I feel a bit silly admitting this, but for some reason, I thought I had Soundtrack To The Blind Owl previously. Iran’s foremost dark ambient composer Xerxes The Dark has been active for many years now, and is part of a pretty amazing scene developing in one of the least Continue Reading
Metal
Various Artists – Doomed & Stoned in Chile
Doomed & Stoned is a series of compilations covering the best of doom metal and stoner rock all over the world. This comp covers the scene in Chile, which is surprising rich. There are 99 tracks of surprising variety, including one that left me mystified: It’s a track by Heraldica Continue Reading
Domkraft – Seeds
Today seems to be an important day, at least as far as I can read. It’s apparently a pot holiday, and as such, though I can’t stand the smell of the stuff, I figure posting a sludgy piece of metal would be appropriate. The Swedish band Domkraft roar with one Continue Reading
Onségen Ensemble – Fear
I wish to thank my friend Slava, who is based in Kazakhstan, for introducing me into this avant-prog treasure. The Onségen Ensemble are a Finnish group who have a rather open personnel, which is in keeping with their mission statement. The sound is a mix of heavy progressive, psychedelic rock Continue Reading
Tarah Who? – Manners
Los Angeles produces scores of great rock bands, and has since before I was born. Tara Who? continue the tradition of mixing elements of straight-ahead rock, punk, and the kind of metal that seems to only come from the area of the city near venues like The Roxy or bars Continue Reading
JARS (ДЖРС) – III
In parts sounding like the demos of an early Killing Joke album drifting almost into doom and death-metal territory, JARS (ДЖРС) are atypical for what people thing of as stoner rock. They are comfortable playing in different styles, and their raw sound actually benefits the music tremendously. Brutal music, but Continue Reading
Heckel & Jeckel – This War
Heckel and Jeckel have a couple of things going for them. First, I’m old enough to remember the rather funny cartoon bearing their name. Second, I really like early Black Sabbath, Big Black, and some of the better stoner rock bands coming down the line these days. These guys do Continue Reading