Tag Archives: High on Fire

TOOM – EP Review

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TOOM – Behold the Basilisk EP

APF Records (For The Lost PR)

Release date: 01/10/2021

Running Time: 22 minutes

Review by: Alun Jones

8/10

Let’s start with a history lesson.  The “Behold the Basilisk” EP by TOOM is a dug-up time capsule, having been recorded in January 2010.  The band themselves were formed in 2007, and split not long after this recording.  What could have been a long-lost curio, to be spoken of fondly by the few who had inside knowledge, has now been reanimated and set loose by APF records.

What we have is an EP consisting of four stoner doom tracks from an extinct trio.  Like those ape dudes at the start of “2001: A Space Odyssey”, Teddy-James Driscoll, Jus Smith and Jack Newnham have been enlightened by a big, Black Sabbath obelisk – the legacy of which has been excavated for our enjoyment.

“Snake Chalmers” opens things up, with an acoustic guitar intro that’s highly reminiscent of those mellow Iommi passages from “Master of Reality”.  It’s a beautiful, yet deceptive beginning to a collection of crushingly heavy music.   Play it for Granny, she’ll be surprised as fuck when the lethal riffage of “There’s Nothing Cute About Cobras” revs up and creates utter destruction.  Growling vocals and gruesome, pounding guitars are where we’re at here.

Similar approach for “Mandark”, though this track throws in some variations in riffs and tempo, with a short, but killer “quieter” section.  Here and on the final song, “Decapodiformes”, there’s a hint of influence from the likes of Sleep, High On Fire and Mastodon – with relentless, mighty riffs powering through.       

Gone but not forgotten, then: it’s introducing and welcoming back TOOM on this impressive EP.  Makes you wonder what might have been…

Check out APF Records on Bandcamp and online.

This review is presented to you by Platinum Al and Ever Metal.

Platinum Al’s Top 10 Rock/Metal Albums of 2018

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2018 was a great year for music.  So much so, that I struggled condensing all those tasty new tunes into a top ten – and I’m still not sure I’ve got it right.  There are several other albums that could have featured in an annual top ten, but for reason or other didn’t make the cut.

Anyway, those cool folks at Ever Metal asked me to put together a list of my ten favourite rock and metal releases for the year.  I did so, Ever Metal posted it, and I thought I’d share with my Virtual Hot tub readers too.

So here we go, in reverse order:

  1. Ghost – “Prequelle”
  2. Gama Bomb – “Speed Between the Lines”
  3. Orange Goblin – “The Wolf Bites Back”
  4. Earthless – “Black Heaven”
  5. 1968 – “Ballads of the Godless”
  6. Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats – “Wasteland”
  7. Monster Magnet – “Mindfucker”
  8. Corrosion of Conformity – “No Cross No Crown”
  9. Fu Manchu – “Clone of the Universe”
  10. Clutch – “Book of Bad Decisions”

Hope you did a Smashy and Nicey voice in your head whilst you counted that down.

Some classic albums there, in my opinion at least.  Honorable mentions are due for Sleep, High on Fire and Satan’s Satyrs (amongst others) who just missed out.  Who knows, next week I might have changed my mind.

Finally, a big thanks to the Ever Metal team for having me on board.  It’s a real honour to be part of the team, and writing for the site has been one of my highlights of last year. Here’s to contributing more in 2019.  Cheers!

Visit the Ever Metal site here and check out some cool music!