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:
Dead Witches is the name of a new project from drummer Mark Greening, who is best known as one of the main members of Electric Wizard and Ramesses, who released a couple of legendary albums, and Psychedelic Witchcraft's vocalist Virginia Monti, with bassist Carl Geary and guitarist Greg Elk. Sadly, Greg passed away at the end of last year. Such a big loss, I corresponded with him a couple of times and he seemed like such a nice guy.
Ouija, recorded at the same studio in which Electric Wizard had recorded Dopethrone, only consists of five tracks plus an awesome, atmospheric introduction and it really leaves you wanting more, but at least all the songs are equally good. Yep, there is no bad song on Ouija! The first word that comes to mind after listening to this album is 'heavy'. It's a thrilling vintage-sounding production inspired by traditional doom metal, Electric Wizard-esque stoner doom and witchcraft. The band combines a monumental riffing attitude with psychedelic sounds.
Dead, the first track after the spooky intro, is a fantastic, groovy and psychedelic song with a hypnotic riff, trance-like drumming and a trippy solo at the end. The next track, Drawing Down The Moon, is true stoner insanity with a great riff and fantastic vocals. Virginia's voice and performance always appear to be great, but she surpassed herself with this one. The last three songs Ouija, Mind Funeral and A World Of Darkness are equally heavy and slow, with massive riffs to blow the pavement from the path you walk. Compared to them, Drawing Down The Moon almost sounds like some sort of pop-doom, even though it's still my favourite song from Ouija.
Let me just tell you that this record is tremendous. Maybe not original, but without a doubt a must to check out. Ouija is basically the 'groovy Electric Wizard album' I wish Electric Wizard had actually made instead of Time to Die. I promise you that as soon as you start playing Ouija, you don't wanna stop!
Ouija will be released on February 10 through Heavy Psych Sounds Records and it's now available for Pre-Order.
P.S. Dear Purple Sage PR, I would like to thank you once again for sending me all the great promos.
Some of you might know these four freaks from Fort Myers, Florida from their great lo-fi retro doom debut from 2015. Psychic Dose just released their second full-length studio album, titled Myrkviðr. It's so fresh that it's still warm.
The band's sound has notably evolved since their debut album Satyrnalia. The lyrics are still influenced by paganism and fantasy, but the music is heavier, 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. Which reminds me of Dax Riggs's singing in the mighty Acid Bath. Enough with the vocals, because the music is equally awesome. Psychic Dose assaults you with thunderous guitar riffs, explosive bass lines, and pounding drums. There is a decent amount of variation between the songs with slower, doomy songs like Lycnthropic State, Phantoms and Fall of the Valkyrie, as well as more up-tempo stuff like Maenad and The Doom of Sarnath.
Anyway, I'd suggest this fantastic album to anyone who likes their metal with a special, more sinister edge. Although this album might feel dark, but it also provides a strange feeling of enjoyment and makes you want to get up to bang your head. Let's dance the electric Pagan Love Song!
Checking out some requests that flew under my radar last month, this one instantly amazed me. Witch's Oath, Mindkult's debut EP is the solo effort of a talented musician known as Fowst. Which makes it even more amazing. This is some heavy psyched out vintage doom, made somewhere in Virginia, USA. Where exactly? I don't know, there is some mystery behind Fowst.
Mindkult's debut is a seamless combination of the old and new. It combines heavy doom riffs with the mellower, atmospheric soundscapes of shoegaze; and surprisingly clean vocals. Melancholic yet energetic and melodic. Still, Fowst managed to create a different sound on every song. As I mentioned, the whole album is performed by one person: guitars, bass, drums, and vocals - all Fowst. The heavy guitars produce a thick wall of sound and the background music is also very good. The sound quality on the album is not particularly amazing for what it could have been. But I really like the raw, lo-fi sound. I think it gives some character to all of it. Its like it was recorded in a garage type atmosphere.
This is another great doom project from the underground that cannot be missed. As far as debuts go, this one is a good starting point. I'm curious what Fowst has in store for us in the future. Now let the music do the talking, just check this album out. You should not be disappointed.
WOW! A massive, killer album. Yep, I've said it. This is exactly how I want to start this review and what are you gonna do about it? From a beautiful city called Catania in Italy comes Haunted, a heavy five-piece, doom metal band. Their self-titled debut album was just released at the turn of August/September through Twin Earth Records, so it is still fresh. I've found a new band to obsess over and obsess I shall.
I just started listening to Haunted and I was immediately blown away. 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. The buildup on this album is amazing, not just in the songs themselves or the song lengths, but the entire record. Absolutely great tunes.
I think this is currently one of Italy's finest offerings if you're looking for stoner doom jams. Adding this to the 2016 biggest surprises from the underground! An essential newcomer, highly recommended. Don't take my word for it, just get this album and play it loud!
Check out the teaser for Dead Witches debut album. Clear, psychedelic, retro rock vibes with highly enjoyable vocals, made by old school veterans. Sounds really promising, can't wait for the release!
The new heavily occult, retro psyche fuzz project Dead Witches, which features Psychedelic Witchcraft frontwoman Virginia Monti and Electric Wizard’s Mark Greening (Ramesses, With The Dead, etc.), has issued some teaser video clips. The snippets are an intriguing preview that allows us aural glimpses of what we can expect when Dead Witches, who are rounded out by Carl Geary and Greg Elk, make their official public debut. The audio aspect of these teasers is an alluring, somewhat hypnotic style of music steeped in vintage aesthetics and mystique.
