Demo Review - Purple Dino - 'Demosaurus'

Location:Xanithi,  Greece

Label:Unsigned

Over the last couple of years there's been an upsurge in great stoner/desert bands from Greece, from the trippy,burnt out sonic voyages of 1,000 mods to the bombastic all out rawk of Nightstalker, it seems that someone in the small Mediterranean has some especially potent and powerful green for sale.Now add to that list the adorably named Purple Dino, a low  slung desert rock four-piece from the town of Xanithi in Thrace.

Obviously drawing influence from the usual  likes of Fu  Manchu and Nebula, as well as some of their aforementioned countrymen, the amusingly titled 'Demosaurus' comprises three tracks of enjoyably lo-fi, driving desert rock. The usual imagery of freewheeling drives along empty desert highways and doing inordinate amounts of drugs in the sun is evoked, while the band's sound tends not to stray too far from the traditional desert/stoner blueprint.Not that this is ever a bad thing, music like this is all about paying tribute to what's come before and of course, the execution, and Purple Dino do it better than a  lot of their peers . There is a loose, jammy feel to 'Demosaurus'  that keeps you coming back for more, even if the production at times can be a little bit rough around the edges, but hey, it's a demo(saurus) , so some of that can be forgiven.The main criticism, as is often the case with music like this, is singer Pavlos' vocals, which seem at times to be an after thought in the mix, and are either too high or too low in the mix.The band seem to be searching for their sound as well , which results in some parts of songs meandering a little.

However, overall, this is a strong first effort from an obviously talented bunch of dudes.Good smoking music, and one that bodes well for a proper EP/Album.It's also refreshing to find a band that doesn't put a naked chick draped over a car on their demo cover.Just saying,dinosaurs are fucking awesome . . .

Rating: 7/10

For fans of: 1,000 Mods, Nebula, Fu Manchu, Karma To Burn, Castero.

Listen/Get it here: http://purpledinoband.bandcamp.com/

You Should Be Listening To . . Giant Monster Army!

Crashing into the Nihilist inbox with a coarse , bass heavy swagger,Bangor  Giant Monster Army play a  fuzzed up, whacked out garage -stoner crossover  that puts one in mind of  QOTSA 's heaviest  moments .Clattering drums, horny , sweaty hard rock  riffing and  some bottom end bass rumble so nasty it'll leave you with an ear infection of you're not careful, (you slut), GMA recall a time when men were men, amps were orange, and  Simon Cowell was wearing his trousers at a normal height and working as a letter boy in some anonymous EMI office.Music to burn one , and possibly another one to, keep an eye out for these guys crashing in on your collective consciousness sometime next with ear with a debut EP.In the meantime, cast thine ears over the link below for some mucky groove laden goodness . . .

For fans of : QOTSA, Truckfighters, BitterChupChupWeLose, Fu Manchu, Winnebago Deal
Listen/Download here: http://soundcloud.com/giant-monster-army
Stephen O ' Connor
Direct all hate mail here: bornagainnihilist@gmail.com

You Should Be Listening To . . Luminous Black!

We here at Born Again Nihilist read a lot of band bios and the like in the course of our  shuffling round  our daily filthy business, and suffice to say, some could do with a bit of jazzing up.After all, while you may indeed  practice eight hours a day in yer mum's garden shed, and list off a ream of influences from Slayer to Liberace, it sometimes does no harm to jazz things up and embellish your band history a bit.For example, take this , er, left field effort from excellent Kildare, Ireland stoner trio Luminous Black:

"Fed up with hanging around in people's back yards, porches and front gardens, the 3 cosmic gnomes, known collectively as Luminous Black, decided to find the once fabled planet of Gēnomos. having scavenged parts for a ship they set out with some of their close friends and personal trainers to find their lost homeworld . . . now they are out in space, all alone, without a home . . "


It is this tongue in cheek approach, along with some seriously groovy , fuzzed out hard rock tunes that marks LB out as something a little bit special.After all, who could seriously dislike a band with  songs  with such wonderfully off the wall titles like 'Swedish Handjob', or the fantastically silly 'Cosmic Gnomes'.Don't be fooled though, these dudes can rock like motherfuckers, and in their heavy as iron boots bluesy stoner rock one can be reminded of everything from early Clutch, to Kyuss, to Orange Goblin and Monster Magnet, with a diversity and subtlety in their songwriting that rewards repeat listens indefinitely.Why not catch this particular six legged riff machine now, before all the cool kids are doing it. . ..

For fans of :Kyuss, Clutch, Monster Magnet, Fu Manchu, Orange Goblin
Listen here: http://www.reverbnation.com/luminousblack
Stephen O ' Connor
bornagainnihilist@gmail(dot)com  

You Should Be Listening To... Truckfighters!

Sweden is the current source of the bulk of the best stoner rock going. The Swedish bands tend to a more involved and progressive style rather than simple ode-to-Sabbath fuzzery. One of the best of these is Truckfighters, who mix traditional heavy stoner rock with desert rock slickness and construct their songs with thought out tones from each instrument (even the vocals, often neglected by such bands) and wonderfully unique guitar harmonies.

See the Born Again Nihilist Youtube channel for a full playlist of 'You Should Be Listening To...' videos.

To keep up-to-date with Truckfighters: http://www.truckfighters.com/

Edward Gerard Brophy :)

Album That Changed My Life #5, Asteroid - Self Titled, by Paul Gillett

Paul Gillett, one of our Facebook readers, gave us the story of that magic moment when you discover a beautiful new thing in music, something to which I think we can all relate. This is Asteroid's self titled debut. Cheers Paul!

When I first heard Asteroid's self titled Debut album, I had all but given up hope on rock and roll. I was listening to a lot of  Pearl Jam who I have been of fan of since the 90's but, I felt like I was missing something. Someone on the PJ forums suggested a blog site called http://stonerobixxx.blogspot.com. I found out there was a whole genre of music that I didn't even know existed. Bands like Kyuss, Colour Haze, Fatos Jeston and, Lost Natas and CLUTCH to name a few. I had heard of clutch before but, only the few songs that ever get radio play. I instantly fell in love with this new Fuzzed out "desert" sound. A few songs on this album stood out immediately such as The Great Unknown, Little Fly and, the epic Dr. Smoke. there were a few tracks that That only clicked after a few listens like 13th witching hour and water.  Hearing this album  also gave me a peek in to several Swedish bands like Dozer, Graveyard and Blowback. Yes, I can safely say that this album may have its faults but, It changed my life forever and, I am loving it.

The stoner, sludge and doom fans groups on Facebook have been very good to Nihilist for a long time now, if you want to check them out and join up then here are links to a few below. You get the best links to obscure stuff as well as news of new releases, free legal downloads and a lot of friendly banter too! Or check out Paul's own blog here: http://listenlearnlook.blogspot.com/


Heavy Psych Stoner Doom Rock


Circle of psyched space stoner


Circle of free legal Stoner/Sludge/Doom/Drone/Prog music downloads

bornagainnihilist@gmail.com

Review-Engines Of Ruin-'Triquetra'

Having gone through a number of line up changes over the past couple of years, the most recent and drastic being the departure of singer Vinnie Flynn , , Dublin desert/stoner rock outfit Engines Of Ruin have now gone the Karma To Burn route and become an instrumental band, and the results  can be heard on their newest effort 'Triquetra'  , an EP available for free download from the band's Bandcamp page. It's an interesting , and for the most part, eminently enjoyable, more chilled out  departure from their normally ferocious rock and roll/stoner combo.

Opener 'Prison Itch' starts things off rousingly enough, a groove laden jam with a nagging, insistent riff , and some excellent lead work from axeman Adam Brewer. 'VPS' is all chilled, Henrix- esque squalls and subtle but nuanced drumming  , while 'Velvet Deth' is probably the heaviest thing on here , Brewer's grimy riffing a heady delight. Closer 'Ortuo' is arguably the strongest thing on here, a  gorgeously produced and played number that recalls Kyuss at their most reflective , and ends things in appropriately chilled fashion.

Overall , 'Triquetra' , while an enjoyable ,well played and well produced piece of work, feels almost like a stop gap for the band, certainly a change of pace, but not their strongest work .However, given Flynn's abrupt departure, and the fact that it's also a self produced and recorded effort, it's still impressive, and a testament to the band's musicianship and talent that they were able to produce something of this quality under such difficult circumstances  . The band are also again looking for a singer , which is welcome news indeed. Until then , light one up and enjoy this slice of  fuzzed up goodness.

Rating:6/10
For fans of :Kyuss, Zoroaster , Karma To Burn
Listen here: http://enginesofruin.bandcamp.com/
Stephen O ' Connor , for Bornagainnihilist
bornagainnihilist@gmail.com