Photos by Wayne Edwards.
Main FFMB article: https://flyingfiddlesticks.com/2023/03/26/ruby-the-hatchet-at-the-stone-church-march-17-2023/
© Wayne Edwards
Photo Gallery: Ruby The Hatchet at The Stone Church, Brattleboro, Vermont
Stoner Rock
Photo Gallery: Drummers, Part 4
Photos by Wayne Edwards.
© Wayne Edwards
Photo Gallery: Bassists, Part 2
Photos by Wayne Edwards.
© Wayne Edwards
Photo Gallery: Bassists, Part 1
Photos by Wayne Edwards.
© Wayne Edwards
The Freqs, Poachers (2023)
Heavy rock stoner band The Freqs bring it on with their latest, Poachers.
At the tender age of three, The Freqs have their act together. In such a short time, it is surprising that the Salem, Massachusetts band is four EPs deep with the new record. Each album so far has been a step up, and the new one is no exception. The band is Seth Crowell (guitar, vocals), Ian Mandly (bass, keys), and Zack Fierman (drums).
“Poacher Gets The Tusk” gets things rolling with a heavy stoner riff and a surprisingly intense catchiness. It has a good cook to it, this song, with a syrupy passage in the center. Mostly fungus-free, this one is a winner. “Powertrippin’” is a bit stabby, with distorted vocals paired by a harsh guitar partner. Frenzied and clacking, the song excites your nerve endings like a fourth cup of coffee at breakfast. There is a very odd choir-like chorus in the softened center that might wrong-foot you, so watch out. “Asphalt Rivers” makes out like it is a gentle lounge piece. It is more than that, with creaturous ripples biding their time just beneath the surface. Soon enough they break through and rock your inadequate boat. It is unsettling.
Side two brings “Sludge Rats,” a song that sounds like it seems it would sound. At first. Like the other songs in this set, first impressions do not convey accurately the entirety of the enterprise. The swelling and growth of the music herein is industrious. “Chase Fire, Caught Smoke” has a delightful mystery to it, a devilish squirm that is enticing and mesmerizing. I love the tone. The last track is “Witch,” a raw, sludgy delicacy. I find the guitar in this song very appealing, highlighted here even more than in other songs. This album deserves a listen. Recommended.
Poachers is out on Friday, February 3rd in glorious digital at the Bandcamp link below.
Band photo by Zack Fierman.
Links.
Bandcamp, https://thefreqs.bandcamp.com/album/poachers
Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/thefreqsband
© Wayne Edwards
Clouds Taste Satanic, Tales Of Demonic Possession (Majestic Mountain 2023)
Let the new music from Clouds Taste Satanic engulf you: Tales Of Demonic Possession.
Clouds Taste Satanic is the best instrumental doom band in the land. I have been a fan for as long as I have been aware of them. For about ten years and across six previous full-length albums (plus the exceptional Satanic Singles series), the metal quartet from New York has shown itself to be limitlessly inventive. The new album adds not only to their canon, but to their legend and lore. The band is Sean Bay (bass), Steven Scavuzzo (guitar), Greg Acampora (drums), and Brian Bauhs (guitar).
There are four long tracks on the new album, one for each side with each running about twenty minutes in length. First is “Flames and Demon Drummers.” The song begins softly and quietly. The music is a bit melancholy, but otherwise light-hearted. The big guitar riffs do enter, and they land firmly, with the rhythm wall standing up an avenue for the lead. The composition charts a path and sees it through, encountering a few unexpected ripples along the way. “Sun Death Ritual” follows and opens with an invitational guitar posture, bringing in the doom sentiment shortly thereafter. The guitar is very active, as it must be on all the tracks, really, carrying a lot of the weight in the instrumental setting. The sound here is grimier than the first track, in the best possible way. It turns spacey then comes back, and toward the end there is a march through a dark land that is harrowing, indeed. Fantastic.
The second disc gives us “Spirits of the Green Desert” on side three. The wind whistles through the crusty rocks and you begin to hear drumming in the distance. The music that comes up is a clear indication that spells are being cast nearby. What is not immediately clear is the manner of magic being invoked. The heaviness of the music is a sign, but before you know enough to react, you are bewitched, fixed in place, immersed. “Conjuring the Dark Rider” is the final piece. It is the most dramatic to my ears, and the song with the most narrative clarity. There is a fantastic jam just before midway that stays with me even now. The ending demonstrates incredible sway. This is excellent music all the way through, and it is exactly what I was hoping for in the new record. Highly recommended.
Tales Of Demonic Possession is out on Friday, February 3rd in multiple formats, including vinyl, through Majestic Mountain Records. Have a look at the links below.
Links.
Bandcamp, https://cloudstastesatanic.bandcamp.com/album/tales-of-demonic-possession
Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/CloudsTasteSatanic
CTS roundup at FFMB, https://flyingfiddlesticks.com/2020/04/07/a-quick-look-at-clouds-taste-satanic/
Majestic Mountain Records, https://majesticmountainrecords.bigcartel.com/
© Wayne Edwards
Robot Death Monkey, Intergalactic Party Powder (2022)
Scotland’s Robot Death Monkey slap down another irresistible slab of metal on Intergalactic Party Powder.
For a dozen years now, Robot Death Monkey has been ruffling feathers in the stoner metal world. In a good way. They have released a string of fierce EPs, including Booze Cruise (2015), Big Pussy (2019), and Druid Odyssey (2021). The music is heavy groove metal with a rock and roll propulsion that you can’t get enough of once you start listening. The band is Shaun Forshaw (bass, vocals) Sam Forshaw (drums), Alan Travers (guitar), and Fraser Lough (guitar).
“Bantha Rider” has a great punch. The song structure does put me in mind of Clutch, but the music is much more metal, maybe in the Orange Goblin direction. Great riffs, great pound. The lead guitar solo is fantastic. It is an instrumental heavy metal feast. “Asgardian Micro Whitey” is another rambler, and our first clear listen to Forshaw’s vocals, which are rugged and declarative. The lead break on this song is lethal, and it’ll pin your ears back.
With a title like “Dragon Clit,” it almost doesn’t matter what the song sounds like. Thankfully, it turns out this track is a killer. The riffage is like a line of lance-wielding Spartans advancing unstoppably, all the while stabbing straight for your eyes. It is another instrumental juggernaut. “Kittens and Coke” opens gently, like a murderer laying in wait. Suddenly, the entire group jumps out, every hand swinging a heavy hammer. We are told straight up that there “is only one thing that I need: kittens and coke.” Well, sure, who hasn’t said that themselves? And here we have it set to music. This is a tasty party song the legions will welcome.
Listening to this four-song EP on repeat might lead to spontaneous human combustion. Recommended.
Intergalactic Party Powder is out now. Bandcamp is the reliable hook-up. While you are there, check out the band’s other albums – there is lot of great music ready to be heard.
Links.
Bandcamp, https://robotdeathmonkey.bandcamp.com/album/intergalactic-party-powder
Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/RobotDeathMonkey/
© Wayne Edwards
Photo Gallery: Keys
Photos by Wayne Edwards.
© Wayne Edwards
DoctoR DooM, A Shadow Called Danger (Ripple 2023)
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
Müut, Made Me Do It (2023)
Warsaw stoner rock band Müut lets loose on their debut long-player, Made Me Do It.
Müut began just a couple of years ago. Initially inspired and informed by punk and hardcore music, the compositional direction of the band eventually shifted toward a hard rock version of stoner rock, with big nods to classic forms. The result is a cracking set of rock and roll with exotic undertones. Müut is Vlad Guzmán (vocals, bass), Mateusz Pacholczyk (drums), Krzysztof Geryk (guitar), and Szymon Kaim (guitar).
“Another Bill To Pay” is a hard-charging rock song, up-tempo and loaded with catchiness. The lead break is designed for broad appeal as well, not taking up too much space. A very good, rollicking beginning. “Graso” seeks to keep the energy high, but in a very different way. The opening lyrics have a stabbing quality to them, like an attack on the listener. They mellow as the song continues, but you never forget the opening peal, which is itself repeated for good measure. “Fight The Müutonegro” offers a nostalgic appeal to old school tropes, and so does “Braindead,” in many ways, although different ones. These familiar bits a remolded and integrated into modern settings, giving them new life. Side one ends on “Enter Thy Name,” a pensive, reflective number that is an effective cooldown.
The back half continues with the premise establish by the early songs. I especially like “Last Tattoo,” which has a dominating presence and is a genuine battering. The tone changes midway, and the song transforms somewhat, making it all the more appealing. The final track stands out as well, “Salvation Fix.” It is a gruff way to exit, and I like it a lot. This record is good hard-edged rock and roll. Give it a spin.
Made Me Do It is out now. In the US, Bandcamp is a good place to pick it up.
Links.
Bandcamp, https://muutband.bandcamp.com/
Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/muut.band/
© Wayne Edwards
Flying Fiddlesticks Music Blog 