Evert Snyman - Hot Mess (Album Review)

Release date: January 22nd 2021. Label: Mongrel Records. Format: DD

Hot Mess – Tracklisting

1.The End Of Time 03:12 
2.Debilitate Me 03:32 
3.Dumb and Dead 02:09 
4.Cleaner Than God 04:24 
5.Hot Mess 03:22 
6.Maybe Never 03:58 
7.I Live the Lie 02:31 
8.If Eyes Could Kill 05:02 
9.Operation Human Shield 03:10 
10.Consummate 04:25 
11.Burn 04:29 

Musicians 

Evert Snyman : Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Piano, Wurlitzer, Synthesizer, Drums and Percussion 
Wessel Möller : Wurlitzer on The End of Time 
Stiaan Du Preez : Lead Guitar on Dumb and Dead 
Tim Edwards : Percussion Loops on Cleaner than God and Drums on Burn 
Roan Muntingh : Guitar solo on I Live the Lie 

Review

Hot Mess is the new album from South African Multi-Instrumentalist – Evert Snyman – who also happens to be a member of South African Stoner/Grunge Rock Outlaws – Ruff Majik. Evert plays a different style of music to Ruff Majik on this album but has managed to take Ruff Majik’s wild and vivid creative charm with him to produce a spellbinding effort that’s quite off-beat from start to finish. 

If you’re a fan of Here Lies Man then this Hot Mess follows a similar approach with Evert playing a mix of Alternative Rock, Desert Rock, Psych Rock and a vintage QOTSA Rock Swagger on the earlier stages of the record with The End Of Time, Debilitate Me and Dumb and Dead setting the scene for Evert showing a keen ear for addictive lyrics, vocals and melodic hard rock. 

The album also allows Evert to play a more mellow style of Rock Music and this offers the perfect balance to the more heavier compositions held on the record. Every plays almost everything on this record though he does has help with various guest musicians on other songs which allows even those guest musicians to have a chance to shine as well. 

Hot Mess is a rebellious album that pays homage to 90s Desert/Stoner Rock with a slight 2000’s indie rock feel. I can hear influences from THE HIVES as well especially when the Punk Rock guitars appear. Though it’s all very much Evert’s own style of music where he impresses on the majority of the 11 tracks that appear on the album. 

The production is handled by Every himself and he’s a wonderful producer. He proved this on the last Ruff Majik record which I believed he produced and mixed as well. I could be wrong on the producing part. Evert’s eye to fine detail on the entire production and recording is a major highlight and everything sounds superb. The overall sound is LOUD and VIBRANT with the record sounding first rate from start to finish. 

The 2nd half of the album is perhaps the best part of the album with songs such as I Live The Lie, If Eyes Could Kill, Operation Human Shield, Consummate and Burn being the containing the most intriguing ideas no the album. It maybe slightly too long but at least Evert will keep you entertained for the majority of the album and make you wonder where will this crazy album take you next. 

Overall, Hot Mess is a proper balls-to-the-wall HEAVY RAWK album and showcases one of the most creative musicians from the South African Stoner Rock scene. 

Words by Steve Howe

You can buy Hot Mess from the following link

Links: 

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SUNNATA - Burning In Heaven, Melting On Earth (Album Review)

Release date: February 26th 2021. Label: Self Released. Format: DD/CD/Vinyl

Burning In Heaven, Melting On Earth – Tracklisting

1.Crows
2.God Emperor of Dune
3.A Million Lives
4.Black Serpent
5.Völva (The Seeress)
6.Way Out

Review

While still listening to a ton of music over the last year I haven't written a review on quite a while. Thanks to Steve for bringing me back in. I decided to dive in head first with the thunderous new album by Sunnata. Burning in Heaven, Melting on Earth is the Polish doom bringers 4th full length and delves deep into themes of religious fanaticism and crushing grooves. The band's sound is described as doom with touches of grunge and psychedelia. The description is amazingly accurate. The six tracks on the record are brimming with heavy guitars, driving bass, monstrous drumming and ominous vocals delivered in harsh screams and tight harmonies.

The record opens with the killer track Crows. A slow, heavy bass groove and eerie Mark Lanegan like vocals bring you in before exploding with Mastodon sounding power and harmonies. The quiet to loud grunge inspired dynamic is superb.

The sprawling God Emperor of Doom follows and entrances the listener for nearly 9 minutes of slow, dreamy dark psychedelia.

A Million Lives shows the band picking up the tempo and shifting it into quite a few different gears that deliver harsh screams and middle eastern sounding chants.

The spectacular Black Serpent keeps the tempo moving. Echoey, reverb heavy guitars and harmonies veer into screams and chants then into a slick QOTSA like breakdown. Another stellar moment.

Volva (The Seeress) slows things down again for a bit with a slow, heavy bass groove and angular guitars with dark, hypnotic vocals that erupt into a killer chorus equal parts Mastodon and Alice in Chains.

The record closes with the ominous sound of Way Out. Heavily effected vocals give way to reverb heavy guitars and a driving western drumbeat. The changes and feel of the track leave the listener as if they are looking into a dark sky and are unsure what they are seeing or would even want to see.

Burning in Heaven, Melting on Earth was my first experience with this amazing band. Sunnata has definitely got a strong understanding and love for the Doom sound and I will most definitely be visiting their back catalogue and looking forward to the dark future with what they concoct moving on. This is a great record, you will need to check out!

Words by - Todd S - Instagram @alltheghoststhathauntyou

Thanks to Lisa at Hold Tight PR for the promo.

Burning In Heaven, Melting On Earth will be available to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl via SUNNATA from February 26th 2021.

Links:

Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram

Pine Ridge - Can't Deny (Album Review)

Release date: December 18th 2020. Label: Self Released. Format: DD

Can’t Deny – Tracklisting

1.So 01:20
2.Can't Deny 04:34
3.Someone In Your Head 04:04
4.We Come Around 04:42
5.Wayfaring Stranger 05:32
6.Genesis 04:41
7.Runaway 03:57
8.Sons Of Nothing 06:09
9.Those Days 04:37

Review

Can’t Deny is new full length album from Russian Psych Blues/Classic Rockers Pine Ridge and it’s an album that focuses solely on the 70s Hard Rock scene. There are some Stoner and Doom based elements within the album but mostly Pine Ridge concentrate mostly on the Blues Rock side of life. The album is quite upbeat and is a more straight-forward album compared the to recent albums I’ve heard from the Russian Hard Rock scene and that’s a good thing. As Pine Ridge don’t experiment or play about with their music and focus solely on delivering a superbly engaging album which is packed full of great songs from start to finish.

The songs are quite varied and draw the listener in with top-notch musicianship that flirts between Heavy Blues Rock and Neo-Psychedelia vibes with passionate loud grooves that are quite catchy at the same time. The vocals are good and have an earthly organic feel to them and match the easy-going warm atmosphere the music generates within each of the 8 songs contained on the album.

Standout songs include: Can’t Deny, Someone In Your Head, Wayfaring Stranger, Sons Of Nothing and These Days. Pine Ridge are perhaps the most confident on these tracks with a 70s Cocky Swagger leading the way. Intimate Psych Rock grooves and a knowing “Seen It All Before” Blues Rock attitude.

My favourite part of the album is when the cool sounding Pianos or Organs bring a doomier atmosphere to the party before the heavy blues/stoner guitars bring a more Hard Rock sensibility to the album. That happens constantly on this album and allows the band to show listeners what top-notch musicians they actually are. 

Can’t Deny is a great album and shows why Pine Ride are a welcome addition to the Blues based Stoner Rock scene. Pine Ridge would like to convert you to their way of Heavy Organic and Addictive Blues/Stoner Rock.

Excellent and Highly Recommended.

Words by Steve Howe

Links: 

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e.t.c. - e​.​t​.​c (Edición 10 años) (Album Review)

Release date: December 21st 2020. Label: Self Released. Format: DD

e​.​t​.​c (Edición 10 años) – Tracklisting

1.A Comenzar 03:36
2.Sed 03:40
3.A Veces 03:32
4.Ayer 03:15
5.Bad Girl 03:52
6.María 05:42
7.Más Allá 04:47
8.Quién Es El Que Miente 04:46
9.No Soy Igual Que Tú 04:07
10.Revoluxión 02:36
11.Aquí Estoy 06:34
12.Sistema 06:00
13.Tuntún 05:43
14.Need to be Lonely 02:59
15.Inside You (Demo) 03:14
16.Dóde Estás (Demo) 02:20
17.Sistema (Mezcla 2020) 06:03
18.Aquí Estoy (Mezcla 2020) 06:29
19.Sed (Concierto de Lanzamiento) 04:16
20.Revoluxión (Concierto con Bush & STP en Lima) 03:01
21.Más Allá (Emil Toledo & Juan Nolag Remix) 07:06

Review

e.t.c is a Grunge/Alternative Rock Band from Peru who ave just the 10th Anniversary Edition of their self-titled debut album. The album and band itself are primarily influenced by bands such as Deftones, Nirvana and a few other bands from the 90s Grunge Scene. The band add a modern Alternative Rock flavour and I can hear the Deftones influence shining throughout the majority of the songs on their debut record.

It’s by no means perfect but if you grew up in the 90s and worshipped the legendary Grunge Scene then e.t.c. are doing a lot of things right with this release. This is my first exposure to the band and there are some great tunes to lose yourself in with A Comenzar, Sed, Ayer, Maria, Revoluxion and Tuntún.

The vocals have a rough and ready appeal to them which matches the Grunge aesthetic superbly well. The album itself is 14 tracks long with the band adding 7 bonus tracks from that are a mixture of Demo and Live tracks. So this is quite the complete package for e.t.c. to release.

One of the more exciting parts about e.t.c. is when they venture into other areas of music such as Progressive Rock. This shows the band are not afraid to broaden their own musical horizons and you can hear bands diverse as TOOL filtering into the band’s overall sound.

e​.​t​.​c (Edición 10 años) is a welcome change from the usual Doom/Sludge/Stoner Metal bands I normally review and let myself remember the good old days when I worshipped the Grunge Scene back in my younger days.

So if you’re an Alternative Rock/Grunge fan then this album is the ideal release for you and you can also discover a fantastic band from the South American Hard Rock/Grunge scene.

Words by Steve Howe

Links:

Official | Facebook | BandCamp

Tigers On Opium - 503​.​420​.​6669​.​vol one (EP Review)

Release date: January 22nd 2021. Label: Forbidden Place Records. Format: DD/Cassette Tape.

503​.​420​.​6669​.​vol one – Tracklisting

1.We're at Meow Meow 00:32
2.Hash 05:33
3.I May Sound Like A Drunk... But I Feel Like A Matador 03:15
4.Icarus 03:04
5.When I Go 01:57
6.Dark Electric 04:00
7.Tantos Años Juntos 02:56 

Review

503​.​420​.​6669​.​vol one is the latest release from Electro-Punk Tinged Stoner Rock misfits – Tigers On Opium and it’s quite easily their boldest and exciting release to date. The record only last 21 minutes but the band make every second count with their blend of Psych Rock, Doom Rock, Desert Rock and rebellious Stoner Rock grooves.

They sound quite different to the release Dark Electric I reviewed a short while ago. You can still here elements of Uncle Acid classic Doom Rock soundscapes but this has been injected with a more darker elements of Desert/Stoner Rock. The EP allows Tigers On Opium to show a real experimental flair to their sound. Songs such as Hash, I May Sound Like A Drunk... But I Feel Like A Matador, Icarus and Dark Electric are the real standouts here. As the songs are more vibrant and have weird psychedelic Stoner Rock flavour to them compared to the other shorter songs on the album.

Tigers On Opium don’t stick to one style of music throughout this release as the band play fast and loose with Stoner Rock conventions and play what sounds mostly good to them. You want fast-paced PUNK ROCK, Dark Twisted Pop, Doom Rock, Desert Rock and Psych Rock all held in the confinements of Stoner Rock then 503​.​420​.​6669​.​vol one is the answer you’re looking for.

The EP does sadly run out of steam with the last song Tantos Años Juntos. As even though it’s a superbly played and much tender song. It’s just not as fun as what came before it. Though, it’s good to see Tigers On Opium trying a different approach with their music.

If you miss the early days of QOTSA when they were a true force to be reckoned with then Tigers On Opium have that same drive and energy. I’m hoping there’s a full length album in the near future basically just to see what crazy ideas and grooves the band can come up with on a much longer record.

Awesome stuff...

Words by Steve Howe

503​.​420​.​6669​.​vol one is available to buy now on Cassette Tape/DD via Forbidden Place Records.

Links:

Facebook | BandCamp

Black Magic Tree - Through The Grapevine (Album Review) And Album Premiere of THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE

Release Date: 22nd January 2021. Record Label: Karma Conspiracy Records. Format: DD/Vinyl

Through The Grapevine - Tracklisting

Mandala Lady

Beethoven
Spider's Web
Domo
Long Night
Inner Rest
Flower

Members

Alessandro Monte - Vocals
Christian Reuter - Guitars
Max-Milan Bergrath - Guitars
Michael Hupp - Drums
Nils Geisser - Bass

Review

Black Magic Tree are a German Psychedelic Blues/Stoner Rock Band and is their debut full length album - Through The Grapevine. The band show cool confidence and an almighty Stoner Rock swagger that embraces the wild and crazy times of 70s Blues Rock and Psychedelic Rock. The album only runs for 31 minutes or so but this is quite a straightforward record with a wide assortment of different grooves and riffs. 

Black Magic Tree also has that feel-good vibe amongst the vocals and lyrics on this album with the band taking inspiration from Led Zepplin but more emphasis on Soulful Blues Rock moments leading the way. 

Opening song - Mandala Lady - is quite an upbeat and exciting song to open the album with it’s healthy dash of Blues driven Stoner Rock. The overall feel and flow of the album is 60s/70s Classic Hard Rock with some excellent almost modern guitars adding real weight to the volume of the album. If you dig early Kadavar then Black Magic Tree play a similar style of music.

Second song - Beethoven - is more of a modern and almost party atmosphere with addictive vocals allowing Black Magic Tree to move further into their Stoner Rock persona. Though the song becomes slightly doomier as a result. The classic rock guitars give the song a sense of fun which will leave you with a warm FUZZY feeling inside.

Third song - Spiders Web - is more low-key with an almost laid-back solitary feel with the hazy slow-paced guitars but it soon speeds up to be one of the best tracks on the album. Black Magic Tree offers a vivid mix of Blues Rock, Psych Rock and a more organic Stoner Rock atmosphere. I can hear elements of Northern Ireland Blues/Hard Rockers - The Answer - on this track but the added bonus of Doom Rock guitars towards the end are a welcome surprise.

Black Magic Tree went slightly more progressive with the next 2 songs Domo and Long Night with almost 11 minutes allowing the band aiming for a slightly darker vibe and succeeding especially on Domo. The riffs on Long Night are perhaps the best part of the album but Domo does have better vocals and lyrical content. The band keeps going for that vintage Doom Rock element and it’s an exciting part of the album.

The final two songs - Inner Rest and Flower - sees Black Magic Tree return to the albums earlier Psychedelic Blues/Stoner Rock sounds and play a collection of great sounds that moves effortlessly between Classic Rock and flat-out modern Stoner Rock.

Through The Grapevine is a well-produced record that covers the different eras of Classic Rock and Stoner Rock with superb effort and ultimately leaves the listener wanting more. This is a precise and exciting record for the band to release. I would have liked a longer record but that doesn’t stop this being a top-notch record for people to take notice of.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Karma Conspiracy Records and Black Magic Tree, you can hear the album in full with this exclusive album premiere:

Through The Grapevine is available to buy now on DD/Vinyl via Karma Conspiracy Records.

Links

Official | Facebook | BandCamp

MONSTROID - Set 2 Burnt Sky (Album Review) And Exclusive Album Premiere of SET 2: BURNT SKY

Release date: January 22nd 2021. Label: Self Released. Format: DD

Set 2: Burnt Sky – Tracklisting

1.Hyper Fuzz
2.Take Me
3.Shadow Beast
4.Fall In Line
5.Navigator 2
6.Black River
7.Dust From Bones
8.No Glory
9.Burnt Sky

Artists on the album:

Lead Guitar and Lead Vocals: Wayne Hendrikz
Bass and Backing Vocals: Larry Leyden
Drums and Percussion: Steven Jacobson
Rhythm Guitars, Percussion and Backing Vocals: Andrew Pullen

Additional Artists on the album:

George van der Spuy on keys (Taxi Violence): Take Me
Matthew Pullen (Rooikat) on Backing Vocals: Shadow Beast

Review

South African Stoner Rock scene is starting to come on leaps and bounds over the last few years with bands such as Ruff Majik making a name for themselves. Time to add another cool band to the mix with MONSTROID. The band play a heavy and stylish mix of Desert Rock, Fuzz Rock and Stoner Metal with a more Sci-fi based twist.

With inspiration from bands such as KYUSS, FU MANCHU, Karma To Burn and Monster Magnet, MONSTROID are firmly in the driving seat forging out their own career and psychedelic heavy sound. Their new album – Set 2: Burnt Sky – whilst nothing groundbreaking does see the band playing heavier and fuzzier sounds compared to their world famous musical peers.

Set 2: Burnt Sky contains 9 songs and runs for 46 minutes and the listener is treated to wild mix of 90s Desert Rock, Fuzz Rock and Stoner Metal with a soaring Psychedelic Spaced Out vibe. The vocals are constantly engaging from Wayne on Lead Vocals with Larry and Andrew providing excellent backing vocals throughout the album.

There is an addictive Alt Rock flow to this album and MONSTROID write spiky and rebellious lyrics with a certain Dave Wnydorf flavour to them especially on the earlier stages of the album impressing the most with songs such as: Take Me, Shadow Beast and Fall in Line.

MONSTROID play a classic and vintage style of Stoner Rock/Metal that we all know and love but this is still an exciting and jam-packed album to listen to with the band trying different things. They’ve added Keyboards on the standout track – Take Me. It’s quite boisterous and rebellious within the strands of Stoner Rock/Metal.

Things can be quite experimental in places but it’s a good mix and a great Desert, Fuzz or Stoner based groove is never too far behind. Add lively production vibes and Set 2: Burnt Sky is a great album for MONSTROID to fully get noticed within the global Desert/Stoner Metal community.

Other cool songs to check out are: Navigator 2, Black River and Dust From Bones.

This is quite the action-packed Stoner Metal package with the band impressing from start to finish. So get on board with the MONSTROID train. As these guys mean SERIOUS BUSINESS.

Excellent and Highly Recommended.

Words by Steve Howe

You can hear the album exclusively with this cool album premiere thanks to the cool folks at Plug Music Agency.

Thanks to Warren at Plug Music Agency for everything. 

Set 2: Burning Sky will be available to buy on DD from Friday January 22nd 2021.

Links:

Website | Instagram | YouTube | Facebook | Twitter