Mountain Of Wizard/Creating Rhythms And Disturbances/2015 CD Review

  Mountain  Of  Wizard  are  a  band  from  Louisiana  that  plays  an  instrumental  form  of  sludge  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2015  album  "Casting  Rhythms  And  Disturbances".

  A  very  distorted  drone  sound  starts  off  the  album  giving  the  music  more  of  a  ritualistic  feeling  before  getting  a  lot  more  heavy  and  also  using  melodic guitar  leads  and  all  of  the  musical instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to t hem  and  the  riffs  also  mix  in  a  great  amount  of  70's  rock  influences.

 All  of  the  songs  are  instrumental  with  no  vocals  or  lyrics  ever  being  utilized  while  also  mixing  in  the  energy of  punk  rock  at  times and  the  retro  vibe  of  the  music  also  adds  in  a  touch  of  stoner  rock  while  the  music  still  has  a  very  modern  day  heaviness  to  it  with the  sludge  metal  elements    and  a  lot  of  the  songs  have  an  improv,  jam  feeling  to  them  and  a  couple  of  tracks  also  bring  in  a  brief  use  of  clean  playing  and  acoustic  guitars.

  Mountain  Of  Wizard  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  and  instrumental  form  of  sludge  and doom  metal  and  mixes  it  in  with  punk  and  70's  rock t o  create  an  original  style  and  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording.

  In  my  opinion  Mountain  Of  Wizard  are  a  very  great  sounding  instrumental  stoner/sludge  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Runeshadow"  "Sorcerer's Deathbed"  "UFO"  and  "Throne  Of  Blood".  8  out  of  10.

Mohicans/Self Titled/Creator-Destroyer Records/2015 EP Review

  Mohicans  are  a  band  from  San  Francisco,  California  that  plays  a  mixture  of  stoner,  sludge  metal  and  hardcore  punk  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  titled  2015  ep  which  was  released  by  Creator-Destroyer  Records.

  A  very  heavy  hardcore  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  aggressive  screaming  vocals  while  you  can  hear  some  retro  melodies  in  the  riffs  while  the  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  very  dark,  depressive  and  melodic  and  you  can  also  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  this  recording.

  A  lot  of  70's  doom  metal  influences  can  be  heard  in  the  bands  musical  style  and  the  music  also  speeds  up  at  times  and  also  brings  in  a  touch  of  old  school  punk  as  well  as  a  brief  use  of  blast  beats  and  you  can  also  hear  a  great  dose  of  stoner  rock  elements  quite  a  bit  throughout  the  recording  and  all  of  the  songs  also  stick  to  a  very  heavy  musical  direction.

  Mochicans  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  sludge  metal  and  mixes  it  with  stoner  rock  and  hardcore  punk  to  create  a  style  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  alienation  and  failure  in  a  new  unforgiving  city.

  In  my  opinion  Mohicans  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  sludge  metal,  stoner  rock  and  hardcore  punk  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Swan"  and  "Bixbi".  8  out  of  10.   

Kielkropf/step back, I'm about to dance/2015 EP Review

  Kielkropf  are  a  band  from  Austria  that  plays  sludge  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their self  released  2015  ep  "Step  back,  I'm  about  to  dance".

  A  very  dark,  heavy  and  melodic  sound  starts  off  the  ep  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to t hem  and  after  a  few  seconds  later  aggressive  vocals  are  added  onto  the  recording  and  they  also  give  the  music  a  touch  of  groove  metal  and  hardcore  and  the  melodies  bring  in  a  lot  of  doom  metal  elements.

  A  couple  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  the  music  also  brings  back  a  lot  of  the  90's  style  of  sludge  metal  while  also  bringing  in  more  of  a  modern  take  on  the  genre  and  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  melodic  guitar  leads  and  the  whole  ep  stays  very  heavy  from  beginning  to  ending  of  the  recording  with  no  fast,  clean  and  soft  parts  ever  being  utilized.

  Kiellkropf  plays  a  style  of  sludge  metal  that  goes  back  to  the  beginning  days  of  the  genre  and  ignores  any  of  the  modern  trends  that  have  been  in  that  style  over  the  last  few  years,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  real  life  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Kiellkropf  are  a  very  great  sounding  sludge  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Whoremonger"  and  "Wait  For  the  Richochet".  8  out  of  10.

 

Curse The Son/Isolator/Snake Charmer Coalition/2016 CD Review

  Curse  The  Son  are  a  band  from  Connecticut  that  plays  a  mixture  of  stoner,  sludge  and  doom  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "Isolator"  which  will  be  released  on  March  18th  by  Snake  Charmer  Coalition".

  A  powerful  sounding  bass  guitar  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  drum beats  and  once  the  music  gets  heavy  and  melodic  it  goes  for  more  of  a  70's  doom  metal  style  and  the  vocals  are  done  in  a  clean  singing  fashion  and  the  music  also  alternates  between  both  the  heavy  and  soft  parts  quite  a  bit  throughout  the  recording.

  A  lot  of  stoner  rock  elements  can  be  heard  quite  a  bit  throughout  the  recording  while  the  heaviness  of  the  songs  brings  in  more  of  a  sludge  feeling  and  as  the  album  progresses  more  psychedelic  elements  are  added  into  the  music  along  with  the  bass  guitars  taking  over  as  a  lead  instrument  and  the  whole  album  sticks  to  a  very  slow  musical  direction  from  beginning  to  ending  of  the  recording.

  Curse  The  Sun  plays  a  style  of  doom  metal  that  is  very  retro  in  the  70's  vein  while  also  bringing in  a  touch  of  stoner  rock  and  the  heaviness  of  sludge  to  create  a  musical  style  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  old  school  while  the  lyrics  cover  darkness  and  hallucinating  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Curse  The  Son  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  sludge,  stoner  and  doom  metal  and  if  you  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Isolator"  "Hull  Crush  Depth"  and  "Side  Effects  made  Include...".  8/1  out  of  10.      

The Glorious Rebellion Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
We're 3 dudes who live in a rat's backyard in FL. We're old, jaded, angry, broke, stunningly handsome and masters of modesty. We're on a quest for something righteous and our soundtrack is the always poignant "I wanna rock" by the immortal Twisted Sister.

2.You have a new album coming out in April, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?
It's loud rock music. It's not reinventing the wheel. It's just heavy, loud, rock music. These songs, as well as the other two featured on our previously released 7", were all written at the same time, so I feel like they all have a similar feel both lyrically and in vibe/intensity. We're already working on new material, and the next record will probably be quite a bit different.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the newer music?
Most of our songs are some form of self-deprecation or another. It's all essentially about ownership. Lots of bands right songs that place the blame of their problems elsewhere, which can be a valid form of expression. Our over-arching theme is "The world is shitty. I am not able to fix it. I am the problem. We all are. Fuck everything including myself." A lot of these particular songs are about either the music industry or how much I suck as a person.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'The Glorious Rebellion'?
I could rattle off some prose about a deeper meaning involving violent uprisings, but the reality is we just thought it sounded cool.

5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?
Every show is different. We've played a lot of very great shows and we've had the honor of opening for some of, in my opinion, the best bands touring and making music right now. But overall, we try to make every show special and unique. We're violent live. Our stage performance is meant to be as primal, violent, and raw as we can possibly be. Leave everything you've got onstage EVERY time.

6.Do you have any touring or show plans once the new album is released?
Yes. We're doing a tour April 1-10 with Bardus. You can check out that info here: https://www.facebook.com/events/932598473491397/
We've got a lot of shows following that, including our hometown record release party and opening for the mighty PRONG. In August, we'll probably be hitting the road again for another short tour, as well.

7.The new album is coming out on 'Magnetic Eye Records', can you tell us a little bit more about this label?
This is our second release with them. They're out of Albany, NY. Awesome records made by great bands!

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of sludge and noise rock?
I try not to concern myself with any of that stuff. I mean, it's hard not to care, but I think that if you want to make the music you truly enjoy making, you have to be a little bit selfish and kind of ignore that stuff. Also, we're far too small a band to be concerned with the whole world. I don't think we're at that level, yet. Soon enough, hopefully. Right now, we're at the "we're stoked anyone even wants to listen at all" stage.

9.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
Like I said before, we've already started writing new material. I think that it'll probably stay in a similar footing to where we are now, but exploring new layers. It's like expanding a city, rather than building a world. We're where we want to be, but it needs to be made better and grow.

10.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
Tom Waits, Mike Patton and his various bands(faith no more, mr. bungle, tomahawk, fantomas, etc), Helmet, Failure, The Melvins,  ZZ Top, Kiss, Public Enemy, NWA, Django Reinhardt, John Zorn, lots of random pop music.  As for what I'm listening to right now, that changes a LOT, but the past week or two it's been a lot of Bardus, Waka Flocka Flame, and Hollow Leg.

11.What are some of your non musical interests?
art. Both myself and our bassist, CJ, are involved in some sort of art. He paints, I do graphic design. Movies, comic books, regular books.

12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
something something something social media something something buy stuff something something.

-Billy, The Glorious Rebellion
http://www.facebook.com/thegloriousrebellion

False Gods Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?



Myself and Mike were in a band called skeletondealer which put out an ep on sliptrick records. Rob, the guitar player, also plays in From Autumn to Ashes so when they got back together the band folded. I had a bunch of songs written and started recording them in May of 2015. I showed the basic tracks to Mike and he was into it. Then we got Paulie, Mike's brother to play drums and Brian, Mike's brother-in-law to play bass. The rest is history.



2.How would you describe your musical sound?  Basically the goal I had was to create a band that incorporated all aspects of stoner/doom/sludge metal without conforming to a certain rigid format. I had this idea of creating a band that was like all the bands you would see at "Desert Fest" rolled into one band. I didn't want to be a band that plays rehashed, fuzzed-out Sabbath riffs over and over.I wanted there to be fast punk rock parts as well as very dissonant, noisy, trippy, melodic parts. I want there to be dynamics. We are all come from the local hardcore scene here in Long Island so that definitely a part of our sound although that's unintentional. I wanted it to be a bit more raw and unrefined while still writing well-crafted, catchy songs. We keep the vocals brutal and the riffs straight forward. It's "slow metal" but it's not boring. We don't just plod along. We're not a gimmick. I see a lot of bands today in this sub genre that just buy thousands of dollars worth of vintage amps, tuned down as low as possible, play at 45 BPM, has some dude bark his head off and put everyone to sleep. I'm not trying to do that. I'm trying to write great songs. I'm trying to do something a little left of center. Each song on the ep has its own vibe and are different. No matter how heavy of a band you are you need to know how to write a good song. That's something I feel is missing in a lot of this music.



3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music? Lyrically we have been trying to create a way for people to open their minds a bit into how the world around them shapes their perspective. Whether it be from an intellectual standpoint or from a flesh driven standpoint. We believe that there is more to any given situation than just what is taken at face value. Reasons and behavioral patterns are rarely taken into account and because it’s easier to just dismiss things as the will of any given deity or the way the world works causes people to rely on instinctual non-accountability. Whether it be the killings in names of beliefs or land or money or just the day to day self-destruction of our own husks. Pondering mortality and the concept of good and evil and how it makes people do horrifying things to each other.



4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'False Gods'? the name represents a counter to the concept of a being that sees itself as above any specific other being and the people who buy into that tradition. The practice of worship is archaic and foolish and the fact that it has transcended from imaginary sky people to the worship of anything from celebrities and false prophets to money and traditions is disheartening. It seems as if this plane of existence is riddled with these “false gods”



5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance? We're a brand new band. Our first show was in December. All the gigs have been well-received and a lot of fun. Lots of volume and beer. Our stage performance would be best described as four dead trees, playing extremely loud while drinking tap lagers and ales.



6.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future? We're playing gigs in the NY area. We head down to Maryland April 23rd. We are currently in the process of booking some small runs. No longer than two or three days.



7.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?  We are currently looking, yes.



8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of sludge, doom metal and hardcore? Very positive. People seem to dig it.



9.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future? I don't know. That's a great question. We plan on recording another ep at the end of this year. We've already started writing new songs and almost have about three finished. I think the one difference will be more of that Godflesh influence and less of the Sabbath-y stuff. I want to experiment more with noise and ugly, diminished  chords but I also want to explore more melody too. Way less "stoney" and more "sludge-y" I would say. A darker, heavier, more brutal direction I would say.



10.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays? Our influences range from all the usual suspects :Black Sabbath, Black Flag, St Vitus, Crowbar, C.O.C., eyehategod, Godflesh, Neurosis, SWANS, bloodlet, even some yuppicide. The list goes on and on. I can only speak for myself but I don't really listen to a lot of heavy music when I'm home. I'm going through a big Sinatra phase at the moment. Also listening to a lot of Jobim. That stuff is just timeless.



11.What are some of your non musical interests? Drinking.



12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts? Our five-song ep "Wasteland" will be released digitally April 22nd. Be on the lookout. Hope you guys dig it. thanks for the interview.

 

Classhole/Self Titled/The Compound/Terror Cult/2016 CD Review

  Classhole  are  a  band  from  Louisiana  that  plays  a  mixture  of  hardcore  punk and  d  beat  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  titled  2016  album which  was  released  as  a  joint  effort  between  The  Compound  and  Terror  Cult.

   A  very  fast,  raw  and  old  school  hardcore  punk  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  aggressive  yet  almost  spoken  while  the  drums  also  mix  in  a  lot  of  d  beats  and  you  can  also  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on   the  recording  all  of  the  songs  are  very  heavily  rooted  in  the 80's.

  Throughout  the  recording  you  can  hear  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  most  of  the  songs  are  very  short  in  length  and  when  guitar  leads  when t hey  are  utilized  also  bring  in  even  more  of  an  old  school  hardcore  punk  style  and as  the  album  progresses  some  of  the riffs  also  start  bringing  in a  small  amount  of  melody  and  the  whole  album  also  remains  heavy  and  aggressive  from  beginning  to  ending  of  the  recording.

  Classhole  plays  a  style of hardcore  punk  that  is  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  80's  of   hardcore  punk  and  mixes  in  the  raw  energy  of  d  beat  which  also  makes  the  music  stand  out  a  bit  more,  the  production  sounds  very  raw  and  old  school  while  the  lyrics  cover  angry  and  real  life  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Classhole  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  d  beat  and  hardcore  punk  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Breathing  Down  My  Neck"  "Corrupted"  "Full  Of  Hate"  and  "Times  Up".  8  out  of 10.