FIRE WITCH I Spit Lies (We Empty Rooms) cd-r 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We've yet to get a record from these guys that wasn't super limited, and this one is no different. We were meant to get 50 copies, but only got 15. But we'll keep trying, for now, at least a handful of you can get your mitts on this one...
Fire Witch are a guitarless, two bass and drums killing machine from down under, who weave delicate soundscapes of low end drift and simple pounding rhythms, peppered with blasts of skull crushing heaviness, free noise splatter, and gorgeous shimmering ambience. Their sort of aligned with bands like Whitehorse and the Grey Daturas, but somehow, what these guys do is way different.
I Spit Lies is split into two looooong tracks, "I Spit" and "Lies". The former is a slow burning gradual build, with bass feedback draped over a throbbing low end pulse and a simple shuffling rhythm, with occasional lapses into sludgy doom, before resuming the lugubrious groove. Right in the middle there's an extended stretch of delicate drifting low end swirl, that eventually gives way to some seriously hooky propulsive post rock crunch.
The latter is equally mathy, almost groovy, another simple rhythm underpinning soaring bass melodies all held together by the pulsing bass #2. Eventually, things gradually break apart, into epic expanses of space, with just the occasional chord or drum hit. It's doomy, but more in the way Low or other slowcore bands are doomy. A gorgeously abstract ultra minimal deconstructed slow motion math rock, that by the end of the song has turned into a grinding heavy, almost metal groove. Fucking awesome!
Usually we lament the fact that bands choose to jettison the guitar, there are so many bass and drums duos out there, many of which would sound so much better with a guitarist, but one of the bassists in Fire Witch swings his bass like an axe and it makes all the difference in the world!
Packaged in a strange accordion style fold out sleeve, thick silk screened paper attached to little textured wooden (or wood-like) squares.
LIMITED TO 100 COPIES! We got 15... You do the math.
MPEG Stream: "I spit"

FIRE WITCH Japan (Wantage USA) 10" 8.00
**SALE **SALE* *SALE**
The return of these Aussie low end heavies. Two basses, drums, NO guitar, recorded on the tail end of their recent Japanese tour, more of what we love from these guys, mathy, doomy low end heaviness.
The A side is all one track, and it's a beaut. The basses loooow slung, thick and syrupy, streaks of feedback everywhere, the drums scattered, the whole thing gorgeously abstract, the bass lines sound woozy and warped, it almost sounds like one of the basses is being played with a slide, part way through it erupts into a full on free for all, drums going nuts, basses buzzing and roaring, the band managed to sound super tight, but also loose and improvised, slipping from droney to super complex to mathy to space-y to sparse and plodding to freaked out and frenzied.
The flipside begins heavy and downtuned and mathy, sounding like a more metal ruins, super tight, locked into impossible grooves, before slipping into another stretch of drifting abstract free jam, before finishing off with a super rocking jam that is total early nineties Homestead worship. Awesome!
Beautifully hand screened covers, black and metallic silver on white (peep the inside of the cover, they're all printed on recycled Oxes / Arab On Radar sleeves, haha), each one hand numbered and signed, LIMITED TO 355 COPIES! Includes a photocopied insert too.

FIRE WITCH LIARS! (We Empty Rooms / Bro Fidelity) cd 13.98
Finally available again, now on a proper cd, the first two long out of print cd-rs, I Spit Lies and Critter / Kirtta, from Aussie heavies Fire Witch, a bad ass guitarless, two bass and drums killing machine from down under, who weave delicate soundscapes of low end drift and simple pounding rhythms, peppered with blasts of skull crushing heaviness, free noise splatter, and gorgeous shimmering ambience. They're sort of aligned with bands like Whitehorse and the Grey Daturas, but somehow, what these guys do is way different.
I Spit Lies is two looooong tracks, "I Spit" and "Lies". The former is a slow burning gradual build, with bass feedback draped over a throbbing low end pulse and a simple shuffling rhythm, with occasional lapses into sludgy doom, before resuming the lugubrious groove. Right in the middle there's an extended stretch of delicate drifting low end swirl, that eventually gives way to some seriously hooky propulsive post rock crunch.
The latter is equally mathy, almost groovy, another simple rhythm underpinning soaring bass melodies all held together by the pulsing bass #2. Eventually, things gradually break apart, into epic expanses of space, with just the occasional chord or drum hit. It's doomy, but more in the way Low or other slowcore bands are doomy. A gorgeously abstract ultra minimal deconstructed slow motion math rock, that by the end of the song has turned into a grinding heavy, almost metal groove. Fucking awesome!
Critter / Kritta is two tracks, two versions of the same song. The first is an instrumental epic, a cross between Pelican and Khanate, just the right balance of head caving sludge and minor key post rock, slow building, lots of dynamics, expansive and grand, a massive grooving post sludge psychrock blow out. The second, lengthier track sonically resembles the first, but immediately strikes out on its own, WAY free-er tangent. The drums are way more spread out, the rhythms are much more abstract, the feel is much more plodding and glacial, guitars don't riff so much as they slither and scrape and squeak, a creepy soundscape of strange guitar sounds and a massive layer of low end rumble, letting the drums sit right up front where they belong, alternating between slow motion crush and complex tribalism, the drums offer up a densely woven world of pound and pummel, a tangled web of strangely shifting rhythms, over a blown out psychedelic swirl. Killer!
Usually we lament the fact that bands choose to jettison the guitar, there are so many bass and drums duos out there, many of which would sound so much better with a guitarist, but one of the bassists in Fire Witch swings his bass like an axe and it makes all the difference in the world!
Housed in a super swank, hand screened origami style cardstock sleeve, with a printed insert, LIMITED to 500 COPIES, each one hand numbered of course...
MPEG Stream: "I spit"
MPEG Stream: "Critter"
MPEG Stream: "Kritta"

FIRE WITCH Live At The Townie 2004 (We Empty Rooms) cd 9.98
An oldie but a goodie (well oldie as in 2004) from Aussie low end sludge doom terrorists Fire Witch. Recorded live at a hotel in Melbourne, in, you guessed it, 2004, this set shows more sides of the band than we've seen. Very little of this is actually sludgy and slow motion, instead it's dense and chaotic and mathy, convoluted and HEAVY. The opener is a two minute burst of bass heavy groove, with a killer staccato break down, all machine gun snare and swooping crumbling bass. After that, the band stretch out and channel a bit of Lightning Bolt through their drums vs. low end arsenal. The drums a constant splatter, tribal and intense, fills everywhere, pound and pummel relentlessly while various chunks of bass throb and grind, all three players in some vicious fight to the death.Ê
UnlikeÊthe usual breed of modern doomlords, the vibe here is way more math rock and Amphetamine Reptile than SUNNO))) or Boris. A super sludgy, groovy and convoluted mathdoom workout, slathered in low end and sent careening into the sweaty crowd. As is the case with most bands like this it's all about the drummer, and Jem Fire Witch is a demon behind the kit alternating between simple propulsive pound and wild off kilter chaos, but never losing sight of what the two basses are doing. A few of the tracks slow way down, and the band begins to sound like some strange bass heavy doomed version of the Necks.... which we shouldn't have to tell you is a very good thing indeed.Ê
Should definitely hit that math-doom-post-spazz-psych-bass-power-trio-sludge-metal spot, assuming you have a spot like that... We sure as heck do!
Packaged in a super swank fold out card stock digipak.
MPEG Stream: "What A Ball Tearer"
MPEG Stream: "Rat"

FIREBALL Blessed Be (High Roller Society Records) 12" 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
BACK IN STOCK -- second pressing! Here's what we said about the first pressing:
Vinyl-only (limited to 500 copies) debut release from an all-girl garage-fuzz five-piece band that takes their record collector obsession with mystical '70s heavy psych stoner rock to an insanely distorted, primal extreme -- these four songs rumble along like an unholy hybrid of Comets On Fire, Angelblood, Hawkwind, Harry Pussy and Amon Duul II. And we sure are sure about the latter 'cause they cover the slayin' "Archangels Thunderbird" from ADII's Yeti album on the b-side of this, and do it so well (the vocals are perfect!), it's worth buying just for that alone, though the other three tracks are great too. They also give thanks to the Edgar Broughton Band, the James Gang, UFO (really early UFO weed, I mean, we'd guess), and you can hear that strain of heavy, hippy, boogie/space rock here, but updated into the grungy lo-fi avant-punk now (either that or cast back into the prehistoric past!). Did we mention the utter utter distortion in which this whole record is bathed? 'Cause they're women, somebody has said that they sound like "hot tar being poured onto the Go-Gos." But not in a torturous way at all, we should hasten to add. It's love, this sound. One song here it titled "Witchy Ways" and yes, these young ladies from Brooklyn are a new wave coven conjuring noisy psych rock grunt.
On 180 gram vinyl, packaged in a hand-screened cover with insert. Get one while you can... and then, like us, wait expectantly for a full-length.

FIREBALL MINISTRY FMEP (Small Stone) cd ep 8.98
LA stoner rockers Fireball Ministry are like a more metal version of Queens of the Stone Age: same irresistibly catchy songwriting, same fuzzed out heaviness, same laid-back vocals, but with much more of a denim clad, iron fisted, devil sign waving, Sabbath-worshipping vibe. Indeed this new ep, in addition to three new FM tunes, includes covers of two '70s metal classics: Alice Cooper's "Muscle of Love" and Judas Priest's "Victim of Changes"! Plus three's three more bonus covers taken from the various tribute cds FM has contributed to in the past (Blue Cheer, Misfits, and Aerosmith). So, their dedication to the metal gods of the past can't be doubted (although the wisdom of trying the Priest cover might be -- it's a great song, but it's hard for any mere mortal to handle the Rob 'Metal God' Halford role, although FM's singer gets an A for effort!) and their own material holds up well in such company. Can't wait for their upcoming sophomore full-length, which will mark their debut with new bassist Janis Tanaka of Hammers of Misfortune infamy! In the meantime, "FMEP" is a blast of quality '70s style metal from one of AQ's favorite stoner rock outfits.
RealAudio clip: "Maidens of Venus"
RealAudio clip: "Victim of Changes"

FIREBALL MINISTRY Ou Est La Rock? (Bongload) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Don't worry about the French title, this disc is in fact pretty darn good. Simply put, if you like the post-Kyuss project Queens Of The Stone Age, you'll probably like this. We do. Fireball Ministry sounds A LOT like the catchy stoner rock of QOTSA, with maybe a little bit more of a metal-ly Sabbath (circa '74) vibe. Almost irrelevant guest musician info: ex-members of The Obsessed/Goatsnake and Megadeth (!) contribute to this album...

FIREBALL MINISTRY The Second Great Awakening (Nuclear Blast) cd 11.98
LA stoner metal templars Fireball Ministry return with their 2nd full-length album, first with former Hammers of Misfortune (and current Pink!) four-stringer Janis Tanaka on board. There she is, right on the cover, alongside the rest of the band in the fantastical comic book vision of a rock n' roll revival meeting that adorns the disc. Pretty cool, and a lot to live up to, but Fireball Ministry deliver the goods, if you're in the market for some retro-styled, rawkin', grungy stoner tunage. They're kinda like Queens of the Stone Age gone denim and leather, teasing out more of the Sabbath vibe while remaining totally radio-ready. Who knows, they're on a bigger label now, maybe MTV fame and fortune are just around the corner. In the meantime they can be new cult heroes for those already into the likes of QOTSA and Spirit Caravan...
MPEG Stream: "King"

FIREBIRD s/t (The Music Cartel) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
British death-metal icons Carcass have, since their break-up, spawned a whole bunch of bands, as their ex-members pursue their own projects. Strangely, none stuck with the gore-grind that made Carcass famous. Instead, you've got Jeff Walker's death-n'-roll band Blackstar, Michael Amott's several projects, among them the Deep Purplish Spiritual Beggars, and now, Bill Steer's Firebird, who, like the Spiritual Beggars, seem more at home in the '70s than in today's "extreme metal" scene. Both band's use of organ is the tip-off, I guess. Totally retro "stoner rock", almost too perfectly '70s (they even cover a Steve Winwood song!!), with Bill's guitar and (rather surprisingly good & authentic) vocals backed up by friends from the bands Cathedral and (hey!) Spiritual Beggars. Not super-heavy or anything, but really well-done and able to satisfy anyone's laid-back, retro rock needs.

FISTULA Goat (Crucial Blast) cd 10.98
The first we heard from Fistula was on a split with Bay Area sonic brutalizers Burmese, and as we mentioned then, it takes some pretty serious sonic balls to hold your own on a record with a band like Burmese, and these guys pulled it off big time. Unleashing a torrent of grinding downtuned doom drenched SLUDGE. So here's the latest from these Ohioan bruisers, a 5 song ep based on the story of Ohio serial killer Anthony Sowell (they found 11 decomposing bodies under his house!) a la Church Of Misery, complete with samples of news reports, but UNlike CoM, these guys are not about groove, just punishment and pummel, a thick, filthy, blackened crawl, Sabbath at 16rpm, howled demonic vox over caustic riffage and Neanderthal drumming, occasional bursts of frenzied crunch and thud, but always returning to that glacial grinding lumber.
Think Eyehategod, Bongzilla, Thou, Cough, Moloch, that sort of thing, but also more classic sludge doom outfits like Winter, Autopsy, Frost, but all filtered through Fistula's twisted and cracked sonic lens, the result a furiously brutal collection of blown out, in-the-red, slow motion, ugly chugging grim dirgery, that definitely belong in the doom-sludge pantheon alongside the above mentioned sludgelords. Fucking awesome.
MPEG Stream: "Ohio Death Toll Rising"
MPEG Stream: "One Chair And An Electrical Cord"

FLAMES OF HELL Fire and Steel (Draconian Records) cd 14.98
We managed to get, like, 5 copies of this mysterious cd reissue the first time around, and the disappeared in a flash, we've been on the hunt for more ever since, and just found a distributor who happened to have 5 more copies. So like before, act fast if you want one, as we won't be getting any more. Unless we get very very lucky. Again. And we sure wish we could though, 'cause this is thee best doomy DIY black metal album recorded in 1987 in the basement of a YMCA building in Iceland we've EVER heard!!
So lo-fi and raw and fucked up it's amazing, with tons of cult '80s atmosphere (a la Hellhammer) and truly bizarre vocal stylings, as on the chugging, erupting "Evil". What strange wretched howlings and absurd rasping shrieks! Like, Tim Baker of Cirith Ungol with more than one frog in his throat. Musically this both shreds and sludges, in both cases clogged with lo-fi production (not helped by this reissue's dodgy mastering from what sounds like a crackly vinyl original) and off kilter outsider aesthetics. But that's all part of the charm. It has to be heard to be believed.
If you liked, say, some of the other eccentric '80s metal artifacts like Black Hole or Dark Quarterer that we've reviewed, and want to hear the "Venom" version of a band like that, this is for you.
MPEG Stream: "Evil"
MPEG Stream: "Flames Of Hell"

FLESHPRESS III (Kult Ov Nihilow) cd 11.98
Back in stock! And these might just be the last copies we're gonna get!
Oh man. This is a good one. A really good one. This is one of those records we've been waiting for, a band that takes the sound of SUNN0))) and Earth, that soon to be done to death slow motion guitar dirge doom, to a whole new level. It's still heavy and glacial, dense and totally overwhelming, but there's just something about it, that sounds, maybe clean, spacious, open? The guitar tone and the composition and the recording all mesh in some magical way to make the guitars float and drift. III isn't sludgy the way we thing of sludge, it's crystal clear, the guitars sharp and well definied, the riffs barbed and glinting in the moonlight the vocals like thorns through soft flesh. But it's all still so heavy. REALLY HEAVY. Maybe even moreso for the perfect production and sonic spaciousness. It's almost dreamy in a way, while somehow remaining dark and ominous and massively brutal. It's hard to explain exactly how they did it, or what -exactly- it is, but this record just really hit the spot in a way few of the many doom-dirge-drone clones have managed lately.
Packaged in a gorgeous silkscreened duotone cd sleeve with a tiny sealable flap! The image is a misty mysterious forest with metallic print and a huge stone figure hunched over in the woods. Appropriately haunting and creepy!
MPEG Stream: "Cold Dawn"

FLESHPRESS III (Kult Ov Nihilow) lp 24.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Oh man. This is a good one. A really good one. This is one of those records we've been waiting for, that takes the sound of SUNN0))) and Earth, that soon to be done to death slow motion guitar dirge doom, to a whole new level. It's still heavy and glacial, and dense and totally overwhelming, but there's just something about it, that sounds, maybe clean, spacious, open? The guitar tone and the compostion and the recording all mesh in some magical way to make the guitars float and drift. It's almost dreamy, while somehow still being dark and ominous. It's hard to explain, but this record just really hit the spot in a way few of the many doom-dirge-drone clones have managed lately. Packaged in a cool silscreened vellum sleeve!

FLESHPRESS Pillars (Kult Of Nihilow) cd 17.98
We love our doom. The slower, the doomer, the more o's the better. But it's easy to get burned out. Much like the wave of guitars-against-amps drone outfits who seemed to come out of the woodwork on the heels of the sudden popularity of Earth, SUNNO))) and other dronelords, lately it seems like everyone and their brother has a "doom band". Lots of non-metal bands suddenly seem to be sprouting doomier appendages, side projects, home recorded one offs, in part, because it's a sound that's easy to emulate. Tune your guitar really low, play really slow, and that's it. You're a doom band. But as with any other musical movement, it's not what you do, it's how you do it, and the simpler something seems, the harder it is to actually do it in a way that stands out, that separates it from the hundreds of other bands doing the same thing.
So in the world of ultra doom, or many o'd doom, or whatever, it's obvious which bands are doing something special, Boris, SUNNO))), Moss, Bunkur, and of course Finland's Fleshpress. And as much as we love all of those bands, we have a special affinity for Fleshpress, not just because they're Finnish (although there is that), but that they throw all doomic convention to the wind, and do whatever the fuck they want. Even if it's distinctly not doomy. Play fast. No problem. Blast beats, near grindcore, sure. Play soft and pretty, explore post rock, absolutely. Which is what makes them such a refreshing doom outfit. Or conversely, makes them not a doom band at all, rather a weird band that incorporates doom into their all-over-the-map sound.
Either way, Fleshpress rule, they're heavy, weird, slow (when they want to be), fast and furious (when they don't), they deftly craft mysterious soundscapes, they can also unleash huge torrents of soul crushing megadoom. And they do all of that and more on Pillars. Every record, gets a little weirder, a littler more expansive, a little less traditionally doom, and Pillars is no exception.
The first track is almost like Fleshpress's far out sound encapsulated into a single track. Beginning with minutes of spare guitar strum, lots and lots of space, ambient whir, the guitar letting loose distorted riffs, and letting them drift into the darkness. The bass comes in, and does nothing but offers a spidery framework for the seemingly abstract riffs, then the drums come in, a single crash, every few seconds, there is no real rhythm to speak of yet, finally the band lurches into a doomy plod, somewhere between Monarch slow motion sludge and Harvey Milk glacial groove, complete with weird woozy melody and strange slippery riffage, harsh vocals, drifting fields of feedback, briefly we're trudging through a wasteland populated by like minded mavens of doom. Khanate, Burning Witch, MossÉ But soon, the doom recedesÉ leaving just soft billows of sound, when suddenly the band launch into some full on crusty metallic grooves, eventually finishing off with two minutes of grinding hyperspeed buzz. Pretty all over the place, but the parts are all so deftly arranged that it doesn't sound like a bunch of random bits thrown together, it sounds like small varied pieces of the far out whole. That track is quickly followed by 5 minutes of soft flutter and whir, a detuned guitar plucking out a stumbling rhythm, all around, bits of hiss and hum, the sound of rain and wind maybe, all washed out and soft focus.
Then it's the record's massive two song one two punch, two tracks, both about twenty minutes, back to back, the first, begins all grim black metal buzz, furious fuzzed out riffage and harsh hellish vocals, before slipping into a brief mathy groove and then shifting into a midtempo Burzumic black trudge, which of course partway through gives way to more massive and epic and wide open dooooooooom, plodding drums, crushing sludgy dynamics, and a fluttering guitar melody droning along underneath, eventually building to an epic minor key psychedelic crescendo. The second track, is more of a post rocky drift, with clean guitar and a shuffling rhythm, the vocals still howled and harsh, but the main riff, warm and fuzzy, and subtly propulsive, the tempo a bit warbly and seasick, very hypnotic and repetitive, eventually slowing down, but not into a crushing doom plod, but instead, a sprawling space rock sludge, the drums slow and insistent, the guitars building into squalls of psychedelic freakout, like the outro to a Hawkwind track, before the band launches into a super metallic mathy jam, the FX getting thicker and more dense, the band playing harder and faster, the last 5 minutes or so sounding more like the Heads or White Hills, a gorgeous outer space trip through throbbing bass lines, clouds of spacepsych guitar, and killer chaotic drumming.
The final two tracks both clock in at about nine minutes each, and again, demonstrate some totally other side of Fleshpress' doomworld. The first, is a loping post rock dirge, the guitars ringing out, the rhythm more like the Slintish blackness of Ved Buens Ende, a head nodding mathy groove peppered with vocal howls and an awesome epic buzz drenched coda. The final track is all drone, a murky subterranean trawl, all slow building sludgy swells, dense metallic shimmer, strange bits of industrial sonic detritus and some mysterious backwards percussion right at the end.
Seriously mind blowing. It almost does it a disservice to call Fleshpress a doom band anymore, although those are the folks who will be most inclined to love this. But fans of weird black metal and freaky outsider heaviness might also have found one of their records of the year.
MPEG Stream: "1"
MPEG Stream: "2"
MPEG Stream: "3"

FLESHPRESS Pillars (Kult Of Nihilow) 2lp 29.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We love our doom. The slower, the doomer, the more o's the better. But it's easy to get burned out. Much like the wave of guitars-against-amps drone outfits who seemed to come out of the woodwork on the heels of the sudden popularity of Earth, SUNNO))) and other dronelords, lately it seems like everyone and their brother has a "doom band". Lots of non-metal bands suddenly seem to be sprouting doomier appendages, side projects, home recorded one offs, in part, because it's a sound that's easy to emulate. Tune your guitar really low, play really slow, and that's it. You're a doom band. But as with any other musical movement, it's not what you do, it's how you do it, and the simpler something seems, the harder it is to actually do it in a way that stands out, that separates it from the hundreds of other bands doing the same thing.
So in the world of ultra doom, or many o'd doom, or whatever, it's obvious which bands are doing something special, Boris, SUNNO))), Moss, Bunkur, and of course Finland's Fleshpress. And as much as we love all of those bands, we have a special affinity for Fleshpress, not just because they're Finnish (although there is that), but that they throw all doomic convention to the wind, and do whatever the fuck they want. Even if it's distinctly not doomy. Play fast. No problem. Blast beats, near grindcore, sure. Play soft and pretty, explore post rock, absolutely. Which is what makes them such a refreshing doom outfit. Or conversely, makes them not a doom band at all, rather a weird band that incorporates doom into their all-over-the-map sound.
Either way, Fleshpress rule, they're heavy, weird, slow (when they want to be), fast and furious (when they don't), they deftly craft mysterious soundscapes, they can also unleash huge torrents of soul crushing megadoom. And they do all of that and more on Pillars. Every record, gets a little weirder, a littler more expansive, a little less traditionally doom, and Pillars is no exception.
The first track is almost like Fleshpress's far out sound encapsulated into a single track. Beginning with minutes of spare guitar strum, lots and lots of space, ambient whir, the guitar letting loose distorted riffs, and letting them drift into the darkness. The bass comes in, and does nothing but offers a spidery framework for the seemingly abstract riffs, then the drums come in, a single crash, every few seconds, there is no real rhythm to speak of yet, finally the band lurches into a doomy plod, somewhere between Monarch slow motion sludge and Harvey Milk glacial groove, complete with weird woozy melody and strange slippery riffage, harsh vocals, drifting fields of feedback, briefly we're trudging through a wasteland populated by like minded mavens of doom. Khanate, Burning Witch, MossÉ But soon, the doom recedesÉ leaving just soft billows of sound, when suddenly the band launch into some full on crusty metallic grooves, eventually finishing off with two minutes of grinding hyperspeed buzz. Pretty all over the place, but the parts are all so deftly arranged that it doesn't sound like a bunch of random bits thrown together, it sounds like small varied pieces of the far out whole. That track is quickly followed by 5 minutes of soft flutter and whir, a detuned guitar plucking out a stumbling rhythm, all around, bits of hiss and hum, the sound of rain and wind maybe, all washed out and soft focus.
Then it's the record's massive two song one two punch, two tracks, both about twenty minutes, back to back, the first, begins all grim black metal buzz, furious fuzzed out riffage and harsh hellish vocals, before slipping into a brief mathy groove and then shifting into a midtempo Burzumic black trudge, which of course partway through gives way to more massive and epic and wide open dooooooooom, plodding drums, crushing sludgy dynamics, and a fluttering guitar melody droning along underneath, eventually building to an epic minor key psychedelic crescendo. The second track, is more of a post rocky drift, with clean guitar and a shuffling rhythm, the vocals still howled and harsh, but the main riff, warm and fuzzy, and subtly propulsive, the tempo a bit warbly and seasick, very hypnotic and repetitive, eventually slowing down, but not into a crushing doom plod, but instead, a sprawling space rock sludge, the drums slow and insistent, the guitars building into squalls of psychedelic freakout, like the outro to a Hawkwind track, before the band launches into a super metallic mathy jam, the FX getting thicker and more dense, the band playing harder and faster, the last 5 minutes or so sounding more like the Heads or White Hills, a gorgeous outer space trip through throbbing bass lines, clouds of spacepsych guitar, and killer chaotic drumming.
The final two tracks both clock in at about nine minutes each, and again, demonstrate some totally other side of Fleshpress' doomworld. The first, is a loping post rock dirge, the guitars ringing out, the rhythm more like the Slintish blackness of Ved Buens Ende, a head nodding mathy groove peppered with vocal howls and an awesome epic buzz drenched coda. The final track is all drone, a murky subterranean trawl, all slow building sludgy swells, dense metallic shimmer, strange bits of industrial sonic detritus and some mysterious backwards percussion right at the end.
Seriously mind blowing. It almost does it a disservice to call Fleshpress a doom band anymore, although those are the folks who will be most inclined to love this. But fans of weird black metal and freaky outsider heaviness might also have found one of their records of the year.
MPEG Stream: "1"
MPEG Stream: "2"
MPEG Stream: "3"

FLESHPRESS s/t (Shifty) cd 11.98

MPEG Stream: "Rise Of The Superior"
MPEG Stream: "...All Things Broken"

FLESHPRESS Worm Dirges (Kult Ov Nihilow) cd 14.98
Is there no end to the doom and sludge in sight? We sure as hell hope not. We raved about the newest record from these Finnish sludge lords a while back and were super psyched to discover their first record Worm Dirges was getting reissued on cd. Unlike their newer one, III, which we described as clean and spacious and open (not words you'd expect to find in a review of a sludgy doom record) Worm Dirges is much less polished, much more primitive and primal, and not nearly as slow, but still plenty sludgy and heavy. Plenty of Eyehategod-isms for sure, but these two extended mostly instrumental jams don't sound metal as much as they sound sort of krautrocky, or post rocky or even post punky in a weird way. Very reminiscent of Dutch hypno metallers Gore, a simple riff repeated over and over and over and over. Completely and utterly hypnotic. Both tracks devolve into dreamy drones here and there before lurching back into sludge mode, but the interesting thing is that the main riffs in each track (two tracks, two riffs!) don't sound metal so much as they sort of sound like Black Flag. Seriously. Maybe Black Flag at 16rpm. You can -almost- imagine them sped up with Rollins ranting over the top. But c'mon, Black Flag at 16rpm?!?! If that doesn't sound like the best fucking thing ever to you, there's something seriously wrong.
Obviously this is essential for the drone doom dirge faithful, SUNNO))), Earth, Boris, Corrupted, etc. as well as fans of the new post rock/metal hybrids (Isis, Conifer, Tides, Baroness, Buried At Sea, Pelican) But other folks into stuff like Circle or Salvatore or the more extreme end of the post rock spectrum might really dig this too.
Packaged in a cool tri-fold printed cardstock sleeve.
MPEG Stream: "Asphalt"

FLIED EGG Dr. Siegel's Fried Egg Shooting Machine (Phoenix) cd 17.98
Another reissue of freaky early '70s psych rock from Japan here folks, one we've had before, but that was a more expensive version, out of print for a while anyway. But now this has been reissued again, not by Bamboo (who recently reissued the same band's 2nd album, Goodbye, a few months back) but by another UK label, Phoenix... though we sorta suspect they're the same label anyway.
In any case, good to have it available again. This one, with a truly hard-to-beat title, was Flied [sic] Egg's debut, released originally in 1972, on Vertigo - with Flied Egg one of the few, if not only, Japanese acts to appear on the roster of that legendary UK-based label known for proto-metal, jazz-prog and other "hairy funk" delights. This album dishes such delights all over the place, ranging from the Blue Cheer meets Uriah Heep heaviness of "Rolling Down The Broadway" to the weird choral interlude of "15 Seconds Of Schizophrenic Sabbath" to the classical prog flourishes of "Oke-Kus" (sounding like a warped version of ELP) to the sheer hippie psych-pop lunacy of the title track. And more! All in all, this is quite as crazy as its Dali-esque cover painting indicates. Definitely an essential for our Japanese '70s psych section, and anyone who loves them some acid rock guitar!
This new reissue comes in a cardboard "wallet" style sleeve, a numbered limited edition of 1000.
MPEG Stream: "Dr. Siegel's Fried Egg Shooting Machine"
MPEG Stream: "Burning Fever"

FLIED EGG Dr. Siegel's Fried Egg Shooting Machine (Phoenix) lp 24.00
And now a vinyl reissue of this, for you folks into freaky early '70s psych rock from Japan here folks. This record, with a truly hard-to-beat title, was Flied [sic] Egg's debut, released originally in 1972, on Vertigo - with Flied Egg one of the few, if not only, Japanese acts to appear on the roster of that legendary UK-based label known for proto-metal, jazz-prog and other "hairy funk" delights. This album dishes such delights all over the place, ranging from the Blue Cheer meets Uriah Heep heaviness of "Rolling Down The Broadway" to the weird choral interlude of "15 Seconds Of Schizophrenic Sabbath" to the classical prog flourishes of "Oke-Kus" (sounding like a warped version of ELP) to the sheer hippie psych-pop lunacy of the title track. And more! All in all, this is quite as crazy as its Dali-esque cover painting indicates. Definitely an essential for our Japanese '70s psych section, and anyone who loves them some acid rock guitar!
Gatefold sleeve, 180 gram pressing.
MPEG Stream: "Dr. Siegel's Fried Egg Shooting Machine"
MPEG Stream: "Burning Fever"

FLIED EGG Goodbye (Universal Japan) cd 22.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Yes that's right, Flied not Fried Egg. Uh, 'cause they're Japanese. Think about it. Hey, it's their joke. Anyway, this one's for all you '70s heaviness lovin' proto-metal fans, it's something that we got in along with the Flower Travellin' Band reissues we listed last time. Goodbye is Flied Egg's second of two albums (both '72, and both on the famed Vertigo label, best known as the home of Black Sabbath). We also intend to review their first one, with the marvelous title of Dr. Siegel's Fried Egg Shooting Machine, which as you might guess is some pretty wild acid psych. We decided to list Goodbye first, though, just 'cause we can simply say it's a no-brainer for Blue Cheer fans.
Basically, this album is distinctly (even on cd) split between two sides, the first half recorded live, possibly at their farewell concert, we'd guess from the title. This in-concert portion is the heaviest, it's all bad ass fuzzed out blooze rawk swagger that makes us think Blue Cheer, Blue Cheer, Blue Cheer! (Also Grand Funk/Cactus/Mountain.) Hear 'em rile up a cheering crowd with these party-pleasers: "Leave Me Woman", "Rolling Down The Broadway" (a stompin' composition that appears in a studio version on their debut), Josea/King's "Rock Me Baby", and the twelve-minute-plus "Five More Pennies", which includes a drum solo in addition to all the acid guitar excess. Following all that, the studio half of the album gets a bit more proggy and wigged out (ending with a multi-part piece entitled "521 Seconds Schizophrenic Symphony"!) while also containing a couple of mellower melodic numbers, the sad and gentle "Out To Sea" and "Goodbye My Friends".
Members of Flied Egg also did time in some other hard rockin' underground Japanese psych acts whose reissues we've previously reviewed, including Strawberry Path and Brush!?... if you dig those, or the likes of FTB, Blues Creation, Speed Glue & Shinki, or Too Much, then Flied Egg is for you too.
MPEG Stream: "Rolling Down The Broadway (live)"
MPEG Stream: "Five More Pennies (live)"

FLOOD Native (MeteorCity) cd 11.98
More crushing slo-mo heaviness from right here in SF... For a while it seemed like most of the bands we were hearing ooze out of the Bay Area tended toward the psychedelic (Wooden Shjips, Sleepy Sun, etc), or at the the other end of the spectrum, the abstract and avant, but SF has a rich history of extreme heaviness as most music obsessives are well aware, and recently, there seems to be yet another heaving, pummeling wave of misanthropic metallic crush burbling to the surface, Prizehog for one, a killer 3 piece, drums guitar and synth, who we dug so much we had play our South By Southwest showcase, and they did in fact lay waste. And now Flood, another band that seem to have a little Harvey Milk in 'em, which is NEVER a bad thing. A sludgey, doomy, lugubrious crawl, lots of space, chords sprawling and ringing out, the drums a sporadic pound, the song almost skeletal, until the band lock in and PULVERIZE.
The weird thing about Flood, is that even at their heaviest, they still sound a little dreamy, a little blissed out, the sound more woozy and washed out and warm than jagged and sharp, but somehow that doesn't at all take away from their power. What it does more than anything, is add a space rocky psychedelic element, sometimes subtle, other times more overt, but always seemingly present.
The vocals bellow, wreathed in clouds of reverb and delay, the songs groove, but slowly, dizzily, the band tight, but able to sound loose. There are long stretches of blissed out minimal shimmer, some cool, moody mathy breakdowns, even some abstract ambience with waves crashing, wind, bird call, but all woven into Flood's tripped out, doom-ed stoner space sludge. Killer stuff. For anyone who digs, Sleep, Om, Harvey Milk, Prizehog, Melvins, Wildildlife, Like A Kind Of Matador, Zoroaster, Electric Wizard and all those sorts of spaced out heavies.
MPEG Stream: "Aphelion"
MPEG Stream: "Dam"

FLOWER TRAVELLIN' BAND Anywhere (Hagakure) cd 29.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Before we launch into what's gonna be relatively long-winded review, let's just state up front that this has the best album cover EVER: the band themselves cruising down a rural highway on choppers wearing nothing but their birthday suits!! And this version sees the orginal gatefold recreated for the cd-era, mini-LP sleeve style. But if that's not enough to get you to buy this, read on...
Not long ago we gave a big thumbs up to the album "Satori", the masterpiece from Japanese '70s psych rockers the Flower Travellin' Band (note: we're still waiting to get more of those in stock, they're backordered at our distributor!). Now, however, we've got a brand new reissue of the Flower Travellin' Band's debut album, "Anywhere". It certainly doesn't scale the heights of "Satori" but it'll help you to understand how they got there. Along with a great take on "House Of The Rising Sun" (a nod to Frijid Pink?), this album also explicitly demonstrates, via covers, these Japanese freaks' radical recognition of the genius of two of their Western contemporaries, Black Sabbath and King Crimson. Like many other great artists, with humble beginnings Japan's Flower Travellin' Band cut their teeth on the material of their mentors. Though "Anywhere" -- released in 1970 -- is primarily a covers album, it's also quite a testament to both the band's veracity in their reproductions and their creativity in realigning the building blocks of rock & roll. Their cover of Black Sabbath's self-titled track was actually recorded in the same year as the original and their version of King Crimson's "21st Century Schizoid Man" only a year after its release. And they aren't merely content to play only the "Schizoid Man" opening riff, like so many other bands that have attempted to cover it, but take on the entire piece in all its schizophrenic freaked out glory, getting waaay into the improv element of the mid-section. The same is true for "Black Sabbath" and you have to appreciate singer Joe's take on the unique Ozzy voice. The most interesting track on the record though has to be their attempt at straight-up blues rock -- while their "Louisiana Blues" starts and finishes almost pedestrianly enough on the "Minglewood Blues" riff by Gus Cannon (of Cannon's Jug Stompers) that was popularized in the rock scene by the likes of The Grateful Dead and Captain Beefheart, the interior of the song is a complete departure of sorts. Not only devoid of the original progression, it's not even "bluesy" at all. Here in the extended jam that makes up the meat of this musical sandwich, the Flower Travellin' Band's Eastern roots surface a bit. It's a precursor to the sound of their later albums "Satori" and "Made In Japan" (another great one which we'll be reviewing in the future if we can ever get any stock of it in quantity).
MPEG Stream: "Louisiana Blues"
MPEG Stream: "Black Sabbath"

FLOWER TRAVELLIN' BAND Anywhere (Universal Japan) cd 22.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
At long last, back in stock! The cd reissue of the 1970 debut album from AQ faves Flower Travellin' Band is still a Japanese import, but on a different label at a cheaper price (yay!), and is now housed in a regular jewelcase this time rather than a mini-lp styled sleeve. Before we launch into what's gonna be relatively long-winded review, let's just state up front that this has the best album cover EVER: the band themselves cruising down a rural highway on choppers wearing nothing but their birthday suits!! But if that's not enough to get you to buy this, read on...
As you may know, we've given a big thumbs up to the album Satori, the masterpiece from Japanese '70s psych rockers the Flower Travellin' Band [Satori is is also back in stock in a Japanese pressing, reviewed this list too].
Anywhere doesn't quite scale the heights of Satori but it'll help you to understand how they got there. Along with a great take on "House Of The Rising Sun" (a nod to Frijid Pink?), this album also explicitly demonstrates, via covers, these Japanese freaks' radical recognition of the genius of two of their Western contemporaries, Black Sabbath and King Crimson. Like many other great artists, with humble beginnings Japan's Flower Travellin' Band cut their teeth on the material of their mentors. Though Anywhere is primarily a covers album, it's also quite a testament to both the band's veracity in their reproductions and their creativity in realigning the building blocks of rock & roll. Their cover of Black Sabbath's self-titled track was actually recorded in the same year as the original and their version of King Crimson's "21st Century Schizoid Man" only a year after its release. And they aren't merely content to play only the "Schizoid Man" opening riff, like so many other bands that have attempted to cover it, but take on the entire piece in all its schizophrenic freaked out glory, getting waaay into the improv element of the mid-section. The same is true for "Black Sabbath" and you have to appreciate singer Joe's take on the unique Ozzy voice. The most interesting track on the record though has to be their attempt at straight-up blues rock -- while their "Louisiana Blues" starts and finishes almost pedestrianly enough on the "Minglewood Blues" riff by Gus Cannon (of Cannon's Jug Stompers) that was popularized in the rock scene by the likes of The Grateful Dead and Captain Beefheart, the interior of the song is a complete departure of sorts. Not only devoid of the original progression, it's not even "bluesy" at all. Here in the extended jam that makes up the meat of this musical sandwich, the Flower Travellin' Band's Eastern roots surface a bit. It's a precursor to the sound of their later albums Satori and Made In Japan.
MPEG Stream: "Louisiana Blues"
MPEG Stream: "Black Sabbath"

FLOWER TRAVELLIN' BAND Made In Japan (Warner Japan) cd 23.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Flower Travellin' Band mania has gripped Byram and Allan and others of us here at AQ. After the success of our review of the reissues of their masterpiece Satori and their debut Anywhere, we feel we ought to keep going through the catalog of this stellar '70s Japanese heavy psych rock outfit. Those who couldn't get enough of FTB's Satori will be pleased to know that their follow-up, third release Made In Japan is nearly every bit as good. Singer Joe's voice still rings in the creepy falsetto style like Alan Bishop of the Sun City Girls singing balls out heavy metal vocals. As with their previous album, "Made In Japan" continued to fuse the heavy rock of early (contemporary, to them) Sabbath with Eastern melodies. I guess they decided after their perfect rendition of "Black Sabbath" on their first record, that such was their calling. Then again, "Heaven And Hell", the penultimate track here, is as pure a channeling of Jimi Hendrix as anything. The mellow closing track "That's All", with its koto glissandi, parallels "Part V" on Satori and like that track, it's perhaps the most overtly Eastern in tone. But it's Joe's vocal line that really kicks ass. At the end of the chorus he adds a little cadenza to his howl, extending the vocal line just beyond where one's intuitively expecting a cadence. It works so fucking well, makes me stop whatever I'm doing to listen, that I wonder why more song writers don't pull that shit more often.
MPEG Stream: "Hiroshima"
MPEG Stream: "That's All"

FLOWER TRAVELLIN' BAND Made In Japan ( Phoenix) cd 17.98
Japanese psych fiends rejoice! 'Bout time Flower Travellin' Band's ironically titled Made In Japan (ironic 'cause it was recorded in Canada) was available again, now via the Phoenix label, who have also done FTB's Satori, and more recently, Make Up (chronologically, the original release of this falls in between those two). We used to have an expensive Japanese import, years ago, and this is more or less what we said about it then:
Flower Travellin' Band mania has gripped us here at AQ. After the success of our review of the reissues of their masterpiece Satori and their debut Anywhere, we feel we ought to keep going through the catalog of this stellar '70s Japanese heavy psych rock outfit. Those who couldn't get enough of FTB's Satori will be pleased to know that their follow-up, third release Made In Japan from 1972 is nearly every bit as good. Singer Joe's voice still rings in the creepy falsetto style like Alan Bishop of the Sun City Girls singing balls out heavy metal vocals. As with their previous album, Made In Japan continues to fuse the heavy rock of early (contemporary, to them) Black Sabbath with Eastern melodies. I guess they decided after their perfect rendition of "Black Sabbath" on their first record, that such was their calling. Then again, "Heaven And Hell" (not the Sabbath song, that would have required precognition!) the penultimate track here, is as pure a channeling of Jimi Hendrix as anything. The mellow closing track "That's All", with its koto glissandi, parallels "Part V" on Satori and like that track, it's perhaps the most overtly Eastern in tone. But it's Joe's vocal line that really kicks ass. At the end of the chorus he adds a little cadenza to his howl, extending the vocal line just beyond where one's intuitively expecting a cadence. It works so fucking well, makes us stop whatever we're doing to listen, that we wonder why more song writers don't pull that shit more often.
Oh, and you gotta love the brief intro track on this album, a radio spot for a stadium concert in Toronto circa '72 that featured Flower Travellin' Band appearing alongside the likes of ELP and Bob Seger! Wow.
MPEG Stream: "Kamikaze"
MPEG Stream: "Hiroshima"
MPEG Stream: "That's All"

FLOWER TRAVELLIN' BAND Satori (Warner Japan) cd 23.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This is one of those albums that's neither new, nor even a recent reissue, but that we here at Aquarius decided, heck, let's list, it deserves it! (While this disc already appears on our website, it was never actually *listed* in any of our newsletters.) So while many might already know this album backwards and forwards, it has most certainly slipped through the cracks for too many others out there. Being a Japan-only import can't help. Allan wisely reordered some copies recently (when a customer special ordered it for themselves on-line) and Byram, unwittingly playing it in the store, found himself getting progressively more obsessed with the album (and the band)! It wasn't long before Jim and Marcy were also finding themselves hooked. Now almost any day you come into the store, you'll hear the Flower Travellin' Band blaring.
This is an album (and a band) that are not celebrated nearly enough -- possibly out of misguided notions of their being another bad psych knock-off among the many crowding the record racks in the early seventies. But Japan's Flower Travellin' Band were no mere cheesy imitators of occidental rock 'n roll, they were in actual fact a full-fledged, pioneering tour de force of psychedelic progressive hard rock, equalling the krautrock heavies of the era. FTB can be compared favorably to Amon Duul's better efforts with their experimental meandering (think Yeti), and the best trancey spaceouts from Can. Yet there's never a sense that FTB lose track of their compositions no matter how far out they take a track. Perhaps because even more than these experimental Krautrockers, FTB's heavy (fucking ominously heavy) sound points to a major Sabbath, Purple, and Crimson influence. Released in 1971, Satori is the band's second and arguably best album. From the first screech/howl at the beginning of track one -- "Satori Part I" (the tracks on the album are all "Satori", parts I-V) -- from vocalist Joe, who inhabits a zone somewhere between Can's Damo Suzuki and Deep Purple's Ian Gillan, the album gets straight down to business. Joe's scream is followed by a foreboding bass, guitar and drum dirge that's straight up collision between Cream and Black Sabbath in which no one survives. It's got so much more teeth than either, it's not even funny, predating punk by a good many years. "Satori Part II" however is quintessential FTB Over a pounding tribal drumbeat, alternating between a buzzing sitar-esque guitar drone and a melody line that curls ripples and lilts like a plume of burning incense smoke, guitarist Hideki Ishima lays out one of the creepiest, coolest guitar leads ever. If that ain't enough, vocalist Joe's singing is like that of Axl Rose being channelled by the Sun City Girls! Even if the rest of the album were total shit -- which it ain't -- the cost of this cd would still be well worth it for this song alone! "Part III" -- an instrumental -- picks up where II leaves off but slows the tempo down to a deathly pace, which makes it even heavier. This is the Sabbath influence on FTB writ large. Replete with an improv freakout before returning to the original riff and building into a frenzied crescendo. Needless to say, if you weren't bobbing your head at the beginning of the song, you will be by its end. "Part IV" could be considered FTB's "blues" number, with Joe picking up the harmonica instead of singing. But instead of churning out the expected twelve bar formula, FTB truncate the form and construct a minimalist jam around a short riff instead. "Part V" shows yet another facet of FTB's seemingly infinite potential with Hideki (?) playing some kick ass, spooky koto-like guitar overdubbed on top of some heavy psych. Damn! They could have done ten fucking albums around this schtick alone and probably never lost our interest... sigh... but this (and the other two that are also available, look for reviews in future) will have to suffice for now. Absolutely, fucking recommended!!!!
MPEG Stream: "Satori Part II"
MPEG Stream: "Satori Part III"

FLOWER TRAVELLIN' BAND Satori (Radioactive) cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
A while back we listed this, just 'cause we happened to order a few in and some of the staff here who were previously unexposed to the wonders of the Flower Travellin Band, notably Byram, became obsessed with it (and them). It was a Japan-only import and we felt that while many might already know this album backwards and forwards, it had most certainly slipped through the cracks for too many others out there. So we listed it and got an overwhelming response. Now it's a constant seller here at AQ. And still to this day, almost any time you come into the store, you might well hear the Flower Travellin' Band blaring. Now we're listing it again, on account of how it's just been reissued *again* at a much lower import price, this time by the British label Radioactive. They've included some art from the original LP that didn't appear on the previous Japanese cd edition, but there's no bonus tracks or anything else additional. If you don't already have it, here's our old review of it, so read on, and you might discover a new favorite:
This is an album (and a band) that are not celebrated nearly enough -- possibly out of misguided notions of their being another bad psych knock-off among the many crowding the record racks in the early seventies. But Japan's Flower Travellin' Band were no mere cheesy imitators of occidental rock 'n roll, they were in actual fact a full-fledged, pioneering tour de force of psychedelic progressive hard rock, equalling the krautrock heavies of the era. FTB can be compared favorably to Amon Duul's better efforts with their experimental meandering (think Yeti), and the best trancey spaceouts from Can. Yet there's never a sense that FTB lose track of their compositions no matter how far out they take a track. Perhaps because even more than these experimental Krautrockers, FTB's heavy (fucking ominously heavy) sound points to a major Sabbath, Purple, and Crimson influence. Released in 1971, Satori is the band's second and arguably best album. From the first screech/howl at the beginning of track one -- "Satori Part I" (the tracks on the album are all "Satori", parts I-V) -- from vocalist Joe, who inhabits a zone somewhere between Can's Damo Suzuki and Deep Purple's Ian Gillan, the album gets straight down to business. Joe's scream is followed by a foreboding bass, guitar and drum dirge that's straight up collision between Cream and Black Sabbath in which no one survives. It's got so much more teeth than either, it's not even funny, predating punk by a good many years. "Satori Part II" however is quintessential FTB Over a pounding tribal drumbeat, alternating between a buzzing sitar-esque guitar drone and a melody line that curls ripples and lilts like a plume of burning incense smoke, guitarist Hideki Ishima lays out one of the creepiest, coolest guitar leads ever. If that ain't enough, vocalist Joe's singing is like that of Axl Rose being channelled by the Sun City Girls! Even if the rest of the album were total shit -- which it ain't -- the cost of this cd would still be well worth it for this song alone! "Part III" -- an instrumental -- picks up where II leaves off but slows the tempo down to a deathly pace, which makes it even heavier. This is the Sabbath influence on FTB writ large. Replete with an improv freakout before returning to the original riff and building into a frenzied crescendo. Needless to say, if you weren't bobbing your head at the beginning of the song, you will be by its end. "Part IV" could be considered FTB's "blues" number, with Joe picking up the harmonica instead of singing. But instead of churning out the expected twelve bar formula, FTB truncate the form and construct a minimalist jam around a short riff instead. "Part V" shows yet another facet of FTB's seemingly infinite potential with Hideki (?) playing some kick ass, spooky koto-like guitar overdubbed on top of some heavy psych. Damn! They could have done ten fucking albums around this schtick alone and probably never lost our interest... sigh... Absolutely, fucking recommended!!!!
MPEG Stream: "Satori Part II"
MPEG Stream: "Satori Part III"

FOOZ s/t (Custom Heavy/Alone) cd 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Eight songs of '70s influenced (everything from krautrock to Budgie) progressive, psychedelic "stoner rock" from this new Spanish band. A bit odd, as they mix a lot of things together: Middle Eastern atmospheres, soft Pink Floydish mellowness, and raging hard rock. It doesn't always work, but this debut shows a lot of potential. Certainly more interesting than your typical Kyuss clone, anyway.

FORESHADOW No. 3 magazine + 2cd-r 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Attention doomsters! Doom metal alert! From Poland, one of the doomiest of all doom magazines we've ever seen. Interviews with and articles about Esoteric, Mournful Congregation, Spiritus Mortis, Swallow The Sun, Pantheist, My Shameful, Runemagick, Nadja, Until Death Overtakes Me and loads more! The best thing about this is that there's lots of cd-r and demo reviews of bands even we have never heard of, but now have to try and track down. Thankfully this 'zine also comes with a double cd-r (packaged in a DVD style case) with tracks from Moss, Skepticism, Swallow The Sun, Mournful Congregation, Mirror Of Deception, Unsilence, Dark Embrace, Chamber Of Sorrows, Cambian Dawn, Centurions Ghost, Nadja, Dysperium, Enoch, Forever Autumn, Stone Wings, The Gates Of Slumber, Tefra, Until Death Overtakes Me, Souls Entwined, Solicide, and Troglodyte Dawn (great name!).

FRAGMENT. Towards The Surface (ConSOULing Sounds) cd-r 10.98
We listed another record by this French one man band a few lists back, sold out of them in a flash, so when we restocked, we managed to get the remaining copies of this second release, Towards The Surface, we got less than a dozen though, and once they're gone they are GONE for good, as it's out of print.
We mentioned in that other review that Fragment. (the period IS part of the name) was mining a sound not all that removed from Jesu and Nadja, but listening to this now, it's really driving home just how much this stuff sounds EXACTLY like Jesu, it's almost criminal actually, but hell, if you're hankering for some heavy blissed out dreamy chugging shoegazey post metal, and can't wait for the next Jesu record, then heck, grab one of these.
The sound is of course fantastic, epic and majestic and bleary eyed, a little bit more mellow and laid back than Jesu proper, but quite similar in most other respects, the industrial pound, the layered warm guitar shimmer, the muted metallic chug, the mumbled sad boy vocals, all woven into a gorgeously blown out drone drenched epic dream metal drift. Listening to it again right now, and it sounds so fantastic, it just also happens to sound so fantastically like Jesu.
Cool packaging too, a cd sized dvd case with the full color artwork on a narrow strip along the center of the case, leaving the rest of the case transparent and the disc revealed.
MPEG Stream: "Towards The Surface..."
MPEG Stream: "Burn (Version II)"

FREEDOM HAWK Holding On (Small Stone) cd 15.98
The metalheads around aQ, it seems, will always have a soft spot for stoner rock. There's just something about it that always does the trick, the Sabbathy grooves, the thick Kyuss-y sunbaked guitars, the wailing vox, that combination of heaviness and groove is pretty irresistible, but like any genre, there are way more mediocre groups than killer outfits, and in a genre that to some degree is derivative by its very nature, that makes it even harder for a band to sound original, or to at least cop from other bands and in some way make that sound their own. And as avid readers of the aQ list no doubt know by now, we have a serious thing for Freedom Hawk, whose self titled record was a runaway hit around here, one of Andee's favorite records of that year, and even though Allan tried to fight it for some reason, eventually he relented too and admitted he dug 'em too. We then had to track down their other record, the equally kick ass Sunlight - and now, after playing those to death, comes their brand new record Holding On, which as you might imagine, and as we desperately hoped, everything we loved about those other two records are present in full effect: massive riffing, wild shredding leads, killer grooves, pounding drums, epic jams, and those wailing Ozzy like vocals, sounding more like classic Ozzy than Ozzy himself has for years, and the songs, heavy, psychedelic, groovy, spaced out, slipping easily from smoldering dirges to galloping blasts of metallic heaviness, and ruling equally at both. Just check out the samples, and be prepared to dig them so much, that if you haven't already, you'll probably end up needing the other two records as well.
For all the avant weirdness and grim black heaviness we dig around aQ, we somehow find ourselves constantly returning to this lately. In fact, the second this week's list is finished and sent off, and there's no reviewing left to be done (at least for another couple days), odds are this is probably the record we're gonna throw on, which says a whole lot. Hooky and heavy, with actual songs that will get lodged in your head like crazy, the sort of hard rocking heaviness you wanna blast at ear splitting volume with the top down, and the sun dipping below the horizon, as you blast down the interstate.
Stoner record of the year without a doubt. But it might even make it out of the stoner rock ghetto and onto some top tens proper, you never know...
MPEG Stream: "Thunderfoot"
MPEG Stream: "Living For Days"
MPEG Stream: "Edge Of Destiny"
MPEG Stream: "Her Addiction"

FU MANCHU California Crossing (Mammoth) cd 11.98
"Fuckin' feel good party metal. Smoking pot and surfing and skating and hanging out in the parking lot of the local 7-11, drinking beer, scamming on chicks, no future: just our friends, babes, and ALL SUMMER LONG!!! 'California Crossing' is right. This is the music for our slacker road trip. We'll get high and fuck shit up, and sleep in the back seat on the side of the highway. I don't have to be back at the gas station for two weeks!!! This IS the best summer we've ever had." Watered down Kyuss. Thick guitars and a stoned drawl over recycled Grand Funk riffs and Hendrix leads. Makes sense that these guys are kind of making the leap from the stoner rock underground to MTV/radio/the big time! Big and dumb and poppy and fun.
RealAudio clip: "Separate Kingdom"

FU MANCHU Eatin' Dust (Man's Ruin Records) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

FU MANCHU King Of The Road (Mammoth) cd 16.98
As rock heroes, Fu Manchu are hopelessly overrated, but these high-concept stoners still provide some decent summertime fun if you can get past the weak vocals. This disc is enhanced with some cd-rom videos and stuff, but unfortunately is not enhanced by their uninspired Devo cover. Buy it if you must, but also be sure to visit our new "Classic Rock" section and pick up a copy of of Nazareth's "Hair Of The Dog" or AC/DC's "For Those About To Rock". Then you'll be all right, yeah.

FUNERALIUM s/t (Total Rust) cd 13.98
This punishing slab of slow motion sickness is back in stock.
It's been a while since we've listed some seriously ultra sick, super abstract, funereal, hundred o'd doooooooooooom (imagine 88 more o's), but here we go, the latest from French doom merchants Funeralium, via Israeli label Total Rust, who in the past gave us the epic classic doom of Mourning Dawn (who share members with Funeralium) and Midwestern doomlords Wraith Of The Ropes. And while this has everything you black hearted, cursed souled lovers of all things slow and low desire, the 1 mph drum plod, the guitar tuned so low, it's like some black sonic glacier, the vocals that sound like a slowed down demon puking his guts out. It's all here, you love Moss, Khanate, Planet Aids, Bunkur, Catacombs, Otesanek, Monarch, Monument Of Urns, Nihill, Whitehorse, Stumm... well, you might as well add Funeralium to the list. This is some devastatingly slow, crushingly brutal, ultra doom. BUT...
These guys add some of their own peculiar flavor, the hysterical hellish shrieks become downright melodic at times, strangely lovely in fact (in a horrible hellish way of course), and the guitars occasionally bliss out, clean, minor key chordal strum, still slow and spread out, the drums an occasional thud, the vocals a tortured howl, but all draped over lilting slowcore strum, making it sound like Galaxie 500 or Low covering Khanate or something, in fact, the whole first half of "Let People Die" sounds like some super sad, gorgeous chunk of creepy blackened slowcore, and the whole of record closer "Nearly The End", minus the black metal vocals, could be mistaken for some gloomy minor key late night goth moodiness, but those moments are of course balanced out by the rest of the record, a glorious black sprawl of head caving, soul splitting trudge and pummel.
MPEG Stream: "Transcendance #26"
MPEG Stream: "Funeralium"

FURISUBI Three Armed Mary (Last Visible Dog) cd-r 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Furisubi is the experimental guitar drone/psych/noise project of Kris Lapke, on this release a one-man band playing guitar and (sometimes) drums. The two tracks found on this hour-long cd-r basically sound like Japanese distorto-psych rockers High Rise or Mainliner covering Black Sabbath. Actually, track two actually *is* a Black Sabbath cover -- maybe we should say 'interpretation' -- a nearly half-hour version of Vol. 4's "Snowblind"! Well, actually, perhaps inspired by Sabbath's own in-concert jams/medleys, he works "Snowblind" over for about 15 minutes, and then deviates into some other symptoms of the Sabs' universe, like "Paranoid" and what sounds like a super-sped up version of "Smoke On The Water" which isn't even a Sabbath song (though Sabbath HAS performed it) before returning to finish-up the world's most stretched-out version of "Snowblind".
That's all after the preceeding 30 minutes of the disc's first track, which borrows no Black Sabbath riffs but certainly could have! So, whether covering Sabbath or not, Lapke's modus operandi here is pretty much utter distorto guitar drone demolition, motorpsycho guitar in the Makoto Kawabata zone, but heavier, darker, dronier... yes!! Our kind of guitar hero. But he's obviously not a drummer, though, as his timekeeping skills are, shall we say, poor...but the fucked-up drumming gives this a bit more of a damaged charm anyway...and he bothers to drum only about half the time as well (so it's better than a live Electric Wizard show, who's drummer is notoriously drunk and incompetent). Lapke also allows the occasional ragged vocal to (barely) surface amid the howl of guitar and feedback, helping to place one in the flow of Sabbath tuneage. This is what "stoner rock" *should* sound like... There are other, more 'experimental' Furisubi releases, but we liked this 'rockier' one the best and so decided to feature it. Plus, who can argue with extended Sabbath-inspired jamming? We're glad of whatever possessed him to record this, in all its wonderfully blown-out and messed-up glory.
RealAudio clip: "Snowblind"

FURZE Reaper Subconscious Guide (Agonia) cd 14.98
We've long loved Norwegian weirdo one man black metal horde Furze, aka Woe J. Reaper. In fact, in our love of and obsession with the most twisted, warped, fractured and fucked up black metal, we would rank Furze pretty damn close to the top. Three records in (Trident Autocrat, Necromanzee Cogent, and UTD) and few can reach the heights (depths?) of Furze's sonic dementia. Just have a look at past Furze reviews on the aQ site, to see just what sort of confusional brilliance this guy is capable of.
So when we discovered that the new, fourth Furze was meant to be an homage to seventies era Black Sabbath, a sonic tribute to the band that is, according to Woe J. Reaper himself, the reason Furze exists at all. The question really was, would the new record simply sound like a Furze record, and be dedicated to the spirit of Sabbath, or would it sound like Sabbath, with Reaper doing his best to evoke the same mood and might and majesty? Howabout a little of both?
Right off the bat, Reaper Subconscious Guide finds Furze doing his best Sabbath, but unlike the legions of Sabbath worshipping wannabes, Reaper is capable of capturing that seventies sound, the vibe, and the first track, while not sounding like Sabbath per se, it definitely sounds like it could be some demented lost seventies private press metal artifact. The riffing old school and Sabbathy, but everything else pure Furze, the drumming is super strange, mathy and stuttery and busy, the vocals, even weirder, a crooned mewl, no screeching or voKILLS, but proper (sort of proper) singing. The track is all over the map too, gongs, clean guitar strum, and finally, some black metal, but only sort of, instead, it sounds more like galloping classic metal, pounding and relentless, before the track shifts back to that Sabbath styled chug and croon, but this time lacing the sound with glockenspiel. Yep, glockenspiel. We can't think of a Furze record that would appeal to classic metal purists, and while this one might not either, it's about as close as Reaper will ever get.
The rest of the record follows a similar path, old school seventies hard rock guitar parts, wild chaotic drumming, the strange doomy croon vocals, some seriously killer riffs, twisted squiggly leads here and there, and it's Furze, so there's lots of random weird shit going on, not the least of which is the chiming bell like glockenspiel which surfaces at the oddest times.
The thing is, without the black metal baggage, if this was some recently unearthed lost doom artifact, people might be freaking out, the perfect balance of classic metal, damaged naivety, and freaked out psychedelic weirdness, makes this a twisted classic. Definitely the least black metal of all the Furze records, but just as awesomely weird and brilliantly baffling!
Lots of strange liner notes, and super swank sparkly reflective cover art/logo that ought to appeal to little girls everywhere.
MPEG Stream: "Earlier Than The Third Might Of The Cosmos"
MPEG Stream: "It Leads..."
MPEG Stream: "Immortal Lecture"

GALLHAMMER Gloomy Lights (Goatsucker / Diablos) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Hmmm... This band should be an easy sell, really. Start with this: DOOM. A la Hellhammer (Tom G. Warrior's adolescent pre-Celtic Frost outfit that helped pioneer death/doom metal from a basement in Switzerland back in the early eighties), Eyehategod, and maybe Corrupted too. They're Japanese (so we can make more Corrupted comparisons). And this trio consists entirely of girls. One of our distros described Gallhammer thusly: "All female Japanese Hellhammer worship Band. Not ugly girls doing ugly, ugly music!". The high-contrast black and white photo on the back cover of band members Mika Penetrator (guitar/vocals), Vivian Slaughter (bass/vocals), and Risa Reaper (drums) reveals that "not ugly" comment apparently to be correct, with some vaguely corpse-paint-like mascara adding to their sex appeal. Not that that should be the selling point. After all, listening to this, you'd have *no idea* they were female. Throaty, demonic screams belch forth amidst pummelling drum battery and distorted, feedbacking guitar. Female? Male? They don't even sound human, really. Though the emotions expressed are all too human. Nihilistic bleak hateful depressive stuff. It's raw, primitive doom that captures that Hellhammer vibe by following a similar learning curve as those guys did back in the '80s -- Gallhammer's offical bio on their website states: "Feburary 2003: We start Gallhammer" followed by "Feburary 2003: Each member start to play instrument." And then Gloomy Lights was recorded in 2004. Yep, what Gallhammer does is simple and effective: heavy, plodding music and rough, croaking vocals, with plenty of ominous ambience in the breaks and build-ups. There's eight grim and spooky tracks here culminating in the 10-minute "Color Of Coma", which features a great deal of atmospheric drone. Think Hellhammer meets Angelblood, perhaps.
Look out for a new Gallhammer album this year to be released by Peaceville.
MPEG Stream: "Crucifixion"
MPEG Stream: "Endless Nauseous Days"

GALLHAMMER Gloomy Lights (Peaceville) cd 17.98
REISSUED, in a new, deluxe edition! This was the debut from these Hellhammer worshipping Japanese ladies. (We bet they all got copies of the Only Death Is Real book reviewed elsewhere on this week's list!) This new edition of Gloomy Lights comes packaged in a fancy hardback digibook kind of thing, all white with metallic silver and black print.
And it boasts 2 rare bonus tracks, "Blossom In The Raven River" and "Lust Satan Death". Nice. Here's what we wrote about it when we first heard Gallhammer, five years ago:
Hmmm... This band should be an easy sell, really. Start with this: DOOM. A la Hellhammer (Tom G. Warrior's adolescent pre-Celtic Frost outfit that helped pioneer death/doom metal from a basement in Switzerland back in the early eighties), Eyehategod, and maybe Corrupted too. They're Japanese (so we can make more Corrupted comparisons). And this trio consists entirely of girls. One of our distros described Gallhammer thusly: "All female Japanese Hellhammer worship Band. Not ugly girls doing ugly, ugly music!". The high-contrast black and white photo on the back cover of band members Mika Penetrator (guitar/vocals), Vivian Slaughter (bass/vocals), and Risa Reaper (drums) reveals that "not ugly" comment apparently to be correct, with some vaguely corpse-paint-like mascara adding to their sex appeal. Not that that should be the selling point. After all, listening to this, you'd have *no idea* they were female. Throaty, demonic screams belch forth amidst pummelling drum battery and distorted, feedbacking guitar. Female? Male? They don't even sound human, really. Though the emotions expressed are all too human. Nihilistic bleak hateful depressive stuff. It's raw, primitive doom that captures that Hellhammer vibe by following a similar learning curve as those guys did back in the '80s - Gallhammer's offical bio on their website states: "February 2003: We start Gallhammer" followed by "Feburary 2003: Each member start to play instrument." And then Gloomy Lights was recorded in 2004. Yep, what Gallhammer does is simple and effective: heavy, plodding music and rough, croaking vocals, with plenty of ominous ambience in the breaks and build-ups. There's eight grim and spooky tracks here culminating in the 10-minute "Color Of Coma", which features a great deal of atmospheric drone. Think Hellhammer meets Angelblood, perhaps.
MPEG Stream: "Crucifixion"
MPEG Stream: "Endless Nauseous Days"

GALLHAMMER Ill Innocence (Peaceville) cd 16.98
May as well re-list the cd while we're at it (the brand new import vinyl version is being listed nearby).
Ok, hopefully all of you into dooooooooooooooooom have heeded our recommendations in the past ("best band EVER" we may have said, in a moment of infatuation) and are already well acquainted with this cult Japanese band who exude a magnificently miserable mixture of slow, atmospheric doominess and crusty black metal thrashing, inspired by the likes of Celtic Frost/Hellhammer (natch), Amebix, and Corrupted. This is their 2nd full-length studio album, following 2004's Gloomy Lights debut and last year's The Dawn Of Gallhammer demos n' live cd+dvd collection. That's the one where we busted out the Simpsons Comic Book Guy impersonation in our review, but it's this album that really seals the deal, when it comes to Gallhammer's position in the pantheon of most depressive doom bands ever, anyway. They're up there, no doubt about it, as is proved by this collection of ten tracks, each one of 'em often (but not always) a slow-motion trudge through the depths of emotional bleakness in the form of monotonously massive low-end guitar riffage, wretched cookie monster screams, and simple, gloomy melodies. Several of the song titles are quite indicative of their sound: "Long Scary Dream", "SLOG", "Ripper In The Gloom"... Many of these varied tracks feature a dynamic combination of knock-you-over-with-a-feather soft n' sad prettiness setting you up for some smash-you-with-a-hammer heaviness, or even manage both at the same time. It's the former element, this band's almost post-rock instrumental mesmeric moodiness, for which we think Gallhammer should be best noted. Not that it has any of post-rock's usual complexity, this is raw and primal and ritualistic, perfectly encapsulated by the way the stark, repetitive slowcore acoustic guitar part at the start of "Ripper In The Gloom" suddenly, shockingly gives way to a full-on punk rock assault.
It also seems possible that Gallhammer, along with their interest in underground '80s doom-crust, also shares some of the Velvet Underground fixation displayed by their contemporaries from the Japanese psych-rock scene, like LSD-march and Doodles. Heck, track one, the nearly eight minute "At The Onset Of The Age Of Despair" seems to have echoes of VU's "Venus In Furs"... If one of Gallhammer's songs wound up on a PSF Tokyo Flashback comp someday we'd be surprised, yes, but only a little. Though it sure wouldn't be a track like "Killed By The Queen" or "Blind My Eyes", two of the punked out, filthy metal blitzes on here, the latter of which throws in some uncharacteristic Melt-Banana style yelping, dogwhistle vocals along with the usual guttural grunting and growling.
Hey, we made it all the way to the end of this review without mentioning Gallhammer's major non-musical selling point... we said they're a "cult" band above, but were tempted to say "cute", as this trio just happen to all be attractive young Japanese ladies, their looks further enhanced by the tasteful application of gothy corpsepaint makeup. No this fact doesn't make Gallhammer's music sound any better (or worse) but it's, um, interesting. Happily, though, Peaceville isn't using Gallhammer's sex appeal to sell this album, there's not even any pictures of the band at all included in this classy-lookin' white-and-silver digipack. Recommended nonetheless!
MPEG Stream: "SLOG"
MPEG Stream: "Killed By The Queen"
MPEG Stream: "Ripper In The Gloom"

GALLHAMMER Ruin Of A Church (Peaceville) dvd 12.00
**SALE **SALE* *SALE**
Every metalhead we know has been freaking out over Hellhammer worshipping all girl crusty black metal outfit Gallhammer. And for good reason, the dew spit up a filthy sludgey blackened pound, that pays proper homage to the 'Hammer that came before. But truth be told, there is a bit of novelty to their appeal, hard to argue with three young cute Japanese girls in bullet belts and Amebix shirts, adorned in spikes and smeared black raccoon eye makeup, making this gloriously unholy racket. And we'd be lying if we didn't admit to at least a few aQ staffers having a bit of a metal girl crush on Ms. Vivian Slaughter.
Thus, those not afforded the luxury of actually seeing Gallhammer play live, have been clamoring for a live video. The music is awesome, but somehow more awesome when that harsh hellish howl is coming out of such a diminutive frontwoman, and this din is being produced by this all female trio. So here you have it, Gallhammer, performing live, like the title says in "the ruin of a church", the band set up upon the altar, in front of glowing stained glass windows, pretty striking visually for sure, and the sound is fantastic, thick and chuggy, pounding and blackened, the vocals a blasphemous presence in this house of God. BUT, the band aren't all that exciting to watch play. They don't headbang, they don't jump around or thrash wildly, and to be fair, maybe this music doesn't lend itself to that sort of action. Instead the band sort of sway back and forth, entranced, occasionally stepping to the mic to bellow hellishly (and it's revealed that both axeslingers have wails that could peel paint!). So minus any sort of extreme action, it is mesmerizing, helped along by the massive riffs and pounding rhythms, the whole band conjuring up some early eighties demons and channeling them into filthy crusty buzz.
There are plenty of extras, two other live shows, a bunch of videos (that are mostly the band rocking out live, but they rock out WAY harder for the camera), a photo gallery (!), and a band interview, but again, it's slow going as it's subtitled, and being translated, so there's plenty of waiting for questions, answers, and nothing wild or shocking, just a mellow conversation, interesting for sure, but not mind blowing.
But so what. It's GALLHAMMER!!! And for all our minor kvetching, this disc is pretty cool, and for now, as close as we're gonna get to sweating and swaying wildly in the pit at a Gallhammer show, and certainly as close as we'll ever get to actually talking to Vivian. Swooooon. So yeah, recommended.

GALLHAMMER The Dawn Of Gallhammer (Peaceville) cd + dvd 16.98
In the voice of Comic Book Guy from The Simpsons: "Best band EVER."
No, we're not actually implying an endorsement of Gallhammer by Comic Book Guy. But, IF Comic Book Guy was into old school death/black/doom metal and crusty punk (which, we'd imagine he probably isn't) -and- was really into cute Japanese girls (which, chances are, he is), then, well, Gallhammer would be one of his favorite bands. We can't help but like 'em lot ourselves. We reviewed their debut cd Gloomy Lights back on list 235, and pointed out then that while a trio of cute, Japanese girls with raccoon eyes playing in the style of '80s doom pioneers Hellhammer was an obvious high-concept selling point, from -listening- to it you sure couldn't tell they were cute or even female. But you could tell that their music was utterly grim and wretched and heavy as hell, which for us was enough to recommend it. Glacial riffs, pounding drums, atmospheric breaks, deathly croaks... raw and primitive and very effective!
We also reported that they'd gotten signed to Peaceville, who have cleverly determined that the best way to introduce Gallhammer to the masses isn't with a new album (still upcoming) but with this, a collection of demos and rehearsal tracks. Oh, and with a DVD disc of live performances. That's the clever part. Once you see vocalist/bassist Vivian Slaughter in her Celtic Frost t-shirt, staring blankly into space and grunting inhumanly into the microphone, you'll be smitten. Or watch drummer Risa Reaper thrash her kit, providing back-up screams too. Or witness guitarist Mika Penetrator (Amebix t-shirt for her) crank out the riffage whilst contributing blood-curdling vokills as well... it's all over. Is there a fan club? Where do we sign up? Seriously, though, the live footage is convincing. They're a killer band. And have a great sense of theatrics, looking so much like those spooky girls you always see in Japanese horror films with their long black hair and hollow eyes.
The DVD features 24 songs from six shows filmed at various venues in Japan between 2005 and 2006. Some are pro shot (the show at Okayama Pepper Land which is presented in its entirety) and others are more bootleggy lookin' but still perfectly acceptable. And there's also a photo gallery of stills to stimulate more fanboy drool.
Meanwhile, on the audio disc, you get twelve tracks including two exclusive demos of (brutal) brand new songs, along with rarities going back to before the Gloomy Lights album. If you've heard Gallhammer before, you know this is gonna be crushing. Far from cartoonish. If you haven't heard 'em, this a good place to enter their haunted world of misanthropic moody metal. Imagine if Unsane, Corrupted and Zeni Geva got together in a cave to make the soundtrack to some freaky J-horror flick, after listening to nothing but Tom G. Warrior's earliest output and the occasional Velvet Underground album for inspiration. Cool, eh?
MPEG Stream: "At The Onset Of The Age Of Despair"
MPEG Stream: "Beyond The Hate Red"

GALLHAMMER The End (Peaceville) cd 17.98
This ultra kvlt (and, we must admit, quite kvte!) all-girl Japanese band who play the blackened "metal of death" in a most dirgey and crusty stylee, inspired by (no duh) '80s death/doom pioneers Hellhammer, have returned after 4 years with a new album - titled with some finality The End, though let's hope it ain't. If you're an AQ customer with a pulse, at all into the doomy and dank, you're probably already a Gallhammer fan and are 'adding to cart' as we speak. If at all hesitant, the abysmal buzz and clank of going nowhere not so fast opener "The End" ought to convince you! With that title track out of the way, the Gallhammer gals (now the duo of bassist/vocalist Vivian Slaughter & drummer Risa Reaper, former guitarist Mika Penetrator having left after 2007's Ill Innocence) pick up the pace a bit on the next even more brutal number "Rubbish CG202" (one of several weird, partly numeric song titles on the album, btw), and vary between a flashing stroboscopic throb and molasses creepy crawl throughout this disc, the rhythms more a function of fluctuation in the overlaying distortion field than anything else. The vokills vary too, from rasping guttural anguish to some disturbing yelps (on "Aberration") and even almost actual singing (on "Sober").
The truth is, Gallhammer aren't really so much a metal band, as they are purveyors of nihilistic noise rock, having as much or more in common with the likes of Kevin Drumm, Wolf Eyes, Prurient, Sister Iodine, Aufgehoben No Process, Brainbombs, etc. as they do with the aforementioned Hellhammer, and other old school metal/punk artists whose T-shirts they're often seen wearing, like Amebix. The final cut, the ten+ minute "108=7/T-NA" is perhaps the weirdest, most WTF?, featuring some frightening saxophone textures, played by Ms. Slaughter... but don't worry, this is neither smooth nor jazz!! Just more grinding terror, the end of The End going to the utter extreme of experimental yet primitive doomdrone metal. Damn. We're falling in love with Gallhammer all over again.
MPEG Stream: "The End"
MPEG Stream: "Rubbish CG 202"
MPEG Stream: "Aberration"

GARADAMA 1 (Alchemy) cd 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Garadama is a hitherto unknown to us, super heavy metallic rock trio from Japan, making their debut on Osaka's Alchemy label (home to albums by Hijo Kaidan, Merzbow, Masonna, Angel 'In Heavy Syrup among others). They're not unlike a more modern-sounding version of prior Alchemy recording artists and retro '70s psych heavies Subvert Blaze (which makes sense, since we just figured out that this is the new band of the guitarist/singer of Subvert Blaze). Less obscurely, Garadama specialize in Sabbathy riff-doom, with every song managing to remind us of King Crimson's "21st Century Schizoid Man", no bad thing. A FIEND IS LIVING IN MY BRAIN!!! (That's one of their song titles, and I believe it...) For fans of Boris, EyeHateGod, Zeni Geva, and the abovementioned!
Note we said: for fans of Boris.
RealAudio clip: "A Fiend Is Living In My Brain"
RealAudio clip: "The Sun Rises"

GARADAMA II (Fiend's Shrine) cd 21.00
A couple years ago, all the Boris / Corrupted / Eyehategod / Zeni Geva fans here at AQ were pleased to discover the debut cd from this band Garadama, released on the Osaka based, eclectic noise/psych label Alchemy. Super heavy riffage, distorted fuzzed out walls of DOOOOM guitar, crashing into your brain with the force of a frantic fiend (as per their song "A Fiend Is Living In My Brain"). Great stuff for everyone into the HEAVY (and no surprise, seeing as how the band featured the former singer/guitarist from the very Sabbatherian outfit Subvert Blaze). So, we've been waiting, and had begun to wonder what had happened to them. Well, suddenly and thankfully, we've got import copies of their brand new second album, as you can tell by the title. Again it's an onslaught of monster dirge crunch distorto sludge, swinging from Sabbathy groove to spooky, droning ambience... plus a dose of that special Japanese weirdness we love. Tracks like "Dogma" parts 1 and 2 are ultra-spooky and almost black metal, while the band display their rockin' side on the likes of the riffy "Who Does Try To Kill A Man?".
The album is not over-long, but their doom is deep, and we're sure Garadama would hold their own in any contest with countryfolk Green Machine and Boris... We should mention also that the nasally strangled doom vocals and the twistedness of their heaviness here reminds Andee of old faves Alice Donut! Recommended, doom fanatics.
MPEG Stream: "Dragon's Shrine"
MPEG Stream: "Soliloquy"

GARDEN OF WORM s/t (Shadow Kingdom) cd 14.98
Two words: Finland, Doom. Think Reverend Bizarre style doom, specifically. That's where this Finnish band is coming from, on their debut full length for the Shadow Kingdom label (who remind us, in a handwritten note: "Shadow Kingdom always puts out unique metal"). Garden Of Worm, a trio that includes two members of post rock prog metallers Blueprint Human Being, whom you'll remember from their Paradigms release, aren't so unique that they don't remind us of those aforementioned fellow Finns Reverend Bizarre (RIP), with deep, declamatory vocals and heavy Sabbathy riffage, but they do have their own way of doing the doom thing, the guitar parts having a sometimes urgent, eerily off-kilter psychedelic post rock edge to 'em (reminding us of the genius of the late great Ved Buens Ende at times), with post rock loud-soft dynamics factoring into the songwriting as well, Garden Of Worm being blissfully dreamy and/or utterly crushing depending on just where you drop the (virtual) needle on a track like "Psychic Wolves". Elsewhere, experimental droneworks veer right into raging headbanging fare (specifically, towards the end of one of this disc's several epics, "The Black Clouds"). And one of the tracks here, "Rays Of Heaven", is entirely a placid, all-acoustic instrumental. Yet as post- and prog- as they can be, GoW are first and foremost a trudging traditional doom metal band, conjuring up the old school likes of The Obsessed (with a smidge of a Pentagram-y riff mixed in) on "The Ceremony", for instance. A band that's melodic, emotive, intelligent, maybe we'd even call them "psychological", what with some of the lyrics. But all in all to sum 'em up, with another word that's none of those, nor doom, nor Finland: there's something GLORIOUS about this band. Gloomy but grandly glorious. Recommended, especially if you like Reverend Bizarre, The Obsessed, Apostle Of Solitude, Fall Of The Idols...
Very nice b&w Justin Bartlett cover art, too, by the way! (Presumably that's a PSYCHIC wolf.)
MPEG Stream: "Spirits Of The Dead"
MPEG Stream: "The Ceremony"
MPEG Stream: "The Black Clouds "

GATES OF SLUMBER, THE Conqueror (Profound Lore) cd 14.98
Indiana's The Gates Of Slumber, by dint of sheer old school "trueness" are quickly becoming the most happenin' American traditional doom metal band around, with a weighty onslaught of releases, this latest coming our way via Canada's equally happenin' Profound Lore label. It's another slab of sludgy yet melodic heavy metal in the downer-psych tradition of St. Vitus and Reverend Bizarre... with all the usual ye olde cult metal and pulpy literary influences. What makes 'em so true is that they play for a very defined audience of likeminded souls, caring more about doing their doom RIGHT than any other more conventional measure of rock n' roll success (radio play? magazine covers? groupies? no, definitely not, this is way too geeky). It's almost emo that way. So serious and sincere.
Vocally this has got strains of Wino (Spirit Caravan, The Obsessed, you know), and lyrically TGOS are inspired mainly by Swords & Sorcery fiction, though topical subjects like the genocide in Darfur are also addressed. The album's grand finale is a 16 and a half minute long "Dark Valley Suite" dedicated to Conan creator Robert E. Howard, even including a section with words taken from a Howard poem... we like that the song is really more about Howard the tragically mortal human being, and is not simply another celebration of his mighty and barbaric fictional hero.
The cd booklet is interesting, in addition to lyrics for every song, a detailed track-by-track commentary is provided, almost making review-writing redundant when the band's vocalist/guitarist is describing each song as having certain influences or whatnot. For instance, talking about the track "Ice Worm", he says "the riff reminds me of Orodruin and Cirith Ungol fighting with Budgie and Quartz... Ross The Boss steps in playing a Dio hook for the chorus"... well that's all of course too good to be true but still if you know and care about the artists he mentions there, then there's a good chance you're gonna dig The Gates Of Slumber!! Likewise, if you're into R.E. Howard & Conan and stuff like that...
MPEG Stream: "Trapped In The Web"
MPEG Stream: "Children Of Satan"

GATES OF SLUMBER, THE Hymns of Blood and Thunder (Rise Above) 2lp 34.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Now also on (import) gatefold vinyl!!
Much as their biggest literary inspiration, Robert E. Howard's Conan the Cimmerian, rose from mere vagabond thief and freebooter to command armies and then become King, Midwestern underground doom sensations Gates Of Slumber seem to be set unerringly upon the path of glory, treading the jeweled thrones of Earth under their sandaled feet. Bigger labels, more press, they do seem way more popular than when we first encountered their obscure, import-only debut some years back. And while their rise in popularity is well deserved and awesome (couldn't happen to a doomier bunch of guys), it's also a bit of a surprise... who knew that there was such a healthy demand for their brand of true doom? Well there is, and The Gates Of Slumber deliver, overtly influenced as always by old school heavy metal, and metal-related things like weird pulp fiction and Frank Frazetta fantasy artwork (the song "Death Dealer" here is actually ABOUT a Frank Frazetta painting as a matter of fact).
Perhaps the sheer sincerity of these guys won people over. Plus for a heavy band into barbarian muscle-metal, they're remarkably emotional and sensitive seeming, their music often quite melodic and full of gloomy atmosphere. Also, they rock. The one-two punch of opening tracks "Chaos Calling", followed by "Death Dealer", is a bit of a shocker. Were Gates Of Slumber ever this speedy before? They almost sound like High On Fire, or Early Man. A killer NWOBHM/thrash mash. But, then, "Beneath The Eyes Of Mars" slows things down and gets way doomier, more like we were expecting, throwing in some subtle Dr. Who synths to boot, and that's when anyone new to TGOS can begin to appreciate the moody side to this band.
Their long standing allegiance to Saint Vitus is most evident on the Lovecraftian epic "Descent Into Madness" (the longest track here), while elsewhere they get into prog and folk just a bit, no really, there's even some female vocals on the penultimate track "The Mist In The Mourning", shades of Hammers Of Misfortune.
Don't worry, though this album has its acoustic interludes, and all-instrumental tangents, and sad singing and sweet soloing, they sound plenty tough too, ferinstance "The Bringer Of War" is a brute. And you gotta love "Iron Hammer", reprised from an early out of print ep, it's of those songs paying tribute to their influences with lyrics entirely composed of the titles to their favorite classic metal songs and albums.
Further pumped up with solid, Sanford Parker production, this is HEAVY metal that cannot be denied. Maybe we will see 'em on a (metal) magazine cover yet - Decibel did just make this album of the month in their new issue, with a 9/10 rating! And we can certainly see fans of High On Fire and The Sword enjoying this just as much as those into the more underground likes of Reverend Bizarre and Electric Wizard.
MPEG Stream: "Chaos Calling"
MPEG Stream: "Beneath The Eyes Of Mars"
MPEG Stream: "Iron Hammer"

GATES OF SLUMBER, THE Like A Plague Upon The Land (Hellride Music) cd ep 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
From Indiana, USA, here's a doom metal band for those who like their doom old school, Saint Vitus style. That is, like Black Sabbath but dragged down deeper into the mire. This ostensibly five-track ep (it's longer than that, due to several hidden bonus tracks) has got all the depressive atmosphere, widdly solos, guitar effects, anguished Wino-like vocals, and sledgehammer heaviness you desire. These guys are obviously dedicated doom fans first and foremost, and like their Finnish brethren Reverend Bizarre they do their influences proud, and they make it pretty obvious who those influences are. There's a cover of "Ask No More" by Pentagram, and one of the hidden tracks is a version of St. Vitus' "War Is Our Destiny"... And if this disc turns you into a fan of The Gates Of Slumber, they've helpfully provided a bonus embroidered TGOS patch for your denim vest! We'll be wearing ours proudly.
MPEG Stream: "Iron Hammer"
MPEG Stream: "The Leech"

GATES OF SLUMBER, THE Suffer No Guilt (I Hate Records) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Axe smashing, bare chested, mega muscled, mighty thewed, old school DOOM metal here! Just take one glance at Ken Kelly's Frank Frazetta-styled cover painting and one listen to the opening attack "Angel Of Death" (no, not a Slayer cover, it's more like a Cirith Ungol track!) and you'll know this third cd from Indiana doom trio The Gates Of Slumber is one for cultish, denim n' leather garbed fans of Saint Vitus, Reverend Bizarre, Manowar, Electric Wizard, and of course ye olde Black Sabbath -- especially if you're a reader of Robert E. Howard and H.P. Lovecraft. If you are, perhaps you knew that "Suffer No Guilt Ye Who Wield This In The Name Of Crom" is the motto inscribed in runes on the sword that belonged to the father of Howard's famed Swords & Sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian? And Conan of Cimmeria is indeed the subject of this album's 14 minute long title track. But TGOS also take this "Suffer No Guilt" theme further elsewhere on the album, in the lyrics to the 20 minute long (!) "God Wills It" tying the idea of not suffering guilt for the sins of one's culture's past to their views on the (historical) Crusades and the current "clash of civilizations" that some see as occurring in this age of War on Terror, War in Iraq and sundry other Middle Eastern conflict. So, some deep thoughts here... but also plenty of blood and thunder entertainment, in the form of heavy riffing and psychedelic soloing, with pulpy escapism as its purpose.
By the way, Allan saw these guys this past summer at the Alehorn Of Power festival in Chicago. They were the opening band for a bill that included Bible Of The Devil, Twisted Tower Dire, The Lord Weird Slough Feg, and freakin' Manilla Road! TGOS definitely set the "heaviness bar" pretty high for the night.
MPEG Stream: "Suffer No Guilt"
MPEG Stream: "Riders Of Doom"