Boarzoy - The Great Fires (Album Review)

Release Date: June 12th 2026. Record Label: Self Released. Formats: DD

The Great Fires - Tracklisting

1.Even in the Rain 05:44

2.A Hundred Pitchers of Honey 03:56

3.Wartime Softshoe 05:02

4.Agency (Is Necessary) 04:19

5.Bib and Bottle 02:45

6.Your New Hands 03:48

7.David 04:35

8.Something Beautiful 01:36

9.The Great Fires 06:12

Members

 

Riley Senne- Bass

Taylor Winterhalder- Drums

Rennie Boyd- Vocals

Jake Sklodowski- Guitars

Review

Groove/Sludge Metallers Boarzoy second album The Great Fire offers more complex and dazzling progressive melodies compared to their excellent debut album. There’s an intense eclectic creative energy to Boarzoy with the band employing different musical styles with influences such as Mastodon, The Mars Volta, The Melvins, Devin Townend, Lamb Of God and Machine Head which you can feel throughout the album.

There’s instances of Grunge, Doom and Stoner Metal based madness lurking in the background with Boarzoy aiming for bigger and better things with this album which they richly deserve.

The Great Fire sees Boarzoy power through a mix of progressive beat-downs and sludgy powerful beats that have a Punk Rock aesthetic with the scattered DIY approach the record ultimately thrives upon. There is a slight outlandish attitude appearing from the band on tracks such as Even In The Rain, A Hundred Pitchers Of Honey, Bib And Bottle, Your New Hands, David and The Great Fires being my favourite tracks on the album. Though, all the tracks have this intense and outrageous manic energy that leaves you fully satisfied. 

Boarzoy are sometimes very hard to describe with their music being quite schizophrenic in nature where they just sound like they have a “FUCK IT” kind of attitude where they play exactly what they want. However, there are massive amounts of great melodic sounds emerging when you least expect it. The jazzy grooves work best when the band play a standard style of Progressive Sludge Metal before Rennie Boyd’s superb vocals just thrust you back into their warped HEAVY METAL world.

The album fully relies on the outlandish sensibilities of Eighties and Nineties Heavy Metal where experimentation was perhaps that little bit different back during those days. However, here's a huge modern day sound that keeps everything grounded despite the crazed music being played throughout. You can even detect a sudden influence of the likes of QUEEN within some of the music and vocals used on the awesome third track Wartime Softshoe. 

The one thing you can call The Great Fires is ORIGINAL. You just don’t come across albums such as this as it feels like an all out assault on your senses. BOARZOY is the real deal if you like your music that is a little bit more AVANT-GARDE with the band always thinking outside the box. This record is an exhilarating mix of different Heavy Metal themes that will leave you completely speechless.

Mind-Blowing. End Of.

 

Words by Steve Howe

Links 

Official | Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram

Stoner/Sludge Trio STALEMATE OF WILLS Announce Debut Album - Existence Denied

Pittsburgh-based three-piece wrecking ball STALEMATE OF WILLS is set to drop their debut full-length album, Existence Denied.

Following a string of singles, STALEMATE OF WILLS is ready to unleash an 8-track rager that embodies the American rust belt blight that surrounds them. True to the band's mantra of "heavy riffs for a withering world," Existence Denied is an amalgamation of doom metal, hardcore, New Orleans-style sludge metal, with flourishes of traditional 90s death metal.

Listeners can expect down-tuned, groove inflicted "meat and potatoes" riffing and drumming, that easily pivots into creepier and mellower territory. Lyrically, STALEMATE OF WILLS concentrates on the endless frustrations created by the hopelessness experienced throughout life, and the inability to change it but still survive.

Check out the album's first single, "Two Worlds" at below:

FFTC Records will release Existence Denied on April 26.

Tracklist:

1) Visibility
2) Maximum Amounts of Woe
3) Existence Denied
4) Two Worlds
5) Let It Be Known
6) High Above
7) Unusual Character Profile
8) Light the Way

Stream more from STALEMATE OF WILLS on Bandcamp and Spotify.

Bio:

STALEMATE OF WILLS was formed in 2023 by guitarist/ vocalist Derek Kovacs as a one man studio project releasing the singles "Corrode" followed then by "Subside", but it soon became clear that Stalemate of Wills needed to become a full band. Not long after, scene veterans Jake Morris (Bass) and Bob McSherry (drums) were quickly recruited to fill the voids. STALEMATE OF WILLS embraces an ethos of self-reliance, releasing and recording their own music and began working on an 8-song full length entitled Existence Denied, to be released in Spring of 2026 on FFTC Records, an independent label run by Kovacs.

STALEMATE OF WILLS is:

Derek Kovcas - guitar / vocals
Jake Morris - bass
Bob McSherry - drums

Links

Website | Facebook |YouTube | Instagram | www.facebook.com/fftcrecords

Thorndale - Spiritual Chains (EP Review)

Release Date: September 12th 2025. Record Label: Self Released. Formats: DD

Spiritual Chains - Tracklisting

1 - Veins of the Phoenix

2 - Battles Fought in Vain

3 - Gods of Pain

4 - Twenty Thousand Souls

5 - Spiritual Chains

6 - Exiles and Masters

Members

Gustavo Valderrama - Vocals

Peter Shannon - Guitars

Maarten Jungschläger - Guitars

Zigor Munoz - Bass

Guest musician: Rob Stone - Drums

Review

Doom/Stoner Metallers Thorndale latest EP Spiritual Chains focuses primarily within the boundaries of modern day Doom/Stoner Metal but that doesn’t stop the band playing areas of Grunge, Heavy Metal, Thrash Metal and Speed Metal. The EP is full of groove laden meldoies and subtle NOLA based vocals that should appeal to fans such as DOWN, CORROSION OF CONFORMITY and CROWBAR with the odd appearance of Soundgarden and Motorhead at times.

Spiritual Chains doesn’t waste a single second or opportunity for Thorndale showing a riff-fuelled musical adventure where the trappings of Progressive attitudes are kept to a minimum which comes across the opening tracks of Veins Of The Phoenix, Battles Thought In Vain and Gods Of Pain. With a subtle charge of METALLICA thrash based grooves that are never in short supply, Thorndale keeps the atmosphere dominated by classic fast paced guitars and melodic vocals that show the right amount of depth and aggression when the heavier parts appear. 

The switching of psychedelic surroundings allows Thorndale to become part of the vibrant underground scene before venturing straight back to the old school of Classic Heavy Metal which is quite refreshing change of pace at times. The second half of the EP perhaps leans into NOLA and Groove Metal with the lyrics being defined by a certain Doom Metal swagger. The second batch of tracks that Thorndale power through are equally as impressive as the first half with Twenty Thousand Souls and Spiritual Chains being the standout moments with sludgy rhythms and screeching guitars have an ethereal Classic Hard Rock attitude.

The EP isn’t perhaps the most original sounding currently out there but what Thorndale do brilliantly well is amplify that great sound and give it a heavy DOOMED OUT makeover with aggressive Stoner Metal melodies that make a massive and mighty impression where I’m hopeful the next release is a longer record. As twenty two minutes isn’t enough time to spend with this great band.

Excellent and Highly Recommended.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Clawhammer PR for the promo.

Links

Official | BandCamp

Nebülith - Feel Good Music For The End Of The World Vol1 (Album Review)

Release Date: August 23rd 2024. Record Label: Self Released. Formats: CD/DD

Feel Good Music For The End Of The World Vol1: Tracklisting

1.Beautiful 

2.Startrippin 

3.Mother Freedom

4.Leviathan

5.Clear Light

6.God Is Your Gun

7.Seven Suns 

8.Digging A Hole

9.UVB76

Members

Nebülith: vocals, fretless piccolo bass, piccolo bass,4 string basses, drums, keys, organ, bass guitar synthesizer, vocoder, drum programming, windchime, megaphone

Pat Shaughnessy: Drums on “Beautiful” and “God Is Your Gun”

Review

Nebülith is the product of John Shaughnessy, a professional bassist, multi instrumentalist from Charlottesville, NC who fuses Grunge, Doom, Stoner, Punk, Metal and Psychedelic sounds that have an eerie experimental edge to them which come straight from the 1970’s and 1990’s era of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal. The record is constantly seedy with a dynamic and boastful Stoner Metal appearance that allows Nebülith to call upon his wide range of musical influences (SLEEP, Monster Magnet, Motorhead, FU MANCHU and even Ministry) and give them a fresh transformation within his own creative image.

Feel Good Music For The End Of The World Vol1 is aptly named with Nebülith demonstrating a slight APOCALYPTIC feel with a vintage Proto-Doom sound with his fabulous seedy vocals to match. The instrumental sounds are always full of FUZZED UP aggression and down-tuned Psychedelic energy with the STONER movement changing into areas of music that come out of nowhere such as Industrial Rock/Metal. I would say the album has quite an eclectic or schizophrenic delivery but with Nebülith enjoying playing a different style of music for the majority of the tracks contained here.

Nebülith does sometimes get carried with the DYSTOPIAN message of the album but there’s a huge likeability and addictive quality within the record especially where Nebülith uses overlapping guitars, feedback loops, distorted rhythms and mind-altering sonic passages. The record works best when Nebülith goes off script and plays down-tuned guitars, trippy Psychedelic beats and straight-forward Stoner RIFFS where the album becomes quite refreshing to hear.

Feel Good Music For The End Of The World Vol1 does move over into areas of Prog Rock and Jam based sessions which makes the record even hard to define and classify as. One moment you think you have the whole album figured out and Nebülith just says FUCK IT, here’s a multi-layered fuzzy sound that transcends into warped Psychedelic hysteria. And I loved every twisted aspect of the whole journey.

The standout tracks on the album include: Beautiful, Startrippin, Leviathan, Clear Light, God Is Your Gun, Digging A Hole and UVB76. As these tracks allow John to develop and deliver the heaviest and most inventive parts of the album. The amount of freaky Psychedelic and catchy aggressive sludgy guitars allowed me to lose myself within the whole DOOMED OUT journey of the whole album.

The End Of The World or the impending doom of ARMAGEDDON has never sounded so good especially within the Stoner Metal arena. I hope Nebülith has plans for Part 2 as I’m more than happy to be resurrected to go through the whole thrilling journey yet again.

Feel Good Music For The End Of The World Vol1 is a quality sounding record which offers quite a dangerous style of Doom/Stoner Metal from the underground scene.

Excellent and Highly Recommended.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Clawhammer PR for the promo.

Feel Good Music For The End Of The World Vol1 will be available to buy on CD/DD on Friday August 23rd 2024.

Links

Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram

Atala - Shaman's Path Of The Serpent (Album Review)

Release date: May 20^th 2016. Label: Self Released. Format: CD/DD

Shaman's Path Of The Serpent – Tracklisting

1.Gravity 09:46

2.Levity 08:31

3.King Soloman 05:18

4.Shape Shifter 08:15

Band Members:

Kyle Stratton (Guitar and Vocals)

Jeff Tedtaotao (Drums)

John Chavarria (Bass)

Review:

Following their 2014 self titled debut album, Atala return in stunning style with Shaman's Path Of The Serpent and this album marks a markedly different musical style from the band. While that debut album (produced by Scott Reeder) had an understandably distinct Kyuss feel to it with its brand of sweeping desert rock, this new album is more sprawling and decisively heavier than its predecessor.

Shaman's Path Of The Serpent is produced by Billy Anderson and his way of getting such sonic density out of the bands he has worked with (and that includes the likes of Neurosis, Sleep and Swans among many others) definitely works with Atala on this record. Bearing that in mind, it is the majestic and epic sound of Neurosis that appears to be a heavy influence on Atala this time around both in terms of how heavy and tribalistic the songs sound and just for the sheer depth of sound that occurs although Atala certainly have their own musical identity and it sounds absolutely crushing.

With only four tracks on the album, albeit the fact that theses are mammoth tracks, they certainly make themselves known in truly epic style as all the songs on the album are epic in both vision and their execution.

The album opens with the phenomenal Gravity and this sets the tone for this special album with its pummelling rhythms, emotive vocals and the right amount of melody running through the song, listening to it will put the listener in a trance with its hypnotising riffs and this continues all through the album with the other songs on the album, the colossal Levity, the bruising King Soloman and Shapeshifter, the monolithic commencement of the album sound just as sprawling and monstrous as its immense opening and despite the fact that the album is only a little over half an hour long, it feels a lot longer due to its epic stature and also means you will want to listen again immediately after it ends.

This is epic music that is achieved through some truly great musicianship and those vocals from singer/guitarist Kyle Stratton complement the music that is heavy, sprawling and emotionally powerful perfectly and Shaman's Path Of The Serpent is another fine addition to the catalogue of Atala's releases and it will be extremely interesting to see where the bands sound goes after this, but until then everyone can bask in the intensity and vastness of this collection of songs.

Words by Gavin Brown

Thanks to Clawhammer PR for the promo. Shaman's Path Of The Serpent will be available to buy from May 20^th 2016 on CD/DD.

Links:

Official | Facebook | BandCamp | Twitter

BOUDAIN - Way Of The Hoof (Album Review)

Release date: April 20^th 2016. Label: Self Released. Format: DD

Way Of The Hoof – Tracklisting

1.Sleazy Feats

2.Neptune

3.CODA

4.3 Man

5.First Class

6.The Mighty Turn Around

7.Disco Jimmy

8.Godzilla

Band Members:

Brian Lenard- Guitars/Vocals

Chris Porter- Bass/Vocals

David Karakash- Guitars

Stephen Jester- Drums

Review:

Boudain’s debut album – Way Of The Hoof – will appeal to fans of Kyuss, Clutch and Fu Manchu. The album is played at such at a fast pace that the time just flies by. You’re not bored for a single second. This is an album that will entertain even the most jaded of Stoner Rock/Metal fan.

The vocals are very cool through out as Brian and Chris both sing with an almighty confident roar. The riffs drift from Desert/Psych Rock grooves to the harsher Stoner Metal riffs. The lyrics are superbly written and will have you singing out loud from time to time especially on songs such as Neptune, Coda, First Class and Disco Jimmy.

Boudain start to create their own identity when they inject some heavier spaced out riffs into their music. Third track – Coda – is a prime example of this as Boudain creates as one of the albums standout tracks. The vocals add a real hard rock edge to proceedings that you can’t but help rocking out to. The production of the album is top-notch through out as the sound is loud and crisp.

One of the most fun aspects about this album is their cover of Blue Oyster Cult classic – Godzilla. Sure they could have went with the more well known – Don’t Fear The Reaper. Everyone has done that song to death recently. Boudain’s cover of Godzilla doesn’t stray to far from the original but the song feels very much at home on the album. As the heavy spaced out riffs draw this album to a close.

Boudain aren’t going to change the world of Stoner Rock/Metal but that hasn’t stopped them releasing an album that you’ll be listening to for a long time to come. My final thoughts on Boudain’s debut album are that Way Of The Hoof is a brilliantly entertaining album from start to finish.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Clawhammer PR for the promo. Way Of The Hoof will be available to buy from April 20^th 2016.

Links:

Facebook | BandCamp

The Lumberjack Feedback - Blackened Visions (Album Review)

Release date: Jan 15th 2015 (CD/DD) – Feb 15th 2015 (Vinyl). Label: Kaotoxin. Format: CD/DD/Vinyl

Blackened Visions – Tracklisting

1. No Cure (For The Fools)
2. Blackened Visions
3. IMereMortal
4. Salvation
5. Dra Till Helvete
6. Mah Song (Horses Of God)

Band Members:

Simon Herbaut – guitars
Arnaud Silvert – guitars
Sebastien Tarridec – bass
Nicolas Tarridec – drums
Virgile Chaize – drums

Review:

The Lumberjack Feedback’s debut album – Blackened Visions – is influenced by bands such as Pelican and Neurosis – though that’s not to say the band doesn’t have any great ideas of their own, as they do. It’s just that it took me a very long time and multiple listens to actually enjoy this album. It takes the gloomy sludge/post-metal atmospherics that Neurosis are known for and matched against the cinematic style of doom/gloom post-metal Pelican first delivered earlier in their career.

It’s quite a complex, bleak and progressive sounding album. You are treated to traces of Stoner Rock/Metal but it’s mainly the Sludge/Doom Metal riffs that impress the most. Opening track – No Cure (For The Fools) – is the first of six tracks for the band to impress you with. Heavy slabs of distorted noisy bass-driven Sludge Metal with impressive drumming slowly create a dark mood that lasts for the duration of the whole album. The Lumberjack Feedback’s sound can be quite distorted at times that may put some people off. Stick with it though as you’ll miss out on some superb instrumental work.

Second track – Blackened Visions – is bleak, heavy and packed full of strange sounding noises that has a slight Russian Circles feel. It’s starts off rather slowly that gives the band valuable time to create a nightmarish psychedelic world drenched in almost post-black metal riffs though the band wisely return to the more familiar Sludge/Post-Metal and it’s the sound that works perfectly for them. The band experiment with their sound by adding classic Thrash style riffs. It’s something I could have done without as it doesn’t add to their sound. Luckily these kinds of riffs are kept to a minimum.

Third track - Imeremortal – is when the band finally creates their own sound as the album becomes a more exciting listen because of this. Atmospheric riffs drenched in epic doomy sounds with the band playing at a fast pace. This is perhaps my favourite song on the album as the band go for a very direct approach with their music as the riffs are played with sludge minded precision. Once again the drumming is superb through out as it gives Lumberjack Feedback a twisted nightmarish sound.

There’s nothing much different to say on the other 3 songs (Salvation, Dra Till Helvete and Mah Song (Horses Of God) on the album as they all follow the some creative path as the previous song – Imeremortal. Things do become slightly darker and progressive but the main structure is basically the same. That’s no bad thing as The Lumberjack Feedback prove they are worth giving a damn about. OK need more evidence, play the excellent track – Salvation – on full blast and wait for some heavy psych based sludge/post-metal riffs that can easily give Pelican a run for their money.

The album is superbly produced from start to finish and shows why Lumberjack Feedback is currently getting a great reputation within the Sludge/Post-Metal community. Fans of Instrumental Rock/Metal will find this album very hard to beat. Blackened Visions is an excellent album. Though I don’t think we’ve seen the real Lumberjack Feedback yet. As I feel that these guys will finally make a name for themselves on the next couple of albums they’ll hopefully release. The signs are very promising indeed with Blackened Visions.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Clawhammer PR for the promo. Blackened Visions will be available to buy on CD/DD from Jan 15th 2016 and Vinyl from Feb 15th 2016 through Kaotoxin Records.

Links:

Official | Facebook