LÁGOON "Maa Kali Trip"

Skate punk fuzz metal duo LáGoon from the PNW is back with another super solid album, "Maa Kali Trip" and it drops on March 22. This time around, some of the songs are a little slower and the vocals are a little darker, but none of LáGoon's raw sticks & strings energy is missing. It's 8 songs and it's LáGoon's best album yet. "Maa Kali Trip" works well when blasting at maximum volume from your boombox at the skate park, or on your headphones while your shrooms are doing their thing.

The samples are way up from the previous albums and I dig them. Highlights include "Warning" and "Addiction."

I've always liked the dark edge to LáGoon and this is the darkest album yet. Is "Maa Kali Trip" the soundtrack for a skate day in Hell? Most definitely.

Head over to the pre-order page on Bandcamp and check out the video for the title song "Maa Kali Trip" -- it's a psychotic bloodbath of a lyric video. Dig it!

The album is on pre-order now on Bandcamp here, and releases on March 22. Get it!



LáGoon is from Portland with members:

• Guitar/Vocals - Anthony Gaglia
• Drums - Brady Maurer

From the band:

We’ll be announcing a pre-order the day of the release (March 22) for vinyl via Interstellar Smoke Records, and CDs & Cassettes via Forbidden Place Records as well.

The songs on this album were inspired by the maa kali mushroom truffle. Turn up your stereo and step inside the maa kali trip.

Can't get enough LáGoon? Check out Fuzzy Cracklins' STICKS & STRINGS VOL. 1 including "Wheel Bite" from LáGoon.

Lucius Fox new album "Quaternary Panorama"

Fuzzy loves the sticks & strings setup (check out The Swamp's DOS BRUJOS and my Bandcamp comp "Sticks & Strings vol. 1") and Fuzzy loves instrumental (my next comp is 100% instrumental stoner), AND Fuzzy loves a good concept album (I produced CROW & POE), so when LUCIUS FOX sent me their new album "Quaternary Panorama" which is all of these things wrapped up into a mind-blowing instrumental prog metal guitar & drums concept album, what else was my reaction going to be except to say, this album is EPIC!! Have a listen to "Quaternary Panorama" and then I'll break it down:


Right off, this album is non-stop energy. The drums never let up, the riffs always keep it fresh, and even a slower song like "Extinction/Rebirth" is still full of more than enough metal. That's a hallmark of sticks & strings: each instrument has to pull way more than its own weight and it really pays off with this album.

Next thing, there is an incredible flow to this album. (Excuse the pun, since the concept that ties the songs together is glacier flows and timelines.) This plays out like a rock opera, with ebbs and flows and a consistency to the riffs that ties it all together without ever getting repetitive. This album rips it up for nearly an hour without missing a beat.

So technically, when an album is instrumental, you might argue that it's not a concept album since there are no lyrics to tell the story. Fuzzy disagrees with that. The music sets the mood and tells the story with sound, and if you insist on "lyrics" then read along with the copious album notes (and you might just learn something, too). Metal for nerds? Maybe, but I'm a nerd so I dig it. A lot.

Each song is tied to a geologic era focusing on the Great Lakes, from long ago until after humanity's demise. Check out the liner notes on the album page. From the band:

Quaternary Panorama is a 20,000 year timeline of the Great Lakes region; beginning during the final advance of the Laurentide ice sheet and ending just after the extinction of the human race. It spans the formation of the Great Lakes, migration of indigenous peoples to the region, colonialism, anthropogenic climate change, mass extinction and the aftermath. It’s hyper specific to the Great Lakes region and mega nerdy, but it also gets down really hard and we are incredibly proud of it.

Photo taken by: Teresa O'Riley — at The Music Factory.

Lucius Fox is from Kalamazoo, Michigan with members:

• Jeremy Cronk - Guitar
• Paul Joseph Drake Jr. - Drums

MERCH!! Get the artwork and the CD from the Lucius Fox Bandcamp page.

SHOWS!! Next up are a couple of gigs in February; follow the band's Facebook page for dates.

ORC S/T cover art by Sly Me Illustration

All I really need to say about this debut album from ORC is how many times I've listened to it in the past 2 days since it was released. Over twenty times. It really is that good. Have a listen and then I'll break it down why I dig this album so much:

There is so much to like here, but in particular I have always dug a setup where the bass is the lead string instrument. (Check out my comp from last year Sticks & Strings vol. 1 for some more bass & string setups including Eats Batteries and Bardo.) It's pounding fuzz-ed out non-stop energy, and the drums have to work extra hard to make up for the low number of instruments.

Then there is the blend of progressive and stoner metal sounds. The band took it as their goal to mix these two genres together, and the result is way beyond anything you could hope for. The fuzz never stops, the heavy riffs never quit, and now you are getting an idea of why I've played this so many times in the past couple of days.

If this album was instrumental, I would still be raving about it. I would still have listened to it as many times as I did. (For example, check out last year's MOOZOONSII debut album with its instrumental stoner groove metal.)

But this album ain't instrumental. It has vocals, and does it ever! Andy Jeglic's singing piles onto the constant energy so well that it takes this album up to a new level. Andy's singing is the perfect match for this hard-driving music.

Orc says they were going for a mix of progressive and stoner metal, and Fuzzy says they found it!

Hunting Day by Psiconauta

Man how I love it when a band I never heard of just shoots me an email and says, Hey check us out! and they are as good as sludge metal duo PSICONAUTA from Brazil. Their 2-track EP is HUNTING DAY with the first track in English and the second track in Portuguese. Both songs have the fuzzy heavy slow, relentless and unending sonic punishment that I love to hear. Check them out!

Psiconauta

Hopefully these heavy fuzz masters will drop a track on my next comp, what do you think? BRASIL IN FUZZ drops at the end of the month and it is EPIC! Already over FIVE HOURS of heavy music only from Brazilian bands. Dig it right there.


You already know that Fuzzy loves sticks & strings duo bands, right? Cuz I made a whole comp of their songs earlier this year! Check out STICKS & STRINGS VOL. 1 on Bandcamp and it's FREE to stream or download! Right on!!

Sticks & Strings Vol. 1 music compilation on Bandcamp

Twin Void

I love demos. Flat out they are really something I love to listen to. Most of the time, the music is fresh and totally worth a listen. Lo-fi and garage and DIY doesn't bother me at all. Usually it adds to the sound, or else I just listen past the low budget production and get into the music. Which is exactly what TWIN VOID delivers on not one but two demos. One with vocals and one without. First check out the instrumental demo tracks:


One thing a demo should do is "demonstrate" what the band can do, but without losing track of the song. No problem here. Twin Void hammers the heavy psych early on with Cloud Chamber, ventures into rockabilly with Speakin' in Toungues, and by the time they get to Green Valley they are showing off their bluesy doomy chops. The variety of sounds is all held together with a constant driving heaviness and that pretty much explains why I dig this so much.


Ready for vocals? Here we go with three tracks and I dig them all. Vocals are usually the part of a demo that take the biggest hit because they usually require a studio setup to get them right, but I'm digging this anyway. The songs on this EP are a little more stoner punk than the first EP, and the vocals fit right in. We're in for a treat when these guys hit the studio.

And samples! Man I really dig samples so having them on this demo is great to hear.

One tag on their Bandcamp page is "doom country" and I'm on board with that! In fact, that's the coolest tag I've seen in a while.

If you are in the Spokane area, check out TWIN VOID on July 26th at The Checkerboard Bar.

Another thing that explains why I like Twin Void is I can't get enough sticks & strings. Heck I did a whole comp of 2-piece setups back in January. Go check it out at Sticks & Strings vol. 1 on Bandcamp.

Twin Void is a psychedelic stoner punk duo from Spokane in the PNW and is:

Nathan Bidwell guitar & vox
Wyatt Farnsworth drums

Twin Void plans to hit the studio soon to combine some of these tracks with new material. Right on! (Although I will miss the lo-fi sound a little ... so I'll hold onto these twin demos and listen to them again as needed.)

The album covers are way beyond what most demos display. The art for Green Valley was done by Nathan, and the the cover for Evil Wanderer is by @brouemastervisualdecay who also did some poster art for the new Devils Witches / Saint Karloff vinyl split (also a killer). Even more great artwork below.

Be sure to follow Twin Void on Bandcamp to stay in the loop with their upcoming debut EP:

@shanehorror

Jestyn and Drew Cummings of WATCH ROME BURN

The great music from the PNW just won't stop and check out the high energy alternative punk rock from WATCH ROME BURN a duo of brothers Drew and Jestyn Cummings with enough riffs and fuzz and non-stop action going on. There's even a track with some harmonica and bluesy guitar in case you didn't get enough variety already. VOX HERETIC is the debut album and SNAKESKIN is the new single so check them out: