Kyuss

Jointhugger – Surrounded by Vultures Review

Jointhugger – Surrounded by Vultures Review

“Infamous satirical news site The Onion has a particularly infamous article that is re-run every time there is a mass shooting in the USA. No, I’m not here to make a political statement; the point of the article in question is to comment on the repetitive nature of the occurrence. I’m just wondering whether I should make such a generic, re-runnable review for the glut of stoner doom bands that all sound exactly the same. You know the type: they don’t know whether they want to be Black Sabbath, Sleep or Kyuss, always add “psychedelic” to their self-description for no reason, and bury their lack of variation and originality by playing louder and adding more fuzz. Jointhugger play stoner doom; can they break the cycle?” Stone cold.

Without God – Siberian Tunes: Purple Clouds Review

Without God – Siberian Tunes: Purple Clouds Review

“Hailing from Russia, Without God formed back in 2008 and have released a pair of full-lengths, the last coming out in 2014. Reemerging in 2021, the band have already released a nice little EP entitled Siberian Tunes: The Green Light and have made the interesting choice to immediately follow it with related LP Siberian Tunes: Purple Clouds. Without God play a big, burly style of doom metal that manages to include a pretty large range of influences.” From Russian with RIFFS!

Malossi – Blanke Barter Review

Malossi – Blanke Barter Review

“It sounds like a dream or a hallucination. Clutch is actually a Norwegian band. They rock hard, they add a bit more of a desert vibe to their sound (think of a more restrained Kyuss), and they sing in Norwegian. They love to throw things like tuba and harmonica into their songs. Their favorite thing in life is abusing the hell out of scooters (hence the band name). And for their album cover, they use a portrait that basically looks like my dad. Sound crazy? It’s not that far from reality, my friends. Let me introduce you to Malossi, and their second album, Blanke Barter.” Scooter-core.

Planet of the Dead – Pilgrims Review

Planet of the Dead – Pilgrims Review

“A doom/stoner album with songs about classic horror and sci-fi books and movies? Sounds right up my alley. New Zealand’s Planet of the Dead take on all sorts of material, from Dune to Alien to Slaughterhouse 5, and do so with a sludgy simplicity here on their second album, Pilgrims. Their debut album, Fear of a Dead Planet, came out just last year, so this is a pretty quick turnaround by today’s standards. Channeling the usual suspects such as Black Sabbath and Kyuss, and coming off a bit Bull Elephant-adjacent, this quartet hits the sweet spot in album length, with eight songs spread out over less than forty minutes, making for an release that’s easy to get into from start to finish. Do they hit the mark on all eight tracks?” Space sludge.

Rat King – Omen Review

Rat King – Omen Review

“Indiana’s Rat King have been skulking around the Midwest since 2016, tweaking their classic stoner doom style and releasing a few singles and EPs, with Omen being their debut full-length. Their promo package namedrops genre greats like Kyuss and Electric Wizard and speaks of an exploration of the darker elements of the human condition while promising haunting, evocative vocals. This is the PR milkshake that brought Steel to the yard.” Rat holes in Sky Valley.

Robots of the Ancient World – Mystic Goddess Review

Robots of the Ancient World – Mystic Goddess Review

“Sometimes a band name conjures a very specific image or reference before you know a single other thing about it. In the case of Portland, Oregon’s Robots of the Ancient World my mind went immediately to the slightly plump and rather ungainly automata portrayed in the distinctly average film, Hellboy II: The Golden Army. That apparently invincible army was sent to devastate humanity in payment for various slights our race committed against elves and the like. Scroll over to reality and another thing apparently sent to devastate humanity, Covid-19, was playing havoc with Robots of the Ancient World, almost ending their sophomore effort, Mystic Goddess, before it properly got off the ground. The five-piece entered the studio to record the follow up to their 2019 debut, Cosmic Riders, only for producer Jack Endino to fall ill, “wrecked from this weird flu from hell,” as Robots guitarist Justin Laubscher puts it.” Infected bongs and olde bots.

DayGlo Mourning – Dead Star Review

DayGlo Mourning – Dead Star Review

“I remember a comment in a discussion about stoner, of which a paraphrase would come down to ‘stoner doesn’t have anything left to strive for because Kyuss created and perfected the genre with the same album.’ But still, there’re exceptions. Elder and Boss Keloid are two prime examples of putting a different twist on stoner, Clutch has been an offbeat banner-carrier for years and even lesser-known acts like Realms of Vision get to tweak the formula a little. Does DayGlo Mourning’s Dead Star take break new ground, or is it the same old song?” Dead stars and glo-sticks.

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.