Tag Archives: stoner metal band

Devil Moon Risen – Album Review

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Devil Moon Risen – Fissures of Men 

Self-released 

Release date: 06/06/2024 

Running time: 36 minutes approx 

Review by: Alun Jones  

7.5/10 

Ready for something a little different?  Something born from the familiar, but tantalisingly different?  Then step right this way, Platinum Al has a musical odyssey that will intrigue you.  We’re talking about the debut album from Devil Moon Risen, a trio out of Phoenix, Arizona, and it’s all kinds of unexpected. 

We’re starting in the realm of desert rock, but Devil Moon Risen have added some spice to their chimichanga with elements of punk, sludge and doom metal.  So, off we go with a thuddingly heavy, groovy chugger in ‘Bad Sketch of a Killer’ that twists into a creepy waltz and back again. 

Like Primus playing QOTSA songs on an album produced by the late great Steve Albini, the songs feature unpredictable, powerful bass and thrashing guitars.  It doesn’t always quite gel, ‘The Rim’ is more of a challenge to get into, but “Fissures of Men” is always surprising and brave.  

When everything falls into place though, the results are superb, as with the full-on rock-out distorted delight that is ‘Shaun Powell’.  Elsewhere, there’s more Frankenstein-like craziness such as ‘D.T.T.B.O.W.T.B.’, which launches like later era Danzig before offering some more laid-back grooves, then morphing to a black metal wail. 

“Fissures of Men” is a journey and then some: Devil Moon Risen have taken the obvious starting point and run off in a totally different direction (or three).  Whether it’s noise rock or some as yet uncharted genre of music, the album is sometimes demanding and always unpredictable.  If – or when – you’re ready, “Fissures of Men” could be just the education you need. 

Check out Devil Moon Risen on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Spotify and Bandcamp.

This review is brought to you by Platinum Al and Ever Metal. You’re welcome.

Goat Major – Album Review

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Goat Major – Ritual

Ripple Music

Release date: 08/03/2024

Running time: 41 mins approx

Review by: Alun Jones

9/10

“Ritual” is the debut album of Occult Doom Metal band Goat Major. The band, comprising Jammie Arnold (guitar), Simon Bonwick (drums) and Tom Shortt (bass and vocals) came together as a three piece during the pandemic and the frustration of lockdown. They hail from Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire in Wales, which makes a lot of sense. Wales is steeped in ancient legends, historic monuments and plenty of castles, druids, standing stones, devil dogs and faerie folk – a rich landscape for inspiration.

Musically, we have here eight songs that follow the classic doom/stoner template of fuzzy guitars, rumbling bass and crashing drums. The first track, ‘Snakes (Goddess of the Serpent)’ offers up a burning, slow riff before launching into a dirtier, groovy rhythm. The title track has a driving pace with a hypnotic feel, induced by backing vocals and a relentless grind.

The songs aren’t all just freaked out, fuzztastic trips though. There’s a palpable air of Dennis Wheatley and Hammer horror permeating the whole affair, best demonstrated by ‘Mountains of Madness’, with its slow, atmospheric start. Goat Major bring the gloom to the doom with a touch of malevolence.

Rounding off the album is a short, melodic track called ‘Lay Me Down’, which reminds me of the sort of mellow insert that Budgie (or Sabbath, for that matter) would employ. Appearing last, it’s a lovely oasis of calm after the preceding murkiness. It’s easy to compare the album to Electric Wizard, Uncle Acid and Cathedral, but the foreboding feel Goat Major have created shows they have ideas of their own.

Bubbling away in Goat Major’s coffin is a recipe for some classic Occult Doom Metal. They’ve taken the original sources, added some sinister seasoning of their own, and delivered a hell of a debut album. “Ritual” is easily qualified to make my end of year Top Ten.

PS: in no way has the fact that this band is from Wales influenced my high opinion of this excellent album. Diolch yn fawr, Goat major!

Check out Goat Major on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Spotify.

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

Green Goat – Album Review

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Greengoat – A.I.

Self-released

Release date: 26/01/2024

Running time: 38 minutes

Review by; Alun Jones

8.5/10

Opening with a Bladerunner-style synth led track that features a spoken word delivery of Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics, is a bold (and different) move for a Stoner/Doom band. In a genre where, thematically, we’re usually content to contemplate the joys of weed consumption and the mysteries of the occult – usually via a 1970s Hammer horror aesthetic – this sci-fi launching point is a welcome breath of fresh air.

This is where we enter the album “A.I.” by Spanish doomsters Greengoat. It’s a great band name, and one that harks back to those pot and patchouli, candles and Peter Cushing tropes we’re used to. But ‘The Void’ takes us on a different tangent, with the Rutger Hauer voice over. Second track ‘The Seed’ takes this mellow intro and runs with it, till 30 seconds in – yes, it’s big fat chunky riff time! And what a big, fat chunky riff it is – slow and grinding, developing an irresistible groove with the drums dropping in, eventually exploding into a full force rocker.

The line-up of singer/guitarist Ivan Flores and drummer Ruth “Kalypso” Moya invoke a moody soundscape that borrows from spacey, harmonic passages of Pink Floyd and adds crunchy hard rock. It’s a euphoric concoction as the music builds. And oh, how it builds…

A more traditional stoner groove pervades the other songs on the album, with groovy riff workouts showcased across tracks like the head-nodding, tripped out title track and the fuzzy, Fu Manchu-like ‘Burn the End’.

Throughout the album, Greengoat weld together a progressive, futurist theme with some good, old fashioned, retro Sabbath style rockin’. “A.I.” will no doubt entwine itself around my conscious all the more as I play it in the weeks to come. This is a fine album with great ideas – the analogue age and the digital age tentatively strolling forward together.

Find out more about Greengoat on Facebook and Bandcamp.

This review is brought to you by Platinum Al in association with Ever Metal.

Green Lung – “This Heathen Land” Album Review

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Green Lung – This Heathen Land 

Nuclear Blast Records 

Release date: 03/11/2023 

Running time: 43 minutes 

Review by: Alun Jones 

9.75/10 

Halloween ain’t over yet, kids – at least not while the arch druids of Occult Rock, Green Lung, are back in town!  Yes, London’s finest purveyors of witchy, stoner incantations have a new album, “This Heathen Land” – released by Nuclear Blast Records, no less.  So gather ye round, my acolytes, whilst we indulge in the ritual listening of this opus.  Light some candles, burn some incense, imbibe potions of mind-expanding merriment.  And take all your clothes off!  

Album number three from Green Lung kicks off with a suitably 1970s intro, setting the magickal vibe right away.  ‘The Forest Church’ is the first track proper, which takes its inspiration from Danzig-approved cult folk horror classic “The Blood on Satan’s Claw”.  It’s a riffalicious chunk of doomy wonder, built around an organ drenched, moody base. 

‘Mountain Throne’ blasts out as a Sabbath style rocker, awash with those lush, skronky keyboards.  Then GL add some sauce to their sorcery with their ode to ‘Maxine (Witch Queen)’, an ecstatically catchy slice of psychedelic, garage rock-infused debauchery.  ‘The Ancient Ways’ and ‘Hunters in the Sky’ are both powerful yet groovy rock that’s reminiscent of the greats and gleefully conjures up its own aura.   

Green Lung really stretch themselves on ‘One for Sorrow’, which features huge, doom riffs and atmospheric synths with an epic chorus.  The mellow, folky sound of ‘Song of the Stones’ adds yet more colour to the palette, and still sounds essential – just like those more refined tracks on early Black Sabbath records.  The melodic, drama infused ‘Oceans of Time’ – inspired by Coppola’s “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” – adds a suitably bombastic and ambitious climax to the album.   

A word of wisdom for the initiate: the vinyl version of “This Heathen Land” shows exactly why physical media is still so important and potent.  My copy is green vinyl, in a gatefold sleeve with lyric booklet and a map of the UK, showing various otherworldly sites that have inspired the album.  This obsessive attention to detail is fascinating and illustrates just how much care and attention has been poured into the whole work!   

Green Lung is completely fearless, their ability to rise to the challenge and create art this meticulous is highly impressive.  And I should know, I’ve seen The Wicker Man and I own a black cat.  Seriously, my children: “This Heathen Land” is essential. 

You can put your clothes back on now.    

Find out more about Green Lung on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and their website.

This review is joint presentation by Platinum Al and Ever Metal.

The Sound of Origin – Album Review

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The Sound of Origin – Man in the Arena
Self-released
Release date: 27/10/2023
Running time: 44 minutes (approx.)
Review by: Alun Jones
9/10

Right, let’s get down to business and get this review out into the world asap. This album has already been released, and as it’s pretty bloody good, let’s shout it from the rooftops as loudly as possible.

The Sound of Origin are from Huddersfield, and this is their sophomore album. I’d previously encountered the band thanks to their cover of ‘Sick Things’ on the quite bloody brilliant “Killer: 50 Years Later” Alice Cooper tribute album, released by Pale Wizard Records. I was keen to hear a full album from these Yorkshire Doom merchants and I wasn’t disappointed.

‘This Ain’t Free’ bursts from the speakers with a booming, catchy riff and a mix of screamy versus melodic vocals. It grinds, it rolls, it grooves: and that’s a fairly good summary of the whole album. Doom metal with a welcome varying pace, it’s brutal but hypnotic. First single ‘Birthright’ is an infectious bruiser and one of many tracks that remind me of the glory days of titans like Alice in Chains. Relentless, but still melodic.

‘Crown of the Cynic’ gives The Sound of Origin the chance to flex their progressive, doomy muscle with its longer run time and thudding power. I air guitarred along to this unashamedly! There’s some mighty passion here, notably in the anguished vocals.

Kyle Thomas of Exhorder and Trouble fame crops on two tunes, ‘Frail Old Bones’ and the title track. On the former, the band rock out in a fuzzy style not too dissimilar to Thomas’ day job or even good ol’ COC. The latter finds the band in a slower, pummelling pace and KT pushes the dramatics to hair raising levels.

The Sounds of Origin can throw together elements of Stoner, Doom and Sludge with great style and enthusiasm. One welcome surprise though, was hearing final track ‘Lightbringer’ which reminded me of Angel Witch – head down, old school NWOBHM vibes all the way!

My preconceived ideas may always skew any observations I make on a band’s influences. The Sound of Origin’s “Man in the Arena” is a great album that is bigger than the sum of its parts, and builds on the classic inspirations. A solid effort, this album will no doubt be a contender to make my Top 10 of the year. Just a shame it’s not available on vinyl.

Check out The Sound of Origin on Facebook, Instagram, Spotify and Bandcamp.

This review is brought to you by Platinum Al in association with Ever Metal.

Deathchant – Album Review

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Deathchant – Thrones
RidingEasy Records
Release date: 13/10/2023
Running time: 37 minutes
Review by: Alun Jones
8.5/10

OK, so this one’s a grower. This is the third album by Deathchant, and it started as “good” but progressed to “great!” pretty smoothly after a couple of listens. There’s a lot going on with “Thrones”, and it wasn’t necessarily what I’d assumed beforehand. Yes, there’s heavy, sludgy grooves and psychedelic shine as would be expected, but it’s tempered with a classic rock sensibility that adds both power and gravitas.

This is personified most obviously in tracks such as ‘Mirror’ and ‘Chariot’, both of which come ferociously pounding out of the gates and boast a melodic lead guitar that reminded me (very pleasantly) of Thin Lizzy. There’s also plenty of crunch in those tracks, and the doomier sections of the title track, which builds brilliantly within its 7 minutes and 40 seconds of contrasting ooze and fast paced rock.

It was the track ‘Mother Mary’ that first grabbed my attention, though. This relaxed, more introspective track, tucked away at number 4 on the playlist, immediately convinced me that there was much more going on with Deathchant than I’d immediately suspected. Anyone with any class can tell you that Sabbath’s ‘Planet Caravan’ is a momentous, pivotal track on ”Paranoid”, and it’s the same here. ‘Mother Mary’ quietly entices the listener into a different, dream-like realm.

‘Hoax’ does the opposite, waking the listener up with a jolt – and the album closes with the heaviest song of the lot, ‘Tomb’, part doom march and part striding, muscular beast. The vocals can sometimes seem a little low in the mix, but overall the finished work has enough twists and turns to ensure we’re always engaged.

As an album, ‘Thrones’ teases at first and will full-on deliver if you give this album a little time. Crafting together gloomy proto metal and snazzy classic rock frills, Deathchant have created something original – it’s thrilling and cathartic at the same time.

Fins out more about Deathchant on their website, Bandcamp, Instagram and YouTube.

This review has been brought to you by Platinum Al in association with Ever Metal.

Dopelord – Album Review

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Dopelord – Songs for Satan

Blues Funeral Recordings

Release date: 06/10/2023

Running time: 39 minutes

Review by: Alun Jones

8.5/10

Poland’s mighty Dopelord return with a humongously heavy album of slow rolling, occult driven doom on “Songs for Satan”.  Released via Blues Funeral Recordings, they’re celebrating the work of Lucifer in their temple of stoner sludge, and you’re invited.  Throw on your hooded robes and join the throng! 

Of course the songs are slow and heavy, and Dopelord manage to stamp their mark on the stoner-doom template by adding melody to their powerful, drawn out compositions.  Whilst the music rumbles along demonically, the vocals add a surprising, idiosyncratic sheen.  ‘Night of the Witch’ is executed in perfect, scuzzy doom style.  ‘Evil Spell’ is skull crushingly heavy, but both tracks feature sing along choruses that will steal your soul as well.

It’s difficult to get all the lyrical intent on this album without a lyric sheet, but it’s safe to say that the message here is a direct and scathing criticism of the Catholic church in Dopelord’s home country.  Whereas many a doom band is content to revel in Hammer Horror/Dennis Wheatley themes, Dopelord have taken this typical 1970s influence and added a real-world attack on religion too.

The album is book-ended by instrumentals, the latter of which, ‘Return to the Night of the Witch’, comfortably re-establishes “Songs for Satan” in the dreamlike, mellotron-soaked occult realm.  It’s a fine album, melding inexorable, fuzzy doom with themes of devil worship and hellfire.  Dopelord’s latest is genuinely well crafted, spell binding stuff.  I wouldn’t bother sending them a Christmas card, though.

Check out Dopelord on Facebook, Instagram, Spotify and Bandcamp.

This review is presented by Platinum Al in association with Ever Metal.

Yawning Man – EP Review

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Yawning Man – Pot Head

Ripple Music

Release date: 22/09/2023

Running time: 24 minutes

Review by: Alun Jones

9/10

Yawning Man are one of, if not THE, originators of Desert Rock.  Born from jam-style generator parties way out in the desert, this band pioneered the sound that would later be adopted by Kyuss, Fu Manchu and many others.  Ripple Music are reissuing the “Pot Head” EP, on vinyl and CD, for the first time in like, eons, man.  And it’s a great listen.    

“Pot Head” consists of four instrumental tracks, illuminating the template that others would follow.  Free form, jammed compositions that stretch out into the vast, starry night.  Awash with psychedelic flourishes, there’s a cinematic feel to songs like ‘Manolete’ and ‘Digital Smoke Signal’.  The listener can grasp the improvisational vibe, close your eyes and you’re a world away from anywhere as the music spirals endlessly into the universe.

Wow, I was off in the moment there for a moment reader.  How unprofessional – I do apologise.  I love the fact that all four songs are instrumental, ‘cos as we all know that the singer is the least important member of any band.  No vocals equals a psyche freak out that incorporates samba rhythms, wailing reverb drenched guitar and no distractions from the dusty, spaced out shenanigans.

Yeah.  Breathe out, breathe in.  Enjoy.

Find out more about Yawning Man on Facebook, Spotify, Instagram, Bandcamp and their website.

This review is brought to you by Platinum Al in conjunction with Ever Metal.

Trouble – Run to the Light Album Review

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Trouble – Run to the Light (Expanded Edition)

Metal Blade Records

Release date: 16/06/2023

Running time: 58 minutes

Review by: Alun Jones

8.5/10

Emergency!  Emergency!  Quick – this is urgent!  Due to a slight administrative cock-up (that might be my fault, I’m not telling), a review for this reissue of Trouble’s classic third album almost slipped through the net.  But there is no way I’m going to let that happen.  Absolutely everything Trouble related should be treated with total respect and receive the maximum coverage.  Hence, here’s my review to commemorate the re-release of this landmark album.

Metal Blade, who released the original version of “Run to the Light” in 1987, have been gracious enough to give us all a chance to rediscover this album from Chicago metal legends Trouble.  Trouble is, as I’m sure you know, one of the great doom metal bands that originated the style back in the eighties – before the sub-genre even had a name.  Whilst everyone else was speeding up and thrash metal was coming to the fore, Trouble were one of the few bands who took their inspiration from early Black Sabbath.  They played slower, griding riffs resonating with melancholic power.     

‘On Borrowed Time’, with its funereal intro and gloomy pace, illustrates the Trouble template well: and features a revved-up section in the latter half.  The title track has a bouncy intro riff reminiscent of ‘Symptom of the Universe’ that’s married to a crushing, slower section.  It’s this multi part approach to song writing, contrasting sections of heavy and light, that most recalls Tony Iommi and crew.  Trouble isn’t directly stealing guitar lines or concepts, it’s the spirit and craft of Sabbath that they emulate.       

The bonus tracks in this Expanded Edition include three demos of album tracks that are interesting, but for fans only.  The real curio is the cover of The Beatles classic ‘Come Together’, which originally appeared on “The Best of Metal Blade Vol. 2” in 1987.  Fans of the band will be aware of Trouble’s affection for 60s psychedelia, so this track will make perfect sense.  ‘Come Together’ is no real surprise – it sounds exactly how you’d imagine it would – but it’s a nice temptation for the faithful.

“Run to the Light” offers little in the way of new gems, but to lament that would be to miss the point.  It’s incredibly important to have albums like this in circulation, available for all to investigate and add to their collection.  I can only apologise to the band and record label for the tardiness of my review; if it’s any consolation, I’ve already bought a vinyl copy to cherish (to go alongside my ancient CD copy).  I’d encourage readers to buy a copy of this Trouble album and indulge in the joy of doom.      

If you’re looking for Trouble, try their website, Facebook or Bandcamp.

This review has been brought to you by Platinum Al in association with Ever Metal.

Bongzilla – Album Review

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Bongzilla – Dab City

Heavy Psych Sounds

Release date: 02/06/2023

Running time: 57 minutes

Review by: Alun Jones

8.75/10

What’s that lumbering out of the murky haze?  Why, it’s none other than Bongzilla, trampling everything in their path with gargantuan, sludgy riffs whilst surrounded by billows of smoke.  No need to run, citizens – these dudes move too slow to pose any physical threat, you’ll outrun them easily.  This music is not about speed.  It’s about being refreshed beyond all recognition.

“Dab City” is the sixth album for Bongzilla, and their second for the Heavy Psych Sounds label.  They’ve been firmly established as a three piece for some time, comprising of Mike “Muleboy” Makela on bass and vocals, Jeff “Spanky” Schultz on guitar and Mike “Magma” Henry on drums.  Unsurprisingly, the album was recorded with the assist of various “mood enhancements”, right onto analogue tape.

There are seven songs here, with several of them hovering around (or over) the ten-minute mark.  You’re definitely getting your money’s worth.  Title track and opener ‘Dab City’ clocks in at 11.51 of super heavy, psychedelic sludge.  ‘Cannonbong (The ballad of Burnt Reynolds as lamented by Dixie Dave Collins)’ rolls in at nearly 14 minutes of slow’n’steady, frazzled doom metal.  And what a song title!

Other tracks offer more fried and fuzzed out rock, with ‘Hippie Stick’ and ‘American Pot’ revealing a groove and swing to their sound.  Vocals are less smoky and strangled and more like a zombie from The Walking Dead, but it all melts together well.  I don’t think there are any shocks on “Dab City”, but who cares?  Bongzilla have concocted a ripe batch of stoner, sludgy metal that will satisfy the righteous.

And remember, kids – don’t do drugs!      

Check out Bongzilla on their website, Facebook, Bandcamp, Instagram and Spotify.

This review is brought to you by Platinum Al in association with Ever Metal.