This week we’re in for a VERY good time on The Doomed & Stoned Podcast, as I countdown my favorite cuts from the top 25 albums that made April’s DOOM CHART.

Originally broadcast April 10th on Grip of Delusion Radio (we air live every Sunday at 3 pm PST / 6 pm EST), this episode I’m spinning music by Aleph Null, Ancient Warlocks, Beastmaker, Black Rainbows, Blood Ceremony, BUS, Church of Misery, Curse The Son, Deadsmoke, Dunbarrow, Elephant Tree, Graves At Sea, Green Yeti, Greenleaf, Goya, Holy Grove, Hollow Leg, Horehound, Horn of the Rhino (who sadly announced they are splitsville), King Buffalo, Merlin, R.I.P., Son of a Witch, Spiritual Beggars, Valley of the Sun, Witchthroat Serpent, Wo Fat, Youngblood Supercult, and lots more!

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Billy Goate (Editor in Chief)

By “Papa” Paul Rote

I received this promo late at night a week or so ago. It looked cool, but I wanted to head to bed. You know me, I couldn’t resist, so I decided to get a quick scan of this cool looking album from a band called BUS out of Athens, Greece. My curiosity was peaked and I listened further on The Unknown Secretary the third song, then the fourth, thinking the whole time, “Man, there is a certain familiarity about this.” I decided to play the next song a little longer. The vocals, the sound, the style, it hit me like a ton of bricks - this sound draws inspiration from the historic first album by Angel Witch. I paid closer attention as I continued my scan, all the while continuing to be blown away.

Thirty-six years after ‘Angel Witch’ (1980) rocked the world with a new style of metal, someone finally pays homage to that New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) sound. For some reason, that amazing album never took off in the popular imagination. There were a couple attempts, sure, but nothing came close - most were a little heavier on the thrash or early black metal, just missing the mark altogether. Look at another ground-breaking act that emerged just a few years later, a band called Metallica. Hundreds of bands emerged that sounded just like them (so many, I got bored with the sound). It was Angel Witch, however, which basically paved the way for this later development in metal.

Needless to say I lost some sleep the night I discovered BUS and couldn’t wait for my drive to work to seriously crank this out at high volume. I am blown away by the first full album by BUS. Let’s walk through it, track-by-track.

Fallen

The opening track, “Fallen,” starts out with a brief guitar interlude of a melodious riff, a style left behind in the need for faster, louder, and heavier. A few seconds in the vocals kick in a unique voice and a style that emphasizes certain words (for instance, stretching a one-syllable word into multiple syllables). The leads are old school and the drumming pounds away NWOBHM style. I would love to have the lyrics available to me.

Masteroid

The second song, “Masteroid,” just intensifies the melodies, this time with a more defined chorus: “I don’t want to die like witches burn, I never will forget” - classic lyrics that, again, hearken to themese of witches and the occult that were especially prevalent in the early-eighties. The song is harmonious, yet relentless. This was the charm in those early years. The music was similar, yet darker…more intense. BUS rekindle the flames.

New Black Volume

The third song incorporates a small touch of punk energy into the mix, (which, interestingly, was also a part of NWOBHM), but make no mistake: this is metal. Early-sounding, classic heavy metal.

Forever Grey

The fourth song is proto-power metal. The urgency in the vocals clues you in as to how power metal grew out of the NWOBHM style; bands just dialed up every aspect of the sound.

Don’t Fear Your Demon

The fifth song introduces doom into the mix, early-eighties doom that is. I was calling this sound “doom” before Trouble, Saint Vitus, and Candlemass existed. This could be well the favorite track of the album for you doomer die-hards. It certainly stood out to me.

Rockerbus

“Rockerbus” is the longest song at 7:38 and it is possibly my favorite. After two minutes of a fairly unique riff, the vocals kick in and I cannot help but to hear Angel Witch, again. That said, this could also be an Orchid song, especially in the chorus. It’s that undefined sound from the NWOBHM era not Sabbathy, not Priest, but heavy as hell from the era’s standpoint.

Withered Thorn

“Withered Thorn” – guess what? Possibly my favorite again. The song just explodes opening up with a serious lead, heavy chops, and the vocals erupt with dark and passionate tone and this will leave those of you who know and love Angel Witch awestruck. Okay, okay, I’m not doing so well leaving Angel Witch out of this review. For me, it is unavoidable and the highest compliment I can pay to BUS. Come to think of it, “Withered Thorn” also reminds me of a Hades Paradise song. This far in, and I can tell you we’ve got a great album on our hands. There are two more killer songs to go.

Over The Hills

“Over The Hills” is another riff-laden track with an amazing chorus and a passionate stanza. If you want a lesson in early-eighties metal this is class 101!

Jimi

The ninth and last song “Jimi” is a doom-tinged proto-metal number (to borrow a description from one of my Doom Charts colleagues, Bucky Brown), ending in more of that contagious up-tempo, proto-power metal.

This album is so good we have to coin some new vocabulary to help describe it. Get it now on Twin Earth Records.