Burning Sister - Mile High Downer Rock (Album Review)

Date Released: November 04th 2022. Record Label: Self Released. Formats: DD/Vinyl

Mile High Downer Rock: Tracklisting

Leather Mistress

Acid Night Vision

The Messenger

Cloven Tongues

Dead Sun Blues

Seraphim

S.I.B.

Stars Align

Members

Steve - Bass/Vox/Synth

Drake - Guitars

Alison – Drums 

Review

Mile High Downer Rock is the debut album from Psych/Acid/Doom/Stoner Rock Power Trio Burning Sister and it's an album that's been entertaining the hell out of me for the past month or so. I've featured the band on the blog a few times and I was excited to hear the album. Now that it's finally here, Burning Sister have delivered a terrific blend of FUZZED based Psych/Stoner Rock with a gloomy Acid Rock sound that gives them quite a seedy realistic feel within the WEEDIAN underground scene. 

Opening song Leather Mistress is quite a warped and gloomy ride into Burning Sister's world. Delicious Doom/Fuzz grooves that give way to a more Acid drenched style of Psych Stoner Rock with epic amounts of WAH-WAH Feedback and Distorted elements for a more exciting down-tempo sound. The vocals are buried under layers of vocal effects and FUZZY DISTORTED tones which are quite melodic and Burning Sister showing a keen eye for a riff-centric approach for the song and album. 

Second song Acid Night Vision is a more freakier and fast-paced offering where the vocals come into play but still keeping with the opening song's style of gloomy FUZZED OUT approach. Burning Sister perhaps bring a classic 90's Noise Rock delivery to the album with this track. The song moves at an exciting fast pace with the band allowing the Distorted themes being the primary weapon to deliver their blend of modern day Psych Stoner Rock and Doom Rock that is washed down with that sublime style of Acid Rock. Parts Black Sabbath, SLEEP and Dinosaur Jr can be heard as direct influences but perhaps also from the classic era of Grunge. Which isn't too surprising since you have Grunge Legend Tad Doyle mastering the album.

Third song The Messenger is an instrumental Psych/Stoner/Acid Rock offering with flashes of Ambient Rock that is quite a cool listen despite the short two minute running time. The song briliantly leads into the next song of Cloven Tongues.

Fourth song Cloven Tongues resembles OM and Shrinebuilder in many ways and I wonder if this song is meant as a tribute to Al Cisneros especially with the sublime vocals and low-heavy bass that appears on the track. The song is still Burning Sister through and through with the distorted and AMPLIFIER WORSHIP based being the best part of the track. One of the heaviest tracks on the album with Burning Sister adapting a more Prog Rock feel to the album especially when the Spaced Out vibes appear. The album is built on PURE DISTORTION and things do become brilliantly seedy and heavy in all the right places.

Fifth song Dead Sun Blues opts for a more Blues/Desert Rock approach that harks back to the early days of KYUSS and FU MANCHU. Steve's vocals are more clearer here and perhaps have a more straightforward delivery despite the regular presence of their down-tuned style of Acid Rock/Noise Rock being perhaps even being toned down a bit. The song is superbly heavy and freaky in all the right places. The thrilling guitar solos that appear on the later stages of the track make this one of the outstanding and catchiest tracks on the album.

Sixth Song Serpahim is another instrumental oddity lasting for ninety seconds or so. A gloomy occult sound is the main order of business here but there's some fantastical long DRONED out riffs I wanted to hear more of and I got my wish with the final two tracks on the album.

The final songs S.I.B. and Stars Align are where Burning Sister go all out with their Droned Out/Acid Drenched style of Doom/Stoner Metal. Songs that actually screams out MODERN DAY WEEDIAN ATTITUDE. The vocals are bang on form yet again with the band excelling even further within the riffs department. A more flashier and progressive sound sees Burning Sister play Progressive Stoner Metal notes with a gloomy vision. Both songs contain different styles of music within its Seven Minutes plus running time but feels longer and in a good way. The Ambient/Psychedelic tones all build upto a loud and exciting finish that will leave you wanting to hear more even when non-stop extended guitar solos appear within Stars Align.

Mile High Downer Rock is an exciting collection of individual tracks that are all superbly played and written from the start. Burning Sister have delivered a brilliantly and freaky slice of modern day Doom/Stoner Metal that easily ranks as one of the best debut albums to be released this year. 

Words by Steve Howe

Links:

Thanks to Burning Sister and Cave Dweller Productions for the promo.

Mile High Downer Rock will be available to buy on DD/Vinyl from November 04th 2022.

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DEAD - The Laughing Shadow (Album Review)

Date Released: October 14th 2022. Record Label: WeEmptyRooms, Wantage USA (Vinyl Only), Forbidden Place Records (CD Only). Formats: CD/DD/Vinyl

The Laughing Shadow: Tracklisting

1.The Cowboy (free) 06:33

2.Riding Shadows 03:58

3.Death 06:20

4.Light, Flicker, Dark 03:14

5.Disgraced Former Detective/Silence 04:56

6.The Cracking Facade 06:09

7.Bastard Return 01:51

8.The Laughing Shadow 05:23

Members

Jace: Bass & Guitars

Jem: Drums & Metal Percussion

Jenny Divers: Sax

Review

Experimental Noise/Sludge/Stoner Rockers DEAD return with The Laughing Shadow which they claim is their “LOCKDOWN” album. DEAD have been quite a prolific band over the last decade or so with a multitude of albums, EP’s and singles released to their name. I believe this is their 13th full length album but I could be wrong on that. 

DEAD play a more Punk based style of Noise Rock, Sludge Metal and Stoner Metal. This album is perhaps their most experimental with the band going for a more abstract and gloomier sound. Well it’s more gloomier compared to We Grit Our Teeth, Up Yours and Raving Drooling. Raving Drooling is my favourite album from DEAD but The Laughing Shadow comes a close second.

This album is packed full of wonderful noises, sounds and extended grungy sounds with epic amounts of distortion which you can hear in the outstanding opening song The Cowboy. A mixture of sludgy and offbeat psychedelic tones with a dark melodic style of Stoner Metal especially when the Sax appears and a subtle Post-Whatever style ends the song rather convincingly.

Second song Riding Shadows is more of the same but with a Melvins feel to it. The song is quite gloomy, cold and distant but the first rate instrumental work from DEAD merges the Noise Rock environment with a more cerebral style of Gloomy Atmospherics. There’s a lot to unpack with this song as DEAD have written different levels of music with all telling a different story and various styles of distorted heaviness as well. 

Third song Death offers a sombre DRONE based perspective with the Noise Rock and Sludge Metal elements slowly being added with a dark DISTORTED and DOWN-TUNED feeling to it all. The song is quite slow and has a STOP-START delivery which allows DEAD to experiment with different sounds yet again but still sound refreshingly familiar for longtime fans of the band. One of the most challenging and boldest tracks on the album. 

DEAD move onto darker areas of music on tracks such as: Disgraced Former Detective/Silence, The Cracking Facade and The Laughing Shadow. The music remains dark and it’s still hard to decipher or understand the overall creative style that DEAD are trying to achieve with this album. Though, it works brilliantly well and allows the band to create a wickedly progressive record that only DEAD could release.

This album isn’t going to be for everyone but if you invest your time with the record, you’ll be rewarded with a unique take on the standard Sludge/Doom/Stoner Metal sound. 

Overall, The Laughing Shadow is up there with DEAD’s best work and I can't wait to see what they release next.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to James at Cave Dweller Productions for the promo.

WeEmptyRooms, Wantage USA (Vinyl Only), Forbidden Place Records (CD Only)

DEAD Relevant Links

Bandcamp
Facebook
Website

Instagram

Forbidden Place Records Links:

Bandcamp
Instagram
Facebook

Wantage USA Links:

Bandcamp
Instagram

Nothing Is Real Premiere New Song THE (Pt. 2) From Upcoming New Album

Message From the Artist:

Like someone ranting on a street corner, The End Is Near preaches the end of days and welcomes it with fervor. Nothing grows continuously and all things must die. This album is an acceptance of this fact and the fact that humanity's current course cannot be sustained, and most likely not repaired either. This album is about accepting our true nature and accepting that all things must come to an end. And the only ones who will be saved amidst this glorious and hellish rapture will be the ones who realize.

Two massive drummers behind the kit, disturbing synth drone sections run through a loud amp, live recording sessions at ear splitting volumes, from prog to black and doom, this album seeks to encapsulate THE END in all of its glory and bring the true believers to rapture and the mundane to extinction.

Album Credits:

Nothing Is Real - Guitar, bass, synth, vocals

Jeremy Lauria - Drums

Jared Moran - Drums

Mastered by Will Killingsworth at Dead Air Studios

Mixed by Nothing is Real

Artwork by Helen Tretyakova

Track Listing:

1. THE (Intro) (3:45)

2. THE (Pt. 1) (7:54)

3. THE (Interlude) (01:02)

4. THE (Pt. 2) (08:04)

5. END (Intro) (03:24)

6. END (10:29)

7. IS (Intro) (3:21)

8. IS (08:44)

9. NEAR (Intro) (03:29)

10. NEAR (Pt. 1) (05:07)

11. NEAR (Pt. 2) (07:11)

You can hear the stunning new single THE (Pt. 2) below

About the Album

Nicholas Turner returns with yet another genre blurring, boundary pushing offering with his latest opus, The End Is Near.

What makes this particular album unique is the addition of not one but two drummers, with Jeremy Lauria and Jared Moran both on the kit. Adding to this already monstrous level of sound are thick and powerful synth elements that are sewn into the fabric of the album.

As always, the album combines a wide range of elements, tying together everything from black and doom metal, to sludge, psych and prog metal. These varied styles are woven together seamlessly in complex arrangements, slowly evolving, and unfolding right before the listener’s ears.

As can be expected from NIR you’ll find complex song writing, unusual time signatures and wild unpredictable riffage. Moments of psyched out airy instrumentalism give way to harsh and heavy segments without warning in surprisingly smooth transitions.

While every artist hopes to be able to say this about their work, this may be NIR’s masterpiece. The sound is immense, the music complex and there is zero filler to be found. Whether you’re a long-time fan of the project or a newcomer, there’s plenty here to love.

Nothing Is Real Relevant Links

Bandcamp

Facebook

DEAD Announce New Album The Laughing Shadow And Premiere Of New Song THE COWBOY

Aussie Psych/Sludge/Doom/Stoner Rock Underground Heroes DEAD will be releasing their excellent new album The Laughing Shadow.

A 38 minute offering of powerful instrumental work broken into two massive movements.

A genre defying release spanning elements of everything from progressive and stoner rock, to doom and heavy psych.

An album created to process the band's grief and to deal with the uncertainty and anguish of the years of pandemic lockdowns.

Out on WeEmptyRooms, Wantage USA and Forbidden Place Records on October 14th

The band have said this about the new album.

This album is the first time we removed our tongues from our collective cheek for a moment. We used it to process our grief and to deal with the uncertainty and anguish of lockdowns. While writing it we lost friends and family to the virus, suicide and more. For the most part funerals or gatherings of any kind were not possible. I clung onto this music like a kid does to their teddy.

As a band who toured nonstop for 10 years it hit hard suddenly not being able to do what we love most. We were determined to make something positive from it.

The opening track is the oldest song we have - written some years before we formed DEAD. We decided to build an album around this song that would be one long form piece made up of smaller “scenes”. We pretended we had an orchestra.

We wrote the bulk of it in Alex’s barn/recording studio in Campbells Creek - masked up, at opposite ends of the room. We’ve never gone so long without hugging each other.

Our friend Mike Deslandes recorded it in that same barn - it felt significant to be able to do that. We did one take of each scene, in order and the warts are very much left in there for your benefit. The sounds you hear are the sounds of the instruments in that space.

I mixed the record with Mike at his house. I’m grateful we had him working with us. Every part of the process had a different kind of weight to it than before. I wanted it to be over and to never end at the same time. At some point I told Jace that I might have to never play these songs again.

So, like a million other bands this is our pandemic album. - Jem - Drummer

You can listen to the stunning new single The Cowboy below:

The Laughing Shadow will be released on CD/DD/Vinyl on October 14th 2022 via the following labels:

WeEmptyRooms, Wantage USA (Vinyl Only), Forbidden Place Records (CD Only)

DEAD Relevant Links

Bandcamp
Facebook
Website

Instagram

Forbidden Place Records Links:

Bandcamp
Instagram
Facebook

Wantage USA Links:

Bandcamp
Instagram

Thanks to James at Cave Dweller Promotions for all of the promo details.

Burning Sister Premiere New Song LEATHER MISTRESS

The Band

Steve - Bass/Vox/Synth
Drake - Guitars
Alison – Drums

The Lowdown

Downer Stoner Rockers Burning Sister release their new single Leather Mistress which you can hear below:

The band say this about the new song: 

"Leather Mistress” was born from a random bass riff at one of our first practices dating back about four years or so at this point. Though it has been floating around in demo form and has been a live staple, this recorded version is embellished with background synth and slide guitar. As for the Leather Mistress herself? 

Sure, she can be taken literally, but she also marks the idea behind the unknown, destruction without a clear sense of cause-and-effect, and rebirth…

Thanks to James at Cave Dweller Promotions For All Of The Details

Links

Facebook | BandCamp

Burning Sister Premier New Song And Video For ACID NIGHT VISION

Denver, Colorado Doom/Stoner Rockers Burning Sister made a mighty impression on me with their 2020 debut self titled EP.

The band are currently working on their debut album due for release in 2022. We are premiering their new song Acid Night Vision from the upcoming new album.

The song is a groovy, fuzzy 7:20 offering of stoner rock/doom and is the first single from the band's upcoming debut album Mile High Downer Rock. The video is equally as trippy and mind altering as the music.

Track video/stream:

Band Statement:

"Denver three-piece Burning Sister have had a busy year playing shows and recording the follow-up to 2020’s 'Burning Sister EP.' The band’s first full-length, 'Mile High Downer Rock,' will arrive sometime in 2022. “Acid Night Vision,” the album’s first single, is the culmination of three-plus years of jamming together and showcases the band’s love of groove, fuzzed-out heavy riffs, and their fondness for psychedelia."

Thanks to James at Cave Dweller Productions and Burning Sister for all of the details. 

Links:

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