TOP 16 ALBUMS: The Sour 16 (August 2017)

With English winter ending in July and commencing again in August, the summer as we know it, is over!  Now as we enter September, the sunshine may waver, but one constant source of light, is the inspiring music we embrace and celebrate. 

Mike Patton once said “what a day, when you can look it in the face and hold your vomit,” So to make things a little more bearable, allow yourself to indulge in a hefty dose of medicine, because it is time to present 16 of the best albums from August, it is time for your SOUR 16.

You know the drill by now, each month you the reader are unwittingly compiling a list of the top 16 records of the month, covering all genres of metal.  Is it not a chart, in which reviewers or contributors extol their opinion about their favourite music.  To put it simply, THE SOUR 16 are the records that have been trending the most at SLUDGELORD HQ.

The results are compiled based upon the amount of page views the reviews have received and are then calibrated into the list below. 

16). Cult of Erinyes - ‘Tiberivs’ (387)

In short, ‘Tiberivs’ is fully realized and wonderfully executed. Any black metal fans sleeping on this album are doing themselves a real disservice.

15). Mudbath - "Brine Pool" (397)

While firmly a doom metal group, Mudbath is not afraid to introduce different elements. With a shrieking vocal approach reminiscent of black metal and flourishes you might otherwise associate with drone, Mudbath manages to make it work.

14). Dead Cross - "Dead Cross" (405)

While Dead Cross don’t quite deliver the all-out face-melting insanity you may expect from their constituent parts, this debut is still an exhilarating burst of queasy punk rock mayhem that reminds most young pretenders who’s in charge.

13). Timeworn - "Venomous High" (408)

Some of the most engaging moments on “Venomous High” come when Timeworn move slightly away from their core sound.  “All Chiefs” finds the band at their most unhinged as they unleash an arsenal of spidery math-metal riffs with breakneck rock’n’roll abandon. Anyone missing Swiss behemoths Kruger will find a lot to enjoy in this killer track. “Venomous High” is a fine offering from Timeworn that takes an array of well-worn modern metal influences and blows them up on a grand scale.

 12). Nidingr - "The High Heat Licks Against Heaven" (414)

Given the amount of average extreme music that is available, Nidingr’s release is outstanding for such depth alone.

11). Geezer - “Psychoriffadelia” (424)

Guttural guitars and raunchy drums at the ready. Geezer delivers the intensity of the Melvins, one of the group's inspirations, while giving its own unique spin to stoner rock. While many others try, this is one band that is confident enough to step out and truly make this sound their own.

10). Sunrot - "Sunnata" (480)

Those who take the plunge into “Sunnata” will still be blown away by the fierce musical skill, emotional honesty, and undeniable potential of Sunrot.  Their truly exceptional full-length debut has set a high benchmark that, one hopes, is only the opening chapter of a lengthy, groundbreaking career.

9). Below The Sun - "Alien World" (533)

What you get is nothing short of spectacular. The soundscape intersects multiple metal subgenres, including funeral doom, black metal, drone and post metal. Moods throughout are bleak, as if the rumbling seas of Solaris are flicking gently at your mind and bouncing your hopes and fears to and fro.

8). Blues Funeral - "Awakening" (624)

Close your eyes and you can hear hints of Mountain and Blue Oyster Cult throughout "Awakening." The rolling title track is a true showcase for how these inspirations have shaped the Texas band. Such attention to the details most people probably never notice further ensures a level of quality that may surprise you. Not only is the music masterfully played, but nothing overpowers the composition

7). Red Mountains - "Slow Wander" (658)

...it is so refreshing to find a release that is all at once heavy, accessible and frankly beautiful in its construction.

6). Ledge - "Cold Hard Concrete" (700)

“Cold Hard Concrete" is that uneasy masterpiece you will value even more by year's end.

5). Pyrrhon - "What Passes for Survival" (796)

"What Passes for Survival" is an uncompromising album and you will learn that fast, right out of the gate.  It is impossible to listen to Pyrrhon's magnificent new release, without admiring the band's fearlessness and technical prowess.  This album is exactly what extreme metal doubters need to hear.

4). Weed Demon - "Astrological Passages" (1040)

Weed Demon is quite willing to show they can do a diverse attack that goes beyond a Melvins-ish crunch. It can definitely throttle you with heavy, sludged out guitars and drums. Yet, as you find on "Primordial Genocide" and elsewhere, Weed Demon can go from blasting to burrowing with its arrangements, zipping from fast to slow, metal to a variation on math rock, smoothly.

3). Devil Electric - "Devil Electric" (1097)

Although you'll not find a swerve or anything wildly disparate, Devil Electric is nonetheless entrancing. In particular, the group is guaranteed to energize any fan of heavy blues reminiscent of Black Sabbath, The Allman Brothers and similar bands.

2). Venom Inc. - “Avé” (1128)

This record, is a triumph. Venom Inc. have produced a record more than worthy of the Venom name and it contains some of the best and most “Venom” moments since the early 80's. I cannot praise or recommend this record enough to fans of Venom or just metal in general. The songs, performances and production all deliver.

1). Accept - "The Rise Of Chaos" (1407)

“The Rise of Chaos” is precise, prescient, presented superbly in terms of artwork and production and, more importantly, rocks as hard as anything I have heard this year. A tour de force.

A big thank you as always to our amazing writers, your dedication knows no boundaries and for that I am truly grateful.  August 2017’s SOUR 16 features reviews by:  Richard Maw, Daniel Jackson, Charlie Butler, Mark Ambrose, Mark Tremblay & Ernesto Aguilar

ALBUM REVIEW & TRACK PREMIERE: Red Mountains - "Slow Wander"

By: Ernesto Aguilar

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 01/09/2017

Label: All Good Clean Records

...it is so refreshing to find a release that is all at once heavy, accessible and frankly beautiful in its construction.

"Slow Wander" DD//LP track listing

1. Home

2. Rat King

3. Oak

4. Endless Ocean

5. Stone

6. Fog

7. Cellar Door

8. Acid Wedding

9. Returning

The Review:

Among the bins and bins and terabytes upon terabytes, it is so refreshing to find a release that is all at once heavy, accessible and frankly beautiful in its construction. While popular music fans may recoil at metal – who hasn't gotten the wrinkled noses before? – It is oftentimes because they don't understand its diversity. A band like Red Mountains may certainly create a greater appreciation for what the music's power can be.

Norway is known for a range of extreme music. Stoner rock that sounds like it was crafted on a porch just south of balmy Joshua Tree, California is not one of those styles you associate with the country. The city of Trondheim and musical group Red Mountains may well change that.

You first heard this psychedelic swirl on the quartet's 2015 debut, "Down With The Sun." The band toured widely on the strength of that sound, which feels inspired at turns by groups like Electric Wizard and Dead Meadow. What makes Red Mountains, however, so distinct is their songwriting and overall arrangements. Guitarists Magnus Riise and Jostein Wigenstad are peerless in their respective lead and backing vocals. The songs offer uncomplicated chronicles that are at turns personal and at still others rich with fantasy. "Fog" and "Oak" among other tracks tell engrossing stories that carry on as a thread elsewhere. Another standout, "Cellar Door," demonstrates the picturesque lyrics you catch throughout, to convey vignettes you do not expect.

A band this sharp with its recording has to see its drum and bass acknowledged. Percussionist Simen Mathiassen and Sverre Dalen on bass shine on several cuts. They command the best songs, including "Acid Wedding" and "Rat King." Again, much mystical storytelling that is aided and abetted by the emotional marks Red Mountains' rhythm section lands. You will not catch a blast furnace of music. "Slow Wander" is exactly what it says: a slow and purposeful wander through a universe Riise's words bring to life. A wondrous world it is too.

"Slow Wander" is available here

Band info: bandcamp || facebook 

Red Mountains - 'Down With The Sun' (Album Review)

By: Victor Van Ommen

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 01/09/2015

Label: Nasoni Records

Gritty tones and sun swept grooves is what’s on offer here. There’s the trudge in “Sun,” whose vocal harmonies and crotch-thrusting guitar tone combine to set the scene for some dudely headbanging.

‘Down with the Sun’ DD//LP track listing:

1). Six Hands

2). Sun

3).Rodents

4). Sleepy Desert Blues

5). Silver Grey Sky

6). Moral Panic

Red Mountains is:

Simen Mathiassen | Drums

Sverre Dalen | Bass

Jostein Wigenstad | Guitar

Magnus Riise | Guitar, Vocals

The Review:

Just because something is new, doesn’t mean it’s new. Such is the case with Red Mountains’ debut LP, “Down with the Sun.” It’s the umpteenth album of the past couple years that plays out a low- desert stoner- rock vibe with interwoven grunge influences. Sound familiar? You bet, but if this fact is pushed to the periphery of what Red Mountains has going on, then there’s absolutely nothing wrong with this release. In 38 minutes, Red Mountains display full control, confidently taking their time to get through the six sturdy building blocks that make up “Down with the Sun.” 

Gritty tones and sun swept grooves is what’s on offer here. There’s the trudge in “Sun,” whose vocal harmonies and crotch-thrusting guitar tone combine to set the scene for some dudely headbanging. “Silver Grey Sky” is more of the same and “Rodents” is the band’s adrenaline resource in an otherwise mid-tempo outing. “Moral Panic” closes out the album with some back and forth drone riffing before careening into the sunset with a jam. Quality stuff, for sure, but when a song named “Sleepy Desert Blues” gives exactly that, it bodes the question if these guys actually want to set themselves apart from their peers. Then again, if their goal was to get out there and do nothing more than deliver a slab of tasty, smoked out grungy tunes without pushing the envelope too much, then more power to them! 

‘Down with the Sun’ is available here

FFO: Kyuss, Dead Meadow, Alice In Chains

Band info: Facebook| BandCamp

The Sludgelord's Sour 16 for April 2015

Welcome to The Sludgelord’s Sour 16. Each month, you the reader are unwittingly compiling a list of the top 16 records of the month, covering all genres of metal, but predominately the best the doom, sludge, stoner-psychedelic genres have to offer. I have been promising to do this since the beginning of the year and in essence you can call it what you wish, is it chart? Not really.  It is merely the 16 records you guys have been most interested in over the last month and you have been checking out on this very page.

Our idea for this thing was to turn the power over to you guys, yes it would be easy for us to choose our favourite records of the months, however it is you the reader, the fans that support these bands, buy their records and attend their shows.  So here is the inarguable Sour 16, the 16 records you’re most looking forward too or are currently checking out.  Check em out, spread the word and perhaps revisit some records you may have overlooked.  

The results are compiled based on page views alone and calibrated into the list below. So without further ado, this is the Sour 16. So until next month, roll up, kick back, chug a beer and Hail the riff! All review links, are held under the artwork.   

  

16). Wild Throne – ‘War Is A Romance’ (299 views)

Read the review

15). Ghold – ‘Of Ruin’ (301 views)

Read the review

14). Iced Out – ‘Man’s Ruin’ (304 views)

Read the review

13). Abrahma – ‘Reflections in the Bowels of the Bird’ (305 views)

Read the review

12). Domovoyd – ‘Domovoyd’ (314 views)

Read the review

11). Holy Serpent – ‘Holy Serpent’ (315 views)

Read the review

10). Fister – ‘VI’ (322 views)

Read the review

9). Deep Sea Thunder Beast – ‘So Goes The Madness’ (336 views)

Read the review

8). War Iron – ‘Precession of the Equinoxes’ (361 views)

Read the review

7). Drudkh – ‘A Furrow Cut Short’ (381 views)

Read the review

6). Acid King – ‘Middle of Nowhere, Center of Everywhere’  (383 views)

Read the review

5). Weedpecker – ‘II’ (385 views)

Read the review

4). Red Mountains – ‘Sun’ (475 views)

Read the review

3). The Atomic Bitchwax – ‘Gravitron’ (618 views)

Read the review

2). Stonebirds – ‘Into The Fog...And The Filty Air’ (649 views)

Read the review

1). Faith No More – ‘Sol InVictus’ (985 views)

Read the review

Red Mountains - Sun (Single Review)

Album Type: Single

Date Released: March 2015

Label: Nasoni Records

Sun - Track Listing

1.Sun

Members:

Simen Mathiassen

Sverre Dalen

Jostein Wigensad

Magnus Riise

Review:

I tend to stay away from reviewing singles as I like to focus on EP's and Albums. But am going to make an exception for Red Mountains new single – Sun. Red Mountains are a Psychedelic Stoner Metal Band from Norway who are going to release their debut album in Sept 2015. Such a long fucking wait as their new song – Sun – is incredible. I've been listening to this song for the last 24 hours or so and it's possibly one of the finest Stoner Metal songs I've heard this year.

It's an intriguing mix of Desert Rock, Fuzz Rock, Psychedelic Rock and Stoner Metal that gives Red Mountains a heavy and original sound all of their own. The vocals bring an air of confidence and grizzled authority to a band that feels they have seen it all. Though it's the music that's the winning factor here as Red Mountains prove they're going to be one of the most talked about bands to look out for in 2015. Sun is loud, heavy, distorted and even uplifting as Red Mountains will put you in an hypnotic trance.

It's been a very long time that a single has left me feeling very excited to hear a bands debut album. Red Mountains you definitely have my attention and I think a huge number of other people in the months to come as this song is a stone-cold classic in the making. WOW.

Words by Steve Howe

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