Sunday 2 March 2014

Super Doom Chart 03/14

A gigantic thank you to this month’s contributors:
Bill Goodman [The Evil Engineer], Billy Goat [Doomed & Stoned], Blasting Daysblog, Cameron Crichton [Motherslug], Dr. Doom [Dr. Doom’s Lair], Gruesome Greg [Gruesome Views], Joop Konraad [Stoner HiVe], LK Ultra, Pat Harrington [Electric Beard of Doom], Phantasmagoria blog, Phil Howlett [Rote Mare], Rod Reinhart [Captain Beyond Zen], Soggy Bob [Soggy Bog of Doom podcast], Steve Howe [The Sludgelord], Tony Maim [Black Insect Laughter], Ulla Roschat [TheWicked Lady Show], Welcome to the Void blog

Paranoid F(r)iends Phantasmagoria blog have just released their third anniversary compilation called ‘Tunes in Fumes vol. III’ for free download on bandcamp!  Click the links, check it out, download and take the ride …

1). SLOMATICS – Estron
Last month: - [-] / Months on Chart: 1
‘Estron’ documents a band fully realizing and fully enjoying its own power.  The music starts from the heavy hitting drums and flows outward into riffs which suspend all motion and time before crashing down again.  What’s amazing about this album is how Slomatics wield this formula in such an accessible manner.  This band embodies that old doom trope, “tune low, play slow”. – LK Ultra

2). ALEPH NULL – Nocturnal
Last month: - [-] / Months on Chart: 1
The third instalment from German sludge giants Aleph Null sees the bands debut full length album realised. "Nocturnal" furthers the signature lush discordant riffing, heavy locked-in Goatsnake low end and exceptional vocals that Aleph Null are fast becoming known for.
The band branch out in some new directions on 'Nocturnal', intricate bass lines in 'Muzzle of a Sleeping God' weaving in and out of the riff, the epic two part title track, and a faster paced passage in 'Black Winged Cherub' reminiscent of 'Sabbath and Spirit Caravan. 

Aleph Null are on the rise and are beginning to receive some of the attention they well and truly deserve with 'Nocturnal', after two amazing EP's in 'Dale' (2012) and 'Belladonna' (2013). This album will be very hard to displace from many year end top 10 lists... – Clint (Hand of Doom Radio)

3). INDIAN – From All Purity
Last month: - [-] / Months on Chart: 1
With hearts of hate and a fistful of distortion pedals, Indian are back with their 5th album - From All Purity.  Primitive doom and sludge explode from this collection of twisted tracks and quite simply, stun you into submission.

The atmospherics are dark and brooding, helped by the relentless riffs that are crashing out, creating a dense and tension-filled collection of tracks that need to be listened to in one sitting.  You feel drained after playing this – you don’t so much listen to this but experience it.

When the frantic, frenzied vocals emerge from deep within the mix, you realise how much depth and layering you are hearing, how the dynamics have been thought out and most of all, just how
the searing riffs are in fact much more complex than realised on your first listen.  Using fuzzed out riffs that register extremely low on the richter scale, this is a solid slab of sludge with doom elements threaded throughout.

One of the strengths has to be the song writing. Hypnotic riffs that latch into your head and tunes that have a purpose to them bring direction and flow to all the tracks.

Bleak heaviness is the tone set but this does not mean unrelenting misery for the listener. Careful use of electronic drones and textures carry across an atmosphere of denseness and weight that somehow feels cleansing after the music stops. – Tony Maim

4). DEMON EYE – Leave the Light
Last month: - [-] / Months on Chart: 1
I’ve been on the Demon Eye bandwagon since I was first introduced to the band by fellow Super Doom Chart contributor Soggy Bob way in the Spring of two thousand dickety three! (okay, it wasn’t too long ago.)  It’s been nice to see the underground community respond to their debut album in such an overwhelmingly positive way.  ‘Leave the Light’ features 11 strong tracks of 70’s inspired grooves with a hard edge which straddles the line between hard rock and proto-metal, built around strong hooks with deceptively simplistic melodies. – LK Ultra

5). GOYA - 777
Last month: - [-] / Months on Chart: 1
Goya - 777 - is a masterclass of Doom Metal. If you studied at the same university of Black Sabbath, Electric Wizard and Sleep then this is the album for you. 51 mins of pure electrifying down-tuned riffs. 777 plays out like a greatest hits set to your favourite band. The album is a dark and dangerous ride into the unknown. Tracks such as Rites Of Hashage, Night Creeps and Amongst The Red showing the band are truly masters of the riff. Creepy atmospheric noises and sounds are blended brilliantly with the band’s heavy pounding music which is actually quite soulful at times. Demonic, Yes but still very soulful. 777 shows that Goya have grew up on a steady and healthy diet of classic 70s/80s Doom Metal, Classic Horror Movies and the mighty power of the legendary WEED!!!

What isn't there to love about this album.

777 is a classic doom metal album in the truest sense of the word. It's just that the world hasn't caught onto that fact. But they will. Eventually… - Steve Howe

6). TRUCKFIGHTERS - Universe
Last month: - [-] / Months on Chart: 1
Universe gets right down to dishing out those sweet stoner grooves that Sweden is known for. Of course, these guys are one of the reference points for Swedish stoner rock, so to say it sounds like the Truckfighters would be a sufficient explanation for some. There are plenty of Nordic desert grooves here, adding a bit of a lighter feel in between some downright doomy passages. Basically, it still sounds like Truckfighters. – Gruesome Greg

7). DRUGLORD – Enter Venus
Last month: - [-] / Months on Chart: 1
STB records once again come up trumps by putting out this 4 track monster of sludgey doomness from Druglord. Heavier, bigger and more sonically powerful than their previous output, “Enter Venus” should by all rights go onto many peoples playlists and get stuck on repeat.

Distorted guitars that riff with the weight of unpromised misery ooze out of the speakers giving the songs a suffocating feel that rolls over the senses.

Vocals are reverbed and buried deep in the mix with claustrophobic results. This is a monster of an album that will be my companion for a long time.  – Tony Maim

8). LIZARDIA – Self-Titled
Last month: - [-] / Months on Chart: 1
Lizardia come from Greece and have produced an album to kick away the winter blues.  This has a really powerful guitar sound and the whole sonic stew sounds LOUD at whatever volume you play it at.

Drawing on the fast and furious influences of Fu Manchu / Orange Goblin / Nebula, this album has all you want from a heavy stoner band and much more.  Everything is drenched in thick fuzzed riffs and solos and as it goes from thuggish psychedelic rock to up-tempo, foot stomping tunes, the abrasive yet melodic vocals sit nicely on top of everything.

This is for people who want some raw 100% stoner vibes.

This is dirty fucked up rock’n’roll at its best - the band keep the riffs rolling along at white knuckle speed, economical solos stop anything getting too overblown or long, besides they ain’t got time for pointless fretboard wanking ‘cause here comes the next song, come on people,  jump on board this express train of stomping rock, Lizardia want to show you how this sort of thing should be done - in a genre that can be very boring in the wrong hands, this album is a breath of fresh air. – Tony Maim

9). GRAND MAGUS – Triumph & Power
Last month: - [-] / Months on Chart: 1
If you’re unfamiliar with Grand Magus, then ‘Triumph and Power’ is a good place to start.  The first thing you’ll notice is the distinctive voice of JB, it’s deep and resonant with just a touch of epic wail, ever bold, ever reaching.  It’s something the band as a whole and the music itself demands, to push brashly toward the epic.  This is sword-wielding music, but not blindly hacking away with the fury of a thousand martyrs’s sons kind of sword-wielding music, it’s calculating and methodical, though never too technical.  It’s measured and reasoned, though there’s still room for the old fire and brimstone in Grand Magus’s attack. – LK Ultra

10). CHILD – Self-Titled
Last month: - [-] / Months on Chart: 1
The very first sounds I hear after clicking the play button get me hooked and only halfway through the first track I am already lost, lost in the warm fuzzy stoner blues tunes that three piece band Child from Melbourne/Australia offer on their self titled debut!!! album. It is not too often that the Blues catches me, although it is actually not much that it takes to do this, but few blues acts really got it - feel the blues, convert the pure, true emotion into sound, don’t dilute it with cheesy weepiness and then pour it all over the audience/me.

That’s exactly what Child do. Deeply rooted in Stoner Blues tradition they create a very personal style that, despite all mellow warmth and fuzziness, has a dynamic power and raw intensity that makes the songs feel so breathtakingly soulful. The occasional hints of progressive and psychedelic elements never sound out of place (or like “see what we can do”), but give depth and variety. Not a single note is redundant, all is essential and right to the point.

To say that I like this album would be sheer understatement, I love it. I’d have to go quite far back in time to name a Blues album that found its way to my heart and soul on this extremely direct way like this one did. – Ulla Roschat

11). MAJOR KONG – Doom Machine
Last month: - [-] / Months on Chart: 1
Major Kong are from Poland and "Doom Machine" is their second album. The title is very apt as this is an album with huge, doomy riffs and more doomy riffs.  Major Kong are from Poland and "Doom Machine" is their second album. The title is very apt as this is an album with huge, doomy riffs and more doomy riffs.

Apart from some samples, these are instrumental tracks........which a lot of the time gets my heart sinking. There is a lot of generic Stoner/Earthless clones clogging up my collection and
I am growing weary my friends........

But worry ye not - this is a different beast.

Major Kong do not piss around with quiet atmospherics or calm passages - this is heavy, fuzzed up guitar playing that wants to get your head nodding while you drool over classic offerings from Electric Wizard & Sleep.

In case I have not pleaded their case enough, we are talking
about riffs
riffs
more
 riffs
and huge riffs
– Tony Maim

12). DOCTOR CYCLOPS - Oscuropasso
Last month: - [-] / Months on Chart: 1
I gotta say, I love this band’s name in a cheesy, super-villain kinda way. Doctor Cyclops is actually a power-trio from Italy that’s dooming out with their collective tomb out here. This one's got everything, trad doom, pig noises, a bass solo...and undoubtedly some dastardly plans to rule the world. – Gruesome Greg

13). MAMMOTH STORM – Rite of Ascension
Last month: - [-] / Months on Chart: 1
Every time I think about Mammoth Storm the first thing that comes to mind is heaviness.  This Swedish trio have made themselves synonymous with the word ‘heavy’ in a miraculously short period of time, the two song 20+ minute ‘Rite of Ascension’ is just their second release after last year’s debut EP.  They are quickly becoming a “buzz” band and all eyes will be on their debut full-length if and when one comes to light.  ‘Rite of Ascension’ makes an excellent prologue. – LK Ultra

14). MANTAR – Death By Burning
Last month: - [-] / Months on Chart: 1
Mantar – Death By Burning – an album that plays out like a twisted nightmare come to life. Mantar have the speed and ferocity of Motörhead matched against the crazy Sludge Metal riffs of The Melvins.

The album plays by its own rules and doesn’t bow down to no-one.  It’s a crazy genre-defying riff-laiden powerhouse of an album. Just check out tracks such as Into The Golden Abyss, Cult Witness, White Nights and March Of The Crows.

All great tracks bringing Mantar’s nightmarish world to life. Black Metal, Sludge, Doom and Punk combining for one unforgettable experience. Mantar’s intense onslaught of drums and guitar riffs has a more potent threat to it as there is no bass guitar here. Just two guys playing heavy dangerous riffs that packs an almighty punch.

Play this album loud as you possibly can as these dark overlords deserve nothing less.

It’s a dark and twisted album that is already starting to find a fanbase within the Sludge/Doom Metal community. And it’s not hard to see why. It’s a contender already for Album Of The Year. It’s seriously that good!!! – Steve Howe

15). CONAN – Blood Eagle
Last month: - [-] / Months on Chart: 1
‘Blood Eagle’ cuts right down to the heart of Conan’s sound, pulsating, pounding, rumbling and most of all, driving.  A death-dealing barbarian stalking with purpose through the canyon pass, one foot in front of the other, knowing the marauders will ambush but ever-vigilant, meaty hand on hilt.  Vocalist / guitarist Jon Davis pens monosyllabic lyrics with clear, precise and uncomplicated meaning, thinking like a Neolithic warrior.  On ‘Blood Eagle’ the music follows suit.  The results are devastating.  This is the album Conan was meant to produce.  I don’t think it’s unfair to say that the band has lived up to its Full Potential here. – LK Ultra

16). BAST - Spectres
Last month: - [-] / Months on Chart: 1
It’s interesting how things worked out here with Conan’s latest still unreleased but sauntering easily up this Super Chart while head man Jon Davis’s label, Black Bow Records, signees Bast brings up the very next placing with their debut album.  Bast is a sludge trio from the UK who have been around for a while now, building their reputation and repertoire slowly by gigging.  Now they have a great sounding album under their belts which navigates through a mine field of static-y drone riffs punctuated by driving rhythms. – LK Ultra

17). WOUNDED KINGS - Consolamentum
Last month: - [-] / Months on Chart: 1
Wounded Kings’s fourth album and second with vocalist Sharie Neyland sees the band finding their horrific essence.  Basically, they do here what a doom metal band is supposed to do which is to give you the chills.  This is the soundtrack to an imaginary movie based on Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House directed by Dario Argento and produced by Hammer Studios.  It’s a fantastic, dark and haunting album full of ominous feelings and riffs. – LK Ultra

18). SLOW GREEN THING – I
Last month: - [-] / Months on Chart: 1
Classic 70's heavy riffing, heavy on the phaser pedal and easy on the ear. Slow Green Thing are an immediate smile and hell yeah as soon as the first notes land. Equal parts Trouble & Sabbath, Slow Green Thing not only have one of the best band names going, but also an extremely impressive debut release. Hard to pick a 'best track' here, as they all genuinely kick ass. - Clint

19). ANCIENT WARLOCKS – Self-Titled
Last month: - [-] / Months on Chart: 1
Ancient Warlocks long awaited debut was released back in early November and it’s still generating a solid buzz.  Here’s why: the album features eight songs of laidback harmonies and mighty grooves.  The quartet is Seattle’s stoner residents in chief, gigging at a hellacious pace, opening for or headlining with every major stoner and doom act that passes through the Emerald city, legendary for its live music scene.  So if they haven’t yet, it’s only a matter of time before they get to you too! – LK Ultra

20). BONG BREAKER - Mountain
Last month: - [-] / Months on Chart: 1
All the way back in April 2012 Bong Breaker released a stunning two track demo - massively heavy riffing which left plenty of people hungry for more. Fast forward to January 2014 and Bong Breaker unveil their debut album "MOUNTAIN", and it is more than worth the wait. Near on an hour of laid back powerful riffing and ice cool vocals throughout. Wilmar Timmerman (Bass/vox/guitar) and Mink Koops (drums/guitar) are a songwriting force to be reckoned with. Impressive. A Mount Everest of riffs \m/ - Clint

21). BLACK MOON CIRCLE – Self-Titled
Last month: - [-] / Months on Chart: 1
Sometimes it’s just easier to let the band explain...

“Black Moon Circle is dedicated to dark psychedelic space rock, driven by a disposition towards prolonged jams”.

The 3 song self-titled debut from this Norwegian power trio (quartet?) is just that. This is a thick slice of groove served up on a plate of vintage 70’s psychedelic fuzz. It sometimes takes a long time to go down, but oh how we enjoy the ride! Not ominous in any real way, this is more posi-stoner-psych-rock with almost an ‘After Forever’ vibe, sometimes even sounding like a heavier, trippier version of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.

The centerpiece here is the last song, Enigmatic Superbandit (awesome song title!) which centers mainly around a brilliantly simple funk(ish) riff that intertwines with heavily spaced out solos for near 15 minutes of pure interstellar exploration. The drums keep the cruiser moving with a tight syncopated beat while the bass holds a steady landing strip for the guitar to land occasionally to refuel before blasting off to yet another galaxy tucked away in the back corner of your mind. Do they serve snacks on this flight? – Pat Harrington

22). BLACK SPACE RIDERS – D:REI
Last month: - [-] / Months on Chart: 1
D:REI is Black Space Riders’ third album, and already the title hints at an ambiguity and complexity that runs like a common thread through the album. Far from being just the (German) number three, the letters are the initials of the four chapters Defiance, Ruin, Escape and I-Beyond. The message is multi-layered in the sound as well as in the lyrics.  Of course, these five guys from Münster/Germany, weren’t true space riders, if they wouldn’t take you on a trip through space. They do indeed, but it’s never quite clear, if it’s outer space or the inner space of your mind. It’s the story of destruction, ruin and survival through transformation as a cycle of life… of an individual?... mankind?... society?... worlds?

Stylistically BSR rely on psychedelic, stoner, doom rock sounds, but easily draw elements from different styles as well and thus create a style distinctively their own. Just as the atmosphere, mood and message demands, there are progressive parts, hypnotic driving psychedelic elements, there are groovy, heavy, powerful onslaughts and quieter, melancholic and reflective moments. Despite this diversity plus its considerable length of nearly 80 minutes there’s a quite perfect flow throughout the album, not least because of the four chapters having their own dynamic build ups.

No matter on which level you take this trip, the universal message of the cyclic motion of life with its ups and downs and all the intense emotions involved, contradicting, confusing and even ambiguous in their evaluation is perfectly captured and conveyed by the album. – Ulla Roschat

23). GODHUNTER - City of Dust
Last month: - [-] / Months on Chart: 1
What a fantastic year for new releases, so far--especially for sludge metal. Meet Tucson, Arizona 6-piece GODHUNTER. While your stereotypical sludge metal album may sing about, say, drinking, doping, and despair, City of Dust (2014) has an entirely different concern: "Fire on high/the hills are burning." In other words, there is trouble afoot, right here in River City.  "This place means the world to me/this place will be the death of me," the opening track announces, "The best of all/the worst of all. It's that duality that defines me." We're challenged by the unstoppable pace of technology, which is blurring our social, moral, and spiritual boundaries. The bad guys have been quick to take advantage of this to fuck with the rest of us--and GODHUNTER is sounding the alarm. What Rage Against the Machine and System of a Down are to alt metal, Godhunter aspires to be to sludge. Well, they'd probably just say that they've got words that need to be said, a loud noise to stir things up in the established (dis)order of our world. With this new album, I'm definitely in the mood for listening! – Billy Goat

24). GREY WIDOW - I
Last month: - [-] / Months on Chart: 1
Ceaselessly heavy, this massive debut from UK doom dwellers Grey Widow is 8 tracks and 50 minutes of abrasiveness.  The band uses various touchstones of extreme metal but alwas keeps the black curtain of doom drawn around it all.  I’d describe this album as an ordeal if it wasn’t so seductively immersive.  Still, the mood of an ordeal gallops alongside any moments of enjoyment like a black rider, ‘I’ is an infernal trial, one in which your soul is weighed against this album’s heaviness and guess which one tips the scales? – LK Ultra

25). HAIL SPIRIT NOIR – Oi Magoi
Last month: - [-] / Months on Chart: 1
Greek prog metal trio Hail Spirit Noir have returned with their sophomore album on Code666 Records.  Hail Spirit Noir push their own musical vision to the absolute outskirts of extremity on all sides, turning expectations on their heads.  This just might be what would happen if you made Dr. Seuss into a metal band. – LK Ultra

26). SATAN’S SATYRS – Wild Beyond Belief
Last month: - [-] / Months on Chart: 1
27). SOLAR HALOS – Self-Titled
Last month: - [-] / Months on Chart: 1
28). UPYR – Altars / Tunnels
Last month: - [-] / Months on Chart: 1
29). THE SOCKS – Self-Titled
Last month: - [-] / Months on Chart: 1
30). WE HUNT BUFFALO – Blood from a Stone
Last month: - [-] / Months on Chart: 1
31). YOUNGBLOOD SUPERCULT – Season of the Witch
Last month: - [-] / Months on Chart: 1
32). MUSTASCH – Thank You for the Demon
Last month: - [-] / Months on Chart: 1
33). MOOSATAUR – Self-Titled
Last month: - [-] / Months on Chart: 1
34). AT DEVIL DIRT – Dinner Is Ready EP
Last month: - [-] / Months on Chart: 1
35). BLACKWITCH PUDDING – Taste the Pudding
Last month: - [-] / Months on Chart: 1
36). FOGHOUND – Quick, Dirty & High
Last month: - [-] / Months on Chart: 1
37). DISENCHANTER – On Through Portals
Last month: - [-] / Months on Chart: 1
38). BUZZHERD – On Sinking Ships … Rats Drown
Last month: - [-] / Months on Chart: 1
39). THE WISDOOM - Hypothalamus
Last month: - [-] / Months on Chart: 1
40). DIRT WIZARD – No Son of Mine
Last month: - [-] / Months on Chart: 1

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