Upon first blush, you’d think a band from Germany with the Nietzschean name OVERMAN might be some really out there industrial or power metal act. Nah, the title of their debut album says it all: “It Is All Overman.” You don’t have to contemplate it for very long to get the sentiment (and the double entendre). But Overman doesn’t want you to think about it too hard; they’d rather you just give yourself to the groove.

Christoph Wollmann (vocals), Hauke Drews (bass), and Jan-Marc Ivers (drums, guitar, keys) are a powerhouse of talent, melding stoner and post-rock with psychedelic touches and alternative leanings. Seven tracks, seven opportunities to get into a good mood today!

Indeed, “The Overman has no room for sadness,” the band says, “as he/she is done with all of the worldly issues. But we feel you, wherever you may be and reach out to you. We have traveled through space and time, just to form our hearts and spit them out to you.”

Title track, “It Is All Overman,” begins with the reassuring noodling of the guitar. Vocals are hazy, almost Hendrixesque, with backing vox that intertwine and overlap. Drums and bass add complexity to the rhythm, and we’re off.

“Desert Ship” features brash percussion, searching vocals, and a wicked guitar lead. As a second guitar joins and the singing fades into the backdrop, one can imagine an improvised vessel of scrap being carried along by a mighty sail ‘cross desert dunes.

“Searching” finds a gentle stride, all set up for the vocals to shine (they remind me of Chris Martin of Coldplay here), bolstered by warm bass tone and keyboard accents. Once again, the rhythm section reveals its penchant for generating big sound.

“Flatgun” seems like something out of a late-night/early-morning dream, thanks largely to the role of the piano, cascading drum beats, copious feedback, and a modern jazz vibe.

“Lies Don’t Lie” feels even more eclectic, though more relaxed. No surprise that the band lists Motorpsycho and King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard among their influences.

“Cut The Cheese” is a fun, bass-driven piece, with shoegazy guitar accompanying the ravings of mirth and madness.

The album finishes strong with “Good Morning Chat,” giving us a taste for sugar and the free association of ideas. The band takes its time to warm up breakfast for us (it’s like the delirious space between sleep and wake for a while), but over the course of this 24-minute piece things definitely get cooking, a gradual crescendo of throbbing low end and indie bliss.

Look for It Is All Overman by Overman on Tuesday, September 5th, releasing on Sliptrick Records (pre-order here). Stick it on a playlist with Motorpsycho, Black Lung, Red Sun Attacama, healthyliving, Ecstatic Vision, and Night Fishing.

Give ear…

SOME BUZZ

Overman is creating its own unique blend of post-rock, stoner-rock, pop and jazz. You may call it “over rock”, if you like, because there are no limits for the Overmen. You can find compact and mushrooming psychedelic trips, deeply melancholic pieces or even pure dadaism influenced jazz passages.

In Overman, multi-instrumentalist Jan-Marc Ivers has joined forces with old companions Hauke Drews on bass guitar and Christoph Wollmann (Nuisance of Majority) on vocals. The 3-piece outfit from Northern Germany have been active since 2022 and their first album It Is All Overman will be released via Sliptrick Records in 2023.

The debut album 'It Is All Overman’ (2023) by the ensemble from Kiel, Germany invites the listener to join them on their musical and mental journey. Multi-instrumentalist and musical workaholic Jan-Marc Ivers has teamed up with old companions and scene veterans Hauke Drews on bass guitar and Christoph Wollmann on vocals and delivers something truly unique in the 56 minute opus.As their sound is deeply connected to psychedelic and stoner rock, the songs cross easily the border between rock, punk, jazz and pop. You will find straight songs, psychedelic trips, deeply melancholic pieces or even pure dadaism influenced passages.

If you are looking for a small but intense break from the madness of everyday life, you may enjoy the progressively shaped title track “It Is All Overman” and the more drifting “Desert Ship.” Things get more serious with the melancholic “Lies,” which deals with one of the most dominant diseases of our time: depression. But as Overman states it, there is always hope. In all of their lyrics you can see the ambiguity coming through, leaving you “not alone” but in good company with like-minded people.

If you love cheese like the Overmen do and don’t take things too seriously, you might want to give “Cut The Cheese a try.” The 12-minute instruction of how to deal with that magical yellow product is a mind melting jazz track, that combines something best imagined to be presented at an art exhibition with one barely naked person cutting slowly some cheese in front of a minimalistic wall painting. Because why not? The 24-minute song “Morning Chat” is about losing and finding something. It can be based on love, addiction or both as it is a mesmerizing musical roadtrip best served with a glass of red wine or whatever may be your recreational substance of choice.

“Music goes aside the daily noise straight out of the box into the curvy,vibrating hair on an holy, carved and penetrated ear on a resonating head of a human-apes clumsy, fat, yellow body
to change, to learn, to hate, to collaborate,
to grow, to slow down, to perform,
to be gone, to be noticed,
to be verified, to be glorified,
to be ghost notes?”

Sometimes the heavy music we feature in these pages can get right down to earth, to the nitty gritty of where we live in all its misery. Occasionally, however, a band comes along that can touch down on terra firma but also transport us to angelic heights.

Hydra’s Lisa Rieger is the siren songstress for Swedish-German Gothic doom band AMAUROT, which graces us today with a new single from their forthcoming 8-track debut, ’…To Tread the Ancient Waters’ (2022).

Rounding out this intriguing collaboration is guitarist Peter Svensson, bassist Magnus Hultman, and drummer Thomas Hedlund, with guest performers Rogga Johansson (Paganizer) and Sean Vukovic (Forsaken).

“Ritual” is a bittersweet song (more of an experience, really) that showcases Rieger’s beautiful vocal approach, which has a certain warbling vibrato to it that simply brings me chills.

Says the band:

The steady instrumental rhythm of “Ritual” has a captivating effect that can put the listener in a trance. The song is about cohesion and the power and dynamics — whether positive or negative — that come from acting together. In “Ritual,” a group of people embarks on dark paths of thought, only to discover in the end that the darkness is of deceitful nature.

Amaurot’s album …To Tread the Ancient Waters is nothing short of rapturous. It comes out September 30th on Obelisk Polaris Productions (pre-order here). A respite for the wear soul for fans of Draconian, Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard, My Dying Bride, and Candlemass.

Give ear…

SOME BUZZ

Sweden and German-based gothic/death-doom metal group Amaurot’s debut full-length, ‘…To Tread the Ancient Waters’ (2022), is now ready to be unleashed upon the world on 30 September 2022 via Obelisk Polaris Productions on CD and digital formats. The album features guest appearances from Rogga Johansson (Massacre, Paganizer), Sabine Meusel (Xiphea), Sean Vukovic (Forsaken), and Marcus Rosenkvist (Void Moon).

The seed for Amaurot was sown in 2019 when vocalist Lisa Rieger (Hydra) and guitarist Peter Svensson (Void Moon, Assassin’s Blade, ex-Goatess) got in contact to create a new band combining their talents and diverse inspirations.

With Lisa providing clean vocals, background choirs and growls, and Peter playing guitar and keyboards, the line-up was completed by drummer Thomas Hedlund (ex-The Ancient’s Rebirth, Pagan Rites, Void Moon) and bassist Magnus Hultman (Cult of the Fox).

Though deeply immersed in the classic doom field, Amaurot combines their sound with influences from bands like Candlemass, Draconian, and early Within Temptation.

On the debut album, '…To Tread the Ancient Waters,’ Amaurot walks towards a forlorn state, holding darkness and mystique within. While diving deeper into the bleak hollow halls, the doom ensemble still radiates profound and precise melodies, hankering for blissful events to supersede the neverending griefs.

Throughout the songs, Amaurot restores the buried thoughts, emotions, hopes, and miseries into an unknown sphere, unknowingly opening the door to a labyrinthine fate. Fall into the dark and drift away with Amaurot!

To encounter Lucy Kruger’s music is to witness a singular journey of constant reflection that is producing an ever-widening arc of creativity. 8th April 2022 sees the release of Teen Tapes (for performing your own stunts) on Unique Records, a culmination of the Tapes Trilogy. In June 2021, the Berlin-based South African artist released the third Lucy Kruger & The Lost Boys album, ‘Transit Tapes’ (for women who move furniture around), which serves as a follow up to her 2019 release, ‘Sleeping Tapes for Some Girls’.

Since first embarking on the very specific process of recording music - with an early album that she recorded soon after finishing her arts degree in the Eastern Cape town of Makhanda - Kruger has approached her artistry with the care of an archaeologist seeking all the interwoven elements that make up the historical whole.

Whether the now finite suite of albums with André Leo as Medicine Boy (More Knives, 2014; Kinda Like Electricity, 2016; Lower, 2018; Take Me With You When You Disappear, 2020), or her solo work, Kruger has engaged in a slow, steady exploration of what it takes to make music that’s universal, that endures, that draws listeners in, even after countless listens.

“I think that what I am able to offer as an artist is a detailed expression of my experience, for although the situation may feel unique to me, the feelings are universal,” says Kruger. “Giving them a sound and shape validates and creates space for those feelings, allowing listeners to feel seen and less alone, even at a distance. Even in the isolation of a bedroom. Especially in the isolation of a bedroom.”

Kruger references the bedroom because it was this most intimate of spaces that gave her the profound realisation that she now brings to all her work. “Albums capture a moment in time in the life of a band or musician. Listeners hopefully stumble upon those albums when they’re in need of stepping into that world, or having that world mirrored back at them.”

Kruger herself stumbled on this revelation when she contemplated what to do with the songs she wrote in her Cape Town bedroom in the year before relocating to Berlin in 2018.

“Over the time of writing I was having difficulty falling asleep at night, or I would fall asleep but wake in the middle of the night and not be able to fall back to sleep,” she recalls. “I would put my headphones on in bed and listen to music, mostly by women musicians. The songs and sounds I was listening to became my bedtime stories, both speaking to things that I was experiencing, as well as soothing me with their sounds and growing familiarity.”

At first unsure whether to take the songs into the recording studio, Kruger also knew that when she moved to Berlin, they might not have the same relevance for her; that she risked wanting to slip loose from them forever as that time of sleeplessness and isolation receded. “At that moment I understood that an album is not so much a representation of me as an artist as it is of a specific time - and that it exists to give others the sense of comfort I got from writing the songs on it.”

So before leaving for Berlin, Kruger recorded Sleeping Tapes for Some Girls – a set of lullabies for listeners who might be suffering from the quiet restlessness that the 10-songs document through the combination of Kruger’s hushed, spellbinding vocals and the shifting, swaying instruments.

Transit Tapes (for women who move furniture around) similarly mines and documents deeply personal themes – this time Kruger’s desire to no longer have to keep things neat and contained, and a seeking of space and outward movement. “The songs begin in the bedroom, as with Sleeping Tapes, but with an eye on the window and a hand on the door. There is a restlessness. A kind of building up of courage and the acknowledgement of a fear I had developed around making too much noise or causing too much of a scene.”

While working on the upcoming Transit Tapes, Kruger released two singles – “Formless’ and ‘Loose Ends’ (the latter featuring fellow Berlin-based South Africans Academie) - that had also emerged in her Cape Town bedroom but that “alluded to something slightly less introverted and seemed to want to take up more space”. Abandoning efforts to make them fit into Sleeping Tapes, the songs recorded during the Sleeping Tapes sessions now function as a transition between the latter and the next stage of documentation, “one that is begging for movement”. “At some point a song determines its own fate and these two had already moved on,” says Kruger.

Moving on is something Kruger is familiar with. She grew up in Johannesburg where she began writing songs as a 16-year-old and laid the foundation for her absorbing, fervent live performances while studying music and drama in Grahamstown. With a Masters on the horizon, Kruger estimated that her creative exploration would be better served in Cape Town where she then spent several years and first met long term musical collaborator, André Leo. It was with Leo that she first played in Berlin during a Medicine Boy European tour in 2015 (memorable for many reasons including the many trains, buses, and trams that the duo had to take to get to venues with their instruments in tow as part of a decidedly DIY-tour).

It was to propel the music forward that she eventually relocated to the city, but Kruger knows that part of the move was also to explore - unfettered - a new space, both physically (mostly on her bike) and metaphysically.

Once more, Kruger is using her music as a bridge on her deeply contemplative, near forensic journey into what shapes an interior and exterior life. “In theme with the process of stepping out and trying to speak a little louder, there is a slightly bolder approach to production on this new record, inviting a fuller and darker sound,” she says of her May 2021 release. “I have moved from my acoustic to electric guitar, but the sound remains organic, with tracking done live with the band.”

There are also more themes to explore including the centrality of women in Kruger’s lyrics, as listeners, and in her own life. “There is more pressure on a woman to figure herself out in private and then step out with a formed identity. It’s suffocating,” she says. “How are we supposed to discover who we are if we are not allowed to make a mess? To leak, spill, sweat, spit, shriek. Sometimes playing involves getting scratched or wounded. Laughing. Weeping. It also involves glorious thrill and the chance to surrender. I’m looking for that. Transit Tapes is a gentle and sometimes not so gentle reminder/push/pull to take off my winter coat and run naked like a wild thing towards the water.”

In the end, says Kruger, “I do not know how to write without making it personal, and for now I do not wish to”. She does this as a gift, both to herself, and the listener who might need it on their own journey, filled with all the risks of what it means to be human.

For Fans Of: Angel Olsen, Emma Ruth Rundell, Broadcast, Big Thief, Aldous Harding, Cate Le Bon, Adrianne Lenker, Nick Drake, St. Vincent, The Velvet Underground, Lana Del Rey.

The video for Risk, created by Cape Town collective Cult Wife, is an animation of a lyric comic illustrated by Nena Maree, a fellow Cape Town artist.

The tapes trilogy, which began in 2019 with the introverted collection of lullabies, Sleeping Tapes for Some Girls, and followed with the equally tender but perhaps more intense Transit Tapes (for women who move furniture around), documents both a literal and metaphorical move away from and towards something. Teen Tapes (for performing your own stunts) is the much needed arrival and release.

All three records were released by Unique Records.

Teen Tapes was workshopped and recorded in Berlin with Liú Mottes, Andreas Miranda and Martin Perret, the same players who created and recorded Transit Tapes with Kruger.

How can you not love this band?   PURPLE DAWN rocks, man. Right down to fundamentals – an arresting riff tied to a body-shaking tempo leads into an odyssey of psychedelic development and ultimately somewhere very dark and unexpected. The Cologne trio (born in 2019) pulls off an uncanny sleight of hand between rumbling heavy psych and gritty trad doom so deftly you’ll swear the dark arts were somehow involved.

This brings me to the record before us: ‘Peace & Doom Session Vol. II’ (2022). It is, perhaps, a bit of a play off of the ubiquitous peace & love sessions of '60s hippie counterculture. These days there’s a lot more general despair than love going around, but we can still find our peace, our groove, in the midst of an existence that can feel absurd and haphazard. When listening to tracks like “100 Years a Day” and that opening romp “Bonganchamun” (which I take to mean a really, really big hit), it seems like Purple Dawn are doing some intense and revelrous celebrating as the whole place burns down around then. There’s something downright defiant about recent single, “Old Fashioned Black Madness,” that adds to the overall fist-raising tendencies of this spin.

The balladic storytelling quality of “The Moon Song” is especially suited to the rough magick of Purple Dawn’s style and got me thinking about great standards like GnR’s “Sweet Child of Mine” and “I Am The Mountain” by Stoned Jesus. And just when I think I have the vibe of a particular song pegged down, however, it will often surprise me by suddenly shifting atmosphere and taking me into altogether different dimensions. This song aims for sheer cliffs just so it can spy one mountain further than the one it’s perched on.

“Death to a Dying World” trots out with a kind of Pentagram and early Saint Vitus swagger, and here Patrick Rose’s authoritative, prophetic vocals really ground us in the Gospel of Doom (some may draw Danzig comparisons, but I think The Age of Truth is in the same neighborhood). The mood becomes contemplative, as storm clouds slowly and ominously congregate over a dead, beige and brown earth of winter. Or perhaps you will conjure a different vision as you listen, for just as soon as you have been immersed in one aspect of this soundscape another beckons you. It’s the warm campfire glow of psychedelia that flickers next, not so much to change our reality as encourage us despite it. Dissonant picking blows grim arpeggios our way like a cold wind as we approach the end of minute five, heralding a return to the grave opening theme. With its harrowing atmosphere of dread, this cut will probably turn out to be my favorite of the album.

“Bonganchamun Part II” finishes what the first track started, or if you like you can view this and “Bonganchaman” as bookends sectioning off a series of scenes or episodes. Taken together, this pair stratch my headbanging itch similar to “Smoke” by Lucifungus, and it even had me thinking for a second of my not-so-guilty pleasure, Soundgarden’s “Fopp.” While the closing song is precisely and purposefully 4:20 long, I really wish the band had turned loose a lot more here as it’s the perfect fodder for a jam. Though that wasn’t the intention here, it’ll be cool to hear Purple Dawn do some freestyle, perhaps this summer at one of those direly missed European psychedelic festivals?

Today, Doomed & Stoned & 666MrDoom are jointly hosting the premiere of Purple Dawn’s new single/music video, “Power to the People.” The song has an appealing Clutch or Boss Keloid step to it, with a funky beat, bluesy guitar accents, and a raucous chorus to boot. More stomping in the graveyard from a band that refuses to let the austere conditions of 2020-22 take it down. We reached out to Purple Dawn for comment:

And so, we all trot further and further into this still-young century. And as we’re trying to keep pace with time, that is ticking away, a little faster and faster every day, some of us might feel small as soon as we’re gifted with the light of birth. Giving ourselves no time, no love, no nothing at all, growing up in a world built on so many tight-lipped ideas and constricting uniformity. A world that is constantly trying to kill those little flashes and flames that light up the mind and the soul.

Most likely, there will be no revolution that will change the world for the better. But out of that little flame can grow a warming fire. Out of that little flash can arise a cleansing and rousing thunderstorm. And so, some of us might find our strength, our very own will, and a way to create, love, live and die — the power of the people.

“Power to the People” is the third and newest single out of the upcoming Peace & Doom Session Vol. II, the second chapter of the Peace & Doom Session series. This time Purple Dawn takes you on a raw-power-trip, a trip filled with filthy and aggressive riffing, surprising turns and bends, and a vigorous and impassioned performance.

Look for Peace & Doom Session Vol. II releasing March 11th on Electric Valley Records (where Purple Dawn find themselves amidst a complementary crowd of contrasts – from High N’ Heavy and Dixie Goat to Wormhog and Loose Sutures). You’ll find vinyl pre-orders ongoing, and from the looks of it quantities are slipping fast.

Give ear…

Some Buzz

Cologne-based Purple Dawn has always been the balance between things: hard riffing energy and heart-hitting melody, good and bad, high and low, future and past, and sometimes far and beyond. And that’s why the three-piece calls their music “Peace & Doom.” Heavily rooted in the psychedelic hard rock saturated doom metal, Purple Dawn offers an enthralling blend of both classic and modern sounding bands. While their devotion towards Sabbath, Pentagram, and Zeppelin is conspicuous, their love for bands like Mastodon, Rezn, Windhand, or Orange Goblin should not be overlooked. In contrast to the majority of bands in the genre, Purple Dawn is not shy away from having a variety of styles in their songs: it’s like putting on a Led Zeppelin record where no track sounds like the other.

The power trio emerged in early-2020, and a few months after their formation, they offered the Peace & Doom Session Vol. I. The A-Side of the album contains the complete Peace & Doom Session, recorded live in the band’s rehearsal room in Cologne, whereas the B-Side comprises three studio tracks.

The first Peace & Doom Session was well received by the community, and Purple Dawn kept the torch lit and continued writing songs, even though there was no chance for a live show due to the lockdown. “..So as we couldn’t get our music out to the people and public stages, there really was no other way than playing a gig to the cameras again. So we did…” The doom-power-trio hit a great studio in Oberhausen and recorded the second chapter of their live sessions: Peace & Doom Session Vol. II.

Every song aims for a non-identical direction, but all have some elements in common: massive riffs, powerful vocals, and a very own atmosphere. PDS Vol. II starts and ends with an instrumental (almost) piece called “Bonganchamun.” The five songs in between are tales from nomad rituals in the desert to the oppressiveness of the depths of the sea — revolution, misguided minds, and the intrinsic evil of human beings. The record captures an unfaltering high-energy set of Purple Dawn’s doom rock and brings upon PEACE & DOOM.

Over the summer, Doomed & Stoned released a four-part audio snapshot of the heavy instrumental explosion and it’s in the running to be one of our most downloaded compilations of all time. Whether we’re talking one-person bands, cross-country collabs, or a hard-gigging five-piece, there’s an increasingly evocative world to explore when the singer bows out. This is especially true of one STARGO. The Dortmund band came to our attention on The Doomed & Stoned Show last year with the ambitious sophomore LP, ‘Parasight’ (2020), which has some absolute smashers on it.

Perhaps you’re one who merely tolerates instrumentals when you hear them on albums that are otherwise very lyric-centered. I used to feel that way, so I understand. But then I got to thinking, does one really need to be grounded with a set of words (most of which we can’t decipher anyway) to enjoy a work of heavy music? I say “work” intentionally to stress how these compositions are morphing into an expression of high art. Far from castigating instrumental acts as beneath us, heavy music aficionados need to take time to appreciate just how much it takes to make up for the loss of a singer. We’ve witnessed the wonders of picturesque doom metal and stoner rock (and increasingly an ingenious blend of subgenres) in band after band over the past decade, from BelzebonG to Bongripper, Colour Haze to Clouds Taste Satanic

Stargo is likewise a band capable of touching raw nerves. Whilst allowing those moments of emotional pain to sting, the tone and tenor of the sound evolves, encouraging us to flourish beyond the grim tyranny of Now. When I asked for the band’s assessment of Dammbruch, they were straightforward: “Three songs, 30-minutes of thrilling and diverse instrumental stoner metal, covering everything from smooth psychedelia to blast beat eruptions.” Let’s break it down.

“Dammbruch” (which, I believe, literally means “dam break”) begins with a serious bit of atmosphere via the raw strumming of the strings. By the time we go fully electric, it’s an all-band attack, culminating in stark, grey, bittersweet dissonance that gets to me every damn time I hear it. Three minutes in, a transition: Sabbath-style romping gets shoes to shaking. I wondered where the song was going next. Interestingly, this bit of retro flashback lasts barely 30-seconds before fluttering away into tiny broken shards of reality until it is naught but haze at the minute’s end. Could it be a vision of better times? By mark 4:20 (I kid you not), another fire has been sparked – this one a buoyant rhythm of desertesque post-metal and plucky Eastern influence, with crunchy, chugging guitars joining in minutes later and later still, a wistful high note singing at us like some forlorn wandering bird flying at dusk.

It helps knowing that the first track (clocking in at a gargantuan 14 minutes) does indeed have its distinct moments, for it is intended as a suite of interlocking pieces: I. “First Cracks,” II. “From An Eagle’s Eye,” III. Dambreach, and IV. “In A Nutshell.” It does indeed have its characteristic moments, including those bendy Soundgardenesque riffs around the 8-minute mark, or the ninety-seconds of manic “sweat out the poison” fever that follows. In its waning stages, “Dammbruch” gets quiet and contemplative, but with a kind of shoegazesque strumming going on. The song staggers drunk as notes blend into one another, and this is the end of Side A.

I wasn’t ready for B. “Copter” starts with a rhythmic pulse, maybe from a keyboard or computer, and it struck me as completely far-out following what the band had just committed to tape. As the bass, then the guitar, then the drum kit joins in the revolution, I’m struck by just how great a reason this is to flip the record over (oh and there will be vinyl, the band says, so you can literally do just that). It’s not easy to make a perpetual motion kinda song work, but Stargo pulls it off effortlessly with a sort of steely might. Copter’s got such a great theme, too, heroic and boastful to begin, then it morphs into something a bit more inquisitive. After a break, it returns feeling serious and determined. I was at once surprised and elated for the return of the central “Dammbruch” motif (minus the delicious dissonance this time, but I can’t have it all). From there, it’s a kind of theme and variations, and suddenly a return to “Copter” prime. We have landed. At just six-minutes, this song will fit comfortably into a general rotation with the likes of Mastodon, Elder, Savanah, Clouds Taste Satanic, Samsara Blues Experiment, and Zirakzigil.

Would you believe it gets even better? Hell yeah, it does! We may feel like floating away on blissful clouds of imagination into blue skies of possibility as “Bathysphere” begins, but the ride is far from done. One minute in, a classic-sounding rock 'n’ roll riff springs loose and just does it’s thing on the street corner. It’s not a one-man party for long, because bass and drums, attracted to the commotion, come out of their homes and join in the spontaneous public jam. One detects hints of “Stairway To Heaven” as the song walks through similar tonal avenues on its way toward an ultimately heavier destination. Rapid fire riffing and blast beating busts the track wide open, giving way to a splash of vibrant color as multiple guitars take on polyphonic voices, giving us a low and high end that grows positively exalted in the track’s closing ticks. The stern main theme reminds me of the downcast mood that hovers over the Robert Eggers film The VVitch. This sad little lied ohne worte will no doubt find me returning to this album again for a much deserved re-hearing. Indeed, there are hues of sound, interesting compositional choices, and layers of development to be revealed, making second and third spins rewarding.

Doomed & Stoned is happy to present the world premiere of Stargo’s 'Dammbruch’ (2021), out December 17th digitally and available soon on multiple physical formats (get it here).

Give ear…

Things are about to get dicey in here as Doomed & Stoned cuts loose ”On The Run,” the first single from the upcoming third full-length by evocative Berlin band REDSCALE, last featured in these pages for the world premiere of their sophomore record, ‘Feed Them To The Lions’ (2019).

This opening track to new album, ‘The Old Colossus’ (2021) begins with a super retro guitar lead-in, “On The Run” presents a vibrant picture of what to expect from the newest release by the Berlin Based band’s impressively tight and powerful contemporary stoner rock/metal milieu.

Melodically massive and as meticulously well-produced as it is played, “On The Run” gives us a riveting account of fight or flight to a destination unknown, through a crumbling world to a place of new beginnings and shelter from the storm. An emotive maelstrom of whaling riffs and huge cordage chug along with massive hooks and a beastly rhythm section driving compelling vocals which communicate a gripping urgency and chorus that’s chant worthy to the max.

A shredding solo rounds out the last half of the track and into the final chorus leaving the listener hanging breathless on the edge of anticipation for what’s to come next from these German riff monsters.

Look for Redscale’s The Old Colossus on Majestic Mountain Records, due out on October 15th (pre-orders announcing soon).

What a way to kick off the weekend! Regular listeners to The Doomed & Stoned Show know I’ve long praised the German heavy music scene, most recently as the home of bluesy rock. However, let’s not forget this is also headquarters to some of the rowdiest stoner-doom on the planet!

Two of Germany’s meaniest, sludgiest, heaviest rockers are joining hands for a split LP, ‘Major League Heavy Rock’ (2021). And heavy rock it is! Apportioned four songs a piece, today Doomed & Stoned gives you a first listen into what HELLAMOR and RED STONE CHAPEL have been up to during the pandemic.

Go Down Records, who will issue the LP on vinyl, had this to say about the collaboration:

The German rock bands Hellamor and Red Stone Chapel often shared the same stage. So the idea of a split record is pretty simple, two groups who respect each other want to do something together. Especially these days when you can’t play any concerts! The split is something to give back to the people who can’t join gigs at the moment, a sort of teaser for the things to come. Meantime in this “online reality” a vinyl that you can hold on your hands is a love letter to all the people out there

Hellamor

For their part, Hellamor have been around since at least 2006, and before that they were known as Calamus (emerging in the mid-90s). As you can imagine, these veteran rockers have garnered quite a loyal following. They’re first up on the split, with “Never Taught Me,” which the band says is “a song about unrequited sympathy and love in childhood, written in the darkest hours of the vocalist’s life. The band made the soundtrack to it.”

Surely many of us will be able to identify with its lyrical angst and musical thrust. I’m especially fond of the atonal jerks of the guitar in its interplay with the singer. “Never Taught” me is a song that’s out for raw, red meat. Go ahead, indulge your inner beast along with it. Fans of Pantera, take note! You may have just found your next favorite band.

Red Stone Chapel

Then comes Red Stone Chapel’s “The Paper King.” The band has quite a story behind this one, too:

While it is true that the main purpose of lyrics is to sound cool, we actually think it’s integral that on top of that they should make little to no sense at all, if read soberly. Lo and behold, no fucks were given yet again on a rainy day in middle Europe, when six so-called musicians came together and one eventually said: “The song’s name is the paper king.” “Well, that’s a shit name,” said the others. Not that I care, actually. I don’t even know what that means. So it’s all according to plan.

Red Stone Chapel have quite a history of their own, playing what they simply term “heavy swamp music” since 2010. If you dig the southern-style stoner vibe as much as I do, you’ll find a lot to headbang to with this song. Juxtaposing between moments of narcotic chill and raucous revelry, “The Paper King” does not disappoint! FFO: Hollow Leg, Thunder Horse, Down.

Hellamor will take side A of the forthcoming vinyl release with the tracks: “Fallen Saint,” “Hourglass,” “I Can Hear It,” and “Never Taught Me.” Side B is all Red Stone Chapel, with “The Paper King,” “Progress In Work,” “Genius Junction,” and “Thieves In The Attic.” Out April 9th, pre-orders are already up for blue vinyl and red vinyl on Go Down Records, so grab it while it’s hot!

And now, what you’ve all be waiting for, the world premiere of Hellamor’s “Never Taught Me” and Red Stone Chapel’s “The Paper King.”

Give ear…

Giants, dwarfs and black holes are states of a star. GIANTS, DWARFS AND BLACK HOLES is a young band from Pfungstadt, Germany. The band was founded a little over a year ago, in December 2019, and consists of members from two local bands, both struggling to maintain a stable line-up. Their debut record ‘Everwill’ (2020) was released last September, but managed to mostly stay under the radar. Now the record is getting a 2021 release on vinyl and CD, courtesy of Interstellar Smoke Records and Galactic Smokehouse, which is a good reason to give the band some exposure on our bitchin’ little blog right here.

Giants, Dwarfs and Black Holes (let’s call them GDaBH from now on) kick off their debut with “Blood Moon”. The track starts off as a heavy psych song, but in its 10 minute playtime, you realize that there’s much more to be found here. In fact, the whole record is just a 42 minute space exploration. GDaBH seamlessly floats between psychedelic rock, blues and doom. There certainly is an odd hint of jazz in there as well.

Musically, Everwill is as solid as it gets. Roland’s guitar work has a leading role throughout the record, proving himself to be a master of solid riffing and spaced out soloing, but never overpowering the other members. Carsten proves to be a dynamic drummer, pushing the songs forward while adding these little extras to keep things interesting. Through it all, Tomasz fills out the sound with heavy bass lines. Luzzi tops it all off with a damn fine vocal performance. She’s not quite up there with the big gals (it felt wrong to write “big guys,” but you get the idea) like Lynx (Old Blood) or Virginia Monti (Psychedelic Witchcraft), but her singing is really good and works well with the music. I’ve been resisting the urge to use solid to describe everything in this paragraph, but that’s what this band is. These are all seasoned musicians, doing what they do best.

Although the tempo lies low on this record, there’s a lot going on. During my first time listening to Everwill, I was overwhelmed by the amount of influences that blend together in the tracks, with closing track “In the Circle” absolutely blasting me off into space. I usually don’t press the play button again after a record’s finished, but in this case I just had to take another listen to pick out all the little details making this record so interesting.

If you’re in one of those moods where you just want to unwind and let all the negativity of your daily life fall off of you, turn down the lights, maybe turn on a lava lamp for extra atmosphere and put on Everwill. Just relax and let GDaBH take you on a little trip through outer space. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.

At first, you may think you pressed play on the wrong album. Did we just step into the mystical, synth-filled world of Blade Runner? Well, hang out for a spell, because it’s about to get groovy. Meet HAMMADA from Freiberg, Saxony. I stress that this is not a new band, as they’ve been jamming doom-touched stoner-psychedelic vibes for nearly a decade. And, as they like to remind us, the second “m” is silent. What’s loud and clear is this band really digs those desert rock riffs, man.

You feel it in “Occasus,” where three minutes in each of the instrumentalists (some funky, some fuzzy) take a few seconds to jig. Some listeners will find common ground between Hammada and Colour Haze, though “Nox” is standard stoner fare with its bouncy Kyuss-esque rhythm. Hammada mark it with their own distinct vocal style (strong, though not raw), joined by a spirited feeling of adventure. I was surprised to encounter some vibrato in Kristian Schulze’s singing during “Heliokratia” – and even a few high notes (his voice is medium-range). “Ether” really dances, accented by some very low bass notes, where “Helios” is a hazy mirage on a horizon dotted with cacti, sage, and marigold.

But wait, I just noticed something. “Occasus,” “Nox,” “Heliokratia,” those aren’t German words at all! Just what the heck is going on? We should have gotten our clue from the album’s title, Atmos, which is Latin for “Air.” This is a record about the basic elements that comprise life, not just physically but experientially. “Occasus” = “Sunset.” “Nox” = “Night” (and more specifically, the Roman goddess of night). “Helios” = “Sun” (and the personification of the Sun in Greek mythology). See? I knew that year of Latin in middle school would someday pay off.

Actually, I got a tad bit of help from guitarist Christian Döring, who tells me:

We deal with a lot of Languages in our titles. Latin, Greek, English, Arabic, and even German (“Domizil” for example).

Okay, so much for my detective work in searching for a program. What’s this? Just got another ping. It’s Christian on Messenger:

Well, ‘Atmos’ is some kind of a concept album. Like a lot of songwriters do, I can’t write lyrics when I’m happy. That’s why Ether is an instrumental, it just doesn’t need any lyrics because it has an overall positive spirit. So the story behind 'Atmos’ is just someone kind of saying goodbye, but in a good way. One person is reflecting on his life, character, and actions, then leaving his body and life in all grace.

Wow, that’s heavy.

A clear standout of the record for me is “Azimut,” where we get to hear more of that spooky synth encountered in track one. I especially like the gentle chorus about a minute-and-a-half in. Then again, I may have spoken too soon, because the moment I hear the bassline ramble along in “Domizil,” I have to stop everything.

This number is a beast, too, clocking in a solid 15 minutes and absorbing acid-soaked elements of post-metal, shoegaze, desert, and some proggy, Gothic-sounding organ in the backdrop. It all swirls together and morphs into a psychedelic van travelling down the desert highway at a chill 55mph (the speed that Van Halen claimed couldn’t be driven).

Again, Christian was kind enough to illuminate its meaning:

“Domizil” (“Domicile”) initially was planned for the homecoming track of the lyrical subject, but it changed to be quite the opposite in the past years. I held onto the title to keep it all a bit contradictory. I like that.

Notably, this is Hammada’s first full-fledged full-length, after dropping their 3-song EP debut Sfaira (another Latin word! Boys, I think we’re back on the trail again) and a live version of the same in 2017. They’ve garnered quite the following regionally (Hammada’s Facebook page is entirely in German), but Atmos portends to open them up to a global audience.

Big ups to Kristian Schulze (vox, organ), Christian Döring (guitar, synth), Lenz Fiedler (bass guitar), and Sönke Tautorus (drums) on the release of this dream-laden sonic road trip.

Give ear…

The German rockers Hammada [ham'a:da:] send us on a special journey with their album 'Atmos’ (2020), released during the last weekend in June. The quartet, which has been passionate about music since 2012, already digitally published the first two singles, “Ether” and “Nox,” at the end of last year and the beginning of this one. Now, they are finally ready to reveal the other songs in the set:

1. Occasus
2. Nox
3. Heliokratia
4. Ether
5. Helios
6. Azimut
7. Domizil

Atmos is undoubtedly an interesting album, because in between it is always fraught with dreamy and at the same time spherical sounds, occasionally breaking out at the right moment with strong, fuzz-laden stoner riffs. The interplay of jazzy, funky bass parts and classic heavy psych elements complete the concept album.

Like many bands in the scene, the members of Hammada – consisting of Kristian Schulze (vocals, organ), Christian Döring (guitar, synthesizers), Lenz Fiedler (bass guitar), and Sönke Tautorus (drums, percussions) – are largely influenced by Kyuss, Fu Manchu, and Monster Magnet, but they give their debut album Atmos a very personal touch by working with various sound effects and partially recorded organ sequences.

We all know how important the interaction of each individual band member is, but sometimes the timbre of the vocals are often decisive. Frontman Kristian Schulze is responsible for this. A simple categorization would not do the singer justice, though some vocal parts are reminiscent of those of Messiah Marcolin, the former singer of Candlemass.

Already with the first song of the album, called “Occasus”, listeners are brought straight to the point by means of soft synth sounds that remind us of the beginnings of mastermind Giorgio Moroder and, as already mentioned, the spectacular journey now begins in which the listeners can simply let themselves go.

The songs “Nox” and “Heliokratia” quickly goes in a rocky direction, tempting you to resonate and headbang. Before the album ends with the stoner rock heavy tracks “Azimut” and “Domizil,” there is a special instrumental treat called “Ether.”

I personally like the fact that Atmos breaks away from classic song structure and gives a lot of space for the instruments and vocals, while occasionally focusing on guitar and bass solos.

Christian Döring (guitar, synthesizers) tells the record’s story best:

We largely owe 'Atmos’ to our producer Lukas from The Eden Project. He has known us for over six years now and has made all of our recordings with one exception. He knows us well and knows what we want – a good mix between older and modern sound.

But why are there eight years between the formation of the band and the release of our debut album? In fact, at the beginning of the band we didn’t really know where the sound should go. We all come from different musical backgrounds and first had to find a rough direction.

In addition, we all had limited band experience before Hammada, the songwriting was not so good, and we had no idea about sounds. It was a long learning process.

'Atmos’ can therefore be seen as a summary of our musical development. In spring of 2014, the instrumental number “Ether” was the impulse that gave us the musical direction: dreamy spherical melodies meet heavy fuzz. Nothing new, but we love it.

NICOLAS “SCRIOS” PERRAULT – some of you may have heard this name in the course of the German monster sludgers RAGE OF SAMEDI. German multi-instrumentalist, producer, live audio engineer, creative head in general, and bad-ass bassist of the aforementioned band. Often these artists are mostly referred to us in connection with the bands in which they play and we often know too little about their individual personalities and the solo projects they have to offer. Ashes on our heads!

After six years of walking the path of self-discovery and working on his authenticity as a solo artist, Nicolas has now announced the release of his first full-length album ‘Shadows Cast At Dawn’ (2020) on May 20th. That’s why we should jump at this perfect opportunity to get a foretaste of the new album and take a closer look at Nick Perrault as “singer/songwriter” (a term that somehow doesn’t entirely fit him).

With the song “Fires Within,” Nick not only offers us a gloomy soul plough, but also a glance into his own soul. It is a gritty absolution punch, with abysmal soundscapes that deal with depression and anxiety. Emotional, melancholic, but in no way melodramatic – a puristic and minimalistic-looking audio-active encounter with the emotionally frozen world and the breakout of those soul-damaging shackles. Like the Last Judgement runs Nick‘s throaty, heavy, powerful voice through the song and manifests itself like a memorial at the edge of the abyss into which the listener seems to look. This musical work is further underpinned by the impressive video-artwork, which was also created by Nick’s own artistic hand.

I hope I have made you a little curious about the excursion into a border area of this heavy genre, which generally receives less attention here, and about the artistic work of Nicolas Perrault. Enjoy the ride through the abyss.

First of all, a warm “welcome”, on behalf of Doomed & Stoned and our audience, Nick. It’s only been a few months since you answered my questions as part of the gang of Rage Of Samedi! But this time, you are in the spotlight with your solo project! It‘s nice to have you here again!

It’s an absolute honor to get to do this twice in a single year, so thanks for having me!

Nick, of course I have created my own impression of you in the process of preparing for this interview - at the latest now you still have the chance to escape! (laughs) How would you describe yourself? Who is this guy Nicolas Perrault?

I’m a multi-instrumentalist, tattooer, live audio engineer and producer and slightly sociophobic. So pretty much your average vegan straightedge dude who refuses to get a real job.

What made you decide to sell your soul to the “Devil Of Music”? In other words, how and when did you realize that you were burning with heart and soul to dedicate your life to music?

I’ve always played instruments, starting with the recorder, then organ and piano, bass, drums, guitar, bagpipes, and everything else. Way back when I joined my first band (a grunge/punk three-piece) and first picked up a bass, I realized I had a lot to say and music quickly became my outlet of choice. So about 18 years ago, but I didn’t think of it in terms of a career yet, that only happened roughly six years ago, so I dropped out of university and started to work on my solo project.

You have left some very manifold and genre crossing footsteps on the pilgrimage through your personal music history: PTAH (doom), MOONSAIL (depressive pop-blues), and THRENODIA (black-metal) in former times are on my mind, current side projects are WILLE ZUR MACHT (avangarde) and you are the bass-riffer of Germany’s blackened sludge doom monster RAGE OF SAMEDI! To what extent were these different musical influences and band experiences important for your progress as solo-artist?

I’ve spent a decade and a half working in bands, which would usually split up after a while, when the band became more serious and the others decided they’d rather pursue “real” jobs. So after a couple of those, I grew tired of waiting on the right people and just started working on my own. But every now and then I’d want to experiment with different genres, so I’d start a new project. The reason I’m now releasing under my actual name is that I didn’t want to be stuck in one genre. I don’t regret any of it, as they shaped who I am and the music I play now.

At the mention of your solo project, I could see the glint in your eyes. May 20th is the day! Let’s light a sparkler for a minute! After three released EPs and six years of working as a solo artist, 'Shadows Cast At Dawn’ will sail into the world as your first full-length album, which you even produced under the name of your own label Yew & Holly, right? What thoughts shoot spontaneously through your head right now?

Yup. I’m just incredibly excited to finally release this thing! It’s been nearly six years and about eight different entire recordings, several changes to the track listing, heck- there are two tracks on the album that I only wrote this year! It’s been a long, tedious journey and I’m glad for everything that happened along the way, because it made the final version of the album so much better!

Nick, let’s turn the spotlight on the background information for your new album now. How would you describe your it to someone who has never heard your music before and which instruments play a major role?

A genre defying journey through post-modern life in a capitalist reality, focussing on depression and anxiety. Almost all of the songs are two sets of drums, a minute string section of violin and cello plus baritone guitar and vocals, that together create soundscapes so vast you might mistake them for an assassin’s creed map.

Listening a little deeper into your work, one does not miss your natural fondness for philosophical thinking – correct me if I am wrong with my assumption. Where do you get your inspirations from? And is there a message you want to convey to the listeners?

Well, I did study philosophy way back when. I tend to use naval imagery to paint a lyrical picture of depression and bipolar disorder, as a means of sharing the way I experience the world. It’s likely not the most accessible thing you will ever hear, but it’s a sincere expression of myself and that’s really all I can offer.

“Fires Within,” btw. Also one of my personal favorites of your album - is the amuse-gueule for our listeners What is the meaning behind this song and what moved you, writing the lyrics for this song?

“Fires” is all about setting boundaries and tearing down unhealthy relationships. If you have people in your life that hold you back instead of supporting you, ditch their ass! They’re not worth the time and will poison any creative endeavor. Everyone knows at least a handful of these negative feckers and so did I. I spent years trying to help them get through their shit, but whenever I needed them they’d be more interested in getting drunk.

It’s an unburdening from dead weight we carry, a cleansing, if you will. The chorus says “look not towards time, it brings only decay and destruction ” and I think this is key to ridding yourself from negativity. Focus on your ultimate goal, that transcends trends and mood swings, that lives beyond time, and let it guide you. Don’t stray too much from the path, or these negative influences will be right there waiting to cut you down.

“Fires Within”

Call upon the wind
To wipe the surface clean
He brings the rain and with it
Absolution
To carry with it the dust
And bittersweet memories lost

Look not towards time
To save your soul from fires
It brings only decay and with it
Destruction
The fires burn from within
Feast on the sand and it’s running thin

Turn away from everything you hold dear
To keep yourself safe from despair
Cause all they bring is but loss
All that remains is darkness when they are all gone
Darkness that stretches like shadows cast from a new dawn

I would like to make a short swerve to the album cover. It is the wonderful artwork of Maryland based illustrator Luke Martin (Suburban Avenger Studios) who counts some famous musicians among his clients (Foo Fighters, Queens of the Stone Age, Arctic Monkeys, Red Hot Chili Pepper and others). How does the artwork relate to “Shadows Cast To Dawn”?

I’ve been a huge fan of Luke’s work for years and a while ago he posted this picture to his Instagram. I was looking for something very specific to use as an album cover at the time. I needed it to evoke claustrophobia and a feeling of being safe inside whilst at the same time showing an outside, detached from the rest, just out of reach.

So imagine my jaw dropping as I saw this picture for the first time. It just struck me. So I wrote Luke, if he’d sell it. He had never sold a photograph before (plenty of awesome illustrations, though) so needless to say, I was very happy he did. He basically captured exactly what I had conceptualized – that it’s an actual photograph just makes it even better, as the concept is very much abstract but now has an actual physical representation.

The title “Shadows Cast At Dawn” was something that I had floating around in my head for ever. So when I began to work on the album that became the working title. Since I’ve worked on it for so long, that title has- in a way- effected everything I wrote, so it seemed to fit perfectly by the end.

Is there a special favourite place where you prefer to let your ideas mature? - a kind of soul-flyer place? I know you live in a small, rather idyllic place and not in a vibrant artists’ metropolis! Whereby this way of living has advantages as well as disadvantages for an artist, right?

I love forests, oceans and mountains, so I’m pretty much alright with any surroundings, as long as I can escape civilization from time to time. Living out in the countryside allows me to focus, as you pretty much know where to find people, if you’re looking for company but at the same time, you know where you are less likely to be found.

Sure, I need to travel a lot more to get anywhere and there aren’t as many connections to be made face to face, but digitalization has granted us loners access to that aspect of life from the comfort of our homes, so I’d say it really depends on what you need to stay sane.

With the release of this album, you could now realize one of your dreams. Do we have another sparkler to light? What else do you have in the works? Are there any future plans that float in space? Or do you still carry around another big dream in your head?

I’ve already started recording for the next album, so fingers crossed that this time it won’t take as long. Apart from that, I really want to tour the world, but circumstances aren’t exactly ideal for that, at the moment. Apart from the music, I also tattoo and paint and hope to be doing more of that alongside music in the future. So if y'all wanna get some ink, hit me up!

Thanks a lot Nick, for giving us a deeper insight into your solo project and the things that move you! It’s been very entertaining having this conversation with you here. We all will keep our eyes upon Nicolas “Scrios” Perrault in anticipation of your success!

Thank you very much, Mel, it’s been my pleasure!

Roaming Bandcamp, one can stumble onto interesting finds. LORD VIGO’s third album, ‘Danse de Noir’ (2020), is one of those records which I accidentally stumbled upon. With a band name referring to a Ghostbusters baddie and a concept record inspired by Blade Runner, the movie buff in me was sold.

Honestly, I was expecting to find a guilty pleasure,which would be fun for a couple of listens, but I was positively surprised by this release. Lord Vigo treats us to some exciting epic doom metal, but with a unique twist. The German trio mixes their doom with quite a few new wave influences. This is most prominent in the vocals of drummer Vinz Clortho, who immediately reminded me of Mat McNerney (Grave Pleasures, Beastmilk), but also in the extensive use of keys and synths. On paper this mix of genres might seem like a strange marriage, but Lord Vigo make it work.

Danse de Noir starts off with a mood setting, spoken intro in the form of “The Voight Kampff Situation,” immediately connecting the record to Blade Runner. After that we’re off with the title track, which proves to be as catchy as it is epic. This was the point that my scepsis made way for enjoyment.

On the first half of the album, the tracks are separated by spoken intermezzos. On the one hand, this adds to the concept, but on the other hand, it takes the momentum out of the record. Luckily, from “Shoulder of Orion” on, the focus is fully on the music. This track happens to be one of the most entertaining songs on the record, because of its high grade instrumentation. Both the guitar and bass duties shared on this record by Tony Scoleri and Volguus Zildrohar, have the time to shine. There’s even some welcome shredding towards the end.

Were this record released in the '80s, it would have been as much of a cult classic as the movie that inspired it. Today, it will probably not get this kind of status, but that doesn’t make the record any less fun. All the kitsch on Danse de Noir, including the abysmal use of French, is forgiven because of the quality displayed. This is a record both man and replicant can enjoy.

I can say with certainty that these five German raging “Pfälzern devils” are even more on fire at the moment than usual…or in other words they are burning like hell and I’m absolutely with them!

The South German Voodoo-Barons RAGE Of SAMEDI have shouted out the news, that they will bring us to our knees with their new album ‘Blood Ritual’ (2020) on January 17th, released by Argonauta Records (pre-order here)

Rage of Samedi is based in Zweibrücken/Rhineland Palatinate, Germany, and originally founded in 2012 as a side-project, which relatively quickly turned out to be a main project. The band mates of this hellbent voodoo chamber, Lou Cifer (voice), Sam D. Durango (guitar/backing vox), DixieKing Boehme I (guitar), Nick “Scrios” Perkele (bass) and Ian O‘Field (drums) have underpinned their scene presence in the last year with impressive work and have thus acquired a cult fan base.

So whilst we pawed our hooves for almost three years, hungering for new stuff, Rage of Samedi stepped on the gas! They milled over a huge load of live stages, by supporting bands like Eyehategod, High Fighter, Mantar, Monolord, King Witch, Ten Ton Slug, raged down the Malta Doom Fest in 2017 as well the Freak Valley Festival in 2018 and used this time intensively honing on their musical authenticity.

This does not in any way mean that they wanted to reinvent themselves but they worked on topping off their typical monstrous and raw Rage of Samedi sound.

If you take a look at the new work 'Blood Ritual’ (2020), you will unmistakably notice that they have succeeded in doing so damn well! Their sound, inspired but not imitated by the spirit of the ancient Doom Gods of the '70s and '80s, compared with a good deal of furious sludge, a stunning raging (core) voice and occasional strolling on musical side-paths of similar genres is and remains edgy and angular but nevertheless a finely well-rounded masterpiece.

By signing a worldwide deal as first German band on Argonauta Record’s growing roster, they hit another big goal on their path.

I caught these Barons of Samedi for an awesome voodoo-session on behalf of Doomed & Stoned and if you can spare some time, follow me in the interview and take a look behind the scenes of Rage of Samedi. Check it out as you take in the world premiere of the music video “I Spit Hate”!

An Interview With Rage of Samedi

Hey guys! I‘m thrilled as punch to meet up with you here! How do you feel, with the knowledge in the back of your mind that in a few days, your new baby will see the light of day? I reckon you’re about to catch fire, don’t you? (laughs)

Yeah! Nice to meet you, too. Thanks for giving us the chance for that interview. Indeed, we’re really burning to bring out that record!! It’s been a while since the last one and it’s cool that we have Gero and his Argonauta Records as a label in the background that gave us all the freedom and time to write Blood Ritual.

What is the background of your new album in connection with the overall progress of the band?

Sam: Blood Ritual is the first album where Nicolas and Thorsten were actively parted in the songwriting process. That’s a big development how the songs are sounding and the guitars are working together. We stayed on that point that we’d like to bring in all our influences in our writing process and Nicolas and Thorsten are a big step forward in the quality of the songs.

What distinguishes 'Blood Ritual’ (2020) from your last album 'Children Of The Black Sun’ (2016)? Are there differences, and if so, which ones and why?

Sam: We recorded the guitars on “Children Of The Black Sun” completely live together. For the new album we got back to tracking the stuff one after the other again, 'cuz the live recordings brought so many problems in the mixing process and we were already a bit under pressure with the release date for C.O.T.B.S. so we couldn’t start again. C.O.T.B.S. was a torture to mix and master. We all thought we have to be parted in the mixing process. And I think we threw the shit away for about ten times! (laughs).

Blood Ritual is completely produced and mixed by our bass player Nicolas Perrault. At the beginning it was hard to follow all his instructions, for example changing my complete guitar sound and all that stuff, but damn, listen to that record!! I’d never do it another way anymore. I mean, Nicolas took that stuff, closed the door, worked for two weeks around the clock and came to rehearsals with that awesome mix. The first time we all are 100% happy with it. BOOM!

The mastering we gave to Collin Jordan at Boiler Rooms, Chicago. He already worked with bands like ‪EyeHateGod‬ and Lord Dying, so he knew exactly what to do with our stuff.

Can you please tell us all you have in mind about the meaning of “I Spit Hate”, the appetizer we got as an exclusive release, for our listeners?

Lou: “I Spit Hate” is ment as a “Nazi Scum, Fuck Off” song. We write a lot of social and political critical stuff and we’re always using drastic words, that’s how “I Spit Hate” came to be. Easy as that.

Which of you is responsible for the lyrics? And what are the main themes they deal with and what inspires you?

Lou: I’m the one who is writing all the lyrics. I’m something like an old punk rocker (laugs). Maybe the reason why we always criticize society. (Laughs) Most time the guys working on our songs, I’m with them at rehearsals and the writing process inspires me. Sometimes the other guys give me some inspiration with one or two lines of text or some poems or what else and I work the stuff out or fill them in in my own lyrics.

As most of the big bands in the scene we also can say that we’re getting a lot of inspiration from authors like Lovecraft, King and all the others. So some of our lyrics don’t have that biggest meaning, just are telling a fantastic story.

Please tell us the story of how you came together as a band.

Sam: We knew each other before the band, but just from seeing each other at some gigs and stuff. Then end 2011, I played a hometown show with my former band where I was on vocals and guitar. Lou and Ian opened up with their acoustic project Leaf&Booze that evening for us. Ian on guitar that evening. A few weeks later Lou and me talked about that I wanted to start a project where I just can play guitar and I asked him to go on the mic there. He told me that Ian is normally a drummer and he asked our former bass player Paul McKay to be with us. So we started. After a few rehearsals we knew this will be more than just that planned side project.

After the first album 'Sign’ (2014), Dixie King came to the band as 2nd guitar player, ‚cuz with two guitars we had a lot more possibilities in writing riffs and working them out. Shortly after Paul left the band for some personal reasons. Nicolas said he could help us for some live shows. He already helps us for nearly five years.

When Dixie left in case of his job and all the stuff around we asked Thorsten who we all know for a lot of years before. We hoped he will join because he was everyones absolutely first choice and he did. At the moment it couldn’t be better!

I know, you guys have shared the stage with some awesome band mates, right?

We had the luck to share the stage with a lot of cool bands, also some of our biggest idols who inspired us for doing what we do. Coolest thing is that we became close friends to some of them, as there are Lord Vicar. When you can say that Kimi Kärki and Chritus Linderson played your EPRelease Party with you, can it get any better? They are some of the nicest people we have ever met on the road! Also the irish sludgers in Ten Ton Slug became best buddies. We love you guys!

For example, our third show ever we played with Karma To Burn, followed by shows with the almighty Crowbar, Dopethrone, Mammoth Mammoth, Toner Low, High Fighter, and King Witch we met when we played the Malta Doom Festival in 2017, and organized some shows with them in Germany after that.

To name some others: Sasquatch, Monolord, Eyehategod, Mantar, and so many many more. In '18 we played the legendary Freak Valley Music Festival here in Germany. A planned show with The Obsessed’ had to be cancelled in case of WINOs visa problems for the EU, but we hope we can catch this up in the near future.

I am curious, is there a special band story? A special experience that you had together as a band? Maybe a funny story that you still laugh about today?

Ian: Oh my god! There are a lot!! (laughs). We’re on the road as much as we can and there are happening some weird and strange (drunken) stuff. One time Dixie was so fuckin’ drunk before the show, that he played just another gig. He was on stage with us, but just played different songs for the whole show! Further on just a few tags like running naked through London and pissing all over a $250,000 car. We should be ashamed!

Let’s have a quick look at the choice of your band name! If I informed right, is Baron of Samedi a creature from the haitian voodoo cult, right? What inspired you to choose this name?

Ian: We liked to choose something that seems to be dark and creates a kind of mystery, but also something with a positive meaning. Baron Samedi was the perfect option for this. He is a so called LOA, which means he’s like a mate to the venerated Voodoo god and the protector of the dead.

You are impressive, hard-working guys and also very present for your fan community. How do you balance this with your daily life? So what do you do in your life if you are not Rage Of Samedi? Maybe the two of you would like to tell a little bit about their private life? - My name is… and my hobbies are… (laughs)

Sam: Yeah. It’s nearly a full time job if you wanna do it right. I’m doing most stuff around the managing and booking. But I wouldn’t do it if it wouldn’t be fun and the band and my dudes are worth every minute of it. Two of us are working in the social area. Ian is a computer scientist, but you could have guessed by yourself. Look how pale his skin is and how red his eyes are!! He always sits in darkened rooms and hates the sun! (laughs)

Nicolas: I’m what you call a full time musician and tattoo artist. Check out my ‚All That Jazz‘ Tattoo! Best in handpoked stuff! (smiles)

Lou: It’s nice to have a tattoo artist in the band, and with Phil one in the roadcrew.

Nicolas: Beside Rage Of Samedi, I’m doing my solo stuff as kind of Singer/Songwriter, but I hate this as description. I’m more doom and experimental then what you await from a typical singer/songwriter.

Thorsten: My job is the most important!! I’m working at a very famous brewery!

What are the things that have carved out of you the person that you are?

Life and Booze!

Sam: Letting the fun beside, I can tell that my family and my band/music are the most important things in my life. My wife and my son are my greatest and biggest supporters and made me who I am today! I love you!

I really like your cover artwork! Who designed it and is there a special meaning to it?

Sam: The cover artwork is made by Xavier Gonzalez at ‚No Master Studio‘. It’s completely hand painted (outside and inlay). He just got some tags from us like Voodoo Cult, Blood Ritual as album title. Then we gave him free hand in doing it, and we were smashed when we saw it and it was clear that we take it 1:1. Drastically and in small words it shows todays change of society who is praying to their false idols and dying after an unnecessary life!

Lou: And we wanted naked butt cheeks and a penis on it (laughs) and a beheaded guy!

Sam: He said “penis”! You’re going into Facebook-Jail for this, Lou!

Are there any other music projects you are involved in?

Nicolas: I‘m doing my solo stuff, also playing at A Million Tiny Suns (alternative metal) and 114 (German rap).

Lou: Ian and I still have Leaf&Booze as an acoustic project.

Thorsten: I‘m part of Ampersphere, an alternative rock band where I‘m also on guitar and I play bass guitar at Zoahr. This is a psychedelic rock band and I proudly can say that we made it to the Doom Charts last month with our 1st album 'Axis’

Thank you guys for this thrilling voodoo-session, it was a great pleasure to meet you here! Do you have any last words for our listeners that are burning on your soul and that you want to get rid of?

We’d like to thank you, Mel. Just a big shout out to ALL our supporters who are with us, all the bands we met on the road and became friends!!!! We appreciate that so much. Special shout out to our roadcrew and buddies Ducky and Phil. Without you we’re nothing! Metal, Love & Peace!

German doom ‘n’ rollers IRON & STONE have always been a meat and potatoes kind of band. Crunchy rhythms, stout riffs, and raspy blue collar vocals characterise their output, which comprises an opus of four EPs, two live albums, and solitary full-length. The five guys from Hildesheim get the job done, roaming somewhere in the same terrain as Sasquatch, High on Fire, and The Sword.

Since the release of their last record, 'Petrichor’ (2017), Iron & Stone have been toying with four new songs for a new EP titled, 'You Can’t Stop What’s Coming’ (2019), which just came out on Hand Of Doom Records, who issued it on some delicious looking vinyl. What’s worth noting here is the kinship these tracks share to No Country For Old Men, specifically the Coen Brothers big screen adaptation of the Cormac McCarthy novel. Songs like “Hand of Fate” and “Shadow On Your Neck” give us the perspective of the film’s characters in specific scenes from the film.

Throughout the record, Iron & Stone deliver a punchy groove you can really get down to. For this release, they’ve added a hint of blues to the overall sound, while remaining grounded in the doom-laden stoner sound they’ve become known for. Axemen Stephan and Christopher keep the guitars chuggy with fuzzy swagger, with bassist Matthias and drummer Torsten maintaining a solid rhythm section (sometimes under-appreciated in slow 'n’ low music, but essential to pulling off a convincing structure to a piece). Frontman Henning is a competent singer, though he rarely goes beyond middle range in delivering the lyrics. There are moments of vocal harmonization later in the third song and I would have loved more of that throughout or at least more imagination and risk-taking in the delivery.

Quibbles aside, I’m a sucker for a good concept album and given the rarity of Coen Brother-inspired stoner doom, this is a welcome entry in the field and a hearty effort overall from the German quintet.

Give ear…

A Listener’s Guide to Iron & Stone

Being a big fan of No Country For Old Men, like many in our readership, I was naturally intrigued to learn more about how each track’s thematic tie-in with the film. It is the first time for Iron & Stone to lyrically work with concepts of another artist, so I reached out to guitarist Stephan Möller for details in hopes of better understanding the thought process behind the new record.

How would you describe your new album, 'You Can’t Stop What’s Coming’ (2019)?

It’s a “concept album” – or EP, rather – that lyrically is inspired by the Coen Brothers movie No Country For Old Men, which is an adaption of the book of the same title by Cormac McCarthy. We love their movies in general and this one is exceptionally good.

Walk us through the record, then, track by track and explain how all the pieces fit together.

“Hand of Fate” is about Anton Chigurr, one of the main characters of the story, he is the ruthless hitman, devoid of morality. There is no good or bad in his eyes, just the job that needs to be done. But then again, he also tosses the coin, so I think he does see himself a bit god-like. He follows his own morals or code of conduct, as twisted and sick as it is.

We added some new and unfamiliar sounds (for Iron & Stone) to the song during pre-production, but when we got to the mixing stage we liked them so much that we just kept them. The song has a nice kind of drive during the verses, but delivers some heavy groove for the chorus and kind of sets the tone for what is to come.

“Shadow On Your Neck” is next. Anton Chigurr’s job is the shadow on Llewelyn Moss’ neck. A simple man, good at heart, who didn’t ask for what is happening to him, but also couldn’t resist the temptation of making a quick buck and now has to face the consequences. The lyrics in the chorus are taken from the song that the Mariachi band sings, after he has dragged himself across the Mexican border.

Christopher pretty much wrote the music all on his own. The songs is a straight up rocker with a nice desert-rock feeling to it. Nice groove, killer riffs, epic chorus. It is super fun to play live, too.

“Old, Bitter & Out Of Touch” references our tendency to look on the past and romanticise it as having been so much better than the today we live in. Sheriff Ed Tom Bell does the very same thing. He is also the high moral instance in the story, the one that still can sort out right from wrong. He just does not recognize the world anymore, with all the brutality and immorality and somewhat feels helpless.

We knew that we wanted to add some dynamics to the songs that Petrichor was somehow lacking. “Old, Bitter & Out Of Touch” is a nod to the more traditional doom aesthetics and Henning perfectly tailored his inner monologue of Ed Tom Bell to the music. It is heavy at times, dragging, and desperate.

The final number is “1958.” The coin toss scene is just one great moment of modern film. the title refers to Anton Chigurr saying that it took the coin 22 years to get to this place at this moment (the story takes place in 1980). So here is this simple and hardworking man, the gas station owner, faced with Anton’s crazy game where it is not known to him what actually is at stake. Anton’s behaviour is completely random, but shows that he thinks of himself as some kind of higher power.

This is by far the heaviest song of the EP, building up to a nice climax with the little guitar solo before kicking in to the groove to end the song. Some extra percussion was added to create some more depth.

The Great Iron & Stone Giveaway!

Pick a six-digit code from the list below and redeem it here (first come, first served). Hurry, before they’re all taken!

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In the year 2573, according to our earthly chronology, three musicians – Don Alfredo, Don Libido, and Don Fernando – forged escape plans to leave their home planet Ambrosia, which is ruled with dictatorial severity by a giant, malignant, bearded brain slug by the name of Cenavit.

Cenavit is not amused by these human beings, because of hating all kind of arts, free thinking, and hating above all their salty sweat! Therefore, it has imposed a cruel program over humanity and the three Dons must fear for their lives, as well as for their musical independence. With the help of one Plasma Man, they manage to saddle their spaceship ZQKMGDZ just in time to escape the clutches of the dictatorial giant snail and hit the planet earth. In their luggage, four weapons: thunderous space drums, heavy sub waves of doom, psychedelic warp guitar, and galactic roar!

From this day forward, the three space riders surf through time and space, fighting with their own type of weapon, Interstellar Psycho-Doom, against Brain snail’s right hand Space Golem (Texas Ranger of time travel and antagonist of the Plasma Man), as well as the Hypergiant and other vicious space enforcers, who have the job returning the three back to Ambrosia and bringing them to justice.

With this freaky story in the back of your mind, which could pretty well have come from the pen of Stan Lee, you should be in the best mood to accompany the three Dons on their psych-space-doom-odyssey! But be on alert, when you get lost in this headstrong, swirling, effervescent space brew, because the cruel Cenavit with the funny beard is watching you!

On March 14th, ZQKMGDZ (that is to say, 10.000 km² gegen die Zeit) will drop from the skies with their sophomore LP, ‘Absolutely Z’ (2019), follow-up to their acclaimed debut, 'Orbit Dualkraut’ (2016), both released by Pink Tank Records (get it here). Today, Doomed & Stoned is pleased to give you an advance listen to the opening track, “All The Time.”

An Interview with ZQKMGDZ

Now back in 2019, I’ve caught up with my friends, the Dons, and thrilled that they are stuck with their spaceship in my hometown of Lübeck, a small town on the northeast coast of Germany. Here we get up to speed on all the latest happenings around “Z” in addition to discovering more about their mysterious origin.

How the hell have you come to this awesome story that runs through all your albums? What inspired you? Is there a personal band story related to it and what is the meaning of your band name?

It’s New Year’s Eve 2012 and the plasma is floating much more than ever. And the plasma says: “Create a band. Record some songs and bring the plasma to all the people. And your name ZQKMGDZ means 10.000 Quadratkilometer gegen die Zeit (“10.000 square kilometer against time” in English). So our story is the story of the plasma. We´re only its puppets.

For those of our listeners who do not know you yet, can you please give us some information who ZQKMGDZ is? When do you get together as a band, musical background, are there solo projects, who is playing which “space weapon” in the band and who is responsible for the lyrics?

We get together in 2012 as a duo. 2014 grows it up to a three-piece formation. Before this, we all played in a bunch of other bands. For example, Don Alfredo is from Kommando Sprenggranate and Deamonized, Don Libido played in Holy Moses, Cold Embrace, Incubator, Spirit Descent, and currently Eird, and Don Fernando comes to us from Qdungh and Superkraut. In relation to “space weapons,” Don Alfredo uses weapons that works. Don Libido plays five strings of doom and amps, powerful enough to handle his subsonic demands. Don Fernando plays the bongos of Buquar. All lyrics comes from the Plasma.

If you have to describe the characteristics of your sound in six to ten words to new listeners, which would you choose?

Interstellar psycho doom with some krautrock and avant-garde toppings.

Let’s keep an eye on your latest stuff, which is lined up, the release of your new album, ‘Absolutely Z’ (2019) on the 14th of March via Pink Tank Records. We are craving for clues as the story of the space journey continues - or is this album something different from the previous ones?

No, it´s not. The journey continues all the time and when the speed pilot gets into the swirling Neptune storm, he feels an oceanic delimitation till he meets his savior, the 26th century Plasma Man.

You gave us the song “All the Time” from your new album as an appetizer for us listeners. What is the meaning of it and can you please describe the sound in a few words in relation to it?

It’s a song about the wheel of life that you can’t escape. But it’s ok. And because of the wheel, it speeds up comparing to older songs with some proto metal attitude.

What else do you have in the works with the band? Are there any future plans that float in space?

Get on tour from March 14th to the 23rd, presenting our new album, meeting old and new friends, and having a great time, for sure. And we will play some very special gigs later this year. And so the story goes on.

Any final words in the back of your mind for us that you want to get rid of?

We would like to say “Thank you” for all your kindness, Mel. And don’t forget to get in touch with your personal PLASMA!