Long reviews are nice, but a handful of small reviews sometimes are sometimes a better option. I handpicked a few hot records, so that everyone would feel a little bit of warmth as the crisis continues to strike. New stuff and old stuff, here’s your heavy wishlist for the month !
SOME FRENCH BADASS…
AGUIRRE “Fatalitas” (Bones Brigades 2011)
AGUIRRE, these guys are considered as real sludge legends in South France, and even further. Actually, France doesn’t count loads of real seething and gloomy sludge bands. AGUIRRE count among “la crème de la crème” of the genre, not because their competitors are rare but because they know how to blast the sound in a heavy-wrenching way. “Fatalitas” undoubtedly echoes to EYEHATEGOD’s stranglehold sound : larsens siphon your eardrums, it’s so oppressive you can’t breathe, and the lyrics are 100% dissenting. Heavy friends, I suggest you to take a look at this 4-tracks EP and attend their gigs, for an intense and insane experience… ONE TRACK : BESSE.
DRAWERS “All Is One” (Slowburn 2011)
See, in the sludge metal world, there are two kinds of bands : bands who blast it heavy, and bands who have Orange amps to LOOK heavy. DRAWERS blast it loud and heavy (with Orange amps). The track “Purple Ride” will make you think “DOWN could have written this song”, not “fuck, these are DOWN wanna-bes, for sure !”, which means this band makes some serious business. Into DRAWERS’ mud, there’s CROWBAR’s shadow, SOURVEIN’s glints, and a feeling of calamity – MASTODON style. But hey : Toulouse hard sludgers don’t copy-paste, they take the best of their influences to crank out a modern and young vision of it. A monstrous voice that feels like a right hook in the face, a heavy and round sound that tastes like a 20-year old Bourbon, well : this is DRAWERS, made in Tolosa, bitches. ONE TRACK : PURPLE RIDE.
JUMPING JACK “Trucks & Bones” (Aderock Records – 2011)
Here’s one of my favorite french heavy rock/stoner band, which EP “Cows & Whiskey” was a real delight for all senses. Their first full-length record has been long awaited, and I felt anything but disappointed when they finally released it. It’s über heavy, creative, so intense that you full of talent avec impatience et curiosité, et sans mentir : aucune déception. Un son ultra heavy, de la créativité, toujours autant de talent pour faire headbanguer sans ennuyer, et une potentiel “frisson” toujours aussi fort avec des morceaux tels que “Churches Flames” ou “Siren Blast”… Si en plus on considère le fait que le chanteur, déjà très bon et identifiable grâce à sa puissante voix rocailleuse, a visiblement amélioré sa technique… Tout est là pour faire de cet album un putain de bon millésime du rock couillu hexagonal. One Track : CHURCHES FLAMES.
http://www.deezer.com/en/music/jumping-jack/trucks-and-bones-1308706 EN ECOUTE ICI
SOME HAPPY STONER…
RED FANG “Red Fang” (Sargent House 2009)
If you’ve been through this blog or any rock webzine lately, you know that RED FANG is the new taste in metal. Or stoner metal. I mean, their latest record is far from being easy to classify, it’s one heavy surprise that slaps conformity in the face and awakens the metal world’s lethargy. When it comes to their first newborn, it’s a REALLY good vintage. The bass kinda delightfully eats your insides, vocal harmonies sounds kickass, the whole record is extremely catchy. So if you already know “Murder The Mountains” by heart, and you’re looking for a fresh dose of instant pleasure : listen to “Red Fang”. ONE TRACK : GOOD TO DIE.
ASG “Best Of” (Volcom Entertainment 2011)
Daaaaammm ! Here’s one stoner band that shouldn’t have been hiding for so long ! Originally signed on Volcom Entertainment (yes Volcom also owns a music label), they’re were brilliantly taken back by Relapse Records. ASG dudes deliver a sound in between Fu Manchu desert rock and uplifting old school heavy metal, this best-of record provides lots of fun to the listener, as a preview of the upcoming album. Don’t have any hang-ups to get totally loose, jump, headbang, twirl ! ASG takes control over your endorphine ! ONE TRACK : HORSEWHIPPER.
SOME STONED VIBES…
EARTHLESS “Sonic Prayer” (Gravity Records 2005)
If you have 40 minutes of free time, and have some illicit stuff around, be ready. EARTHLESS delivers a genius psychedelic rock over two tracks of twenty minutes each. This jam smells good white widow, and San Diego’s three musicians makes us lose all notion of time and space. Overwhelmed by Isaiah Mitchell’s crazy solos, let’s forget where we were going or what we were about to do, because anything matters but the sound vibration and our heartbeats. 40 minutes of absolute perfection, a spacetrip where we’ll probably meet Hendrix, Morrisson or Steele… Stoned. ONE TRACK : LOST IN THE COLD SUN.
DAX RIGGS “Say Goodnight To The World” (Fat Possum 2011)
For those who knew Dax Riggs as being ACID BATH frontman, I can tell you his side projects has nothing to do with the old smudgy stuff he did in the past. Dax is like a dark Jack White or an even darker and scraggy Jim Morrisson : soul, blues, rock, melancholia, and an undoubtable grace in his music… This guys is a talented singer AND songwriter, he will drag you into his world of decay with the presence of an old bluesman and a voice that clearly doesn’t let people unmoved. Rock, indie rock, blues, folk… Peu importe ce qu’il expérimente : Dax Riggs plays Music, Real Fucking Music. ONE TRACK : GRAVEDIRT ON MY BLUE SUEDE SHOES.
Last modified: 11 February 2015
