Ep Review - Druganaut 'Assemble'

Any regular visitor to this blog will know by know that we're big fans of Newcastle , England heavyweights Druganaut.And not without reason.With their debut EP 'Shake Your Bones', the Geordie doomsters established themselves as a band that not so much took no prisoners, and more force fed said prisoners a vicious cocktail of pills, cheap cider and overly strong dope , and shouted in their faces until said prisoners broke down in fits of, as Chris Morris might say, horrible tears.And while their newest effort 'Assemble' might be slightly less of an aural buggering, it's still sickeningly heavy, in all the best ways.

Opener 'Old Red' opens things up nicely, a warm southern fried guitar intro segueing into the mother of all weighty grooves , a mid paced , perfectly pitched stoner riff buoyed on by frontman Craig Relf's throaty roar .In fact it's Relf who acts as the bands ace in the hole. Coming from the Kirk Windstein school of lung bursting, throat flaying singing, Relf anchors songs with a distinctive, broken glass gargling delivery that adds an extra element of menace to the band's concrete riffola.

On the songwriting front , the band draw influence from the usual hotch potch of stoner influences, and one can spot less than subtle nods to Sabbath, Iron Monkey, The Melvins(particularly prevalent on the queasy bass intro to 'Denim Elliot') Crowbar, Down and a few others.Even early Machine Head can be felt in the band's streetwise groove, and it is fair to say the EP has somewhat of a classic metal feel, with a production that is crisp, clear while at the same time lending the band's guitar sound a nasty, sludgy edge that recalls Spanish doom lords Horn Of The Rhino in all their abrasive glory.The fact that the band clearly have a sense of twisted humour, evident in songs like 'Carradines Closet', a cheerily downtuned ode to everyone's favourite kung fu practicing pervert, just adds to the ear raping charm of these four songs.

All in all, this is mightily impressive stuff from a band who are slowly establishing themselves as ones to watch in the UK stoner scene, alongside the likes of Sigiriya and the legendary Orange Goblin, who the quintet are supporting for a couple of dates on their upcoming Uk and Ireland tour. Hopefully a full length can't be too far away.ASSSSEEEMMMBLEEEEE!!!!!

Rating:8/10

For fans of : Crowbar, Horn Of The Rhino, Two Tales Of Woe, Iron Monkey, Down

Listen to/Download the album here: http://soundcloud.com/druganaut-band

Stephen O ' Connor

bornagainnihilist@gmail.com

Album Review, Ashes of Iron, Self Titled Album

Ashes of Iron. A record review that felt inspired from the outset. This English band formed, or should I say were FORGED, back in the fateful year of 2008. Since then they can boast supporting the likes of Brandt Bjork and the Bros and Viking Skull. This self titled record was released just days ago and fuckin' wait til you hear this beast of an album!

Lo-fi sounds evocative of Neu! introduce opening track 'That Fucking Look in Your Eye', but quickly implode like a dying star that for some reason sounds like Wooly Mammoth. The chorus is an unexpected departure from the vibe of the verse, bringing out a very welcome grunge feel. And onto 'Sanefull', which is all straight up hard rock goodness. Earthy, overdriven guitars in harmony and open hi hats that bring the best of Corrosion of Conformity to mind: lovely jubly! And with no messing about we go headlong into the sinister 'Martyr'. Dissonant, old-skool metal riffing trundles along like a steam train with a drunken driver.

It's clear after the first three tracks that this is nicely angy music, the kind of atmosphere that any given punk rock band wishes they could evoke but Ashes of Iron do it at a moment's notice.

'Pharmacopoeia' is a slow build up of weaving fuzzy guitars and grunting bass before ending up in a Queens of the Stone Age style groove. The vocals maintain a high timbre, bringing to mind 'Rocks' era Aerosmith at its best. 'Rivals' begins with a nicely unpredictable riffing pattern and settles down into an alt-metal swing. A very American tasting rock song, whatever that means... 'Fresh Ears' is a full on QOTSA style head mover, and features the most twisted and aggressive vocal performance on here so far.

Ashes have more than shown us that they know how to put two guitars to great use, this has to be one of the most interesting riffathon records I've heard lately. 'Therapist' continues that trend with some later Sabbath style dirty hard rock riffing, all in a bruising package of just two and a half minutes. 'Gone in the Stun' takes the record in a slightly different, more contemplative than we've heard up to this point. No less pregnant with heavy guitars though, which themselves are taken to experimental places as the track reaches its climax. 'The Beast' displays a slightly doomier side to Ashes; mid-tempo steady grooves and low guitars. And it's all over in a few sleeting moments and straight into 'Three Daze' which sees the band back in an angry and impatient mood. A great example of how the band like to construct a song, certainly a stand out on the record. We wrap up our time with Ashes of Iron with 'Nails and the Truth'. Another stand out right from the start that sees the band once again in a stoner/doom frame of mind. The only track that can be described as lengthy makes an excellent closer for this superb album.

Ashes of Iron have produced a solid bit of work here, quality from all instruments and every aspect of the production, it's hard to fault. My only wish would be to hear the band branch out a little more, there's a lot of raw talent floating around that could be harnessed into something incredible. No doubt the band will continue to give us more of the good stuff as time goes on. Cheers to Ashes of Iron!

Ashes of Iron, Self Titled.

Rating: 9/10

For fans of: Wooly Mammoth, Them Crooked Vultures, Fireball Ministry.

Listen Here: http://ashesofiron.bandcamp.com/

See the video for Sanefull here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XADY2wWl2I8&feature=youtu.be

By Edward Gerard Brophy,

bornagainnihilist@gmail(dot)com

Album Review, Axxicorn 'War with the Giants'

Axxicorn are a self described Proto-metal band based in Portland, Oregon, and sure enough the first thing that comes to mind when 'War of the Giants' kicks in is Sabbath's Vol.4. The snappy, understated riffs have Iommi's mark on them. Nearly four and a half minutes go by in a flash and we sail headlong into 'Poseidon'. The smokey vocals and sludgy verse riffing lend the track a certain High on Fire feel.

Continuing the Greek theme with 'Prometheus'. Back to the Sabbath inspired work but with a slightly more modern approach, think Sleep's 'Holy Mountain' rather than Sabbath themselves. The long and winding instrumental choruses give the drummer room to display his flare. Next up, 'Revolt of the Titans/Wasteland' begins with a nod to 'Snowblind' and continues into pure, distilled stoner metal. Just short of three minutes, it all breaks down into an OM-like mid-tempo, distorted bass groove and a dissonant guitar solo follows closely behind. So far this is the best result of the rough production of this record.

'Typheous' opens with utterly bleak sounds of Western movie dialogue, mouth organ sirens and clean lead guitar. This is soon over taken by a snappy, immediate beat and bass to match. Almost as soon as the guitar returns with distortion in tow, we're back in familiar territory but with a new feel to the movement of the music, not a million miles from an early anarcho-punk sound. 'Theseus and the Minotaur' is a broken and heavy dream of The Obsessed at their best, and features some of the best riffing on the record: it picks you up and doesn't let you down until the very end. Finally we finish up this rough ride appropriately with 'Hades'. All the stops are pulls on the punk rock for this one, like an Amebix house party in the mid-eighties. The minimum vocals contain the some of the hardest belted out shouts we've heard from Axxicorn yet.

Axxicorn's 'War with the Giants' is the epitome of a no nonsense album. Brutally lacking in any bells and whistles and to great affect. The unique, rigid guitar tone invokes a more punk than stoner vibe but in doing so makes for a more unique recording overall. There's some very interesting filthy heavy shit coming out of the West side of the States right now and I'm betting Axxicorn will fit in nicely.

Axxicorn, “War of the Giants”

Rating: 7/10

For fans of: Melvins, High on Fire, Sleep.

Standout Tracks: Prometheus, Revolt of the Titans, Theseus and the Minotaur.

Listen here:http://axxicorn.bandcamp.com/

Threefold Law New Mobile Site!

Threefold Law, Cleveland’s doom pioneers and winner of the Soda Shop March Bandness competition announces the launch of their new mobile website and Revenant app for the Droid. Go to http://www.threefoldlaw.com or scan the QR code from any mobile device and get automatically routed to a customized version of the full website with streaming music, live performances, and album reviews.


In addition, Threefold Law presents the “Revenant” app for Droid users. With an intuitive interface and clean design, stream the entire album, read the story, and more. Users of the iPhone, Blackberry, or any handheld device can access Revenant through the mobile site.

So get zapping folks and check out this excellent band , preferably on the bus beside one of those stuffy career blokes with the leather satchels . .. .

Demo Review - Weed Priest 'Weed Priest'

Tracklisting - 1.Final Spell
                     2.Thy Kingdom Gone
                     3.Sky Daddy

Weed Priest hail from Galway, Ireland, and play the sort of acrid, red eyed lo-fi doom rock that doesn't so much come and kick your ass as lumber into view, grumpily glare from behind a massive joint/SG and then proceed to melt your cerebral cortex, as well as set the auld bowels quaky with a vicious low end bass rumble that Satan himself would wince at.

First track on the demo 'Final Spell', is a prime example, , subterranean bass fuzz, skeletal drumming and eerie, half grunted, half groaned vocals that puts one in mind of  Om's more miserable moments, and then segues into a passage of delicate guitar , complimented by some excellent use of flange effects,as the song wanders off into the shadows in a pleasingly monolithic fashion.Second track 'Thy Kingdom Come' is harder to pin down, a far more sandblasted, desert style approach to it's slabs of molten sludge, with singer Adam's tormented lamentations truly the sound of a man with some seriously fucking harsh demons to exorcise.The collection is rounded out by the tantalising menace of 'Sky Daddy' , a slice of blackened doom so potent in it's smoky menace that it made my eyes water.Throughout, the band maintain an atmosphere of occult misery and menace, and it's safe to say that while you might be over reaching in calling it harrowing, it's certainly one of the harsher doom releases I've heard this year, matching bands like Queen Elephantine in it's  druggy , downbeat fug.

Overall , this is an extremely promising collection of songs from a band clearly versed in their craft, and one that should be investigated by those that like their doom that bit more raw.The only thing letting this down is the slightly lacklustre and at times impenetrable production, which of course is understandable, this being a demo, but perhaps a bit more attention could be paid to mastering when it comes time for a proper EP.Still though, this is unsettling, evil stuff, and well worth checking out.

Rating 7/10
For fans of :Electric Wizard, Queen Elephantine, Mongolia
Listen here: http://www.reverbnation.com/weedpriest
Stephen O ' Connor ,bornagainnihilist@gmail.com