SLOMO The Bog (Important) cd 14.98
The aptly-named UK dronedoom duo Slomo creep forth once more! These Julian Cope compatriots (the drude dude himself contributes a 30-second poetic spoken word coda to this album) also have given this disc a perfectly descriptive title, The Bog. Slomo's Chris "Holy" McGrail ("Moog Taurus, Sunn Mustang 6 string, clatter") and Howard Marsden ("Korg MS10 & MS20, hiss") exude and extrude one loooong 65 minute track of sinister yet soothing rumbling. This Bog is a fog of burbling electronics and feedback, naturally slow and low and quietly creepy. It's like gastric gurgling from the cathedraloid stomach of some cumbersome, slumbersome, subterranean behemoth. The droning sounds of what may be subtle cymbal shimmer combine with electronic textures from the duo's synths and guitars, sometimes smoothly soaring like underwater whale calls, whilst elsewhere developing into a much grittier, frying, throbbing buzz and crackle. Other gentle chimes and pulsations come
in to play as well, layered throughout this mesmeric, mysterious disc, which we could liken to a milder SUNNO))), perhaps sleeping and snoring and drifting in dream. Certainly recommended.
(By the way, we have just a few copies of a new cd-r in stock from Slomo member Holy McGrail in stock as well, his infamous plunderphonic Stooges tribute, Raw Power Suite, so please ask about it if you're interested.)
MPEG Stream: "The Bog [excerpt 1]"
MPEG Stream: "The Bog [excerpt 2]"

SLOMO The Creep (Important) cd 14.98
Finally available again! Now it's a real cd ( not a cd-r) and comes in spiffy new packaging courtesty of Important records! Here's what we said about the previous edition:
Could a band have a more perfect name? And an album a more perfect title? In this case, no. Slomo's The Creep is EXACTLY that. Creepy, creeping, slow motion music. One hour, one track, improvised and recorded live with minimal overdubs and "zero eye-contact" (it kinda sounds like it was recorded in total darkness, in fact). The ominous subterranean echoing seismic sounds of Slomo are the work of the UK's Chris McGrail and Howard Marsden. McGrail, as you might have guessed, is also the main guy behind heavy psych-dronesters Holy McGrail, whose Collecting Earthquakes was highlighted here last list. This heavy-lidded, cave-dwelling creature is a different, more somnolent beast, but if you liked that Holy McGrail disc we think you might like Slomo's The Creep too. It's something akin to a narcotized Earth or Black Boned Angel, but played with the spacious, quiet restraint of Bohren & Der Club Of Gore. The crunchy feedback on offer is both spooky and soothing. Appropriately, the cd booklet contains an old rhyme on the subject of this duo's namesake, a folkloric character known as Slomo for his generally slow and slothful ways. The final line says of Slomo: "Whose detractors do call static... but whose champions call Ecstasis?" Clearly McGrail and Marsden are of hold to the latter opinion, as do we.
This is an actual factory pressed cd, in a cool Important style gatefold cd sleeve, which supplants the now out of print cd-r version released on Julian Cope's Fuck Off And Di cd-r label that we listed back in September of 2005.
MPEG Stream: "The Creep [excerpt 1]"
MPEG Stream: "The Creep [excerpt 2]"

SLOMO The Creep (Fuck Off & Di) 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. HOWEVER, IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE REISSUED ON CD SOMETIME IN 2006!
Could a band have a more perfect name? And an album a more perfect title? In this case, no. Slomo's The Creep is EXACTLY that. Creepy, creeping, slow motion music. One hour, one track, improvised and recorded live with minimal overdubs and "zero eye-contact" (it kinda sounds like it was recorded in total darkness, in fact). The ominous subterranean echoing seismic sounds of Slomo are the work of the UK's Chris McGrail and Howard Marsden. McGrail, as you might have guessed, is also the main guy behind heavy psych-dronesters Holy McGrail, whose Collecting Earthquakes was highlighted here last list. This heavy-lidded, cave-dwelling creature is a different, more somnolent beast, but if you liked that Holy McGrail disc we think you might like Slomo's The Creep too. It's something akin to a narcotized Earth or Black Boned Angel, but played with the spacious, quiet restraint of Bohren & Der Club Of Gore. The crunchy feedback on offer is both spooky and soothing. Appropriately, the cd booklet contains an old rhyme on the subject of this duo's namesake, a folkloric character known as Slomo for his generally slow and slothful ways. The final line says of Slomo: "Whose detractors do call static... but whose champions call Ecstasis?" Clearly McGrail and Marsden are of hold to the latter opinion, as do we.
This is a professional duplicated cd-r with quite lovely artwork, released in a limited edition of just 100 copies on Julian Cope's own cd-r label. We did get a bunch, but that's it, when they're gone we won't be able to get any more...so you'd better not be a Slomo yourself if you want one!
MPEG Stream: "The Creep [excerpt 1]"
MPEG Stream: "The Creep [excerpt 2]"

SLOTH A Whole Other World Of Fun aka 13 Songs 13 Samples (At War With False Noise) cd 5.00
**SALE **SALE* *SALE**
Some of you probably already know Sloth, a mysterious band of Midwestern sludgelords who in the past shared splits with folks like Corrupted, Grief, Upsidedown Cross, Floor, Noothgrush and Grief, and sonically, these guys were a pretty perfect fit amidst such illustrious company, but even back in the day, the sound of Sloth was a bit cracked, a bit demented, hints of some serious psychosis lurking beneath their lurching, downtuned exterior.
Surprisingly, this is their first full length EVER, but maybe not so surprisingly, given a whole cd to stretch out on, the weirdness factor is through the roof. This is most definitely not a proper sludge record, although there are some seriously sludge-y moments. There's also lots of weirdo rock, a bit of classic sounding grunge, some Amrep style postpunk noise, some cracked pop, and some seriously what-the-fuck sonic action all over the place. It sounds a bit like a musical clusterfuck, and it sort of is, but in a good way, and all those disparate sounds sort of fitting together, like some musical Frankenstein's monster. Not to mention, as the title suggests, the record is split into 13 songs and 13 samples, with each sample, some as short as 4 seconds getting their own track.
So yeah, even with such an amazing sludge pedigree, we're not sure we would necessarily recommend this to those looking for something like Corrupted, Moss, Bunkur and the like. A Whole Other World Of Fun is more for folks who like their music, heavy, difficult, troublesome, confusional and very very very fucked up. Just have a listen to the sound samples and maybe it will start to make sense. Probably not though...
The record opens with some grungy redneck punk rock, somewhere between Scissorfight and Fucked Up, but with some killer riffing, some weird death metal grunts, and some awesome post rock-y breakdowns. The rest of the tracks are really all over the place, from creeping Slintish mathrock (complete with spoken word vocals) and a twisted howled banshee like chorus, to a super blown out space rock groove, with an ultra distorted riff, some bizarre vocals, and some haunting keyboards making it weirdly propulsive and a bit krauty, to a sea shanty forest folk sing along, to killer lo-fi buzzing indie rock, plodding primitive black metal and every stop in between. The only truly sludge-y track is "Pike Flower Shop", a lurching, stumbling ultradirge, but even then, it's peppered with weird electric organs, raspy vocals, and fucked up production. There's also a bit of a Ween vibe throughout the whole disc, that is if Ween were some sort of weirdo power violence band.
The record ends with a murky bass and drums plod, run through with buried in the mix group vocals, occasionally interrupted by a feral death metal howl, twice as loud as the rest of the music. Fucked up for sure, bizarre, but pretty damn cool. Which basically describes the whole record.
Way recommended, but only for folks with a twisted sense of humor and a taste for heavy, all-over-the-map weirdness.
NB. by the way, this band features none other than Derek Erdman, of "Kathy McGinty" fame!!
MPEG Stream: "The Wooleybear Looked At You?"
MPEG Stream: "A Night At The Park"
MPEG Stream: "UFO Zombies"
MPEG Stream: "Lagoons"

SLOTH The Voice of God (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.
Crushing and crusty Sabbath-y doom from the label that brought you Electric Wizard and Roachpowder. Maybe not as earth shattering as those, but definitely worth checking out if you dig that sort of thing.

SLOUGH FEG Hardworlder (Cruz Del Sur) cd 17.98
San Francisco heavy metallists Slough Feg (aka The Lord Weird Slough Feg), led by vocalist/guitarist Mike Scalzi, have built up a deserved cult following over the years, whom we guarantee will NOT be disappointed with the contents of their latest epic, eccentric metal opus Hardworlder, their sixth full-length album. Indeed, Slough Feg's fans should be quite thrilled. And with luck Hardworlder will recruit some new devotees to the cult of 'Feg as well, they deserve it 'cause nobody but nobody makes albums with this sort of peculiar panache anymore these days. Not since the '80s, or even the '70s, from whence the guitars of Hardworlder seem to hail, and there's a heckuva lot of guitar here... memorable riffs and virtuoso solos and Maiden-ized twin axe harmonies... guitars guitars guitars! It's evident that Slough Feg's latest revised lineup (which features a change of drummer, and "Don" Angelo Tringali of cult doomsters Cold Mourning replacing Hammers Of Misfortune's John Cobbett on second lead guitar) has if anything only enhanced the "guitariness" of this band, as if that was imaginable. The Scalzi/Tringali dual guitar teamwork is phenomenal, and both guys peel off leads left and right, not just to impress with the notes they can play but because they simply can't contain their love for the raw beauty that can flow from fully cranked Gibson Les Pauls. They've got the power, and the responsibility, to play like they've taken up the torch of every great heavy metal band from the '70s and the '80s that's fallen by the wayside...
This album's title is a word they coined themselves, referring to the idea of a space-travelling adventurer bumming around on a rough planet in a bad part of the galaxy, a loner toughened by life on a "hard world" -- typified by Gully Foyle, the protagonist of sci-fi author Alfred Bester's 1956 classic The Stars My Destination (read it sez Allan and Andee!!). A book and character which provides the inspiration for the track "Tiger! Tiger!" as well as for the Kirby-esque comic-book illustration that graces this album's cover.
Interestingly, if you Google "Hardworlder", you'll find that Slough Feg managed to come up with a term that ONLY exists in connection with this album. You'll find their website, their MySpace page, their Wikipedia page, the review of Hardworlder in last week's Village Voice (yes, strangely enough, right next to the new Pharoahe Monch and Smashing Pumpkins -- how'd that happen??? The Village Voice says, "Badass sci-fi metal that it's finally cool to listen to"...we've been telling folks that for years...). You might also run across someone else's MySpace page, who goes by the handle Hardworlder -- but it turns out it belongs to an Australian university student who's a huge Slough Feg fanatic. He's gonna be happy when he hears this!
The album's opening one-two punch is hard to beat: the relentless build-up of adrenaline instrumental "The Return Of Dr. Universe" which leads us breathless into the impactful majesty of "Tiger! Tiger!", destined to be considered an instant classic in the Slough Feg canon we're sure!
But the rest of the album is up to that mighty task -- the majesty continues with midtempo maritime lament "The Sea Wolf", and thence through to the doomy riffs of the album's title track, and onward... Hardworlder seems to possess an anthemic, sweeping, saddened grandeur, a more uniform overall feel than its shorter and more schizo predecessor Atavism, although you'll find that Slough Feg sashay down all the (un)usual skyways and byways you might expect from them. The manly, melodic doom-paced epics coexist here with rollicking '70s styled hard rockers (such as "Frankfurt-Hahn Airport Blues", obviously a nod to Atavism's equally boogie-riffed "Starport Blues"). "Insomnia" starts off Thin Lizzyish to the max, but halfway through the band rides into the Halls Of Manowar, and a wordless Viking chorus rings out... The galloping requiem of the psychological tragedy "Poisoned Treasures" (reprised from their split 7" with Bible Of The Devil) will get stuck in your head, as will much more on this impossibly catchy album... And one of our favorite tracks here is the lengthy show-stopping instrumental "Galactic Nomad", with an almost-Allmans level of gorgeous guitar interplay, that could illicit a "we're not worthy" from The Fucking Champs themselves.
And while Hardworlder's obviously working the science fiction angle that proved popular for 'em on their concept album Traveller, it also serves up ye olde Celtic folk in the Slough Feg tradition -- in fact, one of the two (2) cover songs here is a version of "Dearg Doom" by '70s Irish folk-rockers Horslips. The other cover is "Street Jammer", originally by '80s American epic metal weirdists Manilla Road. Both are tributes to Slough Feg's influences in a general, not specific sense, since we happen to know that they'd never heard either band until years and years after Slough Feg's inception. Speaking of influences, if you listen close to "Street Jammer" you'll hear some Chuck Berry licks thrown in not found on the original... and we'll also note that Slough Feg deliberately selected an early Manilla Road song, that's a lot more hot rockin' than what people usually think of in connection with that band. Further, while we're usually more into covers that DON'T sound so much like the originals, in the case of these two songs it's OK that they do since a) they're pretty obscure and b) both still totally sound like Slough Feg could have written them.
Ok, we're rambling, and you get the idea... Hardworlder is another ripping masterwork from a band that will either dominate your metal-addled mind, or you just won't get. We hope you do. 'Nuff said.
MPEG Stream: "Tiger! Tiger!"
MPEG Stream: "Frankfurt-Hahn Airport Blues"
MPEG Stream: "Dearg Doom"

SLOUGH FEG Hardworlder (Iron Kodex) lp 24.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
NOW ON VINYL!!! Super limited, numbered (500 copies) black vinyl, imported from Germany. We only have a handful. Packaged in a gatefold sleeve with lyric sheet insert and a black and white sticker of the Gully Foyle character on the cover. Here's what we said about the cd version when it came out last year:
San Francisco heavy metallists Slough Feg (aka The Lord Weird Slough Feg), led by vocalist/guitarist Mike Scalzi, have built up a deserved cult following over the years, whom we guarantee will NOT be disappointed with the contents of their latest epic, eccentric metal opus Hardworlder, their sixth full-length album. Indeed, Slough Feg's fans should be quite thrilled. And with luck Hardworlder will recruit some new devotees to the cult of 'Feg as well, they deserve it 'cause nobody but nobody makes albums with this sort of peculiar panache anymore these days. Not since the '80s, or even the '70s, from whence the guitars of Hardworlder seem to hail, and there's a heckuva lot of guitar here... memorable riffs and virtuoso solos and Maiden-ized twin axe harmonies... guitars guitars guitars! It's evident that Slough Feg's latest revised lineup (which features a change of drummer, and "Don" Angelo Tringali of cult doomsters Cold Mourning replacing Hammers Of Misfortune's John Cobbett on second lead guitar) has if anything only enhanced the "guitariness" of this band, as if that was imaginable. The Scalzi/Tringali dual guitar teamwork is phenomenal, and both guys peel off leads left and right, not just to impress with the notes they can play but because they simply can't contain their love for the raw beauty that can flow from fully cranked Gibson Les Pauls. They've got the power, and the responsibility, to play like they've taken up the torch of every great heavy metal band from the '70s and the '80s that's fallen by the wayside...
This album's title is a word they coined themselves, referring to the idea of a space-travelling adventurer bumming around on a rough planet in a bad part of the galaxy, a loner toughened by life on a "hard world" -- typified by Gully Foyle, the protagonist of sci-fi author Alfred Bester's 1956 classic The Stars My Destination (read it sez Allan and Andee!!). A book and character which provides the inspiration for the track "Tiger! Tiger!" as well as for the Kirby-esque comic-book illustration that graces this album's cover.
Interestingly, if you Google "Hardworlder", you'll find that Slough Feg managed to come up with a term that ONLY exists in connection with this album. You'll find their website, their MySpace page, their Wikipedia page, the review of Hardworlder in last week's Village Voice (yes, strangely enough, right next to the new Pharoahe Monch and Smashing Pumpkins -- how'd that happen??? The Village Voice says, "Badass sci-fi metal that it's finally cool to listen to"...we've been telling folks that for years...). You might also run across someone else's MySpace page, who goes by the handle Hardworlder -- but it turns out it belongs to an Australian university student who's a huge Slough Feg fanatic. He's gonna be happy when he hears this!
The album's opening one-two punch is hard to beat: the relentless build-up of adrenaline instrumental "The Return Of Dr. Universe" which leads us breathless into the impactful majesty of "Tiger! Tiger!", destined to be considered an instant classic in the Slough Feg canon we're sure!
But the rest of the album is up to that mighty task -- the majesty continues with midtempo maritime lament "The Sea Wolf", and thence through to the doomy riffs of the album's title track, and onward... Hardworlder seems to possess an anthemic, sweeping, saddened grandeur, a more uniform overall feel than its shorter and more schizo predecessor Atavism, although you'll find that Slough Feg sashay down all the (un)usual skyways and byways you might expect from them. The manly, melodic doom-paced epics coexist here with rollicking '70s styled hard rockers (such as "Frankfurt-Hahn Airport Blues", obviously a nod to Atavism's equally boogie-riffed "Starport Blues"). "Insomnia" starts off Thin Lizzyish to the max, but halfway through the band rides into the Halls Of Manowar, and a wordless Viking chorus rings out... The galloping requiem of the psychological tragedy "Poisoned Treasures" (reprised from their split 7" with Bible Of The Devil) will get stuck in your head, as will much more on this impossibly catchy album... And one of our favorite tracks here is the lengthy show-stopping instrumental "Galactic Nomad", with an almost-Allmans level of gorgeous guitar interplay, that could illicit a "we're not worthy" from The Fucking Champs themselves.
And while Hardworlder's obviously working the science fiction angle that proved popular for 'em on their concept album Traveller, it also serves up ye olde Celtic folk in the Slough Feg tradition -- in fact, one of the two (2) cover songs here is a version of "Dearg Doom" by '70s Irish folk-rockers Horslips. The other cover is "Street Jammer", originally by '80s American epic metal weirdists Manilla Road. Both are tributes to Slough Feg's influences in a general, not specific sense, since we happen to know that they'd never heard either band until years and years after Slough Feg's inception. Speaking of influences, if you listen close to "Street Jammer" you'll hear some Chuck Berry licks thrown in not found on the original... and we'll also note that Slough Feg deliberately selected an early Manilla Road song, that's a lot more hot rockin' than what people usually think of in connection with that band. Further, while we're usually more into covers that DON'T sound so much like the originals, in the case of these two songs it's OK that they do since a) they're pretty obscure and b) both still totally sound like Slough Feg could have written them.
Ok, we're rambling, and you get the idea... Hardworlder is another ripping masterwork from a band that will either dominate your metal-addled mind, or you just won't get. We hope you do. 'Nuff said.
MPEG Stream: "Tiger! Tiger!"
MPEG Stream: "Frankfurt-Hahn Airport Blues"
MPEG Stream: "Dearg Doom"

SLOUGH FEG, THE LORD WEIRD / SOLSTICE split picture disc (Doomed Planet) 7" 5.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Here's one for metal vinyl collectors: a picture disc single featuring local heavy metal heroes The Lord Weird Slough Feg on one side, and epic British doom-lords Solstice on the other, each covering a tune by Manowar! (An admitted influence on the Brits, if not Slough Feg, although you'd be forgiven for thinking otherwise). The Solstice side, featuring their super-heavy version of "Gloves of Metal", boasts high-school binder worthy pen-and-ink fantasy artwork from Twisted Tower Dire's Scott Waldrop. The Slough Feg side, on which they do one of Manowar's earlier, KISS-like tunes "Fasttaker", steals its art from the box for the Death Sport videotape. Play it at 45 (it's a 33) and singer Mike Scalzi's deeper-than-usual vocals actually end up in the range of the original's Eric Adams vox! And oh yeah, Death To False Metal!

SNARES (VENETIAN SNARES) Sabbath Dubs (Kriss) 10" 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
It's pretty impossible to argue with a dubstep version of Black Sabbath, especially when it sounds this good. Who would have thought that Sabbath would sound so right all dubbed out and slowed down? Venetian Snares, that's who. And on this super limited 10", there's no skitter or drill and bass, nope, just pure, simple bass heavy dubstep, wrapped around two classic Sabbath tracks. It sounds so goddamn good it's another one of those records that just makes us wonder why there aren't any bands who actually sound like this?!?
The A side is all slithery echoey beats, dubbed out and laid back, huge low end throbs, buzzing bass lines, Ozzy's reverbed wail draped over the top, a strangely stoned and FX doused version of "Black Sabbath", the guitars looped and stretched out, that tolling church bell all chopped up and sent spinning into the darkness, like a dubby snare, the whole thing just so dark and moody and groovy and amazing sounding.
The flip side starts off sounding like some straight up dubstep, blissed out and druggy, fuzzy and distorted, skeletal and bass heavy until the vocals kick in, and suddenly it's some fucked up and dubbed out take on "Electric Funeral". An absolute and total dancefloor destroyer for sure. Even the metal head wallflowers are tapping their feet and subtly banging their heads...
Pressed on marbled green vinyl, housed in a plain black sleeve, and pretty ridiculously limited.

SOCRATES DRANK THE CONIUM On The Wings (Polydor, Greece) cd 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Not a new (re)release, but newly in stock here at AQ. Another one for all you fans of '70s proto-metal hard rock, one of Allan's faves (hence, we got some in when we got the chance). Socrates Drank The Conium were a Greek band, and "On The Wings" was their third album, originally issued in 1973. Psychedelic hard blues rock with ragged, rough-edged English vocals, and -- this is key -- UTTERLY RIPPING twin electric guitar. Definitely an early milestone in heavy acid rock guitar shred. Vangelis later joined this band, but you'd never guess there was any New Age connection from this kick ass album. The songs twist and snake around, with rockin' and doomy riffs, dual guitar harmonies, and crazy leads -- both guitarists playing entirely different, complex licks that somehow meld perfectly. Brilliant stuff. Kinda progressive and utterly powerful. None other than Julian Cope has described this as sounding "a lot like SABBATH VOLUME 4 with Family's Roger Chapman singing". So, if past AQ-reviews of bands like Night Sun, Toad, Wishbone Ash, Flower Travellin' Band, I Teoremi, Tractor, etc. have resulted in successful music purchase/listening experiences for you, then you certainly might want to give this Socrates Drank The Conium album a try. Of course, we only have a few in stock, so please be ready to be patient if/when we run out...
MPEG Stream: "Death Is Gonna Die"

SOL Black Cloud Of Becoming (Golem Tapes) cassette 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Latest from this Danish doomlord, whose last record, Let There Be A Massacre, was a huge hit around here, sure we hauled out the extra o's, it was supremely dooooooooooomy after all, but not sludgey funereal ultradoom, it was more a classic doom, with soaring and majestic melodies, proper songs, not just huge slabs of black rumble (not that we don't love that too). This new one though, actually starts off with some super minimal dronemusic, all layered tones and undulating swells of low end, atmospheric and ambient, it's not until about 5 minutes in, when something other than low end surfaces, but instead of a blast of doomy crush, it's an accordion / harmonium, emitting yet more drones, but these melodic and melancholy, drifting atop that sea of roiling blackness, and then when the church organ comes in, it's epic and intense, the sound so powerful and haunting, the whole first side of the tape, this gorgeous bit of blackened almost folky ambience.
But then flip it over, and that's where the doom comes in, a massive, crushing, lumbering slab of howled anguished depressive doom, the vocals a throat shredding yowl, over the downtuned churn of the guitar, and the Teutonic pound of the drums, all underpinned by atmospheric synths, the sound does shift into something more melodic, all spidery melodies and almost post rocky arrangement, before slipping right back into more abject doom. The track continually drifts between the two, before finally bleeding into the final track, which begins all wheezing organ drone and simple drum plod, hypnotic and weirdly krautrocky (reminding us actually of that Tony Conrad and Faust collaboration, so much so we sort of wished it kept doing that for the entirety of the song), until the guitars and vocals kick in, but instead of getting super doomy, the guitar is weirdly twangy, the vibe almost like a doomy Morricone, the shrieked vox the only concession to true doom, otherwise it would sound like some weird sort of Scenic / Barn Owl hybrid. Weird and quite cool.
LIMITED TO 50 COPIES! Packaged in a gorgeously printed textured paper J-card, the tape held shut by a printed Japanese style obi.
MPEG Stream: "Womb"
MPEG Stream: "Yielding To The Sound Of Clouds"

SOLACE Hammerhead (Land O'Smile) 10" 5.98
We haven't heard from East Coast stoner rockers Solace for ages, but fuck if they don't sound better than ever. This three song 10" is an absolute killer. The first track is a cover of "Hammerhead" by early seventies prog outfit Rare Bird, and it somehow comes out sounding more like some NWOBHM classic, all groovy riffs and killer leads, an incredible hook and great vocals. The second track is an original and is way heavier and meaner, with howled vocals, cool harmonic breakdowns and a more fuzzed out aggressive feel. The funny thing about that song is the riff is dangerously similar to one of our favorite metal songs ever, "Warriors Of Genghis Khan" by Bad News, the Spinal Tap like alter ego of UK comedy troop the Young Ones. Amazed that no metal band has covered it yet.
The B side is a super stretched out version of Link Wray's "Rumble" which might be the Ur-song of all heavy metal, even though it's a rockabilly instrumental. But somehow here it also ends up sounding like a New Wave Of British Heavy Metal band, maybe like some rad Iron Maiden outtake, with tons of amazing guitar leads, in fact the whole second half of the track is nothing but dueling leads. So killer!
Cool painting on the cover, horses, warriors, swords and bloodied bodies. Also bonus points for one of the best label logos ever, a parody of the Land O Lakes logo, but with the Indian squaw holding a huge skull instead of a box of butter!

SOLARIZED Neanderthal Speedway (Man's Ruin) cd 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
A perfectly titled album in which 4 longhaired stoners jam on low-IQ thud rock loaded with huge riffs and solos. Pretty soon, you're liking it. Members of Monster Magnet, dude.

SOLID GROUND Made In Rock (Mellotronen) cd 17.98
Kick ass '70s proto-metal awesomeness alert! This Swedish band, who only managed one self-released LP back in 1976, combined hard rock panache with rough-edged rawness. This cd reissue is one we've been waiting for! Seriously, every time we do an order with the Mellotronen label over in Sweden (they're the folks responsible for that Charlie & Esdor reissue we love so much, among other things), we've been asking 'em, when are you gonna repress the Solid Ground? A cd reissue of Solid Ground's extremely rare Made In Rock album was actually the first thing their label ever did, but it had been out of print for years. Well, finally they got some bonus tracks rounded up and now present us with a new, deluxe version, in a digipack with liner notes from the band and all!
It's a powerful mix of all things cool about rock in the '70s, from the swinging stoner boogie of Sabbath and Budgie and UFO to the glammy uber-catchiness of KISS and The Sweet to the melodic guitar heroics of Thin Lizzy... all done with almost punkish, sassy attitude and energy.
And they've got some excellent, evocative of the era lyrics too, like these: "In the evening they go to discoteques / and drink champagne and listen to T-Rex / boys and girls look at each other / nothing happens no action no reactions" from the song "This Bloody Town". Meanwhile the production is in-your-face, plenty of distortion and reverb. HEAVY. Only 200 copies of the vinyl album were ever made, and the band eventually broke up in the wake of disco fever, a shame.
The 8 added bonus tracks include the two songs from Solid Ground's sole single, two more from the 1974 single by pre-Solid Ground band 4-EVER, plus four -new- tracks recorded in 2006 that aren't half-bad... harking back to their old sound with one foot in more modern grunginess (due to having new, younger singer perhaps). It's neat that they're playing again anyway -- we sure wish we could have made it over to Mellotronen's big 20th anniversary bash last January which featured not just these guys but also the reunited likes of Mecki Mark Men, November, Life, Flasket Brinner and others!! Wow.
NB. this Solid Ground are not to be confused with krautrockers My Solid Ground, another band from the '70s we love.
MPEG Stream: "Saturday Rae (Handrock)"
MPEG Stream: "Tombstone Kiss"

SOLITUDE AETURNUS Into The Depths Of Sorrow (Brainticket) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
EPIC DOOM METAL. Nothing else better describes this band, the semi-legendary Solitude Aeturnus from Texas. In 1991 they debuted with this instant classic release. Back then, and even now, not too many bands were doing this style of metal. Heavy, slow, and emotive, with soaring guitar lines and equally soaring vocals, wailing in melodic, melancholic metal majesty, backed by the sheer weight of riff after massive riff. Candlemass (and by way of them, Dio-era Black Sabbath) were the obvious role models, along with Trouble, Witchfinder General, and a handful of others. Solitude Aeturnus are still with us today, but their first album was perhaps their best. Anyone who digs Candlemass -- not to mention the cultish likes of Solstice, Doomsword, Memory Garden, Thunderstorm, While Heaven Wept and other practicioners of EPIC DOOM METAL -- probably needs to have this album in their collection, and now it has been at last reissued by Solitude Aeturnus guitarist John Perez's own Brainticket label. He deliberately chose not to "remaster" it, preferring to retain the album's original feel, but this disc does add three bonus tracks that will make fans drool.
MPEG Stream: "Where Angels Dare To Tread"
MPEG Stream: "Mirror Of Sorrow (demo version)"

SOLLUBI At War With Decency (Choking Hazard) cd 13.98
Another slab of crushing doomy filthiness from the Choking Hazard label, who we first heard about via that kick ass Ghast / Yoga split, and who also just released the Moloch cd reviewed elsewhere on this list.
Choking Hazard definitely have their niche, barring the anomaly of the Ghast / Yoga, it seems to be sludgey stonery crusty downtuned distorted drenched doom, whether it's groovy Eyehategod churn and crush, or pounding relentless ultrasludge, they got it covered.
Hard to tell where Midwestern quartet Sollubi fall, they veer chaotically from super slow sludge, to pounding almost AmRep style noiserock, even a bit of drugged out space rock, often careening back and forth between the three in a single song.
There's only three songs, but two of them clock in at over twenty minutes, the songs lock into pounding head banging grooves, seemingly looped, so hypnotic and heavy, "The White Witch" even adds some squiggly space-y effects, making it like the HEAVIEST space rock outro ever, and the outro lasts nearly 10 minutes. The title track is nearly a half hour of slow burning lope, the first half almost pretty, like a sludgey Low, until the song slips into some filthy slithery Killdozery chug, totally channeling old school Midwest thudrock, before spacing out and getting more and more abstract, slower and doomier, until the track finally, and begrudgingly, lurches to a halt. Awesome.
MPEG Stream: "In Violation"
MPEG Stream: "The White Witch"

SOLSTICE Lamentations (Candlelight) cd 14.98
First album (from '94) by Albion's masters of epic Celtic/cosmic doom metal. It's nothing compared to their more recent masterpiece "New Dark Age" but if you're a fan already, check out their plenty heavy beginnings. Reissued with the artwork altered to look more like that of "New Dark Age" -- a pretty cheesy move on the part of their old record label!

SOLSTICE New Dark Age (Misanthropy) cd 15.98
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From England, the second album by these champions of true, epic DOOM metal. Very metal indeed, with guitar harmonies, sad Celtic-folk motifs, clean vocals, and lyrical themes of weird fantasy. Massively heavy, sombre, and melodically grand. This totally grew on me, becoming one of my favorite metal records of the past year (sez Allan). In fact, Allan would go so far as to say that this is one of the best metal albums EVER.

SOLSTICE New Dark Age (Cyclone Empire) cd 17.98
Originally released back in 1998 on the fabled Misanthropy label, this terminal masterpiece from England's truest champions of epic DOOM, Solstice (R.I.P.?), has now at long last been reissued, with two bonus tracks to boot. Old fans can take pleasure in purchasing this again (because it's an album so good, you'll WANT to buy it twice, so maybe you can fool yourself into that feeling of hearing it for the first time) and those that missed it the first go-round now have a chance to prove themselves as discerning metalheads.
When we first reviewed this, we said it was a grower. A record we came to consider one of the best of that year, of any year. In the near-decade since, this has only gained greater stature. In the realm of true metal, of epic metal, of doom metal, of pagan metal, of just plain pure heavy metal -- we proclaim New Dark Age to be an all-time classic. And believe us, few other albums from the late nineties qualify in that regard.
Such riffs. Such sheer heaviness -- heaviness that actually seems to be signifying something. Such FEELING. This is possibly the apex of epic doom. The guitar leads and harmonies are to die for, the sad Celtic-folk motifs and Lovecraftian lyrics of weird fantasy argue for an ancient intellect at work. The clean, somewhat delicate vocals of Morris Ingram and his abstruse vocabulary ("vermivorous", "tervous", "perpetuum", "axiom abhorrent, protean triumvirate"?) are at first a bit odd, but ultimately utterly fitting with the sombre and arcane, monolithic and melodically grand mood of this album. Certainly his performance on the acoustic "Blackthorne" would make any fan of '70s Brit-folk weep, while the other, fully amped tracks will make headbangers ready to both shed tears and storm the proverbial castle.
FYI, the bonus cuts consist of two NWOBMH covers ("The Prophecy" by Iron Maiden and "Stormchild" by Trespass). Cylcone Empire has also reissued Solstice's two prior discs, Lamentations and Halcyon, just like this one remastered, with bonuses, new liner notes and layout. We've got those as well and will get 'em listed when we can -- they're good too but THIS is definitely Solstice's finest.
Have we really heard the last of Solstice? Rumor has it that guitarist Rich Walker is assembling a new line-up, possibly featuring the singer from Primordial, to do a new album. If it actually happens we'll be eager to hear it, though it's hard to imagine they could ever top this!
MPEG Stream: "Hammer Of Damnation"
MPEG Stream: "Cimmerian Codex"
MPEG Stream: "Cromlech"

SOLSTICE New Dark Age (Buried By Time And Dust) 2lp 36.00
Wow! Now on vinyl, one of Allan's favorite metal albums EVER. Released in style by the same label responsible for the recent Witchfinder General box set, and Pagan Altar lps. This is equally worthy of their deluxe vinyl reissue treatment, and we mean DELUXE... super heavy duty gatefold sleeve, gorgeous cover with metallic blue lettering, and thick solid vinyl. Nice! And LIMITED, of course.
Here's what we said about the cd reissue a while back, and yes the vinyl does include the same two bonus tracks...
Originally released back in 1998 on the fabled Misanthropy label, this terminal masterpiece from England's truest champions of epic DOOM, Solstice (R.I.P.?), has now at long last been reissued, with two bonus tracks to boot. Old fans can take pleasure in purchasing this again (because it's an album so good, you'll WANT to buy it twice, so maybe you can fool yourself into that feeling of hearing it for the first time) and those that missed it the first go-round now have a chance to prove themselves as discerning metalheads.
When we first reviewed this, we said it was a grower. A record we came to consider one of the best of that year, of any year. In the near-decade since, this has only gained greater stature. In the realm of true metal, of epic metal, of doom metal, of pagan metal, of just plain pure heavy metal - we proclaim New Dark Age to be an all-time classic. And believe us, few other albums from the late nineties qualify in that regard.
Such riffs. Such sheer heaviness - heaviness that actually seems to be signifying something. Such FEELING. This is possibly the apex of epic doom. The guitar leads and harmonies are to die for, the sad Celtic-folk motifs and Lovecraftian lyrics of weird fantasy argue for an ancient intellect at work. The clean, somewhat delicate vocals of Morris Ingram and his abstruse vocabulary ("vermivorous", "tervous", "perpetuum", "axiom abhorrent, protean triumvirate"?) are at first a bit odd, but ultimately utterly fitting with the sombre and arcane, monolithic and melodically grand mood of this album. Certainly his performance on the acoustic "Blackthorne" would make any fan of '70s Brit-folk weep, while the other, fully amped tracks will make headbangers ready to both shed tears and storm the proverbial castle.
FYI, the bonus cuts consist of two NWOBMH covers ("The Prophecy" by Iron Maiden and "Stormchild" by Trespass).
We're still waiting to hear more from Solstice, rumors have abounded for years that guitarist Rich Walker (who also has played in Pagan Altar, by the way) has a new lineup for Solstice and is working on a new album, we'll believe it when we see it, and we want to... though we doubt they could ever top this!
MPEG Stream: "Hammer Of Damnation"
MPEG Stream: "Cimmerian Codex"
MPEG Stream: "Cromlech"

SONIC FLOWER Heavy Sonic & Flower Groove (Leaf Hound) cd 13.98
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A super fuzzed out, drug addled psychedelic 25 minute blast of flower power stoner rock from Japan. Huge riffs that groove and slither like the best sun baked stoner rock you've heard (Kyuss, Nebula, Fu Manchu). Not super original, but who cares when it's this groovy and this heavy and this rocking. All instrumental, so there's no vocals to muck up the works. Features members of serial killer obsessed Japanese stoner-sludge lords Church of Misery. One of those rare metal records that everybody here at AQ seems to dig.
MPEG Stream: "Cosmic Highway"
MPEG Stream: "Black Sunshine"

SONS OF OTIS Exiled (Small Stone) cd 13.98
Reliable sorts these Canadians are, aren't they? The Sons Of Otis are back, and fans (like us!) of their monolithic stoner rock / blues / doom will not be disappointed. It's all here on their fifth full-length album. Lumbering fuzzed out riffs, check. Spacey electronic atmospheres, check. Glacial pace, check. Psychedelic soloing, check. Heavier than thou jamming, check. Feedback, check. Gravelly, effects-laden, echoey vocals, check. Drugs, check (we're pretty sure!). They even continue their tradition of including super stoned sounding cover versions of classic tracks by their old school influences, this time 'round giving the Sons Of Otis treatment to two faves: Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Cry For The Bad Man" (here titled "Bad Man") and Motorhead's "Iron Horse"! In both cases it's like the original has been dipped in tar, dosed with drugs, and slowed down to 16rpm, especially "Iron Horse" which segues into a billowing dense ambient drone definitely not derived from the original Motorhead composition, the whole track lasting over 18 minutes!
The Otis originals here will (slowly) kick yr ass too. "Haters" starts things off with a scowl, and they don't lighten up much... later on "Tales Of Otis" enters into almost Khanate-like ultra-doom territory, and it's hard to tell if Sons Of Otis are trying to take off into outer space or burrow deep into the earth. Definitely (as always) for fans of UFOmammut, Electric Wizard, Boris... and for folks who'd like to know what it would sound like if Monster Magnet mated with the Melvins.
It's hard to know what else to say, either you're a fan of this and every other Sons Of Otis album, or you need to take more drugs.
MPEG Stream: "Lost Soul"
MPEG Stream: "Bad Man"

SONS OF OTIS Songs for Worship (The Music Cartel) cd 14.98
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Massive, spacey, druggy stoner rock -- for a visual analogy, imagine the big black alien monolith from 2001 if it was actually a giant space-bong. This Canadian band follows up their Man's Ruin releases ("Templeball" being one of the heavier highlights of the Man's Ruin catalog) with this new disc on TMC, where they fit in perfectly with another weed-worshiping, doomy TMC act, the mighty (stoned) Electric Wizard! Indeed, if Monster Magnet and Electric Wizard got really wasted (not unlikely) and jammed together with everything running through all possible effects, cranked way up, it might sound like this... Although the ancient stone statue on this album's cover makes it look like a Ruins disc, their music couldn't be further from that band's brand of hyperactive mayhem -- no hundred-riff medleys here! No, it's slow and low all the way. They interpret Hendrix' "In From The Storm", keeping up their tradition of paying respects to past masters ("Templeball" featured Saint Vitus and Mountain covers). Again: massive.
RealAudio clip: "Losin' It"
RealAudio clip: "In From The Storm"

SONS OF OTIS Spacejumbofudge (Man's Ruin) cd 12.98
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SONS OF OTIS Templeball (Man's Ruin) cd 11.98
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From the barren tundra to the north (Toronto), comes the Sons Of Otis (formerly just Otis); lumbering heaviosity shackled to stoned and droned spaciness. Think the Melvins, Black Sabbath, Hawkwind. Take just the spaced out jams from Monster Magnet songs, stretch them out even further, add even more fuzz and echo, and voila. And, they cover both Mountain and Saint Vitus!!

SONS OF OTIS X (Small Stone) cd 14.98
Worshippers of all that is heavy, get ready for the return of Canada's stoner ambassadors, the Sons Of Otis! Their new, fourth album, simply titled X (which I guess could be the Roman numeral ten, but would that make any sense?), is another dose of their, uh, stoned spacey blues-based psychedelic heavy drug-rawk... good stuff for fans of Monster Magnet, Hawkwind, Ufomammut, and the doomier likes of Electric Wizard and St. Vitus!
With heavily effected vocals (is the singer even in there somewhere we start to wonder?), Orange amps vibrating in the void, riffage reverberating raw and run-down, this is stoner rock at its darkest and most dazedly wandering, slow and plodding. Is there life in outer space? It's hard to tell from this record. Recorded by (of course) Billy Anderson, this album ends with a fourteen-minute opus that seems even longer, not that you'll want it to end, entitled "Liquid Jam". It is indeed. Not that there's any *short* songs on here at all. X also includes includes their superbly slo-mo, Funhouse-ish cover of "The Pusher" by Steppenwolf (previously on a picture disc 10" they did a few years ago, but this may be a new version though), further underlining, however needlessly, the band's heavy '60s psych/drug direction.
Yup, dunno who Otis is, but if these are his kids, he obviously failed to have that parental say no to drugs talk with 'em...
MPEG Stream: "Way I Feel"
MPEG Stream: "Help Me"

SORCERER s/t (Forged In Fire / Brainticket ) cd 12.98
Ok, well if the world really ends this weekend ("Judgment Day" Saturday May 21st y'know) then I think THIS is what we plan to be listening to, and loud, when the Christians get Rapturously sucked up to heaven leaving the rest of us to deal with God's wrath or whatever. Hella epic doom metal here folks, it'd make the perfect soundtrack to all that apocalypse... This cd is a remastered reissue of the two cult cassette demos done by this Swedish band back in the day (circa 1989 and 1992), almost 80 minutes of music in total. Majestic, massive, mystical, and as you might expect, manna to Candlemass fans, this band's closest comparison.
Includes the song "Queen In Black", typical of Sorcerer's grandiose, dramatic style, one that was covered by modern day Puerto Rican epic doom metal mavens Dantesco on a recent release reviewed here, you may recall. And speaking of covers, this disc contains one too, an impressive take on Rainbow's classic "Stargazer", with Sorcerer's vocalist ably acquitting himself in the Ronnie James Dio role.
This edition (nicer than the cd compilation done in 1995) includes new liner notes from long time Sorcerer fan John Perez, of equally epic doomsters Solitude Aeturnus (a big enough fan to have reissued this on his own label Brainticket!). Lyrics also included in the cd booklet, along with art from the original cassettes.
So if you dig old school, melodic metal with leaden riffage, squiggly guitar solos, the occasional tolling bell, and - most significantly perhaps - soaring, cathedral-spire-ascending vocals, a la Candlemass, Solitude Aeturnus, Dantesco, Savatage, Memory Garden, etc., then Sorcerer is a definite must-have. Too bad they broke up after making these two tapes (which sound fantastic, by the way, not at all like "demos"), no doubt on account of how this style wasn't terribly in vogue at the time... but apparently now they've reformed and have been playing some European festivals, so maybe there will be more to the Sorcerer discography sometime soon. Well, long as Saturday isn't really Judgment Day, that is!
MPEG Stream: "The Sorcerer"
MPEG Stream: "Northern Seas"
MPEG Stream: "Queen In Black"

SOURVEIN Emerald Vulture (This Dark Reign) cd ep 14.98
This is the first we've heard from Southern sludgesters Sourvein since guitarist Liz Buckingham left the band to join Electric Wizard, and also since Hurricane Katrina fucked up their hometown. But now the survivors in Sourvein got it together to dish out these four new tracks (recorded in Virginia), and also they go on to promise in the liner notes that "New Orleans Will Rise Again!"
Though an ep, Emerald Vulture nears the half-hour mark, in part 'cause track four delves into some extended power electronics noise territory before it's over. That sort of droning nastiness makes perfect sense coming from Sourvein, who aim to maim with both brutal riffage and vicious vokills as well... they're definitely on the negative side of an already fairly negative genre, and who can blame 'em? So if you find, say, Corrupted too happy, here you go! That's a joke, of course, but seriously we're digging Emerald Vulture's blend of Bongzilla/Electric Wizard styled dope-lope riffs and utter Khanatesque darkness...
Of course, post-Katrina we've been concerned about the Crescent City and its inhabitants for a lot of reasons, cultural heritage being just one of 'em. And while many folks associate New Orleans with music, they're probably thinking jazz and zydeco, but you may also know that NOLA is/was home to a satan's host of sludge/doom/dirge bands, foremost among them the pioneering EYEHATEGOD. And if you like EHG, you're pretty much already a guaranteed Sourvein fan too. So it's good to know that NOLA's sludge/doom/dirge tradition continues...
MPEG Stream: "Emerald Vulture"
MPEG Stream: "Heart Of Ebon"

SOURVEIN Ghetto Angel (This Dark Reign) cd 14.98

SOURVEIN Will To Mangle (Southern Lord) cd 13.98
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BLEAAAARGH! DOOOOOOM!! Southern Lord strikes again with the new, Billy Anderson produced disc from Louisiana doom-squad Sourvein. Now featuring the guitar of Liz from former NYC all-girl doomsters 13, Sourvein takes the crusty Eyehategod/Grief/Corrupted style of doomgrind to new highs (lows?). Well, maybe not new ones, but just as extreme. Darker and scarier than fellow heavies Bongzilla or High On Fire, Sourvein simultaneously give a nod to the Sabbathy '70s sounds of doom pioneers St. Vitus, while ratcheting up the brutality of their crashing, crushing riffs into modern extreme metal/punk territory and beyond. It's like someone got the Melvins really really angry, and they're trapped in cave, frothing at the mouth, ready to die and kill -- and for some reason, they're trying to play Sleep songs. What? Stay away from those drugs. You know what I'm talking about? Good, then you'll want "Will To Mangle".
RealAudio clip: "Bangleaf"
RealAudio clip: "Blizzard"

SPACEBOY Searching The Stone Library For The Green Page Of Illusion (Southern Lord) cd 13.98
Spaceboy is San Francisco's oddest avant-metallic combo, starting with their name (and album title) and going from there. They smoke a lot of pot and play music like prog rockers gone death metal. Actually it sounds like half the band is playing death metal or metalcore, the other half jamming out trippy space/stoner rock. Not surprisingly, ex-Champs member and massive Magma fan Adam Cantwell plays bass.
This, their second full-length (and first for SoCal's premier doom metal label, Southern Lord, home to SUNNO))), Khanate, Warhorse, Boris, etc.) clocks in at nearly an hour. There's eleven tracks, with every odd-numbered track being a brief, spacey instrumental interlude. The songs proper are super-heavy and dark, full of complex technical metal guitars & drums, distorted vox, and stoned drone ambience.
All we can do is cite a bunch of stuff that this seems influenced by or kinda reminds us of: Neurosis, Voivod, Meshuggah, Mahavishnu, Hawkwind, King Crimson, Today Is The Day, Old Man Gloom...
Listening to this, though, is like trying to peer through some nebular haze in a distant galaxy. It's going to take a while to fully understand the advanced calculus at work here. One thing we do understand: it's heavy!
RealAudio clip: "Eye Pillow"
RealAudio clip: "The Monsoon"

SPEED, GLUE & SHINKI s/t (Made In Japan Records) cd 21.00
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Sniffin & Snortin (parts 1 and 2!), Run & Hide, Bad Woman, Don't Say No, Wanna Take You Home...sound good? Those are some of the song titles on this classic women-and-drugs obsessed dumbo-rock Japanese psych album. It stars guitar whiz and massive stoner Shinki Chen (also of Foodbrain and oodles of other obscure Japanese psych outfits), bassist Masayoshi Kabe (from Food Brain too), and singing drummer Joey 'Pepe' Smith -- a Vietnam vet whom you might know from the Filipino band Juan De La Cruz, whose album "Shake Your Brains" is one of the few that tops this for sheer truly stoned rock retardation (a good thing). Too bad we can't get those in anymore. But you'll hear at least one of their tunes on this, the second SG&S album, originally released as a double LP in 1972, which we happen to like even better than their 1971 LP "Eve" though Mr. Julian Cope made that one a "record of the month" on his website Head Heritage. Anyway we have this one, not that one.
Speed, Glue & Shinki, as you might imagine from their name, were a goddamn weird, messed up, completely wacked heavy psych/blues/prog band. So messed up that this time out, guest musicans wrote (and performed?) most of it! But it doesn't matter. And even when Joey plugs in a Moog synth to do a whole LP side devoted to the Sun, Planets, Life, Moon, and Angels, this never ever remotely gets pretentious and proggy (not that we don't like proggy). It just can't. Speed Glue & Shinki are primal, so primal, too primal. At least one track hints at the Stooges, some others Zeppelin, while the rest approximates a brain-damaged James Gang. Record collector types might recall the fancy, expensive Shadoks LP reissue that was available a couple years ago for about two seconds. We were enthralled with the lovely tiger cover art and the ridiculous rock and have been hoping ever since to bring in a cd version, and at last we tracked down a few copies that we had to order from Sweden, so act fast for your Speed, Glue & Shinki fix if you think you want it.
MPEG Stream: "Red Doll"
MPEG Stream: "Song For An Angel"
MPEG Stream: "Search For Love"

SPIERS, CRESTON (HARVEY MILK) Yesterday's Parade / The Time Has Come (Southern Shelter) 7" 8.98
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Shame on anyone who somehow managed to miss the acoustic Harvey Milk instore, with HM frontman Creston Spiers tackling stripped down Milk tracks, Leonard Cohen covers, heck, he even covered "Three Is A Magic Number" from Schoolhouse Rock. Well this one is for those of you who blew it, or for those of you who didn't but still need more.
A super limited yellow vinyl 7", the second and supposedly last pressing, 300 copies, already sold out, we have about 30, of Creston Spiers from Harvey Milk performing acoustic, two originals, both awesome. And both sounding like could-have-been Harvey Milk tracks, or obscure Leonard Cohen covers, anyone at the instore knows exactly what we mean, his voice and way with melody is so distinctive, and owes quite a bit to Mr. Cohen. On these two tracks, Spiers' vocals are rough and ragged but still melodic, accompanied by stripped down steel string guitar, spare and melancholy, with slightly off kilter arrangements, the tone mournful and melancholy. Barring a recording of "Three Is A Magic Number" you couldn't hope for more.
Pressed on thick clear yellow vinyl, housed in a clear plastic PVC sleeve, limited to 300 copies, out of print, this is most likely your last chance...

SPIRIT CARAVAN Dreamwheel (MeteorCity) cdep 11.98
Not long after their excellent debut album Jug Fulla Sun, ex-Saint Vitus/The Obsessed frontman Wino and his new band (a.k.a. Shine) of stoner rock doomsters return with this equally smokin' 5-song ep. Great stuff. However, could the cover art be any worse?

SPIRIT CARAVAN Elusive Truth (Tolotta) cd 13.98
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Here's the eagerly-awaited second full-length slab of doom-groove from legendary guitarist and vocalist Wino (aka Scott Weinrich) and his band of stoner rock saviors/survivors Spirit Caravan. Like their 1999 debut "Jug Fulla Sun", this builds on the sound of Wino's previous downer-metal outfit The Obsessed (and his experience singing for psychedelic-punk doom-lords Saint Vitus back in the day) for some decidedly heavy ROCK action by veterans who really know what they're doing.
RealAudio clip: "Black Flower"
RealAudio clip: "Elusive Truth"

SPIRIT CARAVAN Elusive Truth (Tolotta) lp 10.98
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Here's the eagerly-awaited second full-length slab of doom-groove from legendary guitarist and vocalist Wino (aka Scott Weinrich) and his band of stoner rock saviors/survivors Spirit Caravan. Like their 1999 debut "Jug Fulla Sun", this builds on the sound of Wino's previous downer-metal outfit The Obsessed (and his experience singing for psychedelic-punk doom-lords Saint Vitus back in the day) for some decidedly heavy ROCK action by veterans who really know what they're doing.

SPIRIT CARAVAN Jug Fulla Sun (Tolotta) cd 10.98
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Scott "Wino" Weinrich (ex-Saint Vitus, The Obsessed) returns with his new stoner rock power trio (until recently, known as Shine). This, their debut full-length, was made possible by Joe "Wino's biggest fan" Lally of Fugazi's new label Tolotta. Doom, groove, riffs, Wino's trademark Ozzy-tinged vox: this is the real deal. On Allan's top ten for the year so far.

SPIRIT CARAVAN So Mortal Be (Tolotta) 7" 3.50
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Two new tracks from these stoner metal heroes. The A-side's "So Mortal Be" is typical rockin' Spirit Caravan fare, while on B-side "Undone Mind" bassist Dave Sherman takes over on vocals from Wino, his rougher, more wretched pipes fitting well with the song's doomier vibe. White vinyl by the way.

SPIRIT CARAVAN The Last Embrace (MeteorCity) 2cd 21.00
Joe Lally's Tolatta label sadly seems to have shuffled off this mortal coil (that's why we can't get those first two Dead Meadow albums anymore, too bad for new fans who came to that band via their debut on Matador this year) and Tolotta's flagship stoner rock outfit Spirit Caravan did the same, as well, with leader Scott "Wino" Weinrich moving on to new projects The Hidden Hand and Place Of Skulls, notching more bands on a resume that also includes The Obsessed and Saint Vitus. But demand remains for Spirit Caravan's two Tolotta albums so Meteor City has stepped in with this double cd that combines 'em into one neat package -- plus bonus material that makes this essential for completists even if they've already got the original albums. Perhaps Meteor City will arrange to do the same with the Dead Meadow discs? Hint hint. Anyway, if you're a Wino/Spirit Caravan fan who missed either Jug Fulla Sun or Elusive Truth, now you've got another chance. And in case you're unfamilar with Wino & co., but stoner-curious, here's a quote from our review of Jug Fulla Sun, which was definitely one of the top stoner rock releases of the past ten years: "Doom, groove, riffs, Wino's trademark Ozzy-tinged vox: this is the real deal." In addition to the two whole Tolotta albums, these cds include three totally unreleased songs, plus five 7" and comp tracks, and three demo tracks recorded by the band back when they were known as Shine.
MPEG Stream: "The Last Embrace"
MPEG Stream: "Powertime"

SPIRITU / VILLAGE OF DEAD ROADS split (MeteorCity) cd 14.98

SPIRITUAL BEGGARS Ad Astra (Music For Nations ) cd 16.98
The latest groove rock offering from ex-Carcass guitarist Michael Amott. No Carcass-y grind here, just swampy, grindy, bluesy stoner rock. But still heavy as fuck, with heaping helpings of Hammond organ ladled all over it.

SPIRITUAL BEGGARS On Fire (Music For Nations) cd 16.98
'70s lovin', long-haired n' heavy (musically speaking, that is -- they look kinda skinny, actually) Swedes the Spiritual Beggars, whom you know as the "stoner rock" band of ex-Carcass, current Arch Enemy six-string wizard Mike Amott, introduce a new singer (the guy from Grand Magus, another one of what must be millions of Swedish stoner rock bands) with "On Fire". It's going to take a few more listens than we've had the chance to experience to determine if this new album is any kind of step up for a band we already like quite a bit, or just more of the same -- but so far, anyway, it seems pretty cool! The Hammond organ still throbs mightily, as they run through rockin' riff-fests and mellow, spacey psychedelic excursions. And the new guy's vocals are just fine, if a little cliched (their old singer Spice wasn't Spiritual Beggar's drawing card anyway). In the mood for a loud n' proud, modern-day take on Deep Purple and the like? This ought to fit the bill.
RealAudio clip: "Street Fighting Saviours"

SPIRITUAL BEGGARS s/t (Regain) cd 14.98
The rare first album by Swedish stoner rockers Spiritual Beggars finally reissued on cd with four bonus tracks! Not to be confused with fellow stoner rockers Spirit Caravan, Spiritual Beggars is the band in which ex-Carcass, current Arch Enemy six stringer Michael Amott gets his heavy '70s groove on. Fans of their other albums (like the mighty "Mantra III" and "Ad Astra") will want this of course, but those other albums are recommended for starters 'cause we really dig the Hammond organ action that's not yet a part of the Beggars' sound on this one, recorded as a pure power trio. But then again, that leaves more room for Mike's guitar. Swirling psychedelic stomp for fans of Kyuss, Monster Magnet, late-period Trouble, and the like. Also note the "Foxy Lady" cop on opener "Yearly Dying", and "Purple Haze" is clearly part of their vocabulary too.
RealAudio clip: "If This Is All"

SPIRITUAL BEGGARS / GRAND MAGUS split (Southern Lord) 7" 4.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Two excellent stoner rock groups go head to head on this split single: Mike Amott's much-loved Spiritual Beggars and newcomers Grand Magus.

SPIRITUS MORTIS The God Behind The God (Firebox) cd 15.98

STALAGGH Nihilistik Terrror (Autopsy Kitchen) cd 13.98
We've had records from some hateful, extreme, heavy and truly black bands in the past but Stallagh definitely out-hate and out-black them all. Named for WWII concentration camps (the extra 'g' and 'h' stand for 'global holocaust'), this Dutch blackdoom industrialnoise horde, are often compared to Abruptum, for their extreme and ultra personal approach to music making, but they take it even a step farther. Not content with harsh hateful vocals, Stalaggh actively set out to recruit mental patients and convicted murders, by using connections working in mental hospitals and carefully planning their recording sessions to coincide with the two days a month patients are allowed to leave the hospital. Woah. The main vocalist featured on the first 30+ minute track (originally released as Projekt: Nihil) is a convicted murderer who stabbed his mother 30 times when he was 16 years old, and subsequently spent the next 11 years in prisons, juvenile detention facilities and mental hospitals. Apparently he suffered from an extreme aggresion disorder, anorexia nervosa and a host of other mental problems. During the recording sessions he indulged in very excessive self-mutilation while howling and wailing through all his hate and pain and fury. Sadly, he killed himself mere months after the recordings were made. The second half hour track (originally released as Project: Terrror) features vocals from three different mental patients, one female. Wow. That's some seriously intense and messed up shit for sure. A rare and maybe problematic instance of music that straddles that blurry line barely dividing art and exploitation, a stretching of the boundaries, an exploration of how far one can go to tap into primal emotions and create music that is emotionally pure, no matter how hard it is to listen to or understand. But the results do definitely convey that hate and despair and misery, which probably can only actually be attained by going to such great lengths. This stuff is so bizarre and so fucked up but somehow strangely beautiful as well. The sheets of noise smear and shift, occasionally attaining an almost drone like quality (albeit an extremely harsh one) .
Nihilistik Terrror is a massive, mind frying, soul shattering, freaked out, slab of droning, fuzzy, buzzy, whitenoise brutality, not black metal, not even metal really, more a sort of industrial noisescape, most definitely black, and bleak and harsh, but these are not songs, they are slow shifting sonic fields of squealing shrieking distortion, grinding ear shredding ambience, crunchy and gritty and NOISY! Definitely one for the extreme noise fanatics and lovers of the harsh and brutal, but black metallers who dug later Abruptum might check this out as well. There might be riffs here, maybe even songs, but if there are, they are buried under an impossibly dense ocean of sound, layer after layer of white hot noise and sonic sludge, all swirling maniacally around the terrified, vitriolic, angry, hateful, freaked out howls and screams of real human beings with truly damaged psyches. So intense!
Includes both original releases, remastered and sonically even more harsh and aggressive, with a previously unreleased bonus track.
MPEG Stream: "One"
MPEG Stream: "Two"

STEEL MILL Jewels Of The Forest (Rise Above Relics) cd 17.98
Attention fans of '70s heavy hippie rock!! Another primo proto-metal reissue from the fine folks at Rise Above Relics, who brought us the fantastic Bang boxset we listed not long ago. 'Tis a band/album well deserving of the deluxe treatment given here, especially welcome since only other Steel Mill reissue we've seen in the past was somewhat shoddy looking. THIS, though, is really nice, packaged with an elaborate illustrated 32 page booklet, in a slipcover adorned with new art (while the original, quite effective, surreal cover painting remains preserved within). They've renamed it too, the original lp from 1971 (there it is again, brothers and sisters, Nineteen Seventy Freaking One!!) was called Green Eyed God, this gets a new title of Jewels Of The Forest (Green Eyed God Plus) on account of all the bonus tracks included, and the remastering job, and other improvements.
So, with a name like Steel Mill, you'd expect this British band to be industrial-strength HEAVY, maybe even coming close to Black Sabbath territory. Well they do... and they don't... heavy, yeah, but opting for artier, more progressive atmospheres a lot of the time. Opener "Blood Runs Deep" is a good example, combining big, loping, rather urgent guitar riffage with passages of much mellower, jazz-inflected psychedelia via languid saxophone. Give that one a listen, and if you're like us, you'll know you want this right away. That "jazz" element, represented by what sometimes seems like pagan riot of horns, gives Steel Mill a vibe of mystic, exotic grooviness, putting 'em rite in there with underground tribes like Comus and Cromagnon. Some of these songs sound like rock rituals, like "Treadmill", with its fuzz and (literal) grunt.
Ultimately, they're an excellent, eccentric "heavy progressive" outfit, a la early King Crimson (you can be sure they loved "21st Century Schizoid Man"), Gnidrolog, Gravy Train, Tucky Buzzard, Wild Turkey, Sweet Slag, Steamhammer, East Of Eden, Murphy Blend, Amon Duul II, Culpeper's Orchard, Blackwater Park, Necromandus, etc.
Their acid rock guitar solos and lumbering riffs lean towards the Sabbath, but there's also gentle ballads ("Turn The Page Over") and fluttering flute (featured on the moody "Black Jewel Of The Forest", and elsewhere). Not that, as we've pointed out before, Sabbath themselves didn't indulge in some of their own flute flutter now and then! Steel Mill balance the light and heavy with aplomb, often in the same song. Darkly dreamlike and outre, yes, but also heavy enough for any proto-metal head. If someone were crazy enough to try and compile a collection of 1971's heaviest riffs, they'd definitely have to give Steel Mill some attention. (Er, although technically, some might quibble, as while this was recorded in '71 and the "Green Eyed God" released as a single then, the lp itself was apparently not released until 1972, and then just in Germany, with a UK release only appearing in '75.)
The original album is great all by itself, but we're also digging the bonus tracks. There's 9 of 'em, including songs from a 1972 single, as well as five unreleased studio demos of garagey popsike recorded in 1970. And, one last song - a new one, recorded by a reunited Steel Mill in 2010, "A Forgotten Future, A Future Past". And you know what, it's pretty good! Better than you might expect, actually, fitting in remarkably well. Nice how a lovingly done reissue like this can give an long lost band a new lease on life.
MPEG Stream: "Blood Runs Deep"
MPEG Stream: "Treadmill"
MPEG Stream: "Green Eyed God"
MPEG Stream: "Get On The Line (bonus track)"

STINKING LIZAVETA Caught Between Worlds (At A Loss) cd 13.98
Is there any other band that's SO GOOD live that I (Allan) would actually plan a trip somewhere thousands of miles away almost entirely on the basis of getting to see 'em play? 'Cause that's what I'm doing for Halloween -- flying to New Orleans, which would be fun anyways but is gonna be extra-awesome 'cause this Philly-based, all-instrumental power trio will be tearing down the house at Checkpoint Charlie's on the edge of the French Quarter, as they apparently do every Halloween. And as if to pile on the excitement, what shows up at Aquarius this week but a brand new Stinking Lizaveta opus? Yay! Their fourth album finds 'em doing what they do best, adhering to their math rock + jazz + exotic flourishes + sheer rock and roll exuberance formula, with perhaps a little bit more stoner rock added to the equation this time around. Imagine an instrumental Spirit Caravan melded with The Fucking Champs and Gone...something like that. Heavy, sinuous, emotive, grandiose, intimate, anguished, epic, melodic, HEAVY. It's not a perfect album, though -- the drum sound could be better (or at least the drums could be not so loud) sez Andee, and it suffers as all Stinking Lizaveta records do in comparison to their spectacular live performances. Basically, they are SUCH a good live band that it's just hard for them to ever make an album that's nearly as good as they are in person. I love their records, but they really don't compare to the band on stage. Their intense playing, telepathic interplay, and sheer energy are all there...but not as much as you get live. That they're such a formidable proposition live works against their recordings in another way: they probably just assume that if they just go in the studio and kick ass like they do on stage, they'll make the best album ever. Of course, it's not quite that easy. Still, Caught Between Worlds is worlds above almost everything else in the post/math/instro/stoner rock realm... Recommended -- get this and also don't miss 'em if you get the chance, they're on tour right now!
MPEG Stream: "I Denounce The Government"
MPEG Stream: "Beyond The Shadows"
MPEG Stream: "Last Wish"

STINKING LIZAVETA III (Tolotta) cd 13.98
We've been waiting for this for a loooong time, the new, third (duh) album from one of our favorite bands, the amazing Philadelphian power trio Stinking Lizaveta. The first thing to say is that we like how the front cover shows band members seated in their barren inner-city Philly back yard, while the back cover has a slight variation on the same shot with each band member's pet dog perched on their respective laps...the dogs are indentified by name (Davis, Kira, and Shu Shu), and tracks 7-9 on the cd are named after the dogs! Very nice. They love their dogs.
For those who need to know more, let's give you the basics: This is ROCK. Goddamn. An instrumental trio of godly Les Paul guitar, hard-hitting mathrock drums, and virtuoso upright electric bass. It's not exactly metal, it's not jazz, but it's heavy and tight and blows away most other rock outfits on the planet, live especially. And "III", with somewhat fuller production than past efforts, reminds us that Stinking Liz kick ass in the studio too. Imagine Black Flag/Gone mixed with King Crimson, or AC/DC playing Mahavishnu instrumentals, or The Champs falling in love with each other, moving to the country, and practicing yoga. Those are woefully inadequate comparisons, of course, but that's cause this band is its own incredible thing. With "III", they've added some synth and violin to the mix -- and even some half-buried vocals on the very first song -- but primarily what you're going to hear is the basic guitar/bass/drums trio, simply cookin'. With gas. Fuckin' huge propane tanks of it, exploding left and right. Whoops, but then let's not forget the moments of delicate, Eastern-tinged post-rock bliss to be found here as well. Lizaveta's multi-genre rock synthesis results in a unique and varied album, from the tension-buildup of a slowburning track like "Tenuous" to the Frippian ambience of "Diana" to the psychedelic soulshiver of "Naked And Alone" with its doomy Black Sabbath bassline and Yanni's lengthy Fushitsusha style blues-psych guitar blowout. The brothers Papadopoulos (Yanni, guitar and Alexi, bass) and drummer Cheshire Agusta do all this and more, with sincerity, passion and might.
Joe Lally (Fugazi) released this on his label Tolotta, best known as the home of stoner rock heroes Spirit Caravan. I'd really like to see both SC and SL go on tour together, that would be something...
RealAudio clip: "The Sentence"
RealAudio clip: "Revelationary"
RealAudio clip: "The Hanged Man"
RealAudio clip: "Naked and Alone"

STINKING LIZAVETA Scream Of The Iron Iconoclast (At A Loss) cd 13.98
Oh, Stinking Lizaveta, why do we love you so? We'd count the reasons but it's tough to write about a band that's like, one of the best bands EVER, we'd have to say, particularly if you ask Allan. We'll wax poetic about 'em, for sure, but it's gonna just sound like fanboy hyperbole. And having said that, can you expect an unbiased review here? Hell no, we're proudly biased regarding this virtuoso instrumental three-piece (rock god guitar, Energizer drums, upright electric bass) from Philadelphia. What we'd really like to do is just humbly suggest that you GO SEE THEM PLAY whenever you get the chance, which is more likely than you might think, since they're indefatigably touring pretty much all the time. If only like five percent of the people reading this right now are moved to sometime go see Stinking Lizaveta for the first time on our recommendation, we can feel like we've done y'all a service, since we're super duper sure that anyone who does will be amazed and become big fans too. Who can resist the exuberant, enthralling instrumental prowess displayed by this telepathic trio playing their unique blend of mathy metal, post rock, and heavier-than-thou hippiepunk jazz?? (They call their music "doom-jazz" by the way.)
This new album, their fifth (as always, engineered by Steve Albini) is an excellent demonstration/distillation of everything that's great about Stinking Liz (though we'll offer our usual caveat that they're EVEN BETTER live, you just can't entirely bottle/record that magic). These 16 new songs are some of their best yet, full of the ponderously head-nodding riffage, gorgeous arcs of lead guitar, and explosive rhythmic excitement we expect from 'em. There's moody tension throughout, with clusters of dense note-spirals building to ultimate release. Slow-burners like "Willie Nelson (Tired Of The War)" coexist with the sheer metallic chug of "Indomitable Will" and the darkly psychedelic storminess of "Cyclops", to offer a few examples, these elements prevalent all across this disc, no tracks lacking. And despite being an all-instrumental band (but for Yanni howling into his guitar pickups upon occasion, as on "Soul Retrieval") this isn't just a techy display of chops, it's passionate creativity drenched with sweat and emotion. Another all-instro trio y'know we love is The Fucking Champs, but Stinking Lizeveta are waaaay more soulful. They come a lot closer to the aesthetic of Earthless (another of this list's highlights), but instead of untethered interstellar exploration they compress and complexify that jamminess into tightly-wound compositions. Stirring stuff. And soooooo recommended.
MPEG Stream: "To The Sun"
MPEG Stream: "Indomitable Will"
MPEG Stream: "Soul Retrieval"