Tag: doom metal

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Lysergic and Apocalyptic Visuals for Blackout’s Doom-Laden “Graves”

Currently comprised of founding members Christian Gordy (vocals, guitar) and Justin Sherrell (bass, vocals) and newest member Adam Taylor (drums), the New York-based doom metal/hard rock/stoner rock trio Blackout released two albums through renowned hard rock/stoner rock label RidingEasy Records — their 2013 debut effort We Are Here and 2015’s self-titled album — before going through a hiatus, which resulted in the departure of the band’s third founding member Taryn Waldman. Waldman’s departure from the band was a devastating blow to Gordy and Sherrell, both of whom saw Waldman as being so instrumental to their sound and songwriting approach that they felt the band’s fate was uncertain; however, last summer Gordy armed with a handful of mushrooms and a bottle of tequila set out to write new material for the band — and while being particularly inspired, Gordy contacted and recruited Adam Taylor, who had just left Ghost Punch to write and record the band’s third and latest album The Horse, which RidingEasy Records released last month. 

“Graves,” The Horse’s first single will further cement the trio’s reputation for a gritty and bruising sound, consisting of sludgy power chords and thundering drumming that reportedly draws influence from Helmet, Cro-Mags, Judge, Prong and others but just underneath the surface is a slow-burning brooding sense of menace.  And it shouldn’t be surprising as the song describes scenery from the apocalypse in such vivid terms that you can smell the sulfur and feel the debris falling around you, and feel everyone around you going absolutely mad from panic. 

The recently released lysergic-tinged video features footage of the band playing in front of a projection screen that features footage of the cosmos, nuclear bombs exploding, psychedelic sludge, exploding lava and other scenery; in some way, it’s like a White Zombie video gone absolutely insane.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Currently comprised of founding members Christian Gordy (vocals, guitar) and Justin Sherrell (bass, vocals) and newest member Adam Taylor (drums), the New York-based doom metal/hard rock/stoner rock trio Blackout released two albums through renowned hard rock/stoner rock label RidingEasy Records — their 2013 debut effort We Are Here and 2015’s self-titled album — before going through a hiatus, which resulted in the departure of the band’s third founding member Taryn Waldman. Waldman was so instrumental to the band’s sound and songwriting approach that the band’s fate was uncertain; however, last summer, Gordy armed with a handful of mushrooms and a bottle of tequila set out to write new material for the band — and while being particularly inspired, Gordy contacted and recruited Adam Taylor, who had just left Ghost Punch to write and record the band’s forthcoming third, full-length effort The Horse, which is slated for a May 26, 2017 release.

 

“Graves,” the first single off the band’s forthcoming album will further cement the trio’s growing reputation for a crafting bruising and gritty sound, full of sludgy power chords and thundering drumming that reportedly draws a bit from Helmet, Cro-Mags, Judge, Prong and others; but while possessing a sinister and menacing air.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Moody and Doom-Laden Sounds and Visuals of GHXST’s “Waiting for the Night”

Featuring co-founders and primary songwriters Shelley X and Chris Wild, GHXST is a New York-based noise rock/grunge rock/doom metal trio whose has publicly cited The Jesus and Mary Chain, White Zombie and Sonic Youth as their influences. And with their latest EP, Perish, the New York-based noise rock trio will further cement their reputation for crafting a noisy, shoegazer-like sound full of enormous power chords fed through layers upon layers of distortion and effects pedals, Shelley X’s bluesy croon — while being a subtle change in sound as the act employs the use of both obscured and distorted drum machine and some effects pedals on Shelley X’s vocals, as you’ll hear on the EP’s latest power chord, feedback laden, doom-filled dirge “Waiting for the Night.”

Directed by the members of the band, the video follows its primary duo wandering down a train line to a desolate, sleazy and decidedly American small town-based motel, where they broodingly sit around bored, waiting for something and nothing in their hotel room and in front of a projection screen featuring dusty, old images of the American West, before concluding with the duo driving along dirt-filled blacktop as the sun sets. And within both the song and its accompanying video, there’s a sense of restless energy and insomnia-filled, endless nights in seedy, fucked up and lonesome places.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Monolord’s Punishing Yet Shoegazer Take on Doom Metal

If you’ve been frequenting this site over the course of last year, you might remember a post on Gothenburg, Sweden-based doom metal trio Monolord. Comprised of Thomas Jäger, Esben Willems, and Mika Häkki, the Swedish metal trio can […]

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

R.I.P. is a Portland, OR-based doom metal quartet that operates off the belief that heavy metal didn’t come from the forest or beam down from outer space; but rather, that it crawled up out of the sewer and writhed to life in in the grit and grime of the streets and their unique take on heavy metal and doom metal “street doom” is indebted to that approach. The Portland, OR-based quartet have developed a reputation for relentless touring when they signed to renowned Los Angeles-based label RidingEasy Records, who will be releasing the band’s highly-anticipated full-length debut In The Wind later this year.

In The Wind‘s latest single “Black Leather” pairs scuzzy power chord heavy guitars, thunderous drumming, a driving motorik-like groove in an expansive and spacious dirge that allows room for some blistering guitar pyrotechnics while drawing equally from Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and Hawkwind. Structurally the song in its first half or so is power chord heavy dirge and in its last half turns into a psych rock-leaning stoner rock with a swaggering self-assuredness while evoking sulfurous smoke billowing from the depths of hell.

 

 

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Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Comprised of Thomas Jäger, Esben Willems, and Mika Häkki, Gothenburg, Sweden-based doom metal trio Monolord can trace its origins to 2013 when both Jäger and Willems started the band as a side project and opportunity to play dark and heavy material away from their primary gig as members of boogie rock band Marulk.  Häkki, who was best known for his work in The Don Darlings and Rotten Sound was recruited to flesh out the band’s sound and complete their lineup. And as the story goes, while working on material that would wind up comprising their debut effort, Empress Riding the trio realized that they had a special creative simpatico  — although interestingly enough Jäger took up vocal duties for the first time in his recording career.

Having met RidingEasy Records‘ head Daniel Hall through Instagram, the band immediately sent the finished album to Hall, and after hearing it, Hall immediately signed them and then released their back in 2014. Their long-awaited and critically applauded sophomore effort Vænir was released last year and building upon the buzz they’ve received both nationally and internationally, the doom metal trio will be releasing a 10″ EP on August 12, which they’ll be supporting with a lengthy headlining throughout August and September with Beastmaker and Sweat Lodge — and it’ll include an August 27, 2016 stop at Greenpoint metal den St. Vitus. And just as they announced tour dates, the members of Monolord released the latest single off their 10″ EP, “Die in Haze,” a sludgy power chord-heavy dirge with thundering drumming and Jäger’s vocals ethereally floating over the murky mix; however, interestingly enough if you pay close enough attention there’s a shoegazer-like quality as their sound manages to be equally enveloping — with a subtly contemplative beauty just underneath the surface.

Check out tour dates below.

 

MONOLORD LIVE:
08/05 Seattle, WA @ Barbosa at Neumos *
08/06 Bellingham, WA @ The Shakedown *
08/08 San Francisco, CA @ The Chapel *
08/09 Los Angeles, CA @ Viper Room *
08/11 San Diego, CA @ Soda Bar *
0812  Phoenix, AZ @ Rogue *
08/13 Albuquerque, NM @ Launch Pad *
08/15 Dallas, TX @ Rail Club *
08/16 Austin, TX @ Sidewinder *
08/17 Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall *
08/18 San Antonio, TX @ Korova *
08/19 New Orleans, LA @ Siberia *
08/20 Tampa, FL @ The Orpheum *
08/21 Ft Lauderdale, FL @ Kreepy Tiki *
08/22 Orlando, FL @ Will’s Pub *
08/23 Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade *
08/24 Richmond, VA @ The Broadberry *
08/26 Baltimore, MD @ Windup Space *
08/27 Brooklyn, NY @ Saint Vitus *
08/28 Philadelphia, PA @ Voltage *
08/30 Boston, MA @ Great Scott *
08/31 Montreal, QC @ Turbo Haus *
09/01 Toronto, ON @ Coalition *
09/02 Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop *
09/03 Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle Festival *
09/04 Minneapolis, MN @ The Cabooze *
09/05 Omaha, NE @ Lookout Lounge *
09/06 Denver, CO @ Lost Lake *
09/07 Salt Lake City, UT @ Metro Bar *
09/08 Sacramento, CA @ Starlite Lounge *
09/09 Portland, OR @ Ash St. Saloon (no Beastmaker)
09/10 Vancouver, BC @ Astoria  (no Beastmaker)
* w/ Beastmaker, Sweat Lodge

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

If you were frequenting this site last year, you may recall coming across posts on Toronto, ON-based proto-metal/doom metal trio CROSSS. And although the band is rather mysterious and little is publicly known about the band’s personnel I can tell you that the band, which originally began as a Halifax, Nova Scotia-based duo, went through several lineup changes before relocating to Toronto and settling on the band’s current configuration. Since relocating to Toronto, the trio have developed a reputation for crating murky, sludgy and intense dirges that are deeply inspired by proto-done, lo-fi indie rock, noise rock and metal, and as a result bear a sonic resemblance to the likes of Black Sabbath, A Place to Bury Strangers and others — but more bottom heavy and doom-laden as you’ll hear on “Interlocutor,” off their last effort, LO which, was release to quite a bit of attention across the blogosphere.

Naturally, as a result of the attention they received, the Canadian trio opened for the likes of Viet Cong, Built to Spill, Thee Oh Sees, King Tuff, Dirty Beaches, Pop1280,  Oneida, Built to Spill, METZ, Grimes, Fuzz and Moon Duo among a growing list. But adding to a growing profile, CROSSS announced that they had recently signed to Joyful Noise Recordings, who will re-issue the trio’s first two efforts, 2013’s Obsidian Spectre and the aforementioned LO — and they also announced that they’ll be releasing their third full-length effort later on this year. In the meantime, check out “Eye Seance” a doom-laden and lo-fi-leaning dirge  that has the trio pairing rumbling down-tuned bass, enormous power chords with howled vocals in a song that sounds like an existential howl into an indifferent and cruel void.

The band will be embarking on a Stateside tour throughout the end of this month and April, and it includes a NYC area stop. Check out tour dates below.

 

Tour Dates:

3/25-3/26: Indianapolis, IN
3/27: Milwaukee, WI @ Quarters
3/28: Chicago, IL @ Subterranean
4/27: Toronto, ON @ Smiling Buddha
4/20: Montreal, QC @ La Vitrola
4/21: Boston, MA @ O’Briens
4/22: Brooklyn, NY @ The Acheron
4/23: Philadelphia, PA @ TBA
4/24: Baltimore, MD @ The Crown
4/26: Buffalo, NY @ Mohawk Place

 

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Trippy, Technicolor Video for All Them Witches’ “Dirt Preachers”

  With the release of their 2012 debut effort, Our Mother Electricity and 2014’s sophomore effort Lightning At The Door, the Nashville, TN-based quartet All Them Witches, comprised of Charles Michael Parks, Jr. (vocals, bass), Ben […]

Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: Deap Vally Performs “Royal Jelly” at Blind Blind Tiger Speakeasy

Comprised of Lindsey Troy and Julie Edwards, the Los Angeles-based  grunge-rock duo Deap Vally can trace their origins to when Troy and Edwards met in 2011 at a crochet class. The duo’s debut effort Sistrionix was […]

New Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Check Out the Creepy, Halloween-Themed Video for WINDHAND’s”Two Urns”

Comprised of Garrett Morris (guitar), Parker Chandler (gass) Dorthia Cottrell (vocals), Asechiah Bogdan (guitar), Ryan Wolfe (drums), the Virginia-based quintet WINDHAND have developed a reputation for a forceful, doom metal sound consisting of huge, dirge-like power chords reminiscent […]

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Introducing the Heavy Doom Metal Sound of Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard

Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard is a Welsh doom metal quartet, who first started to receive attention across the UK with a cassette demo released earlier this year, which featured a 30 minute doom metal opera […]

New Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Doom Metal Sound of Austin TX’s The Well

Comprised of Ian Graham (vocals and guitar), Lisa Alley (bass) and Jason Sullivan (drums), the Austin, TX-based hard rock/stoner rock/doom rock trio The Well can trace their origins to when Graham was fired from his […]

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: WINDHAND’s Punishing, Doom-Laden, New Single “Hyperion”

Comprised of Garrett Morris (guitar), Parker Chandler (gass) Dorthia Cottrell (vocals), Asechiah Bogdan (guitar) and Ryan Wolfe (drums), the Richmond, VA-based quintet WINDHAND have developed a reputation for forceful, doom metal comprised of huge, dirgey power chords and […]

New Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: GHXST’s Sludgy, Stoner Rock and Doom Metal-Inspired “Nowhere”

Comprised of Shelley X, Chris Wild and Nathan La Guerra, the somewhat mysterious New York-based trio GHXST have developed a reputation for sludgy, stoner rock-inspired doom rock. And “Nowhere,” the EP title track of the […]

New Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: WINDHAND’s Psychedelic and Nightmarish Video for “Crypt Key”

With the release of their first two full-length efforts, the Virginia-based band WINDHAND, comprised of Garrett Morris (guitar), Parker Chandler (gass) Dorthia Cottrell (vocals), Asechiah Bogdan (guitar), Ryan Wolfe (drums), have developed a reputation for […]