Few things in music get my attention like the words REMASTER. If a band thinks enough of their music to go back and give it some more love and attention, then I figure I am in for a special treat. And a special treat is exactly what THE HOWLING EYE have delivered with DYING SUN REMASTER (2019). It's 48 minutes minutes of heavy stoner doom metal, mostly instrumental, and pretty much just epic overall.

It's been a while since I listened to the original DYING SUN (2017) and also I wanted to compare it with the new remaster, and ..... oh hell yes! The entire sound is heavier and fuller. I'm on my good headphones so imagine how this is going to sound when I get it going on the big ancient speakers at Happy Hour tonight. I'm not sure if The Howling Eye has any plans for a CD or vinyl but I would pick up both of those if they came out. This remaster deserves nothing less.

And there's more! Because the remaster includes a new track THE HOWLING CAVES that was not on the original album.

And there's EVEN more because they also recorded different versions of the songs! These guys have been busy. Here is DYING SUN REDUX:


I asked the band about this pair of new records based on the original Dying Sun. Here is what The Howling Eye had to say about REDUX:

The story begins in Feb 2018. The nights were long and cold as fuck and we were recording Sonorous at Kongo Studio in a small town near Warsaw. We used to record our parts for most of the day, having only a gas cooker to make our food and a small, jet-engine-like gas heater to get us warm, so in the end of the day we were all dead tired. Usually we would just rest, jam or both, but on one particular night Jacek (our sound engineer) left for Warsaw to see GOLD, a great Dutch band. We got pretty high and I remembered the idea to re-record our first EP, but someone proposed to make it different. I had a country Texas-ranger-like version of Dying Sun in my mind for a while back then. Even earlier we had noticed that the riff from 'Junkhead' sounds kinda similar to 'To, Co Czujesz, To, Co Wiesz', a Polish reggae/dub classic. Thus we decided to re-record the EP, but each song was to be in a different style. We didn't know what to do with 'Dwa Złote', though, so I guess we just wanted to play it faster and it turned out to be a drum and bass song. We only did one take of everything so it's pretty floppy at some places, but I believe it turned out good. 

And about REMASTER:

Hubert proposed the remaster last Autumn. Our first EP was recorded live at Hubert's basement and pre-mixed (all the mics were recorded into one 'sum' track), so basically everything better than that would be an improvement. We decided that there is no point in fooling around, it sounded cheap, dark and rough, so we wanted even more of it. We basically added more bass where we could and compressed the shit out of everything to achieve this roaring kind of sound. We came up with lyrics to 'Dying Sun', so Hubert recorded them and I overdubbed my solos. Hubert also experimented with stacking layers, reverb and delays, so I hope it's as filthy and swampy as it should be. We also came up with this concept of a dualistic EP, which is reflected in the covers. One side of it is happy and chilly, and the other is pure doom.

The heaviness, the drop into the fuzz towards the end, and especially that short part where the vocals break into Swedish. There is so much to dig in this song.


Malsten is:

Manne - Vocals
Fredrik - Guitar
Andreas - Bass and synths
Joen - Drums

Malsten tells me they have more music in the works so be sure to follow them and stay in touch:

Debut single from VELA NEGRA

VELA NEGRA has their debut single ready to deafen your eardrums and it is called O Inevitável Porvir (The Unavoidable Future). This is very heavy doom with great riffs to keep things moving, and sometimes the guitar heads off into space to keep things very interesting. The vocals here are simply incredible, starting clean and slow and building to tougher screams later on. Take a listen:


I will keep it super real and tell you that this song sounds extra dark and mysterious to me because I cannot understand any Portuguese. I am the same way with any language, and when in English I love fuzzed-out vocals. The singing here is very clean with variety, too -- sometimes low and steady, sometimes building up with energy.

Vela Negra is a new band from Basilia, Brazil. The band is new but its members bring with them experience from previous bands, and that explains why this debut single is so good. Vela Negra is Marcel on guitar, Fabão on bass, Tamiel on drums, and Zé Dai Hou with vocals and production.

And good news! Vela Negra has more songs in the works, so be sure to follow them to stay in touch:

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:

I dig the vocals and guitar of Zach Huskey and Erica Huskey's bass is right there to support it. There's a lot of variety to the songs, some are more grungy, some more punk, some slower, and the variety leads to a great album overall. Check it out!