Ripple Music

Blackwülf, Thieves And Liars (Ripple 2023)

Wayne Edwards, , , , , , ,

Blackwülf is starting off their second decade with a killer album, Thieves And Liars.

Heavy stoner band Blackwülf began in 2012 in Oakland, California. Dedicated to massive riffs and with an on-going nod to the past, they released their first record in 2014, Mind Traveler. Two more followed as the years passed and the reputation of the band grew ever stronger. It has been five years since the last one so fans are chomping at the bit for Thieves And Liars. The band is Scott Peterson (bass), Dave Pankenier (drums), Pete Holmes (guitars), and Alex Cunningham (vocals).

“Shadow” has a nice dark sound, and it gets the set rolling right. There is something very recognizable about this music. In fits and starts. You think you have a bead on it – as in, oh I know where that comes from – and then the music shifts and it’s something else. There is a presence here of 1970s metal and of 1970s rock, coming together in synergy rather conflict. “Seems to Me” pushes the hoary spike in deeper, and in this expression the path trends a bit more linear. Glorious fuzz and a dream-weaving leads further the declarations of the period vocals to the place where knowing and unknowing become indistinguishable. And then we have “Killing Kind,” which is a spellcaster if ever one existed. The music tells you what it is going to do and does it without delay. It is a witching little wonder that branches out on the guitar now and again.

You can find nostalgia in this album, or you could take the new music as a contemporary instantiation. Or both, which is what I suggest. Look out for “Failed Resistance” especially if you want to lean into the former, and “Psychonaut / Edge of Light” for a moody and ornamental avenue of the latter. For the sheer kickass rock and roll of it all, listen to “Brother.” There is something here that touches on each of our favorite things. Recommended.

Thieves And Liars is out now through Ripple Music. Snap it up at the links below.

Links.

Blackwülf website, https://www.blackwulfusa.com/

Bandcamp, https://ripplemusic.bandcamp.com/album/thieves-and-liars

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/blackwulfusa

Ripple Music, https://www.ripple-music.com/

© Wayne Edwards

Blackwülf, Thieves And Liars (Ripple 2023)

DoctoR DooM, A Shadow Called Danger (Ripple 2023)

Wayne Edwards, , , , ,

DoctoR DooM, the four-piece stoner rock act from France, helps you start your year off right with A Shadow Called Danger.

I first came across DoctoR DooM when I heard their album This Seed We Have Sown (2015) that I picked up during a Ripple Music sale. The vibrations I experienced that day live in my synapses still. I have been waiting ever since for another infusion – at last it has arrived. The band is Jean-Laurent Pasquet (vocals, guitar) Bertrand Legrand (guitar), Michel Marcq (drums), and Sébastien Boutin Blomfield (bass).

The new album is heavier than the last, doomier in parts. The first track, “Comeback to Yourself,” starts off that way, heavy, but shifts into a lighter frame after a number of bars and starts to cook. Immediately, you start to feel 1974 rising from its resting place and sweeping the room with renewed vigor. Light yet meaningful, delivered with purpose. The perfect jump. “What Are They Trying to Sell” follows with a different tone. I don’t know what they had in mind when they wrote it, but to me it makes me see the beach from the perspective of the PCH. But then it slows and becomes dramatic, telling a different story. It is a journey. Nice organ work on this track by Jim Blomfield, too.

“Ride On” is a quiet piece, filled with eager solitude that builds to eventual explosion. The switch (or you might call it a progression) happens in other songs, too, like “Hollow.” Here though it is more gradual and has the biggest tidal change. These songs, the whole album, are lookbacks in a way, sure, but they are reinventions more than replications. In that sense the music is filled with surprises even as it brings on nostalgia. The beautiful and sad “Sarabande” closes the show and leaves you wanting more.

If the new album is any measure, the second decade of DoctoR DooM will be even better than the first. Recommended.

A Shadow Called Danger is out now through Ripple Music. Explore the possibilities at the links below.

Links.

Bandcamp, https://doctordoom.bandcamp.com/album/a-shadow-called-danger

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/doctordoom09/

Ripple Music, https://www.ripple-music.com/

© Wayne Edwards

DoctoR DooM, A Shadow Called Danger (Ripple 2023)

The Necromancers, Where The Void Rose (Ripple 2022)

Wayne Edwards, , , , , , , ,

French horror metalists The Necromancers have new stories to tell on their third album, Where The Void Rose.

Since 2015, The Necromancers – a heavy rock / doom band from France – have been telling dark tales set to music. They have released two previous full-length albums, Servants of the Salem Girl (2017) and Of Blood and Wine (2018). Get ready for mid-tempo doom with plenty of fuzzy riffs. The band is Simon Evariste (bass), Benjamin Rousseau (drums), Basile Chevalier-Coudrain (vocals, guitar), and Robin Genais (guitar).

Not a concept album as such, Where The Void Rose “tells the story of a decaying world, where some try to hold the hordes in the depths while others yearn to plunge into the abyss, exhilarated by the discovery of new knowledge and eager for answers in the face of the inevitable. Venturing to the junction of the land and sea, the band confront the tumult of the ocean and explore the sunken ruins of our civilization…” You can think of it as a collection of horror stories with related themes.

There are six songs on the new album, opening with “Sunken Huntress,” which heads out at a dead run. The music has a feeling of quest to it. You get the impression you are on a hurried journey on horseback with an expiring deadline hovering over you and desperados at your back. “Crimson Hour” slows the pace considerably, turning more reflective and carrying a heavier tone, generally. It is the longest cut on the album and enjoys the space to explore. “The Needle” has a nice 1980s riff leading into a rumbling bass line and narrative set-up that creates anticipation. The vocals range from melodic to gruff, driving the drama in the story.

Side two gives us “Orchard,” an ominous track, draped in a dark cloak and seeping mystic energy. The guitar in this song is a wondrous thing. “Where the Void Rose” is not what I expected from a title track in that it has an unusual gate and trajectory unlike the other music on the album. It is beautiful and engaging; somber and thought-provoking. They are playing the long game on this one, and the build goes all the way to the end. “Over the Threshold” finishes things off on a rumbling note with high energy and dark promises. It is a fantastic way to wrap the set up. Recommended.

Where The Void Rose is out now in digital through Ripple Music. CD and vinyl versions will ship in January 2023. Check out the label shop or Bandcamp to pick it up.

Links.

Bandcamp, https://ripplemusic.bandcamp.com/album/where-the-void-rose

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/thenecromancersband/

Ripple Music, https://music.ripple-music.com/landing

© Wayne Edwards

The Necromancers, Where The Void Rose (Ripple 2022)

Vitskär Süden, The Faceless King (Ripple 2022)

Wayne Edwards, , , , , , , ,

Los Angeles doom tripper foursome Vitskär Süden unleash their new album, The Faceless King.

Vitskär Süden create a measured kind of progressive rock that is encompassing and immersive. You can feel that on their first album, but on the new one the effect is far stronger. I will talk about it a little here, but truly you must listen to it to know what it is. The band is Martin Garner (bass, vocals), Julian Goldberger (guitar, keys), Christopher Martin (drums), and T. J. Webber (guitar).

The saga begins with “The Way,” told in two parts. Imagine a renaissance fair and think about what might be going on around the edges of it. The dark edges. The risky edges. The misty edges. Slow to middling in pace, with a beating heart propelled by, well, we cannot be sure. Quiet with an underlying expansive power. Thrumming, pulsing. At the wrap you are pretty sure it is not truly over. Next is “Archdiocese Of Worms,” which is louder and more directly menacing. It is more upfront about the threat, you might say, than the earlier movements. The whispering is still there, the quiet singing, yet here it takes a more determined stance. “Voices From Beyond The Wall” is positively dreamy by comparison.

“Shepherds On The Roadside” is a long song, a solid bridge. The bigger story to me from side two is the shorter next song. “Bonedust And Dark” rests on evil, dark whispers and a beautiful Floydesque guitar opening. My favorite track on the album, its resonance is more than aural and physical. Sit with the lyrics for a minute, these words that are spoken as the music begins … “Enveloped by nebulous shadow of sin / Flame and avarice spat from a serpentine tongue / Now lost to the endless dunescape of bonedust and dark / Allow these whispers, these incantations / To usher this dying ember back from The Deep / Back to the world of men.”

“The Broken Crown” brings the story to a close, places the body down and lets it be. And again, here again, it does not seem like the end. This is music you get lost in, not in the sense that you do not know where you are but in the manner of being integrated into its presence while you listen. This kind of thing does not happen with most music. Recommended.

The Faceless King is out now through Ripple Music. Listen.

Links.

Vitskär Süden website, http://vitskarsuden.com/

Bandcamp, https://vitskarsuden.bandcamp.com/album/the-faceless-king-2

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/vitskarsuden

Ripple Music, https://music.ripple-music.com/landing

© Wayne Edwards

Vitskär Süden, The Faceless King (Ripple 2022)

Captain Caravan / Kaiser, Turned To Stone Chapter 6 (Ripple 2022)

Wayne Edwards, , , , , , , ,

Captain Caravan and Kaiser split vinyl sides on Turned To Stone Chapter 6.

A new chapter in Ripple Music’s Turned To Stone series of splits is always something to look forward to. On the latest, Chapter 6, you can get your fuzz on with Norway’s Captain Caravan and Finland’s Kaiser.

Captain Caravan started in 2015, releasing their first full-length album three years later. They play a heavy brand of stoner music with plenty of fuzz and a charging rhythm. A good example of this is the first track of the five they contribute to the split, “Down.” It is a raucous affair, and is followed directly by the groovy number, “Sailors.” “Painted Wolf,” on the other hand, has a more measured pace. “She Can” casts a bluesy tinge and the closer, “Void,” will bring out the wicked in you. All five tracks are killers and, when it is done, you’ll want to drop the needle at the start and hear all five songs one more time before flipping the record over.

Kaiser has been around for about ten years, laying down trippy stoner vibes all the while. They put out an early EP, and then their debut long-player 1st Sound (2018). The music on the new split is excitingly variegated. The set opens with “Howl,” which is a thinker with an intriguing intro. “Fire” follows and it is a two-and-a-half-minute rocker that stomps and rages. “Black Sand Witch” has a doomier feeling to it and at the same time maintains considerable momentum. There is also a blistering lead guitar break in there. The final piece is the epic “Phoenix,” in three movements. Running over nine minutes, this song is very different from the others while still containing familiar elements. It is entrancing, bewitching, beguiling.

Turned To Stone Chapter 6 is out now through Ripple Music, and we highly recommend it. Check the links below to see if any of the physicals remain. There is always digital, no matter what. At Bandcamp, you can subscribe to Ripple Music and get all their new releases plus a massive tome of back-titles, too. It is the best deal in heavy music, and you will find out about new releases in time to grab the ones you want on vinyl or CD, and listen to it all on digital, too.

Links.

Bandcamp, https://ripplemusic.bandcamp.com/album/turned-to-stone-chapter-6

Captain Caravan website, https://www.captaincaravan.com/

Captain Caravan Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/CaptCaravan/

Kaiser Bandcamp, https://kaiserfuzz.bandcamp.com/music

Kaiser Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/kaiserfuzz

Ripple Music, https://music.ripple-music.com/landing

© Wayne Edwards

Captain Caravan / Kaiser, Turned To Stone Chapter 6 (Ripple 2022)

Electric Jaguar Baby, Psychic Death Safari (Rebel Waves 2022)

Wayne Edwards, , , , , , , , ,

The new album from Electric Jaguar Baby continues the fuzzed up garage rock trance, Psychic Death Safari.

Since 2015, eclectic duo Electric Jaguar Baby from Paris, France has been creating fascinating vibes. Over the course of the intervening years, a trio of EPs and their debut album have left a trail for music lovers to follow that is wickedly diverse and endlessly entertaining. The identity of the central musical pair remains mysterious, but we do know that there are guest appearances on the album by Luca of Go!Zilla on vocals and organ, and Jed of ZigZags on guitar.

The band describes the new album as “a gangbang between Ty Segall, Josh Homme, Jack White and Ozzy Osbourne, sprinkled with retro and occult 70’s vibes”. If that doesn’t capture your imagination then you must be in a coma.

“Hitmaker” opens with a catchy 1970s rock riff then continues with similarly-styled vocals. It hooks you immediately – there is no way to not hang out and listen. “Flashlight” is a little denser, a bit trippier. It sets a cruise and rolls on down the gently winding highway. By the time we get to “Shiver River,” I had an Amboy Dukes flashback. Every song cooks, and the listening is good.

There is a lot to like on this record. One of my favorite tracks is “Hellcome” – love the lead guitar and the assertive past-central riff. And come on, “Jaguar’s Boogie” is a thing of beauty. If you are into garage rock, 1970s sensibilities, and fuzzed up trippy stoniness, there is no way you can go wrong here. Recommended.

Psychic Death Safari is out now through Ripple Music’s Rebel Waves Records on vinyl, CD, and digital. If you like what you hear, check out the band’s back catalogue at their Bandcamp page (link below).

Links.

Electric Jaguar Baby website, https://express.adobe.com/page/SarZGmiV5SG7Y/

Bandcamp, https://electricjaguarbaby.bandcamp.com/album/psychic-death-safari

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/ElectricJaguarBaby/

Ripple Music, https://ripplemusic.bandcamp.com/album/psychic-death-safari

© Wayne Edwards

Electric Jaguar Baby, Psychic Death Safari (Rebel Waves 2022)

Behold! The Monolith, From The Fathomless Deep (Ripple Music 2022)

Wayne Edwards, , , , , , , , ,

Los Angeles metal band Behold! The Monolith have created a doom-laden masterpiece with their new album From The Fathomless Deep.

Behold! The Monolith have gone through some changes since their inception fifteen years ago. They have released an EP and three previous long-players prior to the latest album. The band has shifted and reshaped since the sudden loss of vocalist and bassist Kevin McDade in a car accident in 2009. Reorienting to a trio on the new album, Menno Verbaten plays bass and sings, Matt Price is on guitar, and Chase Manhattan, drums. This latest music is some of their heaviest to date.

There are six tracks on From The Fathomless Deep. “Crown/The Immeasurable Void” opens the set and establishes a weighty foundation. All instruments, including voice, hit on the first note laying out a heavy front of doom. Slow and monstrous, you can feel the behemoth getting closer as the song moves along. The tension grows throughout and, when you hear a quiet passage, it is positively ominous. “Psychlopean Dread” has a mysterious beginning and melancholy lead work. Verbaten’s gruff vocals churn primordial forces to create meaning from the mist. “Spirit Taker” picks the pace up, and then some. The stabbing guitar riff and rapid-fire percussion catch you off guard and hit all the harder for it. It’s a rager.

Side two leads with “The Wailing Blade,” a song that has a less ominous but more directly threatening tone. It is short and cracking. “The Seams of Pangaea” is a fascinating title when you think of the implications it carries, and the music delivers a full-on expression of the possibilities. The overlayed lead guitar work is exceptional, and the Pink Floydian movement is an experience. The album closes on the eleven-minute epic “Stormbreaker Suite.” This piece has some of the most progressive segments on the record, to my ear, anyway. Over the course of the song, an ambitious array of ideas is explored, and the answers are found.

The is album is very heavy, and it is one of my favorites, not just from Behold! The Monolith, but among the all the albums I have heard so far this year. Highly recommended.

From The Fathomless Deep is out now through Ripple Music. Secure your treasures at the label’s site, or at Bandcamp, like I did.

Links.

Band website, https://beholdthemonolith.com/home

Bandcamp, https://ripplemusic.bandcamp.com/album/from-the-fathomless-deep

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/beholdthemonolith

Ripple Music, https://www.ripple-music.com/

© Wayne Edwards

Behold! The Monolith, From The Fathomless Deep (Ripple Music 2022)

Righteous Fool, Righteous Fool (Ripple 2022)

Wayne Edwards, , , , , , , , ,

An unearthed treasure: Righteous Fool.

I don’t usually do this, but here is the entire synopsis from the label that tells the story of this record. It is done so well that this is the best way to catch you up. 

Born in 2009 on the impulse of the late Reed Mullin (Corrosion Of Conformity) and guitarist Jason Browning, Raleigh-based rockers RIGHTEOUS FOOL came fully into being when the gang of two invited Mullin’s long-time bandmate Mike Dean (also Corrosion Of Conformity) to play bass. North Carolina legends CoC were on hiatus, and bassist Mike Dean had fallen out of touch with co-founding drummer Mullin until, after nine years, Mullin pulled into Dean’s driveway and asked if he wanted to start a new band.

RIGHTEOUS FOOL demoed and released the two-track 7-inch in 2010 via Southern Lord, and quickly hopped on support tours for Clutch, Weedeater and, later on, Corrosion Of Conformity. The eponymous “Righteous Fool” full-length was recorded at Dave Grohl’s Studio 606 in California, during the same sessions that produced CoC’s self-titled 2012 reunion LP, but was never released.

Now, in the wake of Reed Mullin passing in 2020, the remaining members decided to bring the album to light, showcasing a lava hot infusion of hard rock, heavy blues, stoner and punk, oozing soul, fury and fire from every note.

It goes without saying that Corrosion of Conformity fans probably have a leg up on liking this album. You can hear it in there for sure, but this music is different. There is more heavy blues in my ears, and the changes and shifts to me often sound more syncopated. The musicians are definitely on a tear here, channeling something special.

Every track is a treasure, and I am not saying that lightly. “Forever Flames” had me hitting repeat the most, but I have also listened to this album straight through several times on my recent cross-country jaunt and it held up state after state.

I have a special affection for the Judas Priest version of the Peter Green song “The Green Manalishi (with the Two-Prong Crown)” and there is a killer rendition of tune on this album. I don’t think this song has been appreciated enough, and here we have a new opportunity to breathe in the bluesy, psychedelic wonder of it all. “When the day goes to sleep and the full moon looks / the night is so black the darkness cooks.” O yeah.

And then there is “Heavy Is The Head” and “Edict Of Worms.” And sure, all the rest of them, too. This album is a ravager. Damn. Highly recommended.

Righteous Fool is out now through Ripple Music. Pick it up at the label’s website, Bandcamp, or any other elsewhere.

Links.

Bandcamp, https://ripplemusic.bandcamp.com/album/righteous-fool

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/Righteous-Fool-117163561154/

Ripple Music, https://www.ripple-music.com/

© Wayne Edwards

Righteous Fool, Righteous Fool (Ripple 2022)

Cities Of Mars, Cities Of Mars (Ripple 2022)

Wayne Edwards, , , , , , ,

Heavy fuzz doom trio Cities Of Mars self-title their third long-player.

Sweden’s stoner doom band Cities Of Mars began in 2014, releasing an EP, Celestial Mistress, a couple year later. The music falls squarely in the land of doom, but the subjects and trajectories of the compositions align with the stars. Joining their first two full-length albums, Temporal Rifts (2017) and The Horologist (2019), the new record continues the sure-footed journey. The band is Danne Palm (bass, vocals), Johan Kuchler (drums, vocals), and Christoffer Norén (guitar, vocals).

“Before The Storm” is a beautiful spacey opening for the album. Patient, building slowly, the song introduces an ethereal voice signaling the beginning of the journey and, importantly, the need for it. Gentleness gives way to heavy doom guitar riffs on “Towering Graves.” The vocals are still mysterious but much more menacing now. The massive riffs continue on “The Prophet,” growing tall enough to block out the dim setting sun on the red planet.

“Song of a Distant Earth” is an acoustic piece; a mood shift before the devastating “A Dawn of No Light.” The tempo picks up and the rhythm is more assertive, and the lead guitar freer in its explorations. “The Dreaming Sky” has a forlorn quality to it. Harmonizing vocals and melancholy guitar lines waken suppressed feelings. “Reflected Skyline” is an airy piece, and sad, too, in my hearing.

“The Black Shard” is the twelve-minute final word on the album. In some ways you could see it as a reinterpretation of the ideas earlier expressed. You could also see it as a furthering of those notions. It is an exceptional piece and, if nothing else, you should listen to this one. It has many powerful moments, and regular returns to altered pace, attitude, and sentiment throughout. Much like the album in its totality. Recommended.

Cities Of Mars is out now through Ripple Music. Bandcamp is always a good place to pick up the goods.

Links.

Bandcamp, https://ripplemusic.bandcamp.com/album/cities-of-mars

Website, http://www.citiesofmars.se/

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/citiesofmars

YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCavaUFPTEDKYjAxJ8Qapbeg

Ripple Music, https://www.ripple-music.com/

© Wayne Edwards

Cities Of Mars, Cities Of Mars (Ripple 2022)

Wo Fat, The Singularity (Ripple Music 2022)

Wayne Edwards, , , , , , ,

The seventh album from Texas stoner doom band Wo Fat is a world of its own, The Singularity.

Wo Fat hit the ground running with their first album The Gathering Dark (2006). It is legendary now, and it set the stage for a blistering run of records including Psychedelonaut (2009), Noche del Chupacabra (2011), and The Black Code (2012). The band plays psychedelic stoner doom rock that sounds like it was anointed by the cosmos. The new album is another chapter of astonishing guitar-based music that beguiles the listener and holds them in its sway.

The new album has seven big tracks, with a run time averaging over ten minutes each. You can hear “Orphans of the Singe” in the distance. As the music gets closer, you bend toward it and fall in. Down the rabbit hole. This is desert groove jam music; sounds that way to me. There is magic here, the kind that coalesces from nowhere just as the sun is disappearing beyond the horizon. Incredible jams over inspired rhythm. And then some.

I don’t know how it is possible to be so engaging over such a range with this level of endurance. It just keeps getting better as you listen. Skipping ahead a couple of tracks (about twenty minutes or so), “The Unraveling” claps its sinewy hands on you and gives you a good shaking. It is an up-tempo, high energy push. “The Witching Chamber” follows and you feel enchanted but not inveigled. Riffs bigger than the Mississippi is wide form an encampment where you could live for the rest of your days if you wanted.

How could there be more? Then the title track queues up and you know that you are still in it and the journey is not over yet. “The Oracle” ends the set on a sixteen-minute parable of psychedelic swamp doom that has no peer and faces no rival. The musicians have a breathtaking command of composition, improvisation, instrumentation, and elevation. I feel bad for anyone who has not heard this album yet. Highly recommended.

The Singularity is out now through Ripple Music. Check them out on Bandcamp or the Ripple site. What you should really do is subscribe to Ripple Music on Bandcamp – if you had done that, you would have The Singularity already.

Links.

Website, https://wofat.net/

Bandcamp, https://wofat.bandcamp.com/

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/wofatriffage

Ripple Music, https://www.ripple-music.com/

© Wayne Edwards

Wo Fat, The Singularity (Ripple Music 2022)