Number 20

 

 

Number 20

 

For quite a while as the lists came in, the past weeks, it looked like there would not be any bands tied on the same spot with the exact same amount of points. But, you can guess from that first opening sentence, in the end, those few final lists that were received managed to push an album or two right on top of one another. In this case, two hairy beasts! Two hairy beasts on top of one another! Yummy! We only mentioned one of the two on the HiVe, back in July. And then, when we closed our eyes, we were unsure if we were really listening to a hairy beast of a stoner rock incarnation of Nine Inch Nails! Not sure if it is the touch of industrial that you can hear in the drums, the intense use of cymbals, that double beat or because it is the color of the vocals that surely does remind of Trent Reznor here and there, more than on earlier records, that makes me think of NIN. But it’s there and it works like a charm. The beast has grown to become a monster, one that can just as easily stomp through the desert as rampage a city. And there is no shortage of that forward motion; rioting inside a tilt-a-whirl or motoring through a towering landscape, this beast can do it all and does it all, with a dense layer of fuzz, some psychedelic touches, and little organ parts making it all extra colorful and a very own sound. The other animal, one that we did not yet mention on the HiVe, but which ranked high on the Doom Charts all the way back in February, goes more the way of the seventies inspired rock, the proto metal, the old vintage doom and that retro occult. With a high touch of mysticism and alchemy, the eight tracks on this album will wrap your mind in an intense smokey, foggy and fuzzy atmosphere, turning you, without any calms into a Toad Licker Mushroom Picker… So, we’re off, to a majestic good start with these two massive beasts… On Number 20 we find…

 

 

Sasquatch – Fever Fantasy

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Sleepwulf – Sunbeams Curl

 

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On to Number 19 !

Number 20

 

 

Number 20
 

Are you still expecting everyone to turn into zombies? Like we did last year? Cause c'mon, this Covid thing could have heralded the zombie apocalypse that has been predicted by so many movies for so many years? Right? Does it feel like most of humanity is still going onwards? Or downwards? Wow, what a give away right there? Really? Was that necessary… Sorry… But hey, there’s two albums on the Number 20 position! And two we are personally very glad about that they made the final list. One is produced by a Swedish quartet that brings forth that proto sound, that doom of yore; the occult touch and the cold whisper of something ancient. Their album was released in May of this year and jumped to the fifth position of that month’s Doom Chart. Dense, dark and ominous! The other album on the other hand brings more light; even though there is definitely that rock noir touch to the psychedelic rock, stoner and more. For they use surf influences as much as something with that o' so holy desert vibe. Or how about some space? Or wave? All intense and some of it pretty spooky... These three know how to incorporate everything they have in sight… We give you Number 20 and we know it's damn good!

Alastor – Onwards and Downwards

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Snake Mountain Revival – Everything In Sight

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Number 20

 

 

Number 20

Last year we made this weird remark about the beginning of the end of humanity when we put up the Number 20 of 2019. This year the end of humanity seemed upon us for a moment or two, right? Cause c'mon, for a moment there we all assumed the pandemic would turn at least some of us into zombies? Cause c'mon the amount of zombies in popular culture can't be for nothing? It might have been sign?It might all have been a sign? In fact the amount of albums released this year with omens or signs in the title, is also a bit disturbing. One of them features proudly on the Number 20 position of 2020. Their doom rock, their occult touches and their sludgy moments have gotten better with every release these four from Poland have put out. And now they’ve infused it with deliriously tasty space rock moments and dope ass psych. Never quite reaching that first spot on the Doom Charts the album stayed on it for quite some months. Which is logical when the peaks are so high and the energy so wild. With every track delivering gloriously evil momentum and the perfect beat to do that twisted little dance with the devil. Number 20 for your pleasure and that of Satan!

Dopelord – Sign Of The Devil

 

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Green Plague Records

Number 20

Number 20

And so it begins indeed! The end times of the human race on this planet... Errr?! Where did that come from? Anyway, these freaks release so much music every year that not everything can be that good. Right? In fact, they released another album this year than the one that made the list… Hmmm… But, well, a lot in fact might be a pretty bad miss. Right?  Maybe they should condense all those releases into one record and stun everyone? Or perhaps they already did? Cause one of their releases has reached the Top 20! Their fifteenth studio album sees these Aussie crazies transform their heavy psychedelic rock into something remembering the great thrash metal of yore. Shredding like never before the band weaves their poetic imagery of a world gone to hell into nine tracks that will set your soul ablaze. It will infest your blood like a doomed Superbug and will want to make you move, with the band, to another planet. And well, Venus seems to be the only planet left not infested by Rats!

King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard – Infest The Rats’ Nest

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Number 20

Number 20

It is record Number Nine for these cats and we mentioned the album back in June. It made us giddy with glee and made us have sloppy seconds over and over. For it is their undying servitude to the sloppy meat and rich gravy side of stoner metal that we cannot get enough off. Which tastes different with every bite and every spoonful, cause they always manage to incorporated something different. Maybe not as much every time around, but always a little hint of this or that to keeps things, interesting, enticing and spicy! Well, this album just might be their most diverse album to date. Experiments with blues, hardcore and prog are embraced while the doom and stoner metal command attention. It is their signature sound alright, but almost invigorating and shiny! And then there’s Motörhead’s Phil Campbell adding a bit of his sauce to the mix and you are hearing a record that stands tall when looking at all of their albums that came before. And there aren’t that many bands that we can honestly state about that they haven’t released a bad record yet and their last one might actually really be their best… It’s one hell of a beast and it bites hard!

Orange Goblin – The Wolf Bites Back

Number 20

Number 20

Well, we start the Stoner HiVe Top 20 Countdown of 2017 off with a multi-layered bang! No less than three albums made the Number 20 spot! It could not be helped. You all voted massively for every one of the albums on the list and these three got the same amount of points. Two of which made the Top 20 Countdown before. In 2011 and 2012. “Holding high the torch that was lit by Hendrix, Clapton and West, Parker Griggs burns brightly with the white-hot heat that an amp turned up full can produce. Wah-wah, chugging, riffs, solos, distortion all make this heavy psych offering a masterpiece of freak out and head nodding. This is the good stuff.” Madman Tony Maim said that about one of these albums in a mention earlier this year. And yours truly claimed the following about the other one: “They make their ambitions known and look to a future, which is undoubtedly filled with fast paced stoner concrete as well as slow heartfelt little miracles. And it’s during those moments when the true beauty of this band shows itself best. A female vocalist that not just howls like the best, powerful, raw and voluminous. But also clean as a whistle and deeply evocative.  And whether they opt to go mysterious and psychedelic or fill your head with vertiginous riffs and wild colors, the guitar player shows itself master of every facet and shows himself to be one of the great ones.” And that same dingbat had the honor to write a blurb for the third album on the March Doom Charts! “Can you believe their first album was released in 2015? Ye gods, it feels like yesterday. Man, how I love that debut record. So, expectations were high. Pretty damn high. Well, each and every one of those expectations are met. This is blues with a capital B and a whole helluva lot of heaviness. Powerful, soulful and intense. These five cats from Oslo have outdone themselves, go check it out and be amazed by their almighty blues!” So, I guess there’s some almighty devilish royal thunder blues on Moscow radio tonight!

Royal Thunder – Wick

Radio Moscow – New Beginnings

The Devil And The Almighty Blues – II