DESERTFEST LONDON announces day splits alongside 32 additional artists for this year’s festival.

DESERTFEST LONDON - announces day splits alongside 32 additional artists for this year’s festival from Friday 17th May to Sunday 19th May 2024. Weekend & Day Tickets now on sale

Desertfest London has revealed their day and stage splits for their 13th edition, taking place this May across multiple venues in Camden, London. The festival proudly welcomes Masters of Reality as Friday’s Electric Ballrooms headliners, with Chris Goss at the helm providing a master-class in desert sounds. Plus, newly announced for this stage are Colour Haze and Frankie and The Witch Fingers who will join Brant Bjork Trio and Mondo Generator to kick off the weekend in true Desertfest style. Mantar and Raging Speedhorn will shake-up the Underworld, whilst Brume and Alber Jupiter psych-out at The Black Heart. Saturday sees skate-punk legends Suicidal Tendencies back in London for the first time in seven years, as they decimate the equally legendary Roundhouse. Joined by Cancer Bats, Bongripper, Acid King and newest addition to the bill, Pest Control. Saturday’s Roundhouse stage is undeniably a melting pot of genres, but celebrating one common thread – insane live performances. Elsewhere, Maserati, Monkey3, Domkraft, Wet Cactus and many more will level Camden to the ground. Back at the Ballroom on Sunday night, the festival enters its final day with a dose of experimental heaviness from Godflesh, Ozric Tentacles, Monolord, Ufomammut & Ashenspire. Additionally, Desertfest will be welcoming Bat Sabbath, the Black-Sabbath cover band formed by Cancer Bats to close out the entire weekend at our Underworld Stage after-party. Plus, DVNE, Nightstalker, Astroqueen, Stinking Lizaveta & The Grudge, with a hell of a lot more will be rounding off the weekend’s festivities. Across the weekend, Desertfest has also newly announced the likes of Morag Tong, Borracho, Noisepicker, Gramma Vedetta, Lodestar, Kulk, Earth Tongue, Skypilot, Wolfshead, Weedsnake, Orsak:Oslo, WAXY, Horndal, Silverburn, Fires In The Distance, Sleemo, Midwich Cuckoos, Akersborg, Grand Atomic, Voidlurker, Under The Ashes and Fuz Caldrin. Weekend & Day Tickets for the event are on sale now via www.desertfest.co.uk Full line-up SUICIDAL TENDENCIES | MASTERS OF REALITY | GODFLESH | OZRIC TENTACLES BONGRIPPER | MONOLORD | ACID KING | UFOMAMMUT | COLOUR HAZE | BRANT BJORK TRIO | MASERATI | MANTAR | MONDO GENERATOR | CLOAKROOM | MONKEY3 | FRANKIE & THE WITCH FINGERS | NIGHTSTALKER | BLANKET | BAT SABBATH | DVNE | PEST CONTROL | RAGING SPEEDHORN | ASHENSPIRE | DOMKRAFT | ASTROQUEEN | PIJN | SUNNATA | BRUM | WAKE | KAL-EL | ALBER JUPITER | SUGAR HORSE | STINKING LIZAVETA | WET CACTUS | PSYCHLONA | MORAG TONG | KADABRA | BORRACHO | THE GRUDGE | DARSOMBRA | SERGEANT THUNDERHOOF | GRAMMA VEDETTA | SAINT KARLOFF | LODESTAR | LORD ELEPHANT | GOZER | ACID THRONE | KULK | EARTH TONGUE | DUSKWOOD| GOBLINSMOKER | SKYPILOT | BOREHEAD | ORME | WOLFSHEAD | CLOUDS TASTE SATANIC | WEEDSNAKE | NOISEPICKER | ORSAK:OSLO | WAXY | HORNDAL | SILVERBURN | FIRES IN THE DISTANCE | SLEEMO | SAGAN | MIDWICH CUCKOOS | AKERSBORG | WARPSTORMER | GRAND ATOMIC | VOID LURKER | UNDER THE ASHES | SONIC TABOO | WIZDOOM | FUZ CALDRIN DAY / STAGE SPLITS FOR DESERTFEST LONDON 2024 Friday 17th May Electric Ballroom MASTERS OF REALITY COLOUR HAZE BRANT BJORK MONDO GENERATOR FRANKIE & THE WITCH FINGERS Underworld MANTAR RAGING SPEEDHORN WAKE WEEDSNAKE GRAND ATOMIC Dingwalls CLOAKROOM BLANKET SUGAR HORSE PIJN SLEEMO Black Heart BRUME ALBER JUPITER CLOUDS TASTE SATANIC ORSAK:OSLO SAGAN BOREHEAD The Dev GOBLINSMOKER WARPSTORMER WOLFSHEAD VOIDLURKER AKERSBORG Saturday May 18th Roundhouse SUICIDAL TENDENCIES CANCER BATS BONGRIPPER ACID KING PEST CONTROL Underworld MASERATI MONKEY3 DOMKRAFT SUNNATA SERGEANT THUNDERHOOF KAL-EL Black Heart WET CACTUS DUSKWOOD EARTH TONGUE SAINT KARLOFF LORD ELEPHANT SONIC TABOO The Dev ACID THRONE HORNDAL UNDER THE ASHES FIRES IN THE DISTANCE WIZDOOM Sunday May 19th Electric Ballroom GODFLESH OZRIC TENTACLES MONOLORD UFOMAMMUT ASHENSPHIRE The Underworld BAT SABBATH (after-party) NIGHTSTALKER ASTROQUEEN PSYCHLONA BORRACHO KADABARA NOISEPECKER Dingwalls DVNE MORAG TONG KULK LODESTAR SILVERBURN Black Heart STINKING LIZAVETA DARSOMBRA GOZER SKYPILOT ORME GOAT MAJOR The Dev THE GRUDGE GRAMMA VEDETTA WAXY MIDWICH CUCKOOS FUZ CALDRIN TICKETS ON SALE – www.desertfest.co.uk

Red Mesa announce new fourth full-length album ‘Partial Distortions’ to be released on April 19th, 2024.

Partial Distortions’ shows a powerful return of the Albuquerque, NM heavy desert rock trio Red Mesa

Red Mesa has released a live clip of “Witching Hour”.

The song will be the first single + official music to be released in February 2024.

From their most recent live performance at Moonlight Lounge in Albuquerque, NM on January 27th, 2024.

Film credits: Joe Smith Stringer

Desert Records will release the album on limited edition Vinyl LP, CD, and Cassette in North America and on digital download/streaming platforms worldwide.

“Red Mesa bring their signature heavy desert sound with more doom and sludge metal!” - Desert Records

Majestic Mountain Records will release a limited edition vinyl LP in Europe.

"It is an honor for Majestic to be involved in the release of Red Mesa's excellent new album!' - Marco Berg/Majestic Mountain Records

Presale will begin in mid-February.

Photo by Hayley Harper at the Abo Ruins, NM

The 6-track album features the same lineup from their 2020 release ‘The Path to the Deathless’ and the 2022 single ‘Forest Cathedral’

‘Partial Distortions’ shows further collaboration between band members as guitarist/vocalist Brad Frye, bassist/vocalist Alex Cantwell, and drummer/vocalist Roman Barham all contributed musically and lyrically throughout the album.

Red Mesa employs hte three vocal attack as all band members share vocal duties

Red Mesa has been leading the new generation of desert rock by proving that the genre is capable of greater expanses.

The trio has expanded their signature heavy desert sound on ‘Partial Distortions’ to include more doom and sludge metal moments. “Blackened desert” sound collages and an overall doomier and downright frightening musical path will confront the listener, as the album is darker musically and thematically. All whilst still dwelling within an optimism that instills hope that amongst the loss, the tragic endings, and the suffering that this existence brings, that life is still worth living.

Photo by Hayley Harper at the Abo Ruins, NM

Red Mesa is:

Brad Frye - Rhythm and Lead Guitars, Lead and Backing Vocals
Roman Barham - Drums, Lead and Backing Vocals
Alex Cantwell - Bass Guitar, Lead and Backing Vocals, Additional Rhythm Guitars, Piano

Red Mesa uses:

Reverend Guitars, Fowl Sounds Pedals, Black Art Toneworks Pedals, PaulEDrums, Pig Hog Cables, Black Harbor Strings, and Dava Picks.

Recorded by Augustine Ortiz at the Decibel Foundry in Santa Fe, NM in December 2022.

Recorded and mixed by Matthew Tobias at Empty House Studio in Albuquerque, NM in April, June, August, & October 2023.

Mastered by Brad Boatright at Audiosiege in Portland, OR in October 2023.

Links

Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram 

Thanks to Desert Bloom PR for all of the details. 

GRIN - Hush (Album Review)

Release Date: 16th February 2024. Record Label: The Lasting Dost Records. Formats: CD/DD/Vinyl

Hush - Tracklisting

1.Hush

2.Calice

3.Gatekeeper

4.Midnight Blue Sorrow

5.Talons

6.Portal

7.Neon Skies

8.Vortex

9.Silver

10.Pyramid

11.Deathbringers

12.Nothingness

13.Venom

14.Eyes Like Daggers

15.The Tempest of Time

16.Torre del Serpe

Members

Jan Oberg

Sabine Oberg

Review

Psych Doom/Sludge/Stoner Metal riffsters GRIN return with their fourth full length album Hush with the band employing a more expansive Sonic journey compared to their previous records. Hush runs for around forty minutes across sixteen tracks with GRIN never going past the four minute mark and some of the tracks lasting under two minutes. However, it's what GRIN deliver within the tracks themselves that allow this album to be a real turning point for the band moving forward. The guitars are constantly a barrage of Doom/Sludge Metal heaviness with a Psychedelic Stoner Metal tapestry merging into down-tuned Sonic based Progressive passages with a certain Shoegaze or Doomgaze effect being utilised to great effect.

The vocals are a collection of different styles such as Harsh Growls, Clean Vocals and Gloomy chants which allows GRIN to play areas of heavy distorted and uplifting Post-Stoner grooves they haven't played before. The music is perhaps more Industrial based as well with echoes of sound heard on their previous records being played at different moments of the album. GRIN also employ a dark Lovecraftian story based element to the lyrics and their Spaced Out Post-Metal delivery on tracks such as Hush, Calice, Midnight Blue Sorrow, Talons, Neon Skies, Deathbringers and The Tempest Of Team impressing the most with their bleak cinematic vision.

GRIN's style of dark and despair based Fuzzy Sonic Interludes has a violent and aggressive "Doom-Pop" energy which reminds me of TORCHE and FLOOR in places but all done within GRIN's highly original style. There's quite an uplifting energy to be found within this album even when the harsh vocals take centre stage with the music becoming more Post-Stoner or Post-Doom based. These parts are quite reminiscent of the other band SLOWSHINE that Jan and Sabine are involved with. 

The record allows GRIN to constantly change their vocal movements and melodic tone throughout the majority of the track with a Progressive Post-Metal sound becoming the more dominant force on the later stages of the album. Sixteen tracks is a lot to get through but GRIN deserve credit for allowing every individual song to have their own identity and feel with epic flashes of Psychedelic brilliance that matches the bold lyrics GRIN have written here. The album can be quite experimental with that down-tuned Psychedelic energy which even transforms into areas of Industrial sounding Glitches and Ambient Post-Rock themes. 

Hush once again has excellent and richly observed production values which is all handled yet again by Jan himself like all the other great releases he's been involved with over the last few years. Even with the album's lo-fi delivery and stripped back approach, you can feel every note being played at you like GRIN's lives depended on this. This is an action-packed ride into the dark vortex of Psychedelic Doom, Sludge and Stoner Metal with GRIN proving why they're one of the most inventive bands within the underground scene who are masters of their own creative sludgy and spaced out domain.

Hush is AOTY material even this very early on in 2024 and with GRIN perhaps releasing their heaviest, catchiest and most defining work to date.

Words by Steve Howe 

Thanks to GRIN and Against PR for the promo.

Hush will be be available to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl via The Lasting Dose Records from February 16th 2024.

Links

Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram

Psychedelic/Stoner Rockers SCHUBMODUL Share New Single Silent Echoes from Forthcoming Album.

After the self-released debut album Modul I (2022), the second album titled Lost In Kelp Forest will be released on February 23rd, 2024 on Tonzonen Records. Today the trio shares the first single Silent Echoes!

Lost In Kelp Forest is a concept album that doesn't take place in the vastness of space like its predecessor, but rather in an underwater world. The six mainly instrumental pieces are accompanied by narrator voices, which reveal a coherent fictional story on a dense atmospheric carpet of sound. The voices were professionally recorded by Alma Chomel from France and Shane Wilson from the USA.

As a foundation, the triumvirate, formed by a classic line-up of guitar, bass and drums, thunders a mix of space, stoner and progressive rock onto the stage, which is occasionally supplemented by synthesizers, sound and voice samples. Dreamy, atmospheric passages combined with colossal riffs will often lead to an epic melodic zenith of voluminous, warm sounds, over which gentle to fast guitar solos are released.

The compositions use a large modal palette and versatile harmonies that are intended to continually surprise the listener and at the same time follow a driving, natural and catchy rhythm. Lost In Kelp Forest has a very high level of attention to detail and should remain exciting even after repeated listening.

The band's inspiration for this album was genre-typical greats like Elder, King Buffalo, more progressive bands like Dream Theaternand elements from Hans Zimmer's film music. The idea using a spoken word on top of the music was inspired by the albums Eyes Like The Sky and Murderer Of The Universe by King Gizzard & Lizard Wizard. Lost In Kelp Forest was recorded in August 2023 in the legendary Tonmeisterei in Oldenburg, Germany. 

The entire album was recorded in just six long days. The band was housed in the studio for the entire recording process, which created a unique atmosphere during the recording process. The first tracks (Emerald Maze and Silent Echoes) were written shortly after the release of the first album in spring 2022 and set the basic mood of the album. The remaining pieces were completed by summer 2023.

Pre-order the album here: https://www.tonzonen.de/shop/p/schubmodul-lost-in-kelp-forest-pre-sale-140124

Tracklist

1. Voyage
2. Emerald Maze
3. Renegade One
4. Silent Echoes
5. Ascension
6. Revelations

Links

Linktree: https://schubmodul.bfan.link/silent-echoes
Instagram: https://instagram.com/schubmodul
Facebook: https://facebook.com/Schubmodul
Bandcamp: https://schubmodul.bandcamp.com
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/intl-de/artist/1u62KEB6O6vjuxKaNgYHoX?si=WGDmYz8hRO-uYSF5eBvfYw&nd=1&dlsi=f6fcc2854fd64e2b
Label: https://www.tonzonen.de

Thanks to Creative Eclipse PR for all of the details.

GUHTS - Regeneration (Album Review)

Release Date: 26th January 2024. Record Label: New Heavy Sounds / Seeing Red Records. Formats: CD/DD/Vinyl

Regeneration - Tracklisting

1.White Noise 08:23

2.Til Death 04:46

3.The Mirror 06:22

4.Handless Maiden 03:30

5.Eyes Open 05:37

6.Generate 07:04

7.The Wounded Healer 10:12

Members

Amber Gardner - Vocals

Scott Prater - Guitar

Daniel Martinez - Bass

Brian Clemens- Drums

Review

Regeneration is the new album from New York Progressive Post-Metallers GUHTS (pronounced Guts) and it’s delightful and avant garde style of Prog Metal, Sludge Metal, Doom Metal and Psych Rock. There’s a weird sideline with Doomgaze or Shoegaze elements with GUHTS always thinking outside the box. The album doesn’t follow the same creative path of other Avant-Garde Metal bands with GUHTS adding a subtle slice of underground heaviness from the New York scene into their music.

Regeneration doesn’t follow or fit into a normal creative structure with GUHTS reliance on the unexpected with different Sludge/Post-Metal flows leaning into multiple levels of HEAVY sounds which draws upon bands such as Deftones, The Melvins, ISIS, Julie Christmas, Cult Of Luna and YOB. Though, GUHTS deliver their own emotionally charged style and highly provocative blend of aggressive Doomegaze tones with Amber’s eerie vocals that are a mixture of clean based vocals, growls and shrieks which Amber delivers with an intense delivery that leads the band to play epic progressive grooves that are quite violent at times. 

There’s also a deep 90’s Grunge/Alt Metal atmosphere within this album which allows GUHTS to expand upon their Shoegaze/Doomgaze sounds that expertly soon becomes the dominant tool for the band to deliver their music with. 

GUHTS deliver different styles of music throughout the album with each of the seven tracks having a different feeling, sound and flow to each other. The songs are all bound together by a sense of doom and despair with Amber’s vocals have a startling BANSHEE effect on the most violent parts of the album especially on tracks such as White Noise, Til Death, The Mirror and Generate being the main personal highlights for me.

GUHTS have a real storytelling and therapeutic effect within both the music and lyrics they’ve created for this album. The overall journey is quite downbeat but Regeneration also offers moments of pure uplifting bliss which you don’t initially realise at first. However, the message becomes ever more clearer with repeated listens especially within the epic standout out track The Wounded Healer.

Regeneration is one of the finest debut Avant-Garde based Post-Metal albums I’ve had the pleasure to experience for a long time. The album is pure, honest and most importantly bloody groundbreaking which can see GUHTS deliver on the premier Doom/Sludge/Post-Metal Live Stages sooner rather than later. 

Words by Steve Howe 

You can buy Regeneration on CD/Vinyl from the links below:

Vinyl/CD (Europe) from New Heavy Sounds

Vinyl (USA) from BandCamp

CD (USA) from Seeing Red Records

Links

Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram

Psych Stoner Rockers Thomas Greenwood & the Talismans Premiere New Song SUNHOUSE From Upcoming New Album ATES

Thomas Greenwood & the Talismans become, through the years, a psychedelic rock band heavily contaminated by 70s influences, the Western Movies scenario with a Neo-Psychedelic taste. Founder Thomas Mascheroni (also guitar/voice of stoner trio Humulus) gave birth to the first record back in 2021 called 'Rituals', entirely self-produced; Ramble Records from Melbourne and Echodelick Records from Atlanta printed the vinyls. After a long period of wild jams into an old barn on the mountains of lake Iseo, the new upcoming record "Ateş" is ready.

Subsound Records · Sunhouse

Sunhouse is a song about youth. Remembering a ghost house and the memories of being innocent kids playing in the streets. It's a non-stop motion that tries to bring you back to the essence of joy.

Links

https://thomasgreenwoodband.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/_thomasgreenwood/

Subsound Records will release 'Ateş' on LP and digital on March 15th, 2024. Preorders: https://subsoundrecords.bigcartel.com/artist/thomas-greenwood-and-the-talismans

Thanks to Metaversus PR for all of the details.

Heavy Stoner Rockers RHINO Unveil 'Human Farm' Full Album Details

RHINO is pulling back the curtain on their latest creation, 'Human Farm.' Dive into the details behind their upcoming album, slated for release on February 23rd via Argonauta Records.

Album tracklisting:

Agony & Madness
Planet of Dust
Gentle Sound of the Knife
Human Farm
Magic Water
Big Clouds Again
Padrock
Fast Radio Burst

Previously, RHINO unleashed two awesome videoclips! If you haven't caught them yet, now's the time to check out the action!

'Gentle Sound of the Knife': https://youtu.be/kI4WiOUz98c
'Agony & Madness': https://youtu.be/ItgYZgRGh7E

Rhino is a heavy stoner rock band rising from the sulphuric city of Catania, on the slopes of the Etna volcano, where the five members play a mix of stoner/desert rock from the ’90s and 2000 blended with the deep psychedelia of the ’70, resolving in an attitude built around a riff-driven composition, a megalithic wall of fuzz and tons of watts. Rhino was born in 2012 by an idea of the bassist Frank The Door and the guitarist Red Frank, briefly joined afterward by the drummer Lord J. Frank. 

Following the guitarist Francesco Cucinotta opting out of the band, the lineup was completed by Frank the Doc on vocal duties and Frank Real Tube on guitar. The lineup stood the same since then. Since their beginning, Rhino stand out for their extensive live activities through Italy, sharing the stage with such bands as Red Fang, El Perro and many relevant Italian acts. The band debuts in 2013 with their self-titled EP, followed by their first full length The Law of Purity (featuring I See the Monsters video clip), released on 2017 through Argonauta Records. 

Renewing the collaboration with Argonauta Records, Rhino’s second full length Human Farm will be release on early 2024, showcasing the most mature work of the band, who confirms to be true to riff worshipping and atmospheric psychedelia, still crossing the genre defining boundaries in an album that stands as unique in its segment.

For more info:

https://www.facebook.com/rhinodesert
https://www.instagram.com/rhinofficialband/
https://rhinostoner.bandcamp.com/album/the-law-of-purity
http://www.rhinostoner.com
https://www.facebook.com/ArgonautaRecords

Doom/Sludge/Stoner Metallers STONE NOMADS hitting the road in support of “… At The Gates of Solitude”

Stone Nomads are touring in support of new album “…At The Gates of Solitude” with a stop at SXSW, Gravitoyd Doom Fest and Maryland Doom Fest!

TOUR DATES:

3/14/24 - Sxsw @Far and out lounge, Austin TX - STONER JAM FESTIVAL
3/16/24 – Black Magic Social Club, Houston TX w/Bong Wizard
3/22/24 - The 101, Bryan TX w/Bullethead
4/13/24 – 1810 Ojeman, Houston TX, w/Wretched Kingdom
5/4/24 – GRAVITOYD DOOM FEST 2 @ Black Magic Social Club, Houston TX
6/18/24- Fleetwoods, Asheville NC w/ Red Beard Wall.
6/20/24 – 6/23/24 – MARYLAND DOOM FEST @ Café 611 / Olde Mother Brewing, Frederick, MD

Stone Nomads have shared the stage with scene leaders Khemmis, Spirit Adrift, Elder, Mothership, among others and played multiple festivals and regional tours in the southern US. The band is currently making plans to hit the road in support of the new album in January 2024.

Media Quotes:

"with "...At the Gates of Solitude" Stone Nomads have found their own voice. The sound the band capture on this album is heavier, blacker and more extreme than anything that graced their debut and is all the better for it”

- Frazer Jones (Desert Psychlist / Doom Charts)

“Doom/Sludge/Stoner Metallers Stone Nomads have really aimed big for their second album "...At The Gates Of Solitude" with the band employing a more monolithic and thick Doom Metal sound”

- Steve Howe (Outlaws of the Sun)

“Sludgy doom goodness is what you get with the debut album from Houston, Texas’ STONE NOMADS. Serious Sabbath worship in the best possible way coupled with sometimes gruff sometimes not vocals, Fields Of Doom lumbers across the Texas landscape wrecking everything in its path. Songs like Fiery Sabbath don’t just rip your head off; there is a catchiness to the six tracks that is many times missing when you have such a heavy, lumbering beast.”

~ Rich Piva (Doom Charts)

Links

Official | Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram

Thanks to Desert Bloom PR for all of the details.

AlphaWhores - I (Album Review)

Release Date: 26th January 2024. Record Label: Self Released. Formats: DD

I - Tracklisting

1.Same Team 04:20

2.Trash That Takes Itself Out 05:19

3.Raw Nerve 03:11

4.You Could've Been Something (But Instead You Are You) 04:20

5.The Only Way Is Through 01:15

6.Forever Leaving 05:31

7.I Can Manage 05:14

8.GTO 02:58

9.Days Of Sin 05:29

10.The Witches Told Me 03:34

11.The Pattern 04:26

Members

Massiel Pinzón Méndez

Juan Carlos

Review

Alphawhores is a Brother/Sister duo from Panama who focus playing an Alternative style of Sludge/Stoner Metal with a ferocious LOW & SLOW sound that splits off into moments of Melodic Pop Melodies and catchy vocals from both members. Their debut album ‘I’ has a wicked gloomy soulful attitude which feels empowered by the Commercial Pop scene but AlphaWhores deliver this wicked creative style with a sludgy and fuzzed up attitude which draws upon bands such as The Melvins, TORCHE and KYLESA.

You can hear elements of classic 90’s Grunge appearing with bands such as Nirvana, L7 and Alice In Chains within the first few tracks of Seam Team, Trash That Takes Itself Take Out and Raw Nerve. AlphaWhores members Massiel Pinzón Méndez and Juan Carlos both share vocal duties and they both provide fantastic performances with some warm melodic moments despite the down-tuned sludgy and fuzzed up grooves that appear within the music.

With that Alt-Metal sound allowing AlphaWhores to bridge the gap between the albums quiet and laid back moments,’I’ is always a captivating and engaging listen that allows the band to deliver some deliriously entertaining and downright original sounds of their own making. 

The album does have stripped back production values with AlphaWhores overall sound have an epic raw and organic sound which comes across superbly well from start to finish and perhaps mostly within the longest tracks on the album with You Could’ve Been Something (But Instead You Are You), Forever Leaving and I Can Manage. These tracks manage to convey a classic 1980’s Mobie Soundtrack attitude whilst still retaining that harsh Sludge/Stoner Metal identity of their music. The lyrics are super fun and even highly energetic but AlphaWhores employs a dark creative mood and atmosphere when the time calls for this.

AlphaWhores do add moments of distorted noise and trippy Psychedelic beats which keeps the listener on their toes. The final batch of songs Days Of Sin, The Witches Told Me and The Pattern sees the band venture into more GLOOM and DOOM pastures which offers some of the heaviest, freshest and interesting sounds on the album.

‘I’ is different style of Sludge/Stoner Metal album that fully embraces the “DOOM-POP” energy that bands such as TORCHE and FLOOR are known for. This allows AlphaWhores to release a stunning debut release that’s beautifully violent and heavy one moment and the next is pure bittersweet melodic bliss the next whilst retaining that killer Sludge/Stoner Metal sound that leaves you wanting to hear more.

Excellent and Highly Recommended.

Words by Steve Howe 

Links

BandCamp | Instagram

Troy The Band - Cataclysm (Album Review)

Release Date: 02nd February 2024. Record Label: Bonebag Records. Formats: DD/Vinyl

Cataclysm - Tracklisting

1.Cataclysm

2.Flesh Wound 

3.The Void 

4.Only Violence

5.I.H.O.D.

6.Fauna

Members

Bass Guitars: Sean Durbin

Guitars: Sean Burn

Vocals and Lyrics: Craig Newman

Drums: Daniel England

Review

Cataclysm is the debut album from UK Psych/Doom/Stoner Metallers Troy The Band who impressed me with their 2022 release The Blissful Unknown where the band showcased their wicked blend of Doomgaze merged with Progressive Doom Metal textures with a subtle Psychedelic Rock sound. 

Troy The Band changed their style ever so much for this release by employing a heavier Psychedelic Sludge sound with a distorted FUZZ based energy. Channelling bands such as Mars Red Sky, King Buffalo and Elephant Tree but with perhaps a heavier DOOM based appetite which allows the Doomgaze or Shoegaze element of their music to be the heaviest part of their music.

Opening track Cataclysm is fueled by dark surrounding sonic passages with Craig’s vocals having a more grounded and threatening presence compared to their debut EP. The song remains gloomy throughout with Troy The Band playing a great style of Trippy Psych jams and the heavier Sludgy grooves that’s dominated by a Post-Doom/Stoner Metal atmosphere which becomes more central to the bands creative ideas on later stages of the album.

Second song Flesh Wound is a more Progressive based song where the song is populated by distinctive extended instrumental movements which have that slight level of heaviness that moves the album to AMPLIFIER DISTORTION territory. The song has a bittersweet and melodic tone despite this track perhaps having the heaviest grooves on the whole album. There's moments of TORCHE's classic style of DOOM-POP laced within this song with some fantastic instrumental work by Sean Burn (Guitar), Sean Durbin (Bass) and Daniel England (Drums) creating a whirlwind of aggressive noise with pure headbanging riffs that allows Troy The Band to feel like they're delivering a Greatest Hits album instead of their debut release. Craig delivers another wonderfully spirited performance which can be tender one moment and outrageously aggressive the next.

Third song The Void opens with a subtle paranoid AMBIENT sound with the sludgy distorted guitars moving against a Post-Rock flow. The song even allows Troy The Band to inject a realistic Alt Rock movement into the album. The song is quite easy going with the superb Psychedelic parts soon changing into heavy levels of Doomed Out Stoner Metal. Troy The Band start to experiment with their sound by including a subtle Drone based energy without compromising their gloomy Doom-Pop vision. The later stages of the track allows the band to change their sound yet again for a thrilling conclusion of distorted and down-tuned energy.

The second half of the album continues with the twisted style of FUZZED UP Doom Metal with catchy Stoner Metal grooves being played with a more DEMONIC purpose especially on tracks Only Violence and Fauna. The sound of the whole album is vibrant, clear, crisp and allows the band to sound quite threatening when the time calls for this which becomes more commonplace on the second half of the album. Wayne Adams recorded, mixed and mastered the album and he delivers the goods yet again.

Troy The Band pay homage to the mighty BLACK SABBATH and SLEEP on this album with the tracks Only Violence and I.H.O.D. being perfect examples of this. The instrumental sounds are down-tuned to near perfection with a free-flowing Heavy Psychedelic attitude leading the listener into a powerful trance. 

Cataclysm has everything you could possibly want or need from a debut album such as this. The record has powerfully seductive grooves from start to finish which leaves you wanting to hear more. Troy The Band could be headed for an exciting journey and building within the Doom/Stoner Metal underground scene that may lead them to playing some of the biggest stages within the scene sooner rather than later.

Cataclysm will be considered one of 2024's definitive Doom/Stoner Metal albums to be released and an early shout out as a potential Album Of The Year contender. 

Simply unmissable. End Of.

Words by Steve Howe 

Thanks to Infecting Cells PR for the promo.

Cataclysm will be available to buy now on DD/Vinyl via Bonebag Records from Friday 2nd February 2024.

Links

Official | Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram