Electric Lords.

Yet again my Sennheiser earphones have died on me. Not very happy as they cost £40, hardly pocket change. Sennheiser, you've lost a once loyal customer. It's now the Shure SE215 for me. Not cheap but I've had first hand experience with them and the sound quality + durable build make it worth all the extra money.

Anyway, today we have another band playing something more along the lines of stoner rock. In similar fashion to the Doom bands emerging from the Iron Curtain, Moscow's Electric Lords (RUS) also have a tendency  to go for the big, groovy riff category. The songs aren't particularly new or special, but just really capture what must of been the studio atmosphere; energetic, boisterous and damn good fun.

2013 - Pyramid [EP]

Deep Aeon.

Deep Purple are a hell of a band. I don't actually always think of myself as being a particularly big fan of theirs, but whenever I put on In Rock it always gets played to the end. They've just perhaps ended up being a tad unappreciated by my generation and particularly those more favourable to heavier sounds, unfortunately.

Deep Aeon from Düsseldorf (GER) bring all the elements you'd expect from a hard rock band looking towards these past masters for inspiration. Thick but warm guitars with a definite emphasis on driving rock 'n' roll sound. The vocals have a slight garage rock tinge to them sometimes, which really is a fresh change from underwhelming John Garcia croons you typically encounter. A really neat release and a definite prospect in the stoner rock world.

2013 - Icy Spring Recordings [EP]

Earth.

Earth's return with the old American West soundscapes of Hex was widely recognized as success. However, plenty still murmured about the lack of low-end which had once dominated previous their previous releases. I didn't necessarily mind either way, it was a stunning set of songs.

Limited to 500 copies and recorded in New York in the same year as its release, what we have here is a completely organic experience of Hex. Is it because the drums are seem fuller, with more echo? The symbols brasher? Is it the groan and drone of the amplifiers? I don't think I can personally put a finger on it. But something kept me coming back to this over the studio recording time after time. See what you think.  

2006 - Live Hex: In A Large City On The North American Continent


Disc 1

1. Plague Of Angels (14:47)
2. Ouroboros Is Broken/Coda Maestoso In Fb Minor (11:10)
3. Raiford (8:41)
4. Inquest Concerning Teeth (7:13)
5. Lens Of Unrectified Night (9:21)
6. Other Ghost-Like Symptoms (9:13)
7. Land Of Some Other Order (9:57)

Disc 2

1. Dire And Ever-Circling Wolves (9:05)
2. Divine And Bright (5:11)

PREVIEW SONG HERE
DOWNLOAD LINK HERE

Vista Chino - Dargona Dragona.

For whatever reason, Vista Chino (Kyuss without Josh Homme - essentially), have uploaded their new track on Soundcloud but decided against being able to embed it on other webpages. Nevermind, I used a little ingenuity and put it up on YouTube myself!

The sound quality of the track is pretty bad. I doubt it will sound anything close to this low-fi on the actual album and it's just been put out this way to build anticipation. I'm not that keen to comment on it either until I hear it properly, Garcia ends up sounding gruffer than Chris Cornell in his Audioslave days. Definitely not right.

Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs.

Considering the only thing ever good to come out of Newcastle was Alan Shearer (and even then he's genuinely awful on MoTD) it was actually a pleasure to discover that the Pigs x7, also hailed from the land of Tyne.  

Pigs x7 definitely have a refreshing sound. Beginning with what feels like an indie/hardcore punk perspective on stoner rock by the end has morphed into Electric Wizard drone riff territory - with plenty in between. Not any band can hold your attention for 20 minutes, let alone on their first release! Leaves me quite curious how they'd go about writing a full-length release while keeping it as eclectic as this.  

2013 - The Wizard And The Seven Swines [EP/Single]