Review – Christian Mistress – Possession
Very like The Devil’s Blood (i.e., highly capable female singer with traditional doom metal/ rock music background), but more 70s rock/metal, less 70s rock/pop. If that made any sense.
Shut up. You read this site. You knew very well what I meant.
“Over and over,” a satanic T-rex, a heavier Kansas… “Pentagram and Crucifix,” almost like a track from Danzig’s eponymous debut (and very nearly as sweet) with its alternating time (i.e., downbeat to forebeat in the verse)… “Conviction” is an (improbably) Y&T-like ripper….
“The Way Beyond” fires up a lap steel-laced acoustic intro and slows things down for a minute or two, before igniting a “Children of the Grave”-esque riff–
seriously, if you’re reading this site, you love stoner/doom riffs. This track alone would complete you sexually: (more…)
Review – Anatomia – Dissected Humanity
Vibrant Japanese death metal band– playing doom metal.
Opener “Carnal Mutilation”= straight ahead death metal until about 2 minutes in, when it drops into a fucking great doom riff: also, over the riff there is what I’m pretty sure is a wild boar grunting (don’t ask how I know that)– if that is actually the singer: kudos to you, Sir– kudos! (more…)
Review — Withered — Momento Mori
I am really enjoying this one, of late– it haunts me. Like ghosts with a vengeance, or good metal.
Withered, Atlanta’s black/death/arty/sludge punk trio are best (ostensibly) described as blackened funeral sludge….
My faves are “Within Your Grief,” (a black metally, apocalyptic/symphonic end of all time, sad-yet-angry riff that goes on for some time but still seems sad when it’s done) and “Like Locusts” (with its Candlemass-as-death-metally funeral doom metal band riff) thus far, but who knows what next hour will bring? The more I listen, the more there is to this bad boy. It’s nuanced and fairly complex, and in my opinion is more of a doom metal than a black metal record, but it’s purely subjective, yanno?
Acid Witch, Stoned
Well, they’re waaaaay detuned: a fifth down, to the Most Satanic of Keys, B standard– and in addition…?
They’re ugly, and they’re as close to blackened stoner metal as we can get without a Total Protonic Reversal…!
Satan with a spliff!
Kursed one with Kief!
“Live Forever” is a great riff over a Hammond B-3 organ, and the riff in “Witchfynder Finder” is even better. The whole thing is worth getting, but these two are sterling.
Bongripper, Satan Worshipping Doom
Bongripper are so utterly dedicated to doom metal conventions, so resistant to changing them, so insistent that they always be played the same way, that they end up being unique. Satan Worshipping Doom is utterly no-nonsense– not even as far as words go. And you’d think, diabolus in musica aside, there’s really very few forms of music that, without their lyrical content, are Satanic in and of themselves– these guys couldn’t even be bothered to produce something as untr00 as lyrics.
It’s hypnotic doom-cum-sludge, à la Sloath. It’s every generic riff you’ve ever heard in doom/stoner/sludge metal: i.e., the low to high octave (E to high E over and over), and the open chord to flatted fifth and back (like say, “Symptom of the Universe,” and literally every third metal riff)– (more…)
Review — Church of Misery — Master of Brutality
Often regaled as their best album, this homage to Sab’s third album (witness the alternate cover), is actually more bluesy than one would expect: the coolest Tom Waits-esque singing metal voice (I love a good, raspy distinct voice that can actually sing), sounding utterly non-Japanese stereotyped, and featuring songs featuring solos that sound like slightly-distorted acoustic guitars, all the way to including solos from distorted-to-shit basses that sound like Cliff Burton resurrected….
all while describing serial killers.
Go on. Listen–
Vinyl Review: Pelican’s “What We All Come To Need” on Southern Lord
So, a bit about me:
I love vinyl, I love the way it sounds– but— in all honesty I can’t tell much of a difference between vinyl and any digital medium unless I really know the album in question. I might buy 1 out of 50 albums on record, because, frankly, the others aren’t worth it. The difference is too slight. (more…)
Pentagram’s Last Rites
Via Sawtooth Wave:
No, the whole album’s not worth getting; here’s the tracks worth your filthy lucre:
The most distinct sounds in sludge/stoner/doom guitar?
Via Sawtooth Wave:
So. I’ve played guitar for just about 25 years. I’ve played woodwind instruments for 30. In all my decades of loving metal, and being, I’m proud to say in retrospect, A Bitch of the Riff, I’ve noticed something.
In jazz (land of the woodwinds and brass, not so much the stringed instruments), there’s a huge emphasis on personal sound– that is, how distinct is your sound; how quickly can you be recognized by a note of two of your playing?
This has nothing to do with your ability to write songs, or how hard you rock, or how long your hair is, et cetera.
It is, exactly and only, how quickly someone can hear you play and know that It Is You. (more…)
Review – Wizard Smoke – The Speed of Smoke
Via Sawtooth Wave:
Been looking forward to this one for awhile. I love new music Tuesday.
The Speed of Smoke is psychedelic sludge rock– a new musical permutation (emphasis on mutation): there’s definitely sludge here, and it’s assuredly psychedelic, yet sounds like rock, rather than metal. There’s as much hip-shaking as head banging. (more…)
Review – Southern Discomfort – Confrontation
Sodom and Kreator move to Louisiana, are so inspired by all things N’Awlins that they form an Eyehategod cover band. (Naming themselves after the song…?)
Thrash’ed sludge.
It’s as fucked up and awesome as it sounds.
The precision of the above Teutonic titans, with the greasy EHG riffing sounds…. (more…)
VYGR
They shortened their name for copyright reasons, got a Hebrew-influenced, Behemoth song/
Tetragrammaton-esque band name out of it:
Behold: VYGR…!
Hypersleep is the newest (and first full length) album, out 3/15/11…
“Flares” is the latest song availalbe on Bandcamp (“Shapeshifters” is already available here, in its congregation-beseeching its oh-exhorted-to leader)…
and it IS….
Pelican (perhaps my favorite band of all time) with vocals that work, i.e., that add melody, and where the guitars are now content to supply those Riffs of riffs…. in the comfy, near-perfect tuning of B… (a full fifth beeeeelow standard tuning)…
Which doesn’t make them an improvement over Pelican, but an interesting variation….
And does makes them 7 kinds of Awe-some…!
G’head: give “Flares” a listen:
Review – Obiat – Eye Tree Pi
What you need to know:
Obiat have (as of this writing) 38 myspace friends, and one of them is Tori Amos…?
Their latest album, specifically track one, “Poison Thy Honey,” begins with bagpipes;
The above album cover was clearly painted onto canvas– you can even see the texture if you click on the hi-res version of this image….
What does this mean? (more…)
Microreview: Northless
(Via Sawtooth Wave)
Sludge blues from Wilwaukee.
A bloated Crowbar on steroids, with some avant-jazz leanings in the guitars. Actual songwriting ability.
Hardcore shouts buried under fuzzed out riffs in drop F#….
“Flesh & Ghost”: Godflesh gangfucking Crowbar…. [Download]
“Clandestine Abuse”: An angry, progressive Conan? [Download]
Full length Clandestine Abuse comes out (vinyl only) around 3/20. Preorder.
Worth. Your. Time.
Review -Howl- Full of Hell
Full disclosure: yes, there are forgettable songs. Yes, they stay in D flat too long. Yes, this album rocks so hard those previous yes’s don’t matter.
Full of Hell showed up so high on my year-end “best of” list that I owed my soul to review it. (Satanic legalese semantics.)
(more…)
The Soda Shop Needs Help
As Jake posted on Facebook a few days ago, we’re looking for help. Him and I focus a lot on the rock side of things and we tend to neglegt the doom and sludge portion. Because of that we’re looking for a contributor or two to help add give those two other genres a little bit more exposure. Here is what we’re looking for:
Some writing experience preferred but not required. Please submit a few samples of your work. Samples may be cut and paste into an email, a URL or any other form.
We’re looking for people passionate about the doom and sludge genres of music. If you don’t absolutley love doom and sludge then still feel free to submit but keep in mind that doom and sludge is out top priority.
Must have both a Facebook and WordPress account. Knowledge of both also required. No HTML experience required but it certainly doesn’t hurt.
Contributors will be required to review doom and sludge albums and post the reviews on The Soda Shop blog and post links on The Soda Shop Facebook page. Whenever possible, post about doom and sludge related news onto the blog and Facebook page. Keep in mind, this is more or less done in your spare time. You put in what time you can and contribute as much as you can. We aren’t looking for someone that’s going to post something once every few months, please don’t bother if you’re that type.
Now this doesn’t pay money. We’re all as broke as the next person. We can pay you by giving you our thanks and from time to time, free music. Look at it as more of a way to unleash some of your creative side. We’re not as big as Rolling Stone so we don’t see they type of traffic and submissions they do. Perhaps with your help though we can get there.
After all that your still interested, well send an email to bill.goodman@thesodashop.us with your name and samples.
The Soda Shop 