Land Before Time

Thanks to Nick from the Band Cower for sharing their free download album!
From the state of Oregon comes the band Cower. This foursome plays a mix of Hardcore, Punk and Sludge. Many tracks on their album Land Before Time are pretty heavy and aggressive. The music is played well. I especially like the sound of the guitar.
The song Here Comes The Sunn also appears on the Mary Janet In Music Vol. 1 compilation. Enjoy!

Cower - Land Before Time (2010)

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The Mary Janet In Music

This is a great compilation by the DIY label The Ghost Is Clear Records. The Mary Janet In Music Vol. 1 compilation contains 35 tracks and these bands represent genres as Hardcore, Heavy, Metal, Sludge and Stoner. If you want to hear what The Ghost Is Clear Records is about, then you should listen to this compilation. Enjoy!

The Mary Janet In Music Vol. 1 (2010)

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Tracklist:

1. Bleeding Kansas - Lucky
2. Canyons - Nate Jameson
3. Doubt - Quick Mouth
4. Hammers - Snow
5. Foreign Theaters - Cycles
6. The Pick Up - The Amazing Hoax
7. Recession - Manifest Destiny
8. Illustrations - Violence
9. Lord Green - Higher Than God
10. Prize Country - I Could Be A Knife
11. Ghost Town Electric - Atomic Temple
12. Across Tundras - Weary Travellers Rest (Exclusive Demo Version)
13. Hercules - If you've got the Stash we've got the Ca$h
14. Isolation - Brazen Bull
15. Creeper - Brannigan
16. Cower - Here Comes the Sunn
17. Jument - Branches Above
18. Cloud Mouth - Flex Yr Head (Live @ WHPK)
19. The Farley Overdose - Buzzard Gut
20. Bone Dance - Nom De Guerre
21. Benoit - Alone I Dream
22. Fight Pretty - Nightwalkers
23. Altered State - Guillotine Proof
24. Badmouth - Nostrildamus
25. The Burden - Swastika
26. Dead Heroes - Heartache
27. CTL - Forever
28. Burn Idols - Mindfuck
29. Girls of Porn - Bong Rips / Big Tits
30. Casting Curses - Hey Disbeliever
31. Anxiety Attack - Planet Piss
32. The Love Below - Serious Delerium
33. Tragic Ends - Broken Fingers
34. Capsize - Nothing Changes
35. No Discretion - Cold World

The Ghost Is Clear Records MySpace - Blogspot - Bandcamp

Nice Argentinian Grunge

Thanks to the guys of Likwid for sharing their album!
Likwid is an alternative Rock band from Córdoba, Agentinia. This foursome plays mainly Grunge with influences such as Funk, Punk and in my opinion even a bit Stoner Rock. The result is this self-titled album. It is a nice piece of work. It contains twelve decent tracks and these are pleasant to the ear. Enjoy!

Likwid began rehearsing in 2000, intending to achieve a modern sound while respecting the roots of what we know as grunge. The band's style of a power trio with separate voice, achieving an 90's sound, mixing rock, funk and punk. It was from August 2001 we started playing live, touring much of the local circuit in various places such as Coronado, Tabasco, Diogenes, Captain Blue, Al Azif, Casa Babylon and festivals of great magnitude in the Interior of Cordoba in our city, such as festivals Paralocs and la Primavera en el Parque de las Naciones,, in addition to massive events such as concerts in Plaza San Martin of the Inspectorate, college festivals, benefit, etc. playing a leading role as a band of stars in some cases. The themes of the band are unique. All songs are sung entirely in English (for now). The lyrics are made by Martin, while the music comes from trials of the band together. Likwid said goodbye after four years of stage and missed a last show on Friday, June 17, 2005 in Captain Blue, after almost a year without playing live.
(Translated from MySpace with Google translate)

Likwid - Likwid (2004)

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MySpace - Facebook - Youtube - Pure Volume

Massive Impressive

Thanks to Jelle from the Electric Earth label for sending this promo!
SardoniS is a Belgian duo that plays some awesome Instrumental Sludge/Doom Metal. Their first release was a 7' single in 2008. This is their impressive self-titled debut album, released in april 2010 by MeteorCity.
The nine songs on this album have a very dark atmosphere and are heavy as hell. What strikes me are the heavy riffs. These guys did a really great job on this album. All with all an excellent and recommended album!
On the first of october this album will be released on vinyl, but there's only a limited number of 500! (300 on black and 200 on silver vinyl!) This is a co-release between the labels Electric Earth Records (Belgium), Heavy Birth Records (The Netherlands) and Hydro-Phonic Records (U.S.A.). So hurry if you want to get it! Enjoy!

SardoniS - SardoniS (Promo CD 2010)

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Buy it here, here or here

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Swedish Ancestors?

Thanks to Rudy for suggesting this awesome album!
Baby Grandmothers were a Psychedelic Hard Rock band from Sweden. This trio was inspired by music such as Jimi Hendrix and Cream. Their self-titled album from 1968 is an absolute classic.
This album contains excellent songs, especially the tracks Bergakunden and Being Is More Than Life. These are long-drawn-out songs where guitarist Kenny Håkansson excels. This guy is almost as much a virtuoso like Jimi Hendrix was! Baby Grandmothers were even support act for Jimi Hendrix on his Swedish tour in 1968!
Baby Grandmothers was an awesome band and this album is highly recommended! Enjoy!

One of Sweden’s most obscure psychedelic treasures, Baby Grandmothers evolved out of the T-Boones in 1967 and only officially released one single in Finland (Eteenpäin!, aka Forward!, May 1968) during their lifetime before the power trio of guitarist, Kenny Håkansson, bassist, Bengt “Bela” Linnarsson and drummer, Pelle Ekman joined forces with Mecki Bodermark in the reincarnated Mecki Mark Men, a highly prized, Swedish psych outfit that released a much-loved 1969 album for Mercury, ‘Running In The Summer Night.’ (MMM, rumoured to be Hendrix favorite Swedish band, were also the first Swedish band to tour America, where they recorded their final album, ‘Marathon’ at Chess studios in Chicago, later to be released by Sonet in 1970.) This archival release (which marks the 40th anniversary of the band’s formation and was compiled with detailed, historical photos and liner notes by Dungen guitarist, Reine Fiske) includes various live recordings of mostly soundboard quality (although the source tapes appear to have been sonically washed for improved presentability – these are definitely not your dodgy, microphone down the pant leg audience recordings), which only scratch the surface of conveying what the band sounded like, but will be of much interest to fans of fellow Swedish psych monsters, Pärson Sound and their myriad offshoots such as International Harvester and Träd, Gras och Stenar. A taste of the band’s mind-melting attack is evident the A-side to that single, ‘Somebody Keeps Calling My Name,’ wherein Håkansson moans the title like some psychotic patient in a mental ward before ripping off a brain-bending solo for a track that’s much more focused (but no less psychedelic) than the hippy-dippy assaults of their fellow countrymen. Imagine vintage Cream and Syd Barrett-led Pink Floyd morphing into a primeval Hawkwind sonic brain attack and you’re on the right track.

The flip side is up next (‘Being Is More Than Life’), presented here (as was the opener) from a live Finnish broadcast on March 24, 1968. It’s a meandering, freeform improv, which is essentially an elongated Håkansson guitar solo. Surely, one of the most unusual (and, at nearly six minutes, one of the longest) singles, psych or otherwise to come out of the Scandinavian sixties scene. A two-song, nearly 40-minute(!) live performance from late October, 1967 at the legendary Swedish psychedelic underground club FILIPS (where the Grandmothers were the house band) yields the 17-minute ‘Burgakunden’ and a nearly 20-minute version of the single’s B-side! The former is a rafter-rattling chunk of heavy psychedelia and together they just may be the most impressive examples of vintage Swedish psychedelia you’re ever likely to hear. Although it’s unknown whether this was one such recording, but the band did share the FILIPS stage for all-night jam sessions with the likes of Hendrix and The Mothers when they rolled through town, and Jimi’s influence, particularly on Håkansson’s amazing guitar work is immeasurable. Throughout, Håkansson dons the guitar God crown, exploring every nook and cranny of sound he can emit from his guitar, although to label him a “Swedish Jimi Hendrix” would be unfair, as he, perhaps intentionally, lacks or avoids the blues’ structures underlying many of Jimi’s solos.

Stretched out to sidelong proportion, the single takes on a life of its own and, despite the somewhat dodgy condition of the source tape, whose historical importance far outweighs it’s lack of pristine quality, is 20 minutes of sheer Hendrixian mayhem which actually precedes Hendrix’ guitar-burning performance at Monterey by two months. The fact that this is performed in front of what sounds like an audience of about 5 is not only shameful, it’s downright criminal, so mucho kudos to Fiske for rescuing this from oblivion. (And, oh, that video footage of the Grandmothers should someday surface, although, interestingly, Fiske suggests in his liner notes that this segment, which was provided by film-maker Stefan Jarl, was originally intended to form the soundtrack to the first film in Jarl’s Mods trilogy, ‘Dom Kallar Oss Mods’ (‘They Call Us Mods’). The slot eventually went to the Lea Riders Group, but we’re lucky to finally be able to hear this amazing piece of history.)

The band’s September 30, 1967 performance at FILIPS gives us ‘St. George’s Dragon,’ which finds the band in fine improvisational flight, with Linnarsson’s rolling bassline more prominent around Ekman’s galloping drum rolls and Håkansson’s by-now familiar fire breathing guitar bursts. So if you’re in the mood to experience the ultimate in six-string manipulation and total guitar destruction, you owe it to yourself to add this to your collection of vintage psychedelia, Scandinavian or otherwise.

(By Jeff Penczak at Terrascope)

Baby Grandmothers - Baby Grandmothers (1968)

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*Thanks and credits to Andy from Another Sucker On The Vine!

Euphoria

Mantra III is the third album of the Swedish Stoner Rock band Spiritual Beggars. This album is a good continuation on Another Way To Shine. The organ has a more prominent role at Mantra III and I like that. Great songs are: Monster Astronauts, Euphoria, Bad Karma and Mushroom Tea Girl. This album is an absolute recommendation! Enjoy!

For the uninitiated, the Spiritual Beggars are a three-piece psychedelic groove-metal trio from Sweden. Their guitarist, Michael Amott, is best known for his role in doom-metal units Carcass and Candlemass. With deep riffing and more precision than speed, he is as heavy as any two speed demon metal guitarists put together. The Spiritual Beggars' primary influence is mid-period Black Sabbath (say, Vol. IV and Sabbath Bloody Sabbath), but they expand their horizons with each record.

The band's sound on this third recording differs from its previous efforts in two ways. First, there is the addition of Per Wiberg on organ and Mellotron, Fender Rhodes piano, and clavinet, and Stefan Tsebring on percussion. (Don't worry -- all the teeth are still there, even sharper.) Second, there is the obvious influence of two late American bands on the Spiritual Beggars' sound: Kyuss and the semi-legendary Trouble. Mantra III has its roots in the almighty kingdom of riff. If all these guys came from gloom-metal bands, it's not possible to tell from the songs here. This is rock -- hard, heavy rock -- more than even metal. It's possible to imagine Blue Cheer playing this music if that band had been born in the late '90s rather than the '60s. The CD kicks off with a breezy, jazzy, Santana-like intro, which thankfully only lasts a fraction of a minute before the real medicine kicks in. From "Homage to the Betrayed" through "Broken Morning," the tempo is nonstop, full-on, in-your-face heavy rock. The lyrics are as lunkheaded as one might expect -- as on "Monster Astronauts" ("Take me to the river/Dance with the demons inside/Put me in the mist/Wait for the golden twist/Fly me to the moon 'cause we got enough fuel) -- but it makes no difference. It's cool enough that they sing in English and often mess up the syntax. From "Lack of Prozac" and "Bad Karma" through to the bonus tracks -- which are largely throwaways -- the band digs deeper into a groove for its menace. The tempos are throbbingly quick, but they hold within them a kind of funk that only white guys from Sweden would interpret as soulful. It comes off to the average Yankee grungoid rock fan or metalhead as a more complex kind of riffing, but no matter, it's all a great ride, full of crunch, bombast, and the sound of meat tearing from the bone. Get on your bad motor scooter and ride.
(By Thom Jurek at All Music Guide)

Spiritual Beggars - Mantra III (1998)

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New York Psychedelics

Thanks to Jessica from the band Heliotropes for sharing their EP!
Heliotropes is an all female band from Brooklyn, New York. These girls play some great mesmerizing Grunge influenced Psychedelic Rock. According to MySpace Heliotropes is inspired by the following: Current 93, Spacemen 3, Spiritualized, Brian Eno, Pentagram, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Black Sabbath, My Bloody Valentine, Shirley Collins, Laurie Anderson and Sleep.
III is the title of their debut EP and that is a bit odd! This EP contains three nice tracks with awesome hypnotic vocals. I definitely like to hear some more of Heliotropes in the future! Enjoy!

Heliotropes - III (2010)

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Weird Alternative Stuff From Russia.

Thanks to Anton from the band Sindie 4 for sharing their EP!
Inside! Inside! Inside! is the very short debut EP from the band Sindie 4 from Chelyabinsk, Russia. This band plays some weird alternative Rock. What I like about this EP are the vocals. It sounds so typical... Russian! What I also like is the artwork. This looks really great!
I think Sindie 4 is inspired by some sixties music on this EP. This music is so strange, I have no idea what else I can say about this EP except that it is nice music. Maybe the readers of this blog can add something by leaving a comment. Enjoy!

Sindie 4 - Inside! Inside! Inside! EP(2010)

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Another Way To Shine

Spiritual Beggars is a Hard Rock influenced Stoner Rock band from Sweden. They just released their album Return To Zero. About this album I can be brief: I do not like it! The Stoner sound is almost gone on this album. I prefer their old work far more.
Another Way to Shine is their second album and in my opinion one of their best releases.
The bass player and singer Spice has an important role on the earlier Spiritual Beggars albums. This man has an incredible voice. There is no one that sound like him.
Great songs on Another Way To Shine are: Magic Spell, Blind Mountain and Nowhere To Go (with a beautiful sounding organ). Enjoy!

Led by former Carcass and ongoing Arch Enemy member Michael Amott's fuzzed-out guitar riffs, the Spiritual Beggars never let up on Another Way to Shine, one of the best stoner coming-out parties of the '90s. Kicking off the debut in typically energetic fashion, "Magic Spell" blasts the top off of Another Way to Shine, setting a high standard for the following eight tracks. All comparisons and genre-tagging aside, this track just plain rocks. Music so accomplished paradoxically solicits the simplest of descriptions, so there's no sense complicating descriptions of this stoner gem with obvious comparisons and inadequate adjectives. Suffice to say that fans of the genre will love the more energetic entries and appreciate all of Another Way to Shine. There is some lumbering, relatively dull material toward the record's finish, but second-rate offerings from Amott and company easily surpass most records dished out during later waves of stoner rock. Highly recommended.
(By Vincent Jeffries at All Music Guide)

Spiritual Beggars - Another Way To Shine (1996)

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Delmar

The Argentian band Los Natas (a.k.a. Natas) sounded in their early days very like a Kyuss clone. That is not so bad when you see how the band has developed over the years.

Delmar is the full-length debut album by Los Natas. This album contains ten decent Stoner Rock songs with a Psychedelic twist.

Elektrohash has re-released Delmar on vinyl last year. Enjoy!

"Their swirling, sub-psychedelic song structures find them deeply entrenched in the seventies-inspired stoner rock phenomenon which are filling the imaginations of so many aggressive music fans as of late, myself included."
(By Sean Palmerston at AllThatIsHeavy)

Natas - Delmar (1998)

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Rock Pedal To The Floor

Thanks to Dani from The Shooters for sharing this free download EP!
The Shooters is a band from the beautiful Spanish city Jerez. This foursome plays some great Rock 'n' Roll inspired Stoner Rock. These guys are according to their MySpace influenced by the following: u manchu, The Hellacopters, Gluecifer, Astroqueen, Black Sabbath, Motorhead, AC/DC, Kyuss, Bloodlights, Buffalo, Refused, Honcho, Dozer, Sparzanza and The Truckfighters.
As you can see there is a lot Swedish influences here and you can hear that in their sound.
Rock Pedal To The Floor is the debut EP by The Shooters. It contains seven decent tracks. This band plays Stoner Rock in the purest form! Enjoy and support The Shooters!

The Shooters formed in November 2008, after the dissolution of Shoot’em up in 2004. The band has now a more mature and depurated style and sound, and the new incorporation of Alex and later Marcos makes the band closer than ever, starting from scratch with new songs and style.
Now they are proud to present their first EP "Rock Pedal to the Floor", edited by themselves and hope to start a new phase with concerts around the country
(From MySpace)

The Shooters - Rock Pedal To The Floor (2010)

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Los Natas Vs. Cabron

I offer you again a split EP with Los Natas. This EP features two songs of Los Natas and three songs of the band Cabron. One of the songs by Los Natas is the Kyuss cover Allen's Wrench.
Cabron is a band from Leuven, Belgium. This band plays some nice Stoner Rock. Cabron has released their self-titled debut album in 2005. Cabron plays on this split EP three tracks that are pleasant to listen. Don't expect anything special, but these songs are quite alright! All in all a decent EP. Enjoy!

This is one of 3 in the beginning of a new series of split 10” records with really cool fold out Malleus artwork. The Argentinean band, Lost Natas, provide us with two unreleased tracks. The first is a cover of the Kyuss song Allen’s Wrench. As Los Natas were almost a Kyuss cover band in the beginning, they put in a strong one on this track. Highway Sun is a remixed version of the song from the Toba Trance CD and also quite Kyuss influenced. Cabron are a Belgium band and although they have been on the scene for some years, this is actually the bands debut material. It features 3 songs from their demo CD from 2003 but it was remixed in 2005. Burden is a high energy stoner track with a strong rhythm hard drive and a sort of indie rock chorus like part. Parascending features some really cool playing by the band and is instrumental. Backlash is almost like stoner pop. Cool stuff.. I guess that these records are going to be highly collectable!
(By Scott Heller at Aural Innovations)

Los Natas/Cabron Split 10" (2006)

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Los Natas Website & Myspace

Cabron Myspace

Another Impressive Split Album

Here is another impressive piece of work and Suma is involved again! This time it's a collaboration with the Sludge Doom band Unearthly Trance from New York.
This Is My Weapon Of Choice is a great song by Suma. This is a Stoner Doom song that sounds very heavy and threatening. To my great delight, they use the singing saw again. (As on the album Let the Chuches Burn).
Montauk is a Sludge Doom song by Unearthly Trance. It has a dark atmosphere. I like this song. I think I should go buy more music from Unearthly Trance.

There is a new collaboration of Suma and Unearthly Trance on the way! I'm looking forward to that! For now: Enjoy this one!

Suma/Unearthly Trance - Split 10" (2009)

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Suma MySpace

Unearthly Trance Website & MySpace

Two Split Singles of Toner Low

Toner Low is an Awesome Stoner Doom band from Leiden, Holland. These are two split 7" singles they have made a while ago.

The first is a split with the Stoner Rock band Fal-Tor-Voh. This Stoner Rock band came also from Leiden. There is almost no information to find about Fal-Tor-Voh. Except for this website. (There are some tracks you can download at that site).
The second split single is a collaboration with the band Abe Diddy & The Krautboys from Alkmaar, Holland. Abe Diddy & The Krautboys plays Stoner Rock with some Blues influences. Enjoy!

Toner Low/Abe Diddy & The Krautboys - Split 7" (2006)

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Toner Low/Fal-Tor-Voh - Split 7" (2002)

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Toner Low MySpace

Abe Diddy & The Krautboys MySpace

Los Natas Vs. Solodolor

Sergio Ch. is the guitar player and singer of Los Natas. With this EP Sergio worked with some other people. This resulted on side A in three aggressive songs. These songs are also on the recently released album Solodolor from Los Natas. The song on side B is strange, weird and dark psychedelic. This song called Gitanos appeared later on the album Musica De La Resistencia from Ararat. The singer on this split EP is El Topo, he did a great job with the Solodolor songs. I like that aggression. On Gitanos El Topo does same strange singing, what perfectly fits with this song. This EP is a great Buzzville release. Still I wonder... Why isn't this EP called Solodolor Vs. Ararat. Enjoy!

Solodolor is a project that saw the light in 2006 during the producing of the Los Natas recording sessions of El Hombre Montana. Producer Billy Anderson and Natas lead guitarist Sergio Ch. had some free time on their hands and while jamming they invited some other friends. By the end of the night songs had taken form and after some more rehearsing several songs were recorded. This project consists of: Billy Anderson (Porn, Blessing The Hogs) Bass; Sergio Ch (Los Natas, Santoro) Guitar; Rowek (V8, Rata Blanca, Nativo) Drums; El Topo (Santoro, Eight Hands For Kali) Throat. These guys just wanted to have some jamming fun but what crawled out of their inspiration are some awesome metal tunes inspired by heavy and death metal, loud old school hardcore punk and everything in between that will blast your ears. They even decided to do a ballad (Ballada de Solodolor). Go figure!! We don't really know if this project will spawn some more creativity but we are pleased and excited to release these superb songs on this 10".

Sergio Ch., lead guitarist and head honcho of the Argentinean "stoner" band Los Natas, has talked his good friend El Topo (Santoro, Eight Hands For Kali) in to joining him to record some songs. What the ultimate reason for these songs is isn't sure but he is giving us an example of his performing art on the second side of this superb 10". The result are the Los Natas Ararat sessions, droning cult psychodelic music Toba Trance style with some weird vocals put into them. Will we hear more of these Los Natas Ararat sessions? Only time will tell but we, for one, surely hope so.

Los Natas are one of Argentina's biggest rock bands with coverage in local and national newspapers on a regular basis. They started out in 1995 and have been building a huge fan base all over the world. They have shared the stage with several national and international headliners such as: Porn, Mudhoney, Motorhead, Queens of the stone age, Iggy and the Stooges... They toured Latin America, America and Europe several times and keep on going. There's no stopping these guys.

The artwork for this split 10" was designed by Italian collective Malleus. This vinyl release is strictly limited to 1.000 copies!
(From Buzzville.com)

Los Natas Vs. Solodolor 10" Split EP (2008)

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Solodolor Website & MySpace

Los Natas Website &

MySpace

An Impressive Split Album

This split LP is an absolute display of heaviness. This piece of vinyl represents the best of the Swedish city Malmö: Suma and Pyramido.

Side A contains the song Acidlindgren. This is yet another proof of the supremacy of Suma. Acidlindgren is a Doom trip that lasts for sixteen minutes.
Side B holds the Pyramido songs No Words and I Grevens Tid. With these two songs Pyramido continues what they've started on their album Sands. And that is playing some great Sludge with Doom and Hardcore influences. I'm impressed by this singer who is really screaming his lungs out. Enjoy!

Suma/Pyramido Split LP (2010)

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Suma MySpace

Pyradimo MySpace

Gods And Angels

Thanks again to João for sending his new EP!
Last april I've posted the demo by the Brazilian one man band Hell Reaper, formed by João Ricardo Pacheco. This is the EP Gods And Angels. With this EP João is more focused on Hard Rock and Heavy Metal and less on Stoner Rock and Grunge.

João did again a great job with the drumming machine. The Gods And Angels EP is pretty short, just as the songs. In my opinion these could have been more longer. In overall, Gods And Angels is a decent EP, but in the future, the songs could be slightly more developed. João and I are very interested in your opinion, so tell us what you think by leaving a comment. Enjoy!

Hell Reaper - Gods And Angels (2010)

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Hard Rockin' Stoner From Ohio

Thanks to Dusty from the band Mississippi Bones for sharing this album!
Mississippi Bones is a duo from Ohio and they play some very nice Stoner/Southern/Hard Rock. And guess what... the drums you hear are programmed! These guys did a great job with that, because it sounds deceptively real.

Their self titled album contains nine tracks in the vein of Clutch and Down. Even the vocals reminds me of Neil Fallon. Overall, Mississippi Bones is a great album. Enjoy!

Mississippi Bones - Mississippi Bones (2010)

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A Display Of Heaviness

Thanks to Matthias from the French label Throatruiner Records for sharing this sampler!
This compilation contains 27 tracks of Hardcore, Crust, Screamo, Grind, Sludge, Doom Noise and Black Metal. I'm not familiar with most of the bands, but they sound quite alright. So if you are interested in over two hours of Heaviness, then you should listen this sampler! Enjoy!

HateLife MMX Summer Comp (2010)

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Tracklist:

1 - Anorak "some skirts"
2 - Arms of ra "pyramids"
3 - Art of burning water "only chocking"
4 - As we draw "way down"
5 - Birds in row "orange disease"
6 - Bloodkitt "void woods, skin roads"
7 - Bone dance "birds singing"
8 - Celeste "il y a bien des porcs que ca ferait bander de t'étouffer"
9 - Chère catastrophe "party time"
10 - Danishmendt "chutes"
11 - Dreams of the drowned "liquids of apathy"
12 - Elitist "back to the funeral"
13 - Exilym "man never went to the moon"
14 - Hky "monument inversion"
15 - Huata "alchemist reborn"
16 - Mygirlfriendisawatermelon "you should try"
17 - Nesseria "par pertes et profits"
18 - Pigeon "anchorite"
19 - Plebeian grandstand "ordo ab chao"
20 - Pretty mary dies "to the bomb"
21 - Quartier rouge "douche dorée"
22 - Reno "is this a turning point or just the end?"
23 - Rqtn "n3"
24 - Sickbag "scar manifesto"
25 - Stuntman "draw the portrait"
26 - Totorro "my bob's blue eye"
27 - Xnoybis "picardian fight song"

Throatruiner Records Website, MySpace, Facebook & Blogspot

In The Sixties People Would Have Called This Groovy

Cherry Coke is a trio formed by Mat Bethancourt (Josiah, Kings Of Frog Island, The Beginning). This band plays some great 60's inspired Psychedelic Garage. I did post two singles of Cherry Choke some earlier here. This is the full-length debut album. It contains ten great songs. It reminds me a bit of the bands Cream and Blue Cheer. I think you can call it "groovy"! Enjoy!

Guitarist/vocalist Mat Bethancourt, also of Josiah and The Kings of Frog Island, now joins bassist/backing vocalist Gregg Hunt and drummer Dan Lockton in Cherry Choke, a garage rocking power trio whose self-titled debut album revels in its simplicity and rootsy flavor.

Split even on CD into sides one and two, Cherry Choke offers ten straightforward tracks wherein the fuzzy tone that’s come to be expected from Bethancourt in Josiah and The Kings of Frog Island mostly takes a back seat to a cleaner type of distortion akin to the ’70s-inspired indie that’s dominated the party rock ideal for the better part of this decade. If I said Cherry Choke takes inspiration from Hendrix, The Stooges, MC5 and T-Rex, it would be the same as saying “they play garage rock,” but there it is.

There are some hits and some misses throughout the album, but the memorable “Ride My Black Balloon,” at track three, is the first real showing of Cherry Choke at their best. Somewhat less frantic than “She Turns Me On” and “The Lie,” which come right before it, the repetition of the title line drills it into your head so that you start repeating it, mantra-like, without even realizing. Though “Reflections in Black” is both more distorted and more aggressive, “Ride My Black Balloon” still remains the strongest number on the side one. The short psychedelic instrumental “Jezebel” helps to divide Cherry Choke and set the tone for the album’s broader-reaching second half.

Side two begins with “Cheetah,” which fits well alongside side one’s more forthright cuts, but it’s with “I Can See the Girls Grow,” with a further back vocal from Bethancourt and a deeper guitar sound — one that still bounces along at a fairly good clip — that Cherry Choke commences its expansion. The last three tracks, beginning with the most Hendrixian “The Need,” are unmistakably the highlights of the record. “The Need” balances the fuzz with the swagger and is the first real instance since “Ride My Black Balloon” in which Cherry Choke’s songwriting seems to be in focus. While other tracks have a frivolous, spontaneous, jammed-out appeal, there’s no denying the solo in “The Need” is well constructed and immaculately executed. Leading into the faster “In My Mind” and instrumental closer “Fridays in June,” the album’s close presents its brightest moments.

Cherry Choke has enough of Bethancourt’s style and sound to please fans of his previous work, but pushes in a direction altogether different. Nonetheless, they are an organic-sounding trio with Hunt and Lockton offering much in the way of striking classic rock rhythms and a couple genuinely remarkable tracks on their debut, well suited to whatever outdoor chicanery you might be getting up to this summer.
(By JJ Koczan at StonerRock.com)

Cherry Choke - Cherry Choke (2009)

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What!? Lorenzo Again?

Thanks to Rudy for sharing this nice discovery!
I guess that Spids Nøgenhat is the first band of Lorenzo Woodrose (Baby Woodrose, The Setting Son, Dragon Tears and Pandemonica). So this album must be Lorenzo's first recording!

En Mærkelig Kop Te (meaning: A Strange Tea Cup) is an album with six great Psychedelic songs blended with 60's and Space rock. All songs are sung in Danish. If you like Lorenzo's work, you really should listen this one! Enjoy!

In 1993/1994 Lorenzo (at that time under the stage name Aramis) and Aron of On Trial spent some time together playing acoustic guitars and getting it off in a very basic folk format. They also played acoustic folk in the streets of Copenhagen, trying (very unsuccessfully) to expose the common public to Roky Erickson, Love, Spirit and the likes. Lorenzo was at that time already full on recording his own 4-track folkpsych recordings, later to be known under the name of Pandemonica. This was a big inspiration for all, and led to loose and stoned late night Jamming in the rehearsal room.

In 1995/96, Lorenzo, Aron and Hobitten (before entering as fulltime member of On Trial), decided (this may be too precise a term) to explore the psychedelic folk format even more. Back in the safe environment of the rehearsal room a plan was taking form in the minds of the three musketeers. Three guitars, a singer, some natural inspiration, an expanding folkrock collection and lots of echo on top. It sounded just right for the psychedelic space invaders. A setlist found it's way to the band, and they liked to play live with this constellation.

In 1997 The band got a deal to play Friday and Saturday at Cafe Rust for a month. A hard place to play folkrock. You can imagine a room full of party people trying to score. The crowd didn't want to listen to three acidheads stoned out of their minds, so they never got back there again. One day Lorenzo said to the other guys, "We're gonna call ourselves: Spids Nøgenhat." Yes, of course! Spids Nøgenhat is the danish botanic term for the magic mushrooms also known as Liberty Cap and Spitzkegliger Kahlkopf, and it was definately mushroom music coming out of the speakers. Then followed gigs at Loppen (CPH), Achtung Cowboy (CPH), Posehuset (Nykøbing Falster), kulturfabrikken (Nykøbing Falster) Swamp Room Happening (Hannover), Stengade 30 (CPH) now expanded to a foursome including Elverpigen Lene on additional vocals. The last gig was at Filmskolen (CPH).

In the year 2000 Spids Nøgenhat recorded "En Mærkelig kop te", A set of songs from the bottomless well of Lorenzo's songwriting craftmanship. Full electric band backing (organ, bass, drums played by Lorenzo) and strong, well-written danish lyrics. In spite of the minimal promotion it became a serious cult/underground LP in the years to follow.

Facts and loose ends:

Some 4-track recordings from the period 95/96 found it's way to the Aron LP "Blackbeacon". The song "it's living" may be one of the first recordings of what later incarnated as Spids Nøgenhat. And until some live recordings get released, this is, along with their only 45 (Alrune rod/En drøm), the closest you get to hearing the original live sound of Spids Nøgenhat. Also, the song "2000 kilometer i en 2værelses lejlighed" was included on a Swamp Room Happening compilation LP, released in 2000.

2001 saw Lorenzo start fuzzed out caveman garagerockers Baby Woodrose, who is now enjoying great and well deserved recognition from all over the world. The LP "En Mærkelig Kop Te" was recorded at Mad Scientist Music Lab in the Northwest part of Copenhagen. Nick Hasselby took all the pictures and worked as engineer on the recordings.

In 2003 a Christiania support cd was released by Helicopter Records and featured an unreleased recording from the album sessions titled "Mere Frihed"

Another song "Hobbitten's Drøm" originally intended for the Spids Nøgenhat album, but recorded much later, was included on the Dragontears album project "2000 Micrograms From Home" released in 2006, featuring the original line up and members of Baby Woodrose largely re-introducing the echoey sound of the original band.

A film, by Niels Plenge, documenting danish underground sounds on vinyl, was planned to include recordings of Spids Nøgenhat in the studio. The project never got finished, but at some point it may see the light of day. Live recordings of nearly all Spids Nøgenhat's all too few concerts document the band as a productive and broadminded psychedelic experience.
(From MySpace)

Spids Nøgenhat - En Mærkelig Kop Te (2001)

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