Elvis Deluxe – The Story So Far

Elvis Deluxe – The Story So Far

Metal Mind – 2013

Rock, Stoner, Garage, Psychedelic

Rated: *****

On that fateful trip through Poland back in October Elvis Deluxe drummer Miko told me about the rough time bands have in their home country and about the difficult future that lay ahead for his own band. For some reason they were unsure what the forward course of action should be after having delivered the brilliant Favorite State Of Mind album in 2011. To serve as an example for that fact and for the celebration of their tenth anniversary they have now delivered an excellent third album called The Story So Far. On it we find three older songs that take you back towards the beginning of the band and five new ones. They promote the new direction they are taking; a more laid-back, minimalist and improvisational approach without ever forgetting their powerful and noisy background. It’s the art of making love for the right passionate amount of time before finally climaxing. It’s the art of stretching out the tension till it becomes almost transparent and then releasing it. And yes, there are also a few full force straightforward explosions for quick relief!

(Written by JK)

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Lesados – Leziria

Lesados – Leziria

Self released – 2013

Rock, Punk, Stoner

Rated: ***

Portuguese punk formation Lesados has returned with a second album called Leziria and has moved towards the stoner countryside to try and perform something miraculous. Founded in 2011 the three amigos initially tried for a loud and aggressive sound that overwhelmed. They have retained that aspect in their new incarnation, which is bass heavy and even slows down to tractor speed on occasion. It has also kept that choppy aspect of punk and that gritty guitar resonance. The drums fill and freak and the vocalist grunts and howls like a chain-smoking farmer calling his sheepdog. Overall, the five tracks and hidden cover impress with their ability, endeavors and prowess; their attempts to reach stupendous heights. And at times; they even make it all the way up to the clouds! Lesados, plantando as sementes para algo grande!

(Written by JK)

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Elektrohahn und die Legebatterie – Commander Horst Control

Elektrohahn und die Legebatterie – Commander Horst Control

Self-Released – 2013

Biker Rock, Stoner, Psychedelic

Rated: ***

‘Commander Horst Control’ takes the listener on a two wheel trip through biker territory, rough and ready rock n roll, freaking out the squares with some dark psychedelia and even some elektropunk Nintendo sounds (see the intro).  The darkness that Elektrohahn und die Legebatterie drapes like a leather jacket across their otherwise straight-ahead rock sound comes in the form of the steadily thrumming bass groove, which is both hypnotic and addictive.  It forms the solid backbone that the band needs; it’s the highway in other words, upon which the rest of the band burns rubber.  Grunge influences also sneak into the affair, neglecting the formal biker dress code for flannel and shredded baggy denim in the form of some dissonant harmonies and syncopated rhythms.  But always it comes back to the Cream / Blue Cheer / Steppenwolf holy trinity of heavy metal thunder.  And make sure you bring a little patience along with you and ride this trip through to the end of the road, because there is a hidden track buried in the back of the album worth investigating.  Overall, a solid and steady cruise that takes care of rock n roll business.

(Written by Lucas)

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ASG – Blood Drive

ASG – Blood Drive

Relapse – 2013

Rock, Hard, Stoner

Rated: ***

Vocalist Jason Shi’s sound still resembles that of Perry Farrell from Jane’s Addiction. But we are in fact still dealing with ASG from North Carolina. Founded in the year of our lord 2001 the band has already delivered four damn fine albums, but has never made a jump towards the bigger crowds. With their new record Blood Drive that forward bounce might just be waiting around the corner. For they sound like a less aggressive cousin of Mastodon or Baroness and one that was been dabbling in the fun sounds of grunge and nineties alternative. The ever churning riffs, tight drums and impressive solos usually go for that gritty nineties sound but on occasion slow down to knee level banging. And on those moments ASG might impress the most for it shows they do not just simply rumble on without a destination but plot a course and stick to it. Tough, sturdy and solid but with true elegance!

(Written by JK)

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Robot Lords of Tokyo – Virtue and Vice

Robot Lords of Tokyo – Virtue & Vice

RLOT records – 2013

Rock, Metal

Rated: ***

The Robot Lords are back with their third album and a truckload of guest appearances. On their new album Virtue & Vice they storm down a lovely metal highway with small detours towards Southern, Hard, Sludge and Stoner. The six-string guests include Chris Poland (Megadeth), Tracy G (Dio), Wayne Findlay (Michael Schenker Group), Steve Theado (American Dog) and Terry Adams (Propulsion). Together with these animals the Lords have once again prepared another tasty meal at a down and dirty truckstop. It’s their version of classic metal riffs combined with the stoner groove we all dig and a sleazy swagger you’d see among the southern acts and just enough guitar shredding to leave you completely fulfilled. Virtue and Vice is one hell of an intense ride down the rock’n roll freeway. Sometimes you swerve to the left and get some old eighties static on the radio and then you cross to the right to get something heavy and thunderous. But for the most part you just speed down the middle and leave a trail of metal dust!

(Written by JK)

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Queens of The Stone Age - … Like Clockwork

Queens of The Stone Age - … Like Clockwork

Matador – 2013

Rock, Robot, Desert

Rated: ****

During a certain festival there was little time to listen to the streams that came pouring in but there was one that definitely had to be checked out before enveloping oneself once more in the brilliant pool of love and music that is Roadburn. It was the Matador stream that captured my attention. And it entered Like Clockwork. And it definitely turned out to be a good album but moves ever further away from the Queens of The Stone Age we fell in love with before the turn of the century. It has moments that remind of the Era Vulgaris album and things that do that Them Crooked Vultures magic. It is a definite grower and still incorporates that ‘anti’ thing that QOTSA does. The biggest disappointments will probably be the missing of a lot of fuzz; the very limited extra input the many guests produced and the roughness. The plus side of things is that Josh and comrades decided to go for the gusto and make everything as big as possible. Fuck all expectations and fuck that punk adagio he lived by from the Kyuss days. I want to do this, so I’m gonna do this. The result is something gigantic and it might just turn out to be something legendary… After time…

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Paissano – Paissano

Paissano – Paissano

Self released – 2013

Rock, Stoner

Rated: *****

Ola amigo! El pequino burro dijo el erizo… Well; that sentence and a bit more about stones and bumping into them…. Saying hi too loose women. Ordering food, beer and other kind of beverages. And basically all that is needed for wild wild nights are the only words of Spanish I actually speak. Follar Un Pato is another sentence everyone should know! But ofcourse we understand what Paissano must mean. For the music on the self-titled album of this Argentinean formation feels like a long lost brother and a fellow traveler. The sound comes in waves of incredible Kyuss like grooves and even though the few vocal-lines sound nothing like Garcia the diction does. And then the Karma To Burn instrumental heaviness and down right trucking gets you stomping down the terra like some wild beast on the prowl. And with a magical sprinkle that is strictly their own these four compadres turn into a dust storm that will blow everyone away without prejudice. Santa Madre de Dios, joder esto es bueno!

(Written by JK)

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Huata / Bitcho – Split

Huata / Bitcho – Split

Musicfearsatan – 2013

Rock, Drone, Doom, Sludge, Stoner, Noise

Rated: ****

When two perhaps lesser-known but still surely heavyweights of the droning and hypnotic low frequencies team up the world braces itself for impact. And rightfully so for on the just released split record from French natives Huata and Dutch freaks Bitcho the sound becomes intoxicating and almost oscillating with atomic power. The atmosphere feels volatile and dangerous and almost liquefies before your very eyes as the monotone grooves swerve and move and dance and drown out all of your senses. And ever so slightly Huata with tiny remarks and signature suggestions makes you accept that alternate reality. That shimmer in the distance that feels warm to the touch and cold in the heart. Bitcho draws you further into this new dimension and adds a mystic and occult quality that vibrates at the very core of your being and warps and distorts. This is some form of alien hot molten lava disguised as sound…

(Written by JK)

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Ten Foot Wizard – Return To The Infinite

Ten Foot Wizard – Return To The Infinite

Self released – 2013

Rock, Stoner, Blues

Rated: ****

Started as a side-project by members from the groove metal formation Bisonhammer the Manchester quartet Ten Foot Wizard is now showing their love for classic blues rock with that southern edge and a stoner groove in true honest fashion. For their first album Return To The Infinite is chuck full of riffs and guitar handling that make you want to drink foul tasting bourbon and spit yourself silly in a spittoon. With excellent gritty vocals and an ever-present catchy atmosphere that never gets stale or familiar the record aims for heavy rotation on your stereo. Add to this the exceptional dominating dry heat drumwork and one can safely say that we are dealing with impassioned blues rockers that honor that heavy side with verve. Never moving towards something complicated they take their pride in making that elemental groove as grandiose as possible! Simply irresistible!

(Written by JK)

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And ofcourse Lucas has also paid attention on his Paranoid Hitsophrenic!

Boneworm – Boneworm

Boneworm – Boneworm

Self released – 2012

Doom, Metal, Sludge, Rock

Rated: ****

At one point during that unholy lost weekend in Reno we had to hitch a ride to the far side of town. Not because we needed to go there; but because we had to get out of the inner circle fast. For reasons best left unspoken. We had the good fortune or bad luck to be picked up by two freaks in a Camaro. So we felt right at home and nobody complained when we barked out the window and opened dangerous looking phials with weird viscose swirly stuff inside. Rest assured; the rest of the ride turned into a hazy rollercoaster full of bizarre adventures and encounters. But I won’t bore you with all the details and instead thrill you with something that might not even have anything to do with that mad weekend full of terror. This three-piece outfit from Portland, Oregon, goes by the name of Boneworm and is one hell of a creepy crawler. On their first self-titled album they produce three tracks that move in a steady march around a black bubbling cauldron. The procession is slow and steady and never speeds up or falters and only shows slight changes and progression. It’s refreshing to hear a band that refuses to go for the quick kill and just patiently devours you whole…

(Written by JK)

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Killsong – He Is Risen

Killsong – He Is Risen

Art As Catharsis – 2013

Rock, Punk, Funk, Freak, Art

Rated: **

'The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars.' That’s one of the few really good sentences in an otherwise doable book. But if you want to hear something that resembles that sentence or perhaps something that is even weirder you might want to check out the Australian avant-garde funk freak out poetry five-piece that is Killsong. Ye gods man, and I thought I was demented? But on their five-track album He Is Risen they are putting all of us to shame! They definitely go for the gusto in translating their madness into something that can make teddy bears go berserk with bloodlust. This is not for the feeble or the wicked. For the first will start crying and the later will go on a killing spree. For everybody else out there; try this. If it doesn’t flip your head it might just be that last piece missing in your otherwise beautiful and colorful work of art…

(Written by JK)

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Ian James – Human Casualty

Ian James – Human Casualty

Blue FX records – 2013

Rock, Psychedelic, Pop, Alternative

Rated: ***

Lowell, Massachusetts is not a name that will immediately spark a light inside everyone’s mind. But the city has housed quite a few important historical figures and has been a frontrunner in both cultural and technological revolutions. Citizen Ian James will not start the next revolution with his new solo effort called Human Casualty. He will however stand firmly on the barricade with balled fists proclaiming his love for artistry and artisan music. As a solo artist and one man band he expertly navigates the dangers that such an endeavor usually entails. It quickly envelops the mind and throws the listener back through time when the magical Wall of Voodoo paved the way for acts such as The Cure. But he never goes the new wave route; he stays on the psychedelic rock road that uses guitars as weapons and words with deadly precision. He means what he sings and he sings what he feels that needs to be sung. After a few spins the rhythm box becomes the hypnotic lizard nod in your brainstem and his voice the tongue that licks your cerebellum…

(Written by JK)

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