The big thaw is over, spring has sprung, it’s high time for Papa Paul to come out from a long hibernation and go out harvest some of the fat riffs and groovy licks that have sprouted from the fertile soil of the heavy underground! Here are some of his finds.

SKUNK

’Strange Vibration’ (2019) is the second album by Bay Area stoners SKUNK, and it’s dropped just in time to accompany your 4/20 weekend celebrations. Their first album was also released 4/20, if my memory serves me correctly, and whereas the first album was bong-smoking wizard rock, Strange Vibration can be characterized as a goblin rock ‘n’ roll orgy. This time around, SKUNK give us nine tracks of fantasy-filled, drug-induced proto-metal, with a good dose of heavy prog to bring this underground seventies monstrosity of hard rock to life.

Opening with the title track, we pick up on a definite early Rush vibe and a whole lot of Budgie going on, with vocals that land somewhere between Geddy Lee and Burke Shelley. For a contemporary comparison, SKUNK’s vox are definitely in league with Portland band PUSHY.

If you listen closely on the second track, “Stand In The Sun,” you’ll pick up on a Sabbath-style “N.I.B.” riff. On “Light and Shade,” the track that follows, there’s a Nugent-style “Stranglehold” riff. Neither is it a copy, but if you’re doing seventies rock properly some memories around bound to be triggered. After back-to-back listens, I’m definitely in the mood to hear some Budgie. Maybe some “Mahogany Rush” after that. As SKUNK’s likes to say, “The past is yet to come.”

SKUNK surfs the wave of the best of the heavy seventies, adding their own special flare to create one of the year’s best releases to date. It’s bands like SKUNK that make the few of us who spent the last few decades living out of extended time in the seventies suddenly feel current and relevant again. For those who never experienced life before the nineties, Strange Vibration offers plenty of hard-driving Sabbath-style riffs, too. Don’t underestimate how heavy this album can be! Get into a “proper state of mind” as “Wizard Bong” off SKUNK’s first album says and feel these strange vibes. Party on with both wizards and goblins! 🤪 A classic 4/20 song if there ever was one.

High Reeper

‘Higher Reeper’ (2019) is the follow-up album to the self-titled debut by Philly-area band HIGH REEPER. The debut was widely-acclaimed and I personally had it at #3 for the year. It was a straight-ahead doom rocker in the vein of Orchid and the heaviest of the seventies underground proto doom bands. Well, with the title Higher Reeper, you expect more of the same but higher – as in “better” or “more.” And that’s exactly what we have here.

The sound remains basically the same, as High Reeper have essentially established a signature sound by now. Hard and sharp riffs, dual lead guitars with short bursts, and a bass guitar rhythm you cannot help but to bang your head to. Justin DiPinto brings the thunder on drums that makes this “higher,” indeed. The vocals of Zach Thomas are some of the most passionate you’ll find. He has definitely become one of my favorite vocalist of the scene. Zach’s delivery is spot on, and if you get a chance to see High Reeper live, do so. He’s an awesome frontman.

The fist-pumping and headbanging is broken up on the fourth track, “Apocalypse Hymn.” It’s a slow, doomy acoustic poem (or “hymn” as they call it) with soft vocals here that are downright hypnotic. The song overall is quite beautiful and psychedelic. The second half of the album starts out with a slow bass solo riff before taking us back to the signature sound, even quite a bit doomier. The first four Sabbath albums come to mind as fitting companions.

There are eight songs in all that I must have played a dozen times from my promo before the official release date. I know it’s only mid-April, but Higher Reeper is on the fast track for my album of the year. It will surely be on many Best Of lists, that’s for sure.

Sacred Monster

'Worship the Weird’ (2019) is the debut full length album by SACRED MONSTER, which we gave you a first taste of back in January. I mean no exaggeration when I tell you this record has completely rocked my world. It is a very unique album, if nothing else.

Musically, the Chicago five-piece traffics in early metal, even proto-metal, replete with cowbell. Then the vocals kick in. I hesitate to describe them as “death metal,” because I usually cannot tolerate that style, but these vocals rule! They’re definitely of a growling persuasion, but mixed with occasional King Diamond style falsetto vocals.

Each of the eight songs is its own horror story, some based on classic works from the likes of Stephen King and the Twilight Zone, others are the band’s own stories. Throughout the album, we are treated to outstanding proto-metal, proto-doom, even NWOBHM classic metal – all expertly executed. I would love this even if it was an instrumental record. But the vocals, the lyrics, the stories, the passion and theatrics put this over the top.

Worship The Weird is as much theatre as it music. You probably have to go back to King Diamond’s Abigail to find an equally theatrical heavy metal album. This is fun, it’s great music, and I keep playing it even though I’m not supposed to like these kind of vocals. There’s something truly “weird” going here, that’s for sure. Go ahead worship the Weird. I dare you!

Older Sun

After dropping a couple of singles, OLDER SUN have released their debut album. A four-piece hailing from San Francisco, the band plays retro hard rock a little differently than many of the bands I’ve reviewed here in past years. But they are as good as any I reviewed, too. Older Sun are not psychedelic, but rather play straight-up hard rock. Basically, good time rock 'n’ roll, but real heavy. I’m constantly reminded of Kiss and Van Halen while listening to Older Sun.

Fret not if you’re worried, because they’re really not commercial at all. This is heavy enough for our Stoner scene. When I say Kiss or Van Halen I’m thinking “God of Thunder” and “Running with the Devil.” Feel better now? Other bands I’m reminded of are ZZ Top, Blackfoot, The Godz, and a little Grand Funk, too. These bands all wrote memorable songs that were heavy, yet catchy. Older Sun are channeling some of that seventies FM radio magic, but in a Way worthy of the heavy underground.

Thundering basslines and intense drumming keep the album grounded. Electrifying guitar bursts, catchy hooks, strong vocals and sing along choruses make Older Sun’s self-titled album both relevant and fun. An excellent way to introduce friends and family to the sound. This is a good, fun listen. Break this album out at the next party and you’ll be the most popular kid there!

Misty Grey

Here’s a late-year release that really shook up my Best Of list. I really scrambled to fit it into the Top Ten, as a matter of fact. When MISTY GREY sprang up into the scene nearly six years ago, I couldn’t praise the band enough. Their first pair of records featured one of the most bizarre singers in doom history. Though opinion was divided on the vocals, the music won near universal praise.

It’s been almost four years since their last release and 'Chapter II’ (2019) is the most fitting title, because with a new vocalist is indeed a new chapter. Bea is a perfect replacement for former the vocalist. She still incorporates the same witchy conjuring, but does so without that “screech” that not everyone could bear. I myself loved her voice and praised it. I hated to see her move on. But Chapter Two is indeed an upgrade. It’s an upgrade in every way imaginable. The riffs, the guitar play, the songcraft – all an upgrade. You can hear the maturity four years have instilled in the band.

The seventies live in this release, although it’s not really a retro album. Only Sabbath, Pentagram, and maybe one or two others have done anything similar to this. Misty Grey take the same classic approach with downtuned riffs and spritely leads, but add their own touch. It is indeed the “tone” of this album that soothes my soul. Juan Antonio and the band may have discovered the perfect doom key and tone on this album.

The lyrics of all seven songs are based on Alfred Hitchcock movies. They are deep, doomy, and scary. Even sick at times. My favorite song is “Frenzy,” which concerns a psychopathic serial rapist-murderer. This is an album I keep on playing almost daily. It’s addictive. There’s not a lot of diversity in the songs, but that somehow ends up being the strength of the album. Misty Grey take you to a place and just leave you there for nearly 40 minutes. 40 minutes of pure doom bliss.

Shawn Gibson spends a virtual smoke sesh with guitarist Dmitri Mavra, talking about the band’s successful debut, dreams of the Blue Ridge Mountains, lingering influences from the era of feel good, and why SKUNK don’t play that.

Thanks for letting me do this interview for Doomed and Stoned

Thanks for your time. It’s our favorite blog, for sure.

Thank you very much! So you guys released a pretty successful new album, ‘Doubleblind’ (2017).

Yeah, came out on CD in April of 2017 and vinyl in October.

Awesome. Are you guys going to do some shows or tour?

We did a record release show when the CD came out and that was pretty fun. We played with Black Rainbows, an Italian band, and a cool local band called Banquet, from San Francisco. We had to take the summer off, 'cause we were all traveling and what not. We’re getting back on it and going to have a vinyl release party in January, at some point.

Nice! What is one of your best shows or touring experiences – a performance you really loved?

We haven’t done any touring. We’re pretty busy and we play in different bands. Basically, what we like to do is write material, write songs, put it together, record it, and play shows here and there when we can around the Bay Area. We’re not really a touring band and probably won’t be in the near future, but what we like to do is make new tunes. So that’s where we’re at. We’ve played a bunch of good shows. We’ve done a lot of support for bands we like that come through town. We’ve played with Slow Season – and Cloud Catcher was another one that was fun to play with. There’s a bunch of cool local bands we play with, too, like the Ripple Music bands Zed, Blackwulf, and War Cloud. They just put out a CD – it’s great! Older son is in a band from around here we play with sometimes.

What is a damn good book you’ve read, Dmitri?

(laughs) Yah know, I just read that book about the history of prog rock, “The Show That Never Ends” by David Weigel. That was pretty cool. I learned a lot about bands from the '70s I hadn’t really known about. I knew some of their music, but didn’t know the deep history. That was cool to check out. Have you ever seen that book around at all?

No I haven’t, not yet. It sounds like a good book, though.

Yeah, it was interesting.

Let’s get back to 'Doubleblind’ for a sec. Two of my favorite songs on the album are “Harvest Queen” and “Devil Weed.” Besides Sabbath or Zeppelin, what are some other influences for SKUNK when it comes to songwriting?

I think our three main influences are Zeppelin, Sabbath, and KISS You sorta mix those up. We listen to a lot of Sir Lord Baltimore, Leaf Hound, Captain Beyond, Pentagram, and obscure '70s stuff. I grew up listening to Sabbath, Zeppelin, KISS, AC/DC, stuff like that. Once the internet came around, we suddenly had access to all this other cool stuff that was totally obscure back in the day. Been spending a long time digging into that stuff, seeing what was cool, what we liked, and taking influences from that. We’re trying to sprinkle in some of that obscure '70s rock into the newer stuff we create.

Have you heard of Bloodrock?

Yeah, Bloodrock is cool!

Yeah, D.O.A. My mom handed me that 45 when I was a kid. I fell in love with that! I love '60s, '70s, southern, classic rock. I grew up on it. Sabbath and Zeppelin started me on the path I am today.

Bloodrock has some pretty heavy riffs! (laughs) I think my first record was Destroyer by KISS.

Oh wow, nice!

I remember when it came out; I had a coupon for a record. I walked in the store and said, “Yes, that’s the one right there!” My dad was like, “Really? OK, you don’t want the Bay City Rollers?” (laughs)

I had the cover for 'Destroyer’ and didn’t have the vinyl in it. I had a lot of hand me down vinyl from my mom and aunt, which I’m grateful for, but man was I bummed that the vinyl wasn’t in the cover.

Oh, man!

I’ve seen KISS twice on their farewell tours. It was nice. I wish I could have seen them in the '70s in their heyday, but still nice to see 'em.

Yeah, I never saw them. I almost got to in '77, when I was a kid. My mom was going to take me down there and everything. I can’t remember why it didn’t happen – you know, some stupid reason. I was bummed, 'cause that would have been prime!

You get a little envious of people who tell those stories about those concerts.

Yeah!

Now that the album is out, you’re going to do some select shows. Do you have anything beyond that?

Not really, no. Our drummer is finishing up a Master’s program this month. We’ve been kinda waiting for him to wrap it up so we can get going again. We’ve been working on new tunes for a new recording. We’re hopefully going to do that in the spring, lay down some tracks. We’ve already done a little pre-production stuff on that and done some demo recording for the new stuff. That’s what we’re focusing on, getting the new tunes together.

Awesome.

It ’ll be something similar to 'Doubleblind’ – eight to ten tracks of good ol’ '70s rock.

Very cool! What’s something we’d be surprised to learn about SKUNK?

Our singer is in a bluegrass band. We all play different instruments in different bands. We’ve all got different stuff going on. I’m playing fiddle at a square dance this Friday, actually.

Oh, wow! Used to live in Asheville, North Carolina, so I’m used to extreme metal all the way to Bluegrass and everything in between.

Yeah, I almost moved out there about ten years ago 'cause I know so many banjo and fiddle players out there. Lookin’ for somewhere new to settle down – “let’s go to Asheville” – but it was too expensive at the time.

Yeah it’s gotten worse. The rents are really backward. It is what it is. It’s a neat little town. I love it! Very pretty there.

Yeah it’s cool – very cool. Like you say, it’s nestled in the mountains and there’s all kinds of good stuff around there.

Besides being a guitarist, you’re also quite the illustrator. Can you explain the artwork for Doubleblind and its inspiration?

The idea behind the artwork was to incorporate elements from most of the songs. The profiles with the blindfolds, the wizard, harvest queen and so on. I’m a big fan of those trippy '70s covers by Roger Dean and earlier psychedelic covers like Disraeli Gears. There are tons of cool covers from obscure bands like Nectar, Gandalf, plus things like Hawkwind that have colorful surrealist imagery. When I designed the artwork I was hoping to create something that captured the feeling of those older designs, something with layers and double images that’s fun to stare at for a while after having a toke and cranking the album!

The CD came out first and with help from our pals at Portland’s Stumptown Printers we were able to work out the die cut cover so the two different versions of the inner sleeve showed through. Unfortunately it was just too expensive to do that for the vinyl jackets. Maybe we can pull it off someday if we do a repressing. There are a lot of interesting things that can be done with gatefolds and such, but with a limited run it’s really expensive to experiment with the jacket. I’m already working on a cover idea for our 2nd album. We’re planning to record this spring.

Well, that’s all I’ve got for you, Dmitri. Thank so much for this chat!

Cool. Thanks for the interview!

Five Fun Facts About SKUNK

1. Formed in 2013 in Oakland, California.
2. Four out of five of the guys play banjo.
3. Recording, mixing, and artwork – all done by the band.
4. Doubleblind was released on Mothervan Records (Sweden), which is managed by Mikael Monks, singer for Burning Saviors.
5. Both guitarists Erik Pearson and Dmitri Mavra have been nominated for Grammy Awards!

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~By Papa Paul~

You may recall me raving about that demo by Oakland retro-stoners MSKUNK year before last. In fact, I rated it my #6 on the Doomed & Stoned ‘Heavy Best’ for 2015. Four of the songs from that initial teaser return as newly recorded tracks, joined by four new ones. With song titles such as, “Wizard Bong,” “Black Hash,” and “Devil Weed,” it should be obvious why 4/20 is the perfect release date.

What has me fired up is their authentic seventies sound, right down to the cowbell in “Mountain Child” – the same cowbell that was used by the Legendary Sir Lord Baltimore. In fact, if you’re looking for a good reference point to Skunk’s vibe, it’s the sound that Sir Lord Baltimore pioneered. This style is often called proto-metal, but I’m calling this proto-stoner due to the oft-mentioned weed that 420 is all about.

It’s hard for me to say what I like best about Doubleblind. The vocals of John McKelvy remind me of a Robert Plant-Bon Scott mix. The swagger of Plant and attitude of Bon Scott, a little punk, dash of heavy metal, but mostly a whole lotta rock ‘n’ roll. Then there’s the harmonic guitar work of Dimitri Marva and Erik Pearson, who have their own unique take inspired from various seventies guitar duos. There’s riffs aplenty on this trip, taking me through magic carpet ride through Zeppelin, Sabbath, Purple, all the greats.

You’ll get plenty of that fuzzy low-end from bassist Matt Knoth, too. I wouldn’t say this is doom, by any means, but surely heavy enough to satisfy the doomers in our readership. He plays more like John Paul Jones of Zeppelin (I’m reminded of Zep quite often throughout the album).

The drumming to is very important, here, of course, also rooted in the seventies school. From that awesome sounding cowbell, to the heavy bottom end bass drums, the whole package is perfected by outstanding emotional songwriting reminiscent of Bang.

High praise indeed for Skunk. This will most likely be a Top 10 album of 2017. Even candidate for album of the year for me. It’s only April, still early yet. The only question is what year are we in? This is flashback city for me, taking me back to the streets of you glory days, circa 1972.

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