DOOMED & STONED Festival 2016

Our pals over at Doomed & Stoned are putting together their very first festival. Doomed & Stoned 2016 will feature a ton of great bands performing in Indianapolis over the course of two days.

Put together by Melissa at Doomed & Stoned. This festival promises to be one heavy as hell festival you don't want to miss out. Especially when you have bands such as COUGH, Bell Witch, Conjurer, Horseburner, Spirit Division, Youngblood Supercult, Clouds Taste Satanic and many other awesome bands appearing.

For more information head over to the Doomed & Stoned Festival Website.

Visit Doomed & Stoned for more great news, features, reviews and interviews via their Website and Facebook Page.

Doomed & Stoned Festival Spotlight: Interview with Melissa from Doomed & Stoned

When I first heard that Doomed & Stoned were putting on their first musical festival later this year, I was thinking good on Billy Goate for deciding to do this. I asked Billy when did this idea came about and he replied – You better ask Melissa as she's organising the whole thing.

It seems Melissa has jumped right in and organised a great festival with a killer line-up. I've interviewed Melissa a couple of years ago on The Sludgelord so I asked would she be up for another interview with me. Mainly to discuss Doomed & Stoned Festival.

I wanted to find out where she got the idea from and how hard was it to put this festival together. Melissa is one of the most hard-working and dedicated individuals currently out there. Along with Billy Goate they runs one of the best blogs currently out there. Melissa kindly agreed to answer my questions and provide more info on the festival. Here's what we discussed.

Hi Melissa. Thanks for doing this interview. Means a lot. How are things with you today.

Busy, but that's usually good.

We are here to discuss the Doomed & Stoned festival that you're organising. How did that idea come about to arrange a festival.

It was kind of thrown out there by a few friends after my compilation "Doomed & Stoned In Indiana" released and experienced it's success. Of course at first it felt so impossible. The more you talk about something, the more you want it. I've had lots of help, so it's coming along well.

Had you been planning to arrange a festival for a while now.

I've been seriously planning for about two months.

Can you tell our readers what people can expect from the festival. What bands are appearing.

Of course. Cough is headlining on Friday November 18th and Bell Witch is headlining on Saturday November 19th. Over the two days, we'll have Demon Eye, Pale Divine, Toke, Heavy Temple and more. The complete lineup is at www.doomedandstonedfestival.com

Has it been challenging to organise this festival. Did you have any help from other people to organise the festival.

I have so much respect for the people who do this, year after year. Indy metal shows is one of our sponsors and they have been an enormous help. They hooked us up with our website and a ton of behind the scenes kind of stuff I never even considered. I'm also pretty cool with the folks who run the venue, the 5th quarter lounge. They've been walking me through everything. That's why I love the Indianapolis scene. We're relatively small, but very tight. If I were a in a big city like Portland, I'm not sure many people would be willing to take the time to help. I'm just so grateful.

I thought Billy Goate was originally behind this idea and he told me you were. What was Billy's reaction when you suggested putting on this festival. Was he fully supportive or apprehensive in some way.

I think at first he didn't think I could do it, HA HA. In all seriousness, he's been very supportive, but perhaps a bit hesitant to make any suggestions. His advice is always there if I need it.

What has the bands reactions been like when contacting them to appear at the festival. Have they all been fully supportive. Have any bands refused to answer your emails and telephone calls.

There have been a lot that didn't reply and that was very frustrating. I understand if a band is on tour but you'd think after three weeks it wouldn't be hard to send an email. I shouldn't complain though, the lineup is solid and all the bands really seem excited too.

With this being the 1st annual Doomed & Stoned festival, I take it if this is successful you will be doing this on a regular basis. Or will you see how this festival goes.

I hope to do this for a few more years at least. I didn't quite realise how badly the MidWest needed a doom fest and there's certainly some hype for it. 

I know you're partial to a bit of death/thrash metal. Were you tempted to sneak a death/thrash metal band on the bill. Other doom/stoner metal festivals have been guilty of this in the past.

That's what everyone is asking, because I'm a huge Testament fan. I'm not quite sure if death and thrash metal do well here or not. I did ask a few death doom bands but none of them were able to. I wanted to stick as closely to doom as I could.

How hard was it to find a suitable location in your home-town of Indiana to hold the festival.

Not at all. I go to no less than three shows a month at the 5th quarter and about a third of my annual salary goes to them. They're great people.

I know you've recently became involved filming local gigs at posting them on Doomed & Stoned. Was that an easy decision to get involved with. Are you more confident filming gigs now. Will you be filming gigs at the festival.

You can thank Billy for that. I had some cash and he talked me into getting the same camera he has, so filled me in on the settings to use and all that. I get the camera in the mail and two hours later I'm at a show filming this local doom band called Spirit Division. It turned out great so I've been filming local bands. They all seem to appreciate it and I think it's important that bands have videos of their performances. 

As you know I've been a big fan of you all over at Doomed & Stoned even when I was The Sludgelord. I loved your own journey on that blog. Reviews, video jukebox requests, interviewing bands face to face, filming gigs and now festival organiser. Did you ever expect your involvement with Doomed & Stoned ever take you on this journey.

Absolutely not. The cool thing about the relationship I share with Billy is, as we bounce ideas off each other the vision continues to change. I never thought we'd be where we are now. We worked very hard and didn't ride in on anyone's coattails.

Well Melissa, thanks for doing this interview. I wish you every success with this festival. 

Words by Steve Howe and Melissa Collins

Thanks to Melissa for taking the time out to talking to me. Check Doomed & Stoned Festival for regular updates.

Doomed & Stoned Festival Links:

Official | Facebook

Doomed & Stoned In Asia (Album Review)

Release date: May 17^th 2016. Label: Compilation/Self Released. Released. Format: DD

Doomed & Stoned In Asia – Tracklisting

1.DauD - Lost In Sense 06:46

2.Electric Funeral - Prison's Song 04:35

3.ESRARR - The Weedsons 03:08

4.ESRARR - Witch of Darkness 03:26

5.Eternal Elysium - Circulation (Jun Kan) 06:21

6.Funeral Moth - Transience 21:59

7.Inuka - Mistress of the Void 04:04

8.Keladak - Contortionist 07:15

9.Keladak - Black Crows 05:30

10.Ksyatriya - A Gemini & Her Great Divide 12:16

11.Ksyatriya - The Human Ego Must be Obliterated for its Arrogant Reign of Tyranny - II 08:23

12.破地獄 - Maudgalyayana 07:20

13.Sigmun - Devil in Disguise 05:27

14.Sigmun - Vultures 03:56

15.silvermachine - Garden of Earthly Delights 04:53

16.silvermachine - Ecstasy's Aftermath 13:45

17.SPEEDWITCHES - Void 10:42

18.SPEEDWITCHES - Red Eyes 12:40

19.Sundays and Cybele - Waiting For You 07:33

20.Beelzebud - Durhaka (bonus track) 25:50

Band Members:

Various.

Review:

You know Doomed & Stoned are the main reason I haven't put together a compilation since my Sludgelord days. They always put out killer compilations over the past 2 years and I feel anything that I would put together would pale in comparison to their killer releases but I maybe making a comeback in that department. Watch this space.

Anyway Doomed & Stoned have put together 20 superb tracks from bands who are based in Asia. You have to hand it to Doomed & Stoned team member Zachary Painter who put this compilation together, he's done his fucking homework. He's discovered some awesome bands that I've never heard of. Zachary has written a great article on the BandCamp Page explaining how he came across these bands and why he chose them.

What you get is 20 tracks of pure heavy riffs from the Doom, Sludge, Stoner, Psych and Drone musical spectrum. I've been listening to this since last week ever since my good pal Billy Goate give me a download code. It's an action-packed compilation that will appeal to all fans of the Doom/Sludge/Stoner Metal world.

I will list my fave songs from this release. DauD, Eternal Elysium, Sigmun and Silver Machine are worth honourable mentions. Though how can I leave out – SPEEDWITCHES and Beelzebud with their fantastic 25 minute opus. Damn......

If you're in the mood for something different but altogether heavy from the best underground bands the Asian Doom/Sludge/Stoner Metal scene has to offer, then you need to check this album out now. You're bound to find a few great bands to follow and perhaps buy merchandise from.

It's available on BandCamp Buy Now but you could always contribute to the mighty Doomed & Stoned cause. You know what to do....

Another awesome release from one of the best blogs currently out there. Check it out!!!!

Words by Steve Howe

Links:

Official | Facebook | BandCamp

Doomed & Stoned's Second Anniversary Compilation - The Enchanter's Ball

Release date: July 14th 2015. Label: Self Released. Formats: DD (Compilation)

The Enchanter's Ball by Doomed & Stoned: Tracklisting

1.Bolivar Cola - The Beast Pt. 1 07:24

2.Bronco - Hazy Lies 04:57

3.Brume - Mother Earth 05:18

4.Cosmic Eve - The Ice Mistress 05:16

5.Cruces - Desperate People 06:30

6.Cruthu - S.O.S. 05:10

7.Dead Temple - Sisterhood of the Snake 04:11

8.Edge of Paradise - Children Of The Sea (Black Sabbath) 05:39

9.Inuka - Sacrifice 04:48

10.Kerouac's Sack - Evil Dirty Woman 03:50

11.Limb To Limb - Demon Waltz 03:57

12.Lumo Portanto - The Devil Inside 05:14

13.Mane of the Cur - Foolish Are Magic 03:56

14.Misty Grey - Woman In Black 06:10

15.Mother Mooch - Into The Water 04:33

16.Project Armageddon - Frigid Bitch 05:26

17.Psychedelic Witchcraft - Angela 04:57

18.Psychic Dose - The Clock Strikes Madness 06:48

19.Sisters Ov The Blackmoon - Haunt 03:59

20.Sky Valley Mistress - She Is So 06:00

21.Spiral Skies - The Wizard's Ball 05:24

22.Stars That Move - The Hidden Hand 03:29

23.Stereo Siberia - Open Your Mouth Babe 03:52

24.The Great Sadness - WORDS 03:38

25.The Mother Morphine - Black Rose 06:26

26.The Sabbathian - Ancient's Curse 06:45

27.Walruss - Pipa 04:59

28.White Coven - Sedative 06:46

29.Winter Moon - Black Heart 08:43

30.Wucan - Franis Vikarma 05:36

31.Stoned Wolf - Bad Trip (bonus track) 06:04

32.Whisky Fyre - Punishment (bonus track) 04:27

Review:

A lot of you will know the existence of one of my fave metal blogs – Doomed & Stoned. I consider these guys family and good friends of mine. Billy, Melissa and the rest of the Doomed & Stoned crew have been promoting the world of Doom, Sludge, Stoner, Post-Metal and everything in between for two years now. And to celebrate that anniversary, Billy Goate has put together this amazing compilation which focuses on female fronted Doom/Psych/Stoner Metal bands. As there's been too many great ones to mention. Kudos to Paul Rote (Doomed & Stoned team member) who researched and contacted the bands who appear on this compilation. It's heavy as hell from start to finish.

Billy's description from his BandCamp Page will give you more info on what to expect:

“Doomed & Stoned's Second Anniversary Compilation stays faithful to our focus on bringing talented underground heavy bands in the Sabbath tradition to the attention of fans of doom metal and stoner/psychedelic rock. We've noticed a marked increase in the number of female fronted bands over the past several years. 'The Enchanter's Ball' features a global merry-go-round of these groups, each with their own unique and remarkable style. 30 bands, 30 unforgettable tracks. Thank you for being a part of our success over the past two years! (Billy Goate - Founder & Editor-in-Chief)”

The Enchanter's Ball is one tripped out and heavy as fuck extravaganza. It's got too many great bands to mention. Though my personal faves are BRUME, Sky Valley Mistress, Project Armageddon and the amazing Cruces.

I could do a more in-depth review. But I don't need to. Doomed & Stoned have put out some great compilations in the past couple of years but I have to say this is the best edition yet. Mainly because this edition features a wide range of bands across the Doom/Sludge/Stoner Rock spectrum never mind the globe.

So do yourself a favour check out this compilation now and be amazed by the calibre of bands currently out there. As you've probably never heard of a few them. I know I haven't....

When you've finished checking out the other download compilations on Doomed & Stoned BandCamp Page, head-over to their website and Facebook Page and say I sent you. They'll be happy to see you as these mofos are one of the best blogs around. Check it out.

Words by Steve Howe

Links:

OfficialSite | Facebook | BandCamp