Andrew Elstner From DEAD NOW, TILTS, RIDDLE OF STEEL and TORCHE - Favourite Albums Of 2023

Andrew Elstner part of Hard-Rocking Doom/Sludge/Stoner Riffsters DEAD NOW and formerly of great bands such as RIDDLE OF STEEL, TILTS and TORCHE  has been one of my favourite musicians for over a decade now. 

Andrew's impressive back catalogue speaks for itself and he knows a thing or two about playing great songs with epic riffs. 

It's been a while since we've spoken and I wanted to see what Andrew's favourite albums of 2023 are.

You can see Andrew's choices from the great list below.

Mike Dean - 4:23

Traindodge - The Alley Parade

Duster - Remote Echoes

Upchuck - Bite The Hand That Feeds

Empire State Bastard - Rivers of Heresy

Dead Now Links:

Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram

SHEPHERD - First Hand (EP Review)

Release Date: November 20th 2020. Record Label: Destruent Records. Format: DD/Vinyl

First Hand - Tracklisting

Sea Cave
Chariot
Wendigo
Vestigial
Persephone
The West

Members:

Holden Sims (bass/vocals)
Austin Garrett (guitar/vocals)
Nate Bilodeau (drums)

Review

First Hand is the debut EP from Doom/Stoner Rock Trio SHEPHERD who hail from Denver, Colorado. This band plays music inspired by Torche, Deftones and Mastodon where their riffs even manages to cover the world of Prog Rock and even Grunge for a highly interesting and multi-varied sound.

The EP runs for around 28 minutes and Shepherd show a lot of depth to their music and reminds me mostly of Torche and Mastodon especially on the excellent opening song Sea Cave which plays at an intelligent fast pace with progressive guitars that offer a slight Alternative Metal approach. The music is quite loud and with the band being very approachable despite the heavy grizzled and almost growl based vocals appearing.

Second song - Chariot - is a more Stoner Metal tinged affair with the Doom Metal grooves coming on very strong and the bands showing an early-era Mastodon rhythm to their vocals and the content of the lyrics. Though, Shepherd keeps things on track with their own great style of identity and grizzled psychedelic moments making this one of the standout parts of the record. The band effortlessly moves from Progressive Sludge vibes to a cool addictive Doom Metal flavour that shows their true creative power.

Third song - Wendigo - is a more straightforward affair with the band channelling their inner 

Deftones/Mastodon spirit and playing a fantastic mix of Alternative Rock, Doom Metal and Stoner Metal riffs with a delicious almost “POP” sensibility.

The second half of the EP carries on with Shepherd playing more intelligent riff-driven music across 3 tracks where we see an almost Post-Doom/Post-Stoner sensibility leading the way especially on the songs Persephone and The West.

First Hand sounds excellent from start to finish and has a similar flow and feel to some of the legendary Doom/Stoner Metal albums that Relapse Records were known for back in the day.

Shepherd are another wonderful and from the Denver, Colorado scene to check out. There’s a ton of great ideas bursting out from this record that make Shepherd a band to look out for in the future. I await their next release with huge anticipation.

Excellent and Highly Recommended.

Words by Steve Howe

First Hand is available to buy on DD/Vinyl now via Destruent Records

Links:

Facebook | BandCamp

Elephant Tree - Habits (Album Review)

Release date: April 24^th 2020. Label: Holy Roar Records. Format: CD/DD/Vinyl

Habits – Tracklisting

1.Wake.Repeat (Intro)

2.Sails

3.Faceless

4.Exit The Soul

5.The Fall Chorus

6.Bird

7.Wasted

8.Broken Nails

Members

Jack Townley - Guitar/Vocal

Peter Holland - Bass/Vocal

Sam Hart - Drums

Riley MacIntyre - Producer/Extra Instrumentation

John Slattery - Synth/Guitar

Nathan Hickey - Guitar

Review

Habits is the new album from Elephant Tree and their first new release in 4 years since they released their critically acclaimed 2^nd self-titled album. Which has became a classic within the Doom/Stoner Metal scene in my own personal opinion. It certainly put these guys on the map and remains a favourite album of mine to this very day.

So does Habits match up to their last album. In a short answer – YES. It truly does. Habits is a more braver, bolder and experimental album that you wouldn’t expect from Elephant Tree, The band could have easily made a similar sounding record to their last album and nobody would blame them for doing this. However, this is a very different record with Elephant Tree playing a more experimental style of music with twisted elements of Drone, Noise Rock and heavy amounts of FUZZ being added to their already multi-layered sound.

Opening song – Wake,Repeat (Intro) – is a mixture of Ambient Noises spliced with Droned Out Sounds with a an eerie Psychedelic Gloomy Atmosphere that is quite dark in places but it’s an interesting style of music the band adapt on this song. It soon builds upto the next song and that’s where the real excitement starts…

Second song – Sails – is the perfect song for the band to show their new addictive and heavy sound with a song that flirts between Post-Punk gloominess and the heaviness of Psychedelic Sludge/Stoner Rock which reminds me of early-era Torche in places. Add a distorted Noise Rock environment for Elephant Tree to build their music upon and you have a song that’s quite surreal in places but one that has a dark and warm addictive glow to it all. The vocals are standout with a 90s Alternative Rock feel to them but still sounding quite grounded as well.

Third song – Faceless – is where Elephant Tree start to bring some of their trademark heavy grooves to the album and yet still manage to expand their own musical horizons with Psychedelic Doom/Drone guitars moving along at a wonderful slow pace. The overall feel of the album does sound different what has came before for it but it also sounds remarkably familiar as well. It’s very hard to describe as the heavy guitars channel superbly executed aggressive riffs that remind me of The Melvins in many ways.

Elephant Tree carry on creating their dark musical journey whilst offering many uplifting moments of high quality Sludge/Stoner Rock that you wouldn’t initially expect especially on the next two songs – Exit The Soul and The Fall Chorus.

The standout part of the album is the final songs of Bird, Wasted and Broken Nails which elevates Habits into Album Of The Year category for these 3 songs alone. This is where Elephant Tree prove why they are one of the most important bands within the UK Sludge/Doom/Stoner Rock scene alone. As the band merge highly emotional lyrics with deeply rich progressive sounds.

Bird is my favourite song on this album. As it embraces many different styles of music that it’s quite hard to define it at times and that’s down to the sheer creativity the band have included on this song and the whole album in general. Add a gorgeous sing-along chorus and you’ll be singing the words to this song for days.

Habits is a deeply rich and emotional experience that only Elephant Tree can deliver. I expect to see this album to be mentioned everywhere as one of the best albums of the year. It’s already in my Top 5 albums of 2020. That’s how fucking great this album genuinely is.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Hold Tight PR and Purple Sage PR for the promo.

Habits will be available to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl via Holy Roar Records from April 24^th 2020.

Links:

Official | Facebook | BandCamp

CZAR Release New Video For LINES OF NATION

Grunge/Alternative Heavy Rockers CZAR release the video for their new single Lines Of Nation. 

Check the guys out from the links below. 

Links

Official  | Facebook | Twitter | Bandcamp

Ethereal Riffian - Legends (Album Review)

Release date: September 06th 2019. Label: Robustfellow Prod. Format: Cassette/CD/DD/Vinyl

Legends – Tracklisting

1.Sage's Alchemy

2.Born Again

3.Dreamgazer

4.Legends

5.Kosmic

6.Unconquerable

7.Moonflower

8.Pain To Wisdom

9.Yeti's Hide

10.Ethereal Path

Members

Val Korniev – guitar/vocal/lyrics

Olexander Korniev – bass

Max Yuhimenko – lead guitar

Nikita Shipovskoi – drums

Review

Legends is the new album from Ethereal Riffian and it’s perhaps their most confident and most accessible offering to date. However the album does has it’s fair share of controversial moments especially with the socially aware and politically fused lyrics. The music is the main focal point for Legends and the album is a mixture of Grunge, Doom, Sludge, Psych, Stoner Metal and Progressive Metal sounds holding everything together.

Opening song – Sage’s Alchemy – is a swirling Post-Doom offering with the Progressive and Psychedelic sounds leading the way. The song is quite flashy in places but it shows that the band have a darker and more daring sound coming your way.

Second song – Born Again starts with a confident and heavy rhythm with the vocals coming right at you. The music has a slight Alternative Rock/Metal approach that I didn’t expect. The band move quickly to add Spacier elements to their music which they’ve done on previous releases.

Third song – Dreamgazer – adds a Heavy Metal feel to the overall flow of the album but settles down into a more cautious Psych Doom/Stoner based groove. Ethereal Riffian remind me of Soundgarden and Alice In Chains on this song and it’s quite an exciting sound with the band being quite emotional on this song.

Up next is the title track – Legends – and its’ one of the albums most aggressive songs on the album with the music and lyrics portraying a bleak picture when matched against the hard rocking sounds that show you can do something different with the standard rules of Doom/Stoner Metal.

Ethereal Riffian move into overdrive with the second half of the album. As the band become more daring with everything on this album. The music become heavier and more progressive especially on songs such as KOSMIC, MOONFLOWER and ETHEREAL PATH. The band show a real creative flair on this album and it will instantly draw you in until the very end.

The album does run out of steam near the end but it’s the overall journey that Ethereal Riffian take you upon that’s the real highlight. The album is helped along by explosive production values that will keep the listener on their toes and guessing which direction the album will take you next.

Overall, Legend is a complex and challenging album but one that is packed with expertly played riffs and fantastic vocals to match. This may not be the most straight forward album to listen to but that hasn’t stopped Ethereal Riffian from releasing their best album to date.

Excellent and Highly Recommended.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Against PR and RobustFellow Prod for the promo. 

Legends is available to pre-order now on Cassette/CD/DD/Vinyl via Robustfellow Prod and will be released on September 06th 2019 via a range of different packages.

Links:

Facebook | BandCamp

Brujas del Sol - II (Album Review)

Release date: October 19th 2018. Label: Kozmik Artifactz. Format: CD/DD/Vinyl

II – Tracklisting

1.Teenage Hitchhiker 06:39

2.Sea Rage 03:14

3.Sisterlace 05:08

4.Fringe of Senility 05:43

5.White Lights 07:06

6.Polara 06:18

7.Spiritus 09:34

Members

Adrian Zambrano - Guitar, Vocals

Derrick White - Bass

Joshua Oswald - Drums, Vocals

Phillip Reed - Guitar, Synthesizer

Review

Brujas del Sol were a band that I hadn't come across before. That seems to be happening to me a lot recently. Though I'm not complaining as I'm discovering a lot of great bands and these guys are perhaps the best I've heard yet. Though that wasn't the case when I first heard their new album II.

Brujas del Sol play a heavy psychedelic version of Desert/Stoner Rock with elements of Post-Rock and Post-Doom being added in. Some parts of the album even have a poppier vibe to them as well. This all makes for a highly intriguing and experimental sounding album. Brujas del Sol make you wonder where they will take you next on this album with each passing song.

Opening song - Teenage Hitchhiker - may have a seedy name but Brujas del Sol approach this song as an upbeat Post-Rock/Desert Rock song that takes influence from bands such as Yawning Man, Elder and Weedpecker. The music is quite complex and progressive in equal measure. Though Brujas del Sol have a commanding presence that's simply hard to ignore.

Second Song - Sea Rage - is a shorter song with Brujas del Sol playing a more standard Post-Rock it's not as exciting as the first track but it does have some thrilling heavy sounds that may surprise you along the way.

Third song - Sisterlace - is where vocals actually appear and they have an immediate impact on the band's music with Brujas del Sol becoming an almost different band as a result. The music becomes heavier and more daring with psychedelic sounds becoming the main focus. The vocals take a few moments to get fully used to as I was expecting something different.

Fourth track - Fringe Of Senility - is a very strange song indeed with Brujas del Sol adding elements of Electronic music into the mix and offering and eighties sounding gloomy landscape. The whole song feels inspired by the electronic bands from the eighties but given a Psychedelic Stoner Rock makeover. This is perhaps my favourite song on the album. As it shows you how really out there Brujas del Sol can actually be.

The band carry on the Electronic style influence on the next song - White Lights - but with a calmer Post-Rock sound. The album carries on this style of music for the remaining two songs - Polara and Spiritus. With Brujas del Sol moving around the different style of music they create on the album.

Spiritus is another standout song on the album with the song running almost ten minutes in length. Brujas del Sol have managed to create an exciting and genuinely original sound for this album. Truth be told I was left wanting more from the band. As this album is epic as it comes.

Brujas del Sol brilliant and exciting use of different musical sounds that will have you coming back for more.

Words by Steve Howe

You can buy II on CD/DD/Vinyl now via Kozmik Artifactz.

Links:

Facebook | BandCamp

Going Stir Crazy With Brian Corbett from GENE WILDEST

Gene Wildest is a band that I had never heard of until they contacted me to review their upcoming new album – Spectral Terrestrial. I was intrigued by the band’s overall sound. As Gene Wildest play a different kind of Spaced Out Stoner Rock. As these guys include elements of Fuzz, Grunge, Psych, Indie, Alt Rock and even elements of Shoegazing.

These guys are totally new to me and I wanted to find out more about them and Brian (Guitar/Vox) from the band has have kindly agreed to this cool interview.

Read on and find out more information about GENE WILDEST….

Hi Brian. Thanks for doing this interview. How are things with you today. Congratulations on your new album.

Hey Steve, thanks! Things are great! Just watching the World Cup final at the moment actually.

Can you give a brief history of how the band formed and where it is today.

So Rob and I (Brian) were introduced back around 2005 by our friend John. We ended up starting a band called Human Sounds with John and our other friends George and Pat. Physical distance kind of got in the way of Human Sounds, but Rob and I lived close and continued to make music and jam every now and then. I was making some home recordings that Rob liked around the same time I met our first drummer Ben Zemel in grad school around 2011.

We all decided to jam, things clicked, and that was our set up for about two years. In 2013 our friend Eric Richmann expressed interest in playing in a band. He was a great songwriter and guitarist and had a killer voice (you can hear it on “Deadleaves” off our first album Everything). We got really excited and just as a shot in the dark told him we would love for him to play bass and share vocals. Luckily he said yes and was in the band until November 2016. He tragically and suddenly passed away from a heart condition he had since he was a kid. It was just devastating for us, his family, and everyone in his life. But we decided with his wife Corey that if there was one thing that Eric would come back and haunt us for it would be letting the band fall apart.

We begged my brother Sean, who never played bass but was always a great musician, to fill in for Eric. He learned all of our songs, which have some pretty complicated basslines, remarkably quickly and he’s been our bassist ever since. In June 2017, Ben went to Portland for work after grad school. Despite being a barefoot drummer, he had some big shoes left unfilled.

A friend of mine introduced us to our current drummer, Dave, who learned like twenty songs by the fall and saved us from the murky depths of a drummerless hell. And that’s been our line-up ever since – Sean, Rob, Dave, and Brian.

How would you describe the music that Gene Wildest creates. As there are many different elements and levels to your overall sound.

That’s always a tough question, especially because its always changing. We currently have math rock and shoegaze albums in the works, ha-ha. This album fits pretty nicely into the stoner rock category, although it doesn’t have as much fuzz as many other stoner rock albums. I guess I would say stoner rock with only as much fuzz as necessary. But just to be clear – we really love our fuzz.

Where did you get the name for Gene Wildest. Obviously influenced by the legendary comedic actor.

Yea we’re all Gene Wilder fans. Honestly, I thought the band name Gnarls Barkley was hilarious and witty. I’ve always liked celebrity puns, but I didn’t want to just rhyme a first or last name. Gene Wildest just seemed right at the time, back in like 2009 before I knew we would be releasing a stoner rock album. Truckfighters, Dead Meadow, Gene Wildest. One of these things is not like the others, but what’s in a name, right?

You have just released your new Spectral Terrestrial. What is the album about.

Well, almost every song deals with both love and death. I like the two concepts together, it keeps the songs from being annoyingly happy or overtly depressing. I see the love for a deceased spouse/friend/family member last forever in the living and I like to think that love is not lost by those who die. It’s a concept that worked really well in the stoner rock genre because you can get away with singing about the supernatural.

Who is releasing the album and what formats will the album be released on.

As of now, we’re self-releasing it under our record label Nappy Dawg Records. It will be on all of the digital music media – Spotify, Google Play, Bandcamp, etc. and also on CD. If we get enough interest we would love to release it on vinyl but that’s just a pipe-dream as of now.

Was recording the album an easy or hard experience.

Easy and fun! We recorded and mixed it ourselves. I’m really into mixing.

Do you have any upcoming gigs to celebrate the release of the album.

Yes, we’ll be at Boot & Saddle in Philly on Auguest 30th.
Will you be performing any-more gigs to promote the new album.

We’re trying to get a north-east tour lined up. Hopefully doing some shows in Lancaster, Bethlehem, Atlantic City, NYC, and Boston.

Do you have an active scene to perform gigs on a regular basis. Or do you have to travel further afield to perform gigs.

The Philadelphia music scene is pretty awesome. There are about 10 great venues we can play at. We’re really lucky that it exists and are forever grateful to our family, friends, and fans who are nice enough to keep supporting us so we can keep playing at these great local spots.

When you’re creating new music. What comes first. The music or the lyrics.

Usually music, I think songs turn out more interesting that way. Starting with a sweet, creative riff and letting it develop from there. Sometimes they happen together, that’s always when the best songs come together. Whenever I start with lyrics the songs are usually more listenable, but I tend to just use chords, which usually isn’t as interesting as using sweet riffage.

What is the songwriting dynamic within the band. Is it a group collective or down to one individual.

It’s collaborative. Each song is usually the brainchild of one of us, with the guys filling in their parts later. Sometimes at practice you get that magic moment when a jam turns into a song in like 15 minutes. Those are always great.

What is your current equipment/setup when recording music and playing live.

Ohhhhh buddy. Our favorite question! Everything is recorded in Logic. Sean and I actually just record direct in, using a tweed amp modeler. Sean uses an Ibanez that looks like a P-bass. For pedals, he mostly uses a DOD Boneshaker, a fuzz that I designed, and a BOSS PH-3 phaser. I use a Schecter Omen 6 with these wacky pickups that I haven’t been able to identify. I bought it used. I use a ton of pedals.

The most commonly used ones on Spectral Terrestrial are a reverse Fuzz Factory clone, a modded Spaceman Wow Signal, Big Muff Pi, Ehx Mel9, Chase Bliss Spectre, Roger Mayer Voodo Vibe+, and that fuzz that I designed. Rob mostly uses a PRS S2 Custom 22 Semi-Hollow or Fender American Standard Strat into a mic'ed up Blackstar Artist 15 or his old Peavey Bandit 112.

He loves pedals as much as I do, but the ones that got the most love from him on this record are a Wampler Tumnus into either an EQD Hoof or a Smallsound/Bigsound Buzzz for his dirt tones, and a Chase Bliss Warped Vinyl HiFi and a TC Electronic Viscous Vibe for his mod section. The Empress Echosystem and Reverb units are all over his tracks, too.

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

“Be excellent to each other”. Thanks for everything, Steve.

Words by Steve Howe and Brian Corbett

Links:

Official | Facebook | BandCamp

Gene Widest - Spectral Terrestrial (Album Review)

Release date: August 28th 2018. Label: Nappy Dawg Records. Format: CD/DD

Spectral Terrestrial – Tracklisting

1.The Past Ate You 05:00

2.Marisol 04:27

3.A Flower in a Forest in Bloom 05:00

4.Modern Day Icarus 04:10

5.Cry Baby Cry 03:32

6.Neck Romancer 03:46

7.Space Fuzz Beyond The Sea 02:56

8.Dead Butterfly 04:16

9.Beauty Over Time 06:09

Members

Dave Ashcraft - drums

Brian Corbett - guitar, vocals

Sean Corbett - bass

Rob Ealer - guitar

Review

Gene Wildest are not your usual Stoner/Space Rock Band. As the band take a different approach with their music by adding layers of Fuzz Rock, Psych, Math Rock and even 90s Alternative/Indie Rock. Their new album Spectral Terrestrial sees the band trying to find their way through their heavy progressive guitar driven sound. The vocals from Brian are not what you expect. As they have a “dream-pop” sensibility.

The album’s opening track – The Past Are You – is primarily a Heavy Psych/Space Rock song. Though Gene Wildest aren’t your most straight forward band. As the guys throw a curve ball by adding 90s sounding Alternative Rock amongst all the heavy Spaced Out Rock sounds. The song truly comes alive when the Fuzz/Stoner Rock riffs appear. This song feels it was made by two different bands. One band is a Fuzz/Stoner Rock Band who delight in creating loud heavy noises and the other band is an Alternative/Indie Rock band with elements of Shoegaze Rock appearing here and there.

I know it sounds crazy but Gene Wildest are an absolute delight from beginning to end. As they tease you with so many different genres of music on the individual songs. Songs such as: Marisol, A Flower In A Forest In Bloom, Modern Day Icarus, Neck Romancer and Space Fuzz Beyond The Sea are the songs I enjoyed the most. As Gene Wildest create inventive Stoner/Space Rock sounds with groovy vocals to match. The lyrical content is way out there as well.

The production is very raw and has a lo-fi edge but it serves the purpose of the whole album. Spectral Terrestrial has some bleak moments contained within the lyrics and the overall theme of the album.

The only part of the album I had issues with was the final song – Beauty Of Time. As I felt the band tried to hard with song. The early narrative of the song takes time to fully get going. When the heavy guitars do appear the song finally springs into action and the band actually leave you wanting more from this song.zx

Apart from that minor complaint, Gene Wildest have still managed to release an album that is definitely worth your time. As there is something for everyone to enjoy here. Spectral Terrestrial is a weird sounding and hugely enjoyable that album that may just surprise you.

Excellent and Highly Recommended.

Words by Steve Howe

Links:

Official | Facebook | BandCamp

The Stone Eye - The Meadow (Album Review)

Release date: September 02^nd 2017. Label: Self Released. Format: CD/DD

The Meadow – Tracklisting

1.Farewell Lady

2.A Voice in Two

3.Transmission 05:16

4.The Meadow 05:48

5.Yet I Feel so Fine 05:56

6.Henry

7.Colours in Vain

8.Wasted Year

9.Can You See?

10.Dog in the Manger

11.Death from Above

12.The Orchard

13.Heathens

Members

Jeremiah Bertin - Drums

Stephen Burdick - Vocals, Guitar, Bass, Keyboard

Review

The Stone Eye's second album - The Meadow - is an intriguing style of Grunge and Fuzz merged with heavy subtle Stoner Rock/Metal dynamics. It's quite a long album running around sixty five minutes in length. The Stone Eye has created a very cool and different kind of album. It's one that draws influences from many different bands across the Hard Rock/Metal scene. Alice In Chains, Pearl Jam and Truckfighters being the main bands that The Stone Eye sound like on different parts of the album.

Opening track - Farewell Lady - has a classic grunge Alice In Chains feel with a Desert/Fuzz Rock sound being the main driving force of the music. The vocals are very cool indeed.

Second track - Voice In Two - is another grunge/garage rock style offering with the drumming having a very lo-fi sound. The guitars add "meat to the bones" for a thick and heavy sound. The riffs have a classic nineties grunge feel with the lyrics having a similar vibe. The song changes direction towards the end as a dreamlike post-rock/desert rock dynamic appears. It's quite a different sound from the opening moments of the song.

The Stone Eye is a very hard band to describe as they play so many different styles of music on the album. The album is very bold and ambitious and that is a good thing. As The Stone Eye don't play it safe at all on this album. Songs such as Transmission, The Meadow, Henry, Wasted Year and Death From Above offer perhaps the heaviest and standout moments on the album.

The Stone Eye are a duo made up of members Jeremiah and Stephen on drums and guitars respectively, though listening to this album you feel there are more members. As the band creates a "huge" sound that you wouldn't associate with a band consisting of two members. The production of The Meadow is superb indeed with the album allowing the band playing heavy riffs with supreme confidence.

The Meadow is without doubt a damn good album indeed but it can be frustrating at times and that's possibly down to the epic run time. As the album runs out of steam on the last couple of songs. It would have been better if the band released this album as two separate EP's. Anyway, that's the minor complaints out of the way. Now let’s focus on the good stuff. If you miss the good old days of Grunge/Alt/Fuzz/Stoner Rock and want to reminisce how good music was back in the good old days then this is the album for you.

The Stone Eye have delivered an action packed album that is great value for money and one that will keep you entertained from start to finish.

Words by Steve Howe

Links:

Facebook | BandCamp

Dead Heavens - Whatever Witch You Are (Album Review)

Release date: June 16th 2017. Label: Dine Alone Records. Format: CD/DD/Vinyl

Whatever Witch You Are – Tracklisting

Rainbow Of The Ohm Chart

Basic Cable

Away From The Speed

Bad Luck Child

The Moon Will Listen (But Not The Sun)

Adderall Highway

Gold Tooth

Silver Sea

Experience To Liberate

Band Members:

Walter Schreifels

Drew Thomas

Paul Kostabi

Nathan Aguilar

Review

Dead Heavens is the latest group featuring these talented individuals. Walter Schreifels (Gorilla Biscuits, Quicksand, Rival Schools), guitarist Paul Kostabi (Youth Gone Mad, White Zombie), drummer Drew Thomas (Youth of Today, Into Another, Bold) and bass guitarist Nathan Aguilar (Cults). I'm not gonna call this band a supergroup as that would be an insult to their talents and to Dead Heavens overall.

Dead Heavens play a dark twisted version of Psychedelic Rock which includes elements of Classic Rock and Stoner Rock.

Their debut album - Whatever Witch You Are - is quite a creative album with the band playing Dark Rock tinged Psych Stoner Rock magic. The songs are catchy and straight to the point with Dead Heavens creating heavy moments of noisy psychedelia. The sound is a mixture of psych rock, hard rock with modern dark rock sounds. Though Dead Heavens take influence from the classic hard rock bands of the sixties and seventies. I've seen these guys called Black Sabbath jamming with Cream and that is a very good description indeed.

Opening track - Rainbow Of The Ohm Chart - is a forty second heavy instrumental track which doesn't offer anything new or exciting though that all changes with the excellent second track - Basic Cable. This song is played at a deliberate slow pace with the band creating heavy psych moments that contains quite a gloomy stoner vibe. The lyrics are playful and sweet but with a darker meaning behind them. Walter impresses the most with his great vocals. The song becomes distinctively heavier for the final few moments and it shows that the band know how to play heavier sounds if the mood calls for it.

Third track - Away From The Speed - has a more Indie Rock/Garage Rock feel but the band still retain their dark psychedelic rock identity. It's quite an addictive sound with almost commercial pop-rock edge. The lyrics make the song something more deliciously darker than that.

Fourth track - Bad Luck Child - is one of the albums standout tracks with swirls of punk driven psychedelic rock seeing the band changing their style of music again. It's quite groovy in a sixties kind of way. The second half of the album follows the same path with Dead Heavens showing a keen interest in more experimental sounds especially on songs such as: The Moon Listen (But Not The Sun), Adderall Highway and the standout nine minute track - Gold Tooth.

Whatever Witch You Are is an intriguing and action packed album despite the short thirty four minute time. It's expertly produced and offers a refreshing take on the standard Psych/Stoner Rock template.

Words by Steve Howe

Links:

Official | Facebook

Fheels - Traveller (EP Review)

Release date: June 16th 2017. Label: JodelDiplomRecords. Format: CD/DD

Traveller – Tracklisting

1.Desert 05:15

2.Toyboy 03:41

3.Igor 04:59

4.Perfect Mistake 03:18

5.Spring 04:58

Band Members:

Felix – Vocals & Guitar

Tobias – Rhodes & Organ & Backing Vocals

Jens – Bass

Justus – Drums & Backing Vocals

Review

Fheels are an Alternative/Blues Rock band from Hamburg, Germany who channel heavy blues rock with a slight alternative feel. The band has a member of Stoner Metallers – High Fighter – in their ranks so that's a plus point for me to check them out. As I'm a huge fan of High Fighter.

The opening track – Desert – from their excellent debut EP – Traveller – has a similar feel to the bluesy vibe of All Them Witches. Though Fheels play perhaps a more stripped back approach to their music. Very laid back with cool lyrics that has a slight Americana/Desert Rock vibe. The song becomes very psychedelic at times.

Second track – Toyboy – is a more heavier affair with the band laying on the loud blues based riffs from the start. Fheels add a more funk-based style of music and it works for the most part. It's not the most exciting song on the EP but Fheels do create some soulful grooves to lose yourself in.

Third track – Igor – opens with a solitary blues riff and this see Fheels create a classic style Blues Rock song. One that is full of heartfelt lyrics and cool vocals to match. It's a delibrately slow-paced song that allows the other members of the band to show their worth. The song does become heavier in the second half and that's where I found the most enjoyment on this song. It ranks perhaps as the best song on the EP.

The final two tracks – Perfect Mistake and Spring – round off this cool as hell EP with the band playing a more sombre blues rock vibe especially with Perfect Mistake. Spring is more upbeat and sees the band play a more psychedelic and semi-acoustic offering compared to the other tracks on the EP.

Fheels have released a beautifully played and sometimes delicate EP that plays to their strengths. If you're a fan of Blues Rock then Fheels is the band for you.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Mona at Platinum PR for the promo.

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