vrijdag 30 september 2011

Hermelin – Erzwo


Hermelin – Erzwo
Self released / 12Rec – 2011
Rock, Post, Ambient, Soundscape, Instrumental
Waardering: ****


The German guys from Hermelin could be used as the poster child for the DoItYourself principle. Not only do they record everything themselves, and self release the whole lot; they also design all the physical manifestations of the band. They print the cd’s themselves, spray paint them, label them and pocket them into handmade boxes. Started in the year 2001 under the name Soaked In Red as an alternative rockband they quickly developed into a postrock formation of great excellence after changing their name to Hermelin. For where a lot of these kind of bands seem to lose themselves too much in endless soundscape compositions; Hermelin shows on their new record Erzwo that they know exactly when to shift to second gear or change the blue sky in an ominous looking thunderstorm. On those moments their earlier alternative rockroots shine through; but during the rest of the atmospheric imagery and delicately woven pieces we can also hear the adventurous spirit of the four gentlemen. Nowhere does it become too dreamy, easy of ethereal; and always does it feel like surprise is spying on you and waiting for the right moment. Hats off!

donderdag 29 september 2011

Herder – Herder


Herder – Herder
Bertus/Reflections – 2011
Metal, Stoner, Sludge, Doom
Waardering: ***


Groningen is the province of the Netherlands with statistically the most earth tremors of the country. Usually they blame the gas extraction in the region for said fact. I reckon the five gentlemen of Herder could just as easily be responsible. Heavy doomcore, fierce sludge, massive metal and a stoner groove to give everything a good shaking. Think Goatsnake, Neurosis, Crowbar, Kylesa, Eyehategod and High On Fire. Pounding and hurling with voltage arcs to cleave through you at the right moment with a razor-sharp knife. The guys have enough experience in bands like DrDoom, Rush N Attack, Aborted, Omission, Urfaust and The Devil’s Blood to master this art and reduce it to a sublime base. They use that to grease things up with ominous guitar lines, aggressive vocals and drums that hammer the surroundings ever further down below the sea level. Dirty, raw, rough and damn hard. Herder is harder; and every word of that is true!


(And with a fan like this, it has to be a great band...)

woensdag 28 september 2011

Wizards of Firetop Mountain – Demo


Wizards of Firetop Mountain – Demo
Self released – 2011
Stoner, Doom, Pyschedelic
Waardering: ****


On their first demo recording the Irish buds of Wizards of Firetop Mountain have us enjoying a wonderful mix of stoner and psychedelic seventies rock with a few little ditties of doom influences for ten whole minutes. Albeit a bit short it is already enough to make us understand that from all the new bands choosing this direction these five fella’s got enough ability to stand out from the pack. The double guitars not only want to shred and riff; no they also know when one note is enough. Formerly a drummer and now singing for the first time Dunchee, (who Roadburn campers might remember from a bus ride full of AC/DC covers) has feeling all the way down to his toes and only has to improve slightly on his ability. And drummer Ror uses pointy punk drumming a complete new and lucious way. The old classic rock feeling of when everything was happening in a new jacket; now all it takes is a full-size album to enchant us all…

dinsdag 27 september 2011

Harry ‘Cuby’ Muskee 10-06-1941 - 26-09-2011


Harry ‘Cuby’ Muskee 10-06-1941 - 26-09-2011



Harry Muskee, the Dutch godfather of the blues, the impassioned singer who sung out of bittersweet and serious necessity has yesterday passed away on the age of seventy after a battle with cancer. As founder and frontman of Cuby + Blizzards he brought the blues to Holland in the sixties and kept preaching it in all the years that followed. In 1967 he made Holland vibrate with the legendary album Groeten Uit Grollo with a young Herman Brood as piano player. A few years later troubles begin within the band and Harry had to find other outlets to profess his love for the blues. Which he did through bands such as the Harry Muskee Band. But at the beginning of the nineties Cuby + Blizzards got a second chance and with it; the admiration and respect for all the work that had gone before grew even more. The last studio album Cats Lost from 2009 recorded with the help of folksinger Daniël Lohues who hails from the same province (Drenthe) will get a follow-up; for together they had been working in secret on the record Dogs Found of which all songs are apparently completely done. Today we listen to Cuby and we greet sir Muskee…


Back… And ready for action…



Back… And ready for action…


Three weeks of total freedom from the outside and desperately wicked world. No humming or buzzing sounds of electronic equipment with its deadly radiation, only from a few lost mosquitoes and the old worn down ventilator spinning on the ceiling above and enough ouzo, raki, metaxa and mastiha to best the entire Russian army in a drinking contest and to let it all die in drunken nights full of mayhem and chaos. Three weeks of a blistering sun above and enough weird adventures to quench ones hunger for at least a week or two; always wanted to learn how to butcher a pig…


They scream, peep, squeal and warble for only a time or two when the knife goes in… And in goes the knife!

zaterdag 3 september 2011

Off the grid...


Off the grid...




Off the grid for a couple of weeks. Battling vicious mosquito’s and equally dangerous dehydration bouts with copious amounts of rum… Should I escape this terrible ordeal I will feel once again like a man reborn, a man on the move and just sick enough to be totally confident. Indeed; and that’s the only way to go about this thing… The good Doctor already taught us that… And so… We head off; into the wild and dangerous territories that will spark the imagination, ignite the lust for adventure and set ablaze the fire in ones loins...



See y’all in a couple of weeks!

Marant – Desert Dude Rock


Marant – Desert Dude Rock
Self released – 2011
Stoner
Waardering: *****


The five Swiss freaks from Marant treat the listener to three songs of excellent desert music. Their self produced demo EP entitled Desert Dude Rock is a pure ode to the origins of the sandy stoner as we know it from legends like Kyuss. Singer Jimmy Con Carna even sounds like John Garcia on occasion. Endless fuzzy riffings and a masterly groove to float on. This is where we freaks all live for; try to keep your head still. Impossible, the driving drums and fellow guitars work on yer tympanic membrane from the first seconds and send their rhythm to the core of your soul. Marant brings us stoner in all its glory and does this with passion and golden zest! Let’s hope the gentlemen will treat us to a complete album soon!

vrijdag 2 september 2011

Smokescreen – The Human Condition


Smokescreen – The Human Condition
Self released – 2011
Rock, Metal, Stoner, Southern
Waardering: ****


Smokescreen has been proving its reputation all across the British isle of being a top shelf live-act for the past ten years. They have toured with a truckload of bands among which Prong, Stuck Mojo and Raging Speedhorn. After releasing a few mini-albums they now thought it was time to release their first full-sized one. The Human Condition travels down the road of heavy rock and metal; think Pantera, Prong, Down and Black Stone Cherry. Tasty groove with unusual breaks, quiet moments, stoner trucking and chunky metal. The record offers more then enough and with some old school guitarsolo’s and tight riffing by the two axeslingers it’s easy to enjoy. This also counts for drummer Peter Marks who colors it all with intense and profound fills and rhythms. And then there is the singer, one young Sam Loose; who seems to have lived a life before this with his haunted, smoky and raspy voice. Although the clean parts could perhaps use a bit more work. Here and there the production could have been a bit more luscious; but yer a mope if you dwell on that. Very curious when they head over to the Netherlands?

Red Fang – Murder The Mountains


Red Fang – Murder The Mountains
Relapse – 2011
Rock, Stoner, Metal, Seventies
Waardering: ****


Gritty, muddy and hard; that’s how the guys from Red Fang start only to quickly use more listener friendly influences. And then leave that direction again. In this way the band easily moves from Goatsnake like sludge to driving seventies rock and back to slow metal again. And with that their new album Murder The Mountains proves to be a highly diverse record that never tires for a moment. Think Mastodon, Kylesa, Sabbath, Zeppelin, Queens of The Stone Age, Baroness, The Sword, Torche and Melvins. And with two vocalists, one clean and one rough their diversity is emphasized once more. Swinging stoner alternated with smoky groove and swampy metal. Raw, infectious and even though the album never become truly memorable, it keeps entertaining and above all surprising. Cause you often discover new treats. Lovely record by these American comedians!

donderdag 1 september 2011

Redcoats – Redcoats


Redcoats – Redcoats
Universal/Island – 2011
Rock, Stoner, Sixties, Groove, Blues, Psychedelic
Waardering: *****


The Redcoats started out in Melbourne, Australia and the band consists of four friends who started out making the music they longed to hear on the radio but all stations refused to play. To write their songs they head out to the Australian outback and jam for hours on end deconstructing the recordings and puzzling out the best pieces to use for new songs. Their self-titled EP is therefor a very diverse yet very consistent piece of brilliance. Melodic rock with a lovely blues feel and a psychedelic shine that could have been directly stolen from the sixties. It fits snugly between the generally accepted alternative rock of radios and hazy, smoky stoner groove, which can only be heard in back alley bars and at every fellow freaks home. The vocalist with his high quivering and fluttering voice glides and films across the guitar licks like oil on water. The spirit of Zeppelin and Sabbath resides here; and whispers sweet secrets in their ear…