The bandstand is a sacred place.

Band: Various Artists

Album: Invocation Of Sacred Resonance I

Origin: Various

Genre: Doom, Drone, Experimental, Black Metal, Sludge

Year: 2008

It's been a while, both life and laziness have kept me busy, but I'm back with another promise to be more active. So I start with another Southern Lord sampler. You know the deal by now. Enjoy!

1) Ascend - Ample Fire Within
2) Earth - Rise To Glory
3) Boris - You Were Holding An Umbrella (Live 10/16/07 At Echoplex, LA)
4) Wolves In The Throne Room - Dia Artio
5) Gore - Search & Love
6) Iceburn - Power Of The Lion Pt. 3 (Edit)
7) Pentemple - Pazuzu II
8) Lair Of The Minotaur - Horde Of Undead Vengeance
9) Thou - Chained
10) Lurker Of Chalice - Minions
11) Velvet Cacoon - P.S. Nautical

Various Artists - Invocation Of Sacred Resonance I

Mi aerodeslizador está lleno de anguilas.

Band: Corrupted

Album: Vasana/An Island Insane 7"

Origin: Japan (Osaka)

Genre: Sludge, Doom, Drone

Year: 2007

For those who don't know Corrupted, they're a japanese sludge/doom band (considered to be pioneers in their genre) who mostly sing in spanish (though sometimes in japanese and english as well). They also have a strict policy of not allowing interviews or promo photo shoots and are known for their reclusiveness.

Although they are famous for having a couple of one track records, it seemed a better idea to introduce them with two singles. Both are released on the same label (HG Fact) limited to a 1000 copies and with the same minimalistic black cover art. They also have the same name for both sides although the tracks are all different. Musically, Vasana has two brutal tracks while An Island Insane has a more spaced out sound (the second track being acoustic guitar mixed with a bunch of distortion). Enjoy!

Corrupted - Vasana + An Island Insane 7"

...As He Wades Through The Buildings Toward The Center of Town...

Band: Dot [.]

Album: Stay Smoke, Stay Stone EP

Origin: Japan (Tokyo)

Genre: Sludge/Doom, Stoner Metal

Year: 2001

This is a repost in the sense that I originally posted this over at 99 Miles Of Bad Blogs! back when I was a contributor over there, and I've decided that it deserves to be on this blog as well.

Stay Smoke, Stay Stone is the first EP (limited to 332 copies) by Dot, featuring current and former members of Coffins (drummer You and guitarist/vocalist Uchino). They have both left Dot, and although I have nothing against Uchino, I still think it's cool that the guitar duties have been taken over by a tiny lady.
This release contains two long tracks and you can compare them to bands like Electric Wizard, Bongzilla and Weedeater. Enjoy!

Dot [.] - Stay Smoke, Stay Stone EP

It's raining riffs...

Band: Various Artists

Album: The Power Of The Riff 2011 Mix Tape

Origin: Various

Genre: Metal, Punk, Black Metal, Sludge, Doom

Year: 2011

I think that the description, the package and the links say enough. Enjoy!

In preparation for THE POWER OF THE RIFF 2011, with five West Coast shows announced to take place later this month, Southern Lord is giving away a brutal 20-track mix tape featuring artists set to appear during the upcoming melee! The free download includes tracks from ALL PIGS MUST DIE, BAPTISTS, EYEHATEGOD, PENTAGRAM, BLACK COBRA, PELICAN, NOOTHGRUSH, WINTER, TRAP THEM and more, as well as a collection of flyers from all of the upcoming TPOTR shows.


GET IT HERE!


1) All Pigs Must Die - Pulverization
2) Baptists - Good Parenting
3) Eyehategod - Jack Ass In The Will Of God
4) Masakari - Trapped In The Mold
5) Alpinist - Hak Nam
6) Skin Like Iron - Consequences
7) Early Graves - Wraiths
8) Seven Sisters Of Sleep - Sundown
9) Pentagram - Call The Man
10) Black Breath - Children Of The Horn
11) Plagues - Breathing
12) Harassor - Glory Raped
13) Acephalix - Interminable Night
14) Black Cobra - Negative Reversal
15) Æges - Roaches
16) Slave - Rise Of Shame
17) Trap Them - Carnage Incarnate
18) Noothgrush - Oil Removed
19) Pelican - Strung Up From The Sky
20) Winter - Eternal Frost


The Power Of The Riff

We are the last...

Band: Meadows

Album: EP

Origin: Great Britain (Suffolk)

Genre: Sludge, Punk

Year: 2011

First of all, a small introduction to Meadows. They formed out of the ashes of various stoner rock and doom bands and have been described as 'sludge/grind/doom for fans of Napalm Death, Eyehategod, Grief and Converge.'

Now let's talk music. All four tracks on this release (recorded 'in a dingy, dirty factory in the heart of rural suffolk') seem to follow the same (excellent) recipe: take some crusty punk riffs, add some oppressive sludge riffs, throw in some roaring vocals and finish it with some feedback. It's really awesome stuff, and recommended to anybody who likes heavy music. Maybe even more important to add is that Meadows brings it with a groove which proves to me that they are probably a killer live band. I can honestly say that I hope to see and hear more by Meadows in the future.

You can buy this release on bandcamp, where they also offer it as a free download (in six different formats) with pictures of the physical product (a beautifully packaged DIY release). Enjoy!

Bandcamp
Facebook (supposedly very popular these days)

Band: Various Artists
Album: For To Listening
Origin: Various
Genre: Metal, Punk, Hard Rock, Experimental, Sludge
Year: 2011

Hydra Head Records have released another free sampler which you can procure in the same way as the last one. It has 11 tracks including a Pyramids remix by Justin Foley (The Austerity Program), Cave In covering Black Sabbath and a booklet with pictures and information in it. Enjoy!

'... our new, free, digital sampler entitled For To Listening. It's got a bunch of jams you probably haven't heard before, and if you have then congratulations.' (Hydra Head)

1) Helms Alee - Elbow Grease
2) Gridlink - Orphan
3) Oxbow - Daughter Bent & Floating
4) Neurosis - Prayer
5) Buzzov•en - Drying Out
6) Discordance Axis - Oratorio In Grey
7) Clouds - Secret Potion
8) Cave In - N.I.B.
9) Gridlink - 3 Miles Below Sea Level
10) Jesu - Annul
11) Pyramids - Monks (Justin Foley Remix)

Various Artists - For To Listening

The depressing inevitability of hope

Band: Various Artists

Album: Darkness Hath No Boundaries

Origin: Various

Genre: Doom, Drone, Metal, Sludge, Black Metal

Year: 2006

Another Southern Lord Records sampler seemed fitting in the spirit of Roadburn. I couldn't find a decent picture so you'll have to do with this small one. Also quite a lot of Black Metal on this one. Enjoy!

1) Sunn O))) - It Took The Night To Believe
2) Thrones - Senex
3) Oren Ambarchi - Excerpt From Triste
4) Boris - A Bao A Qu
5) Lair Of The Minotaur - Cannibal Massacre
6) Craft - Earth A Raging Blaze
7) Twilight - Woe Is The Contagion
8) Orcustus - Wrathtrash
9) Haemoth - Kontamination
10) Xasthur - The Funeral Of Being
11) Earthride - Fighting The Devils Inside Of You
12) The Hidden Hand - Vulcan's Children
13) Saint Vitus - Mystic Lady
14) Earth - Raiford The Felon Wind

Various Artists - Darkness Hath No Boundaries

What is an adult? A child blown up by age.

Band: Various Artists

Album: Metal Swim

Origin: Various

Genre: Metal, Hard Rock, Stoner Rock, Black Metal, Sludge, Doom

Year: 2010

Adult Swim (with Scion A/V) has put together a free compilation of '16 tracks of rare and unreleased Metal from the heaviest bands in existence.' Needless to say (especially when you see the track list) that this is awesome.
You can download this compilation and also find some interviews and live footage(with Boris, Torche, Kylesa, and more) from the Scion Rockfest on their website. Enjoy!

1) Death Angel - Truce
2) Skeletonwitch - Bringers of Death
3) Torche - Arrowhead
4) Ludicra - Path of Ash
5) Kylesa - Forsaken
6) Black Tusk - Fatal Kiss
7) Red Fang - Hank Is Dead
8) Black Cobra - Frozen Night
9) Saviours - Dixie Dieway
10) Witch Mountain - Veil of the Forgotten
11) Isis - Pliable Foe
12) Jesu - Dethroned
13) Pelican - Inch Above Sand
14) Zoroaster - Witch's Hammer
15) Withered - Extinguished with the Weary
16) Boris - Luna

A Blunt Cobra

Band: Black Cobra
Album: Black Cobra EP
Origin: U.S.A. (Los Angeles, California)
Genre: Sludge, Doom, Metal
Year: 2004

Black Cobra is a two man band that plays thick dirty sludgy doom. Drums are handled by Rafael Martinez (also bassist for Acid King) with Jason Landrian (formerly Cavity) playing guitar. This Ep was self-released on cd but has been re-released on 7" by Blackflash Records in 2006. It has only three short songs, but it gives you a good idea of what this band is all about. Enjoy!
(and yes, I am going to try to keep that promise of posting more often).

Black Cobra - S/T EP

Fiat Lux II

Band: Various Artists
Album: Let There Be Doom II (A Kult Collection Of Massive Sub-Harmonics)
Origin: Various
Genre: Doom, Sludge, Metal, Black Metal
Year: 2004

The Second Let There Be Doom Sampler from Southern Lord Records. Enjoy!

1) Goatsnake - Black Cat Bone
2) Outlaw Order - Illegal In 50 States
3) Orcustus - Death Becomes You
4) Korog - Worshipping Of Current
5) Thorr's Hammer - Troll
6) Graves At Sea - Cirrhosis
7) Teeth Of Lions Rule The Divine - New Pants & Shirt
8) Khanate - Dead
9) Place Of Skulls - The Watchers
10) Saint Vitus - I Bleed Black
11) The Obsessed - Climate Of Despair
12) Earthride - Grip The Wheel
13) Warhorse - I Am Dying
14) Sunn O))) - Hell-O)))-Ween
15) Probot - Shake Your Blood

Let There Be Doom II (A Kult Collection Of Massive Sub-Harmonics)

Fiat Lux...

Band: Various Artists
Album: Let There Be Doom (A Kult Collection Of Massive Sub-Harmonics)
Origin: Various
Genre: Doom, Sludge, Drone, Metal
Year: /

I'm still busy with my exams, so I decided to post this label sampler from Southern Lord Records. Enjoy!

1) Place Of Skulls - Last Hit
2) Sourvein - Bang Leaf
3) Earthride - Deception
4) Sunn O))) - The Gates Of Ballard
5) Grief - I Hate You
6) Warhorse - I Am Dying
7) Weedeater - God Luck And Good Speed
8) Toadliquor - Interstellar Space (Love)
9) Boris - Huge
10) Khanate - Skin Coat (Live)
11) Earth - German Dental Work

Let There Be Doom (A Kult Collection Of Massive Sub Harmonics)

Does One Light A Torche To See The Sun?

Band: Torche
Album: In Return EP
Origin: U.S.A. (Miami, Florida)
Genre: Sludge, Metal
Year: 2007

This is the follow-up to Torche's debut album. It's just below the 20 minute mark but that doesn't keep it from rocking out. It has everything you would expect from a band like Torche: great grooves and an awesome bottom heavy end sound.

Torche - In Return

Big In Japan...

Band: Boris, Tomsk 7
Album: Boris/Tomsk 7
Origin: Japan, U.S.A.
Genre: Sludge, Punk, Noise
Year: 1997

This is the 7" split by japanese band Boris and arizona band Tomsk 7.
I know nothing about Tomsk 7. I do know that they have 5 tracks on this record, ranging from grindcore to sludge and noise. The track by Boris (Mass Mercury, which is longer than the five Tomsk 7 tracks) is a mix of sludge, some noise and drone and some very heavy bass and is the best side of this 7" in my opinion.

Boris/Tomsk 7 - Split 7"

Banana Splits...

Two splits for the price of one...


band: Fantômas & Melt Banana
album: Fantômas & Melt Banana Split
origin: USA, Japan
genre: Experimental, Metal, Noise Rock, Punk
year: 2005

It's a two song split starting with the Fantômas contribution called

Animali In Calore Surriscaldati Con Ipertermia Genitale (a name longer than the song, which lasts only 44 seconds). The amazing part is that Mike Patton and friends, Buzz Osborne (melvins) Trevor Dunn (Mr. Bungle) and Dave Lombardo (Slayer), accomplish to put in those 44 seconds a mix of experimental metal, noise, silence and some trumpet. The second song, 'Cat in red', is a typical Melt Banana start-stop noisecore song. A mix of punk, crazy sounds, and a high piercing voice.

Band: Bongzilla & Meatjack
Album: Bongzilla/Meatjack Split 7"
Origin: USA
Genre: Sludge, Metal, Stoner Rock
Year: 1997

This Second split is just the opposite of the first, with slow, tuned down riffing. First up is the bongzilla part called "Bud Gun/THC", being the longest song (6 minutes). With typical heavy vocals en samples but just a little bit faster than your typical Bongzilla song.

The Meatjack song, "Falling Down", is a bass happy, fuzzy song which fits perfectly with the bongzilla material.

Banana Splits