Showing posts with label Sweden. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sweden. Show all posts
Honeymoon Disease - Electric Eel Single / Video
06 May, 2017
The Swedish band Honeymoon Disease have unleashed their new music video for the vinyl seven-inch single Electric Eel. It was directed by Max Ljungberg and it's Honeymoon Disease's first new material since the release of their 2015 debut The Trancendencee. Electric Eel follows the typical Honeymoon Disease cadence of bombastic retro rock rooted in the classic sounds of the 70s. Another grand testament to the incredibly healthy state of Swedish retro rock.
Also, they’ll be back in studio this summer to record their next album. The new album is set for an early fall release on The Sign Records.
17 April, 2017
Saint Vitus once sang, White magic, black magic, which am I to choose? But Sweden's Alastor didn't have any doubts, they knew exactly what to choose for their debut EP.
Well, I just got done listening to about thirty-four minutes of music. That's, of course, nothing out of the ordinary, but this album/EP compresses that much music into just three songs. Luckily, Alastor makes the most of the time and delivers a quality EP. This is exactly the type of record where you pay no attention to song length, and just allow yourself to be entranced into Alastor's world. And I can guarantee you, you will not want to leave.
The guitar playing on here ranges from heavy-as-fuck doom metal to spacey, psychedelic sounding riffs and the vocals are sung in the background, like an old Black Sabbath record. These elements blend to create the incredible atmosphere of these tracks. The songs have an overall spooky, formidable tone and tomb-like mists that slip subliminally into the listener's ear.
The opener, Enemy, is well over eleven minutes and features a long, atmospheric Sleep-esque intro leading into the massive main riff. The song has good groove and powerful presence, supreme mini-solos, long solos and great clean vocals. The next song, Nothing To Fear, is straight to the point and full of energy. The end riff here is simply stunning. Impressive as the first two songs are, it's the third, Black Magic, where Alastor really shines. To be clear though, I can't turn Black Magic loud enough. This song will get stuck it your head for indeterminable amounts of time and there is nothing you can do about it. The title track opens with a bulky Weedeater-like riff, quickly opening into another Electric Wizard/Windhand-style riff. It's a truly freaked out song with mighty vocals and with some of the most epic, monolithic riffing you'll hear on the album.
Overall, Black Magic is nothing groundbreaking, but with it, Alastor has made an amazingly competent stoner doom album. It's fat and melodic in the right places. It will be stuck in your head for a while, I assure you that.
25 February, 2017
Ready for a new portion of cool records? Once again, here are 11 records from over the past couple weeks, from French stoner metal to British black metal. As I mentioned last time, most of them deserve a separate review, but I just don't have the time to do that, so at least I can give'em some recognition. BTW. This issue of Stoner Mountain's Weekly Bandcamp Discoveries has been brought to you by the tag 'Heavy Psych'.
P.S. If this is your first visit here, be sure to check out:
16 February, 2017
Welcome to my new series - Stoner Mountain's Weekly Bandcamp Discoveries. The name is pretty self-explanatory. I'll be posting my Bandcamp discoveries every week. Here are 11 records from over the past two weeks that you should check out. From French stoner rock to Amercian black metal, here are some of the choicest records from around the world. Most of them deserve a separate review, but I just don't have the time to do that, so at least I can give'em some recognition.
13 February, 2017
Svartanatt is a five-piece retro-rock band and probably the brightest hope of the Swedish retro rock scene. They have just released their fantastic debut full-length album in 2016 and now they return with a brand new single, Killer On The Loose. Also, the band is ready to show Spain what they’re made of. They will play there six shows and then return to Sweden to play six more gigs. Check out the tour dates and the single below:
Spain
28 February - Onda Pasadena - Malaga
1 March - Lemon Rock Bar - Granada
2 March - Café Teatro Central - Baeza
3 March - Secret Show
4 March - Side Pop - Don Benito
5 March - El Zagal - Valladolid
28 February - Onda Pasadena - Malaga
1 March - Lemon Rock Bar - Granada
2 March - Café Teatro Central - Baeza
3 March - Secret Show
4 March - Side Pop - Don Benito
5 March - El Zagal - Valladolid
Sweden
25 March - Rockebo - Åre
1 April - The Sign Fest - Linköping
7 April - CC-puben - Gävle
8 April - Geronimo's - Stockholm
12 May - Rockbaren - Karlskoga
13 May - Beardmen - Skövde
25 March - Rockebo - Åre
1 April - The Sign Fest - Linköping
7 April - CC-puben - Gävle
8 April - Geronimo's - Stockholm
12 May - Rockbaren - Karlskoga
13 May - Beardmen - Skövde
Killer On The Loose Single
12 January, 2017
Swedish doomsters Monolord have premiered a music video for their song "Lord of Suffering" taken from their single/EP Lord of Suffering/Die in Haze (released on August 12, 2016). The video is compiled from footage shot during Monolord's extensive US and EU touring last summer.
EP Sale (Digital and Vinyl)
31 December, 2016
I'm presenting you The Unholy 13, my top albums of the year. It's a totally subjective list and these are only the stoner/doom/sludge/retro rock albums that I consider personal favourites. It was quite hard to make a solid selection out of all those wonderful albums released in 2016. I also wanted to pick more underground bands, so you won't see here bands like Witchcraft or Blood Ceremony. Of course compared to Adele or The Weeknd they are still very underground, but you get the idea, right?
I also want to say thank you so much to everyone who visited my blog. 2016 was a good year for Stoner Mountain.
P.S. Please visit Stoner Mountain on Facebook and click the "Like" button :)
13. Dunbarrow - Dunbarrow
Nothing new here, but I just love this album. The overall sound is very Witchcraft/Pentagram-esque, but can you blame them? It's just like Magnus Pelander sang - 'It is the Pentagram. It's got your soul again and you never be free!'. Easy listening and no skipping needed, just press play.
Favourite track: Forsaken
11. Conan - Revengeance
Conan's Revengeance is a beast. Heavy as fuck and extremely slow at times, but also has some well-placed faster moments that brings together a favourable combination of blast beats and doom, which really gets you into a head banging mood.
Favourite track: Revengeance
10. Old Blood - Old Blood
Another wonderful female fronted doom band. Old Blood mixes a bluesy vibe with psychedelic and doom sounds, creating dense, spaced-out atmospherics. They describe their sound as acid doom and that's probably the best description. Of course, I cannot forget about the soft, beautiful, almost smooth jazz-like vocals.
Favourite track: Taking Refuge with Strangers
9. Electric Citizen - Higher Time
Electric Citizen had me in 2014 with their superb debut album Sateen. It was a great, highly energetic mix of 70’s psych rock and vintage doom with hypnotic Siouxsie Sioux-style vocals. Higher Time builds forward on that formula, bringing just slightly updates to their overall sound. The album is more consistent but ultimately not as good as Sateen.
Favourite track: Crux
8. Bright Curse - Before The Shore
Bluesy and heavy stoner/doom grooves from the UK. Before The Shore is so thrilling, that it’s hard to believe it’s the product of just three people. The album is chock-full of muscular guitar sounds, powerhouse drums, prominent bass and amazing, clean vocals. There's definitely a Witchcraft and Graveyard vibe.
Favourite track: The Shore
7. Winter Moon - Hearts and Hands EP
Yes, it's another female fronted retro rock, but they have a unique and refreshing style that will appeal to a broad range of tastes. I just love how Winter Moon transcend many classic rock genres like blues rock, psych-rock, hard rock and it still sounds modern. The songwriting is taut, soaring and shows how a real band crafts their tunes once the writer has penned the initial song. The musicianship is at a high level. Each song is haunting in its own way with the guitars wailing, drums banging, keyboards conjuring melodies and soulful powerhouse vocals. Read the whole review
Favourite track: Wasted With You
6(66). Psychic Dose - Myrkviðr
The best example why it's good to wait with the 'Best of' list until the end of the year. Psychic Dose's second album was released just 10 days ago. Their music is heavier now, characterized by a more sinister and morbid sound; less 70's proto/traditional doom metal and more 80's doom metal/heavy metal. The production is much better and the vocals...Holy Smokes! The vocals are so fucking awesome. Singer Amanda Howell can touch your soul with her smoky powerhouse voice one minute, then completely melt your face off with passionate higher pitched vocals and harsh screams. Read the whole review
Favourite track: Lycnthropic State
5. Haunted - Haunted
Think of it as Electric Wizard teaming up with Pentagram adding female vocals, a dark, doomy sound played in a funky, rockin' psychedelic way. I'm just addicted to their overall sound and the catchiness of each of their songs. From the hauntingly beautiful vocals to the monolithic riffs. This is exactly how we want all of our records to sound like. Read the whole review
Favourite track: Nightbreed
4. Messa - Belfry
It was a battle for the fourth place between two Italian newcomers, Haunted and Messa, like a classic Serie A match between Juventus and Roma. ‘Belfry’ is searingly honest and brilliantly uncompromising, but also stuff full of hooks. There’s a lot of diversity present. It's a refreshing take on doom metal taking inspiration from different genres like drone, ambient and industrial. The sound is Heavy, melodic, immersive, trippy. And last, but not least, Sara's voice is beautiful and powerful, to the point of leaving you speechless.
Favourite track: Blood
3. Salem's Pot - Pronounce This!
The child of Electric Wizard and the younger brother of Windhand. They finally established their sound. Yes, it's much softer now, but guess what? They've never sounded better! Pronounce This! is a top notch and surprisingly diverse sounding album, there's even a sweet, laid back country-blues track!
Favourite track: Desire
2. Grajo - Grajo
Another female fronted newcomer on the list. Grajo nailed it with their self-titled debut. These guys have a really groovy Saint Vitus-esque vibe around their sound. Combine this with mountainous riffs and you're in for a ten ton trip. Yes, it's heavy, but very melodic at the same time, with mesmerising dreamy vocals. A perfect combination, very refreshing. Trust me, you'll get addicted in no time. Read the whole review
Favourite track: Magic Eye
1. Mountain Dust - Nine Years
The King is dead, long live The King! Because Mountain Dust is like a spiritual successor to Sweden's Graveyard. Heavy, bluesy 70's hard rock with loud, soulful clean vocals that are clear and have a wonderful bluesy tone to them. Nine Years is their full-length debut album and it already tipped Mountain Dust into the big leagues. It's got fistfuls of energy and manages to have an identity of it's own, which isn't easy. The seven tracks on this record contain enough traces of different acid/psychedelic rock, early heavy metal and even some traditional doom to make classic rock fans lose themselves for a few hours.
Favourite track: Running Fool
30 April, 2012
Requested by Odyssey. No download link this time.
Limited 200 coloured vinyl. A split 7" vinyl single between US heavy rockers BLACK PYRAMID, and Swedish ODYSSEY, both bands bringing out a track of heavy and stoned rock with thick layers of distortion and sonic madness.
Limited 200 coloured vinyl. A split 7" vinyl single between US heavy rockers BLACK PYRAMID, and Swedish ODYSSEY, both bands bringing out a track of heavy and stoned rock with thick layers of distortion and sonic madness.
07 April, 2012
Let's start with General Surgery. Brutal goregrind in the vein of the good, old Carcass. A great release to listen to over and over again, it's very addictive.
31 March, 2012
Red like the river
Blue like the eyes of the woman who loves you
Recently I was in the mood for Unida. So, here's as a little bonus and the last post in March, the Unida / Dozer split.
Blue like the eyes of the woman who loves you
Recently I was in the mood for Unida. So, here's as a little bonus and the last post in March, the Unida / Dozer split.
25 February, 2012
And finally, here's the last studio album. Enjoy it.
21 February, 2012
Here's the second album, it's even better than the first.
20 February, 2012
While we're waiting for the next Witchcraft album, here's November - the original Witchcraft ;) . This is their debut album.
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