Sunday 29 August 2021

GRIEVING - Songs For The Weary (Mini Review) & Vinyl Release Details From Interstellar Smoke Records


Mini Review

Doom/Stoner Metallers GRIEVING new album Songs For The Weary is a slightly darker take on the Doom/Stoner Metal sound with a Heavy Occult Rock Twinge. The album moves between Hard Rock and Heavy Metal with GRIEVING showing supreme confidence from start to finish.

The vocals are clean based but with a menacing tone behind them when the album moves fully into the Occult Rock arena. The Gothic Tinged atmosphere allows GRIEVING to create a more satisfying and richer full sound with a dark Psychedelic undertone as well. The music is quite melodic in places but also shows a rather cool Muscular Groove that brings a more meatier and muscular tone especially on the 1st half of the album.

GRIEVING's debut album is a tad too short at under 29 minutes in length. A couple of more songs would have benefited this album greatly but that's my only minor complaint for this album.

Overall, Songs For The Weary is a gutsy adventure into the darker side of Stoner Metal with plenty of Doom Metal attitude to match.

Fantastic stuff.

Words by Steve Howe

Interstellar Smoke Records Vinyl Release

GRIEVING are following the footsteps of their forefathers, with sounds of doom accompanying them as they weave stories of devils, witches, ghouls and the endless capacity for evil in the heart of every human being. Singing songs for the weary, they grieve over this dying world.

The band includes members of Mentor, Furia, Thaw, ARRM, Gruzja, Las Trumien, J. D. Overdrive and Pure Bedlam.

“Songs for the Weary” tracklisting:

1. Crippled by the Weight of Powerlessness
2. This Godless Chapel
3. A Crow Funeral
4. Foreboding of a Great Ruin
5. Witch Hunt Eternal
6. Lucifer Wept

Line-up:

Artur Rumiński – guitars/bass/keys
Bartosz Lichołap – drums
Wojciech Kałuża – vocals

"Songs for the Weary" was recorded and mixed at Satanic Audio and was released on July 26th, 2021. The album will be released on transparent white vinyl on August 27th and can be purchased here: https://interstellarsmokerecords.bigcartel.com/

Connect with Grieving here:

Friday 27 August 2021

Twenty-Twenty Vision With IKITAN - An Interview With IKITAN

I'm going to keep this "intro" short and sweet. Mainly to get straight down to business with interviewing Italian Psychedelic Stoner Rockers IKITAN who have made a big impression with the Stoner Rock Community with their last two releases which we will discuss in this in-depth interview.

So read on for an epic read with IKITAN

Hi IKITAN! Thanks for doing this interview. How are things with you today. For people not in the know can you give a brief history of your band and where it's today?

IKITAN was born in September 2019 when Luca replied to an adv Enrico posted on a local musicians’ Facebook group, and the band started jamming one week after.


It must be noted that Luca and Frik Et have been friends for ages and have played together for over 10 years years and so they were looking for a new drummer for their new adventure.

Fun fact: the three of us played at a local gig back in 2010: Luca and Fri Et were already in the same band then, and Enrico, playing in another band, bought a demo from them (which he still proudly owns).


After almost two years together, we’ve released an EP titled “Twenty-Twenty”, a live video aka our first gig “Twenty-Twenty Live at Forte Geremia”, and we’re working on a lot of new exciting stuff.


What style of music do you play in your own words?


We describe ourselves as a heavy post-rock band with a pinch of stoner and progressive. We don’t have a singer, and IKITAN is really the result of our influences as they emerge during our jam sessions when we meet. An unplanned approach to music, where spontaneity has a huge role.


Why did you choose your name IKITAN for your band and what does it have any meaning to you all?


IKITAN was chosen by Luca, who was fascinated by its meaning, found on the Italian Wikipedia page of the “Aztec gods”. According to whoever wrote that page, IKITAN is the god of the sound of the stones. It fits perfectly the idea he and Frik Et had in mind for our music, and the moment we got together and started playing it made so much sense.


There’s also a nice little pun there: stones and stoner, of course, as we love stoner rock. And also stoned, although we don’t smoke! :D


So we’ve been playing for months with this whole IKITAN concept in mind, we prepared the album cover (thanks Luca Marcenaro!) and everything… Some days before the actual release date, we found out this was not true! Or at least not verified. We even wrote to a university professor who is the go-to expert in pre-Colombian cultures, only to find out that IKITAN is nowhere to be found! The power of unverified Wikipedia sources…


But who cares: we love the concept, it’s an inspiration for us, and we’ll stick to it!


You released your debut EP - Twenty Twenty - last year. So looking back, were you happy with the responses the EP received from both fans and critics?


When we released “Twenty-Twenty”, on 20th November 2020, we didn’t expect that it would have been supported by the people in such a positive way.


The response has been overwhelmingly good both from fans and critics from a lot of different countries, something we truly didn’t expect, and so we want to thank everyone who gave us a chance and has been checking us out in the last months. THANKS!


We’ve received over 50 reviews from blogs, webzines and the likes all over the world, dozens of interviews, about 1700 views of our new video, over 150 copies of the digipack sold in 15 countries. We’ve been doing all of this on our own, starting from scratch and building relationships from zero to hero… we’ve met new friends all over the world and this magic experience keeps surprising us every day!


Would you change anything about the EP? Or are you happy with the way it is?


The release and reception of “Twenty-Twenty” has been an incredible journey. All the things in the EP - from the music to artwork - are still very vivid in our minds, and we love it as much as if it was the first time.


The only thing that we would have loved to experience in a different way was the possibility to promote “Twenty-Twenty” with concerts… like all normal bands have been doing before COVID!


What influenced or inspired you when making the EP?


The EP is the result of bits and pieces that developed during our jam sessions (including some riffs from the very first time we met), and then developed into three songs, which we eventually merged together. 


It’d be difficult, with hindsight, to trace back what influenced us to create each and every emotion contained. It’s fair to say that we probably have influenced each other while playing and arranging the music, trying to make all the pieces fit together in a nice and interesting way for the listener.


We’re playing the music we’d like to listen to, so we’re inspired by our favourite bands, and we can include Deftones, Tool, Yawning Man, Russian Circles and Clutch in the lot. And there’s a lot more too!


For what concerns the album artwork, the idea of Orazio, the little sausage dog, has always been with us in some way, as well as the alleged god of the sound of the stones, IKITAN. We represented this visually, thanks to the impressive cover painted by Luca Marcenaro, taking inspiration from the Simpson episode where Homer hallucinates and sees the Spirit Guide… 


What is Twenty-Twenty actually about?


“Twenty-Twenty” is our debut EP, consisting of one instrumental song lasting exactly 20 minues and 20 seconds, and published on 20th November 2020. Too many 20s not to have a meaning, right?


Well, the meaning of “Twenty-Twenty” is… whatever meaning you’ll want to read in it.

Some folks who wrote a review detailed how each part of the long song corresponded to a phase of the pandemic arriving in Europe. That’s a view of the song we didn’t think about, but as long as people can find new meaning in our music, that’s fine with us.


We don’t have a specific message nor does “Twenty-Twenty” have any specific meaning.

Things have been clicking quite randomly one after the other: 


By the end of Spring of 2020 we had enough material to put together three different songs and, considering the overall situation caused by COVID, we said: “it’s our chance to put the word ‘end’ to this first part of the story of the band, nobody knows what’s gonna happen next, so we want to set this moment in stone” or, well… on a CD. 


These three songs were somehow linked among them and at one point we also started thinking about just releasing the album as one only song and debut with a one-track EP. It was all very random and things clicked one after the other quite surprisingly, including the whole “number 20” thing.



You then followed this up with a Live EP and Video Performance. Where did the idea come from to put on a Live Performance of?


It all started very low-profile: after releasing “Twenty-Twenty”, and being still unable to play live, we thought: let’s do something and show the band is active. So the initial plan was to do a live on Facebook or Instagram from our studio and just play chunks of the whole song. Just for the sake of doing something, really, getting ready for a concert, and showing another side of the band’s life. And most importantly - show the band playing live.

Then as it always happens one thing leads to the other, one of us has a crazy idea and the other two add fuel to the fire… It was the end of January when we started envisioning this project… So the first major change was that we decided to play the whole thing, and not just parts of it anymore, in an outdoor setting, and make it our first live concert.

We’re fans of the whole desert rock scene, so generator parties and the likes have had an impact, even visually, on us. The idea was, on one hand, to tribute that concept, and on the other hand, to play the whole song, as we never did before, showing the band in an amazing setting in the wild. Also, we saw the video Yawning Man did (Live at the Giant Rock) and it was an inspiration too, of course.

On top of that, Genoa, our city, is perfectly placed between sea and mountains. The city itself is kind of between two of the major mountain chains in Italy (Alps and Apennines), so when you talk about nature and the wild… it’s the mountain that you’re thinking about. And so we did: the video was shot on top of an old fort and we’re extremely pleased with the end result.

Forte Geremia is officially the first live concert of IKITAN, a live concert which speaks of its times: there’s no audience and it’s only available on the Internet.

Was it a hard thing to put together with the COVID Pandemic still around us all? Any technical issues or other issues that you didn't plan for that appeared?


The filming of the video itself was pretty straightforward as we just had to play the song and our amazing friends from Squeasy Film were doing the shots with 4-5 cameras (and drones), even though, as with all the projects with a set date and deadline, there were some challenging moments.


First of all, when we decided to go to Forte Geremia, Italy was still in what we refer to as the "red zone": you couldn't leave your municipality unless for health, work, etc. These restrictions were waived just days before we actually went up on the mountain, something which of course was decided weeks before, otherwise... we might have had to make something up to make it happen anyway, there was no plan B.


Secondly, weather played a big role too. The video was shot on March 7th, and the temperature went as low as 5°C… not ideal when you have to unload everything and prepare for a live set. Plus the wind!


Lastly, the folks working at the provided us with power supplies for the day (and ravioli at lunch!) but for the rest we had to cater for the whole thing ourselves. The hardest part was to load and unload all of our backline, as the cars were quite far from where the video was shot.


Luckily Luca is also a sound engineer, so he took care of all aspects of the outdoor gig from start to finish, making sure we could recreate the sound we had in mind in an outdoor setting where we could rely on ourselves only. Big thanks to Stefano Gualtieri who was behind the mixer when we recorded the song on the day.


Once we prepared everything, we started filming straight after lunch and we played the whole song a few times whilst being recorded from 4-5 different angles and cameras (including drones, of course).


The post-production of the video took a few weeks and we've left the music as natural as it was when we played it at Forte Geremia: we really wanted this to be our first live concert, and not a video clip.



Were you happy how the Live Performance turned out and what has the reception been to the Live EP?


“Live at Forte Geremia” is our first gig since we formed in 2019. We’ve always been playing in our rehearsal room only, and with no audience. So yes, we’re very satisfied with the video so far, but hopefully we can do some “real” concerts soon too!


The reception of the live EP was really good, with folks being impressed by the location and the idea, somehow original. We also want to thank our good friend George aka MrDoom666 who helped us with a gigantic premiere of the video on his YouTube channel.


Why did you choose Forte Geremia as that location to perform at? Have you played there before or was this your first time?


It was probably the first time anyone played over there at all… but we’ll need to check eheh!

As said, once we agreed on doing a “proper” live video of us playing in the wild, the inspiration came from “Live at the Giant Rock” by Yawning Man. There’s no desert around us, and a “similar” place, in our area, could be found at Forte Geremia, the 819 asl old military fort that’s just one hour from Genoa.

The location was already used for a shooting by our filmmaker friends Squeasy Film, who were responsible for filming the band playing, so this whole thing kind of matched with the idea we had in mind.

There are references with the cover of the EP too, in a way: it’s a rocky scenery and we’re on top of a mountain, and there’s a mountain on the cover too, and being IKITAN the alleged god of the sound of the stones for the Aztecs… it all kind of match.

COVID-19 has pretty much put a stop to all life as we know it for the time being. How big of an impact has it affected the band? And how are you surviving in this stressful time?


We managed to survive because we set ourselves the goal of releasing the EP during the pandemic (refining the song and recording it happened from May to September 2020), and considering we all live in Genoa, we never actually stopped playing or meeting (apart from the first two months of the pandemic, March and April 2020). Here’s how we’re still mentally ok!


After everything is back to some sort of normality, what does the future hold for the band?


As mentioned above, IKITAN has never been in a “normal” situation. We never played any live shows so… that part of our story is still to be written. :D


The first cycle of jam sessions as IKITAN gave birth to “Twenty-Twenty”, and we’ve kept playing (and recording every rehearsals) since its release back in November 2020. 

So the next album will be the result of a second cycle of playing together, the one which is taking place as we speak.


Will you be anxious, scared or excited when performing on the live stage again?


We honestly can’t wait! We’ve all been in bands before IKITAN but there’s so much going on with IKITAN right now that our gigs will be extra special for us.


Also this is the first time we’re doing something a bit more serious than “let’s meet and play every now and then and see what happens” (which, BTW, was our original plan LOL), so playing live is an essential part of this.


Any plans for new releases in the coming months?


Yes, the album will be instrumental but we don’t have a set date yet.

It’s very likely that the new songs won’t be as gigantic as 20-minute “suites” anymore, we’re working towards something more direct and riffalicious but in pure IKITAN style. We still like not to stick to a particular genre and not setting any boundaries, so there will be some surprises.

The album will include something like 8-10 songs and these are bits and pieces of all the rehearsals (even bits that were left out of Twenty-Twenty) we’ve been recording since day 1, when we met to jam for the first time together.

Right now we’re still jamming and also developing some parts of older jams into full songs. We’ve been recording every single note we’ve improvised and now we’re letting the songs and improvisations guide us towards the next IKITAN album. Stay tuned!

You're based in Genoa, Italy. Before COVID-19 hit, how was the local Hard Rock/Metal scene in Genoa? Is there a good local scene there for bands to perform on a regular basis?


Genoa boasts a huge variety of bands and genres, from hip hop to rock, jazz, metal, prog, reggae, songwriters, stoner rock and everything in between.


As Massimo Perasso of Taxi Driver Records says when reviewing our EP, “Genoa is the city with the highest percentage of stoner bands per capita in Europe, sadly none other than people from Genoa knows about them!”


And indeed, other than stoner rock bands, there’s a lot of cool, active and interesting bands in this city. We can’t avoid mentioning our good friends and amazing bands Isaak, Burn the Ocean, Il Segno del Comando, La Coscienza di Zeno, Varego, Kurt Russhell, NAAT, Banana Joe and Temple of Deimos.


The city, despite being one of the most populated in Italy, is quite small when it comes to the local scene (which city is not like this, after all?), and in one way or another, we all know each other either by name or personally.


A few music shops and music labels exist and resist, providing invaluable support to emergent bands and famous ones by organising festivals and concerts, and offering showcase opportunities. We shall mention at least two of them: Flamingo and Black Widow.


Music clubs have been suffering massively in Genoa even before the current pandemic, with just a handful of venues surviving (and no more than ten venues/clubs in total for local bands to start playing some gigs). Such a shame for a city that truly was and still is very vibrant in terms of ideas and bands.


Thankfully a lot of connections are made possible by the Internet and we’re working hard to be supportive towards other bands and create a meaningful network of relationships that will become more effective once we’ll be able to travel again.


We’re very happy to be in such good company in our city and we hope we’ll be able to visit other Italian and European cities too very soon.


Last but not least: we’ve put together a Spotify playlist which contains some great rock, stoner, post-rock and prog artists from Genoa and from other cool places all over the world. Let’s support the underground, these bands are smashing.


You can find the playlist here: https://linktr.ee/ikitan 


Who are IKITAN's main musical influences? Any artists that may surprise your fans at all?


We’ve listened to a whole bunch of very different music by now (we’re well in our 30es) and we’re very open when it comes to musical taste. Our main influences are surely post-rock, stoner and progressive, with a heavy soul.


As for the bands, Tool is the name we truly must mention here. The first time we met we started talking about them (we were all at their same concert in Florence - Summer 2019) and we knew from the get go that something cool would have happened.


Other IKITAN’s favourite are Russian Circles and Yawning Man.


For Luca as guitarist the first influences have been: AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple… surprised? LOL.


After becoming a fan of the desert rock and post-rock scenes, all the main bands of that musical universe, as well as each new discovery, are a source of inspiration, and they become part of a bigger background where you can also find pop, rock and grunge.


Frik Et is influenced by bands such as Black Sabbath, Nirvana and Mogwai. The idea for such a powerful and prominent bass sound comes from two-piece bands like Royal Blood and Death From Above.


Tower of Power and their super drummer David Garibaldi are surely a huge influence on Enrico’s drumming. There might not be a lot of funky in IKITAN’s music, but some ideas and grooves come from that universe.


Another big one is Anthrax and Charlie Benante, where drums are both powerful and perfectly fitting within the groove and feel of each song. No wonder Charlie is also the main riff maker!


Thanks for doing this interview. Before you go, do you have any words of wisdom that you want to say to your fans?


The music scene has been suffering even greater than before due to the pandemic. We need to go to gigs, support bands and venues by showing up, listening to music, and making sure the whole ecosystem can get back on track even stronger than before.


Thanks for checking us out and let’s stay in touch!


Words by Steve Howe and IKITAN


Links: https://linktr.ee/ikitan 


Iceburn - Asclepius (Album Review)

Release Date: June 25th 2021. Record Label: Southern Lord Recordings. Format: DD/CD/Vinyl

Asclepius - Tracklisting


1.Healing the Ouroboros 18:48 

2.Dahlia Rides the Firebird 17:49


Members


Joseph "Chubba" Smith -Drums 

James Holder - Guitars 

Gentry Densley - Guitars, Vocals 

Cache Tolman - Bass


Review


I was a huge fan of Iceburn back in the late 90s with their blend of Jazz/Experimental Rock with later releases seeing the band venture into Doom Metal. Iceburn released their last album back in 2001 and the band has now returned with Asclepius. The album feels like it has been 20 years in the making with iceburn revisiting their earlier Jazz Fusion Metal sound with elements of Hardcore, Psych and at twisted style of Doom Metal.


I became a fan of Eagle Twin (Gentry Densley’s other fantastic band) because of Iceburn as I wanted to hear what Gentry had in store for his new musical adventure. However this is Iceburn’s chance to shine once more with this album. The record is firmly rooted in heavy Jazz Fusion textures with Progressive Metal and Doom Metal being added at the later stages. The album contains two tracks running 18 minutes in length and the Drone/Industrial atmosphere is quite experimental with a heavy Start-Stop sludgy presence. This is most definitely vintage Iceburn but given a 21st Century Makeover with the guys using their years of experience wisely and playing muscular slabs of Doom Metal.


This record does remind me of Eagle Twin's last album in many ways but still remaining truly original on it’s own technical and creative merits. Both songs follow the same creative pattern of heavy Jazz based Rock/Metal passages with a foreboding sense of Doom lurking in the background. Though, the moments of Classic Hard Rock and Twin Guitar riffs lighten the mood along the way.


Opening song - Healing The Ouroboros - is my favourite song with Iceburn being more adventurous and daring on this track. With its endless changes in musical beats and tempos for a rather solidifying sound that really comes alive when the Jazzy sounds meet with the Doom Metal grooves then everything becomes a weirdly exciting style of heavy music.


Second song - Dahlia Rides The Firebird - is another crazy exposure into Iceburn’s psyche and this is perhaps the heaviest offering with moments of pure twisted carnage. Maybe not as strong as the opening song but still a thrilling spectacle of Experimental Doom Metal.


Asclepius is perhaps the most technically impressive record I’ve heard this year and that’s down to the sheer variety of different styles the band play for this release. I’m hoping we don’t have to wait another 20 years for an Iceburn release. As this is an essential listening experience for long-time fans of the band but it also allows first time listeners the perfect opportunity to discover this great band all for themselves.


Words by Steve Howe


Thanks to Lauren at Rarely Unable PR for the promo. Asclepius is available to buy now on DD/Vinyl via Southern Lord Recordings.


Links:


Facebook | BandCamp


Wednesday 25 August 2021

White Fuzzy Bloodbath - Medicine (Single Review)

Release Date: August 23rd 2021. Record Label: Self Released. Format: DD

Medicine - Tracklisting


Medicine


Members


Bass & Vocals - Elise Tarens

Guitar & Vocals - Alex Bruno

Drums & Vocals - Jeff Hurley


Review


Medicine is the new song from Heavy Hitting Stoner Rock Trio White Fuzzy Bloodbath and it’s the 2nd single to be released from their upcoming Live At Earth Tone Recording Company EP. The track is a mixture of all good things from the Stoner Rock and Hard Rock arenas. The song is quite dark with all the members of the band performing vocal duties with Elise being the lead vocalist on this song.



The song starts rather solitary with a cool guitar riff that lasts some time before building into a loud 90's Heavy Rock inspired Wall Of Noise. There are moments of Dark Psychedelic with even moments of almost Post-Doom surroundings. Medicine lasts for over 7 minutes and White Fuzzy Bloodbath live upto their name on this song. One moment it’s all upbeat and almost Indie Rock grooves before descending into the darker side of Stoner Rock/Metal.


There’s a lot going on with this track but the mood is always interesting and most importantly challenging with the different vocal melodies and dark lyrical content held in the song. Elise finds her INNER ROCK DEMON on this track especially when she goes full on BANSHEE mode.


All in all, this is a superb track indeed that offers a different take and style of Stoner Rock with White Fuzzy Bloodbath proving one moment they’re your best friend and the next they’re robbing you blindly on the street. This is a band with an appetite for destruction and I’m fully excited for hopefully their full length record in the near future.


Words by Steve Howe


Links:


Official | Facebook | BandCamp


Tuesday 24 August 2021

Wooden Fields Premiere New Song SHIVER AND SHAKE From Upcoming Debut Album Released on Argonauta Records


Swedish Heavy Rock Trio WOODEN FIELDS (feat. members of WITCHCRAFT, SIENA ROOT, ANGEL WITCH & more) will be releasing their debut album 

Slated for a release on Vinyl, CD, Tape and as Digital formats on October 8th through Argonauta Records.

To get you into the mood for this great album, we are premiering the superb new song Shiver And Shake which you can hear below


Here's what Sartez Faraj (Guitars/Vocals) said about the track:

”This song is about us all being more fragile than we think in the end, and being able to learn to see / accept the greatness and benefit of it and not just the fear.”

Thanks to Mona at All Noir PR for all of the details.

Links


Monday 23 August 2021

Slowpoke - S/T (Album Review)

Release Date: August 22nd 2021. Record Label: Self Released. Format: DD

Slowpoke - S/T - Tracklisting


1.Stony Iommi 09:27

2.Slumlord 03:02

3.Sid the Cat ft. Al Yeti Bones 05:31

4.Miami Camo 05:24

5.Windtalker 05:02

6.Sanctuary 07:28

7.Slowpoke ft. Gordon McCready 09:12


Members


Ben Chapman-Smith: Bass, Vocals, Guitar

Cameron Legge: Guitar

Adam Young: Drums


Review


Slowpoke play a Punk Rock fuelled version of Sludge/Stoner Metal with the band having the good grace to add a twisted Psychedelic Groove to their self-titled debut album. Their record has elements of Progressive Rock and you feel that the band craft an adventurous style of music which can be heard in the excellent opening song Stony Iommi.


The song comes on like a Sludge/Death Rock battalion of heavy riffs with pissed off vocals to match. Slowpoke play around here and even start playing Psych Rock, Prog Rock and Hard Rock in different sections of the song. The song is quite mellow in the later stages and does have a “Post-Doom” flavour with the proggy guitars seeing Slowpoke pay homage to the legendary musician. The song can be too flashy at times but there’s more than enough Sludge/Stoner Metal cool riffs to keep everyone fully on board.


Second song - Slumlord - feels like a song from an entirely different band as this is LO-FI and in your face Sludged Out Punk Rock with fast paced Stoner guitars. The song is punchy and aggressive especially with the death growls that appear along the way. 


Third song - Sid The Cat - features Al Yeti Bones who is a fantastic solo musician and lead singer of Gypsy Chief Goliath. The song is a solid Sludge/Stoner Metal song with a blues rock flavour coming into play and is brutally heavy that reminds me of DOWN in many ways. This is one of the best tracks on the album and I can listen to this song all day long. Heavy proggy guitars with a fine “NOLA” attitude being the glue that holds everything together. 


The rest of the album sees Slowpoke carry on creating their own blend of Punk fuelled Sludge/Stoner Metal with interesting ideas contained on all of the songs. The album does lose focus at times but Slowpoke have this uncanny ability to play a heavy riff that brings everything back into place and you’re left with a debut album that is packed to the brim of awesome grooves and heavy tunes from start to finish.


The final two songs of Sanctuary and Slowpoke are the best parts of the album. As Slowpoke bring all their best musical ideas on these two songs with the band being CRAZY in all the right places and ending the album on the right musical note.


Excellent and Highly Recommended.


Words by Steve Howe


Thanks to Infecting Cells PR for the promo.


Links:


Official | Facebook | BandCamp 


Saturday 21 August 2021

Band To Check Out - Chapel Floods


Chapel Floods are a Sludge/Stoner Metal Band from Rotherham, United Kingdom. These guys are a fairly new band who just started before the pandemic hit and delayed their plans just a little bit. Well the guys played their first gig earlier this week and you can checkout 3 awesome videos on their YouTube Page.

The performance is raw but showing passionate energy and some promising Sludge/Stoner Metal tunes with a great Grunge influence showing especially on the excellent songs Thousand Year Stare and Time Servers.

Give these guys a like on their Social Media Platforms.

LowFlyingHawks - FUYU (Album Review)

Release Date: August 27th 2021. Record Label: Magnetic Eye Records. Format: CD/DD/Vinyl

FUYU - Tracklisting

1.Kuro

2.Subatomic Sphere 

3.Monster

4.Midnight

5.Fuyu

6.Darklands

7.Solar Wind

8.Caustic Wing

9.Winter Star

10.Nightrider


Members


EHA – vocals, guitars

AAL – guitars, backing vocals

Dale Crover – drums

Trevor Dunn – bass


Guest musicians


Violins: Martha Domínguez Henkel, Luis Sergio Hernández

Cellos: Luz del Carmen Pastor y Valentín Mirkov

Opera singer: Martha Domínguez Henkel


Review


Doomgaze Rockers LowFlyingHawks return with their 3rd album FUYU and their first release in two years. EHA and AAL are the creative masterminds behind the band but they are joined again by their regular rhythm section with Dale Crover (The Melvins) on Drums and Trevor Dunn (Mr Bungle) on Bass who have appeared on their previous releases. 


FUYU concludes the musical trilogy they started with Kōfuku back in Feb 2016 and it seems Lowfliyinghawks have come full circle with this release as they bring some of that celebrated album’s dark sound to this record and matching it with the proggier sludgy themes of 2017’s Genkaku. FUYU sees LowFlyingHawks have another musical makeover or reinvention of themselves bringing a “StonerGaze” identity to the centre of the album.


The album is always progressive with it’s dark messages and themes that are told through punishing instances of Drone Metal, Stoner Metal, Sludge Metal, Psych Rock and a twisted “Post-Whatever” narrative. The vocals are a mixture of clean vocals, harsh growls, drone chants and eerie distorted twisted vocals that you hear superbly well on the stunning second track - Subatomic Sphere.


FUYU is best to listen to the album as one continuous heavy journey into the darker side of Sludge/Stoner Metal. The music is a mixture of Light and Dark moments. Sometimes I was feeling that certain sections of the record were too “LIGHT” and when will the heavy moments appear. Shame on me for doing that. As I wasn’t listening to or experiencing what LowFlyingHawks were trying to convey with their music. Third song Monster being a prime example. Though with repeated listens I started to understand the song more and more which led to this song becoming one of my favourite parts of the album. There are heavy moments but it’s a more “upbeat” approach from the band and it’s a glorious style of Sludge/Stoner Metal that taps into the euphoric moments of Post-Metal whilst not being that at all.


I didn’t want to do a “song by song” review that I normally do for this album. As it’s a soulful and truly cinematic experience that should be listened to as one whole record split into individual albums. LowFlyingHawks have everything covered under the Sludge/Stoner Metal umbrella whilst bringing different strands of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal. It’s primarily a Doomgaze/Stonergaze sound that the band have perfectly crafted over their past 3 releases.


FUYU is not an easy album to listen to and it’s not meant to be. LowFlyingHawks have always released complex sounding records with dark themes and FUYU is no different. FUYU is perhaps their most accessible release but still retaining that classic LFH element for longtime fans to be fully on board with.


The music as usual is first rate from everyone connected with the record and impresses the most when they bring an orchestral theme, flow and sound to the album. The lyrics are grounded and completely heartbreaking but LowFlyingHawks still retain a positive and upbeat message from start to finish. 


The final part of the album with Caustic Wing, Winter Star and Nightrider is the best part of the album and one of the most exciting pieces of music that LowFlyingHawks have recorded. Everything is played LOUD and QUIET with a sound that goes across the whole Doom/Sludge/Stoner Metal spectrum with trippy vocals, grooves and riffs that remain heartbreakingly original and sonically progressive


Standout songs: Monster, Midnight, FUYU, Caustic Wing and Nighrider.


FUYU is another masterclass from LowFlyingHawks and I’m hoping this isn’t the end of the journey for LowFlyingHawks as they’re one of my favourite underground bands. I want to hear more from the band but if FUYU is the end of the line then what an album to end their journey with. As this is my favourite album from them and definitely perhaps of the best records I’ve heard this year.


Words by Steve Howe


Thanks to Magnetic Eye Records for the promo.


FUYu will be available to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl via Magnetic Eye Records from August 27th 2021.

Worldwide: en.merhq.spkr.media/magnetic-eye-records/low-flying-hawks-fuyu.html US/Canada: us.merhq.spkr.media/magnetic-eye-records/low-flying-hawks-fuyu.html


Links:


Facebook | BandCamp