A Great Band From Belgium

Hypnos 69 is a Belgian Stoner Rock band with several influences. I've seen them last year and they perform very well. The musicians play at a high level and I like that saxophone.
The first time I heard The Intrigue Of Perception was on the way home from Roadburn 2007. And after those two days of great music this album really blew my socks off. The album starts easy with The Endless Void and while listening the album gets better and better. My personal highlight is Twisting The Knife.

"A thick and swirly combination stoner rock, psychedelia and 70s guitar rock with a little bit of old Pink Floyd mixed throughout. The Intrigue of Perception is a high-calibre mix of Colour Haze, Euroboys, Spoiler and Grand Funk Railroad, to name but just a few ingredients."
(From AllThatIsHeavy)

Hypnos 69 - The Intrigue Of Perception (2004)

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Do You Want SMOKE?

Ok, this album was available as direct download at this blog. But to bad, the link went down. Smoke from sunny California is a Stoner Rock band with some 70's influences. For you who didn't get this album... DO IT NOW!

Who would've thought that a band named Smoke would play stoner rock? Smoke's music could be compared to a lot of bands, and most of those bands sound pretty much the same too, which immediately makes me wonder if this is really worth the while. Smoke like big fuzzy guitars, pentatonic riffs and whawha-filled solos, The singer sounds somewhat like Danzig meets a bored Lemmy, and isn't too unlike ol' Monster Magnet's Wyndorf. Overall the music sounds really nice, with a thick sound and some nice riffs coming up here and there, though there'll be a lot of "hey, a 'Sabbath riff, hey, a Krawitz riff" exclamations throughout. But once the album's over, I never find any urge to play it over again. Further listens have only brought me to the conclusion that Smoke might be heaps of fun in a live setting, but actually listening to the CD is a bit of a chore and makes me want to drag out that last Goatsnake CD instead.

The production is fairly nice, slightly muddy, but powerful enough to help the music. The whole album is stringed together by short atmospheric interludes, which I suppose is nice, though not really necessary. While the songs vary enough that you can tell them apart, there's no big stylistic leaps here, aside from some piano from time to time. But hey, I suppose a bossanova would be dreadfully out of place in the middle of all this.

There is unfortunately only one song on here that I've taken any particular liking to, and that's "Devil Down". I'm not sure quite what happened there, but this song starts out sounding like a lost Kyuss track, and a good one at that! Then leads into one of Smoke's finer moments. It does, however, lose some steam after a while. Still, this song leads me to the hope that Smoke might have something to them after all, and might write some better music in the future. But for now, I see no reason for anyone but the real stoner rock enthusiasts to bother with Smoke.
(By Øystein H-O at Satan Stole My Teddybear)

Smoke - Smoke Follows Beauty (2002)

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Five Demos In One Post Pt.2

I couple of days ago I posted five demos in one post. Here is the same idea, some upcoming talent that must be heard. Visit the MySpace pages for further info.

Ride The Giant - Demo (2008)

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The Zoids - In Charge EP (2006_

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Nestor - Promo (????)

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Rocksonic - Demo (2009)

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Brutus - Demo (2008)

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Swedish Stoner Metal.

Kaptain Sun is a Stoner band from Sweden with some huge Metal influences. Their music contains everything: Great riffs, nice rhythms and a singer with a great voice.
This is their first EP. After this one they made to full-length albums.

KAPTAIN SUN was formed in the fall of 1998 from the band Clandestine. Clandestine started in 1993 with Anders Håkansson, Marcus Hamrin, Rickard Gustafsson and Martin Lindholm. At this time the bandmembers was about 13 to 16 years old and didn´t know much about life more than that alcohol was strong and that heavy metal was the coolest thing in the world. Two demos and one guitarist later, Andreas Svensson took over the heavy task as a lead guitarist in -98. Clandestine changed from being a gothic metal-band in the spirits of Paradise lost and My dying bride and started to sound more like bands such as Gorefest and Cathedral, and the name "Clandestine" did now longer fit in with the sound or the music. KAPTAIN SUN released their first official release in september 2000 on Rage of achilles records, England. The release was a six track EP called "Trip to vortex". In september 2003 KAPTAIN SUN released their debut album, "Rainbowride", just as before on Rage of achilles records. And now, 2005, KAPTAIN SUN releases their 2nd album, "Blood, rock n´ roll & black angels", on their own label, Metal Breed Records.
(Bio from their website)

Kaptain Sun - Trip To Vortex (2000)

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Five Demos In One Post

Here are some demo recordings I found on the internet. They are recent and very interesting for Stoner fans. So check 'em out.

Psychewalks Of Eternal Karma - Swamp (2009)

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DeDam - Goodmorning Headache (2009)

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Dopefight - Demo (2009)

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Threefold Law - Killer Of The Sultan (2009)

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Keef - Demo (2008)

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Fly On With These Canadian Stoners

Sea Of Green is a Psychedelic Stoner band from Toronto, Canada with some 70's Hard Rock influences. Time To Fly is their second from three albums. This is enjoyable listening stuff when you smoked some "Sea Of Green" (Even if you didn't!) Their version of Pink Floyd's Breathe is very nice!

Sea of Green's live shows -- with their liquid lights, incense, smoke machines, and pyrotechnics -- evoke the heaviness of the early '70s as much as their monstrous, riffed-out, and slightly skewed music. With a sound that draws logical connections between Black Sabbath and Pink Floyd, the band produces a head-trip of seriously psychedelic stoner rock. Sea of Green formed in 1999 in Toronto, Canada, when bassist Eric Kuthe (whose parents used to run a rock club in Toronto in the '70s that played plenty of Sabbath, Hendrix, and Grand Funk Railroad) and drummer Chris Bender got together with guitarist Travis Cardinal to jam. Cardinal took over vocal duties and the band began to write songs, citing influences as varied as the Queens of the Stone Age, Cream, and Oasis. They released their first EP, Northern Lights, on the Music Cartel label in July of 2000. The band completed their first full-length in late 2000 at the Chalet in Toronto. Time to Fly, produced by Nick Blagona of Nazareth and Deep Purple fame, and which includes a mind-bending cover of Pink Floyd's "Breathe," secured Sea of Green as one of the leading purveyors of psychedelic metal. On their latest album, Chemical Vacation, drummer Matt Dowd was introduced to the line-up. Due to obvious drug references in many of their lyrics, Sea of Green are largely classified as stoner rock.
(From MySpace)

Like I've said in the "Northern Lights" review, the full-length will show the qualities of this Canadian band and after a lot of spins in my player I must admit, that "Time To Fly" is a high-quality debut. The album includes eleven tracks and a fine cover-version of Pink Floyd's "Breathe". There's still this British-sounding influence in a few of the songs, especially vocalwise. And this time I don't think of Sabbath, it's more in the Psychedelic vein. But I won't say, that SEA OF GREEN are a Psych-Rock band or a Doom band. They are playing classic 70's influenced heavy Rock, that's very catchy, melancholic and positive in words and sound. And they aren't trying to imitate todays boring cliches (you know what I mean!). "Time to Fly" ranges from softer tracks to hard-rocking stuff and so it doesn't belong to the sort of albums, where you think that you've listen only to one long song. Everything is arranged very well and the production of Nick Blagona (Deep Purple, Nazareth, The Police) just fits. This isn't a groundbreaking album, but it's very solid and the more you listen to it the more you'll like it. It was released in 2001 on Rise Above Records and on The Music Cartel. If you want to know more about SEA OF GREEN, check out their homepage.
(Review from Cosmic Lava)

Sea Of Green - Time To Fly (2001)

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Hungarian Stoner Doom Metal

Stereochrist from Hungary play Stoner Doom with a Metal touch. And I must say they do it well. If you like Down, you will like Stereochrist.

Second album by the other half of Hungary's defunct doom maniacs MOOD, featuring Makó Dávid as the new throat. Stereochrist tread across Down, Sabbath and Trouble, amongst others, as influences, and it shows strongly in their riffs and personality. A very southernish sound is present, which partially gives the Down comparison. 50 minutes of pulsating doom rock including Down's "Bury Me In Smoke" as superb bonus track.
(From The Stoned Circle)

Stereochrist - Live Like a Man (Die As a God) (2006)

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Just Drums And Bass

Subrig Destroyer is a Stoner Doom band from Athens, Georgia, U.S.A. This band is just like Om only drums and bass, but here we've got two drummers and one bass! According to their MySpace page, they're unfluenced by the following bands: Electric Wizard, Glazed Baby, Torche, Sons of Otis, High On Fire, Big Business, Om, YOB, Fu Manchu, Pentagram, Dragon Green, Earth, Goatsnake, Pickmans Model and I think that you got a pretty good desciption of their music.
I like this stuff when I'm stoned, those long monotone grinding passages are really enjoying me. See for yourself end let me know your opion.

Loud fuzzed out bass and drums crushing and deep, sounds the way you want a two piece to sound like.
(From MySpace)

Subrig Destroyer - Rode Asunder EP (2009)

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Saint Petersburg Finest.

Here is another fine jewel from Russia. The Grand Astoria from Saint Petersburg make solid Stoner Rock that I can't compare with anything. There are several influences on this album. The highlight is The Man, The Desert, The Sun. This song starts with a Blues thing and then it develops to a Metal jam. Go listen and let me know what you think.

The Grand Astoria - The Grand Astoria (2009)

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Buffalo Stoner.

Chylde is a band hailing from Buffalo, U.S.A. and they make some good sounding Psychedelic Stoner Rock. The guitar players do some outstanding work here. Good riffs, good rhythems, so what do you want more? Go enjoy it!


Within the first three or four minutes of the opening track “Stride”, I am almost sure that the grinding boogie punished one of the speakers to the point where it blew out a woofer. No kidding. That is probably exactly what Buffalo’s Chylde was going for across this thoroughly impressive debut of boomy, doomy riff rock. Call it what you want: “real” metal or “stoner rock” or “doom.” Whatever the proper nomenclature might be, it’s a lock that the psychedelically-tinged, smart, and virtuosic 8-song full length of unabashed heaviness is right in the path of lineage from Black Sabbath, Blue Cheer, St. Vitus, Soundgarden, Kyuss, and Black Mountain. Now It Can Be Told trades mightily on the strength of the muscular twin guitars of Jon Bobo and Bryce March and the steady and unrelenting pound from rhythm section bassist Thor Johnnson and drummer Michael Ozimek. Chylde has that rare thing that most bands long for but rarely attain: they lock. There’s a precision that runs across Now It Can Be Told exemplifying a band that simply comes together and makes it pour out—or in this case, build to an explosion.
Recorded to analog tape at Matt Smith’s Hi/Lo Studios in Eden, NY the album at once sounds like it was delicately labored over –every note precise, each take scrutinized - but also bears that feel like it all just flowed out of these four guys. “Lost In A Galaxy” is bleak and heavy blues loaded with lick after lick. “The Ripper” is a tour de force mini-epic where Bobo and March’s guitars twist in a sinewy coda. This is another Buffalo recording (arguably the most in a long time) ready for a vinyl edition.
Bring on the 180g double gatefold version already, Chylde!
(By Donny Kutzbach from Artvoice.com)

Chylde - Now It Can Be Told (2009)

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This Is What LG Petrov Did During Clandestine.

During the recording of the Clandestine album, the vocalist LG Petrov has left/was kicked out of Entombed. He joined Entombed again before the recording of Wolverine Blues.
In his absence LG joined Comecon, a Death Metal band that used a drum computer. Comecon is very linked to Entombed. (See the band logo). After LG returned to Entombed, Comecon made two records with other singers. One of them was Martin van Drunen from Pestilence.

Comecon was a fairly minor band in the old Swedish scene, and if they were only semi-visible then, they've become invisible now. This is their best album, a borderline-classic with good songwriting, excellent production (which is a little cleaner than the standard for Sunlight), and enough unique and interesting touches to get your attention. Musically it's a midway point between classic Swedish death like Entombed or Dismember, and the early death/thrash of Pestilence (whose singer Martin Van Drunen is also the singer on this album - taking the place of LG Petrov). Tempos are generally mid or fast, no blast beats. Van Drunen's vocals are similar to what he did on Pestilence's "Consuming Impulse" - mid-pitched and hoarse.

The first Comecon album (Megatrends in Brutality) is also worth checking out, especially if you're an Entombed fan. But this is their high-water mark.
(From the web)

Comecon - Megatrends In Brutality (1992)

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So It Goes

Nebula from L.A. does not need any introduction. I just had the urge to post Atomic Ritual. I guess that everyone knows this album, but I had to post it because it's one of the best Stoner albums ever! If you don't, check it now.
By the way, I like that bonus track version of Atomic Ritual more.

"Atomic Ritual is unquestionably a bold statement that Nebula are BACK! The band sounds like they are having fun again, and are not afraid to meander a bit into “jam” territory. This record is a good balance between To The Center’s multi-instrumental layering and the straightforward rocking of Charged, with some truly memorable riffs being dealt in the process. The sitar, sadly, has not returned, but I imagine the band wanted to keep things relatively concise for live performance consideration."

"Perhaps the most exciting facet of this album is the guitar work of Eddie Glass…he really rips it up, soloing like a madman. He sounds like he has something to prove, and I’ll go on record as being very much convinced! The riffs are also HEAVY, among the heaviest they have ever done. And while Nebula have never been known for deep, obtuse lyrics, this is another element that has improved from the last album.

This album is a mandatory purchase for any degree of Nebula fan, and would make an ideal purchase for a newcomer."
( By Toka from StonerRock.com)

Nebula - Atomic Ritual (2003)

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Space And Stoner, And They're From Holland!

I guess that Out Of Orbit will be one of my favourite releases from 2009. Stone Oak Cosmonaut is a band from Utrecht (My city of birth) and they combine Stoner Rock and Space Rock with a touch of Metal (Hard Rock?). I can't wait to see them in action, but they will hit the stage after they finished their new CD. And that's good news!

SOC are a new Dutch band from Utrecht. These guys play what I would call Space metal. Anyone remember the old Cleveland band, Space Core with ex-Destructor members? This is a bit like that material but with a singer who sounds a lot like Wino (Spirit Caravan, St. Vitus, Hidden Hand). Most of the tracks are pretty long with only 3 out of 9 under 6 mins.

The opening track is the shortest at 4:41 and gives you a taster for the heavy riff rock that this band lays down. This track sounds a lot like Spirit Caravan with some more spacey sounds mixed in. A Circle Run starts off quite spacey with some nice synths sounds and bass before the monster guitar kicks in about half way through it gets spacey again. Great track. Away in the Laika begins with a synth drone but quickly the fast and heavy guitar riff kicks in. This is a bit more stoner rock like and again will really remind you of Hidden Hand, Spirit Caravan. It gets quite psychedelic at the end. A Light in the Dark starts off slow and spacey but then about 4 mins a killer transition kicks in and the track gets really heavy and the track takes off. Great stuff. The Gift of the Eyeless Merchant has one of the heavier riffs on the records and just rocks, not that spacey! Next up is the Our of Orbit two piece suite that last 25 minutes and is the highlight of the CD. It begins with some electronics like early Hawkwind stuff before taking off…Very melodic and spacey to start and some great bass playing around 3 mins starts to drive the track out into a new territory and then the guitar… The track really builds up into a great Space-Stoner rocker track. The 2nd part begins with a guitar solo and then some samples including Apollo 17 stuff and some spacey synths as well. The last half is a really great trip and some heavy guitar parts as well. Reborn Again starts with a fast bass line before the more rock and roll guitar kicks in. This track is more of a basic rock song to start but again you will be reminded of Wino and the vocals are a bit more psychedelic. The CD ends with Oh Yeah which has one of the heavier meaner riffs on the record.

The band wanted to rock out at the end. Great debut CD. I really look forward to hearing the next one.
(By Scott from Lowcut.dk)

Stone Oak Cosmonaut - Out Of Orbit (2009)

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Impressive Swedish Crustcore.

What can I say? The first time I heard this album I was totally stunned. It was overwhelming: the aggression, that sound, those vocals!
Go and experience it yourself

In the style of namesake Discharge, the Scandinavian hardcore assault of Disfear uses blistering distortion and a constant throbbing beat to wrap the steady progressions of melodic chords which permit a resonant synthesis of atmosphere, producing a style that would be best described as ambient hardcore. An example in finest form is provided by the pumping offbeat riff of two short phrases extending and concluding an open interval melodic fragment.

Unearthly, nearly happy drums and acerbic bass surge along with guitar and guard their own textural layers for the purposes of strategically making reentry or playing other themes alongside their counterparts. Ragged grind-emo vocals and looping two-line lyrics create an instrument of suspense over the crunching peaks of detonating powerchords sliding into one another, each riff stressing its own resonance to lead rhythm. Where most punk bands repeat chords in riff harmony, Disfear borrow death metal architectures of motion in the structure of riffs, creating architectures of motion divided by rhythm into clear figures where the phrase itself defines shape and in what intervals are not filled by chromatic or whole scale chording, a harmonic potential of slight nature emerges for a clustering of micro-riffs to support it. Songs as a whole are simple and like those of Discharge drift into ambience with the hypnotism of a constant beat and sliding perspective shifts in riffing changing outside the dominant tempo to create a sense of adjusted time and place.

The ambience of that form and the deliberate currency of themes create a hopeful self-empowered sense of change which lends itself to the concepts of extreme protest which are belabored in lyrics less expressive of a truth than recognizable as a part of certain viewpoints associated with emotional interpretations of politics. The surges of rhythm and pulsing, living heartbeat of a timekeeping section however dominate all external criticism while the music within is given life by its frenetic motion and periodic insight into the momentum of its own melody. From this band this album is the clearest and most enduring work so far.
(From Anus.com)

Disfear - Soul Scars (1995)

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One Of The Many Things Jello Biafra Did.

Jello Biafra is a well know Punk singer who got famous with the Dead Kennedys. At this album he worked with D.O.A.

Last Scream of the Missing Neighbors is a real classic, especially the last song, Full Metal Jackoff. This epic song almost last 14 minutes and has some great guitar playing. Enjoy!

The first of Jello's post-Dead Kennedys collaborations was a barnburner; hooking up with Canada's legendary DOA ensured all the punk power that fans could want would be there in a big way. Even though Joey Keithley and company aren't quite as agile as Jello's ex-bandmates -- everything here is more brutally Motorhead in feel than the nervous aggro and sometimes restraint of the Kennedys -- this album can't be faulted for sheer crunch. Jello himself is in fine voice throughout, tackling his favored targets with the frenetic bile that he's made his own. Some of the songs have become outdated -- "Wish I Was in El Salvador" is very much of the '80s -- but "Attack of the Peacekeepers," memorably tarring NATO's forces as "the joke brigade," has had just as much of a point after Kosovo. "Power Is Boring" captures Jello at his most hilarious, pointing out how being a dictator must really stink (the job security issue alone, for one). Not much on the first side varies from song to song musically -- pounding, chunky feedback that smashes head-on, along with good gang-shout choruses from the band more than once -- but if that's the needed fix, this album provides in spades. The wild card here is a spooky, mid-paced romp through the Animals' "We Gotta Get Outta This Place," with Jello's tremulous vocals suiting the lyrics perfectly and Keithley's backup on chorus fitting in, in its own rough way. The concluding, side-long "Full Metal Jacket" takes absolutely no prisoners, elevating Last Scream from good to great. With Keithley in particular turning in some great guitar work over a steady, snaky rhythm, Jello offers up one of the most bilious, pointed slams against Washington D.C.; this album is as "city/feds-as-corrupt-institution" as you could imagine. Kennedys artist Winston Smith offers up some great cover art to top it all off.
(By Ned Raggett from All Music Guide)

Jello Biafra With D.O.A. - Last Scream of the Missing Neighbors (1989)

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Drone Doom from Ukraine

Slow+Low=Doom Drone!
Schperrung is a Doom Drone band from Ukraine with members from the Stoner band Mozergush. This album is originelly released as tape. The music is real slow, die-hard doom fans will really like this.

Schperrung - Häxan (2009).jpg

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Stoner Rock From Denver, Colorado

Bronze is a Stoner band hailing from Denver, U.S.A. These guys play some decent Stoner Rock with some 70's Rock influences.
I can't find any info on this album beside their MySpace.
Anyway, I like it and maybe you do. Just try it.

Bronze - Bronze (2009)

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Some Re-Ups

Here are some re-ups that are removed from my Mediafire account. I don't know why Mediafire removed these files, they didn't notify me anyway.

Bull Dyke Rodeo - Jailbreak

Colour Haze - Chopping Machine

Colour Haze - Periscope

Demon Cleaner - The Freeflight

Øresund Space Collective - The Black Tomato

And please... Report broken links.