Band interviews and album reviews. Stoner, metal, fuzz, desert, psych, instrumental, doom music.
Heavy psych "Desert Wanderer" by FUZZY CIRCUITS of The Swamp Records now on Bandcamp.
Download FREE and streaming at https://fuzzycircuits.bandcamp.com/album/desert-wanderer
Dig the new heavy psych EP from Brazil's SPIRAL GURU! "Silenced Voices" combines the band's heavy riffs with heartfelt vocals to create a unique sound that will have you playing this one on 'repeat!!
Grab a code below to add the music of Sprial Guru to your Bandcamp collection!
Fuzzy is really digging the debut "Losing My Mind EP" from Spain's SHADOWS OF THE SUN! The heavy psych trio adds a flair for the blues with catchy riffs and soulful vocals. Definitely keep an ear out for this band!
Grab a code below to add the music to your Bandcamp collection!
Redeem a Bandcamp download code below to add Sargent Signals' "Psychedeclic Genocide" compilation to your Bandcamp collection! Over four hours of curated underground music. Grab a code below!
There's been so much great stoner metal from Mexico this year (check out The Swamp's CACTUS ROJO, ELECTRIC CULT, 3DEMONS, and VELJET) and released today is another album to add to the list: "Quanaxhuato" from SANTO FUZZ. This is nearly an hour of heavy psych with excellent guitar work, and especially the vocals stand out on this album. The vocals include singing, growls, background chants, and they are layered together to give support the heavy psych vibes. There is a slight lo-fi vibe to this recording, and that's a good thing. Listen to "Quanaxhuato" from Santo Fuzz on Bandcamp at:
Some of the highlights: heavy metal riffs on "El Truco," mind-bending vocals on "Usurero Del Baratillo", and simply satanic worship on the title track.
Oh yea, you might have noticed all the vocals are in Spanish, which is perfect for this style of music.
Santo Fuzz is a Stoner Doom Metal & Occult Psychedelic Rock Band with regional mexican music influences that show horror folk stories, bad trips and classic terror movies of the "Cine de Oro Mexicano" in the lyrics.
Hey did I already mention this album clocks in at nearly an hour? What are you waiting for? Grab a copy and follow the band on Bandcamp at https://santofuzz.bandcamp.com/album/quanaxhuato
Listen to "Quanaxhuato" on YouTube:
Fuzzy is re-locating The Swamp to the Mojave Desert (Vegas, baby!) so I've only got time for quick reviews these days. But I don't want you to miss the debut EP from Germany's LIGHTNING MUSHROOMS. The music here is pure desert / stoner in the best possible style, with easy-going riffs, bright guitars, and doses of fuzz applied when needed. The vocals are the stand-out element here, because they are angrier, rougher, and edgier than you might expect with such groovy stoner tunes. But it all goes together very well, and the end result is heavy psych blues-tinged affair. Fuzzy digs it! Check out "Suck Me In Demo" by Lightning Mushrooms on Bandcamp:
Fuzzy's Favorite: "Last Gas Before Desert"
Lightning Mushrooms hails from Germany with members:
With so much amazing music in the Underground, it can be a challenge for a new band to break into the scene with a sound that is fresh and unique, while still appealing to the heavy riff lovers. The debut EP from Sweden's GLöD ("glow") certainly fits the bill for a unique (and killer) sound. Take your favorite hard rock riff from the 70s, add a dash of your most beloved 80s heavy metal, run it through a 90s grunge playlist, and fine-tune the whole thing with the modern stoner and heavy psych scene. The result is one badass album. Listen to GLöD on Bandcamp:
"Cyanide Nights" rips it open but things only get heavier with "Reign of Fear." GLöD pulls no punches, piling equal parts fuzz and wah wah pedal to support the gritty vocals. (It's important to point out that each member of the band is a vet from previous bands, which helps to explain how GLöD is able to burst out with such a brutal debut.)
Fuzzy's Favorite: "Vintern 1867" in part because I always prefer longer tracks which give each instrument some solo time to shine, but mostly because it's riff ends with a mind-hammer that is superb in its relentlessness. And also it's got a title ("Winter 1867") which seems to be based on the severe famine in Northern Sweden in 1867: https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missväxtåren_1867–1869
The Swamp's heavy psych music compilation curator SARGENT SIGNALS says,
What we have RIGHT HERE is the finest example of Heavy Psych/Desert Rock done up Hellhammer/Celtic Frost/St Vitus style that I have heard in a LOOONG TIME...
So YOU KNOW what to DO... Put DOWN The BONG And PICK THIS UP!!!
GLöD hails from Sweden with members:
From the band:
Glöd is a three-piece stoner/psych/doom/metal band from Stockholm, Sweden. Josh (drums) had moved to Stockholm from his native NYC. He met Anders who had been involved with the underground hardcore punk scene for a long time. The two of them started to jam out some fuzzy stoner riff and went searching for a bass player. Mathias was found and the lineup was complete. Not long after its formation the group entered D-beat studios in Uppsala, Sweden to record with sound wizard Janne Jutila. The resault is what you can now listen to at Glöd’s Bandcamp site. Hours of new material is just waiting to be recorded. Expect some pretty extreme sonic adventures...!
Right on!
Heavy riffs, killer guitar solos, and Neil Young! Fuzzy is digging this sweet little EP from Santa Cruz's SLOTH. You might remember the last time I reviewed the band (https://www.fuzzycracklins.com/2020/10/sloth.html) and I'm glad to say that Sloth returns with their signature lo-fi heavy psych stoner doom. And this time, it's got vampires. Check out "Children of the Sun" on Bandcamp:
Let's talk a little about the homage to Neil Young who sure has laid down some killer guitar fuzz in his time, so it is awesome to hear him get some love from the Underground. SLOTH's interpretation of Young's iconic "Hey Hey My My" amps up the fuzz and dials down the vocals almost out of the mix completely, and I love it. (And hey hey my my, speaking of cover songs, go check out The Swamp's cover tribute "Swamp Sabbath" with 14 Black Sabbath tracks at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQuDAgwN_wY)
"Salem" slows things down (if that was possible) and adds in acoustic guitar, and it sounds to me like a song Neil Young would be proud to call his own.
The title songs anchors the EP, and it starts off with a great sample, and then launches into a slow thunderous riff.
There's a theme that ties the songs together. From the band:
The album is heavily inspired by Stephen King's Salem's Lot and follows the concept of the Master Vampire preying and recruiting the townspeople into his undead legion. Songs throughout the album are written through this perspective (such as "Salem" and "Children of the Sun"). The former is a melancholic folk/ country inspired song written as through the Master Vampire's thoughts as night falls on the town. The latter song, "Children of the Sun" follows Sloth's characteristic doom tinged proto-metal in a mind booming finale with apocalyptic fuzzed out grooves, booming drums, grooving bass, and swirling twin guitars.
Not every solo band can pull off a big or complete enough sound to pass for a 3 piece, but the songwriting going on here is executed perfectly by the lone musician (Ariel Pang).
I dig this so much I'm having trouble explaining exactly what it is that grabs my earholes so completely. I think it's because the album delivers that old-school heavy ass sound in a way that doesn't sound old at all.
A few copies of the limited edition CD are available at https://heavysloth.bandcamp.com/album/children-of-the-sun
Sloth hails from Santa Cruz, California (Fuzzy's college town!). From the band:
I (Ariel Pang) am the sole creative behind "Sloth" including writing, producing, recording, all instruments, and mixing/mastering of the album as well as designing the art for the covers/CDs for sale on the bandcamp. Coming from the Northern Californian redwood city of Santa Cruz, the monolithic landscapes of the region have also largely inspired my creative processes.
Go check out (and follow) Sloth over on Bandcamp at https://heavysloth.bandcamp.com/album/children-of-the-sun
"Clairvoyance" is the debut album from Greece's HIERONYMUS DREAM. Pure instrumental psych with touches of space rock and krautrock in equal measure, these 4 tracks clock it at half an hour and deliver nothing but high-energy music to fuel your next flight into outer (or inner) space. Check out "Clairvoyance" on Bandcamp:
Nothing less than straight-up brilliant psych is going on here. Energetic, detailed, and it has a depth of sound which serves as a foundation on which the musicians can weave their dream. (It might be that the outdoor live recording gives this album its deep sound.) Each instrument is pulling its weight without taking over the sound, and the resulting songs are balanced and crafted.
Fuzzy's Favorite: "Cleomedes Heavens" but you can't miss with any of these songs.
Also check out Hieronymus Dream's new single "Second Trail of Alcyone" --
Hieronymus Dream is a 5-piece band that hails from Rhodes, Greece.
From the band:
Rhodes Island, Greece in the year 2020. Where the mountain meets the sea and the sea meets a starlit sky. The five-piece band Hieronymus Dream found themselves to create there own version of cosmic Psychedelic-Neo-Krautrock with the 4-track debut EP “Clairvoyance”.
Following the ancestor steps of bands like Aphrodite`s Child, Neu and newer artists like Maserati, they come to take the listener into a deep, but yet smooth psychedelic shamanic dream ride.
The album was recorded live outdoors under the Rhodian sky fully analog.
Follow Hieronymus Dream band on Bandcamp to keep up with their music and news at https://hieronymusdream.bandcamp.com
Hieronymus Dream is featured on Fuzzy's new compilation "Sargent Signals Psychedelic Genocide Part B 2020" on Bandcamp at https://theswamprecords.bandcamp.com/album/psychedelic-genocide-part-b-2020
If you ever thought to yourself, I really dig grunge but I wish it was just a little heavier? Then you are in for a treat with "Cellar Door" by MAGUS SCORPIO. This 2-track debut EP shows off the chugging riffs and killer vocals of Wisconsin's Mike Mata who handles it all. Check out "Cellar Door" on Bandcamp:
To me, grunge is stripped-down heavy metal but you can call it whatever you like. It's just hard-charging rock, right? And that's enough to enjoy right there. But what MAGUS scorpio adds to the mix is just a little extra layer of heaviness, and also some extended solos which are rarely found in classic grunge. For instance, dig the solo at the end of "Broken Meditation" which just flat-out rips the roof off.
Hey it's NYP on Bandcamp so check out "Cellar Door" and be sure to hit that follow button on MAGUS scorpio's Bandcamp page so you can find out when their album is released.
From MAGUS scorpio band:
MAGUS scorpio is a unique project combining the dark and heavy sounds that make up doom and stoner rock inspired by Satanism in a modern setting while contrasting the experience with a touch of psych/euphoria most notably expressed through 90s alternative (at times known as grunge) music and the sweet leaf we all know and love.
MAGUS scorpio is looking for a label to release their upcoming album. Contact magusscorpio13@gmail.com
Just released last night is Fuzzy's latest compilation on Bandcamp with 27 killer psychedelic tracks, "Sargent Signals Psychedelic Genocide Part B 2020" featuring songs from the best psychedelic and heavy bands from around the Underground. Check it out:
Check out Fuzzy's new compilation "Sargent Signals Psychedelic Genocide Part B 2020" on Bandcamp at https://theswamprecords.bandcamp.com/album/psychedelic-genocide-part-b-2020 (it's NYP) and be sure to follow THE SWAMP RECORDS on Bandcamp for more killer music comps!
Swedish duo SALIGA presents their debut EP "Förödelsetrilogin" ("The Destruction Trilogy") which is instrumental heavy psych, with some progressive flair and lighter psychedelic influences which result in an excellent listening experience. These songs sort of float between the dividing line of heavy psych and psych and prog with various moments of catchy riffs, samples, and guitar solos. Fuzzy is really digging this one on "repeat" and any psych fan should give "Förödelsetrilogin" a listen on Bandcamp:
Fuzzy loves samples, and the 2nd track "Urknallen / Livsriffet" fades them in and out to interact with the guitars, almost as if they are taking turns in telling a story. Really dig this one.
To my ears, the first song is the most in the heavy psych genre, with the second leaning more towards pure psych, and the final song including the most elements of prog. But that's kind of splitting hairs, as all the songs blend the genres together to great effect. The result is an excellent debut EP which any fan of psych will enjoy.
The band tells me that "Förödelsetrilogin" is the first in a trilogy of albums. I'm looking forward to the next 2 installments!
From the band:
We are two guys from Malmö, Sweden who create music under the name Saliga. The project started about 8 months ago when we both got tired of making music that was bound to a bunch of unwritten rules. So we rented a small rehearsal space and built our own studio in there. The process is iterative, exhausting and often weird, but we are very happy with the result.
Follow SALIGA on Bandcamp at https://saliga.bandcamp.com