Tunga Moln Interview

1.Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band since the recording and release of the new album?
We're constantly working on new material, and we're currently planning a swedish tour. No dates to announce yet though. Personally I've been working on a new album with my other (one man)band Lightsabres. It's finished and should be out in a few months, by the way.

2.Recently you have released a new album, 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?
The new album is by far the heaviest we've done, but still with a lot of focus on melodies. I think this album is more stoner rock, or hard rock, than our first two albums which had more of a prog feel to them. Even if it contains a couple of very un-stoner acoustic songs.

3.So far all of the album titles have started with numerals, is there are concept going on with these recordings?
Yes, so it seems! There were a couple of working titles that got thrown around, but we couldn't agree on one so we dtook the easy way out and decided to just go with "III". But I like numeric titles.

4.Originally the band was all instrumental, what was the decision behind writing your own songs?
When we started out we were a two piece, and semi-serious at best. Focus was really more on smoking weed than actually writing good songs. Eventually though we felt it was time to step things up and produce something worthwhile.

5.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
Love, death, drugs.. Mainly depressing stuff. We're not a feelgood band.

6.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Tunga Moln'?
Tunga moln means "heavy clouds" in swedish. I live in Luleå, a 12-hour car ride north of Stockholm. It's cold and dark 10 out of 12 months, so tunga moln felt like a fitting name. But I can't remember when or how I came up with it.

7.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?
We played a show in Visby a few years back at a club that was absolutely jam packed with people, and even though our album had only been out for a couple of weeks some of the audience knew the lyrics to the songs. So that was pretty cool.
I probably shouldn't say this but I don't particularly enjoy playing live. I don't have stage fright but I don't like being on stage either. The rest of the band does though, luckily!

8.Do you have any touring or show plans for the new album?
Yes. Like I mentioned we're planning a swedish tour this fall/winter.

9.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of stoner and metal
Considering most people outside Scandinavia have no clue what we sing about we've gotten great feedback from pretty much all over the world, which was surprising to us at first. It may be a clique but there seems to be some truth behind the claim that music is a universal language.

10.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
We kind of found our sound on our last album (Tunga moln II, 2014), and the new one feels like a natural step forward. But for the next one we might do something completely different. We've been talking about possibly making an acoustic album a la Led Zeppelin III, but we'll see what we end up with. Anyway we won't be standing still.

11.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?
In the early days of the band it was stuff like Savoy Brown, ZZ Top and swedish 70's progg. For the new album I'd say Thin Lizzy, early Queens Of The Stone Age... stuff like that. Right now I'm on a heavy Danzig trip, catching up on albums I ignored when they came out; Deth Red Sabaoth, Circle Of Snakes etc.

12.What are some of your non musical interests?
That's a tough one... Most of my life revolves around music, both playing and listening to. And I've been a rabid record collector since I was 12. But I also enjoy fishing, drinking and drawing. And hanging out with my daughter and girlfriend, of course.

13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Listen to the record if you haven't already

Gin Lady/Electric Earth/Kozmik Artifactz/2017 CD Review

  Gin  Lady  are  a  band  from  Sweden  that  plays  a  mixture  of  psychedelic,  heavy  and  stoner  rock  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "Electric  Earth"  which  will  be  released  in  September  by  Kozmik Artifactz.

  A  70's  influenced  blues  rock  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  retro  style  gutiar  solos  and  leads  while  the  vocals a re  done  in  a  melodic  fashion  along  with  the  music  also  mixing  in  elements  of  proto  metal  and  clean  playing  can  also  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording.

  Acoustic  guitars  can  also  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  while  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  along  with  the  songs  also  mixing  in  elements  of  folk  and  psychedelic  rock  and  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  slide  guitars  on  one  of  the  tracks  and  while  the  music  is  heavily  rooted  in  the  past  it  still  ads  in  a  more  modern  stoner  touch.

  Gin  Lady  plays a  musical  style  that  takes  the  psychedelic,  hard  rock  and  proto  metal  styles  of  the  70's  and  gives  them  a  more  modern  stoner  rock  touch,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  real  life  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Gin  Lady  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  psychedelic,  heavy  and  stoner  rock  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this b and.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "I'm  Your  Friend"  "Mercy"  "Water  And  Sunshine"  and  "Running  No  More".  8  out  of  10.

  

Emptybrook Interview

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

-We're a four-piece sludge'ish heavy band from Finland. We started playing togther in the spring of '16

2.In April you had released an ep, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording?

It shows bits and pieces of all of our musical influences. Even if we are labeled as an sludge band, we consider ourselves to be much more. We don't want to stick to just one genre so we play pretty much whatever we feel like.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?

Pretty much nothing and everything. For example theres some of the vocalists personal stuff, some apocalyptic visions and then total nonsense about having a pot party with Numbskull Emptybrook, who is introduced in the next question.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Emptybrook'?

Numbskull Emptybrook is the english translation for this finnish comedy character "Uuno Turhapuro" . He's a character that we all can relate
to, more or less. Like the kind of a guy who puts so much effort to get away with an assignment that it would have been easier to do the original errand. They've made like 19 movies about him. He's the same guy that can be seen in the cover of our ep.

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've done only one gig so far, it was the cassette release gig in the end of may. We had had a blast and so did the audience.

6.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
Unfortunately we haven't planned any shows yet. 3/4 of the members does shift work + the vocalist lives 600 kilometers away from the rest of the band so we planning of tours or even gigs takes a lot of work. But we'll start doing shows eventually.

7.The ep was released on 'Inverse Records', are you happy with the support that they have given you so far?

We like the way Inverse has been promoting us. We understand that Emptybrook is not their priority no. 1 but we're glad to see them sharing our stuff on Facebook etc.

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of sludge metal?

Reviews has been something between good and great. We havent been promoting our stuff that much in the social media, i.e. Facebooks sludge-groups. We maybe should get a bit more active on that area.

9.When can we expect a full length and also where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

We'll might stick to singles and ep's for a while but when the time is right and we have enough material, we'll put an full lenght out.

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?

Pasi (drums) finds inspiration for his drumming for example from Sabaton, DevilDriver, Bongzilla, Electric wizard, Dopethrone and Weedeater. Jaakko (bass) likes and listens to Ramones, Kyuss, Brant Bjork, Arrestum, Slack bird, Bomber gap and that kind of Scheiße.
, Ilkka (guitar) likes old school hard rock and heavy metal-stuff, like Black Sabbath and Motörhead and also a lot into classic punk and Ollijuhani (vocals) is into noise rock, drone, kraut rock and crust punk to name a few and is listening to bands like Whores., Cherubs and Pissed jeans right now.. Our mutual influences are these typical sludge-stone-doom-stuff.

11.What are some of your non musical interests?

Ilkka  is really into retro video games and Jaakko, whenever he has spear time, goes to the forest to walk around, enjoys the nature. Ollijuhani  is an eager reader, likes to bet on horses and goes to a shitload of gigs and Pasi plays video games and watches movies in whenever he has time for it.

12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts

Keep on sössöting in the free world!

Nazareno/Outlaw Monks/Rot' Em Records/Goblin Productions/2017 Full Length Review

  Nazareno  are  a  duo  from  Portugal  that  plays  a  drug  induced  mixture  of  stoner,  psychedelic  and  gospel  rock  and  this  is  a  review  of  their 2017  album  "Outlaw  Monks"  which  was  released  as  a  joint  effort  between  Rot'  Em  Records  and  Goblin  Productions.

  A  very  heard  and  heavy  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  melodic  vocals  that  are  done  in  a  stoner  rock  fashion  and touches  of  doom  metal  can  also  be  heard  at  times  and  after  awhile  aggressive  screams  are  also  utilized  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  psychedelic  elements  are  also  used  at  times.

  Some  of  the  tracks  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  clean  playing  while  you  can  also  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  the  recording  and  when  guitar  leads  are  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  stoner  rock  fashion  along  with  some  of  the  tracks  being  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  gospel  style  organs  can  also  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  some  tracks  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  clean  playing  and  some  songs  also  add  in  elements  of  alternative  and  the  closing  track  is  an  interview  with  some  music.  

  Nazareno  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  stoner  rock,  psychedelic  and  a  drugged  out  version  of  gospel  music  and  mixes  it  with  a  touch  of  doom  metal  and  alternative  rock  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  religion  from  a  Gnostic  point  of  view.

  In  my  opinion  Nazareno are  a  very  great  sounding  drug  induced  mixture  of  stoner,  psychedelic  rock  and  gospel  music  and  if  you  are a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Seven  Mile"  "Madalina"  and  "Outsider  Monks".  8  out  of  10.   

Tunga Moln/III/HeviSike/2017 CD Review

  Tunga  Moln  are  a  band  from  Sweden  that  playsstoner  rock  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "III"  which  was  released  by  HeviSike.

  A  very  hard  and  heavy  stoner  rock  starts  off  the  album  along  with  a  great  amount  of  melodic  riffing  and  after  awhile  clean  vocals  are  added  onto  the  recording  while  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  of  them  along  with  the  solos  and  leads sticking  to  a  traditional  stoner  rock  style.

  At  times  they  music  brings  in  the  energy  of  punk  rock  along  with  some  proto  metal  touches while  also  sounding  very  modern  at  the  same  times  and  some  songs  also  mix  in  elements  of  blues  rock  while  some  of  the  leads  also  add  in  an  Iron  Maiden  influence  and  as  the  album  progresses  acoustic  guitars  and  clean  playing  can  also  be  heard  on  some  of  the  tracks.

  Tunga  Moln  plays  a  style  of  stoner  rock  that  they  give  more  of  an  up  to  date  touch  to  while  also  adding  in  elements  of  metal,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  are  written  in  Swedish  and  cover  real  life  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Tunga  Moln  are  a  very  great  sounding  stoner  rock  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Luleas  Vampyrer"  "Ingen  Tyst  Minut"  "Svart  Vatten"  and  "Konstein  Att  Falla   Vackert".  8  out  of  10.  

Red Mountains/Slow Wander/All Good Clean Records/2017 CD Review

  Red  Mountains  are  a  band  from  Norway  that  plays  a  very  psychedelic  form  of  stoner  rock  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "Slow  Wander"  which  will  be  released  in  September  by  All  Good  Clean  Records.

  Atmospheric  soundscapes  start  off  the album  before  going  into  more  of  a  heavier  direction  which  also  introduces  melodic  guitar  leads  onto  the  recording  along  with  some  clean  vocals  while  you  can  also  hear  the  heaviness  of  metal  in  the  guitar  riffing  and  70's  influences  are  also  used  at times.

  While  the  music  has  a  lot  of  retro  elements  it  still  sounds  very  modern  at  the  same  time  along  with  some  touches  of  doom  metal  and  as  the  album  progresses  psychedelic  elements  and  acoustic  guitars  can  also  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  along  with  a  great  amount  of  clean  playing  and  one  of  the  tracks  is  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  all  of  the  music  sticks  to  either  a  slow  or  mid  paced  direction.

  Red  Mountains  plays  a  style  of  stoner  rock  that  is  very  psychedelic  while  also  adding  in  a  touch  of  doom  metal,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Red  Mountains  are  a  very  great sounding  psychedelic  stoner  rock  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  recording.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Home"  "Endless  Ocean"  "Fog"  and  "Acid  Wedding".  8  out  of  10.

 

      

Backtrack Lane/In Fine/2017 Full Length Review

  Backtrack  Lane  are  a  band  from  France  that  plays  stoner  rock  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2017  album  "In  Fine".

  Powerful  sounding  bass  guitars,  drum  beats  and  clean  vocals  start  off  the  album  and  the  music  also  incorporates  elements  of  stoner  rock  and  proto  metal  while  also  keeping  everything  modern  and  psychedelic  sounds  can  also  be  heard  briefly  and  southern  influences  are  also  used  at  times.

  Whispers  are  also  used  briefly  while  the  music  also  incorporates  a  great  amount  of  70's  classic  rock  influences  along  with  clean  playing  also  being  added  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  when  guitar  leads  and  solos  are  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  fashion  and  all  of  the  music  sticks  to  either  a  slow  or  mid  paced  musical  direction.

 Backtrack  Lane  plays  a  style  of  stoner rock  that  is  very  melodic  while  also  adding  in  touches  of  mainstream  rock,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  real  life  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Backtrack  Lane  are  a  very  great  sounding  stoner  rock  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Underground"  and  "After  The  Rain".  8  out  of  10.