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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Who Knows What Evil Lurks In The Hearts Of Men... The Shadow Knows

Villa Rocka is a dual disc with a audio side and a DVD side released by the band 3 Speed Automatic. This trio from Rotterdam, Holland plays a great mix of Hard Rock and Stoner Rock with seventies influences.

The audio part of this disc contains 6 tracks. The first five tracks were already on the album No Man's Land. So these songs are nothing new. (Although it's always alright to hear the song Walk On The Sun!) Villa Rocka is all about the sixth track that is called Who Knows What Evil Lurks In The Hearts Of Men... The Shadow Knows. This song is an almost 23 minute lasting epic masterpiece. This song was recorded as a soundtrack for the Dutch cult movie Horizonica. Enjoy!

"The starting point of 3Speed Automatic’s music can be found in the southern hardrock blues genre played by Five Horse Johnson, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Dixie Witch and also in the primitive, savage whip-rock ‘n’ roll of Motorhead and AC/DC. But the band interprets it all with an Atomic Bitchwax-attitude marked enough, especially when Guido launches himself in very good burning Ed Mundell-like psych-blues solos. The overall guitar tone of Guido DeBrichy ranges from loud and gritty to surprisingly melodic. Bassist Blind Gumbo sounds akin to Lou Gorra (Halfway To Gone) at times. 3Speed Automatic wake the "outlaw" that sleeps in all of us, a record for people who are born, live and die with their boots on."

(By Cosmicmasseur at AllThatIsHeavy)

"I hear a mix of old and new rock like Kyuss, Mudhoney, Dio, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Grand Funk. If you dig the dirty guitar sound of AC/DC or Mudhoney, then your gonna dig the sound of 3Speed Automatic’s guitar sound. It rolls and bounces right where you expect and where you do not."

(By Iwan at AllThatIsHeavy)

3 Speed Automatic - Villa Rocka (2008)

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Anthem To The Fall And Awakening Of The Tiny Yellow Flower

Sedimentation was the second recording by the band Elephantum from Amsterdam, Holland. This band did play great Stoner Rock with Psychedelic tendencies. This five-track EP is filled with huge and heavy guitar riffs, great bass and drum rhytms, a nice pinch of organ and some impressive vocals.

I learned about Elephantum when I heard the song Black Butterfly on the Stoner compilation album Ultimate Fuzz Collection vol 1. This song made me craving to hear more songs from this band. Eventually I managed to get this EP. Too bad I've never seen this band in action. Enjoy!

Elephantum was a psychedelic rock band from the Netherlands. It existed between 1998 and 2004. It came forth out of “Cosmic Insect”. Founding members Michiel Ferweda (guitars) and Matthijs Herder (vocals & guitars) tried several line-ups before settling with drummer Marc Fien and bassist Niels Keijzer. This line-up was active under the name “SAND”.

In January 2001 the “Transhuman Entity” album was recorded. A 40-minute odyssey which the press described as a perfect fusion between Kyuss and Pink Floyd. In June of the same year a 5 track EP was recorded with Emiel van de Berg on bassguitar. These recordings later surfaced as the “Sedimentation” EP and were mixed by Marcel van der Vondervoort (of Astrosoniq fame). It consisted of shorter and poppier tracks. After a name change into Elephantum and several line-up changes the band re-grouped with Stone In Egypt’s old rhythm section at the end of 2003 and the Sedimentaiton EP saw a worldwide release thru Freebird Records. But in 2004, after a period of extensive gigging (with Astrosoniq, Los Natas, Dozer, Epica, Wall Of Sleep among many others) the band decided to call it a day.

Elephantum was featured on the first two volumes of the Stonerrock.com compilation albums and on Fuzzorama’s “Ultimate Fuzz Collection vol 1”.

(From LastFM)

Elephantum - Sedimentation (2001)

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Dromomania

Thanks to Angelo from the band Le Scimmie for sharing this album!

Le Scimmie is an Italian duo that plays some stunning Instrumental Doom/Stoner/Noise tunes. These guys has released an EP in 2007 and now they're back with the impressive album Dromomania.

A common thing with Instrumental bands is that they in general create albums with longlasting songs. This is definitely not the case with Le Scimmie, their album Dromomania contains ten tracks with a total length of just 23 minutes. So the songs are short, compact and straight to the point. That is the strenght of Le Scimmie! Enjoy!

The Italian duo "Le Scimmie" was born in the colorful spring of 2007 in Vasto, a seaside town in central Italy.

The ideas of the project are: guitar, drums, minimal power, raw sound.

In the winter of 2007 they recorded their first ep called "L'Origine Ep" that gets excellent support from the Italian press.

2008: the band reached the final at one of major Italian music festival called "Italia Wave" and remains on tour for about a year.

After a year of silence, in January 2011, Le Scimmie released their first album entitled "Dromomania".

(their bio)

Le Scimmie - Dromomania (2011)

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At The Cracks Of Void

Thanks to the band Brachiosauride for sharing their album!

Excavations is the debut album by the American band Brachiosauride. This band plays some impressive Experimental Sludge Metal with Stoner, Doom, Noise and several other influences.

Their music consists of intense heavy tunes with some whacky, but awesome vocals. Excavations is a varied album with songs that are a bit fast and songs with a more moderate tempo. This is an album that for sure must be heard. Enjoy!

Influenced by 50s Blues, 60s Psych, 70s Prog, 80s Doom, Thrash and Hardcore Punk, 90s Sludge, Noise, Grindcore, Stoner, Mathcore and Experimental acts, Brachiosauride play a fusion brand of Progressive Sludge that gives the listener a unique experience; with creating a sonic texture of each songís concept, both musically and vocally. Our first studio release is a concept album called ìExcavationsî including 10 songs that run over 37 minutes of mega mind blowing riffage, release in September 2011.

(Their bio)

"Excavations" is the first studio album by Progressive Sludge band Brachiosauride, itís a ten-song concept record, following a surreal storyline in which the main character enters a parallel universe in order to reach the ultimate passage between time and eternity. Entering the universe, he finds himself in an apocalyptic void called Mount Vein, where everything is almost insane, following the mountain he finds the underworld lurked, it brings back the absolute pain and is probably the most doom section of the journey. With an inadvertent universal shift, the path turns into a space time paradox, struggling with timeís arrow he enters the ultimate ground of surrealism, with a cut between Aleister Crowley and Salvador Daliís ideologies the black sun rises, itís the dawn of our hero, heís been teleported to his early lifetime, obsessed with the dogs of war, religion and politics he finds his way back to the universe, but one and also important mistake is enough to take him to the darkest abysses of Edgar Allen Poe, trapped in the abyss, redefining that bleak classic, he has failed once again, with depression surrounding him, he gets lost in the mortal forest. Thatís where the hypnotism of the birds brings him back to life, And yes as the spiritualism goes, H.P. Lovecraft is not far from it, time for a universal gap to the Lovecraft classic ìThe Crawling Chaosî, with the final space Armageddon done, our hero enters the final phase of his voyage, the cosmic path of eternity, attaining the ultimate prowess, he has just started the first stage of the adventure.

(Album information)

Brachiosauride - Excavations (2011)

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Drive On

Zeus is a band from Amsterdam, Holland. This quartet plays Heavy Rock with Stoner and Grunge influences. The singer of this band is Jeroen van Koningsbrugge. This guy is here in Holland a famous and humorous TV personality. It was a total surprise for me that he also has these vocal qualities.

This band was completed with three more than capable musicians. Zeus has released two albums until now. The first one was called Bad Signs from 2005 and this album from 2007 is just simply named 07. A new album was scheduled for 2009 or 2010, but it seems that Zeus for indefinitely has stopped.

I'm not familiar with their debut album Bad Signs, but I can tell that 07 is an impressive piece of work. Enjoy!

ZEUS was founded in 2003 by singer Jeroen van Koningsbrugge, drummer Paul Jansen and guitarist Roy Jansen. Soon after, bass player Bob Gerritsen completed the band. The objective was clear and simple: to make heavy, groovy rock music. Influenced by Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Karma To Burn, Transport League, Goatsnake and the wave of nineties grunge and stoner, ZEUS developed their sound.

After spending their first year in rehearsal rooms, ZEUS started recording in the spring of 2004 with producer Marcel vd Vondervoort (Astrosoniq and others). The band flew to New York to play the famous CBGB’s venue, trying out their material for the first time. Their American style and heavy performance kicked in right away, selling out the “Threetrackintroduction” demo immediately. ZEUS returned to Amsterdam, fired up and ready to finish their debut album “Bad Signs”. It was released independently in 2005 by ZEUS’ own label Sixxkiller and distributed by Suburban. Bad Signs said it all: raw, heavy groove rock grabbing you by the throat. While the album was getting positive reviews, ZEUS started doing what they do best: playing live shows till they dropped.

In October 2007, ZEUS’ second album “07” was released by Freebird Records. The album was very well received in Europe and the USA and contains 10 tracks that deliver a cocktail of old school heavy rock, melodic groove and even some doom. Like the debut album, 07 was mixed and produced by Marcel vd Vondervoort and mastered by Alan Ward. Somewhere in 2008, Bob Gerritsen decided to emigrate to Switzerland. He left the band in October 2009. Rowdy Lemaire joined the band as the new bass player. ZEUS has plans to release their third album late 2009 or early 2010.

(Their bio)

Zeus - 07 (2007)

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Ancestral

The first time I've heard about this band was a version of the song Demon Cleaner on the South American Kyuss tribute album Listen Without Distraction.

Sick Porky is a fine Stoner Rock band from Buenos Aires, Argentina. This band is according to their MySpace influenced by the following: Black Sabbath, Kyuss, QOTSA,Mastodon, Black Label Society, Nebula, Unida, Fu Manchu, Baroness,The Mars Volta, Crowbar, Down, COC, At the drive in, Tool, Alice In Chains, Soundgarden, Pelican, Entombed, Hermano, Neurosis, Danzig, Type O Negative, Pappos Blues, Metallica, Hellacopters, Turbonegro and Isis.

This list of bands gives a wide range of styles, but the sound of Sick Porky's really more based on pure Stoner Rock. What I miss in this list are for example the names Dozer and Truckfighters.

Sick Porky has released two full-length albums and this one is their debut named Ancestral. This album is a great collection of nice songs. Enjoy!

More than ten years fighting from the underworld of music, Sick Porky is now officially presenting the launch of its first album Ancestral. Edited by the label Zonda Records, this album compiles part of the work of these first years of career. The large number of live presentations, in some of which they shared stage with well-known Argentine bands such as Pez, Los Natas, Carajo, Satan Dealers and La Cruda, has given the band the deserved respect in Buenos Aires music arena. The bands fans continue to multiplicate, most of them curiously attracted by the talk of town succumb to the pork sound.

The two EPs edited during 2001-2003 a lot had to do with the musical growth of the band. This material had little (though important) diffusion in some of the most prestigious local media such as FM Rock & Pop and several Internet/podcasting radio stations heard worldwide (Netherlands, United Kingdom, United States, and several other countries). The first EP was produced by the tandem Gaby Ruiz Díaz/ Macabre from Catupecu Machu, whereas the production of the second EP was done by Agustín Rocino (Cuentos Borgeanos), who also was chosen as producer of Ancestral.

Another determining factor for the course of the band were the several participations in compilations of international reach like Listen without distraction, an Argentinean tribute to the stoner cult band Kyuss and Loco Gringos Have a Party: Southamerican stoner rock in which they performed all together with Natas and other bands such as Buffalo (Argentina), Yajaira (Chile) and Reino Ermitaño (Perú).

The bands nearest plans for the rest of the year and the beginning of 2007 are to continue presenting the album all over Argentina and neighboring countries (the band was touring on Chile during April). For more information on the upcoming steps of the band, please visit this place.

(Their bio from MySpace)

Sick Porky - Ancestral (2006)

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Burn The Shivers

Last week I've posted the album The Wind Blows Witches From The Sky by the band Wallrus. This is their final one called Burn The Shivers. This album is a perfect continuation on The Wind Blows Witches From The Sky.

Burn The Shivers is an album full of great Blues driven Stoner Rock. There is even more room for the harmonica. This album is slightly more Blues oriented than it's predecessor. But the Kyuss and QOTSA influences are certainly still present in their sound. The album Burn The Shivers is an improvement over their previous work. The vocals are even better, as far as possible. This guy has really an impressive voice. Damn, that this band has stopped is a real pity. Enjoy!

1999 Is the year a band was formed in Rotterdam (the Netherlands) and they decided to hit the stages real quick. The name that would appear on the bills is Wallrus and stoner is their game. That same year they released their debut EP followed by two albums and in September 2007 their latest ones come out. "Burn The Shivers" contain 12 tracks and a videoclip of the song "High Plains Drifter".

The songs are driven by heavy sludgy guitars with catchy riffs and with leads. A nice role is there for the harmonica that vocalist Rob uses in the songs, it gives it a bluesy edge. But he has also a good voice that can do clean soft part but also raw whiskey shouting.

With "Burn The Shivers" the band delivers a nice album that is not Metal but a nice one for your car or in a saloon. And as a bonus you get the video with the clip, making of the clip and a picture gallery.

A catch album for those you are into Stoner Rock 'n' Roll.

(From Brutalism.com)

Wallrus - Burn The Shivers (2007)

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We Are All Dead

From Denver, USA comes the duo Adai. These guys play incredible Sludge/Doom/Metal. Their previous releases are the EP's ...I Carry from 2008 and Felo De Se from 2010. These two EP's are combined in the album We Are All Dead. This album is a garantee for some compelling atmospheric, brutal and heavy tunes. Their sound has some similarities with bands like Isis, Pelican and Neurosis.

It is safe to say that Adai has delivered a real masterpiece with this album! Enjoy!

The Denver duo enlarge their innovative experimental doom metal sound on their latest release, Felo De Se (June 2010) on Cavity Records. Adai are massive on both stage and record. Felo De Se was recorded by Matt Talbott (Hum) and mixed by Kurt Ballou (Converge), and not surprisingly Adai achieve an astounding amount of color (instead of just going for “dark”) while keeping it crushingly heavy. The two friends that comprise the band, Justin Trujilo (drums, samples) and Devin Mendoza (guitars, vox, amps) are hard-working, diligent, focused, and they clearly love what they do.

(From LastFM)

Adai - We Are All Dead (2010)

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Inventions For The New Season

When you hear the name Maserati, you will probably think of a fancy Italian sports car. Beside that Maserati is also the name of a band from Athens, Georgia, USA. This foursome plays Progressive Instrumental Rock with Post Rock and Space influences. This band has released their first album in 2000 and since that time they've released a couple of Albums, EP's and split albums. This album is called Inventions For The New Season from 2007.

Characteristic for this band are the repetitive guitars and rhythms. The songs on this album exude an atmospheric mood. A major influence for Masarati must be Pink Floyd.

Maserati is a so called Post Rock band, but Inventions For The New Season is an album that goes beyond the Post Rock sound. Judge for yourself! Enjoy!

On Inventions for the New Season, Maserati move simultaneously forward and backward away from their clear associations with the modern post-rock of groups like Tortoise and the Mercury Program and seemingly back in time to the progenitors of prog rock (King Crimson, early Rush) and especially Krautrock (Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream). Their nearest contemporaries may be the prolific yet obscure Finnish outfit Circle, especially their tendencies toward driving guitar/keyboard workouts in the motorik vein, as would befit a band named after the finest of Italian sports cars. These songs hurtle forward at an ever-increasing pace, which they rely on to build intensity rather than the standard quiet-to-loud dynamics of the post-rock genre. Actually, they're not alone in mining this realm of instrumental rock -- they also share with peers the Turing Machine and Ostinato the ability to sound elaborate without actually playing complicated music -- most of the riffs are built on simple, clean guitar figures augmented with chiming and echoing effects and building and expanding in their relentless repetition. Every track here is a stunner, especially the opening "Inventions" and the bass-driven Floyd-ian barnburner "Show Me the Season," culminating in a peak with the tongue-in-cheek nod to the Police's brief foray into progressive rock, knowingly titled "Synchronicity IV."

(By Brian Way at Allmusic.com)

Maserati - Inventions For The New Season (2007)

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