Jay's Top 20 Releases Of 2015...

Christ! Where the hell did 2015 go? It disappeared in a bloody hurry didn't it?! Good riddance too, what with various religious and political zelots still kicking seven shades of shit out of each other, and natural disasters abound. Usually in the form of storms, floods, wildfires and Donald Trump. Not to mention the loss of BB King, Sir Christopher Lee, Scott Weiland and of course, our lord and saviour, Lemmy - yet leaving the likes of Justin Bieber, Nicki Minaj and Kanye fuckin West unscathed. There really is no justice.
But it hasn't all been downers in the Burning Beard camp. We had a big revamp, remodel and rename and have been absolutely inundated with emails every day of the week. So much so that we've taken on three new writers - Martin, Richard and Andy. But onto the releases of the year. Not quite as volatile as the worlds current events, but not without their own ups and downs. We had a plethora of fantastic releases from all of our close friends independent labels and some fantastic returns to form from likes of Refused, Goatsnake and Valkyrie. A few middle of the road released from Windhand, The Sword and Clutch (sorry but something just didn't stick for me with those). Then my biggest let downs of the year in the shape of Uncle Acid's third album, Baroness's Purple and the debut from With The Dead. All of which I just expected more from. 

I've have seen few top 2015 releases lists over the last month and I cant help but feel that most bands have made their way in to some of them on name alone, and had many of those albums been released by unknown artists they wouldn't have even garnered a mention. So with that in mind the following list of my favourite releases of the year consist of not just albums, but EP's and demo's alike. They reside here not just because they've excelled expectation or surprised, but, to me, shown more passion, conviction, ingenuity and originality, giving them far more reason to make this list than many of the more well known artist's offerings of the last 12 months.
Enjoy.


20. Watchtower ~ Radiant Moon

Two big fat heavy slabs of doom from the Aussie trio. Heavier than a death in the family and beautifully pressed and put out on 10" by our friends over at Magnetic Eye Records.
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19. Rifflord ~ 26 Mean & Heavy

Dirty, heavy and kinda sounding like the Doors if they were to have gotten heavily in to weed, ouija boards and black masses. Dark fuzzy and riff hungry are always a great mix.
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18. Witchsorrow ~ No Light, Only Fire

A brilliant return from one of the UK's best and most humble doom acts. Retaining their full blooded heavy approach with a subtle nod to dooms classic origins.
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17. Blackout ~ Blackout

Riding Easy Records began the first quarter of the year with yet another brilliant discovery in Brooklyn based trio Blackout. Deceptively sludgy and psychedelic in equal measures, don't let the albums cover fool you.
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16. Ufomammut ~ Ecade

This long awaited follow up to 2012's Oro double album didn't fail to impress. In fact, the only thing to out do the albums content was the deluxe version of the LP, in all its silkscreened hand made beauty.

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15. Acid†Priest ~ Outta Control 

A near perfect combination of occult style rock mixed with a hint of punk aesthetics. Acid Priest gave similar acts like Uncle Acid and Satans Satyrs a run for their money, and in my eyes well and truly beat them.

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14. Kaleidobolt ~ Kaleidobolt

Our friends over at Pink Tank Records have done a great job at digging out some fantastic psych bands over the last couple of years, and none come more thrillingly psych'y than Kaleidobolt.

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13. Egypt ~ Endless Flight

Just making the 2015 list with their late in the year entry, Egypt finally return with their first full length album in over 2 years... and it's a fuel guzzling desert rock monster. Look out for the LP release later this year.

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12. Yuri Gagarin ~ At The Center Of All Infinity

After teasing us earlier in the year with the Sea Of Dust EP the Swedish space rockers finally dropped their best work to date, and it's as trippy, spacey and heavy as I could have ever hoped.

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11. Waingro ~ Mt. Hood

I was a big fan of the Canadian's 2014 self titled release and when I heard they'd pressed themselves a second release I snapped it up without hesitation. Once again, the furious trio have well and truly smashed it out the park.

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10. Barbarian Fist ~ The Whorelord Cometh

I took a punt and bought this LP sight unseen. Or hear unheard. Is that a thing? Anyway. I bought it solely on the cover and I have not one single regret. It's like the soundtrack to a Viking stag party. Bloody brilliant.

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9. Glowsun ~ Beyond The Wall Of Time

A beautifully groove filled return from the French psych rock masters that seemed to fly under many peoples radar. Which is a bloody sacrilege as is a brilliantly executed progression from their first two releases.

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8. Kadavar ~ Berlin

When it came to Kadavar I could always take them or leave them. But this drastically ambitious change of pace and sound really paid off, making Berlin one of my biggest surprises of 2015.

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7. Moon Curse ~ Spirit Remains

Showing a huge step forward in almost every aspect of album creation, Spirit Remains has cemented Wisconsin's Moon Curse as being true giant slayers when it comes to the whole occult/acid rock genre. Go get the vinyl from Bilocation Records while you can!

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6. Red Sun Atacama ~ Part. 1

This little known French trio really blew my hair back with their high octane EP Part. 1. If they can keep up the same highly addictive and satisfyingly furious pace of this beauty then I really can't wait to hear what they've got in store for this year.

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5. Indian Handcrafts ~ Creeps

Another release that really came out of left field for me. Fuzzy, frantic and fantastically original, Indian Handcrafts won't fail to get you stomping your feet and air drumming within an matter of minutes.

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4. Top Dead Celebrity ~ High Horse

One of my most anticipated returns for a long long time. Utah's Top Dead Celebrity have been one of my favourite bands since I first discovered them about eight years go. High Horse didn't disappoint either, residing high up in my iTune all time top 25 most played albums. 

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3. Dr Colossus ~ Shut Up & Eat Your Pinecone/Whack Sabbath

Another small morsel teasing at an album that just can't come quick enough for me. The Simpsons inspired stoner doom aficionados from down under once again gave us fantastic riffs coupled with killer lyrics. A winning combo in anyones book.

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2. Bedroom Rehad Corp. ~ Fortunate Some

This was easily my best new discovery of 2015. Heavy, groovy, thunderous and pleasing in every aspect. Bedroom Rehab Corp pulled off an absolute blinder with Fortunate Some and have me itching for full length in 2016.

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1. Elder ~ Lore

Eager anticipation seldom delivers overwhelming satisfaction. Lore however was one hell of an exception. Arriving early in the year, from day one, Elder's third album never received much competition when it came to toppling it from my top five. With a stage show to rival the album's awesomeness Lore, for me, was a highlight of the year.

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Honourable Mentions...

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The Dark Side Of The Moon...

Moon Curse - Spirit Remains
 

Update - In an unexpected turn of events a couple of our writers wanted to cover Spirit Remains, so instead of fighting to the death to unveil a victor, we're just gonna post both reviews. So there...

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To my mind, there are two types of heavy: the sort that leaves you nodding your head to grooves and the sort that leaves you cowering in fear from your speakers.  While Moon Curse don't quite reach the infernal racket of, say, Come My Fanatics-era Electric Wizard, they're certainly not messing around, and while there's plenty of groove to this album, if they had to be put in one of the two brackets, I'd err on the side of the latter.  Throughout this album the lumberingly heavy riffs tempered with generous doses of auditory LSD puts me in mind of a recent favourite of mine, the great Monolord.

Spirit Remains is the Milwaukee, Wisconsin trio Moon Curse's second long player and it pretty-much ticks all the boxes for what an epically-proportioned stoner doom record should be.  The songs are long, they're heavy and very well-executed.  While Moon Curse's sound is not one that's never been explored before, they do it as well - if not better in some cases - than any other comparable band of the last few years.

Music this heavy can often feel a little brutish.  While that's no bad thing per se, continuous crushing heaviness with no moments of relief can feel somewhat caveman-like, for need of a better phrase.  Moon Curse have clearly realised this because their particular brand of heavy psych doom has little touches here and there that make this feel like one of the more sophisticated examples of the style in recent memory.  On Electric Veins there's a great section lead by the trippy vocals, with only minimal work from the instruments.  There's also a synthesizer in the background giving the song little flourishes of colour every now and then.  Other moments stand out too - the acoustic outro of the frankly incredible "Lord of Memories" really sets the song apart as something different.

Spirit Remains would be a great album without any of that.  The riffs are great, the vocals are well done, the drumming is excellent, and it's generally a well-recorded album.  What gives it the edge over the numerous other lesser albums in this style is the panache with which the album is executed.

~ Martin

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My relationship with Moon Curse harkens back to the early hours of a Friday morning sometime in August 2012, when one night I stumbled upon their bandcamp page. Several (ok, about 8-10) Jack and cokes into the night I found myself buying all four variant's of their awesome debut LP, and have loved them ever since... I now own no less than 10 copies of that record, superseding all my other obsessive collections (Giants - Old Stories (7) and Sleep's Holy Mountain (7)). So with all the will in the world, I'm going to try my hardest to be entirely unbiased with the forthcoming paragraphs...

Ok, thats bollocks, Spirit Remains is awesome and you all need to buy it. Sod it, I don't care. I've been listening to this for what must be nigh on a year now if not more, in demo's, rough cuts and various other incarnations and it had me gripped from the very first play.
Right out off the bat the band's musical progression is clearly evident. Everything feel's bigger, grander and more layered than before. This can often be the downfall for a band of this ilk. With the increased recording budget and overly thought out song structure that often comes with a follow up album, band's often end up straying away from elements that were so often the true heart and soul of their original style. Once those elements are polished away a massive chunk of the character regularly goes with it. Thank fuck, that didn't happen here, I'd be heartbroken. No, once again the trio have knocked it straight out the park. Retaining all those element's that I loved about the self titled album and most notably my favourite track Black Elk, everything has just been added to, rather than been replaced to make way for new ideas. The most notable addition is an increased ferocity which really helps carry the album forward. The track Vicious Sky is a perfect example, as the increased pace works brilliantly to contrast the very Sabbath like 11+ minute tone that is Lord of Memories. The dark melodic mix doesn't waver for a second of the album's 42 minute duration and remains sombre and eerie from start to finish like an Edgar Allan Poe story. Something that's in no small part down to the huge amount of time, effort and detail that evidently went into it's mastering. From start to finish Spirit Remains is beautifully satisfying on a multitude of levels. I really don't know how they're going to top this next time around.

Go preorder it from our friends at Bilocation Records now!
~ Jay

For Fans Of; Mountain Witch, Monolord, Uncle Acid, (early) Om, Black Prism

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Moon Curse - Beneath the Waves (320 kbps)

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Howlin' At The Moon...

Moon Curse - Self Titled (2012)

There's a lot to be said for a good album cover, and I will happily argue way into the night with any man, woman or child that says otherwise. In fact I once almost punched a guy in a Korn hoodie for referring to the cover of Leaf Hound's Growers Of Mushroom as 'shite'. What can I say, you've gotta stick to your principles. I'm not saying todays efforts are all lack luster, or even that all classic rock art work was mind blowing, but really, if you think back to to all the seminal covers over the years, most of them came pre the digital era. Back from a time when, (kids, brace yourselves for this) we actually had to leave the house to get music, then while you were perusing the shelves something would just jump out at you and grab your attention. Granted, I missed the real heyday of this, being born into an age, post the likes of such albums as Led Zeppelin III where a wheel in the front sleeve that when turned sent the cover all trippy. Or The Bonzo Dog Band's Tadpole, where pulling out the inner sleeve made the bands eyes change in a truly Monty Python like fashion. There just seemed to be more effort back then, hell, just look at the recent loss of legend Storm Thorgerson, he didn't just have possibly the greatest name in ever, he delivered some of the best album artwork in history as well as proving that covers didn't necessarily have to be overly complicated, they just had to grab your attention. Which coincidentally is exactly how I stumbled upon Milwaukee's psych doom trio... Moon Curse (it also goes some way to explain why I've put up all four alternative versions of the cover of their vinyl). While bouncing around Instagram and trying to avoid endless pictures of people's goddamn meals I happened across some fantastic work by a chap called Vincent Zager. One thing lead to another, and amid a whiskey enthused internet search, I land upon a bandcamp page where before I knew it I'd bought four copies of the the same bloody album. But to be fair, most of my best internet purchases have been fuelled by some of Tennessee's finest, and without question Moon Curse certainly slip into this category.
Some may question the validity of comparing them to Uncle Acid, given the almost dizzyingly high pedestal they're currently atop, but to hell with it, I'm sticking to my guns. That same doomy psychedelic style is there in droves, whaling eerily at its highs and growling with a gut thumping rumble at it's lows. Which for me is actually where they outshine Uncle Acid, as there just seems to be that little bit more diversity. More twists and turns to retain your attention. You can hear an evident inspiration sure, but it's far from any kind of rip off, before you jump to that conclusion. Moon Curse have carved out their own sort of niche within the genre. Adding a extra layer of what I can only really describe as furiously or directed anger to their style in certain places. The switching of vocal style mid song is also used to full roaring effect too, most evidently in the final track Black Elk. Beginning with a wholly impressive harmonic that flows perfectly along with the bass as the track progresses through the six minute mark, the darkness draws in and Matt cranks up the tone to a melodic metal before opting for a balls out crushing doom roar. To say that flitting that effortlessly from beautiful to brutal is a skill would be an understatement. But Matt, Rochelle and Keith have clearly managed to really click together, and it shows in every single track. What more could you possible ask for? You're given big screaming Sabbath esque riffs, awesome vocals that sound like they're being bellowed from within a church hall and an overall tone that would be no more at home than if it was to be laid directly over clips of 60's and 70's cult horror films. In fact, I'm really tempted to put on Witchfinder General, stick this on repeat, then drop a heroic dose of mushrooms... Actually, come to think of it I will be in Amsterdam this weekend, so not to give too much away, I will be double checking that this has been put on my iPhone before I head to the airport.
But if just downloading the album for free isn't enough for you (and nor should it be!) I urge you to follow suit and please grab yourself a copy of the vinyl! Mine turned up this morning, and believe me when I say it sounds bloody amazing! There's only 300 pressed, with each of the covers limited to just 75 pieces each and they're going really fast. Plus remember, they're unsigned and doing everything off their own backs. So if nothing else, just look at it as an investment towards the next release which is currently in the works. Already written, they plan to hit the studio at some point throughout the summer with the same producer (Nolan Trealo) as before, and once again doing it all analogue, which let's face it, should be the only way to do it.
~ Jay

For Fans Of; Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats, Mountain Witch, Windhand, Elder, Salam's Pot

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Moon Curse (256kbps)

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