Beautiful Sounds From Chigago

Russian Circles is a Post Rock/Metal band from Chigago, U.S.A. Geneva is their third album and it sounds beautiful. Russian Circles is a band that sounds a bit like Red Sparrows and Pelican. Geneva contains seven songs that sound dejected and melancholic with awesome atmospheric soundscapes. Enjoy!

A distant sound lingers, a pounding drum pattern arises. Are you sure they're back? So soon? Yes, they are. Russian Circles are back with _Geneva_, their third album, and it is yet another transcendental musical experience. If you think that instrumental music played by only a guitarist, a bassist and a drummer can be boring, then I pity you for never having listened to this band. There's a lot more to Russian Circles' music than their compounded guitar layering, their driving and rhythmic bass lines and the ever so inventive and intelligent drumming. Their music has an overwhelming ethos that keeps the listener bolted and glued where they are as long as it runs.

Genre freaks, please back off, for this is not an album for your mindless scrutiny. The serene, almost palpable beauty of "Hexed All" and the grandeur of "Fathom" are much more than a futile genre debate. Now I won't go as far as saying that Russian Circles smash genre standards across the wall, but I guess it's safe to say that their music serpentines freely around the borderlines of post-rock and post-metal. "Malko" is arguably the heaviest track on this superb effort, and the ten minute epic "Philos" may in fact be the best Russian Circles song to date. The title track "Geneva" is another gripping track that starts off with a chugging heavy metal riff and then takes us on a trip through layers of sound. The acme of this record for me has to be "When the Mountain Comes to Mohamed", and for a truly mesmerizing experience, try listening to it while calmly staring at an actual mountain.

The sound quality of _Geneva_ doesn't really differ from that of the previous two albums. None of them is overtly polished, which prevents the instruments from sounding electronically processed, yet it's not on the sloppy side of the spectrum so as to put the new listener off. So far, one cannot really pinpoint significant differences in musical direction between all of Russian Circles' albums. They do have a sound of their own and are highly creative within its seemingly invisible boundaries. _Enter_ and _Station_ should be proud of their new baby brother, because together they have formed a formidable amalgamation between post-rock's construction of textured layers of sound with its atmosphere, and metal's powerful aesthetics and copious creative variations.

(By Aly Hassab El Naby at Chroniclesofchaos.com)

Russian Circles - Geneva (2009)

DOWNLOAD

Website & MySpace

More Awesome Basque Stoner Rock.

A couple of days ago I posted the great album Dantzaldiko Erreginak by the Basque band Neubat. This is their second album called Stereosaurus. With this album Neubot has made quite some improvement. Stereosaurus is an awesome album. It sounds more Stoner than the first album. The songs and the sound got better. The male/female vocals and the nice organ are still present. This album is an absolute recommendation! Enjoy!

Neubat - Stereosaurus (2006)

DOWNLOAD

MySpace

Thanks and credits to Grandfunk Boy!

More Tunes From Basque Country

Here is another great Basque album. Sexty Sexers are a Stoner/Hard Rock band and Hero Mantra is their third album. I can't find any information in English about this band, except for their MySpace. Hero Mantra is a nice piece of work. It contains real great songs. This band has a great singer and good musicians. Enjoy!

“The creation of new Mantra has been acid, with many flavours, salty, sour and sweet, too. It’s been directly conditioned by feelings of different nature. In the old, we’ve been fascinated by new gaps and, in the new, we’ve been guided by our lived experiences. It’s a mad Mantra, who wouldn’t know where to rest, who doesn’t know which water it has drunk. But, like a hero, we’ll repeat it once and again. Like a hero who’s freed the tears and laughs from our entrails.” Hero Mantra.
(From MySpace)

Sexty Sexers - Hero Mantra (2009)

DOWNLOAD

MySpace

Thanks and credits to Grandfunk Boy!

Progress Of Doom

The Swedish band Mortalicum plays 70's and 80's Hard Rock and Heavy Metal combined with Doom. The result is their debut album called Progress Of Doom. So think Candlemass, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Motorhead and Iron Maiden. The singer delivers true Hard Rock vocals and the guitars sound real Sabbathian. Enjoy!

From the northern parts of Sweden, the heavy doom/metal band Mortalicum was formed early 2006 by Patrick Backlund. The band consists of the tight rhythm section Patrick Backlund (bass), Mikael Engström (guitar) and Andreas Häggström (drums) and the distinct voice and solos by Henrik Högl.

When rewinding the time a little, we find out that Mortalicum was at first only a studio project. Patrick wrote and recorded several songs during the first two years, songs on which he did all the instrumental tracks. During that time Robert Wiklander joined to handle the vocals for the demos. Though, he actually had done some drumming on the first few jam sessions. Many different songs were recorded and tried out both during the jams and as demos. Musically the styles spread from doom to more up-tempo and aggressive. Demos were never released, but since many songs were shared and welcomed here on MySpace they felt that they were on the right track towards creating their mixed style of metal, doom and classic hardrock.

In the end of 2007 things started to happen as two more members joined the band. The two guitarists Henrik Högl (lead) and Mikael Engström (rhythm) joined Patrick and Robert, but Mikael had actually been in the background of Mortalicum since the very beginning and was also around during the early jam sessions back in 2006. In the beginning of 2008 the final piece of the puzzle fell in place when the drummer Andreas Häggström joined and later that year, in September, the live debut was done.

In spring 2009 some changes were done within the band and they parted ways with the vocalist Robert. Instead, Henrik was chosen to do the vocals, mainly because they wanted to focus on the heavier and more melodic side of Mortalicum. After the line-up change they performed a couple of live shows during the summer and autumn. The highlight was the last show when playing together with Grand Magus. In the end of 2009 they started the recording of their debut album "Progress of Doom".

In March 2010 they signed with Metal On Metal Records and the debut album "Progress of Doom" was released April-23-2010 at the Keep It True-festival.
(From MySpace)

Mortalicum - Progress Of Doom (2010)

DOWNLOAD

Website & MySpace

Credits and thanks to Dagon and Anders!

Awesome Basque Stoner Rock.

Thanks to Grandfunk Boy for sharing this great album!

Wow! This is an awesome surprise! Neubat is like Sharon Stoner a band from Basque Country. Their music is hard to describe, but it is mostly Stoner Rock influenced. The album Dantzaldiko Erreginak is a great one. It is very energetic, but it also has it's mellow moments. The music is just great: Some heavy riffs, an outstanding organ and some nice male/female vocals (The lyrics are in Basque language). The influences according to MySpace are: Kyuss, Fu Manchu, Queens of the Stone Age, Raging Speedhorn, Unida, Hermano, Slo Burn, Nebula, Deftones, El Caco, The Ramones, Bongzilla, Danko Jones, Metallica, Creedence Clearwater Revival and Helmet. To give you an idea. Surprise yourself with this great album! Enjoy!

Neubat - Dantzaldiko Erreginak (2004)

DOWNLOAD

MySpace

Nice Italian Stoner Rock: THE RED COIL

This nice EP was sent to my by Marco from the band The Red Coil. Thank you, Marco!
The Red Coil is an Italian Stoner Rock band and Slough Off is their first EP. This band combines Stoner Rock with Southern Rock and Metal. This three-track EP sounds very nice. There is some great guitar playing, a decent rhythm section and a nice voice.
If you want to know what their music is about, see this list of influences on there MySpace: Down, Kyuss, Black Sabbath, Cathedral, Pantera, The Mushroom River Band, Crowbar, Eyehategod, Acrimony, Pink Floyd, Spiritual Beggars, Machine Head, Johnny Cash, Sentenced, Babylon Whores, The Doors, Fields Of The Nephilim, End Of Green, Black Label Society, Allhelluja, Joy Division, Amorphis, Entombed, Motorhead, Type O Negative, The Cult, Nick Cave, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Faith No More, Orange Goblin, And Much More On Metal, Rock, Blues, 70’S, Psychedelic, Dark, Thrash, Death, Southern Rock & Doom Music!
I think there's a great future for The Red Coil. Enjoy!

The egg opened and the snake started crawling in April 2008 when Marco (vocals), Daniele, Luca (guitars), Toni (bass), decided to start a new project, after a ten-year experience of music together . They needed a drummer to arouse the snake vibrating under the sand. On May 2008 Antonio joined the band, he brought his experience and completed the line up. This gave birth to The Red Coil project, a mix of metal, stoner, alternative, with a beer and whiskey flavour. Lots of influences (Down, Black Sabbath, Black Label Society, Kyuss, Pink Floyd, just to make few names) mixed with the idea of making rough music without frills. The name The Red Coil is related to the concept of Kundalini the energy that resides in the subtle body and it’s traditionally represented as a sleeping serpent coiled at the base of the spine The awakening of Kundalini is a kind of Dante's journey where we pass from hell to the heaven discovering heaven and hell are a mirror image and only facing its animal spirit, the man can reach liberation. The Red Coil’ sound is the soundtrack for this trip ... "alcoholic & altered” In a few months the alchemy of the band bear fruits and on December 2008 they started the recording of their first Ep at Octopussy Studios, under the direction of A. Garavaglia (drummer of the metal band Mesmerize). On February 2009 the demo Ep "Slough Off" came out. Now The Red Coil are ready to spread their music wherever is possible!
free the coiled snake…drink and let it rise!
(From MySpace)

The Red Coil - Slough Off EP (2010)

DOWNLOAD

MySpace

Polisessions Vol. 2

Last years I posted the Polisessions Vol. 1 album from Gran Cuervo. This Argentinian band has just released Polisessions Vol. 2. It is an album full of Psychedelic Stoner Rock with Space influences. There is even a Reggae influenced song! Polisessions Vol. 2 contains five awesome tracks. They are all killers! Not bad for a free-give-away album! Enjoy!

This beautiful noise was recorded in our drummer's house, the Poli, almost a year ago, and from those two weeks of freedom came out the Polisessions. A lot of work followed until we could hear in full form the Vol. 1 and now this Vol. 2.
This record includes the musical talents of Chelosky on bass, Poli on drums, Farrookh Bulsara on guitar, Frank Boston on guitar, Leíto from Milica on vocals, Fernando Bozzini from Miasma on mix, and Manuel Platino on Theremin, bass, mix and mastering.
(From Zann's music)

Gran Cuervo - Polisessions Vol. 2 (2010)

DOWNLOAD

MySpace

A Generation Of Vipers

From Des Moines, U.S.A. comes On A Pale Horse. This bands plays a great deal of Stoner Rock/Metal. A Generation Of Vipers is their third album. And it's their last on because On A Pale Horse has quit. Two of the band members were ex-Slipknot guitar player Josh Brainard and ex-Downthesun singer Aaron Peltz, what explains the Metal influences. A Generation Of Vipers is a great album with some awesome songs. Enjoy!

On A Pale Horse - A Generation Of Vipers (2008)

DOWNLOAD

MySpace

Medusa

Stake-Off The Witch is an Italian Stoner Rock band with some Doom influences. This band has a lovely lady singer with a great voice! Medusa is their second album. It has a great sound and nice grooves. In short: A great Stoner Rock album that you don't want to miss! Enjoy!

Some time ago I reviewed the first album of Stake-Off when they were on Sliptrick Records. No they seem to have been headhunted for Swedish Fuzzorama Records. The music is still a captive mix of mainly heavy stoner metal but with elements of dark industrial in the sound.

The sound is much heavier and more stoner’ish compared to the first outing. The female voice gives the sound a quite hypnotic and almost creepy depth. I like this record so much more than the previous because of the colossal wall of sound. The band hasn’t evolved – well, quite the opposite I guess, but it’s damn sure for the better. Old school stonerrock with strange lyrics and foxy girls – what’s not to like…
(By Tomsen at Lowcut.dk)

Stake-Off The Witch - Medusa (2010)

DOWNLOAD

MySpace

Stockholm Syndrom

Stockholm Syndrom is the debut album by the Belgian Stoner Rock band Kube. This album is a nice on. It contains original songs with great grooves. According to their MySpace Kube is influenced by the following: Kyuss, Motorpsycho, The Melvins, Qotsa, Dead Kennedys, Motown, Joy Division, Lalo Schifrrin, Hawkwind, Django Reinhardt and more. So you have a small clue of what you're facing! Enjoy!

A pumping vibe, a CD which makes you take your car, open the windows and drive with the pedal to the metal. Wicked humour, raging venom and twisted unanswered love injected songs are spewed upon us with such hate and frustration. Kube is ready to let us know what is going on in their minds in ten songs that leave you no moment of rest. Unless you count the instrumentals 'Army On My Side' or 'Orgy' as a pausing of the steamy grooves. The first one being a mesmerizing riff swelling bigger and faster every minute, the second being as sticky, sweaty and gluey as the best scenes from Spartacus or I, Claudius. It surely honours the name of the track! The vocals are great and I like the double vocals/singing in a song like 'Motivation'. A great debut from these Belgians, who are sure to be killer on stage!
(By Erik at Allthatisheavy)

Kube - Stockholm Syndrom (2006)

DOWNLOAD

MySpace