I'm not sure if I've ever heard anything that has closely replicated the tone and the feel of Electric Wizard's "Dopethrone" as this album has. Not to say the riffs are lifted or anything. The riffs are dank as fuck, and are of the sinister stoner doom strain. It's the kind of worship that I admire. Shit, I'm surprised more bands haven't tried to do the same. It's a massive and disgusting sounding tone! So when I talk about this sound, it's like the perfect blend of distortion and fuzz for bass and guitar. I'm not sure what the exact setting is or what Acid Dream used, but it sounds maxed the fuck out for sure. The vocals echo and trail, and the delivery is more of a shout rather than straight clean singing or screaming, devoid of any real melody line. I like that. I think what really blew my mind is that these dudes are from Michigan where I live. It's always a great feeling for me to discover bands from Michigan I never knew about. Well fucking done dudes!
I remember a couple of years ago I was talking to some dude about doom metal, and he was telling me he saw one of the heaviest doom/sludge metal bands play in Detroit and the band was Christworm. I immediately looked them up to see if I could listen to whatever recent release they had. At the time they only posted one song if i remember correctly, and it was a live recording from a show. Pretty much what i heard from the song backed up what the dude told me. These dudes from Baton Rouge were heavy as fuck. In fact I would definitely describe them as ultra heavy. However, time had passed and I never saw or heard anything from them. They could've broken up for all I knew. I'm not sure why I didn't just check out their Facebook.
I please to find their current release "Suffer No More" on bandcamp, and it's exactly the kind of blackened sludge/doom metal I want to hear. These dudes play super fucking low and slow. Imagine being on Willy Wonka's tunnel boat ride, but instead of going through a river of chocolate, you're moving through a river of thick ass Robitussin, and the images being projected are in black and white, and it's a bleak view of the very worst of humanity. The cover art is grim, shocking, and brutal. Just like the two songs featured on "Suffer No More". I just read they're currently working on a full length, and I'm really stoked to hear what kind of harsh tones these dudes are planning to dish out.
Vile Intent play fast and ferocious grind/power violence like a pack of rabid dogs foaming at the mouth. Songs go between blistering blasts, to slower wallops of chunky guitar crunch. The brutality and savagery of the blasts made me feel like I was caught in the crossfire of a war zone, being lit up from all sides. Fuck this whole album felt like it was the sound of dystopian war. Watching from a distance as civilization collapses, and great cities crumble. However, no distance is safe enough when you're being chased by rabid dogs, who now rule the streets. This album gave me a visceral feeling of chaos and general terror, and was overall quite enjoyable. Highly recommended!
Clocking in at only 7 minutes, "Alternate 1985" is what you'd expect from a "Back to The Future" themed powerviolence band from Italy named xDELOREANx. It's fast, funny, features plenty of bits from the Back to The Future trilogy, and over before you know it. So I would definitely recommending following this up with their 2015 release "Hill Valley Powerviolence" to compliment the listening experience. That one is under 6 minutes. As far as their sound goes, these dudes seem to be coming from the Spazz school of powerviolence. That being said I really love Spazz, and I really love this, and what the world really needs right now are more bands that don't give a fuck and make music based around a cult movie franchise.
Hailing from Sweden, Alastor play heavy occult/doom rock possessed by evil spirits covered in bong resin. As the weed smoke continues throughout, the three tracks on "Black Magic" take you on long dark decent (only one song on here is under ten minutes) straight to hell. It's a slow burn, but the tunes are catchy as fuck. The grooves are captivating enough to keep you locked in at all times, with the guitar's wall of fuzz and the lead singer's hazy ghost trail vocals. Since hearing the single "Black Magic" I had been anticipating the rest, not sure what to expect from the other two tunes. Everything on here flows fluidly, even if it's at a crawl in the dankest canoe on the River Styx. Just make sure you don't forget to get out your Ouija Board and bong while listening to this, because you never know what kind of evil shit is going to be drawn to this album. Cheers!!!
So for the first interview for SDMJ, I caught up with the dudes from Kinglord, whose recent EP was of the first things I reviewed for the blog. Formed in 2015 in Stockholm, Sweden, the band consists of Lukas Palo on Vocals/Synth, Samuel Hulqvist on Guitar, Mattias Haggstrom Gerdt on Bass, and Maxim Belevich on Drums. They fucking rule as well. I think what sets these dudes apart from the rest in the doom genre is their mixture of ultra heavy detuned guitars combined with clean vocals and spacey weird almost new wave-esque synth sounds. It's catchy and addictive, and since i'm so intrigued by it, I wanted to talk to them!
Super Dank Metal Jams: How did you dudes come about?
Kinglord: Lukas and Samuel were rehearsing with their other band and Lukas found this ultra cool fuzzy distorted sound on a microkorg and started playing a riff. They loved it so much they went to Samuel's mom's place and hooked the synth up to some shitty computer speakers and wrote the song that would become "Judas Priest". Once we found that combo of the synth and the 8 string guitar, we started writing tons of riffs and recording rough demos. Against all odds we got a gig at the stone club Sweet Leaf in Stockholm opening for Spelljammer and were forced to put together a band and a name. After the gig the engineer was so fucking blown away he asked to record our debut EP. When the recording was done we recruited crazy Belarusian drummer Maxim and secured our Stoner/Doom authenticity with Mattias (of Kung Funghi and Oarfish) on bass for a more solid line-up in time for the release gig.
SDMJ: What prompted you to use an 8 string guitar and are the bass and the guitar in the same tunning?
KL: We're actually a synth band. All riffs are made using synth. So the reason we have an eight string is just to be able to play the same riffs as the synth. The guitar is tuned to F# standard and the bass is tuned to B standard.
SDMJ: What music influences you as a band?
KL: Black Sabbath, Ultravox, and Iron Maiden.
SDMJ: What is your favorite Sabbath Album/Sabbath riff?
KL: Master of Reality, and the best riff is easily the lead riff to Sweet Leaf.
SDMJ: Who are some current bands you look up to?
KL: We each have very broad influences but we don't look up to anyone. Some bands have a very cool sound though like Conan and Bongripper.
SDMJ: You're from Stockholm, Sweden so what's the music scene is like there?
KL: The music scene is pretty great. There are a lot of places to gig but there are just too many bands, you know the ones that just bought a Big Muff and a Les Paul and start riffing.
SDMJ: Are there still a lot of bands using the Boss HM-2 pedal, or are people switching over to Les Pauls and Big Muffs?
KL: Man we have no what the kids are doing nowadays. We just crank our Orange to the max. Les Pauls are ugly though.
SDMJ: Name some cool bands people check out from Stockholm.
KL: The music scene in Stockholm is pretty great in general, regardless of your taste in music. But our bassist is also playing in Kung Funghi, another up and coming smoking hot stoner band. Other bands well, we're getting old and we don't know...
SDMJ: How often do you gig? Are you weekend warriors or do you have some tours planned?
KL: As of now we're weekend warriors since our debut album was released last December. But during our short existence we've had some really great gigs like the grand opening for the stoner/doom festival Krokbacken in Sweden last year. We're also having talks about touring with other bands that we like. Let's just say you'll be hearing and seeing a lot more from Kinglord in the days to come.
SDMJ: What are the best places to gig in Stockholm?
KL: Depends on what kind of venue you like to play, but the most trve stoner/doom club in Stockholm is Sweet Leaf, run by the Stockholm Legend Fredrik Svensson Home. It's in a small, classic bar called Copperfields, the sound is great and the people who come and listen are trve fans of the genre. Then of course there's larger venues like e.g Nalen and a couple of Iron Maiden and Linkin Biscuit compatible arenas.
SDMJ: Any plans for a full length or future EPs in the near future?
KL: Yes! For starters, we're planning to record and release two new EPs this year and they will be brutal. Enough said.
Feral Chaos a are furious pack of wolves from Finland playing relentless grindcore with that HM-2 sound. They kinda reminded me of Rotten Sound, but not because they're also from Finland. I can just kinda hear it in there. Either way, it fucking rules! These dudes blast, rip and tear through these 8 tracks like they're all ravenous and they found some pray hiding in the woods. When these dudes get the chance to slow down their grooves are tight as fuck, and when using the Boss HM-2 it's fucking sick. People dog on the pedal, but I don't care it's such a sickening fucking sound. Also these dudes boast on their bandcamp page that they consumed 696 cans and 8 bottles of beer during the recording of this. A mighty feat of endurance and strength! Hope your livers are all doing ok! Cheers!
