FOR THOSE ABOOT TO ROCK: Riffs of Canada with Pale Mare (Toronto, Ontario)

By: Mark Tremblay

Album Type:EP

Date Released:10/11/2017

Label:Medusa Crush Recordings

For those of you who long for the days of “Blessed Black Wings” era High on Fire, this record is the perfect trip down memory-lane.  If you dig thick and dirty riffs, you’ll dig Pale Mare.

“Pale Mare EP” CS//DD track listing:

1). Descolada

2). Carthage

3). Hoplite

The Review:

Toronto’s Pale Mare has finally released their long awaited self-titled EP. After making a name for themselves locally opening for acts such as Windhandand Weedeater, Pale Mare have unleashed their well-honed brand of sludge metal. For those of you who long for the days of “Blessed Black Wings” era High on Fire, this record is the perfect trip down memory-lane.

The EP comes out of the gate swinging with “Descolada”; a song built upon a heavy riff that would make Matt Pike smile. Where Pale Mare break from the pack, however, is this jazz break they’ve fused into the middle of the song. The clean shimmering guitar chords and wah-tinged bass give them a nuisance and balance not often found in riff-driven music.

 “Carthage” is a straight out banger that page homage to early BaronessEP’s “First” and “Second” while adding their own twists. Luke Roberts’ drum fills on this track are particularly jaw-dropping. Given the fact that he is also the guitarist and main creative force behind Ayahuasca, it begs the question “Is there anything Luke Roberts can’t do?”.

The albums closer “Hoplite” is continuation of all these elements mashed together in one riff-crammed magnum opus. Pale Mare is a throwback to the hey-day of the Savannah sludge metal of the early 2000s, only with a twist. If you dig thick and dirty riffs, you’ll dig Pale Mare.

“Pale Mare EP” is available here

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

ALBUM REVIEW: Woodhawk - "Beyond The Sun"

By: Ben Fitts

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 07/04/2017

Label: Independent

“Beyond The Sun, is overflowing with everything one could want from a great stoner rock record, thick, rumbling bass tones, sizzling guitar fuzz and infectious, mid tempo riffage, making this the kind of album that is very hard to stop listening to

“Beyond The Sun” DD//LP track listing:

1.Beyond The Sun

2.The High Priest

3.Living In The Sand

4.Magnetic North

5.Lawless

6.Quest For Clarity

7.A New Hope

8.Foresee The Future

9.Chrononaut

The Review

“Beyond The Sun”, the second album from Canadian trio Woodhawk, is overflowing with everything one could want from a great stoner rock record, it is bursting with thick, rumbling bass tones, sizzling guitar fuzz and infectious, mid tempo riffage. Woodhawk may be a stoner rock band before they are a metal band: guitarist/vocalist Turner Midzain soulfully bellows strictly clean vocals, the band doesn’t use subterranean tunings and tempos, as laid back as they are, are still brisk enough to outpace the Electric Wizards and Weedeaters of the world. That being said, “Beyond The Sun” still delves deep enough into metal territory to stand on its own as an admirable stoner metal album, as well as an exceptional rock album.

The album opens with its title track, a haunting, ambient track that instantly conjures images of strange, alien deserts, like the one depicted on the album’s cover. Dynamically, the track builds with a wonderful and meticulous patience, creating an enveloping aura of sound for listeners to lose themselves in. The spacey atmosphere of the album’s title track is echoed in the tracks “Magnetic North”, “Forsee The Future” and the Star Wars themed “A New Hope”, but “Beyond The Sun” is certainly not a repetitive record. Each one of those tracks tackles their galactic aesthetic in a unique and original way and the rest of the album pursues entirely new musical avenues. Tracks like “Living In The Sand” and the album’s closer, “Chrononaut”, feature riffs crushing enough for any metal head’s standards and the entire album is brimming with tight hooks effective enough to lodge into your skull for days.   

The standout track on “Beyond The Sun” is perhaps its sixth track, “Quest For Clarity”. Beginning with a deliciously chunky bass line, “Quest For Clarity” roars through absolutely irresistible riffs and effectively dark vocal harmonies. The result is the doomiest, most memorable track on “Beyond The Sun” and the best soundtrack to wandering an ancient desert to be found anywhere.

“Beyond The Sun” is the kind of album that is very hard to stop listening to. The songs are diverse enough to maintain interest but just similar enough to make for a very cohesive listen and gives the album an instantly recognizable sound. The riffs are so catchy you’ll be humming them long after you remove headphones and the songs are so good you will be craving the next chance you get to sit down and listen to them again.   

“Beyond The Sun” is available here

Band info: bandcamp || Facebook

ALBUM REVIEW: Hawkbill - "Self Titled"

By: Grim Trashcan

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released:23/03/2017

Label: Independent

Track by track these rusted broke-down tractor boys weave a landscape that is reminiscent of the groovier parts of Grief or perhaps an even more slowed down and swampy take on some Weedeater.   With a natural emphasis on groove and natural timing and feel, this album moves like a sloth with a spliff in its mouth.

“Self Titled” DD track listing:

1). Blackened

2). Fever

3). Hate

4). Snakes

5). Knives

The Review:

A simple internet search on "Manchester, KYdemographics" reveals the catalyst in order to produce such a suffocated and frustrated brand of Southern sludge from the gloom merchants that go by Hawkbill. According to the County's facebook page; under sightseeing- one of the main attractions next to the Baptist Church is the Clay County Correctional Facility. Charming, wouldn't you agree? Become a pill-billy, praise Jesus or do what these fine young Southern Gentlemen did- channel your frustration and despair into a trance-inducing, hypnotic groove anti-hymnal for the dejected. 

Track by track these rusted broke-down tractor boys weave a landscape that is reminiscent of the groovier parts of Grief or perhaps an even more slowed down and swampy take on some Weedeater, with a natural emphasis on groove and natural timing and feel. I've always been a proponent that if it's from the South, it moves like a sloth with a spliff in its mouth. With track titles such as "Blackened", "Hate", "Snakes" and my personal favorite "Knives"...this stoned sloth has been left out in the rain for a week and ran into some train-hopping crust kids and is babbling incoherently about the vicious nature of a Clay County existence. The abstract, albeit psychotic metaphor of that last sentence may be an indicator of where this band's first self-recorded and produced effort puts you after a listen or two. 

Inspired guitar work, precise and tactful rhythms carried upon the rhinoceros that lives in the low-end via bass are drizzled and poured all over by psychotic and tortured howls that drip and melt all over the aural landscape. Imagine a stack of pancakes, made of solid hash and then pour a heroic dose level of some kind of maple syrup mind-fuck mushroom concoction that some mountain wizard bartered for with some ammunition a few years ago and that's what you're getting into with this Hawkbillendeavor. No...ManchesterI will not be stopping by to see your highlighted social media suggestions anytime soon. I'd rather admire what social quagmires and abject level poverty have produced from your denizens from a safe viewing and especially listening distance. Hat's off to Hawkbill. Grim Trashcan definitely approved!!!

“Hawkbill” is available here

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

ALBUM REVIEW: Toke - "Orange"

By: Grim Trashcan

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 01/01/2017
Label: Independent |
Emetic Records (LP)

Toke seamlessly blends the precise amount of head crushing, belly thumping riffs with greasy, bluesy lead breaks and melody. This band has struck a balance between tried and true classic archetypes within this genre and has pushed the envelope in so many forms of noticeable nuance.

 

“Orange” CS//DD//LP track listing:

1. Within The Sinister Void
2. Weight Of The World
3. Blackened
4. Weak Life (Feat. T-Roy of Sourvein)
5. Legalize Sin
6. Four Hours For Hours

The Review:

There just has to be something about living in the South that makes you understand swing, groove, timing or "feel". Some folks are born with natural rhythm and it seems like second nature, a mere afterthought. Others train themselves meticulously to metronomes and calculated foot tapping. Toke; hailing from North Carolinafall seismically in the first camp. 

When I hear "North Carolina" my immediate thought is Weedeater, and when I hear the band name "Toke" my immediate thought is "well, I'll be damned". That thought is heard in my head with a southern drawl. A lazy, laid-back southern lilt of inflection that coaxes one into a natural state of ease, ready to hear more from that friendly Southern inner voice. That's when the opening riff from "Orange" fires up and its glowing heat draws you further in. Solidified by natural and solid drumming this experience just keeps on warming up. Definitely more of a guitar-oriented affair in comparison to something akin to Weedeater, where bass is the star at the frequency buffet, Toke seamlessly blends the precise amount of head crushing, belly thumping riffs with greasy, bluesy lead breaks and melody. The vocalists timbre and range can only be described as an old rotary phone echoing through the silence somewhere in the desolate woods.

This band has struck a balance between tried and true classic archetypes within this genre and has pushed the envelope in so many forms of noticeable nuance. The seemingly calculated choices when it came to where the drums sat in the mix, the bass owned and held upright the fluid frame of the masterful guitar work over which mid-ranged, musical raspy howls cried out were overall the feature of this release. Songwriting is so solid; I'd send it out to sea without fear of capsizing. This album more than floats, it navigates. 

“Orange” is available here and LP here

Band info: Facebook || Bandcamp

ALBUM REVIEW: Demonic Death Judge - "Seaweed"

By: Charlie Butler

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 13/01/2017

Label: Suicide Records

The Finnish quartet deal in a potent blend of filthy sludge-encrusted riffs tempered by hypnotic stoner grooves and nasty gravel gargling vocals. The band conjure up the sound of a bar room brawl between Weedeater and Colour Haze.

“Seaweed” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1). Taxbear

2). Heavy Chase

3). Seaweed

4). Cavity

5). Backwoods

6). Pure Cold

7). Saturnday

8). Peninkulma

The Review:

There’s nothing better than a boatload of no-frills, weapons-grade riffage to blow away the January blues. Demonic Death Judge deliver the goods in fine style on new album “Seaweed”.  The Finnish quartet deal in a potent blend of filthy sludge-encrusted riffs tempered by hypnotic stoner grooves and nasty gravel gargling vocals. The band conjure up the sound of a bar room brawl between Weedeater and Colour Haze.

“Taxbear” kicks things off in punishing fashion. Gargantuan riffs pummel the listener into submission until they are enveloped in waves of swirling guitar noise and menacing samples. The pure low-end dirt of “Pure Cold” and the dangerously addictive “Heavy Chase” run “Taxbear” close for heaviest track on the LP but quality riffs abound throughout “Seaweed”.

Demonic Death Judge demonstrate that they don’t need to rely on constant hard-riffing to be effective. The title track begins the introduction of more melodic elements into the mix with suitably aquatic effects-laden guitars providing a hazy calm before the storm of the band’s arrival at full bore. “Cavity” sees the band explore this relaxed side further to achieve powerful psychedelic results while the brooding first half of closer “Peninkulma” creates an almost post-rock slow-burn before being crushed under one final tonne of leaden riffage.

“Seaweed” is a killer effort from Demonic Death Judge that strikes a good balance between no-nonsense sludge and minor excursions into more tuneful territory. In an often overcrowded genre, the band stick out by rocking hard while bringing their own distinct character to the fore. 

“Seaweed” is available here

Band info: Official|| Facebook|| Bandcamp

FFO: Cough, Dopethrone, Weedeater, Colour Haze