With Our Arms To The Sun - Orenda (Album Review)

Release date: April 21st 2017. Label: 11th Dimension Records. Format: CD/DD

Orenda – Tracklisting

Disdain - Why Am I

Memory - The Drift

Doorway to Clarity

Macrocosm - Prometheus

Doorway to Realization

Apex - 100 Year Dream

The War - Light the Shadows

Doorway to Ascension

Regret - Sailing Stones

Homebound - March of the Trees

Members:

Josh Breckenridge - Guitars, noise, vocals

Joseph Leary - Guitars, Programming

Joseph Breckenridge - Bass

John Mclucas - Drums

Review

Greetings all,

This time around I got to check out the new full length from the band With Our Arms To The Sun entitled Orenda. I was intrigued, as I knew this record was produced by Melvins main man King Buzz-O.

To be honest, I was expecting some sort of AmRep style Noise Rock or Weirdo something or other but was completely stunned to be hit with 10 tracks of absolutely killer Post Metal. This Arizona 4 piece brings the goods on Orenda from beginning to end. Orenda is heavy and melodic, with anguished lyrics carried by some crushing riffs, immense drums, and a sprinkling of odd noises that keep every listen fresh.

The album kicks off with Disdain - Why Am I, the track starts with the sound of an old school type writer pecking away before kicking in with some heavy ass riffage. The second track Memory - The Drift is far and away my favourite track on the album. It is super melodic with some serious tempo changes.

Doorway to Clarity is the first of a couple of brief noise tracks on the record. It has an ambient quality with some quiet spoken word throughout. There were many times throughout the record that I was reminded of the mighty Mastodon, in particular the bands Crack the Skye era sound. Macrocosm-Prometheus is potentially the most Mastodon-esque hitting the quiet loud dynamic perfectly.

Another amazing track is the dissonant, piano driven ballad Doorway to Realization. The brings the post metal fury over the next couple of tracks Apex - Hundred Year Dream and The War - Light the Shadows. Doorway to Ascension is a brief spoken word and guitar track that leads in to the very Tool inspired feeling of Regret - Sailing Stones.

The album closed with the sound of a cold wind blowing in some anguished screams and massive guitar and drums of Homebound - March of the Trees.

With Our Arms To The Sun have delivered an absolutely killer record. It is dark and beautiful and Heavy and nuanced. Every listen seems to reveal another fascinating layer not heard on previous listens. Orenda evolves and never disappoints. The album reminded me of titans like Mastodon, Tool, and Neurosis. The record is excellently recorded and masterfully played.

If you are a fan of The Melvins, Post Metal, or just all around Heavy Music, do yourself a favour and check out With Our Arms To The Sun.

Words by Todd Stealey - Instagram @alltheghoststhathauntyou

Thanks to Monica at Speakeasy PR for the promo. Orenda is available to buy on CD/DD from Pledge Music from April 21^st 2017.

Links:

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Space Witch - Arcanum (Album Review)

Release date: June 10th 2017. Label: HeviSike Records. Format: CD/DD/Vinyl

Arcanum – Tracklisting

1. Cosmonoid

2. Astro Genocide

3. Hex

4. Battle Hag (With Noise)

Members:

Daz Rowlands - guitar, FX

Dan Mansfield - drums

Peter Callaghan - electronics, noises

Tomas Cairn - bass guitar

Review

Stoke-on-Trent, in England to me is synonymous with pottery, coal mines, steel mills, Michelin Tires and Stoke City FC and Port Vale FC, mainly the latter two. Yeah, I'm a footie nutter. This little knowledge about the place has increased considerably with the introduction of Space Witch. And in a very good way too, I may add. Somehow I have managed to miss out on them, despite having been around since 2007. After several releases - demos, EPs, singles and one full-length - 'Arcanum', their second album, is here and it's bloody amazing. Couldn't have picked a better introduction to this band, you hear?!

Spacey, trippy and mind-altering, ‘Arcanum’ leads me down a doomy progressive path I haven’t experienced in a long time. Lost ancient Middle Eastern sounds are cleverly incorporated, especially in guitar parts, which, when played along the galactic electronics and effects, launches Space Witch’s fabulous journey through galaxies and supernovas, and it fucks with my mind. And I love it! With eyes closed, my body relaxes and my mind takes off finding solace in the amazing sights the band offers.

The quarter-hour long opener, ‘Cosmonoid, is the catalyst. Instrumental, this gigantic opus puts me in the right frame. Keeping the pace at a slower rate, it explodes at different stages and towards the last few minutes, it gradually builds up and gets heavier by the second.

‘Astro Genocide’ picks up where ‘Cosmonoid’ left off but it is more sinister. The riffs are angrier while the music is still spacey, creating a very interesting vibe. Halfway through Space Witch opens wide fucking open and tear it up. Fast, brutal and in your face. Cacophony unleashes the sledgehammer that is ‘Hex’. Once the music kicks in, the band pulverises anything in their way. About halfway through a respite is given allowing me to float in a sea of stars as the music slows down…..for a minute! A gradual increase guides me through a galactic storm only to reach the force of the beginning of the song.

Travelling through uncharted dimensions, ‘Battle Hag’ is space and head trip if there ever was one. Twisting, turning, spinning and floating Space Witch pilot us all elegantly away from imminent doom, or maybe they aren’t?! Regardless, as the song ends I’m on the way to….somewhere else. Whether or not it’s a good place or a bad only time can tell. In the meantime, all I want to do is allow Space Witch to break me down and mould me into a new, more enlightened, being. Can’t ask for more!

Words by Håkan Nyman

Thanks to Dewar PR for the promo. Arcanum will be available buy on CD/DD/Vinyl via HeviSike Records from June 10^th 2017.

Links:

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Vultures At Arms Reach - Wake (Album Review)

Release date: April 1st 2017. Label: Self Released. Format: DD

Wake – Tracklisting

1.The Culling 06:53
2.Frail 04:08
3.Cross To Bear 05:03
4.Piecekeeper 07:05
5.Warmonger 09:03
6.Wake 08:00

Members:

Brian Rucker

Nate Kotila

Travis Howe

Review

Progressive Sludge/Stoners - Vultures At Arms Reach (VAAR) - return with their new album Wake. Three years after their excellent debut album - Colossus. Wake sees VAAR return with a harsher and complex sound compared to their last album. Though the guys seem to have found a more psychedelic groove with their music. Wake is firmly rooted in the world of Progressive Sludge and Post-Metal compared to Colossus.

Opening track - The Culling - is a song that operates on many levels. Progressive Sludge/Stoner riffs built upon a hard hitting social conscience with traces of psychedelic post-rock riffs appearing here and there. The vocals are more confident from their last album. The song-writing has moved up a different level as well as VAAR seem to have built upon their previous album. The track ends with a bleak soundclip from the classic movie There Will Be Blood. It's from this point the album takes a more sinister and cautious approach with the overall themes on the album.

Second track - Frail - opts for a more Sludge/Doom driven sound with a slight Industrial vibe allowing VAAR to play a more dirge ridden sound.

Third track - Cross To Bear - sounds like it could have come off the last album as it's quite a melodic piece of Sludge Rock/Metal with VAAR embracing their bleaker outlook on life. The hardcore based dual vocals are performed handled superbly well with the band performing their strongest vocal performance to date. The psychedelic noises are spliced throughout the song and it allows the whole atmosphere of the album to move further into Doom/Post-Metal territory.

Fourth track - Piecekeeper - is one of the strongest songs on the album as VAAR embrace their Sludge/Post-Metal sounds with such conviction. The band even have time to add moments of Psych Stoner Metal and one that will appeal to fans of Kowloon Walled City.

The final two songs on the album Warmonger and Wake offer the heaviest two songs on the album with VAAR becoming more confident with their harsher political outlook on life. The music is more experimental with the industrial/post-metal noises of Warmonger creating an unsettling atmosphere. Wake carries on the bleak sound from Warmonger though they do include the familiar melodic sounds from their last album.

The production on Wake is one of the albums main strengths as it sounds superb throughout. Wake is a different album to Colossus. Whilst Colossus had more melodic and stoner based sounds. Wake is a more personal and colder industrial affair. Maybe that's the point that VAAR wanted to make. To create something heavier and more primal.

Out of the two albums VAAR have released so far, I still think Colossus is the stronger album. As the band create an almost perfect blend of melodic sounds and harsher riffs. Wake contains a few moments of the same melodic sounds contained on Colossus but this is a more colder and slightly depressing album. Though Wake is still an excellent album in its own right.

Words by Steve Howe

Links:

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Mastodon - Emperor Of Sand (Album Review)

Release date: March 31st 2017. Label: Reprise Records. Format: CD/DD/Vinyl

Emperor Of Sand – Tracklisting

Sultan's Curse
Show Yourself
Precious Stones
Steambreather
Roots Remain
Word To The Wise
Ancient Kingdom
Clandestiny
Andromeda
Scorpion Breath
Jaguar God

Members:

Brann Dailor - Drums and Vocals

Brent Hinds - Guitar and Vocals

Bill Kelliher - Guitar

Troy Sanders - Bass and Vocals

Review

Mastodon to me truly exemplify what a progressive band sounds like.

It's not just about huge song lengths and mad time signature's and wearing a Wizards cape whilst you perform your new songs 13 minute long keyboard solo (although obviously all that stuff is fucking ace), it's about having a body of work that twists and turns but never loses that quintessential "something" that made you fall in love with them in the first place.

Sure, we all love Remission and to me (and probably lots of other people) Leviathan is a stone cold classic, but in their new record Emperor Of Sand, Mastodon have released what I was originally going to say is their best record since Crack The Skye but after a few listens I honestly believe is their best record. Full. Stop.

They've gone from writing songs like the incredibly heavy Mother Puncher and Iron Tusk to songs like Show Yourself which will undoubtedly get everyone all worked up about it's "pop" sensibilities and arena filling chorus. But what's wrong with that? Every band that releases a record wants it to sell and to attract new listeners and I call bullshit on anyone who says otherwise.

The album is certainly the most aggressive they have released for a while and the mix really accentuates the bowel troubling riffs and thunderous drumming, but also really let's the incredible vocals shine through.

The vocals are certainly one of the standout features throughout, but to be honest with, basically three vocalists and Mastodon's song writing pedigree you probably shouldn't expect any less. There are so many vocal hooks on this album it's ridiculous... Like a screw fix direct warehouse...

Perfect examples of this being on the back to back tracks Steambreather and Roots Remain. The former coming in on a bit of fuzz and a hypnotic and driving riff which is a call back throughout, and the latter delivers a HUGE chorus from out of nowhere which literally gives me goosebumps every time I hear it.

The album closes on another immense track Jaguar God which is a slow burner, but builds and builds veering almost into Porcupine Tree like territories before unleashing a solo that will probably see guitarists everywhere immediately selling theirs....

Mastodon have got to a point now where they have become very divisive. I've seen a fair few people now moaning about the new direction and the lack of full on grunt we got in some of their earlier works, but equally just as many people who share my view that the band have evolved and progressed throughout their career and in Emperor Of Sand have released a very, very special record. A record that is instinctively Mastodon and a record that in my opinion will be looked back on as a benchmark in years to come.

Words by Simon Ross Williams

Emperor Of Sand is available to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl now.

Links:

Official | Facebook | Twitter

Woodhawk - Beyond The Sun (Album Review)

Release date: April 7^th 2017. Label: Self Released. Format: CD/DD/Vinyl

Beyond The Sun – Tracklisting

1.Beyond The Sun

2.The High Priest 04:46

3.Living In The Sand

4.Magnetic North

5.Lawless

6.Quest For Clarity

7.A New Hope

8.Foresee The Future

9.Chrononaut

Members:

Turner Midzain - Vocals/Guitar

Mike Badmington - Bass/Vocals

Kevin Nelson - Drums

Review

I'm new to the world of Woodhawk as I missed their debut album released a few years ago. My good pal Bucky Brown told me to check these guys out. As Bucky knew I would go crazy over this band. I was luckily sent a promo to review and here's my review for Beyond The Sun.

Woodhawk have a new album - Beyond The Sun - and it's one that ticks all right boxes if you're a serious fan of Stoner Rock. Taking influence from bands such as Kyuss, The Sword and Truckfighters. Woodhawk offer a refreshing style of Psych Stoner Metal with moments of Fuzz and Desert Rock that add extra grit to their music.

Opening track - Beyond The Sun - is a highly confident number with the band playing a heavy thunderous stoner metal roar. The lyrics are inspired by a mixture of classic Kyuss desert rock beginnings and the later progressive stylings of Truckfighters world weary tales. It's a captivating style of music Woodhawk cater for both the casual and dedicated Stoner Rock/Metal fan. The vocals from Turner are impressive from the start especially when set against the heavy musical background. Woodhawk even find time to play a thrashier sound of Stoner Metal towards the end of the song.

Second track - The High Priest - sees Woodhawk opt for a more Doom Rock driven sound as they channel the very early sound of The Sword but still creating their own original addictive sound. The lyrics build upto a rousing chorus especially when the band starts singing over the title lyrics over and over again. The riffs drift from heavy psych stoner to a heavier style of doom rock that leaves you wanting more. The guitar solos are impressive with members – Turner and Mike - showing what they can do by creating epic riffs that have a twinge of classic Thin Lizzy about them.

Third track - Living In The Sand - continues with the heavy style of Doom, Psych and Stoner Rock with lead vocalist - Turner - singing with a more laid-back style before he returns to the familiar style he sung on the opening two tracks. The back-up vocals add a more menacing touch as they have quite a duelling effect. The music is perhaps what will hold people's attention the most as Woodhawk merge the different sounds at their disposal with supreme confidence.

It's pointless for myself to describe what to expect on the remaining six tracks on the album as Woodhawk wisely keep to the same winning template throughout. Though they do change the mood at different parts of the album especially on Magnetic North and A New Hope and the standout final track - Chrononaut. Beyond The Sun is a hard-rocking masterclass that's a winning album on all levels. It's great to hear an album that has much attention to the lyrics as well as the music.

Fans of Star Wars will get much enjoyment of A New Hope as Woodhawk have created a spaced out stoner prog rock odyssey based on that legendary movie. One of the most exciting moments of album as Woodhawk prove how creative they are by blending popular movie culture and modern Desert/Stoner Rock sounds.

The production is another highlight as the album is crystal clear and very loud from the start. What's more to be said about this album apart from this is a must have album for all you serious Stoner Rock/Metal fans out there. Woodhawk have delivered the goods with this album. End Of.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Jon at Asher Media for the promo. Beyond The Sun will be available to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl from April 7^th 2017.

Links:

Facebook | BandCamp | Twitter

Четыре Мужика - Вой (Voi) - (EP Review)

Release date: October 25th 2016. Label: CSBR Label. Format: CD/DD

Вой (Voi EP) – Tracklisting

1.Китовая 03:51

2.Лихо 03:47

3.Мустанга 03:19

4.Вой 03:46

Members:

Alexey - vox, guitar

Alexandr - vox, guitar

Mikhail - bass

Il'ya - drums

Review

I'm still trying to get my head over Четыре Мужика's debut EP - Вой (Voi). It's quite a hard rocking and experimental style of Stoner and Sludge Metal with a huge amount of Hardcore vibes running throughout. It's not the most sophisticated of sounds but Четыре Мужика know how to have fun especially on the opening track – Китовая.

The atmosphere can be very gloomy at times and bit far out there especially with the second track – Лихо. It's very experimental in places with the vocals not matching the high calibre of the riffs. This is the weakest song on the EP as the band venture into MUSE territory. Though I can't deny how heavy and chaotic the music becomes towards the end.

The guys are from Russia and the Sludge/Stoner Metal bands coming from there I have noticed mostly to be very experimental and lacking focus. Whilst the guys don't lack focus their sound can be too experimental at times for the casual Sludge/Stoner Metal fan to thoroughly enjoy.

There are a lot of things I admire on this EP and a few things I don't. I would say the first and final tracks are definitely worth checking out. Though the 2^nd and 3^rd songs didn't grab me as much as the others.

Overall it's an enjoyable slice of experimental Sludge/Stoner Metal if you're in the mood to try something different.

Words by Steve Howe

Links:

Facebook | VK

PROTOTYPER - Wounds (EP Review)

Release date: March 24th 2017. Label: Self Released. Format: CD/DD

Wounds – Tracklisting

1.Impetus 04:21

2.Dog Days 04:16

3.Wounds 05:18

4.Undertow 05:09

5.Be Afraid 04:24

Members:

Martin X. Forster

Jürgen Baue

Christoph Schwaiger

Review

Noise/Sludge Rock collective – Prototyper have just released their new EP – Wounds. It's a collection of tracks that blend Noise Rock, Stoner Rock with a heavy dose of Alternative Rock and Sludge grooves that allows Wounds to become something of heavy beast at times.

Opening track – Impetus – has some fine moments of Post-Rock riffage with psychedelic noises allowing Prototyper to create heavy moments of Tool-esque progressive sounds. The vocals are handled superbly well.

Second track – Dog Days – opts for a more Alternative/Stoner Rock sound with the Sludge Rock vibes appearing later on. It's quite fast paced and sometimes it lacks focus compared to the opening track. Though Prototyper soon pull things round for an exciting finish with some nicely played heavy noise rock vibes being played at a fast pace.

Third track – Wounds – is perhaps where Prototyper create the standout track on the EP as they create a wide range of different sounds that is firmly in the realm of Alternative/Stoner Rock with elements of Post-Rock making an appearance again. The Tool influence is there lurking in the background but Prototyper show they can create their own sound when they play a more refined progressive and psychedelic sound.

The final two tracks – Undertow and Be Afraid – offer a more dream-like and noise rock driven sound especially with Undertow. It's a trippy affair with the band taking their time in creating slowly played riffs. Though the band soon return to the EP's earlier heavier sounds. Be Afraid is pure Noise Rock territory as Prototyper change the mood of the EP yet again. It's good to see that the band have written 5 songs that sound vastly different to each other. As it makes their overall sound very hard to categorize.

Overall, Wounds is a very well produced and satisfying EP to listen to. Prototyper are a band that are definitely worth your time as you will pleasantly be surprised by what's on offer here.

Excellent and Highly Recommended.

Words by Steve Howe

Links:

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