Comets In The Atmosphere...

Cloud Catcher - Trails of Kozmic Dust (2017)

Picking up where they left off with 2015's Enlightened Beyond Existence, the Denver-based trio of Cloud Catcher have returned with eight tracks of fuzzy grooving, hard rocking, and gnarly twist-ups. Rumbling in the low end and burning through crescendos, the band shows a strong knack for infusing their jammy bashes with a sense of direction and purpose more in line with the types of bands who do full concept albums than the smoky bar yellers to which their sound seems to owe so much influence. It's heavy rock with some real life to it, not content to just ride along and retrace the pathways blazed in the '70s, but wanting to cover some new territory of their own, and doing a damn fine job of it.

That's not to say that they don't give some fairly big channels to those older pioneers; “Visions”, for example, is basically a faster rendition of “War Pigs”, and the band bears more resemblance to the heavy psych bands of the late '60s/early '70s than they do to most of their 21st-century contemporaries. As the desert-tinged turbulence bumps along, it does a great job of wrapping listeners up in a warm fuzzy tone-blanket, feeling so reassuring in its tangles of rhythms and tasty feedback that it's hard to imagine it coming to an end. When it does, though, the finish comes with style to spare, and it brings the whole journey to an end that just makes you want t start it over again. The work by the band in putting this album together is just great, and it's one of those where imagining the songs played live, with full room to improvise and spin off into wild solos, makes me practically shiver. Fans of heavy rock, heavy psych, and fuzz rock should all do themselves a favor and check this one out ASAP.

~ Gabriel

For Fans Of; Frozen Planet....1969, Mondo Drag, Pollution, Slow Season, Weedpecker

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Cloud Catcher - Trails of Kozmic Dust (320 kbps)

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In the Mushroom Garden

Lord Vapour - Lord Vapour (2014)

 If you've heard the instrumental stoner rock outfit Brunt that stormed onto the scene over the last couple years with their debut effort through HeviSike Records, then you already know one of the lads behind the psychedelic rock project, Lord Vapour. The band uses a heavier spin on a 70's psychedelic rock sound, managing to get things a bit fuzzier and more upbeat. Things stay pretty mellow and subdued to begin with, but they keep the fuzz close by, and put down a nice big dose of it at will, often injecting it into the song with long bursts then letting it fall back a bit. Of the three tracks on the EP, the middle child "In the Valley of Stars" was a favorite. Kicking off with a slightly fuzzed bass line, it takes a few moments for the droning guitar to make an appearance, followed after a bit by pounding drum rhythms with the raw and organic vocal performance popping up soon after that. The song carries on like that for about half of the six minute duration, until after the halfway point the guitar goes rogue for a minute or so before the whole band drops back in to end the track with a high energy jam session. This is an excellent debut effort for the band, it'll be interesting to see what they follow it up with.
~Skip

 For Fans Of; Black Rainbows, Dozer, Greenleaf

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Jump In Your Grave...

Alucarda - Raw Howls (2015)

Raw Howls is the first full-length release from this Danish group, and with the seven songs held within its cassette, the group builds strongly on their demo from 2013.  Side A kicks off with a visit to "Northville Cemetery", plunging listeners into hard waves of fuzz and dirty low-down grooving, supplemented with some raw vocals (which are still fairly fuzzy, thanks to some added effects).  The band's not afraid to work in some finger-torturing guitar solos, which leap in, writhe about, and vanish as quickly as they'd arrived, making for some effective jolts of energy to keep the songs twitching.  There's also some pummeling action from the drummer's corner, giving Alucarda more head-banging potential than a lot of other modern doom rock bands.
As the album continues, the band plows right along, losing little animation or compulsion in their rough-edged madness as they head through one den of evil after another.  It makes for one of those albums that can just sweep you up in its spirit, flowing together so well that you're loath to pull yourself away until it reaches the end.  It's another fine release from Caligari Records, who had a pressing of 150 yellow-plastic cassette copies made, though you'll want to act fast if you want to catch one to fill your crusty black leather cravings.
~ Gabriel

For Fans Of;    Satan's Satyrs, early White Zombie, Weedeater, Wizard Rifle, Wolf Blood

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Alucarda - Coven Howls (320 kbps)

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The Devil to Pay

At Devil Dirt ~ Plan B: Sin Revolución No Hay Evolución

The update is a bit late today, so I'm going to keep thing short, sweet, and to the point. This Chilean duo seems to escape all normal classifications, let's just say that at times it's bordering on Psychedelic Doom Metal, and at others it could be considered ridiculously fuzzed out Stoner Rock, give it a little time and you're hit with a track that you could pass off as Doom Metal all day, whatever you feel like calling it, it's heavier than hell with a groove that slays. While every track is worth your time, my favorite was probably the incredibly catchy title track, "Sin Revolución No Hay Evolución". With guitar riffs as dark and fuzzy as my front-side, the song screams Black Sabbath with the initial vocals sounding like they were pulled straight from the 90's Grunge scene, but when the chorus kicks in, you wonder when the hell Paul McCartney joined the group. Being a dynamic duo, the only other instrumentation is the drummer, who pounds out his mid-tempo rhythm with a vicious precision. There are so many ways to get your paws on this  of fuzz, you don't have much of an excuse for not having a copy. You can head over to the group's bandcamp and get the digital version for a "name your price" deal, or pick up one of the last few CDs from them. You can get all of your vinyl fixes from our buddies at Bilocation Records, while there's still some available at least.
~Skip

For Fans Of; Kyuss, Exporting White Elephants, Sleep

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