Abel Blood – Keeping Pace With The Elephants

 

 

Abel Blood – Keeping Pace With The Elephants
Self released – 2021
Rock, Metal, Stoner, Doom
Rated: ****

It’s a Name Your Price album over on bandcamp; and it will forever be worth more than you will pay for it. There, we’ve said it. Indeed. And now what? Now, we keep returning to the five-track debut release by New Hampshire three called Abel Blood. It’s called Keeping Pace With The Elephants and its an uncut diamond of stoner and doom metal beauty. The drawling, speaking vocals, leave a big mark on the title track and give it this extra intriguing edge. The same can be said for the funny titled opening track The Day That Moby Died. But it’s not just the sparsely doses vocals that set this release apart. There are also those tiny parks of post punk and almost kraut influences that highlight the otherwise grimy, almost lo-fi rock that is coursing through the veins of Abel Blood. Motifs and riffs seem to translate something forlorn; like a lone figure standing in the rural or urban landscape. Waiting for the sky to fall, the Elephants to pass by and for this stoner noirscape recording to stop   tingling the spine. Good, great, almost defiantly majestic!

(Written by JK)

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Desert Colossus – Eyes And Tongues

Desert Colossus – Eyes And Tongues

Self Released - 2020

Stoner Rock

Rated: *****

Desert Colossus are a stoner band who do not piss around trying to invent the wheel - they want to turn the amps up, crank out some riffs and stomp on some distortion pedals. This is raw stuff, both in production and the playing which suits the music just fine. Riffs are basic and powerful and sometimes that is all I want. Circular song passages keep the groove turned up to the max and the foot stomping beat just keeps rolling along. The guitar solos are prime electric blues - mean, aggressive and full of feeling. This is the sort of shit I love. And because they are good guys, the new album Eyes And Tongues is NYP on Bandcamp.

(Written by Tony Maim)

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Matador – They Were here Before Us

Matador – They Were here Before Us

Self Released - December 2019

Post Rock/Post Metal

Rated: *****

Matador give us an album called They  Were Here Before Us with six powerful tracks that will make mountains crumble into the sea and the moon move out of orbit. For me, post-metal is in danger of becoming stale, with only a handful of bands capable of rising above the cut'n'paste copyists that seem to litter this genre. Luckily for us all, Matador escape that trap with thoughtful song writing capabilities that have an epic feel to them and yet still retain a hardcore edge to focus the tracks with razor-sharp guitar riffs that slice through the sonic denseness. Atmospherics that are sparsely used do not overplay their hand, instead they add, rather than distract from the rage and despair being played out through the songs. Despite the power and fury, there is a hypnotic quality due to the running order of the tracks that brings a cohesive feel that just sounds right. And because Matador are good guys it is NYP on Bandcamp.

(Written by Tony Maim)

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