Zennui - Kingdom Jones And The Atom Heart Family

So this is an interesting one - Zennui play what they call 'Zen metal' and their new EP, Kingdom Jones And The Atom Heart Family is a masterful opening salvo. This record is interesting because of how it fuses a variety of metal styles into something greater. The album could perhaps best be described as proggy sludge metal, but even that wouldn't do it justice. There are extended acoustic passages and interesting vocal layers locking together and continually showing that Zennui have a level of songwriting capability few of their peers can match. 

Kingdom Jones And The Atom Heart Family excites because of its progressive and powerful frills. The production also shines brightly throughout. In particular the synth padding that couches these tracks helps to make for some really engaging listening. It's a delight to sink your teeth into tracks like 'Aquatrog' which dance around the listeners ears and continually seem to seek new heights. This is certainly thinking mans heavy music but it is infinitely rewarding and continually pointing towards brave new heights for the group to achieve. There is simply so much that you can sink your teeth into and enjoy with the execution of their music. 

Glorious psychedelic and wonderfully weird Kingdom Jones And The Atom Heart Family is transcendent and exciting. There are simply so many layers that you can really pick apart here and the power of the production and execution behind the riffs makes for something rally engaging. There's clearly a lot of art school wizardry that went into this, and the more you try and experience the power within the more it becomes clear these guys are doing their own thing in an exciting and fresh new way. Immerse yourself in the magic and experience the next step. 

Find them on Facebook!

https://www.facebook.com/zennuiband

Beesus - The Rise Of Beesus

There's been a lot of stoner rock to come out this year - to the point that it's kind of gross. That make it all the more exciting though when you come across a release like The Rise Of Beesus where you hear the Italian sludge lords putting out Melvins-derived music that has a noisy crush to it. There is a sense of distortion here that goes far beyond just the guitars - it grows to envelop the album and helps to define a release that is droning, moaning, and strangely powerful - resonating with something very weird in all of us. 

I think a part of what makes The Rise Of Beesus so special is not just the weirdness, but the way that the band channels the weirdness into something greater. As you hear the fuzz-tastic riffs kick in you gradually realize that that's only the backbone for a band who have never been afraid to get weirder, louder, or more over the top than anyone else out there. The guitar solos are demented, careening this way and that and then finally resolving themselves back into the sacred riffs. It gives the album something very physical and makes it hard to distance yourself from the triumph that The Rise Of Beesus represents. 

There are few truly psychedelic records in this day and age, albums that fit into the grand tradition laid down by all those psych bands in the 60s - The Rise Of Beesus does though. Thus couched it becomes hard to find separation from what the band has come to represent and it allows you, the listener, to lose yourself in a piece of art that fits into a half century long tradition. Beesus understand that weird is good and so push the boundary - I can only hope that they get even stranger as time goes on.

Find them on Facebook!

https://www.facebook.com/beesusindope/?fref=ts

Vhol - Deeper Than Sky

Vhol - one of the most enigmatic and potent bands in the world - one that sees them pushing their unique brand of heavy, psychedelic and thrashy music that drives the genre forward. Utterly out there, potent and filled with all sorts of astonishing vocal acrobatics the band have truly come into their own on Deeper Than Sky proving their debuts potential and going far beyond what anyone thought possible - creating one of the greatest heavy records of the year. A veritable supergroup at this point it's impossible to not be all about Vhol.

From the first song, the hard hitting The Desolate Damned, you can tell that this will be a motherfucker of a record. Toss in epics like the twelve minute title track and the positively danceable Paino and you realize you're looking at a record that speaks to the human condition through blast beats and raw energy. Beyond that though there is a sense of artsiness that retroactively raises the status all of the bands that have inspired them, it's simply that good. Mike Scheidt and his merry men have managed to unlock the potent future of thrash metal and now that I have seen behind the veil I can tell you it is glorious.

Highly melodic, flashy, and yet always surprisingly tasteful Deeper Than Sky is the kind of thrash record that proves the genre has a lot more to be said and will keep you wondering other sonic possibilities what this beautiful band holds. Vhol are going to open your mind whether you like it or not so prepare yourself for a record that is quite literally a religious experience. Stunning and punishingly heavy Deeper Than Sky is a peak in the career of every musician involved and should never be forgotten.

Find them on Facebook!

https://www.facebook.com/vholisvhol

Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats - The Night Creeper

Oh frabjious day! Calloo, callay! I chortled in my joy. Why? Because today I got the new Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats, one of the very few stoner metal bands my father has seen and I haven't. With their last couple of records Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats were able to cement themselves as true geniuses and pioneers in their field. Now that we have them on their fourth release, after having spent time opening for Black Sabbath and touring the world Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats have finally seen fit to unleash their latest masterwork, the jaw dropping The Night Creeper.

Perhaps the most dynamic Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats record to date, The Night Creeper sees a much deeper breadth of emotion, yet the band still maintains the fuzzed out, almost Blue Cheer-esque glory that made them so good in the first place. The progression that Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats have made as songwriters since 2013's gem, Mind Control is stunning. It proves that these guys stil have no difficulty finding their own sound in what might, at first glance, seem like a rather limited harmonic palate. The Night Creeper manages to capture the imagination through stellar production and almost droning riffs that carry you off to a strange psychedelic wonderland.

Despite that, and despite the prominence of acoustic guitars on this record, Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats remain one of the heaviest bands in the scene. The riffs are crushing, buzzing their way into your skull and proving that these guys are undeniably one of the best acts out there. With their instantly recognizable iconography and mind melting guitar solos they have managed to craft a distinct brand that directly impacts everyone who comes into contact with it. The Night Creeper is just an addition to the legend, and it is glorious.

Find them on Facebook!
https://www.facebook.com/uncleacid?fref=ts

Acid Buffalo

Freaked out psych rock from a band who seem destined to fuck up minds across the globe Acid Buffalo are turned on to a much hazier sense of reality than the one that most of us abide by. Instead of traditional rhythms and clear riffs its easy to get lost in the waves of wah pedal madness and flashy improvised pentatonic solos. Acid Buffalo are a trip to listen too and as you fall into their sound you find yourself journeying down a sort of surreal dead end path a way forward can be found through the murk, but it requires a dedicated listener, one who loves the psychedelic madness of this band. With whiny vocals and a wonderfully improvised feel, Acid Buffalo feel very organic. It's easy to trace their lineage from bands like Black Sabbath or even Electric Wizard. Acid Buffalo are wholly fascinating and the two tracks they have online are both fun to listen too, they leave me begging for more. With a full length I think that Acid Buffalo will be able to put together the kid of sonic journey that their music deserves.

Find them on Facebook!
https://www.facebook.com/acid.buffalo

Interview with Garret Morris of Windhand!

So recently at the much lauded Doomed Gatherings Festival I got the chance to sit down with Garret Morris of Windhand. The last time we had hung out I was stunned at how friendly he was and how easily he explained to me how to write long songs. Seriously, in one twenty minute conversation, this man taught me to write twenty minute long songs. Suffice to say, getting a chance to interview the guitarist of one of my favorite bands in the world right now was quite an honor. With tour stories and thoughts on music, this may very well be one of the best interviews I've done yet!

If you don't know them already check out Windhand on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/WindhandVA

So, how have you been?
I'm doing well, hanging in there. Hopefully I'm not getting sick. My allergies have been really bothering me, but the tour has been awesome.

How many shows have you done so far?
This is the end of the second week, so we still have another two weeks.

So it's a long one?
I think it's a month, exactly a month. We go back on May fifth or something like that.

What is it like getting to play with Inter Arma?
It's fun because they're our best friends from home. We see each other daily at home, so now we're in Europe together. We're all just hanging out and it's there first time here to, so that's cool.

I was listening to Soma the other day, I realized that you guys have a pretty distinct vibes to your songs, can you outline how your songwriting process goes?
Usually someone comes up with a riff and just bring it to practice. If it's just a riff we have to build on it and we just jam those riffs until they sound like a song and then we play it over and over again until Dorothea has an idea of what she wants. She'll come up with a vocal melody, maybe not necessarily the lyrics. We'll demo it with a microphone in the room. Then she'll take it home and write lyrics to it and that's pretty much a song.

I tend to write full songs and just demo them on my cassette four track at home. I'll e-mail them to everybody and just say "Here's a song I have do you want to do it?" And then we'll start working on it at practice. It's pretty basic. I write on an acoustic and I just bring it to practice and show everybody on my acoustic and then just show everybody in practice on my electric. A lot of the songs on Soma are on my acoustic.

Now that Soma has been out for eight months how do you feel about it now?
I still like the record. I'm honestly anxious to move on. We've been playing these songs non stop for a long time. A lot of songs on this record were actually written before or around the time the first record came out. We were playing some of these songs on the tour we did for the first record, back in 2012. So I'm really anxious to write new songs and do a new record. I still like the songs and the record a lot though. I'm pretty proud of it, it came out pretty cool.

Of the songs does any one stand out?
I like them for different reasons. I like Boleskine a lot of work into it on the production side to make it work. We record in analogue so I have to move all the faders by hand. I like Orchard a lot. It's weird to pick a favorite song that I wrote.

Relative to a lot of the other bands I interview you guys are a lot older, what inspires you to keep going?
We've all been involved in music since we were kids. This probably sounds really cheesy but I think you're just compelled to do it. You have to do it. I've always done it. I've always written songs and made recordings. I'm sure I'll slow down at some point. I think it's just something you're compelled to do. you have to do it. Even if I got a day job I'm sure I'd still be involved in music in some other aspect.

But, last time I saw you guys, Dorothea told me that Windhand is your full time job?
Currently yes. We don't really make money at it, it's just that this is what we spend most of our time doing. It's kind of like a job in a way. It's not like we make a living playing music. Parker is the only one with a real job. I'm lucky because my wife is really supportive so she's allowing me to do this and not have a real job. I worked in a bank for eleven years and I quit so I could go on the road and do this. Hezekiah was a teacher. We all had day jobs.

Windhand is on the road 8-9 months a year so how do you deal with that with your wife, and kids if you have them?
We don't have kids. That's something we're going to tackle this year or next year. We both want children, and I can't really tour if we're going to have children. We'll just cross that bridge when it happens. It kind of sucks being away from your wife for months at a time. Being away from your pets and stuff like that. Sometimes you get really homesick. Luckily my wife is really supportive about it. There are moments where we get into arguments about it, we'll start booking a tour and it's like "I'm going to hold off and wait to tell her that we're doing this". Sometimes the touring cuts into family things that I need to go to. Sometimes it's stressful, but she's pretty understanding about it.

Will there be a new Windhand record in the near future?
We're supposed to start recording around this time next year. Late this year or early next year. We're going to take a little bit of time off this summer to try to write. We're actually talking to this guy Jack Endino he recorded the first Nirvana record and the first Soundgarden record. Relapse already spoke to him and he's available. As long as we get our shit together we can probably record early next year. There's usually a 4-5 month turnaround so we'll probably have the record out fall 2015. We'll still be touring though and we'll probably be playing those songs just to tighten them up and stuff.

This next question is a little bit weird. Finish this sentence for me "I've never told this story before and probably shouldn't but..."
We played Florida this one time... this isn't too bad of a story.., this kid comes up to us and says "Do you like spaghetti" and we said "Sure, we like spaghetti", he was really drunk. He says, "I'm going to make you guys spaghetti and you're going to stay at our house". So we say  "Okay, cool". So we go back to the kids house and its pretty normal. We walk in the house, Ryan's in front of me. The first thing I see is a couch that's completely destroyed, it looks like animals had ripped it to shreds. So we turn the corner to go into the living room, and I'm not exaggerating, there was probably a months worth of dog shit on his living room floor. It was like a pasture of dog shit. It was one of the most disgusting things I've ever seen. We just turned around and walked out of the house. The dude wanted to make us dinner and sleep on his floor and it was disgusting, absolutely disgusting.

Does that kind of weird shit happen a lot for you on tour?
There's always weird stuff, but that's a pretty extreme case, that's really bad. It usually doesn't happen. We actually had a weird thing the other night when we played in Manchester. This kid came to the show. We were supposed to go stay at his friends house after the show. The kid gets in our van and throws up in the van. Marcel (the tour manager) kicks him out of the van and makes him walk to the house. This girl answers and doesn't know who we are or why we're at the house. We're like "Dave told us we could stay here" and she says "Well he went to bed and didn't tell me about it" so I guess she woke him up and he must have said "Okay he can stay". Marcel made the kid clean up all the puke, because we have to live in that van. We were huddled in an eight by eight room, there's literally no space. I wake up at 4 in the morning and the puke kid is standing above me trying to sleep, trying to squeeze in between me and Hezekiah. I was like "What the fuck are you doing, get out of here!" and he said "There's room here", so I said "No, you're being stupid, get out of here!". It was really bizarre. I don't know what was going on. That kind of stuff happens all the time. We're not really a crazy band, so we don't have drug stories, but it's usually weird stories that come up when staying at other peoples houses. Essentially you're staying with strangers.

So strangers are weird, is that the moral of the story?
Yes.

Any last words of wisdom?
Do what you like to do, even though people tell you not to do it. Go with your heart. That's pretty much my only wisdom.

Pale Divine-Cemetery Earth

Southeastern Pennsylvania is a fascinating place. Maybe I just think that because i was raised there, but when you look at the culture, and strangely conformist society that has been built up in the region. This has made for some powerful, and frequently rebellious music. So perhaps I'm biased, but Pale Divine may very well be the best traditional doom metal band since black Sabbath. Now we have been blessed with a rerelease of the bands 2007 classic Cemetery Earth. The sort of record that goes into the deepest parts of the psyche and roars ahead with an undeniable power. Toss in some live tracks and demos and you've got yourself a heavy metal party.

One of the first things that will strike you about Cemetery Earth is the incredible groove that Pale Divine build up throughout their songs. The longer tracks in particular showcase an incredible songwriting ability and allow colossal bottom end. One great example of that is the albums centerpiece, also titled Cemetery Earth. It's the sort of masterwork that trudges on with an incredible power, channeling the inner might and majesty that is usually reserved to giants like Black Sabbath and Trouble. The antediluvian and soul tearing crunch of Pale Divine is incredible. It makes me proud of the metal scene in Southeastern Pennsylvania, that something this good can rise up from where I was raised.

Cemetery Earth is the type of record that doom metal freaks across the globe will become obsessed with. This re-release has it all, one of the bands most significant albums, some of their most exciting live tracks, and striking demos. Over two discs this record is worth many a spin, it allows us a look into the minds of one of the greatest rising forces in doom. Not a lot of bands can capture the heart and imagination in the way that Pale Divine do. Shadow Kingdom Records have done good in producing this collection, paying respect to a band whose primeval power guarantees that their name shall ring proudly for years after they are gone.

Find them on Facebook!
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pale-Divine/124093500958716

Interview with Graham Brooks of Barishi

Some of you may remember my review of Barishi from a few days ago. Suffice to say, these guys know what it is to create some strange, but rocking tunes. Their sound is very unique and seems destined to go far. What follows is some questions one of their members was kind enough to answer for me about the nature of the band as well as its future.

Be sure to check them out on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/barishiband?fref=ts

What is the driving force behind the band?

We just all love playing music. Dylan (our drummer) and I have played together since we were kids. We are all great friends and have shared a lot of experiences together. When you form a bond like that, the music you make together is more meaningful. We just want to play music for as many people as possible, as much as possible. I would probably say that would be the driving force in the band.

What inspires your lyrics?
Our lyrics come from a lot of different places. Usually our singer Sascha will write a lot of the stuff. Most is about mythology, one song has lyrics taken from the Popol Vuh. Sometimes he will just expand on a story someone has come up with. We each have fairly individual interests and I think those shine through in the lyrics. I think our goal lyrically is to come up with stuff that paints a vivid yet surreal mental image for the listener. 

What kind of message are you trying to spread?

I don't know if we have a message in any sort of political or philosophical sense. I guess we would like more people to listen to heavy music and be able to see that there is a lot of beauty in heavy music and that it is just as valid an art form as jazz or or classical. I think that one of the common threads between the members of this band are that we all love heavy bands that are not heavy just for the sake of being heavy. We love heavy bands that provoke feelings with heavy music. That is what we are trying to shoot for as musicians and songwriters. So Iguess that would be our message.

You have a pretty unique sound, how did that develop?

We listen to pretty diverse stuff. Everything from funk to Indian music. I also think that we are fairly open as songwriters. Some of the songs that we like playing the most came about because someone had a riff or idea that didn't sound like it would work in a metal band, but when we would try it out had it's own little charm. We have also played with one another for a long time and we are comfortable with each other's styles.

What kind of outside influences are you trying to bring in to your sound?

I don't think we have anything specific in mind. I just kind of want to make pretty music that sounds original. We are always trying to improve as songwriters and we listen to a lot of different styles of music, so I guess for that to come across in our songs would be really cool.

How do you feel about your debut now that its been out for a few weeks?

We are really happy with it. The sound quality is far better than we ever thought it would be and I think the songs are for the most part well-written and performed. We still do not have physical copies (which will hopefully not be the case in a few weeks) so it's availability is limited to the internet right now. I think I will really know how I feel when I have the cd in my hand.

How did the recording process go?

It was fantastic! We recorded with Brian Westbrook at PDP productions in Massachusetts. He is an amazing producer as well as an amazing drummer with the well-known thrash band Lich King. We were really able to experiment with a lot of different parts and sounds which was a ton of fun and something that I think really helped the album.

What is the future of Barishi?

I think all we really want is just to play live as much as possible. Hopefully we will be doing a tour in support of this record during the summer. There are talks about touring with a really awesome band we play with called Carnivora. We would really like to find a label that would be a good fit and hopefully get some copies of the album pressed onto some other listening formats. 

How do you think you will develop musically over the years to come?

I am not sure. We started down-tuning, so our live is a lot heavier than it was a few months ago. I think that is a change that we are all digging, so I guess that might be around for a while. Honestly, I just want to improve as a songwriter and guitarist and be able to have freedom to do whatever we want musically.

What do you love so much about music?

My answer to this question would be endless so with the risk of sounding corny I am just going to say: Everything. 

http://barishi.bandcamp.com/

Barishi

Barishi is a hard hitting metal band from Vermont, their psychedelic and groovy sounds are a blast to listen too, truly metal for the masses. A metal band who go beyond the normal confines of their genre, their new record Barishi is something special to say the least. Their is a certain strange and otherworldly feel that their music has that just sets Barishi apart as something different and unique, I'm not sure if its their peculiar rhythms or unique chord structures, or maybe something else entirely, but these guys bring something to the table that no one else has yet been able to call forth. This is the kind of metal this bringing things forward and for that Barishi have won my respect. Their ethereal delivery is the kind of thing that you can easily get lost in, not a lot of bands grasp the kind of patience and perseverance that goes into making a record like this. Something that is this fresh and different does not often prosper, but Barishi have something special going for them and I'm excited to see what the future holds!

Find them on Facebook!
https://www.facebook.com/barishiband

Gladiators Eat Fire

Well then, here is another gloriously esoteric release from the abyss for you good metal people to enjoy. I bring you Gladiators Eat Fire a psychedelic hardcore group recently signed to Seattles Alive & Breathing records. What these guys do is especially interesting considering the way their vocals intertwine with the guitar parts. The thing is Gladiators eat fire have some pretty great Sabbath inspired stoner metal riffs. But then toss in the soaring vocals that ride along on top with no respect for time or meter and you have something special, a band who play by their own rules and consequently become truly free. The pounds of groove that decorate their new single Shapeshifter are truly impressive, I love the way it cascades across the eardrums, a prothalmion for the soul. Gladiators Eat Fire find a sort of unholy balance between Black Sabbath and something more uptempo like Sleep. Suffice to say, I'm excited to hear more material for them, if Alive  & Breathing do their job right Gladiators Eat Fire could very well be the next big thing on the stoner metal scene in Cascadia.

Find them on Facebook!
https://www.facebook.com/gladiatorseatfire

Circle of Unexisted

Regular readers know that the genres of the bands I cover on this blog run the gamut from jazz to gore metal. Yet rarely do I get the opportunity to review a band that is mysterious and majestic as Circle of Unexisted. This drone act understand how to make crushingly heavy music with strange and otherworldly synth lines. These Russians seek to break your understanding of music and replace it with something much more surreal and magical. If you close your eyes and listen to this bands new album Crossroads, you feel yourself getting lost in a sort of secular haze,  you  gradually get pulled towards a metal nirvana. Songs like Lingravet show the songwriting ability of the band as well as some of the more technical aspects. I think a favorite part of this bands sound for me is the use of drums. They crash through the music and give it an earthly quality which directly opposes the ethereal reality of the rest of the sound. In conclusion Circle of Unexisted is a brilliant band who will rock your definition of metal and take you away on their massive waves of drone.

Check them out on Bandcamp!
http://circleofunexisted.bandcamp.com/album/crossroads

March The Desert

March The Desert is a very heavy psychedelic metal band very much in the vein of Blue Cheer. Their stoner influences are massive and their crushing riffs will pound you into the ground. From the first chords of March one gets the sense that they have stumbled upon something great, something that worshippers of Sleep will adore, that Electric Wizard freaks will fantasize over and that Dopethrone fans will drool on. The musicians are obviously stellar and there is more than a little jazz influence, it gives the music an interesting timbre at times, this fusion of the highly technical and the highly stoned. Lyrics like 'another elder turned and whispered ‘believe in yourself and all that you are’, I tore off my limbs with adolescence breaking bites years before' show how intelligent this band can be. Overall, this will be a treat for all fans of the stoner genre and many others. Go check it out!

https://www.facebook.com/marchthedesert/app_204974879526524