title track there’s even a feeling of grandeur in the build-up. Great stuff by these Britons.

Merlin – Electric Children
PRC Music 

source: bandcamp

No wizardry on this crackling bit of doom, but clear voiced heavy wah wah doom that speaks of death, doom and gloom. The band from Wrinngarth takes doom from the 70’s and merges it with current day heavy psych. Their intent? To melt minds and enslave people… oh well, that last might not be part of it, but they really want to bring back the epic riffing.  Their influences therefor range from Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats to Hawkind and Sabbath. Oh and there’s a lot of fuzz going on there as well. Enjoy the ride into the darkness.

Listening ot ‘Electric Children’, you are overwhelmed by the towering vocals that are more akin to the early doom greats than you’d imagine possible. Even the timbre of the recording feels dusty and canned, but also that fuzzy guitar play feels like its Blue Cheer at work underneath it all. The Americans keep the sound light, accesible, but oh so much fun to listen to. The languid vocals, the eerie buzzing guitars, the primitive sound. It all seems a bit much calculated, but the band from Kansas pulls it off with flair. Lots of solo’s, lots of messy sounding bluesy grooves, it’s all good with these electric children.

Wilt – Moving Monoliths
Bindrune/Eiwaz Productions

source: Bandcamp

To say that the Canadian group Wilt makes music that is monolithic in its slow, brimming reverie is an understatement to the art of the band. Their sound is considered to be atmospheric black metal, but traces of the most mind-melting doom (bordering on the funeral kind) is definitely present on their record. It’s the first full lenght for the Manitoba five piece. The record came out in november 2015, but I feel that I have to share its brilliance here.

Slow, drudging music soars around, filling the wide void that the band embraces. The slow is combinated with a blistering drummer, that creates an underlying tension in the shimmering sound of the Canadians. The lurching vocals are cracking, heaving with frustration and grief in a profound and convincing manner. Though that is mainly what describes the title track and opener ‘Illusion of Hope’, on ‘The Elder’ the drums take over and a much faster, pummeling vibe overtakes the whole song. Sure, this record does get a bit monotonous at some point for sure, but let it embrace you and it’s a great experience.

Plebeian Grandstand – False Highs, True Lows
Throatruiner Records 

source: Bandcamp

There are still those that push the black metal genre forwards and Frenchies Plebeian Grandstand do just that. You might link them to the Deathspell Omega’s of this world, but the band is not related. Thematically the band is taking a totally different approach to the genre, creating something much more tangible and realistic. It’s also interesting to know that the band has been around for 11 years and therefor I’m amazed to not have noticed them before. Alas, it’s the way the world works and now I have and have been blown away by their record.

Ever been hit in the head at a show, when everything suddenly seems to go faster, while you go slower? It’s sort of like that when Plebeian Grandstand launches into their savage, lo-fi bursts of fury. Short assaults are followed by brief, uncouth moments that feel like there’s something wrong or perverse about the music. That unsettling effect is tangible from the  first track onwards, but stays with you the whole album. The hooky, mesmerizing sound of these guys remins you that not every band labelling themselves as avantgarde (or being labeled as, potato and all) has seen a modernist novel once, some actually are unfathomably complex and strange. So, don’t take  my word for it, but listen to the blistering assault of their record yourself. It’s free, treat yourself.

Sounds of the Underground #29

Four reviews from the underground, as you know and love them. This time Tau CrossObsequiae, Sunn O))) and Kauan. Enjoy your own taste of them.

Tau Cross – S/T
Relapse Records 

source: Bandcamp

Call it a supergroup if you will, I just call it great stuff. The band was formed by Rob “The Baron” Miller of UK metalpunks Amebix and interestingly enough you find a tau cross decorating the last album of that band. Add members of Voivod and Misery to that and you do have something that definitely can get the label super group. In my opinion that term usually totally misses the plot and makes a band sound shitty instantly. Not in this case, this sounds great.

Musically the band is not really reinventing the steel, but neither do they sound explicitly metal. In fact the band has a sound that comes remarkably close to quite catchy and middle of the road. The vocals of The Baron, would suggest there’s family ties between him, Abbath and Lemmy. Great guitarwork creates a soaring sound, that feels big and stretched out. A lot like a good bit of desert stoner, but with that rough, crusty edge to it. The band is surprisingly melodic and catchy at times, with these sudden hooks like on ‘Prison’. This band is one of the reasons to go to Roadburn!

Obsequiae – Aria of Vernal Tombs
20 Buck Spin

source: bandcamp

You’re never quite sure what you’ll get with these random black metal picks on bandcamp, but I’m pleasantly surprised by these boys from Minneapolis. There’s a sense of fresh sound to this band, they have found there own almost power-metal like sound somewhere  (I’m struggling to describe this in the positive way it deserves, fully understanding power metal is not doing that). It’s the band’s second effort and well worth a listen due to its peculiar other influnces.

The wavy rhythm behind the song is in some way giving it a swirling, big aura. It makes the sound feel a bit bigger and warmer. Add to that the folk passages here and there and warm guitar lines and in the centre you have  very condensed, powerful black metal element, enveloped in atmospheric elements. The clean instruments are working out very well in combination with the harsh vocals and blast beats. I mean, this is medieval black metal or black metal for dragonslayers, it just works. Sure, if you like harsh, then this might be too mellow for you. I dig this one for sure.

Sunn O))) – Kannon
Southern Lord

source: bandcamp

If you want to really get a grip on the intense meaning behind this new project by lords of the drone Sunn O))) you should read this. The artistic angle on the whole project is so complex and globally involved that it almost overshadows the art itself that goes into the record. Luckily most will relinquish form and go for function, which in the case of this band is being baptized in body crawling drones and mythical chanting over a layer of fuzzy distortion. The fact that the band worked with Aliza Shvartz to me says a lot about the daring behind it, but also the artistic position of the band. But lets not digress further and talk about this trilogy.

The dark, foreboding drones follow eachother and pile up layer after layer. It creates also an atmosphere that is closely relatable to the oriëntal theme of the record, which can be alligned with buddhist ideas. There’s a calm to the music, that somehow lingers just long enough to keep holding that vibe. The vocals of Attila Csihar are the dark element on this record, because the music feels more earthy and calm. His guttaral meanderings are there to push the sun away. Stephen O’Malley and Greg Anderson succeed in blending their guitars an equipment into a captivating piece, with a certain mystic side that entrances the listener. A surprisingly accesible record as well, in which much more depth can be found by repeated listening.

Kauan – Sorni Nai
Blood Music

source: bandcamp

The new album by the Chelyabinsk band is an attempt at telling the story of the Djatlov Pass Incident, where 10 hikers under mysterious circumstances found their deaths in the Ural. The band does their lyrics in Finnish, but likes to tell Russian stories in their music, which is a blend between folky doom metal and postrock-like passages, combining clean and distorted sounds into atmospheric pieces. The artwork is magical, which accompanies the record and depicts scenes from the incident that is the theme of the record. It shows an eye for detail and a complete approach. The band has been sharing footage from the hikers as well.

Weaving beautiful passages, the band creates the vista of snow covered mountains, the wind surging through the trees. Intensifying, it also relates of the weather, the danger and possible disastrousnes. There’s also trickling guitar play, gentle like nature can be with a ray of sun or the drops of water falling of a branch. Most of all, the music is absolutely gorgeous and haunting. It’s hard to describe the way this band manages to set up an atmospheric and dreamy record that tells a story like no other. The growled vocals speak of the harsh parts, while the clean sing of the adventure and nature. The sound remains natural and  a bit as if the band is showing us a film, while in flowing motion the journey passes by in musical fashion.