Flamebearer - Brazen (Album Review)

Release Date: April 24th 2024. Record Label: Self Released. Formats: CD/DD

Brazen - Tracklisting

1.Seed Is Sown 03:19

2.Taste Hell 04:05

3.Walls Crumbling 04:24

4.The Grey 05:09

5.Insecure 03:44

6.Holy Rose 06:16

7.Black Tower 05:11

8.See The Lies Away 03:45

9.Kiss The Veil 05:01

Members

 

Dom Bailey - Bass

Thiago Pinho - Drums

Andrew Valiant - Vocals

Alastair Riddell - Guitars

Review

Brazen is the debut full length album from Doom/Stoner Metallers Flamebearer featuring members of bands such as 1968, Decomposed, Oak, Mourn, Blood Island Raiders, Brule and Mocho Diablo. The album is not all full-on Doom/Stoner Metal sounds with Flamebearer allowing a Proto-Metal and Classic Heavy Metal energy being heard within their overall sound. If you dig bands such as Thin Lizzy, The Cult, Cathedral, Saint Vitus and Orange Goblin then Flamebearer is the band you need in your life right now.

Brazen is a gloriously, brash and highly energetic release that works best when it fuses the RETRO metallic sounds with the more free-flowing Stoner Metal elements into an ORGY of NWOBHM and WEEDIAN heaviness. The opening tracks of Seed Is Sown, Taste Hell and Walls Crumbling captures the two worlds of 1980’s NWOBHM excess and the grittier Doom/Stoner Metal passages with a seedy attitude appearing within the more Fuzz/Psych Rock moments. 

Flamebearer move effortlessly throughout the era of 1970s Proto-Doom, 1980’s NWOBHM and 1990’s Stoner Metal with subtle aggression and brash instrumental melodies. Shades of Blues Rock guitars make a welcome appearance before the band explore their Classic Rock sensibilities even further with first rate guitar solos along the way. The vocals expertly delivered with a dominant Heavy Metal delivery becoming slightly Occult Rock at certain times before returning to the standard Hard Rock/Stoner based template which can also be quite demonic in places.

Other standout tracks include The Grey, Insecure, Holy Rose, The Holy Tower, Black Tower and Kiss The Veil which sees Flamebearer bring a rebellious and outlaw-ish streak to their music. The music can be too RETRO at times but when matched against the more modern day Stoner Rock/Metal instrumental passages then the band find their own identity and sound which allows the listener to be rewarded with the catchiest, heaviest and emotionally charged jams on the whole album.

Brazen ends up becoming quite a highly energetic and brilliantly produced Doom/Stoner Rock album with Flamebearer playing to their creative strengths. The record has the perfect balance of Classic Hard Rock swagger and the mean sound of the Doom/Stoner Metal underground scene that allows their debut full length album to be a winner across the board. This is an album that could allow Flamebearer to become more well known within the UK Stoner Metal scene and play some of the best stages the UK has to offer.

Excellent and Highly Recommended.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Flamebearer for the promo.

Links

https://www.facebook.com/flamebearerband
https://www.instagram.com/flamebearerband/?hl=en
https://flamebearer.bandcamp.com/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/4bRBQal2LOKIOvoZTUOjdq

Psych Stoner Rockers THE SWELL FELLAS Premiere New Song CHORE TO BATHE From Upcoming Final Album RESIDUUM UNKNOWN

Nashville heavy psych trio The Swell Fellas release their third and final album Residuum Unknown late July 2024. Encompassing everything the band has to offer on one incredibly written album will leave fans in awe. 

The trio have touring with giants in the industry such as All Them Witches and King Buffalo and built up quite a following in the last 4-5 years. Long time friend and Bassist Mark Rohrer unfortunately had to part ways leaving brothers Chris and Connor Poole a tough decision to end the band. However, not without a proper send off by releasing their best album to date.

We're excited to premiere the first single Chore To Bathe from their upcoming new album Residuum Unknown which you can listen to below thanks to the awesome folks over at Desert Bloom PR

You can pre-order Residuum Unknown from BandCamp now which will be released on July 19th 2024.

Thanks to Desert Bloom PR for all of the info.

Links

Official | Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram

Exclusive Album Premiere Of Psych/Doom/Stoner Metallers KING OF NONE Debut Album IN THE REALM

Finnish Psych/Doom/Stoner Metallers King Of None release their most ambitious record to date with In The Realm and we're happy to host the full exclusive album premiere of the album thanks to the cool folks over at Grand Sounds Promotion and Argonauta Records.

In the Realm’ is our most ambitious undertaking yet, bringing you nine tracks of our most well-crafted riffs, melodies and mayhem. The production process was lengthy and difficult, and also challenged us to go further than ever before, taking our sounds to new heights. The end result is something we’re immensely proud of.

Each song became unique and could have been released as a single, and although the album features a variety of moods, emotions and styles within the genre we loosely represent, the entirety remains solid and coherent.

This is our first album to be released as vinyl. We’re grateful to Argonauta Records for helping us out with the release, we have benefited immensely from their knowledge and contributions.” – says the band

KING OF NONE is a stoner rock group from Helsinki, Finland. Formed in 2013, their signature sound fuses heavy riffs and raspy vocals with progressive elements and psychedelic soundscapes. The band retains all its original members from its inception: Miiro Kärki (vocals), Patrick Enckell (drums), Juho Aarnio (bass), Aleksi Kärkkäinen (guitar) and Juha Pääkkö (guitar). 

With three self-released EPs, the group’s sound has evolved from having a 90s desert stoner rock feel to include more wide-ranging psychedelic and progressive influences from their own musical pasts, while maintaining the same riff-worshipping attitude. They have received attention locally and internationally in the underground stoner rock scene and become known for their energetic and captivating live performances.

In The Realm is available to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl via Argonauta Records from Friday 26th April 2024.

Links

Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram

WORSHIPPER drop first video single 'Acid Burns' and release details of new album "One Way Trip"

WORSHIPPER drop the hard rocking track 'Acid Burns', which sports some glorious Iron Maiden-inflected riffs within the beautifully-designed 70's aesthetics of the track's psychedelic video clip. 'Acid Burns' is the first single taken from the Boston psychedelic hard rockers' forthcoming third album "One Way Trip" which is been chalked up for release on July 19, 2024.

 
Please see below for album details of "One Way Trip".

The video 'Acid Burns' is now available to view below 

You can pre-order One Way Trip now via Magnetic Eye Records

WORSHIPPER comment on 'Acid Burns': "This song is a fast one for us with a nod to NWOBHM but with a surf bridge", guitarist and singer John Brookhouse explains. "Is it about... the perils of tasting the void? Sure. 'Acid Burns' was the first track that we worked on for this record. I love Alex’s solo as it reminds me of a lost Adrian Smith take from 'Powerslave'. Lyrically, you can look at it in a couple of ways, but obviously, it's all through a psych lens. I always like to play with double meanings and mix up metaphors.”

Tracklist

1. Heroic Dose

2. Keep This

3. Windowpane

4. Only Alive

5. Acid Burns

6. James Motel

7. The Spell

8. Onward

With their third full-length, "One Way Trip", Boston, MA psychedelic hard rockers WORSHIPPER have perfected their grand balancing act between classic hard rock and old school heavy metal that is empowered to soar high with the injection of a healthy dose of psychedelia. Rock and metal are all about the hooks and riffs, and the American quartet serves out those catchy delicacies in more than generous helpings.

Although the album title "One Way Trip" and some of the record's songs could be interpreted as relating to drug culture, things aren't so literal here, as WORSHIPPER take a more kaleidoscopic view of the human condition through a psychedelic lens. During the making of the album, three band members suffered personal loss. The opening track, 'Heroic Dose' for example revolves around the choice of a father who had realised in a 'psychedelic epiphany' that he faced a choice between either enlisting or being drafted and sent to the front lines of the Vietnam war. This is also reflected in the order of the tracks being influenced by the psychological horror thriller "Jacob's Ladder" in which a Vietnam veteran is plagued by flashbacks and monstrous visions, and which added a loose circular concept to the entire album.

That a band from Boston takes inspiration from the dark side of art is probably no coincidence as New England is home to such grandmasters of horror as H. P. Lovecraft and Stephen King. Coincidentally, the rebellious city that sparked the American War of Independence and the region are also sizzling hotspots of the East Coast rock scene.

When WORSHIPPER were founded in 2014, it was clear to singer and guitarist John Brookhouse, drummer Dave Jarvis, bass player and backing vocalist Bob Maloney, and guitarist Alejandro Necochea that their new band had to stand out given the high concentration of like-minded and talented local peers. With the mission statement of bringing something exciting and fresh to the table, the still intact original line-up has cranked out impeccable heady and heavy stuff with an emphatic focus on real songs with hooky melodies, creepy vocal harmonies, and twin guitar heroics from the moment of inception.

WORSHIPPER's gift for catchy epic songwriting did not go unnoticed, and soon a record deal established the band globally with the albums "Shadow Hymns" (2016) and "Light in the Wire" (2019) receiving worldwide praise. Their quick success also opened doors for heading out on the road, and WORSHIPPER gladly accepted offers to tour with WEEDEATER in the US and THE SKULL in Europe as well as sharing stages with kindred spirits and heroes such as ELDER, LUCIFER, ACE FREHLEY, and MONSTER MAGNET among many others.

With "One Way Trip", WORSHIPPER not only fulfil the high expectations their third full-length was saddled with, but the Americans are obviously enjoying doing exactly what they're best at: writing damn great songs for an album that has only killers and no fillers!

Line-up

John Brookhouse – vocals, guitar, synth

Dave Jarvis – drums

Bob Maloney – bass, backing vocals

Alejandro Necochea – guitar, synth

Links

www.facebook.com/worshipperband

www.instagram.com/worshipperband

Thanks to Magnetic Eye Records for all of the details.

Austin Psychedelic-Americana band LORD BUFFALO share first single off new album "Holus Bolus"; out July 12th on Blues Funeral Recordings.

Austin heavy psychedelic and Americana purveyors LORD BUFFALO release the first single & video from their forthcoming album "Holus Bolus", to be released on July 12th through Bliues Funeral Recordings.

Lord Buffalo is heavy in the way that ghosts are heavy… in the way that billowing dust is heavy. That is to say, the Austin, TX Psych-Americana band’s music impacts hard, though it seems impossible to touch. Their sound flows through us, it doesn’t invite the Pavlovian response of typical heavy rock music.

Perhaps it’s fitting that their new album "Holus Bolus" takes its name from an antiquated term meaning “all at once.” It materializes instantly from the first opening notes, a grey haze drawing listeners in with deft juxtapositions of droning violin, guitars, drums and vocals.

Watch Lord Buffalo's new video "Holus Bolus"

Stream the single on all digital services

While the quartet wades into the same murky waters as dark emotive brethren Wovenhand, All Them Witches, Chelsea Wolfe, Emma Ruth Rundle, Earth, Echo & The Bunnymen, Nick Cave, the creative interplay of Middle Eastern influences and Western folk Americana takes the record in its own enveloping, meditative direction. Embarking on a sleep-deprived road trance through High Plains iconography, "Holus Bolus" is bleak yet hopeful, a mix that is by now Lord Buffalo's established custom blend.

"Holus Bolus" was recorded by Danny Reisch and Max Lorenzen at Good Danny's in Lockhart, TX, mixed by Danny Reisch and mastered by Max Lorenzen. It will be available in vinyl, CD and digital format on July 12th, with preorders available now through Blues Funeral Recordings.

LORD BUFFALO "Holus Bolus"

Out July 12th on Blues Funeral Recordings (LP/CD/digital)

Preorder on Bandcamp, Bluesfuneral.com and SPKR shop

Exporting the haunting heavy folk of their 2020 full-length "Tohu Wa Bohu" across North America, Lord Buffalo toured as direct support for Elder in the fall of 2023, and previously for England's Church of the Cosmic Skull. They've performed at Psycho Las Vegas (twice), the inaugural Monolith on the Mesa, Ripplefest Texas and more.

NPR Music described Lord Buffalo as, "known for their atmospheric spin on folk-rock, at times sounding like the Anthology of American Folk Music beamed from outer space." The Austin Chronicle called Tohu Wa Bohu, "a dusky, moody, roots-quaking disc of tension and release," and PopMatters summarized the music as, "haunting, American Gothic-inspired lyrical poetry, a torch to light our collective way in times of darkness."

LORD BUFFALO is:

Daniel Pruitt - guitar, bass, piano, vocals, melodica
Garrett Hellman - guitar, sub-bass, piano, synths
Patrick Patterson - violin
Yamal Said - drums, percussion

LORD BUFFALO links

Website ⎜ Facebook ⎜ Bandcamp ⎜ Instagram ⎜ Spotify

BLUES FUNERAL RECORDINGS links

Website ⎮ Facebook ⎮ Bandcamp ⎮ Instagram

Thanks to Purple Sage PR and US/THEM PR Group for all of the info.

The Lumberjack Feedback - The Stronghold (Album Review)

Release Date: April 26th 2024. Record Label: Argonauta Records. Formats: CD/DD/Vinyl

The Stronghold - Tracklisting

1. Kings And Servants

2. Praised The Lord For A Brighter Future

3. Failing To Witness His Mighty Work

4. But All Remembered The Place…

5. The Stronghold

Review

French Instrumental Doom Metal/Post-Metal collective The Lumberjack Feedback return with their epic third album The Stronghold and once again the band take a different approach with their music. As the band is a type of creative outfit that never releases the same type of album twice. The Stronghold may not be as dark as their 2019 album Mere Mortals with the band even adding high amounts of uplifting Ambient Post-Rock compared to the Post-Black Metal carnage that appeared within Mere Mortals.

However, the band still creates vast moments of Psychedelic Doom Metal and Post-Metal with powerful synths being added within the opening track of Kings And Servants. The song is a blend of Post-Metal passages that feels inspired by the likes of Russian Circles and Pelican but with a more sombre and sludgy guitar tone. The record sees The Lumberjack Feedback exploring more SONIC textures and Ambient movements with a Progressive energy allowing the record to be quite organic especially on Kings And Servants and the wonderfully Psychedelic leaning second track Praised The Lord For A Brighter Future.

Praised The Lord For A Brighter Future can be quite therapeutic with a lush and aggressive style of Post-Rock becoming more Post-Doom or Atmospheric Sludge on the later stages of the track. Progressive Metal drumming allows the music to become more daring and melodic at the same time. The Lumberjack Feedback have a free-flowing creative attitude to their instrumental sounds that can be quite surreal and with a world-building quality which they use more intensively on the remaining tracks on the album.

There are small sections of the album where The Lumberjack Feedback abandon their Post-Metal identity and explore the Post-Stoner or Desert/Stoner Rock world to breathtaking results especially on the outstanding third track Failing To Witness His Mighty Work which is perhaps one of the standout tracks. The deft STONER instrumental touches and solitary acoustic guitars allows the listener to see a side to the band that we haven’t experienced before. 

The final two tracks of But All Remembered The Place… and The Stronghold allows The Lumberjack Feedback to return to their Post-Metal world with the heaviest moments on the whole album with that free-flowing Post-Doom or Post-Stoner sound coming at the right opportunity before being deconstructed into a classic style of bleak sounding Post-Metal passages within the final epic title track.

The Stronghold is without doubt The Lumberjack Feedback most emotionally charged, technically impressive and outstanding record to date. All dedicated followers of the Post-Metal scene need to add this wonderful album to their record collection right now. It’s seriously top-level stuff which I’m hoping brings more exposure to this already great band.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Grand Sounds Promotion for the promo.

The Stronghold is available to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl via Argonauta Records from Friday 26th April 2024.

Links

Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram

King Of None - In The Realm (Album Review)

Release Date: April 26th 2024. Record Label: Argonauta Records. Formats: CD/DD/Vinyl

In The Realm - Tracklisting

1.Speeder Approaching 

2.Low'n'Slow 

3.dpd

4.Thousand Light Year Stare

5.Lizards for Brains 

6.For the Ride

7.Snail Trail

8.The Man Who Bought the Multiverse

9.Crab Nebula

Members

 

Miiro Kärki - Vocals

Patrick Enckell - Drums and percussions

Juho Aarnio - Bass

Aleksi Kärkkäinen - Guitars, additional vocals

Juha Pääkkö - Guitars

Review

In The Realm is the new album from Finnish Heavy/Psych/Stoner Rockers King Of None who explore fantastical ideas on the album with the power of the classic Desert/Stoner Rock sound they continue to weave strands of melodic Heavy Rock. The sound is quite progressive compared to their previous 2019 album Weightless Waters with a mixture of classic guitar shredding and Prog Rock tendencies which you can hear within the opening batch of tracks of Speeder Approaching, Low’n’Slow and dpd. 

King Of None showcase a fine amount of 90’s Stoner Rock and Grunge energy on the album with a passionate 80’s Heavy Rock/Metal sound which gives way to some superb guitar solos and instrumental shredding even within the Desert/Stoner Rock environment. The vocals from Miiro are band on point even when King Of None are venturing into other areas outside the sphere of Stoner Rock/Metal. There’s excellent support from Aleksi with the record having a fine balance of aggressive vocal passages and softer moments never moving away from the Heavy Psychedelic sound of the main story of the album. 

In The Realm feels inspired by certain movie franchises within the lyrics and song titles contained on the album but that could be me looking far too much into things. King Of None shows a deft touch at playing a lush and melodic style of Post-Rock and Post-Stoner on different stages of the album. You can hear musical influences such as KYUSS, FU MANCHU, Monster Magnet and even Soundgarden throughout the album though King Of None stand on their own creative authority by exploring creative avenues such as Alt Rock and Classic Hard Rock which allows the instrumental sounds to be always quite fresh and last long in the memory.

Other standout tracks include Thousand Light Year Stare,  Lizards For Brains, The Man Who Bought The Multiverse and Crab Nebula.

The record lasts for around fifty two minutes length and King Of None doesn't waste a single second by grabbing every ounce of HEAVINESS and STONER METAL goodness that become quite JAZZY and DOOM METAL dominated in places. There’s a sense of realism and grittiness to King Of None’s music even when the album becomes more FANTASY driven within the creative narrative of the record.

King Of None have teamed up with Italian Powerhouse label Argonauta Records for In The Realm and it feels like the perfect fit for both parties. As they both bring a subtle and rebellious quality to the underground Stoner Rock/Metal scene which is what we can all do with from time to time. 

In The Realm is a record full of scope and adventure that allows King Of None to deliver an album packed full of incredible STONER based grooves and sounds from start to finish.

Excellent and Highly Recommended.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Grand Sounds Promotion for the promo.

In The Realm is available to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl via Argonauta Records from Friday 26th April 2024.

Links

Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram