Exclusive Album Premiere Of Stoner Metallers ISAAK New Album HEY

New album "Hey" coming out March 31st via Heavy Psych Sounds and you can hear the album below with this Exclusive Album Premiere. Thanks to the awesome folks at Purple Sage PR and Heavy Psych Sounds

Isaak return after seven years of absence with their third studio album "Hey"! Considered a cornerstone act of the Italian heavy and stoner rock scene, the Genoa foursome is known for delivering high-octane steamrollers propelled by supersonic riffs banging grooves and thunderous vocals. "Hey" will hit your ears head-on with no mercy so make the most of this infectiously fun 11-track crank it up and join that sweaty beer-soaked pit now.

Thanks to Purple Sage PR for the promo.

HEY is available to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl via Heavy Psych Sounds (Europe) and Heavy Psych Sounds (USA)

Links

Facebook | BandCamp

Mast Year - Knife (Album Review)

Release Date: April 07th 2023. Record Label: Grimoire Records. Formats: CD/DD

Knife: Tracklisting

Fuk Boi

Null

Weeping Tongues

Knife

Dark Web

In Tandem

Urizen

Loser

The Womb

Golden Winter

Members

Noel Mueller - Guitar

Darin Tambascio - Bass

Ben Price - Drums

Eric Rhodes - Vocals

Review

Knife is the debut release from Noise Rock/Post-Hardcore/Industrial/Metallers Mast Year. The album is quite a violent affair with harsh Noise Rock environments leading the creative charge. The band plays at a breakneck speed with a hard attitude to match. Perhaps not the easiest album to listen to at first but Mast Year adds abrasive vocals to the mix which gives the band a more underground feel.

Opening song Fuk Boi is an interesting choice of different styles with the band adding subtle Psych Noise Rock passages to the highly experimental Industrial and Sludgy atmospherics that can be quite LO-FI in places. The song may not be to everyone's tastes but Mast Year can lay down some cool warped noises when the song decides what it finally wants to be.

Second song Null lasts for around a minute or so and it's full of screeching guitars, glitches and Ambient Noises. More Drone Punk with a despairing Doom edge that does have a warped sense of dynamic sound and twisted fun even despite the short running time.

Third song Weeping Tongue is a more interesting style with Mast Year operating with a Post-Punk/Gothic style that has a certain 1970's and 1980's charm to it. However, Mast Year brings a more violent Noise Rock and down-tuned energy to the track with the harsh vocals being quite intense in places. The instrumental work is frantic but full of dynamically powerful Post-Hardcore grooves. I can detect a slight early-era At The Drive-In sound on this track but still allowing Mast Year to deliver their uncompromising blend of music.

Fourth track Knife is another catchy slice of Distorted Punk with a twisted Metallic edge. The music is chaotic and all over the place with the raw-sounding bass being quite the most powerful instrument on this track alone. The song can be quite abrasive with its Sludge Metal sounds that will appeal to fans of The Melvins. Distortion and Experimentation is key here with Mast Year starting to impress that little bit further.

Fifth song Dark Web offers a solitary and bleak style of Experimental Rock with elements of Drone, Psych and Sonic based sounds. It's more of an instrumental interlude but it's quite a dark offering from the band where you feel not a lot actually happens but you'll be surprised by the creative journey the band take upon this song.

The second half of the album sees Mast Year stick to their creative ideals for more tales of Despair and Bleak sounds that brings back memories of Converge and Kowloon Walled City especially on tracks such as In Tandem, Loser and Golden Winter. There's a multitude of different instrumental styles on this part of the album where the Noise Rock and Post-Hardcore sounds collide for heavy outbursts of violent Metallic based music.

Knife is not the easiest album to listen to but I appreciate the dark creative vision Mast Year have used for this album. The songs all have a sense of purpose and there are elements of Doom and Sludgy environments to entice listeners with.

Overall, Knife is an electrifying and intense listen which I will only admire more greatly over time. It's one of those types of albums that has "CULT APPEAL'' and perhaps build a decent sized audience within the Metal Underground scene in the years to come.

Words by Steve Howe.

Thanks to Mast Year and Earsplit PR for the promo.

Knife available to buy on CD/DD via Grimoire Records from April 07th 2023.

Links

 Facebook | BandCamp

The Electric Highway Festival (Calgary, AB) Announces Dates For 2024 Lineup – April 4 -6; Opens Band Submissions and Special One-Day Ultra Early Bird Special

 EHF 2023 Lineup Spotify Playlist - https://spoti.fi/3ZKB9Tm​

Calgary's The Electric Highway Festival has wrapped up for 2023 and it was a resounding success according to festival organizers. The event took place from March 23, 24, and 25, 2023 at Dickens, with 3 days of music from Canadian bands trekking from across Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba along with American headliners, Los Angeles' Sasquatch.

The 2024 edition of The Electric Highway will take place April 4, 5, and 6, 2024 once again at Dickens in Calgary. Band submissions for the event open on April 1 and run until June 30, 2023. Bands can fill out the form on the website.

Fans of The Electric Highway will also have the opportunity to buy very limited Ultra Early Bird Passes for the 2024 festival starting at noon MST on April 1, 2023. Only 20 passes for $60 each will be available in the Festival Store.

About:

Buckle up for The Electric Highway Festival!

The 2023 edition of the festival focused on Desert Rock and Metal, Doom, Sludge, and Heavy Psych and had expanded to include some punk and hardcore bands as well.

The festival featured Californian headliners Sasquatch, one of the festival’s past favorites, laying down their brand of fuzzy, kick-ass Desert Rock & Heavy Psych with direct support from Vancouver’s La Chinga who returned for their 4th appearance on Saturday night. Black Mastiff returned to headline Friday night with Calgary’s Gone Cosmic and HypnoPilot headlined the Thursday show with support from Citizen Rage. These are just a few of the wicked bands that played at The Electric Highway. The full lineup can be found below.
​
​The Electric Highway 2023 Official Nightly Lineups:​
​
​Thursday, March 23:​
HypnoPilot (Lethbridge, AB) - Daily Headliner
Citizen Rage (Calgary, AB)
Musing (Calgary, AB)
No More Moments (Siksika, AB)
Father Moon (Calgary, AB)
Destroy My Brains (Lloydminster, AB).
​
​Friday, March 24:​
Black Mastiff (Edmonton, AB/Vancouver, BC) - Daily Headliner
Gone Cosmic (Calgary, AB)
Set & Stoned (Crossfield, AB)
Hombre (Calgary, AB)
Empress (Vancouver, BC)
Molten Lava (Vancouver, BC)
Space Queen (Vancouver, BC) Owls & Eagles (Calgary, AB)
​
​Saturday, March 25:​
Sasquatch (Los Angeles, CA) - Festival Headliner
La Chinga (Vancouver, BC)
Buffalo Bud Buster (Calgary, AB)
Brown Dwarf (Red Deer, AB)
The Astral Prophets (Calgary, AB)
Iron Tusk (Siksika, AB)
The Sleeping Legion (Winnipeg, MB)
Tebby & the Heavy (Edmonton, AB)
Garuda (Cranbrook, BC).
​
The Electric Highway is a fully immersive festival experience and offers much more than just music. The festival also featured an art & vendor exposition during all three days at Dickens, March 23 - 25, 2023.

Check www.TheElectricHighway.ca for more festival information.

We look forward to bringing this festival to you, and can't wait to see everyone in 2024!
​
​Social Media Links:

Website: TheElectricHighway.ca​

Facebook: Facebook.com/ElectricHighwayFestival​

Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/849216866328036​

Instagram: Instagram.com/TheElectricHighway​

Twitter: Twitter.com/TheElectricHwy​
​​
Hashtag #BuckleUp

Festival Artwork by David Paul Seymour
The Electric Highway Logo by Sketchy Intuitions

Former Hades bassist premiers Dreams Of Venus New Song And Video

Sometime back in 1990s NYC, a power trio from the Lower East Side emerged on the scene, they called themselves

Dreams of Venus

Jimmy Schulman (Hades, Vessel Of Light, Cassius King) on bass

Addie Flaxx (Massive Internal Complications, Pound Of Flesh) on guitar and vocals

Kirke J Blankenship (Ours) on drums

           

 On the heels of NJ Thrashers Hades' break up Jimmy said,

"I knew I wanted to start a band with only one guitar player and base it out of NYC."

Addie added, "I had been living in Boston and moved back to my hometown NYC. I was looking to do a no bullshit thing, straight up and raw." The two were introduced one night in an East Village bar by a mutual friend, they hit it off and decided to form a band. Addie said, "When I met Jimmy it was love at 1st misadventure (laughs). We swapped party favors and band influences...then it was off to the races."

               

"When we met Kirke he worked at a rehearsal studio. The studio closed at 11:00PM every night and Addie an I would sneak in at midnight." said Jimmy. Addie added, "Those late-night sessions at the rehearsal space were pretty decadent. Did we play any music?? I really can't remember..."

Over the next 6 months in a haze of influential substances and like-minded musical tastes they finally emerged from the studio...the poppy seeds were sown.

           

Influenced by the music of the late 60s early 70s, "We knew we had something different from what was happening at the time." And the songs?

"They basically wrote themselves." said Jimmy.

Addie added, "We were pretty inspired at the time. Tunes were just pouring out of us...hot f*cking lava, baby!"

Through mismanagement and all the industry bullshit that goes along with it, Dreams Of Venus were just another promising act thrown onto the pile of never-to-be-heard bands, before them and after them. But after being shelved for so long, their 'lost tapes' made their way back to the band.

Their brand of heavy psychedelic/stoner rock and - with no short supply of wah-wah, spot on harmonies and what Addie once described as "We have a secret weapon... the Woolly Mammoth" (referring to the tone of Jimmy's bass) - rounding out the trio's sound.

         

Once Addie and Jimmy heard the tapes after all this time... Jimmy said, "It blew me away how the songs held up."

Addie added, "The DOV stuff was pretty much a distant cool memory for me. When Jimmy resurrected it, I admit I was a bit skeptical. After a listen I was surprised that for a run & gun live

2-track, how good the recording sounded. The performances were solid too. When the label wanted to release it I said, "well, let's put it out!"

Upon hearing a few songs, 2 European labels, Dyamond Roxx and Hellven Records scooped them up.

Now for the first time they'll be releasing what would've been their debut album Songs From The Essex Street Market

Links

BandCamp 

Swan Valley Heights - Terminal Forest (Album Review)

Release Date: March 31st 2023. Record Label: Fuzzorama Records. Formats: CD/DD/Vinyl

Terminal Forest: Tracklisting

Microbe Galaxy

The Hunger

Space Bash III

Terminal Forest

Looking For Bird Pet

Star Fever

Members

Christian Schmidt - Bass

Andy Heir - Drums/Keyboards

David Kreisl - Guitar/Vocals

Review

Terminal Forest is the new album from Heavy Psych/Doom/Stoner Riffsters Swan Valley Heights where the band take a Progressive approach that also sees the band to adapt to a "GLOOM & DOOM" style of music for the heavier parts of the album. However, Swan Valley Heights still operate in that LUSH SOUNDING Psych Rock Environment that will appeal to fans of ELDER, Weedpecker and King Buffalo though still allowing the band to add their own Creative spin.

The songs are structured in a way that sees the band play a multitude of different styles that flirt between Psych/Post-Rock bliss to the heavier and more aggressive DOOMED OUT STONER grooves that gives the band more weight in the volume department. Subtle use of Psych Rock and Ambient Trippy effects gives the band a more cautious approach which you can hear on the excellent first track Microbe Galaxy.

This track is an expansive eleven minute plus journey where Swan Valley Heights merge different levels of Psych Rock with a thoroughly modern WEEDIAN flavour. The atmosphere is melodic but vastly aggressive when the mood calls for it. Elements of HEAVY DISTORTED FUZZ appear on the later stages on the track which no doubt leave fans in a EUPHORIC STATE OF BLISS. The vocals are sublime. Clean and focused with plenty of emotional drive behind them. Though, the music is the main strength drawn here with first-rate instrumental work that manages to get the balance of QUIET and LOUD moments down to a fine art form.

Second song The Hunger has a slight classic Desert Rock feeling before expanding into a more Post-Rock/Psych Rock effect. Eerie Space Rock effects give a more adventurous style before that FUZZ heavy sound returns that allows Swan Valley Heights to play some epic Extended Grooves and Sonic based jams. The vocals are calm and effective with a more emotional style. The song does seem to have an Alt Rock feeling which is perhaps down to the superb lyrics. The song does become part of the "DOES IT DOOM" category when the heavier riffs appear.

Third song Space Bash III offers a classic Psych Stoner Rock track with the mood being more atmospheric and perhaps sounding more straight forward. Though, the band explored multiple different musical avenues despite the brief three minutes runtime of the track. Throw in some Truckfighters based classic FUZZ energy and it's one of the coolest tracks on the album.

Fourth song Terminal Forest is the gloomiest track on the album with Swan Valley Heights being more restrained. The song does have its fair share of HUGE sounding grooves but feels more alive when the cautious and Post-Rock based sounds are leading the charge. Another one of the lengthier tracks running past the ten minutes mark. The vocals have a wonderfully surreal "Paul Simon & Art Garfunkel" sound to them which makes this song even more daring compared to the other tracks on the original. Even the lyrics feel inspired by the classic songwriting duo but that could just be my own observations playing tricks on me. The music is where it counts when choosing the perfect moments to unleash the aggressive AMPLIFIER DISTORTED grooves to them. A winning combination of Doom/Stoner Metal sounds that are spliced with Cinematic based Psych Rock/Space Rock delivery.

Fifth song Looking For Bird Pet is one extended Instrumental piece broken down by individual jams and grooves that keeps that Post-Stoner sound with the trippy Fuzz environment becoming quite JAZZY in places.

The final song Star Fever expands the Spaced Out sound for a more Progressive and Soulful feel. The song does start off cautiously slow but it's the swirling Psychedelic Ambient parts that allows the song to become more Doom/Stoner based. The vocals are clear and concise with the album becoming more emotionally driven before the final moments appear. The slight appearance of the Classic Desert/Fuzz/Stoner Rock scene appears in the background which allows the album to be more organic as a result.

Terminal Forest is an album for the Stoner Rock/Metal ages, as it has a timeless quality and feel throughout the whole album. Packed full of vibrant SONIC and DOOMED OUT energy which is backed up by wonderfully bombastic production values. This is perhaps Swan Valley Heights finest album to date which will no doubt get them more notice within the Doom/Stoner Metal scene. 

Words by Steve Howe.

Thanks to Fuzzorama Records for the promo.

Terminal Forest is available to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl via Fuzzorama Records from March 31st 2023.

Links

Official | Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram

UMBILICHAOS - Entrails II Redux (Album Review)

Release Date: March 03rd 2023. Record Label: Self Released. Formats: DD

Entrails II Redux: Tracklisting

1.Renounce 16:28

2.Vague and Great Pain 17:06

Members

Anna C. Chaos - Everything

Review

Entrails II Redux is the new album from Solo Doom/Post-Metal Act UMBILICHAOS and as the title suggests, this is a Redux of a previous release from Anna C. Chaos who is the creative force behind UMBILICHAOS. I can’t compare the previous version as it’s no longer available. So I’m reviewing this new version of Entrails II.

The album is a mixture of Doom Metal, Post-Metal and Sludge Metal sounds with Hardcore/Shoegaze edge. The album runs for around thirty four minutes across two tracks and Anna offers a bleak twisted style of music that can be quite Grungy and Noise Rock based. There’s few twisted Industrial sounds which you can hear within both tracks of Renounce and Vague and Great Pain.

The Shoegaze element of the album is one of my favourite parts of the album. As the music feels more vibrant with a sludgier presence as well. The instrumental work whilst RAW and DIY based, is effective and allows UMBILICHAOS to play music taking elements from bands such as Melvins. Neurosis and Nine Inch Nails.

The vocals are what you expect for a Sludge/Post-Metal release but they add a menacing approach to the album. There is also a subtle EARTHY and ORGANIC sound to this album when the quieter moments appear. Another highlight of the album which shows a different creative side to Anna’s most recent work. 

Glitchy Industrial Beats is another creative weapon of choice for Anna to provide a more threatening style of music that evokes memories of the 90’s and 00’s rising Post-Metal scene. 

Entrails II Redux is another highly impressive, daring and wonderfully heavy release from UMBILICHAOS. 

Words by Steve Howe

Links

Linktree | BandCamp

Morass Of Molasses - End All We Know (Album Review)

Release Date: March 24th 2023. Record Label: Ripple Music. Formats: CD/DD/Vinyl

End All We Know: Tracklisting

1.The Origin of North 04:32

2.Hellfayre 03:58

3.Sinkhole 04:51

4.Naysayer 05:25

5.Slingshot Around the Sun 04:39

6.Terra Nova 03:59

7.Prima Materia 04:40

8.Wings of Reverie 05:30

Review

Stoner Metallers Morass Of Molasses return with their triumphant third album End All We Know which sees the band offer a more heavier and twisted style of Stoner Metal. Their earlier Blues Rock tinged grooves are here but with a more metallic and psychedelic edge that is heard throughout the album. The vocals have a more mature approach with Morass Of Molasses venturing between the fine line of Stoner Rock and Stoner Metal which you can hear on the excellent opening track The Origin Of North.

The track is quite flashy and progressive for all the right reasons with the band showing some fine “Classic Hard Rock Guitar Shredding” towards the later stages of the track. Mostly instrumental with the briefest of vocals but it shows the new creative turn the band have taken with this album. The song does have a more of an aggressive “THRASH” based attitude which allows the band to explore their Heavy Metal roots that little bit further compared to their earlier releases.

Second song Hellfayre continues with that vibrant “Heavy Metal” energy with deft touches of Psych Stoner Metal being quite soulful and modern. The grooves are plentiful with sublime vocals leading the charge. The music can be melodic and forceful when the time calls for it. There’s a twinge of “mainstream” hard rock vibes with some of the more impressive guitar solos and shredding that accompany the catchy as hell vocals. 

Third song Sinkhole sees Morass Of Molasses drift slightly further to the Doom Rock vortex with the focus on AMPLIFIER DISTORTION in places. Shades of Thin Lizzy guitar sounds merge with an almost Orange Goblin approach allowing the band to offer one of the strongest tracks on the albums. Screeching Psychedelic sounds is another highlight with the band bringing a FUZZY atmosphere to the mix. Once again the song moves into heavier areas of Heavy Metal that is quite a captivating mix of different styles and shows you how talented these guys actually are.

Fourth song Naysayer opts for a more Post-Doom/Post-Stoner vibe with a sound that’s more restrained and builds up to an action-packed song. This song is quite solitary before the band return to their heavy Doom based sound which can be quite “PROTO-METAL” in places. The subtle Psychedelic Stoner Rock/Metal energy is used wisely yet again with Morass Of Molasses unleashing slightly more chaotic and aggressive vocals.

The second half of the album follows the same route as the first half with boisterous catchy Stoner based grooves on outstanding tracks such as: Slingshot Around The World, Prima Materia and Wings Of Reverie. The album maybe more Blues Based but Morass Of Molasses don’t rest on their creative laurels. As they throw a few more FUZZ based surprises along the way. The mood is perhaps even gloomier but everything is done for a mighty purpose. 

End All We Know is Morass Of Molasses most outstanding and electrifying release to date. As it’s packed full of classic STONER METAL grooves with sublime lyrics throughout. With the power of RIPPLE MUSIC releasing this album, Morass Of Molasses aimed BIG for this album and it paid off big time.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Purple Sage PR for the promo.

End All We Know is available to buy now on CD/DD/Vinyl via via Ripple Music (USA) and Ripple Music (EU)

Links

Facebook | BandCamp

Psych Stoner Rockers Acid Magus unleash massive new single Caligulater from forthcoming album Hope Is Heavy

Pretoria based South African experimental rock band Acid Magus have been making waves in the music scene since their 2021 debut release Wyrd Syster. The album was well received by international media, with the likes of tastemakers The Sleeping Shaman saying it’s “cracking with both light and darkness, melody and cacophony and worthy of multiple spins on the platter, debut effort and all”.

 
Now a 5-piece, 2023 sees the band returning stronger than ever with a new vocalist and addition of a second guitarist plus a forthcoming album Hope Is Heavy, set for release in July 2023 via Mongrel Records. New single Caligulater comes off the back of the albums immersive debut single Demon Behemoth which released in February this year.

Continuing the cynical theme established with Demon Behemoth, Caligulater derives its name from the infamous emperor Gaius, otherwise known as Caligula. He was the megalomaniacal third emperor of Rome, a man steeped in violent and sadistic excess. In short, not a cool guy. Guitarist and songwriter Keenan Kinnear delves into the message behind the song, 

“Caligulater explores my feelings concerning myself and my place in society. My own existential crisis and self-imposed vitriolic outlook on the world when at my worst. The “they” in the main hook, “they made us, betrayed us and enslaved us” can be applied to any subject. It could be Caligula himself concerning the citizens of Rome circa 37 AD or your parents, boss, society as a whole etc. It can even apply to yourself in the end.”

Buy the single from this link

Doom, stoner, punk, psych, and classic rock are all common themes in their music. As huge fans of the rock greats (Zeppelin, Sabbath), stoner/desert rock behemoths (Kyuss, Sleep) as well as the tripped out psychedelic stylings of modern “psych” bands like Slift. Acid Magus take inspiration from all kinds of great music, spanning the entire gamut from 60s Hendrix and The Doors to Hawkwind and Scorpions at their heaviest, all this with maybe a little Alt Rock sensibility thrown in for good measure.

With an uncompromising, DIY approach to writing, Acid Magus promises to offer up only the best, most impassioned musical works. Long, slow, heavy, soft, it’s all there, and it comes from the heart…

Links

Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | BandCamp

OHHMS - Rot (Album Review)

Release Date: March 31st 2023. Record Label: Church Road Records. Formats: CD/DD/Vinyl

Rot: Tracklisting

1.Tonight's Feature Presentation

2.Let’s Scare Jessica To Death

3.Eaten Alive 

4.Blood Feast 

5.Body Melt

6.A Dark Song

7.The Mephisto Waltz 

8.Sisters

9.Swamp Thing

Members

Paul Waller - Vocals

Stuart Day - Guitar/Vocals

Marc Prentice - Guitar

Chainy Rabbit - Bass

Max Newton - Drums

Review

UK Sludge/Doom/Stoner Metallers OHHMS have seemed to left behind the hard-hitting social spectrum of their last few albums for a more riff-centric album for Rot. This album sees the band draw upon their love for Horror Movies and that has allowed the band to perhaps release their most fun, catchy and aggressive album to date.

Rot features plenty of up-tempo changes and aggressive slabs of Progressive based Sludge/Stoner Metal that you would expect to hear from TORCHE, Baroness and Mastodon with OHHMS living up to their “Post-Whatever” style with more catchy guitar solos and harmonious vocals as well. Though OHHMS still add their trademark “Social Conscience” commentary on the album but perhaps with a more sarcastic and bleak humour with some of the lyrics contained on the album.

The record is deadly serious when it needs to be but OHHMS are in the business of having fun on Rot. The riffs are plentiful with echoes of Hard Rock, Thrash Metal and even moments of Sludgy Psychedelic Pop which you can hear on the early stages of the album.

The first track Tonight’s Feature Presentation brings an almost “Grindhouse” and “VHS” old-school effect with twisted noises and sadistic voice-over that is the perfect balance of 1980’s “Video Nasties” atmospherics which definitely sends chills your way.

Second track Let’s Scare Jessica To Death is based on the classic 1971 Horror Movie of the same name but injected with OHHMS bombastic Sludge/Stoner Metal delivery. The Psychedelic Post-Doom grooves can be quite apocalyptic but there’s that sense of “FUN” that I mentioned earlier. The song is violently loud but there’s a subtle “POPPY” vibe with the intense lead vocals from Paul Waller moving from clean based vocals before morphing into a more aggressive style while still clean based. Throw in some classic sounding TORCHE inspired AMPLIFIER FEEDBACK and the album fully comes alive with some BONE CRUNCHING sludgy guitars allowing the song to have a more inspired DOOM based ending.

Third song Eaten Alive is named after the 1976 film of the same name and directed by Legendary Horror Maestro Tobe Hooper. The lyrics are inspired by the film with OHHMS deeply social conscience touch appearing at times. The music is progressively DOOM based with the guitar tone moving cautiously between slabs of Sludge Metal and that twinge of Stoner Metal. The dual vocals of Paul and Stuart work superbly well together. Different styles of Hard Rock and Metal appear which OHHMS are well known for within the underground scene. The song does move at its own cautious rhythm with a menacing outlook which allows OHHMS to play some wicked beat-downs and breakdowns for the later stages of the song.

Fourth song Blood Feast is based on the 1962 film of the same name. However, there are multiple Horror films with that name and I’m making a guess based on the message of the album. More jagged guitars and Punk inspired beat-downs allows this to be one of the more “VIOLENT” and “UNPLEASANT” tracks on the album with the lyrics the band has written here. The song itself is powered by catchy Sludge/Doom/Post-Metal beats where perhaps the rhythm section featuring the talents of Chainy (Bass) and Max (Drums) steal the show here. The music is addictive and catchy (yeah, sorry I’m using that term again) but also one full of muscular energy which OHHMS starting to showcase why they’ve created another wonderfully diverse sound for themselves.

The other five songs on the album follow that same destructive creative path by forging addictive sounds on the fifth song Body Melt. Despite the harsh subject matter and the film it’s inspired by. OHHMS play some of the sweetest and technically impressive sounds on this track with some fantastic vocal harmonies yet again by Paul and Stuart that draws upon influences as diverse as QUEEN and maybe the Glam Rock Movement.

OHHMS venture into more darker creative waters on tracks such as A Dark Song, The Mephisto Waltz and Swamp Thing. The music maybe more upbeat compared to the earlier tracks of the album but listen to the dark subject matter on these tracks and they may surprise you like they did with me on The Mephisto Waltz. As the lyrics are wonderfully deceptive and speak to me in many different ways. 

Rot contains wonderful production values and ranks as one of the best sounding records the band have released to date. OHHMS impress yet again by releasing an album that sounds so completely different to their previous albums but they’ve done that with each subsequent release. 

OHHMS are one of the most bold, distinctive and creative voices within the UK Doom, Sludge and Stoner Metal scene. Rot is absolutely packed with “HEAD-BANGING ANTHEMS” that allows it to be their most addictive and most consistent release to date.

This album is another Album Of The Year Contender from OHHMS. It’s seriously that great!!!

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Justine at Church Road Records for the promo.

Rot will be available to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl via Church Road Records from March 31st 2023.

Links

Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram