Stoner Hive’s Quick Fire Friday
Surprise! And not just for you crazies following the HiVe! But also for me, cause I had not expected the honorable Ronny Dijksterhuis to deliver another Quick Fire Friday round this fast! But it was suddenly there, slaved over during the night and sent before the sun rose. And you know what that means... Things will get hot and heavy from here on in!
What do you do when you want to promote as many great music as humanly possible? Well, you absorb anything that scratches your auditive senses, train yourself in the art of selective puking and spit out the things that might stick not only in your own brain, but also in the grey lump residing in the skull of all you innocent heavy underground lovers that happen to stumble across our little old blog or one of its social media pages. So, let's skilfully throw up another eight stains of semi-digested sounds at your feet and call it a new episode of Quick Fire Friday. Enjoy!
Miracle Blood - Blazing Entrails
Miracle Blood's 2024 album 'Hello Hell' got rave reviews all over the globe and their new single 'Blazing Entrails' is another slab of bludgeoning madness, combining noise, speedrock, stoner rock and punk with a singer that more that once makes Jello Biafra pop up in your mind.
Pharm - Crackhead Arachnid
Progressive alternative noise metal. That's probably the best way to describe Pharm's new single 'Crackhead Arachnid'. A highly technical wave of swirling glory that sticks a knife in you well-trained ear and then gives it an extra twist to let you know they mean business. But however complex and jumpy it gets, the song remains the focal point and the vocals are excellent. Arguably the best song released so far this year.
Seasick Gladiator - Unhinged EP
In the comments under the March Doom Charts post on Facebook someone suggested to check out Seasick Gladiator as they haven't made the Doom Charts yet. As I never heard of the band before, I gave their latest EP Unhinged (released in January this year) a go. And I'm a bit ashamed not having discovered them earlier, because this is some tasty stoner doom with an interesting twist with the lead instrument being an atmospheric violin played in a manner that's quite similar to the one on My Dying Bride's standout album 'The Angel and the Dark River'. Add that to the powerful, traditional stoner setting of drums, bass and guitars, and you end up with a damn fine release that's different from anything else in the genre.
Ape Amp - Worse
Two Russian refugees, living in Bordeaux, France with one obvious mission: deliver some filthy and nasty sludge noise. Their first ever release is the single 'Worse'; a big ball of anger, bouncing off the cliffs of desperation. Wonderful indeed.
Tidal Wave - Sideburns
By now you might ask yourself: what about some good, old-fashioned Scandinavian stoner rock? Well, we're happy to oblige and present you Tidal Wave's new single 'Sideburns'. It's so goddamn catchy and full of energy, you probably don't want to hear you'll have to wait until June 5th for the arrival of their new album 'Volume Three', which will be released through Ripple Music.
Stump Grinder - Forest Metal
Coming from Santa Cruz, CA, Stump Grinder delivers a furious mix of stoner, sludge and hardcore that will knock your teeth out. No other words needed to give you an impression of their music. But one advise could come in handy: be sure to make an appointment with the dentist before listening to this shit, because you might regret it if you don't.
Lior Izhaki Drums (feat. Guy Strier) - Dabur
During the 12 day war between Israel and Iran in June 2025, while having to hide in a bomb shelter, Israeli drummer Lior Izhaki turned one of them into a live creative space. He recorded ten different jam tracks with ten different guitar players. No vocals, no bass and no rehearsals. The results are being presented one by one, showcasing the raw intensity that situations like this are obviously bound to summon not only in the hearts of creative people, but to everybody who is involved in that kind of drama one way or another. The creative people are merely able to give those feelings a voice, or in this case a pure heartfelt explosion of drums and guitars. Oh yeah, 'Dabur' is number 8 in the line of 10 and the heaviest and most aggressive one of them all.