Acid Witch - Rot Among Us (2022)

Acid Witch has evolved into what must easily be one of my go-to Halloween bands and sounds. Sure, the aesthetics and influence were always present from their debut, Witchtanic Hallucinations, with its crushing, raw psychedelic doom, but as they've gone on patiently creating new content across the last 15 years, they've developed into a much more varied, progressive style, but without abandoning the down to earth, everyman production values and campy horror inspirations. Slasher Dave has been quite busy with his solo synthesizer/score work, pumping out some really great albums like Halloween Howls, Frights and The Jack-O-Lantern Murders, and I suspect a lot of that actually turns around and informs the direction that Acid Witch takes, but it's also why this material feels so fresh and original.

Evil Sound Screamers was quite an involved, trance-inducing slab of spooks and grooves, but Rot Among Us takes us even a little further than that. You don't really know what to expect with their newer material, because they no longer just settle for the crushing stoner haze of their first two full-lengths. Each of their cuts is like a weird narrative of their own unique horror cosmic, from the Carpenter-like synths that support the guitars and impish chants in "Gather Each Witch" to the chumpy chug and take of the title track, with its goofy and endearing vocals that adorn the more melancholic, melodic riffs. You still have some of those stock, swaggering stoner blues grooves in places like "The Sleeper", but they never bore you to death with anything that even hinges on predictable, they'll churn into a more thrashing riff, or slip in some minor instrumentation like cute little synth tone when you don't quite expect it.

All the while they can still kick out the deeper, bolder rasps, screams or growls, or the bigger riff, but they save these for specific moments where they'll have an impact. They just like to play around with your expectations first, like the antagonist of some cheesy B-horror film, and it makes for a really fun time, and an album that can appeal both to the horror/exploitation hesher and stoner rock fan alike, without taking itself too seriously. Combine this with that earthen, natural feel to the instruments, like they're giving a clean, personal performance of this in your basement while you smoke a bag and stare at all your posters under a black light, and there's really just nothing else quite like Acid Witch. They are their own entity, on their own terms, and the albums just keep getting incrementally better with each progression. This is also my favorite of Shagrat's album covers for them yet, how cool is it to have an artist like that in-house?

Verdict: Win [8.25/10]

https://www.facebook.com/acidwitchofficial/

Bog Wizard vs. Froglord - A Frog in the Bog EP (2022)

Can we start with how awesome the cover art for this split release is? I'm getting total vibes of primitive PC graphics, and by primitive I mean the PEAK. If we saw something like this on a Commodore 64 game's title screen, my bros and I might have creamed our collective corduroys. No surprise then that it is another tripped out recording from Michigan's psychedelic sledgehammer Bog Wizard, this time paired out with the equally outrageous Froglord out of England. There is no scenario in which the two of these groups collide and dungeon level mischief does NOT ensue, so make sure up front that you've run some clean bong water, written your wills, put on your space helmets and whatever random pieces of armor you can sling together to defend yourself from the trudging, sludging and drudging you are about to receive.

Bog Wizard's portion of the split definitely feels in the same wheelhouse as their recent Miasmic Purple Smoke album, that is to say a steady, slow, crush of distorted swill playing out thick, oozing, repetitive grooves that will devolve you into your respective reptilian or amphibious DNA. The vocal tracks are delivered with a barbaric hypnotism, but the band also breaks the heaviness down into some simple bass lines and percussion here. Froglord's contributions, "The Bog" and "The Wizard", both references to their partners in crime (much as "Reptilian Death Squad" did for them), are slightly more robust, accessible stoner metal jams with great tones, and a cool vocal that sounds like Rob Zombie got punched square in the gut, but gets a little more hoarse when they get to a chorus part. To be honest, both sides of this equation do complement each other well, they're both well within that wheelhouse of savage, simple doom and sludge that was undoubtedly inspired by Robert E. Howard's Conan fiction and dangerous degrees of hashish consumption. The Brits go for a brighter tone whereas Bog Wizard sounds more dreary, raw and repressed by design.

What's even cooler, is that in addition to how their individual contributions celebrate one another, there are two directly collaborative tracks named for one another, and these are some of its funnest moments, with the "The Frog Lord" mantra being repeated against some sizzling synth effects, and the aforementioned vocals attacking you from all angles as the tripping turns paranoiac. "The Bog Wizard" sounds like Clutch on a bad bender after listening to some Conan or Buzz*oven records, and it's just kind of cool to see a split recording taken this far...in general, the bands can remain a bit disparate and then the whole experience feels forced, but here it's all quite balanced. The songs are all really simple, and I wouldn't mind either band getting a little more riffy, complex or experimental for some added depth, but it seems like a good time was had by all, and if you're a fan of their individual records, then there is no reason to skip this one.

Verdict: Win [7/10]

https://bogwizard.bandcamp.com/releases
https://froglord.bandcamp.com/

Bog Wizard - Miasmic Purple Smoke (2021)

Michigan's dungeon mushroom doom masters pick up right where last year's From the Mire left off, with some of the most bludgeoning, drudging, simplistic stoner/doom metal you're like to experience. The focus here is entirely on drubbing you repeatedly with a hook until you finally submit to it, no matter how brute or dumb it first sounds, and then right when you feel like you're endlessly slogging along, an ambulatory corpse propelled by the weight of necromantic suggestion, they come at you with some more epic, clean chorus riff that somehow elevates the whole experience from the fetid, tadpole-infested bongwaters to a tale of olde, high and mighty. The band prides itself on sounding like a bunch of Sabbath-addicted nerds crouched around Cheetos-finger-stained character sheets from some old D&D edition, rolling bones amidst the cloying stench of the last ganja score, and if you know much about me, this could only a compliment.

This is ugly, almost minimalistic doom which inhabits the border between traditional doom, sludge and a little epic heavy metal, as if they were Manilla Road mentality channeled through gnarly Bongzilla riff muscles, and much of Miasma Purple Smoke sticks to this pattern. The rhythm guitar patterns, which skulk alongside the thick, oozing bass-lines, are the antithesis of complexity, but that's exactly how this one sucks you in, especially on the first two tracks, "Barbaria" and "The Rogue", which I consider the best for their acidic, creepy higher vocals. The band also adopts some guttural snarls, which work well in the context, but for me this style never gets quite so memorable as the cleaner intonations, which themselves are often dowsed in effects that make them feel as if they're landing on you from the haze of a psyched out nightmare. Lead guitars are usually painfully basic and bluesy and contribute more as little atmospheric melodies than flashy exercises, and the band isn't above throwing you a curveball like the faster bridge in "The Rogue" where the drums pick up to a modest blast and it almost feels like drugged out black metal (which needs to be a thing a lot more often). You hear this again in "Stuck in the Muck", the mini-track where they almost transform into a weird, sludgy thrash with vocals of the Hetfield variety.

Risks are taken away from the steady muck-dredging, and they don't always succeed for me here. The brief instrumental "Grimdark" with its dim acoustic guitars doesn't add a lot to any of the tracks around it, although I think the subject of 'grimdark' fantasy itself is certainly well within the band's wheelhouse. The bluesier, early 70s Sabbath swagger of the title track is also pretty cool, but the vocals there sound a little strained, especially where they bring in an almost operatic, quivering guest vocal, and it's probably just an idea in need of a little more germination. The real strength of Miasmic Purple Smoke for me is the aforementioned first two tracks, and the excellent 12+ minute closer "The Void Beckons", a vitality-leeching psychedelic death trip with some synthy tones that really capture the acidic excess that the cover art might evoke...as simple as this one is, I was totally absorbed into it despite any level of repetition...the growls have a great reverb to them and it all just carries along so well. So overall there are about 30 minutes of the 40 here that I'd put right on the level with From the Mire, and well worth losing yourself to, but the shorter bits I could do without, and I had mixed feelings on the title track; I almost think that the band would be better suited to go more adventurous in their longer tracks rather than include the shorter diversions like "Grimdark" or "Stuck in the Muck".

All told, if you'd fancy a mellower, laid back, but subtly menacing sound in the vein of bands like Dopesmoker, Bongripper, Belzebong, Weedeater and Cough, this trio is onto something, and the fantastical influences are also a boon, even if a fraction less pronounced on this one.

Verdict: Win [7/10]

https://bogwizard.bandcamp.com/releases

Bog Wizard vs. Dust Lord - Four Tales of the Strange (2021)

I've already covered the 2020 album From the Mire by Michigan's bong soaked Bog Wizard, a rather adventurous hybrid of acid washed stoner doom metal and fantasy gaming nostalgia. They've returned here on a fitting split EP with Colorado's Dust Lord, another newish act which has also independently released its debut last year. Sonically, the two bands are a fine pair, although there are some slight deviations in their thematic and atmospheric approaches which distinguish them. Ugly, huge doom metal tones, taking the Sabbath roots and drenching them in sustained distortion and vocals that occasionally make Ozzy sound like a harmless puppy. That's not to say we're dealing with songwriting on a master level like those British originators, but I think folks who are really into this saturated, evil stoner crush have two hopefuls here that, with a little tweaking, could become contenders to the thrones occupied by acts like Electric Wizard and Bongripper.

Dust Lord has the bolder production of the two, with voluminous guitars that groove along your nerves with note progressions that might not be original, but do their job. I'd say aesthetically this is the drier of the bands, going more for an in the in-the-face, traditional fare. Take a group like Fu Manchu and dial down the party and up the crunch levels. Interestingly, the first half of their first track, "Not Men, Not Women, Not Beasts" is a slow, loping desert-camouflaged sasquatch that then picks up with a slightly more uptempo stoner/metal with some harmonies, that introduces us to the pissed off vocals...I found this a bit more entertaining than what led into it, so perhaps that first half went on a bit long, and this is a crime also committed by "Career Opportunities", a lower drudge that also improves once the vocals and higher guitars arrive...just check out that fuzzy, mid-90s Cathedral-like break around the 6-minute mark when he starts spitting out the venom, that's what I kind of wanted the whole time.

Bog Wizard fares a bit better with me, I just love their gradual atmospheric builds, created by clean guitars and feedback before the molasses-thick marsh guitars start to ooze along into the track. I think the vocals on this sound even better than the full-length album, eerie post-Osbourne lines dispersed with some growlier vocals. The little drum fills are quite nice, giving the muck-tinged, steady rhythm guitar a little more of a 'march' feel. The stuff is still heavily rooted in fantasy, with tracks called "Paladin of Death" and "Gelatinous Cube"...now, obviously, there's a BIT of a bias with me on that last one. The G. Cube is my favorite D&D monster...I own the limited edition Funko Pop!...it's presence in Pixar's Onward is one of the many reasons that was one of my top movie picks of 2020. I'm not even a big fan of gelatin or Jell-O or Bill Cosby or anything, but I just love that corridor-cleaning atrocity and its slow, measured, flesh-absorbing menace. This tune is super interesting...from the chuggy rhythms that set it up, to that break in the middle with the ominous clean guitars that almost sound like drawn out, melancholic surf rock, the tinny little cadenced beats, and then the fucking FUZZ ERUPTION. This is actually music that a Gelatinous Cube could get down with, and I have to respect it for that...

All in all, Four Tales of the Strange is a decent if slightly lopsided effort. Dust Lord has the goods, but hammers them over your head after too long of a setup, whereas Bog Wizard is more interestingly composed in its hypnotic, subterranean aesthetic, meandering but only in a good way. My wife and sons don't like me doing drugs, but I can settle for this, doping up vicariously through the doom.

Verdict: Win [7/10]

https://www.facebook.com/BogWizardBand/

Bog Wizard - From the Mire (2020)

When an album starts off with a sample from the good old Moral Panic era of the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game, you know it's dialing my number, and yet the hits keep on coming throughout the first Bog Wizard full-length record, an effort that attempts to not only serve as a paean to the trio's fantastical die-rolling inspirations, but also to live up to the band's handle, the title, and the wonderful comic book-like cover artwork. From the Mire sounds like a slow journey through a wilderness sump, slowing down the movement rate of the party considerably and snuffing out your light sources while swarming you with insects, reptiles, and things danker still. It's an exceedingly simple record which goes all in on volume and bong-swill atmosphere, and takes its time to club the listener into submission. But hey, when you're stoned and tied to the tracks, it doesn't matter so much if the train's coming slower...it's still going to roll over you.

As with a lot of comparable bands, the key here is just to lull you in with some enormous, Sabbath-school groove and the hazy vocal patterns, but Bog Wizard isn't afraid to interchange their multi tracked hippie death chants with more extreme growls and snarls, and the latter don't really sound bad at all; in fact I wouldn't have scoffed at having more of them, as you'll hear in "Shapeshifter" where they sound ferocious and have an incredible sustain on some of the lines. That said, the cleaner vocals certainly fit in better with monolithic cuts like "City in the Mountain" or their lumbering ode to that unkillable mountain of teeth, claws and flesh known as the "Tarrasque". The guitars are minimalistic, chunky and heavy, a good counter to the more atmospheric effect of the vocals, although I wasn't a huge fan of their production, which was a bit too thick and syrupy on the heavier parts, with the bass getting a bit in the way of the rhythm guitar. It reminded me a little of some of Bongripper's material, in fact the sound overall reminds me of them, only there's a major difference in theme, whereas one is more focused on the drugs and suffering, this trio has the more structured traits of traditional epic doom, and for a DM and player like me, more compelling lyrical themes.

There's also a greater dynamic range across the substantial track-list, from proggier psychedelic escapism like the instrumental "Gnarled Cane", to the use of clean guitars and atmospheric leads throughout that prevent any sort of repetitive ennui from setting in. "The Orange Goblin" is another one which is different, almost a sludgy post-hardcore vibe to the riffs which are a little faster than usual and work well with the nastier vocals. Alas, it didn't turn out to be a cover of that band's eponymous tune on Frequencies from Planet Ten, but I like to think it's some sort of spiritual nod. I found the drums throughout pretty solid, although as with the guitars, the mix isn't quite rounded out yet, the snares in particular were a little thin and felt weak against the guitars, and some of the lower pitched drums also got lost at times. There's a little padding later on in the track list, I liked the idea of the "Fireside" instrumental more than its execution, and the howling ambient short "(And Stay Out)" seemed unnecessary. One other gripe is that they also front loaded one of the least interesting tunes in "Submission in Defiance", it chugs along ala Cathedral but there really isn't a terribly strong riff in there. Cuts like "The Wizard in the Bog", "Tarrasque" or the massive "Swamp Golem" are much more effective and really brought me into the album...

But that's the key, they DID bring me into the album, and while there is certainly some tweaking to be done, further room for growth in production and the layout of the tracks, I enjoyed the blend of crushing riffs, chant-like vocals, growling, marshland molasses pacing and fantasy themes. Fans of Witch Mountain, Dopethrone, Belzebong, Windhand, Acid Witch and Demon Lung might want to get these guys on the radar and track their sinking steps through the muddy slough of doom.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]
https://www.facebook.com/BogWizardBand/

Acid Witch - Black Christmas Evil EP (2018)

Dave Slasher's last Acid Witch EP was this really great idea that involved covering four Halloween-worthy hard rock horror movie tracks, but unlike a lot of others, who lavished praise upon it, I was just not a fan of the actual execution, even though I I was a fan of some of the original fare it was based upon, and appreciated that such songs would get some attention. Hey, nobody can question the guys' taste. This newer Black Christmas Evil EP is a similar idea, only with another particular Holiday theme, and shorter at only two tracks. This time, the presented material is original, and like a lot of the band's full-lengths, much more to my liking. I rather dug how it felt like a continuation of their very solid, original 2017 album Evil Sound Screamers, only trussed up in a Santa outfit.

So yeah, hideous lo-fi death/doom drudging that sounds enormous despite those factors. I love the integration of the cheery keyboard lines which feel like they were taken off some incidental Xmas record, or some cheesy mid-90s black metal band like Ancient. The vocals are gruesome snarls that are heard well above the music itself, and the overall atmosphere is suitably fun and still heavy. I wouldn't call the riffs in this one their best, but they are dynamic and groovy enough in a succinct tune like this to keep you from growing bored. The second tune, "Christmas Evil (You Better Watch Out!)", was my preferred of the two, opening with a sample from the trailer of the 1980 film of the same name, but then going into this classier doom structure. Lyrically, yes, each of the tracks is based on the eponymous slasher films, which is really par for the Acid Witch course and one might even hope they do a lot more such 'theme' EPs since there's a lot of turf to cover in the horror genre.

There's not a lot of meat on the victims' bones here, but it's a two track EP for $2 on Bandcamp, so there's not much cause to complain, especially when they're well enough written that they could have appeared on Evil Sound Screamers. I think the love of these films shines through in just about everything Dave Slasher and friends put out, and since my own fondness for campy old horror flicks has only grown with age it's something I look forward to. I'd also take the opportunity here to plug his solo synth/score project, which is really well done.

Verdict: Win [7/10]

https://www.facebook.com/acidwitchofficial/

Acid Witch - Evil Sound Screamers (2017)

The Midnight Movies EP was an interesting distraction, but not one I really got into much more than just its novelty, instead pining for the next of Acid Witch's original full-lengths, since they had been on an incline from Witchtanic Hellucinations through Stoned to the Spooky split they put out with Nunslaughter. With Evil Sound Screamers, Slasher Dave and company retain a chunk of their original doom style and then dress it up with a lot more silly horror/Halloween influences than ever before, to the point of utter absurdity. And you know what? If you're in the proper mindset, with a couple dripping candles, a pipe or bong, and a stack of the cheesy yet unforgettable horror VHS tapes, I don't know how you listen through this without at least smirking, if not just having an outright blast as it lurches along with goofy confidence.

The focus here is on a hybrid of Sabbathian stoner-doom with the slightly more refined, melodic strains of riffs that hail from European Gothic doom bands who were themselves inspired by those forebears, but took it to another level of atmosphere. Trad metal and rock influences abound, but these are woven into the measured, patient pace of the album's deep, raw grooves. But that's really just the bedrock of the recording, because they proceed to smother it with synths and organs and all manner of growls and higher pitched, witchy vocals to the point that it almost would seem as if it were cluttering up the mix if it weren't so damned, ironically alluring. I wouldn't say that any of the individual guitar lines were all that remarkable, and in fact a number of them are really predictable, but the sum of this album is just one that feels unique to Acid Witch, because it doesn't take itself so seriously and instead smears you with a face full of over-the-top atmosphere, and a riff set that at least tries to diversify itself so you can discern individual tracks from one another and not just have some overlong, samey slog which is not uncommon in the subgenre.

I really enjoyed the use of the samples here; when combined with some acoustic or keyboard they seem to manifest this strange meta-commentary on cult horror, while ceding the album completely to the heavy metal elements. The synths really are a dominant force, generally used to convey the mood of campy haunted houses, theme parks or the sorts of pads and pitches you'd expect from b-grade horror scores of decades past, like thick distorted runs that will often be matched up with Dave's growling (as in "Cheap Gore"). Or sometimes, they'll ramp up the fuzz on the guitars as they do in "Nain Rouge (The Red Dwarf)" to a super-desert-stoner-rock degree just to keep the listener from roiling over in any form of redundancy. Evil Sound Screams is far from complex, but the panoply of sounds it manages to sneak in there keep it fresh and compelling and in their strange way present a band on the precipice of some form of progression, no matter how crude its core.

That's not to say it's without its annoyances, since some of the harsher growls can fall a little flat, or some of the shrieked vocals just make it feel like the band is fooling around too much. "Enter At Your Own Risk" is almost a pure crone-like narrative piece, for example, where each word evoked might have you keel over laughing, but even here it's really flush with the theme of the album, the tongue-in-cheek sorcery the band as always clad itself in. It's not going to be for everyone, because it's a dense, sloppy mess at points, and some might not get its sense of humor. But by the time the album bursts into "Hardrock Halloween", which opens with the album's sleaziest upbeat metal number, drizzled in bluesy lead syrup, I couldn't stop smiling...by the time it hit the titular closing track, its best and most epic, I just didn't want the damn thing to end. That proggy horror bridge is amazing, and it gets super doomed out at the end before ending in some cinematic ambiance and PSA funk. After which, I go on and spin the whole thing again, because it's an album that embodies so much of my generation's nostalgia for Halloween...the night before Halloween...and the most fun I've had with Acid Witch yet.

Verdict: Win [8/10]

https://www.facebook.com/Acid-Witch-146053698843172/

Temple of Void - Of Terror and the Supernatural (2014)

Death/doom of the variety played by Temple of Void always seems to be a highly lauded niche in the wider metal medium, but I'd be lying to say that I'd heard many bands coming along over this last decade who do anything truly unique or interesting with the style. As cool as it looks, Of Terror and the Supernatural is not quite an exception to that cycle of aesthetic repetition, but that's really one of the only complaints I could launch against it, because this is a confident, consistent debut with enormous production that should resonate off the walls and vaulted ceilings of whatever ancient ruined structure it transports you to. What might have turned out to be another dreary, dull and redundant collection of growls and vapid chord progressions is instead something measurably more.

You'll pick up a whiff of the early British forebears of this style, particular a Paradise Lost or My Dying Bride circa the earlier 90s, especially in how the use of simple melodies serves as bleak lamentations over the rhythms beneath, but at the same time I felt like this band was traveling in a more purely old school, slower paced death metal direction akin to Bolt Thrower or Asphyx. The popular band Hooded Menace would be a more direct comparison, but Temple of Void seems a lot more solemn and serious than those Finns were, at least on their first few albums. They also seem to sidestep the more cavernous equations of so many of their peers today; you can draw a few lines to an Incantation, but these guys aren't quite so churning and dynamic. You could play the shit out of this in some underground warren, but it's far more about patience and developing each track to sound so huge, and it needs to be played out to some dark, brooding sky.

Simple, open chord or chugging sequences are accented by glazes of dour melodies, and a guttural vocal perfection that is mixed to perfection. Sure, the delivery can grow a little monotonous, but the levels of reverb against the other instruments are simply amazing, and once it cedes into a pair of gloomy harmonies you really get nailed with the full, doomed potency of the performance. That Temple of Void are so unafraid to use leads, or other melodic details like the organs and synths, is a huge part of why I was engaged throughout the entire 50 minutes of the experience, and in some instances, like the instrumental "To Carry This Corpse Evermore", they'll go even further, with an acoustic folk piece that feels, in its own way, just as massive as the heavier chunks of the material. Bass is kept at a solid level, and while the drums mete out the simpler beats you usually come to associate with the death/doom or funeral doom styles, they're another well produced component that adds a good level of power, splash and gravity to the procession.

Musically, it doesn't feel quite as creepy as the excellent Bruce Pennington cover art or the album title would suggest, but certainly morbid and sorrow-spun in the wake of its growl-doom ancestors. By giving the riffs and melodies space to breathe, and not stocking up too highly on dissonance, they help crack open the imagination to those dank, shadowy corners it might have not visited since those formative 90s. Most of the chills will come through the lyrics, which are well penned to cover their classic scare subjects, like lycanthropy, undeath, and hopeless isolation, with maybe a little cosmic horror lurking through the eaves. Of Terror and the Supernatural took me a few listens to really digest and appreciate, not because it isn't immediately accessible, but just because it's not the easiest mood for me to attain in my increasingly hectic family and social life. Once I did, it was like a cold win blew out the sun like a candle, and I felt like I were experiencing it from the vantage point of a stone coffin. A strong, if not highly original debut here, and I'm eager to check out the follow-up.

Verdict: Win [8/10] (you too have died)

https://www.facebook.com/TempleOfVoid

Cloud Rat - Qliphoth (2015)

You know how sometimes you get a new record from a band that you’ve never heard of before, and it takes you a few songs or a few listens to really feel captivated by what is going on musically? Qliphoth is not that album. You will know after the first few songs whether you are all in or not, and I sure as hell hope you are because this is a great album.

Qliphoth opens with a tranquil vocal line, but it does not take long for the true form of Cloud Rat to manifest and unleash their incredibly catchy variety of grindcore. I honestly feel a little out of my depth even talking about Cloud Rat in terms of genre, as I mostly gravitate towards the more well known bands from the genre - earlier efforts from bands like Napalm Death, Carcass, and Bolt Thrower to name a few. And, well, there has been a hell of a lot of progress in the genre since the 80's.

Cloud Rat is loud, aggressive, and fast, but they punctuate the more turbulent riffing with moments of calm, giving you a chance to come up for air. Like clockwork, a string of loud, fast, loud, fast will be interrupted by a calm instrumental or an opening riff that gives you a time to brace yourself before the inevitable avalanche of noise that is about to drop.

In fact, my favorite portion of the album is the five song sequence that begins with “Raccoon” and ends with “Udder Dust.” “Raccoon” begins with a slow three note riff that builds to include additional instruments and eventually vocals. It is a nice resting place, after the onslaught of the previous three songs, and the songs that come after “Raccoon” are among the most intense on the album. Cloud Rat is at their peak on “Rusting Belt,” which channels all of the bands aggression into the first minute only to resolve in the spoken words “arson is a form of self-expression in a place where you can’t express yourself.” Vocalist Madison Marshall puts in a hell of a performance on this album, but this spoken line, the only one of the album, was the one that stuck with me after I listened to it for the first time. I have since looked at the lyric sheet that came with the record, but this one line feels like the thesis statement for the entire album. It is poignant and powerful, and if it doesn’t make you want to set fire to the suburbs then you’re not listening to it loud enough.

While I don’t think I can call this the best album of 2015 so far, it is probably my favorite. Unlike some of the more technically impressive efforts I’ve heard, there is something about Qliphoth that I keep coming back to. The record feels like bottled lightning in that they managed to channel all of their sound into aural catharsis, and I find myself wanting to flip the record and play it all over again when it’s done.

Verdict: Win [8.0/10]

https://cloudrat.bandcamp.com/

Acid Witch - Midnight Movies EP (2015)

Midnight Movies is an interesting little 'aside' from the Midwest's morbid ganja doomsters Acid Witch, but I'm not quite sure that the 'interesting' is such a positive on this particular release. Not because I don't relish the idea of a death/doom band covering campy 80s horror movie rock tracks, but the way it is manifest here seems a little too much on the 'partying' side of the equation, fucking around where playing it much straighter would have ultimately proven the more humorous route. Hell, I was looking forward to their take on Fastway's "After Midnight", taken from the 1986 Trick or Treat soundtrack, which I happen to really enjoy (the band in general and that song), but rather than transform these tunes into something more fitting for the Acid Witch style, they play them really close to the belt, including the most minimalistic hard rock drum beats possible and guitars that feel too thin and burdened once Shagrat and Slasher Dave start emitting the growled and screamed vocals.

Granted, this is meant to be completely off the wall, and it's even being released on April 1st of all dates, but even then I just can't help thinking this was a missed opportunity to morph such straight shot rockers into some ugly, abusive, cellar shroom doom more like their Stoned album, which I found pretty damn solid. I guess if I was a younger fan and this was the first time I'd ever even heard of these songs and movies, it might feel a lot more clever, but the execution here just seems a little on the lazy side...the beats, the guitar riffs, nothing is conveyed with much more than the power of sheer sarcasm. On the one hand, we now know the band members can hit higher pitches circa a whole lot of cheesy, endearing schlock rock and half the early through mid-80s Metal Blade roster, but once you contrast that with the growling in the bounds of single tunes ("Soldiers of the Night" from Black Roses), it just feels too counterproductive to the cause. That and "After Midnight" are probably the better two songs here, since the others are fairly miserable in translation and weren't all that much fun in the first place...like the gang shouts coming in on "Partytime" over the guttural rasp.

I think the best outcome here is that people will track down the original material and enjoy it, which is more than likely what the members of Acid Witch intended all along; but beyond the fact the 12" has a pretty fun cover and will no doubt become a collector's item, I just can't recommend it. The production is alright, the instruments in the mix seem a little phoned in, and the delivery on some of the harsher vocal lines is pretty 'blah', and that's really one of the only areas in which they've tried to deviate from the originals. I don't mean to be terribly hard on it, since they're more or less just taking the piss, and I certainly share in their inspiration for those wonderful years and all the mystique that used to surround Halloween, metal music, etc when I was a pup in that decade. Hell, if you place nostalgia above all else, perhaps you'll take a lot more away from this than I did, but all it accomplished for me is wanting to hear more of Acid Witch in their native habitat. It's been about 5 years now, so I hope we won't be waiting too much longer for a new full-length of original material.

Verdict: Indifference [5/10]

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Acid-Witch/146053698843172

Nunslaughter/Acid Witch - Spooky EP (2014)

The Spooky split assembles two of Hells Headbangers more distinct and entertaining acts into a union of what I would have assumed to be a contrast of the slower Acid Witch death/doom camp and the more blitzing death/thrash of Nunslaughter. Yet, to my shock, the choices on this EP really seem to complement one another, with the latter putting on the reins for some of their slower, chunkier, and Acid Witch revving up their engines for the closer on the B-side, which places them on an evil motorcycle pacing with the Catholic Church's favorite band. But beyond that, the material both of the band's is spewing forth here is among the best I've heard from them. Nunslaughter is on a tear, granted, their last record Angelic Dread kicking the cathedral doors down and shredding every habit in sight; but I just wasn't feeling the new Acid Witch EP covers EP much (more on that later), so it was a blast to hear that when it comes to their own material, they've certainly still got it.

The Acid Witch tracks are savage, organ-endowed paeans to darkness and damnation with a bit of that ol' tongue-in-cheek nature added in the lyrics and the stoner-Sabbath grooves that occasionally erupt in the rhythm guitars. "Evil" and "Fiends of Old" are mixed a little rough, giving them an airier garage quality, only if that garage was a co-op they were sharing with a serial killer wearing a clown mask and chainsaw in the 70s. The growls and organs in unison sound absolutely fucking amazing, and I hope a lot of this unhinged energy carries through to their next batch of original stuff. On the other hand, Nunslaughter has the tighter, cleaner production punch of the last album, so there is a little bit of disparity, the two bands don't blend so well in the mix alone. It's the style where it works, and "Spooky Tails" is just a slower, doom/thrash bit with a very simple hook and just blood-gorged vocals that reflect a lot of their Teutonic thrash and proto-death metal influences, with maybe even a little bit of a 90s Carcass thing in how the riff grooves. "A Sordid Past" is cast and carved from a similar vein, only with more gusto and triplet chugging.

It's only 12 minutes of music, but it's engaging and fun all the way throughout, nothing wearing its welcome thin and the cover art is just amazing, with that old horror vinyl cover finish and a colorful image that any creepy comic of the 60s or 70s would have been honored to bear. Except lyrics that focus heavily on Midwest death & thrash metal nostalgia, in particular "Fiends of Old" with a few shout outs to other bands. Nunslaughter have a lot of experience on splits, of course, but I believe this is a first for Acid Witch, and they pull out the tops. The songs might not always feature the catchiest riffs in existence, but both of the bands seem on top of their grisly games and constantly remind you what it is about them that you've ever found entertaining. If, in fact, you have. If NOT...well...you are one tough crowd, brothers and sister. Tough crowd.

Verdict: Win [8/10]

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Acid-Witch/146053698843172
http://shop-hellsheadbangers.com/nunslaughter-news.asp

Empire Auriga - Ascending the Solar Throne (2014)

Much like its predecessor Auriga Dying, Ascending the Solar Throne functions far more effectively as an ambient/industrial piece than a metal one; no doubt what the Michigan duo had intended, and yet still clinging to its black metal inspiration in the use of ungodly snarled vocals and walls of heavily effected tremolo picked guitars, or raw, droning chords that take inspiration from the more suicidal, depressive black metal sources. I suppose Empire Auriga belong in the same sphere as acts like I Shalt Become or Austria's Summoning, only the thematic geography of is a long way from the former's varied-by-album concepts and the latter's Middle Earth fixation. Instead, the duo inhabits a sort of metaphysical/cosmic environment in theory, but the music felt a lot to me the ruins of burnt out, blasted industrial cities on distant world where the hostile, native environments have reclaimed the technological defiance of advanced human civilizations... Radiated memories, floating through the now-empty shells like phantoms while fields of radars still reach to neighboring worlds in hopes of a signal...anything.

Sounds pretty cool, right? If you can subordinate yourself to its sense of escapism and sense of 'background' aesthetics to a bright nightmare, then this is certainly an improvement over their debut, but it does still lack somewhat in the personality department. Walls of distorted, heavily affected guitar are used as an atmospheric cloak to the clunking, minimal sense of percussion, as opposed to the riff-centric structures we associate with most black (or other) metal acts. The vocals range from distorted black metal rasps to more wailing, edge-of-perception haunted tones that seem to blend right into the blinding, fiery ambiance of the guitars. There is no tenable bass element to the music beyond some of the deeper drums occasionally resonating off into this or that speaker, but this is not really the sort of style that would benefit from it. No, tunes like "Jubilee Warlord" and "Are You Worthy of Gold?" feel more like you've just awakened from a cryogenic sleep in a post-apocalyptic survival capsule buried on the edge of a desert, and you nearly lose your sense of sight once the airlock doors open and you behold the fiendish radiance of the sun-stroked wastes...

And then "Waste" takes the sense of foreboding even further: dissonant, raw-as-fuck filtered chords giving the impression that this nuclear wanderer is being stocked by mutant scorpions who have yet to finish proving to mankind who is the new king of the food chain. I kept thinking of the film version of Zelazny's Damnation Alley when I listened through this disc, or Fallout 3, rather than the fields of colliding asteroids and glimmering celestial bodies the band might have intended, but I guess you also do get a small whiff of interstellar radio noise being broadcast through the uncaring void. At any rate, if any of the imagery I've painted in this critique tickles your curiosity, and you'd rather have such music crafted in an uncomfortable, repulsive means rather than that of melodious warmth and harmony, then Ascending the Solar Throne is probably worth the time. It's not too heavily industrial, more reliant on the stinging static of its guitar effects than on beats, so just expect something a little more loosely defined, which leaves plenty of terror for your imagination to fill in, rather than incessantly guiding your hand through a standard pop or rock song structure. I have a feeling there is better yet to hear from this pairing, but the sophomore is undoubtedly more effective and troubling than its predecessor and consistently caustic.

Verdict: Win [7.25/10]

Halloween - Terrortory (2012)

Perhaps I was taken in by the great cover artwork, or perhaps I was expecting too much in the 21st century of the Midwestern metal band that was lucky enough to snag the much-desired Halloween brand in the 80s. Perhaps I was even privately hoping that for a little of that heavy metal magic that has recently reignited the careers of long defunct or merely off-the-radar bands like Warlord, Satan and Attacker. But I'm sad to say that Terrortory not only fails to break into any new territory, or live up to the promise of its archetypal jack-o-lantern-faced Samhain graveyard usher, but it's a bland and insipid experience which just does not know when to quit...72 minutes of uninspired riffing and 'mileage may vary' vocals that aren't even remotely interesting, not to mention lacking in any of the cheesiest 'chills' apart from maybe the narrative intro thing before the title track, and that's really stretching it...

Granted, this is only about 2/5ths of the lineup that recorded the classic Don't Metal With Evil disc in 1985, one I happen to enjoy and break out at least once every October, but even then I wouldn't have thought they could issue such an idea-free, accessible record that lacked almost all of the messy, enthusiastic charms of the debut. Now, to be fair, I haven't followed the Detroit Heavy Metal Horror Show very closely in the years between then and now. The snippets I've heard from albums like Victims of the Night and Horror Fire did little to whet my appetite to pursue them further, but neither felt quite so dated as what I'm hearing on Terrortory. And by 'dated', I don't mean in a good way, but in the dull construction of the riffs that at best emit a passable dual-melody, but at worst are reduced to pitiful chugging rhythms in tunes like opener "Traipsing Through the Blood" that are a piss-poor attempt at generated some power and momentum. Hell, even your lowliest group of corner metalcore kids puts together a bit more excitement with their palm muted effluvium. Here it just seems like Halloween are trying to integrate a little hint of 90s groove or thrash metal influence into their more 80s NWOBHM-flavored writing, and it comes across as wholly unnecessary.

Not to mention, it kills off about half the songs on the record, the rest of which are often more dramatic, slower building numbers where they implement these very bland, cleaner guitar progressions to try and generate a more mournful atmosphere. On the whole, though, the real tragedy is the ubiquitous sense that I'm never in Halloween-land here, nor a graveyard, a haunted house, a slasher flick, or even a candy shoppe buying goodies for the neighborhood kids. You don't write a song called "Scare You" and then not fucking scare anyone with it! And the obvious tribute tunes like "Where is Michael?" don't musically live up to their inspirations (and that's coming from someone who found the Halloween films bland and non-frightening even as a child). On their first record, 27 years ago, these guys put out the sort of wild party metal us kids in the 80s loved, without going all glam-tarded. But Fastway's Trick or Treat soundtrack this isn't. Brian Thomas was once this total wildcard front man whose flawed timbre was all part of the charm...with Terrortory, even he seems to have mellowed out just a little much. Don't get me wrong, he can still hit some screams, and he remains the most unusual or unique feature of the group, but the songs just lack that primal vitality bands once captured in their youth.
 
I could forgive this if the more seasoned, mature style produced some memorable songwriting, or even a big and compelling evolution in style, but this all feels too 'business as usual', only interspersed with the lame groove/thrash/speed metal riffing in tunes like "Darkside Inside" or "Say Your Prayers". Not all is totally lost here. The lyrics are decent in about half the songs, paeans to classic horror stories or similar imagery being used as a metaphor for relationships. The bass playing, courtesy of George Neal, the other long time member of the group, is quite good for such a clean tone. He has a good sense for subtler fills, and gets into these deep grooves even when he's just playing along the guitar line that sound nice in the speakers. The drums, while not entirely powerful are also fairly flexible, and both the rhythm and lead tone on the guitars are fairly classy. They put echoes on some of Thomas' vocals, probably to compensate that he's just not as crazy as he once was, but really, after decades, who is? Terrortory's polished presentation is certainly not its weak points, rather that it sounds at best like a mix of generic power/thrash and Tony Martin-era Sabbath with inferior riffing.

Also...16 tracks?! I understand this was their first record in about six years, and some of the songs are older tunes from decades prior that hadn't been released, but there are simply too many here that serve the same purposes, so even if the individual riffs and choruses are different, it's aesthetically repetitive. I'm sure I am not the only person that would settle for 8-9 really good tunes with a lot of attention to detail. Alas, this record would fail to produce even a maxi-single's worth of quality. "Scared to Death" and "Trick or Treat" off the debut are light years better than anything here. Not because Halloween have turned to total shit, because they still know how to put together a tune, just not one that has any legs to stand on. The energy levels here feel too maintained, controlled. You look upon Terrortory and you really want it to be cheesy and fun, but it's neither of those things, nor particularly effective in serious mode. Once upon a time this band made me wanna whip my mullet about, pound Old Milwaukees and crash my Trans Am en route to a witch burning. 30 years of 'Motor City Metal', guys...lube this engine, screech these tires, hit us with a wrench and get dirty and greasy in the process.

Verdict: Fail [4.5/10]

http://www.halloweentheband.us/

The Omega Experiment - The Omega Experiment (2013)

While outer space is something I've long considered a cold, hostile and unforgiving territory, The Omega Experiment's music begs to differ: what if it were a void of golden warmth, radiating from a billion billion stars? Technically it is...but I'm not about to remove my oxygen suit. Now, lyrically, the Michigan duo's eponymous debut deals largely in more personal subjects like addiction, but the structure and production of the music definitely sets one soaring through the heavens as if riding a solar ray-powered vessel. This is a pretty positive experience as far as the quasars of melody erupting everywhere, to the point that I wasn't quite sure what to think of it for the first few tracks, until it really started to settle into my spirit and proved to be both varied and consistent, with much of the strongest material coming deeper into the track list.

I should probably get this out of the way: The Omega Experiment sounds quite a lot like the work Devin Townsend was putting out through the latter half of the 90s. Bold, modern sounding, with a lot of pop gleam in both the vocals and studio mix, incredibly harmonic vocal arrangements, but also the propensity to get a fraction darker and nastier. If you had presented this album to me and claimed it was the latest from Hevy Devy featuring guest vocals, then I would have had little cause for suspicion. Only when you dig deeper into the details do you really start to notice differences. For one, while the vocals explore a similar range to that Canadian soundsmith, you'll pick up hints of anything from Geoff Tate's higher pitch, to a little bit of Sting (The Police), hell I even thought some of the mid ranged lines reminded me of emo bands like Sunny Day Real Estate or Sense Field. There's quite a lot happening, but the harmonies are smooth and impeccable, even when the band are layering in narrative samples, even countering two off against one another.

The Omega Experiment involves a lot of synthesizer sounds, just as prominent in fact as the burgeoning rhythm guitars circa Towsend/SYL or Fear Factory. From proggish paeans to orchestral strings and choirs, they are nearly constant through the near hour of material; but thankfully you'll get quite a lot of variation that draws upon anything from a woodwind section (clarinet tones) to a sizzling techno subtext that pops up in a few spots. In fact, I'd say some of my favorite moments through the disc were those that flirted with a sheer sense of ambiance, like the end of "Terminus", or the entirety of "Tranquility" where it's paired up nicely to some breezy vocal melodies. These provide a nice, temporary escape from the denser composition that dominates much of the play time. Lead guitars are frequent and fluid, heavily inspired by a little of the 80s shred (Steve Vai) or prog rock flair (Allan Holdsworth), and the rhythms, though never truly dissonant, hit hard enough that they almost transcend hard prog metal straight to djent, albeit with less mathematical hustle.

The programmed drums are so well tuned and ordered that you'll often forget about them, and the bass playing explores some deep grooves and contours alongside the guitar, but really this an album on which I paid most attention to the shining vocals, which are often themselves drowned in effects that scatter them through the interplanetary atmosphere. To be honest, not a lot of these are catchy enough that I kept feeling an itch to replay them, but at the very least they exhibit some talent and effort. What I could make out of the lyrics also felt a little too basic and uninteresting. I rather enjoyed when the band gave glimpses of its darker side, and wouldn't be averse to them pursuing more dissonance and even bleakness on future recordings; but for what it is, The Omega Experiment is a pleasurable enough time killer which may very well appeal to fans of Devin's Ocean Machine, Infinity, etc; or perhaps as a 'happier' mirror universe to Martriden's Encounter the Monolith, sans the growling. Not perfect, and not always so unique, but clearly some love and effort went into the production of this shuttle ride.

Verdict: Win [7.25/10]

http://www.facebook.com/theomegaexperiment

Coven - Worship New Gods (1987)

This is not the thrash Coven from Seattle, nor the Chicago occult prog rockers most active in the late 60s and 70s, but a heavy/doom act out of Michigan (also known as Coven 13) which is finally seeing the CD issue of its seminal 1987 album Worship New Gods through Shadow Kingdom Records 25 years after it's original release. Naturally, the debut sounds as old as it looks, but I think for a good number of fans in this niche, its antiquity will only serve in its favor, as it conjures forth a genuine nostalgia for the 80s efforts of bands like Cirith Ungol, Pentagram, Manilla Road and St. Vitus. Sword and sorcery spent in harmonious, atmospheric flesh with plenty of variation to keep the listener hooked as if he/she were smoking a bone while deeply immersed in a Fritz Leiber or Michael Moorcock story.

In truth, Coven covered a rather broad swath of terrain with this record, from the pure Black Sabbath digs and grooves of opener "Riddle of Steel" to the Viking arena-punk of "Ruler", which almost sounds like it was being played at some open air festival to an army of Saxon dogs, churning chords below the appreciable bombast of vocalist David Landrum whose jilted inflection carries all the way to the rafters of the stadium. Songs like "Burial Ground" provoke a total war mentality, with great, reflexive drumming and nasty chord curves worthy of the barrows and crypts the title promises, while others like "Threshold of the New" ride aloft a surge of pure NWOBHM thunder interlaced with off the hinge lead sequences and bumper car bass lines that seem like a byproduct of the 70s more so than the 80s. What's more, the level of reverb and the raw, lower volume of the guitars tend to immortalize the hooks and drums throughout; by today's standards, of even by the higher budget acts of the 80s, Worship New Gods might seem amateurish, but these very flaws lend it a timelessness that transports the listener back to the grounds of its fertile creation.

Landrum can prove a bit much in places, as his delivery is constantly wavering and in a few spots marginally out of pitch, but overall I think its imperfection too lends the record a distinct character which it might not otherwise enjoy with a tighter, polished performance. It says a lot that, after 25 years and no other prior exposure aside from perhaps a Youtube clip, this album can work its charms on someone so new to it, and even when it descends into total clamor like the freakout mid-"Loki" in which Landrum gets perhaps a little too 'in character', I found myself drifting back to memories of caverns and castles, witches and warlocks, heroes and rogues, dragons and damsels, and enjoyed its warped miasma of doom, early British 80s hymns and punk hysteria. If you're one to unlock the crypts and mine the dustbins and annals of obscurity within the trad metal spectrum, Coven's debut deserves a first listen, or a second listen; it's as fuming as a mythic bull ready for the charge, but also frivolous and fun. Do you read Robert E. Howard stories and listen to Samson, old Maiden or Spartan Warrior? This will butter your bread. The real question is, now that they're active again, can they follow this up with an equivocal level of immersion and personality?

Verdict: Win [8/10]

http://www.coventhirteen.com/

Nocturnal Fear - Excessive Cruelty (2011)

Poseurs and come-latelies always seem to be fawn over the latest Bay Area doppelgangers who shit themselves down the thrash pipe, but in truth there are a number of bands who have been absorbed in the retro-death/thrash or black/thrash movement for a decade or more, receiving little to no fanfare despite their chronological edge to the spurting cysts of younglings to take on the genre. Michigan's Nocturnal Fear is one such 21st centurion, predating the 'cool' kids by several years, with a punishing array of brutal thrash and death influences not the least of which include Destruction, Kreator, Sodom, and other German heavy weights, with a fare share of Slayer's methodical, intricate evil.

Clinical and angered riffing erupts without warning, and you can immediately discern the dichotomy between these bastards and their trendy teenage competition. Clearly there has been effort cast into the fiery molds of "Absolution Annihilation", "Murder for Hire" or "Excessive Cruelty" itself. I never got the impression that Nocturnal Fear were just re-arranging the riffs they heard on Bonded by Blood or Pleasure to Kill, but actually trying to forge destruction at a higher level of artistry, even if they're not entirely absolved of derivation. These are warlike and incessant compositions, never relenting unless they have a damned opportunity to shuffle in a bit of ominous atmosphere, like the tolling out of the bells deep in "Frozen Stone", or the winding and tearing lead nestled into "Rolling Thunder". The vocals remind me quite a lot of Toxiene from Witchery, at least on the Swedish band's first two, great records, only 'Devastator' is more pronounced and bloodied in the nose of the mix.

Now, I'm not going to claim that Nocturnal Fear are the next big thing, or that they've deigned to set foot outside the box, but Excessive Cruelty feels like an honest stab at bringing the genre back where it belongs, to the tense riffing at its core. We're not dealing with writing on the level of the band's distinct, 80s influences, but an admirable enough, repeated beating to the face. I could compare them to Ohio's Soulless, since the two bands share the same focus for meaty riffing structures, but these guys are obviously a lot more adapted to the battleground theme. Of the several albums I've heard (this being the 5th), I found this to be the most appealing. The mix is clear and muscled without excess polish, the musicians determined and competent. This is an album that will bruise you, perhaps break a few minor bones, even if it isn't likely to resonate for more permanent damage.

Verdict: Win [7/10]

http://www.myspace.com/nocturnalfearwarmetal

Stilllife - Requiem (2010)

You'll find progressive/power hybrids like Stilllife hiding in almost all corners of the United States, but relatively few of them ever seem to cross my desk in recent years. Granted, there's a good reason for this: the genre seems to possess a wide gulf in quality between the bands who have made it (Dream Theater, Fates Warning, etc) and those who must forever solicit the shadows of such names, and I'm sad to say that Requiem remains quartered in that second group. Stilllife are a group of guys from Michigan interested in conceptual lyrics affixed to simple, bold and soothing guitar rhythms. This is not the sort of progressive metal stoked upon its complexity, needless wanking or excess. The band attempt to engage you with directly with the inherent melody of their riffs, and a decidedly Ray Alder like front man.

Unfortunately, this guy is no Ray Alder, and whether it's just the fact that his vocals are up far too loud in the mix, or that he simply doesn't hit all the notes quite perfectly, I found myself very often unnerved in listening through the disc. They're at their worst in the opener "A Godless World" and the slowly developing ballad "Requiem, Pt. I: The Oracle", and strangely enough, they seem to clean up when he projects himself into a higher range, but they provided a clear obstacle for my appreciation of the music as a whole. The remainder of the album also feels a bit unpolished, with the guitars rather raw for this style and the drums a fraction too tinny, and I'm sure they'll want to polish this up for future releases. The writing itself is not necessarily so weak, and the band channel between some basic thrash and trad metal chops with inherent versatility, peaking upon the 10+ minute beast "Hypocriticism/The Becoming", or "Fruit of the Fallen Tree" in which the music and voice seem to gel fluidly.

It's ever unfortunate to be underwhelmed with an album like this, because Stilllife is clearly not interested in what's hip or trending, but in developing a distinct aesthetic for themselves. Granted, this is not entirely novel, and Fates Warning (1988 on) is clearly the precedent, but Requiem is not entirely indebted to that sound, as its incorporates some crushing groove sections amidst the gleaning melodies. I'd be lying, though, to deny that Stilllife has a LONG way to go if it wishes to advance itself in this field. The vocals, production and writing will all need some work to sate the attention spans of the Kamelot and Evergrey-starved international power/prog audience. At 63 minutes, Requiem at times feels like an overly bloated demo, but I've certainly heard worse, and if they can persevere through the adjustable setbacks here, they might breed some interesting ideas in the future.

Verdict: Indifference [5/10]

http://www.myspace.com/stilllifehome

Idol and the Whip - Heavy Sleeper (2011)

Though I've not heard Idol and the Whip's debut Revelator from 2007, I've been exposed to their former band Supercontinent's Vaalbara, a crafty piece of atmospheric sludge managing to eschew many of the boring tropes of the genre. Idol and the Whip itself features three members of Supercontinent, and it's a decidedly more 'fun' project, sort of a mix of heavy stoner groove roasted in metallic elements; a midpoint between Foo Fighters and High on Fire, if you will. Massive guitar hooks, aggressive vocals and a surprising level of melodic awareness are the primary characteristics of Heavy Sleeper, and it succeeds in rocking the face off far more often than it doesn't. Far more.

Most of the tracks are kept short and to the point, and very near all of them are catchy as hell, beginning with the instrumental "Future Eyes", a surge of big, swerving chords and traditional dual melodies that pump the listener's expectations before the ballsy, fluid rush of "Wasteland Battle Hymn" which is like desert rock cranked to 11, so thick it almost trips over itself. Others that I completely lost myself to include "Grasscutter" and "Broken Crown" for their monstrous grooves and amazing vocal layering over the guitars; the angry and choppy "Ley Lines", the peppy melodies and basslines of "Nocturne", and the forceful sludge of "Watery Grave". The closer "Calling Down the Dark" is also a pretty sweet joint, like a more rock & roll alternative to Neurosis. Probably the only cut here that slightly missed the mark was the lengthy "Augur", in which the riffs were simply too boring, similar aesthetics being channeled more fluently through "Artery" or "Heavy Sleeper" itself.

The mix of the album is quite good, with thick and juicy guitars that make all the difference, tribal rock drumming and Chris Plumb's lyrical delivery which is reminiscent of bands as wide as Tad, High on Fire, Clutch and Neurosis. I had a lot of fun listening through this, probably more fun than Supercontinent, which is now apparently defunct. It's truly a surprise that this band hasn't been snapped up yet, they've got an accessible element to their music that would cross over to a variety of scenes, from the stoner sect to the sludge mavens to the more mainstream rock crowd. Heavy Sleeper already sounds as professional as something like this is going to get, so labels should certainly take note, as they might have the next sensation at their very fingertips. An entertaining sophomore and easily recommended to fans of anything I've name dropped in this review, or The Sword. What's even more amazing, the album is available for free from the band's site, with an option to donate a buck for higher quality. Jump on it.

Verdict: Win [8/10]

http://www.idolandthewhip.com/

Empire Auriga - Auriga Dying (2006)

Empire Auriga is yet another example in how black metal is being triumphantly bridged into external mediums of sound, or rather; how the core, lo-fi aesthetics of the genre are adapted to a spacious, martial industrial landscape. If you could picture a middle ground between Triarii and Summoning, then you will be well prepared for the sounds of this Michigan outfit. Bleak repetition, banks of distorted guitars, a mix of rasped and chanted vocals, and monolithic industrial drum programming that feels like a labyrinth of gears and pipes churning out the repressed ambitions of a generations lost to the vastness of civilization and space.

There is a variation of intensity through several of the tracks. Where "Time Expanded" provides but a steady march through sirens, resonant raw guitar tones and distant horns, the more extensive "Sorrowsong" cycles from cavernous electronic noises to massive swelters of sad guitar melodies and oppressive vocals that are barely audible as they hiss against the infernal clanking of the percussion. "Dreaming of Breath and Stars" is a dour anthem for the downtrodden, with more of the mystical, distant guitars ringing off against the central tumult of despair; while shorter tracks like "The Lurker" writhe with the dissonance of speech samples, or the walls of guitar ambiance that characterize "Soul Interrupt". But perhaps my favorite track on the entire effort is the closer, "Dust and Ether", which is a simple, escalating dark ambient track that escalates through a central pier of dense noise, harried by light synths and distant howls and samples.

As interesting as I found Empire Auriga's atmosphere, I do feel like the material is not quite so hypnotic as I might have hoped. Certainly it's interesting, intelligent and has a firm grasp of its minimal nature, but there was a fraction more monotony than I desired, and where groups like Svarte Keiner, Karjalan Sissit, or Megaptera complete suck me into their compositions, I felt a few moments where I was looking at my watch, wondering if something more interesting would occur. This isn't the case so much for the longer pieces ("Dust and Ether", "Sorrowsong") but for those in between, which don't seem to bear the same massive vision. That said, this is only the first recording, and the fundamentals for something enormous are being laid here that might one day thrill fans of the visceral, dark black/ambient and industrial suggestion of obscure artists like I Shalt Become, etc. which are simply more revelatory at this point.

Verdict: Indifference [6.5/10]

http://www.myspace.com/empireauriga

Acid Witch - Stoned (2010)

Acid Witch are clearly onto something with their mix of classic horror and stoner aesthetics, beautifully realized and corny album covers, and downtrodden death/doom inspired by the legends of the 70s, 80s, and 90s. Indeed, they produce the sort of works that one looks at and instantly associates with 'cool'. But the music itself, while clearly sniffing heretics down the right track, has yet to truly grip me. Witchtanic Hellucinations was a fun debut, showing sincere promise, but it left no lasting impression save to remember the band's name and uncanny visual knacks. The Witch House EP built upon this, with a few of their better songs, but the more recent Midnight Mass EP wasn't quite as good, and I was afraid we might encounter some pre-mature stagnation.

Well, the bruising sophomore Stoned proves that this is not the case, as it's the most coherent and musically satisfying offering the band have released to date. Sort of a poor man's Hooded Menace (not that much of a coincidence, as Lasse was once involved here), or a less depressing Electric Wizard, they riff through silly and classic horror concepts with real enthusiasm, taking subjects like Halloween rituals and dope smoking and writing up some decent lyrics to complement the music. They're not your average death/doom band, because they sauce up the metallic meat with a stoner rock influence, manifest through organs that feel like they belong to a Coven or Black Widow record, and it is this generational clash that helps them stand out from the faceless masses of dull funeral parlor death that have nothing stirring in their cauldrons.

"Satanic Faith" is a synthesizer intro piece which uses similar sampling to the intro of their Midnight Mass EP, but this time it pays off when the sludgy mono chords of the amusingly titled "Witchfynder Finder" erupt into big, simple chords that immediately transported me back to Monster Magnet's Superjudge, etc, but with the added advantage of the death barks. This is not the most powerful pick of the litter, an honor that I should instead bestow upon the carnal crush of "Live Forever", morose "Stoned to the Grave", or the balls out wrecking of "If Hell Exists". Rounding out the metal mass are pieces like the creepy, beautiful horror interlude "Whispers in the Dark" or the sample heavy groove bottomed "Thundering Hooves". Even the poorly titled "Metal Movie Marijuana Massacre Meltdown" has some heft to it (points for name dropping Lizzy Borden and Fastway), and the epic finale "Sabbath of the Undead" is likewise satisfactory.

But for all its improvements to the formula, better production, and so forth, Stoned does still lack in one particular space. The riffs here all fit the band's m.o.: huge, bludgeoning aspirations to the psyche. Unfortunately, they're really just not that great. Never once will you find a surprise lurking in any of the compositions. At best, the band will pull off a lead or organ sequence that conditions you to their overarching, ghoulish experience, but they just don't seem capable of writing a riff that will simmer your brain for long after the music dies. They're not boring, and they're not 'bad', but they seem redundant and familiar to the decades of doom metal we've already experienced. Without the atmospherics, they'd likely fall flat. Stoned, however, drowns itself in atmosphere, like an ungodly hybrid of Bongzilla, Cathedral and Runemagick, so as a whole, it delivers more entertainment than any of their prior releases, and comes the closest yet to honoring the band's visual spin with music of equal quality.

Verdict: Win [7.75/10] (I shall be a grim reminder)

http://www.myspace.com/acidwitch