End Of Days

Here is an outstanding demo I've found at the Russian Stoner Forum.

From the Russian capital Moscow come a lot of great bands such as Stone Cold Boys, Cactus Jumper, Cosmonauts Day, Dirty Season and Stoner Train.

To this list of bands can be added the name Predicted. This four piece band plays some impressive Stoner Doom with Psychedelic, Sludge and Metal influences. Their demo called Demos From Witch House is decent sounding recording, considering that this is a brand new band.

This demo contains five awesome tracks that are asking for a sequel. And I'm looking forward to that next recording. Highly Recommended! Enjoy!

Predicted - Demos From Witch House (2011)

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Paths Of The Restless

The following contribution was brought to me by Dmitriy from the band Cosmonauts Day.

2011 is nearing it's end, and BANG! There is this stunning album that can be counted as one of the best of this year!

Cosmonauts Day from Moscow, Russia is a four piece band that plays outstanding Post Rock/Metal with Sludge and Space influences.

This band has released their Live Demo EP in may and now they're back with their full-length album called Paths Of The Restless. This eight track album is definitely an impressive masterpiece. The musicians do a great job with their instruments. Thereby is the sound of this album very good.

All of the songs of this album are great, but if I have to pinpoint some highlights, then I have to say it are the songs Captain, Rift, Satellite and The Great Disease.

Support this band by spending some money on their Bandcamp page!

Cosmonauts Day - Paths Of The Restless (2011)

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Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening

This is a very nice free download demo that I found on Bandcamp.

Hypnotist is a Russian Stoner Rock band with huge Black Sabbath influences. This demo contains three tracks and it is well produced. This band takes a step in the right direction with this demo. I think there is a lot of potention in this band. So I look forward to the next release.

This is all I can tell about Hypnotist. There's not much information about this band, except for their Bandcamp page and their page at vkontankte. (That site is in Russian). Enjoy!

Hypnotist - 101 Demo (2011)

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Rusty Gears

I found this EP at the Russian Stoner Forum today.

Stoner Train is a band from Russia. This band brings you with their six-track EP Rusty Gear some nice and surprisingly great Acoustic Stoner with Blues and Country influences. One of the songs is a cover of the Monster Magnet song Spacelord.

There is no information in English about Stoner Train available, but you can check their YouTube page. Enjoy!

Stoner Train - Rusty Gears (2011)

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Caesar Enters The Palace Of Doom

The Saint Petersburg Stoner band The Grand Astoria is back again with this upcoming 7" single. These two tracks are a continuation of their sound that is presented on their latest album Omnipresence.
The first track is the title track called Caesar Enters The Palace Of Doom. This is a great Stoner song with some Space influences. The second track is named Enigma Satanica, an awesome instrumental track. The physical copy will be released by Setalight Records on july 19th. Before that time you can download this single from their Bandcamp site for 3 Euros or more if you want to.
Check out also the dates for the third leg of the Omnipresence World Tour.

The Grand Astoria - Caesar Enters The Palace Of Doom (2011)

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Third leg of the Omnipresence World Tour:

15.7-tba-Riga (Latvia)
16.7-"Pogo"-Siauliai (Lithuania)
17.7-"Dokas"-Klaipeda (Lithuania)
18.7-"Boogie Bar"-Warsaw (Poland)
19.7-"Koma F"-Berlin (Germany)
20.7-tba-Berlin (Germany)
21.7-"Circus"-Usti Nad Labem (Czech Republic)
22.7-"E-Lite Culture Fest"-Stolzenhein (Germany)
23.7-"Mushroom Jam"-Kirchanschöring (Germany)
26.7-"Oli's"-Nuremberg (Germany)
28.7-"D.I.Rehearsal Space"-Munster (Germany)
29.7-"The Barn"-Drebber (Germany)
30.7-"Vortex"-Siegen (Germany)
31.7-"Vereinshoes"-Vaals (Netherlands)
2.8-tba-Lille (France)
3.8-"L'excalibur"-Reims (France)
4.8-tba-Paris (France)
5.8-"Le Galion"-Lorient (France)
6.8-"Le Galion"-Lorient (France)
7.8-"Folks Blues Festival"-Binic (France)
11.8-"Taberna Belfast"-Leon (Spain)
13.8-"Ovelha Negra"-Marina Grande (Portugal)
16.8 -"Studio Live"-Lisbon (Portugal)
19.8-"Fnac"-Faro (Portugal)
20.8-"Bafo De Baco"-Loule (Portugal)
21.8-"Supersonic"-Cadiz (Spain)
22.8-"Palo Palo"-Marinaleda (Spain)
23.8-"Velvet"-Malaga (Spain)

Checked Up By Time

Thanks to Jim for sharing this very nice album!
After one demo and two EP's Sex Type Thing is back with their new album Checked Up By Time. This Stoner Rock band from Saint Petersburg has grown a lot with this album. The songs and sound are much better than the previous recordings. Checked Up By Time contains seven awesome songs with nice drums and bass, great guitars and an excellent singer. Don't let pass this album! Go listen and buy it! Enjoy!

I have to admit something. I love short, straight-to-the-point albums. You press the PLAY button, then you find yourself thirty minutes later in the opposite corner of the room, totally dysfunctional, amazed and with low blood sugar. That’s sort of what I am right now, although I’ve checked every possible corner of the apartment, due to constantly pressing that same PLAY button.
Sex Type Thing come from Saint Petersburg, Russia. Michael Chigidin (vocals, guitars) and Pavel Voinov (guitars) founded Sex Type Thing in 2009, after years spent in various outfits such Airbag, Ty Cobb and Ebola. The same year they put out an album called Southern Dreams from Northern Reality, which has received very good critiques from the local and national press. This year they’ve come up with brand new album released on RAIG, the 32 minutes long Checked Up By Time.
One expects an album like this to be straight and dirty, and at the same time modern and satisfactory for all those whose line between old and new is almost invisible. Three basic elements construct Checked Up By Time and these are: stoner rock, grunge and blues (rock). The album kicks off with the sound of an emergency alert (siren) in Get Rid exploding in the series of riffs that jump out from grunge’s to stoner rock’s dirtiness. I have to admit that I would love if Chigidin’s vocals were a bit more aggressive, but anyway the man does his job more than well. The song is a real energetic bomb which culminates at the end when all of the song’s angst gets shown through an act of spitting. Literally.
The things keep on rocking with Feel the Same, a very catchy track with Brant Bjork echoing from time to time. That’s a plus. The Brant Bjork influences always come as a plus. And the Chigidin/Voinov guitar duo delivers hard-edged riffs and insanely good solos, pushing forward while the rhythm section keeps up. Tomorrow dwells between frantic and calm, being a lengthy, diverse piece. To vindicate the grunge stylistic employment, the guys head in with Only Angel Knows which is, compared to the previous three tracks, a mid-tempo tune with a classic rock style guitar solo. I have to mention the use of acoustic guitars and Fender Rhodes keyboards, which fit well with a whole image of setting the course for a calmer direction.
This “break” is cut with Black River, taking things a level up to the same pace first three tracks already set. The song makes me wish Chigidin really shows more of the power of his voice. It’s obvious that he can scare the shit out of me, so use it, man! And that drum nailing by the end of the song makes the difference that builds up the bulk of this album. Here we go again. My Obsession is obsessive, it takes you up with its memorability, then lets you hit the ground while shitting your pants. Getting to the end of the album makes me feel that angst I mentioned above, thus I appear to be this straight-in-the-face reviewing inglorious basterd. The blues categorization is not forgotten, it comes in the shape of closing Long Way Home Blues, with all those structured bluesy chugs brought up with the lip accordion-guitar solo “conflict”.
And this is it. Direct, uncompromisely and rocking hard – that would be the motto of this record. If you found yourself, grab it and play it loud!
(By Nikola Savić at Prog Sphere)

Sex Type Thing - Checked Up By Time (2011)

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Well, Well, Well...

First of all I like to wish you a happy new year!

I guess this album is a good start for the new year! So with pride I present you Omnipresence!
Omnipresence is the third album by the Russian band The Grand Astoria and today is the release date! So how fresh can you get it?
The Grand Astoria shows a lot of progression with this album. The first two albums were already impressive, but Omnipresence is really their masterpiece. With this self produced album these guys from Saint Petersburg does sound more Stoner and less Grunge. The guitar players have made a great development. These guys really know how to play his instrument and Kamille has some great vocals too! And the drummer and bass player can not go unmentioned, because they also have a great contribution to the sound of this album!
Compared to their previous albums, this album has more songs with an average length. The exception is the twelve minute lasting song Something Wicked This Way Comes. This song is an outstanding piece of work. Just as the other tracks are! From the first song Doomsday Party till the last track Stonewall, it are all killers!
Yet there are two things that I want to mention: The nice organ in Hungry & Foolish and the greatness of the song Mania Grandiosa.
The beautiful artwork is as the previous albums done by Sophia Miroedova. Take my advice and buy this album! Order it here: thegrandastoria@gmail.com. Enjoy!

The Grand Astoria - Omnipresence (2011)

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They Are Coming Again!

This is the second part of the European tour by the Russian Stoner Rock band The Grand Astoria. And this time they make me very happy! The Grand Astoria will play in Amsterdam!

They probably will play songs from their upcoming album called Omnipresensce. Check out the other dates and maybe this time they will get near you!

And here are some additional dates for 2011:

07.Jan.2011

19:00

Tir w/Sendelica

Pskov, ., RUSSIAN FEDERATION

08.Jan.2011

20:00

MOD w/Sendelica

St.Petersburg, ., RUSSIAN FEDERATION

09.Jan.2011

19:00

Perestroika w/Sendelica

Severodvinsk, ., RUSSIAN FEDERATION

10.Jan.2011

19:00

Koleso w/Sendelica

Arkhangelsk, ., RUSSIAN FEDERATION

14.Jan.2011

19:00

XO w/Sendelica

Moscow, ., RUSSIAN FEDERATION

15.Jan.2011

19:00

Dom Kultury w/Sendelica

Ryazan, ., RUSSIAN FEDERATION

16.Jan.2011

20:00

CB w/ Sendelica

Vladimir, ., RUSSIAN FEDERATION

22.Jan.2011

19:30

Cellar Bar w/Sendelica

Cardigan, Wales, UNITED KINGDOM

23.Jan.2011

19:30

Tenby Lifeboat Tavern w/Sendelica

Tenby, Wales, UNITED KINGDOM

03.Feb.2011

19:00

Mukkes w/Merca and Some Days Velvet

Leeuwarden, ., NETHERLANDS

04.Feb.2011

19:00

The Cave w/Merca

Amsterdam, ., NETHERLANDS

05.Feb.2011

19:00

Eureka w/Merca,Some Days Velvet and Toner Low

Zwolle, ., NETHERLANDS

13.Feb.2011

19:00

Fábrica do Braço de Prata

Lisbon, ., PORTUGAL

18.Jun.2011

18:00

Baghdad Mosh Fest w/Talbot and others

Cadca, Kysuce, SLOVAKIA (Slovak Republic)

MySpace

Body In The Trunk

Today a year ago I've posted the Jenny Feels Great EP by the Russian band Bungalow Bums here.

Now it is time to post their full length album called Body In The Trunk.
Bungalow Bums plays Garage Rock with Grunge, Punk and Blues influences. I even hear a bit of rockabilly on some songs!
The four songs on the Jenny Feels Great EP are re-recorded for this album. They sound a lot better. Body In The Trunk is a pretty decent Rock 'n' Roll album. Enjoy!

Bungalow Bums - Body In The Trunk (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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They Are Coming!

The Russian Stoner Rock band The Grand Astoria are about to start their European tour to promote their album II. Unfortunately they don't have any dates in Holland. But you might be lucky if The Grand Astoria plays in a venue near you. If so, I recommend to go out and see them!

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Not So Radio Friendly

I posted the radio friendly version of this album earlier before here. Now here it is with full length songs and in full glory!
The second album of the Saint Petersburg band The Grand Astoria is a great one. It is a perfect sequel to their first album. The Grand Astoria plays some great Stoner Rock with a twist of Grunge, Metal And Blues. II contains five almost instrumental songs with a great vibe. The songs I like the most are Enjoy The View and Radio Friendly Fire, because these songs have a great atmosphere!

The artwork is as the first album excellent. I don't know who made these drawings, but this person can't be left unmentioned!
The Grand Astoria start their European tour in september, so check the tour list on their MySpace and maybe you can see them in a venue near you! If you like this album, order it here. Enjoy and support The Grand Astoria!

"This truckload of rock(s) known as The Grand Astoria has led me to surrender on all fronts. After listening frantically over and over to this album I have decided that this have to be the best band ever from Eastern Europe. St. Petersburg and Russia are truly on the move and this is for sure one of the best albums in 2009! On the self titled debut album by the Russian rock gods you get six different flavours of dynamite-smelling munchies beautifully wrapped all together in a conspicuous surprise box. These fuzzadelic stringburners touch every inch of your pagan body and bring you the finest in both psychedelic stoner and cow-shit-smelling-southern-fried-armwrestling-metal-flavoured-redneck rock with a touch of blues... It is hard to pick a specific song as a favourite because every single minute of the album is a joyful ride, and as I have said before The Grand Astoria is a first class band who rides them high horses all the way up without any difficulties. 50% of the songs on the disc have vocals, the other half is a mind-blowing instrumental journey into the unknown."
(By Tobias Beament at Planet Fuzz)

The Grand Astoria - II (2010)

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Lo-Cow-Motion

The Karovas Milkshake is a Russian Garage band and they take you 45 years back in time. This trio plays some great 60's Psychedelic Garage Rock! The Lo-Cow-Motion Single contains four nice songs. These guys remind me a lot of bands like The Yardbirds, The Monkees, The Kinks, The Sonics, and so on. My favorite song of this single is Hey Girl!, a great song with a Psychedelic twist. Enjoy!

The Karovas Milkshake - Lo-Cow-Motion Single (2010)

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Fuss For The Housewives.

This is a nice free give away EP from the Russian band Stone Cold Boys. This EP contains four previously unreleased tracks. There are some Blues influences in these songs and that sounds great. I assure you: You will like this EP! Enjoy!

Stone Cold Boys - Fuss For The Housewives EP (2010)

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A Radio Friendly Edit Of What Is Coming Next Month.

Thanks to Kamille from The Grand Astoria for sending me this preview of their new album!

This is a preview of the second album by the Saint Petersburg Stoner Grunge Rockers The Grand Astoria. The first album did I post earlier here and that album was a killer! About this friendly radio version I can not tell much because it's too friendly for my taste, but it is a preview. I think I rather hear the not so friendly version. We have to wait a small time for that one. For now: Enjoy this one!

The Grand Astoria - II (Friendly Radio Version 2010)

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Just A Fish

I'm glad I got some help to find this album on some Russian forum!
Just A Fish is the full-lenght debut album by the Russian band Stone Cold Boys and I must say it's pretty awesome! Stone Cold Boys plays some great deal of Stoner Rock. These guys really evolved their music. Just A Fish sounds right, like a good album should. The songs are great. Now I wait for their European tour. Enjoy!

Stone Cold Boys - Just A Fish (2009)

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A Stone Cold Single.

Thanks to Dmitry for sending this one-track single!
Stone Cold Boys from Moscow is a great Stoner band with some bluesy influences. These guys released last year their full-lenght debut album Just A Fish. I didn't get the chance to get my hands on that one, but I'm very curious for that album. I posted their demo a long time ago here.
This track called ((?)) is a great song. It's not known where this song will appear. Enjoy for now!

Stone Cold Boys is a Russian band, founded in 2007 in Moscow. The band's recognizable mark is style-mixing, though originally they belong to the first stoner-rock wave in Russia, with such bands as Cactus Jumper and Evil Cosmonaut. Being interested mostly in 60-70's and 90's, the musicians produce riff-based compositions, throwing grunge, blues, jazz and hardcore in one melting pot. That caused some cold welcome from conservative stoner-listeners and, at the same time, the recognition from the fans of the styles mentioned above. As for themselves, Stanislav, Pavel, Ivan and Eugene never tried to be the part of some specific musical society. Their love for stoner culture and music is neighbouring with their love to some crude humor, boogie-dancing, psychodelic trips and tons of self-irony. Jewish cowboys make friends with Egyptian mummies and Action Heroes, concerning their songs' lyrics. From being serious to being hularious — and don't forget to dance! The band has already gathered some positive reviews from russian musical press and published their first album «Just a Fish» in December 2009. In the atmosphere of conspiracy and mystery Stone Cold Boys are working hard now on their new release.
(From MySpace)

Stone Cold Boys - ((?)) Single (2010)

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Stoner From Moscow: DIRTY SEASON

First I like to wish everybody a great 2010!

Looking back at 2009, I can say it was a good year with many great releases. So is this EP from Dirty Season. The singer of this band is Stas. This guy also sings and plays guitar in Cactus Jumper (I posted them before here). Dirty Season plays a great form of fuzz driven Stoner Rock. Many up-tempo parts. The voice of Stas is great, a bit like James Hetfield. (And maybe even better!!!). This EP contains a nice Alice In Chains cover.
So these are my last words for 2009. See you back next year! Enjoy!

Dirty Season - EP 2009

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Sludge Death And Grind

Meet Fury Buffalo from Russia, a Death Metal band, or no, a Sludge Metal band, or what, a Grindcore band. Hell, I don't know how to call this. But what I do know is that they are incredible awesome. You really must hear this! If you like raw and aggressive music, you have to grab this EP!

Fury Buffalo - Fury Buffalo EP (2009)

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Russian Garage Punk

Jenny Feels Great is a EP made by Bungalow Bums from Siberia, Russia. This band play Garage Punk with Grunge influences and a bit of Blues. on their MySpace Bungalow Bums claims to be influenced by the following: The Stooges, MC5, New York Dolls, The Stranglers, The Fuzztones, Mudhoney, Sonic's Rendezvous Band, The D4, The 22-20's, The Morning After Girls, The Von Bondies, Wolfmother, The Datsuns, The Soledad Brothers, The Hellacopters, Eagles of Death Metal, Black Keys, Black Lips, Radio Moscow...
So you know what to expect. Enjoy!

The Bungalow Bums are from Omsk in southern Siberia. They’ve been around since 2006, when they originally cranked out songs under the direct influence of britpop and US rock. With time, however, their interests and influences have moved backwards through the history books. Their listed idols begin with the time-tested threesome of The Stooges, MC5, and the New York Dolls. Somewhere in this post, therefore, the term garage rock is bound to pop up. And indeed the band tell us, almost immediately: “We soon developed a love for classic garage rock from the 1960s in all its forms.” Nonetheless, they’ve tried hard to draw a clear and lasting line between admiration and adulation. “We’ve refused to tie ourselves to any one style or period. We stick to an experimental approach to songwriting. Our music isn’t boxed in by the preexisting concepts of a particular sound or style. All the band members have equal rights in the compositional process. Everybody plays their part of the song the way they see it personally. That’s what gives our band the status of some unique musical cocktail or other.” The most recent adventures in this ongoing experimentation have been defined as moving towards noise- and/or stoner-rock, which is a fair description of the four tracks in this post. Together they constitute the brand-new release, “Jenny Feels Great.” Simplicity is the name of the game throughout this EP: “The band isn’t striving for especially complicated or carefully-fashioned melodies. The music of the Bungalow Bums is based upon a wholly conscious minimalism… but we still keep the sound quality at a level to match Western bands! We’ve give it all we’ve got on stage, too!” “Everything’s based on a crazy energy, together with vocals pushed to breaking point, like a hoarse scream. There’s all kinds of things going on when they band play live, too: bared nerves and naked emotion keep the music driving forward. They’re the main elements of The Bungalow Bums‘ work.” These may sound like universal qualities, irrespective of one’s address or language, but the band does see a certain specificity to their locale, one that feeds directly into their music. It also explains why they sing in English. Through that second language, The Bungalow Bums “try to link South-Western Siberia with the northern states of America. They try to compare their hometown of Omsk with Detroit or other cities of Michigan. The group tries to translate the American sense of unbelievable tedium, of having nothing to do. It’s a neverending sense of doziness, a particular kind of peripheral trance, even. The only thing that can break that spell is the most driven, almost desperate kind of rock and roll.” Omsk is a logical place for these themes, having suffered more that its fair share of corporate greed, swindles, and insitutional fraud. “In the good old traditions of American blues, our characters are the kind of people who try scrounging their way through life. They drink heavily and fight in roadside bars. Their hearts have been broken - long ago - by women in faraway towns.” The misery continues: “Our characters abuse the kind of substances that people shouldn’t be playing around with. They almost die from their own insignificance… but they never get too depressed.” Knowing that such people really do inhabit the streets of Omsk - and many other towns - our four musicians make a direct appeal to their fellow countrymen (and women) to join a digital community of suffering. “If these kind of songs - and their heroes - are near and dear to you, too… if you’re ready to face all kinds of nastiness and indecency… if you go crazy for really rough ‘n’ ready rock music, then the songs of The Bungalow Bums are just what you’ve been looking for!”

by David MacFadyen, Professor and Chair, University of California, Los Angeles
(From MySpace)

Bungalow Bums - Jenny Feels Great EP (2009)

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