Knowledge From Wolves...

Matalobos - Matalobos EP (2015)

This three-track EP marks the debut of Matalobos, and with its furious mix of a melodeath engine and doom trimmings, the quartet makes a good first impression.  Each of the tracks are at least seven minutes long, giving them room to play with the ideas and take some side-trips into unexpected territory, and each of the songs is fleshed out to a pleasing degree.  Rough howling vocals go well with the snarl of the guitar, the drummer switches quickly from backing beat to dominant thrashings, and the bassist lays it down firm and tasty.  There's plenty here of which the group should be proud, and it should hook the ears of those looking for some darker- and heavier-than-usual melodic death metal.
~ Gabriel

For Fans Of;    Apoapsis, Bleeth, Hands of Orlac, Necrophobic, Shrine of the Serpent

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Matalobos - The Immense Sea (320 kbps)

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Feeding the Wolves

Matalobos ~ Matalobos EP (2015)

These up and comers from Mexico have just released their self-titled debut EP, and it could just be another death doom metal band. Not every death doom band are as refined in their influences as these guys. They pull out a more melodic death metal sound at times, choosing to use doom metal to bind everything together. With that being said, there's still plenty of doom to go with all the death. At just three tracks and still clocking it at around twenty three minutes, we're dealing with massive portions of darkness and heaviness each time the song changes, each on a monolith in its own right. The closer "The Immense Sea", was a textbook example of how a proper death doom song is made. Over the course of nearly nine minutes they swirl together lighter, more mellow doses of atmosphere and some melodic vocals that roll along with the current. These are always book-ended with bouts of smashing chaos, vocals being snarled out, buzzsaw guitar riffs,  like a million hell hounds chasing you down. As you get into the last couple minutes of the song things begin to taper off, and at a point becomes down right tranquil before it ends. You can grab yourself a digital copy from their bandcamp page, and it's small price to pay for something this heavy.

~Skip

 For Fans Of; November's Doom, (early)Paradise Lost, (early)Sentenced

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Gherkins In Space...

Vintage Cucumber / The Holy Cosmos - Split (2015)

Overcoming the seeming contradiction of an independent collaboration, this split joins together Germany's one-man band Vintage Cucumber with Mexico's sextet of The Holy Cosmos, delivering some fine space rock from each of the contributors.  The opening band depends on which of the BandCamps is your source, but since VC's name is the first one on the album cover in both editions, I used the version with his side as the starter for my listening experience.
Opening with "Mutterherz", Vintage Cucumber rolls out a soft-pulsing blanket of casually psychedelic material, layering a steady drum-beat with synthesizers and pedal-adjusted guitar tones for a rising energy level that transitions smoothly into the next track, "Rennsimulator Marke Eigenbau".  This one goes a little more garage-rocky with the rhythms and attitude, though the production still sounds impressive, hitting that sweet spot of being clean without sounding plastic. Before too long, it's on into Vintage Cucumber's last track, "Windhart", which opens up with the sounds of air rushing past the listener.  One atmospheric segue later, and VC is laying out cool stretches of swaying grooviness, like a calm trip outside at night.  The song hits its conclusion in a trail of twinkling notes drifting off into the stars.
THC picks up from there with some wavering bass drenched in fuzz, with spaced-out vocals and sedate tambourine setting the pace in "Fields", which glazes out the beats while drawling along on guitar.  "Come On Riding" lets the group shake off their daze a little bit, though some sonic shuddering keeps it floating free from earthly bonds while they trace out their hallucinatory path.  Finally, "Cult of Skulls" gets gnarly with the feedback while digging deeper into the dirty dream sound.
The two bands complement each other very well, offering different takes on the type of psychedelia that can just kick back and ride a groove; Vintage Cucumber puts in the effort to make his songs just as big as those from the six-person group, while The Holy Cosmos pull off their tracks with enough unity of purpose to match VC's singular focus.  Solid stuff all around, heavy on the groove but casually cool in their attitudes.
~ Gabriel

For Fans Of;    Vanilla Trainwreck, Stereolab, Santana, Inspiral Carpets, A Place To Bury Strangers

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The Holy Cosmos - Cult of Skulls (320 kbps)

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Calling Forth The Demon of Smoke...

Tempter - The Summon (2013)

First things first when giving Tempter a listen: the band is a juggernaut blurring the lines between metal, groove and stoner rock. It is important to keep all of this in mind because Tempter has recently unleashed their debut EP upon the world and I'm not sure it is ready to handle such a masterful miss-mash of music that hits hard and rattles some bones.

Wasting little time getting to break-neck riffs backed with coarse (yet surprisingly fluid) vocals, Tempter flexes their metal muscles first with opener "Barbarus," a crushing tune reminiscent of late 90's nu-metal with a hint of Rage Against The Machine via neck-traveling, sweeping solos. Never truly losing that "heavy" feeling throughout the album, Tempter does display calmer moments and segues that call to mind much funkier elements (think Clutch) that transform the full speed tempo of most songs into a head-bobbng, shoe-gazing trip. The album's drumming is also a major highlight given the incredibly clean sound and speed variations. At the drop of a hat, the album's percussions switch from a wreck of smashes and clashes to quick hits and high-hat rides that play perfectly with the rest of the record's ever-changing style.

Channeling a love for stoner culture, Tempter appear to have a clear vision of where they are headed in today's scene. Playing with both a sense of seriousness and playfulness, the band knows how to shred and keep the mood only as dark as they feel; a strong sense of control over the music they are creating, which often times can be a daunting task in a world that blends genres and flips trends every hour. Hopefully the band will find its footing in its native Mexico and hurriedly travel to the U.S., where I believe their sound would truly catch on with many metal/stoner connoisseurs.

~Joe

For Fans Of; Amebix, Helmet, Karma To Burn, High On Fire

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The Summon (name your price)

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Tres Desperados...

Stonefront - Ride Beyond (2013)

The sun's breaking through to us again, finally, so Ride Beyond from sunny México's Stonefront might be an appropriate listen today. That's probably the only comparison to anything sunny I can make here though, as the album contains dark, raw, shred-your-face-off stoner 'n' roll. Something like that. It's definitely dirty and mean but also contains high levels of catchiness. It reminds me of The Atomic Bitchwax' Spit Blood EP, though not really similar in sound, it contains the same kinda raw grooves. And also of beer, and now I find out that over at their Facebook page beer's their only band interest, and Goofy plays the bass guitar. I love these guys!
It's not all fun and games with energetic songs about death though, the album also contains a couple of ballads (mostly about death). I do find them a bit of a weak point in this album though, not because they're bad, not at all, but because Stonefront excell at delivering the catchy heavy energy! So now I'll give the record another spin (or maybe calculations would be a better term, because it's digital) and even if your ears are Crushed Beyond Repair (hint: it's my favorite song) I'd encourage you to do the same, it's great.
And also free!
~ Ruben

For Fans Of; Red Fang, Naam, Planet Of Zeus, Viking Skull, Buffalo

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Ride Beyond (320kbps) • Delivering (320kbps) • Weapon Of Choice (320kbps)

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Tres Hombres...

Annimal Machine - Self Titled EP (2012)

I could be wrong (I often am), but I think this is the first band we've received from good ol' Mexico. Gotta say, they've done themselves proud too. Right out the gates Annimal Machine start ticking all the right boxes. Fuzz, check. Big fat chugging riffs, check. Whaled vocals in a language I don't understand, check! Yeah, a big chunk of it may be sang in Spanish through a ton of reverb, and yes the only Spanish I know translates to "Please can you call for the porter, there appears to be a frog in my bedet",  but trust me when I say that it takes absolutely nothing away from the EP in the slightest. All the emphasis is purely focused on grinding out dirty, heavy and brilliantly catchy licks. Combining elements from classic stoner rock, doom, prog, desert and space rock the end product seamlessly and surprisingly flows really well. But if that for some reason doesn't immediately float your boat, you've really just gotta appreciate the band for listing their drummers name as 'Fat Bastard'.

For Fans Of; Karma To Burn, Black Pyramid, Mountain Witch, Wizard Smoke, Kamni

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Annimal Machine EP (320bkps)