Mastodon’s ‘Medium Rarities’ Could’ve Used More Substance
Medium Rarities is the kind of album that will appeal mostly to longtime Mastodon fans.
stoner rock
RidingEasy Records Readies New Brown Acid Comp With the Brood’s “The Roach” (premiere)
Brown Acid: The Tenth Trip features some of the most obscure sides on the planet, including this 1969 blues-based ripper that imagines what Motörhead might have sounded like as the house band at a Toledo Holiday Inn.
Dead Feathers Ride Into the Terrifying Storm Via ‘All Is Lost’ (album stream) (premiere)
Chicago heavy rock outfit, Dead Feathers take the long view on an album that asks us to look deep within and face our fears. Landing squarely between Black Sabbath and Fairport Convention, Dead Feathers come up winning.
Jazz-Rock’s Red Kite Deliver Grooves and Drones in Equal Measure on Debut
Their fuzzed-out sonic signature might not be for everyone, but for adventurous listeners, Red Kite specialize in a fusion of music blending the complexity of Ornette Coleman with the heaviness of Black Sabbath.
Ecstatic Vision Declares That It’s Time To “Shut Up and Drive” (premiere)
Ecstatic Vision's "Shut Up and Drive" challenges notions of heavy rock as it adds acoustic guitar and synthesizers to the spectrum.
Post-Metal Outfit Pelican Returns with More Dark Moods and Inventive Instrumentals
On Nighttime Stories, instrumental quartet Pelican make the most out of working without a singer, proving that some narratives are best built without words.
Torche Continue to Mine a Complex Brand of Metal With the Mesmerizing ‘Admission’
Admission isn't an enormous change in the sound of Torche, but rather an affirmation that this band insists on forging new paths and confounding expectations.
Faerie Ring Get Heavy, Psychedelic, and Fantastical With Debut LP, ‘The Clearing’ (album stream) (premiere)
Indiana fuzz merchants Faerie Ring take us back to the earliest sounds of underground heaviness while suggesting a brutal and bright future for this manner of sludge and spectacle.
Eclectic Metal’s Irata Prepare to Issue Latest Set, ‘Tower’ (album stream)
North Carolina quartet Irata owes as much to the classic era of grunge as it does to cannabis-infused sounds of contemporary stoner rock. Tower never offers up a dull moment.
Stoner Rock Godfather Brant Bjork Explores the Power of “Oui” (premiere + interview)
Brant Bjork's long-lost instrumental album Jacoozzi has its heart in the improvisational elements of funk, soul and jazz. Uncontrollable dancing may result.
Crypt Trip Looks to the Past to Discover What It Means “To Be Whole” (premiere)
Texas heavy rock trio, Crypt Trip release their new album 8 March and share the proggy song "To Be Whole".