Black Rainbows - Cosmic Ritual Supertrip

The sounds of fiery stoned psychedelic rock blasting 

from my headphones means that Black Rainbows have got 

a new album out. It feels a bit darker and heavier this time around. 

Fuzz, powerful riffs, great song compositions and vocals buried 

under the sonic assault continue the fine run of Black Rainbows releases. 

Tired of 10 minute prog rock tracks passed of as

 Doom/Stoner songs? Well plug into these Italian guys vision 

of rock. Tight, taut songs that hit you between the eyes 

are order of the day here, served up with catchy-as -fuck choruses, 

world weary vocals and scorched earth solos that never overstay 

their welcome. Heavy, groovy, unstoppable with hints of space 

rock expansiveness combine with driving Stoner song structures

 to make each track sound like a classic cut on first hearing. Hints of 

fuzz electric blues are scattered throughout with searing effect

 and yes, it does make me want to drive faster with my arm hanging

 out of the window, music blaring from the speakers on the way 

to some humdrum place of work, having my soul lifted 

by this potential masterpiece.

Bandcamp

Facethingy

Heavypsychsounds

Leather Nun America - Kult Occult 2011

One you might of missed.

From San Diego USA

They describe themselves as " 3 guys making Doom and Metal 

that they like to listen to".....

.....this I take to mean that if anyone outside 

of the band doesn't like it then tough shit !!....a good ethos to have.

Strange choice of name given the legendary status of Swedish 

rockers The Leather Nun, but then who am I to query such a thing 

given my own track record of band names ie....... Ruptured Dog!

Their dense sound is very mid-70's Sabbath with plenty of growling 

bass and searing guitar throughout. There is a pleasing variety in the 

pacing with quieter numbers not feeling out of place. The production is 

excellent throughout with loads going on under the main action to 

concentrate your ears. 

I always like to see how any band I review performs live and in 

this case it was rather a disappointment as the YouTube clips are all 

of poor sound quality with the band seemingly struggling to reproduce 

their material with the same ferocity as in the studio.  

Listen to a very fine track from the album entitled "Indra", 

which will give you a good idea of what they are all about.

Doug E Dogg

Enchantress - Visualize

Band request from Canada.

Enchantress released an EP last year but are now back with

a full length album. 7 tracks of fuzzy riffs with a Stoner Doom

influence mixed with 70's electric blues await you.

Sounding like a band who are jamming for the joy of making

heavy vibes, this is a collection of head banging stompers.

Excellent production has made everything sound big and

powerful but with a warm, classic feel. With a vocalist who

has an amazing range and a band who want to rock, the song

compositions all fit into place - come on people, let your

freak flag fly and give this a listen.

Buy from Bandcamp

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Dopelord- Magick Rites (2012)

Band request from Poland.

Dopelord have chosen a name heavy with imagery which
conjures up what sort of music they play - classic stoner doom.

And make no mistake, they worship at the bloodstained Altar
of the Riff.

Sparing use of old film samples set the tone before the warm,
thick fuzz guitars start to go into riff overload. Reverb drenched
vocals add to the overall tone while the solos are slow and epic.

The slower pace tracks get the head nodding and my volume
button keeps getting turned up.

If you have any interest in this genre, this is an album you need.

It is well worth the token $3.00 from Bandcamp

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Trippy Wicked & The Cosmic Children of the Knight - Going Home (2012)

Time to fucking rock! Trippy Wicked continue their path of
hard hitting stoner doom with no let up from the last album.

The sounds of Kyuss and Sabbath are evident but this 3 piece
put their own identity onto the resulting fuzzed-out groove.

Big fat tunes rumble along relentlessly and the solid production
really makes everything sound powerful. I have enjoyed the
previous albums but this is the one that should get them the
acclaim that they deserve.

Because they are good guys, here is a pay what you want link
from Bandcamp

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Enchantress - Vol 2/Hear Her Womb War

This is prime psych/stoner/doom riffage with some

fantastic guitar work. I thought there were two vocalists

because of the high and low scales being sung but nope,

there is just one guy doing it all. The guitars are fuzzed

out and give up some sprawling jam work, leaving the

drums and bass to find their own groove.

The songs are riff based and have a loose blues feel to

them which really suits their sound when they press

the magic button entitled 'heavy'.

Clocking in at 4 tracks spread over 22 minutes, this

leaves me wanting to hear a full length album.

Listen

Free download from Bandcamp

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Without God - Lambs To The Slaughter (2011)

Here is some Russian stoner/sludge/doom for you.

The first thing that hits you is how thick all the

tones are - no tinny or fizzy instruments - everything

sounds massive and powerful, for me this is exactly

how stoner doom should sound.

These guys have taken Sleep, Electric Wizard and

of course Sabbath and added their own melting

pot of fuzzed, hypnotic riffs - reverb drenched vocals

and huge sounding wah-wah leads that just sound great.

While Without God have not re-invented the wheel, what

they do offer is a superb album of songs that I have found

myself playing again and again.

Facespace

Cathedral- The Carnival Bizarre (1995)

This is the third album from Cathedral - even though

it is considered as not being as "important" as the

previous releases (forefathers of the doom resurgence etc)

for me, it has much better production, which means they

actually sound more powerful than before + it is the first

thing I heard by them which always seems to lodge into

the brain.

It is not just crushing doom, though - the vocals are varied

and you can hear metal and prog playing a part in the song

writing, making this a more varied, and ultimately more

satisfying experience.

Band Info

Website

Black Sabbath - S/T (1970)

This album changed the face of music.

Royal Thunder - S/T (2010)

Scene: A living room somewhere in Georgia, USA.

Camera P.O.V shot, tracks left to right showing

generic actors playing Father, Mother and Teenager.

Son: "Mom - Pop, I'm gonna form a band!"

Dad: "You don't know how long I have waited

for you to do this, Georgia has a long and proud

tradition of producing kiss-ass music"

Mum: "This is the proudest day of my life - will it

sound like Baroness?"

Son: "Er, not quite - I was thinking more of Dub-step

with a trip-hop vibe"

Dad: "Sounding like Kylesa?"

Son: "I wanted to try something without guitars"

Mum: "Sounding like Mastodon?"

Son: "NO! Not like Blacktusk either. Just because

we live in Georgia does not mean I have to sound

bone-crushingly heavy!"

Mom: "This is the saddest day of my life"

Dad: "Get out of my house. From this day on, I

have no son. You have brought shame to our

family. You are dead to me"!

Camera fades to black - cue credits.

Royal Thunder are from ........ guess where? .....

Georgia and have produced a 6 track EP of rumbling

stoner doom. More Kyuss than Kylesa, this band have

a great doom vibe with stunning female vocals but veer

more into the stoner side of things rather than the sludge

of any of the afore mentioned artists.

This is just their 1st release - when the album comes out

it should be a stonker.

Listen

Band Info

Phantom Glue - S/T (2010)

Some fantastic Stoner/Doom/Hardcore on display here -

it is only 27 minutes long but all the tracks flow into a

very solid whole.

They have a High on Fire type sound but with a much

rougher Punk/Hardcore edge and delivery.

Thick crushing stoner riffs fight with brilliant heavy bass

and drums, acrobatic guitar work is laid all over the

place and suitably gruff vocals show these boys playing

at the top of their game 

myspace

Buy