Hawkwind

Domkraft – Sonic Moons Review

Domkraft – Sonic Moons Review

“The departed Huck N’ Roll, who has not been reduced to a nutritious paste designed to keeps n00bs clinging to life, loved up on Domkraft’s 2021 release Seeds. Huck considered the third album by these Swedes to be the best stoner/psych doom album of that year. The readership shared his enthusiasm to a point, while also noting that the effort felt like psychedelia as played by those who eschew psychedelics. I agreed with both camps; Seeds is a fun listen, but it does occasionally seem like the work of three talented members of the school orchestra who drank some punch spiked with liquid acid at the prom.” You put the seeds in the bongonut.

REZN & Vinnum Sabbathi – Silent Future Review

REZN & Vinnum Sabbathi – Silent Future Review

REZN made a minor splash in Casa Dolph back in… March?! Wow, time flies! Psychedelic doom itself isn’t particularly known for getting anywhere fast, but these Chicago practitioners have an admirable hustle to earn yet another release to their name. This go around, though, they’ve partnered with the like-minded, Hawkwind synth-heavy doomsters from way down South in Mexico City, Vinnum Sabbathi.” Double doom.

Old Spirit – Burning in Heaven Review

Old Spirit – Burning in Heaven Review

“When I shared with the slack hacks gathered in the AMG Break Room, the offensively purple artwork for ,b>Old Spirit’s Burning in Heaven, the Boss Ape piped up, “That the guy from Vanishing Kids,?” I shrugged noncommittally. I didn’t know whether it was the guy from<,b>Vanishing Kids, had never heard of Vanishing Kids and was unsure whether expression on those leathery features was a smirk or just a sign the old fella had gas again. I just wanted to revel in a group at how awful the artwork was. Denied this opportunity, I trudged back to my cubicle and started working the foot pedal that powers up AMG-issue computers to do some research.” Old spirits and missing kids.

Arthur Brown – Monster’s Ball [Things You Might Have Missed 2022]

Arthur Brown – Monster’s Ball [Things You Might Have Missed 2022]

When I approached His Thiccness Lord Steel about writing up a TYMHM about the new album from shock rock godfather Arthur Brown, his response was much like one of his gorilla jabs: swift, accurate and painful (at least for Grier). “He’s the original Alice Cooper,” Steel said. “And by extension, the real King of Diamonds.” It was with these words of simian wisdom that I set out to dive deeper into this English octogenarian’s latest album Monster’s Ball. Of monsters and madmen.

Lucid Grave – Cosmic Mountain Review

Lucid Grave – Cosmic Mountain Review

“I have recently come to the conclusion that it is sometimes a good exercise to deliberately review two records of the same genre back to back. Not to directly compare the two but to get one into the right mindset and to think about makes a great record in this particular field. And so it is that I find myself reviewing two stoner metal records in consecutive weeks. It’s lucky that I am not trying to compare them, however, as Copenhagen, Denmark’s Lucid Grave could not be more different—within the confines of stoner metal, anyway—from last week’s Holyroller.” Where the mountain meets the desert.

Mirror Queen – Inviolate Review

Mirror Queen – Inviolate Review

Inviolate is NYC band Mirror Queen’s fourth album. I’ve never heard of them, nor of the group they rose out of, Kreisor. Therefore, I have no preconceived notions of what to expect. The group claims to be influenced by Blue Öyster Cult, Hawkwind, and more, so that’s a promising start, and I’m always happy to jump into some retro metal to hear what’s shaking, especially if the band also professes to lean into some psychedelic realms.” Oyster Queens and Hawk Kings.

Seremonia – Neonlusifer Review

Seremonia – Neonlusifer Review

“If I have to attach a motto to Seremonia’s style, it would be ‘no school like old school.’ Old school here means raw psychedelic rock straight from the 70’s, its DNA profile demonstrating a direct descendancy from Hawkwind. There are two sides to this particular coin. One’s the rollicking hard rock with which the album bursts from its stable, where the deliberate lack of polish is particularly noticeable in the static-laden crunch and fuzz of the rambling riffs. The other is slow and experimental psych jam.” Jam the fuzz.

Mythic Sunship – Wildfire Review

Mythic Sunship – Wildfire Review

“Given the heavily jazz-influenced psychedelic free-form rock on show from Mythic Sunship, that they borrow part of their moniker from Coltrane’s 1971 Sun Ship. For me, there’s a fine line in avant-garde music—be that jazz, psychedelic rock or even the most progressive forms of black and death metal —between writing something progressive, challenging and interesting, and simply delivering what sounds like a noisy, unstructured jam session committed to record.” Spacey jam.

Giants, Dwarfs and Black Holes – Everwill Review

Giants, Dwarfs and Black Holes – Everwill Review

“Look, I’m gonna keep this fairly brief and there is a simple reason for this: I picked up the debut from Germany’s Giants, Dwarfs and Black Holes to replace another promo that I dropped, after discovering that album was a reissue. I did no prior research on GDaBH, simply grabbing the first free thing with a similar release date and only later discovered THIS IS ALSO A FUCKING REISSUE!” Ever-issues.