Caked in dudely burl and post-Church of Misery riffage, Phoenix, Arizona, sludge rockers Twingiant follow their 2012 full-length, Mass Driver, with the brash dual-guitarisms of the Sin Nombre EP. The five-track collection is self-released and built on cement-solid riffs from guitarists Dave Natkin and Nikos Mixas and the beard-filtered growls of bassist Jarrod LeBlanc, who takes a cut like the shorter “La Haine” and pushes it beyond riff rocking into territory more aggressive, yes, but also more engaging in its stomp, duly punctuated by drummer Jeff Ramon.

Modern stoner metal has produced a number of acts working in a similar vein, but Twingiant prove able to navigate the EP without sounding redundant or losing the listener’s attention, the seven-minute “Cloaked in Black” taking Alabama Thunderpussy-style riffs out of the heartland and into a beating with a later slowdown and Ramon‘s fervent crash, answering back the thud of the opening “Pelisneros,” somewhat friendlier in its initial fuzz and early Down (think “Stone the Crow” in a different, less whiteboy-soul context), with Twingiant‘s angriest blows. I realize there are a couple Southern metal comparison points, but Sin Nombre doesn’t operate entirely in that sphere and it’s the contrast the vocals bring to a cut like “Pelisneros” that makes it harder to classify — the sweet leads and brutal growls playing off each other as the groove takes off and the ensuing “Fossilized” actually winds up working in a similarly creeping atmosphere to some of what New Zealand’s Beastwars were able to bring to their latest work, Blood Becomes Fire, with LeBlanc‘s bass playing an especially prevalent role in the second half of the song amid rasping, guttural growls and swirling leads.

But any way you slice it, Sin Nombre is heavy as hell and it knows it. It was made to be heavy and it turned out to be exactly that. A sample of serial killer/hitman Richard Kuklinski – that’s him talking about hate in the break of “Pelisneros” — only furthers the Church of Misery feel, but closer “Ricky X R.I.P.,” which seems to be a recording of someone (presumably the titlular Ricky X, in whose memory the track is dedicated) doing a radio show — and pretty recently, going by some of what he played — gives a surprisingly poignant end to a release full of ballsy riffs and brash grooving.

You can hear Sin Nombre now as part of the regular rotation on The Obelisk Radio, as well as check it out on the player below, snatched viciously from the Twingiant Bandcamp.

Twingiant, Sin Nombre EP (2013)

Twingiant on Thee Facebooks

Twingiant on Bandcamp

In the Gozu interview that went up yesterday, there was a discussion of that feeling when a song fits together almost instantaneously in the rehearsal space — no real back and forth, no drama over parts, nothing like that. It just happens and then is done. New York heavy bluesers Geezer seem to have recently experienced such a phenomenon, and their new self-released EP, Gage, is what they have to show for it.

It’s only been a couple months since Geezer released their debut full-length, Handmade Heavy Blues — not enough time for me to review it, apparently — an album rife with slide guitar and gravely vocals, easy grooves and even an early-featured cover of The Beatles‘ “Why Don’t We Do it in the Road,” which sums up a good deal of the attitude present throughout. Gage came together as a quick follow-up when the trio — guitarist/vocalist Pat Harrington, bassist Freddy Villano and drummer Chris Turco — entered the studio to record a track, presumably the fuzz-dreaming opener “Ancient Song,” for an upcoming Grip of Delusion Radio compilation. One became three, the live cut “Dude, it’s Molecular” was added, and an EP was made. Sometimes it’s just that simple. Rarely, but sometimes.

The EP itself reflects the relative smoothness of the process that bore it into the world. Harrington‘s guitar leads the way through “Ancient Song,” but the laid back groove that Villano and Turco throw down is not to be understated, the band departing from some of Handmade Heavy Blues‘ insistence in favor of a languid pace and jammy feel, the vocals tapping into American stoner rock burl while staying deep in the mix and giving the riff the primary space it deserves. Second cut “Thorny” is shorter and bluesier, but also quiet, and the shift to a more subdued atmosphere is at once unexpected and naturally done. The three-piece prove more dynamic throughout than one simple meter or vibe, and “Thorny” feels quick at just over four minutes of airy electric strum, warm bass and minimalist timekeeping, like the psychedelic Americana that Scott H. Biram forgot he always wanted to make, or like Larman Clamor at its most reserved.

With a rhythm and inflection similar to a less bombastic take on Halfway to Gone‘s “Great American Scumbag,” “Ghost Rider Solar Plexus” is the highlight of Gage for its open verses turning Sunday school into a bad trip and extended its solo break, which Geezer skillfully bring back to the chorus at the end, never letting the jam get the best of them. Reportedly played only the one time, “Dude, it’s Molecular” fades up with a clearer live guitar swell and snare rattle to gradually morph into an organic, improv-sounding instrumental that sounds as close to the jam room as we’re likely to get with the band, ending as unassumingly as it started. Geezer — who will play The Acheron in Brooklyn on July 27 as part of The Eye of the Stoned Goat 3 (more info here) — are a relatively new band, but comprised of veterans who obviously know the value that chemistry between players can bring to a lineup. I’m thrilled to get Gage added to The Obelisk Radio this week.

You can hear it there now as part of the regular playlist, or check it out on the player below from the Geezer Bandcamp, where it’s also available for a pay-what-you-will download:

Geezer on Bandcamp

Geezer on Thee Facebooks

Brooklyn-based psychedelic jammers Zoned Out are currently in the process of mixing their debut full-length. The band, which boasts members of La Otracina, Mirror Queen and Titan, have had a couple live recordings get out in the meantime. One, a full show from last December, was posted here before. This week, I managed to get ahold of mp3s of their March 28 performance at Union Pool in their native borough, and once I got the chance to listen, pretty much knew I had to add it to The Obelisk Radio.

Credit where it’s due, the gig was recorded for NYCTaper.com and is available there for free download. The audio sounds great and balanced and natural, and the trio alternate between driving classic solos and trippy prog fusion, their moniker proving all the more accurate for the hypnotic effects of their music. If nothing else, the Union Pool audio raises hopes for how Zoned Out will be able to translate the sound in a studio setting, a song like the later “Smoke Signals” having a bit of ’90s alt rush to it while “Feathers of the Wild Cloud” goes for full-on wah drench. Setting up a dynamic never hurt.

Especially for an instrumental band. For the quality of the recording, the atmospherics Zoned Out are able to pull off in a live setting and the job NYCTaper did in putting it out there for anyone who might be lucky enough to stumble on it, Live at Union Pool, March 28, 2013 makes a great addition to The Obelisk Radio. You can hear it on there now as part of the regular playlist, or check out a sample below with the song “Smoke Signals” and find the free download in mp3 or flac on the NYCTaper site. Either way, enjoy.

Zoned Out, “Smoke Signals” live at Union Pool, 03.28.13

I’m all for bands recording as much as possible and releasing it themselves, and I’m all for warts-and-all live bootlegs, so it’s no big surprise that when it comes to Beaverton, Oregon’s Doomsower and their first official bootleg, Upon an Obsidian Throne, I’m right on board with the proceedings. The doomly rocking three-piece manage to sneak four songs into the half-hour set, which was recorded earlier this year at the second annual Ceremony of Sludge, put on by the folks at Captain Couch Records at The Alleyway in Portland, and yeah, it’s pretty raw-sounding, but so was Doomsower‘s 1974 full-length (review here), so even for being bare-bones, Upon an Obsidian Throne is at very least consistent.

More importantly, it’s also comprised completely of what I assume is new material written since the release of 1974 – well, maybe not completely, since it starts out with a nod to “War Pigs” and that’s definitely older — and the songs feel suitably developed from the analog-minded lurch-and-groove of the album, whether it’s the bizarre, droning course of “Astoria,” which might actually be more than one song, or the riffed-out chorus to “Shrine of the Timber Gods.” I’ll give “Troll Hunter” best title, and though like a lot of bootlegs you kind of have to adjust your ear to the sound of it, Upon an Obsidian Throne winds up well worth the effort, sounding on the proto-metal shuffle of “Magic Bullet” like it’s just begging for a tape release. Or, for that matter, a tape trade.

Obviously I don’t know whether these four songs will appear on Doomsower‘s next studio offering or not, but taken on its own level, Upon an Obsidian Throne gives a decent showing of where the three-piece might be headed, blending brash heavy rock and crunchier doomed passages to something engagingly heavy and a little dangerous at the same time. In hopes of getting to know it better and maybe spreading the word a bit, I’ve made it the Add of the Week for The Obelisk Radio, so you can hear it in rotation as part of that playlist, as well as download it from the player below, which comes directly courtesy of the Doomsower Bandcamp. Either way, please enjoy.

Doomsower, Upon an Obsidian Throne (2013)

The young lady sharing a high-five with what appears to be a Parisian owlsquatch in the picture above is vocalist Shannon-Allie Murphy of Colorado-based heavy Americana rockers Brightstar. Last year, Murphy released Brightstar‘s debut album, All the Way, and though one might take whimsy away from the above, the record’s actually way more geared toward a dark, sparse prairie sound, fostered by Murphy‘s collaboration with guitarist/vocalist T.G. Olson of Across Tundras.

Now, Olson‘s droning soundtrack to Cormac McCarthy‘s Blood Meridian was featured here last week, but though it shares some of the same innate harvest doom tonality with Brightstar, I think you’ll agree the two are working in a much different vein, as perhaps signaled by the Hans Büscher artwork above. All the Way hinges on country rock with brooding songs like “No Kiss Goodbye” or the acoustic-treated traditionalism of “The Blackest Crow,” elsewhere giving itself to echoing ethereality on the Murphy-penned and recorded “Trapped in a Song” or tapping into effective attitude-laden Westernism on “Tide Pool,” Olson backing on vocals and even taking lead for part of the chorus while also contributing a large portion of the instrumentation throughout.

Elsewhere, other contributors make their presences felt, whether it’s Brandon Freeman‘s rumbling bass on the more-uptempo-than-it-seems opening title-track or Matt Johnson‘s synth on the later “No Georgia Moonshine,” which blends strikingly well with the acoustic guitar arrangement where one might otherwise think it’d be at odds, giving an underlying sense of psychedelia even as it adds dimension to the already wide landscape the song casts. Both “Trapped in a Song” and the more textured “Down by the Hollow” remind some of Sera Timms‘ work in Ides of Gemini or her own Black Mare solo project, but the collaboration between Murphy and Olson in Brightstar gives it its own dynamic, not necessarily hinged to one genre or another but still definitively American in its sound and scope.

You can hear All the Way as part of The Obelisk Radio playlist as of about five minutes ago when I uploaded the files to the server, and also check it out and grab a free download courtesy of the Brightstar Bandcamp page. Either way, please enjoy:

Brightstar, All the Way (2012)

I like a good mystery every now and again, so when the link to check out Guerrera came through late last week with no info on the band or so much as a, “Hello please listen to our shit kthxbye,” I did something I wouldn’t usually do in that situation and clicked to take a listen to the band’s Under the Gypsy Sun full-length, which counts itself as blues but is almost certainly right in line with what commonly gets shuffled out as stoner rock. Mid-paced riffs lead through thick grooves and heady psych vibing, fuzz tones, developing into righteous but still directed jams as the songs play on.

Under the Gypsy Sun more or less unfolds in stages. The opening duo of “Believe in Pain” and “Dead Man” take on straightforward stoner drive, the first starting languid and mounting an effective build on its way while the second takes that momentum and pushes it through classic rocking stomp without getting into retroism, but it’s with the shorter “Make Me Feel” that Guerrera really begin to show there’s more to them than just riff cycles and echoing vocals. Tight and efficient, “Make Me Feel” finds immediate contrast in the five-minute “Living for You,” an even more directly linear progression perhaps more telegraphed but no less satisfying than that of “Dead Man” before it.

The next big change follows “Living for You,” however, whenthe 10:39  “Ted Kaczynski” takes hold. Its first three minutes are spent unfolding a sleepy jam, but the song never lacks for movement or a sense that Guerrera don’t know where they’re going. Feeding directly into the closing title-track, the transition from one to the other is so smooth that I have to keep watching the player to see when it’s actually happening. By the time they finish “Under the Gypsy Sun,” heavy psych elements have been introduced and my biggest argument with their initial blues positioning isn’t so much that it isn’t true as much as it’s not at all the whole story.

What is the story? I don’t really know. They’re from Spain, there are four of them and Under the Gypsy Sun is available for free download at the Guerrera Bandcamp. I suppose that hardly makes for a compelling biography or pitch email to send to a reviewer, but in picking out an Add of the Week for this week at The Obelisk Radio, there was little doubt where I’d end up. Check out the full stream of Under the Gypsy Sun below:

Guerrera, Under the Gypsy Sun

A few years back, Prosthetic Records seemed to get an itch for extreme metal that took some of the tropes of black metal and added elements of hardcore, doom and thrash. The result was a slew of albums from the likes of Book of Black Earth, Withered and The Funeral Pyre, each of which seemed bent on taking on black metal from a different angle. Austin trio The Unmothered appear to be on a similar kind of trip with their 2012 self-titled debut EP, but the conviction and thickness with which they carry across their ideas puts them in line as well with the newer class of post-His Hero is Gone “dark hardcore” — the main difference being The Unmothered come off as better at actually bridging the gap between that sound and doom than most others, who like to pretend they’re bridging it while playing redundant metalcore riffs in a Venom t-shirt.

It’s not in every song, but take a listen to “Leviathan,” which is tense to the point of breaking open even as it rolls out the groove of its verse. Unmothered drummer Matt Moulis sat in with The Hidden Hand on their last tour, and there’s some swing in the earlier “The Awakening” to show for it, but together with Matt Walker and Joseph Barnes, the three-piece draws more on later, rocking Carcass than anything so definitively fuzzed. Even the later post-black metal soloing of “Spectre” takes a vehement position rather than give itself up to psychedelic posturing for the sake of including one more genre in the mix, and with the Godflesh-y tone of “Solstice” and the gallop late into opener and longest cut “Gravitons,” it’s not exactly like The Unmothered have skimped on the variety anyhow.

Having just shared the stage with the likes of Venomous Maximus and Mala Suerte at SXSW in their native burg, and caught a fair amount of attention there, The Unmothered have a solid first showing to fall back on in their self-titled and a foundation to expand on in any number of directions. You can listen to the self-titled now as part of the playlist on The Obelisk Radio, and check it out via the stream below, hoisted from the Unmothered Bandcamp:

You probably wouldn’t think a song with lines like, “And so we shed these tears of blood upon the ground/As the ancestors await us in the sky,” and a chorus about butchering those who sleep at night would be so damn catchy, but kudos to Boston bass/drum duo Olde Growth for turning grim tales into potent hooks. Hell, with bassist/vocalist Stephen LoVerme‘s delivery, it practically swings. Could be a lounge arrangement in an alternate universe. That would rule a little bit.

As it stands, LoVerme and drummer Ryan Berry do pretty well even without the Rat Pack tuxedos, and their new Owl EP slays all the more for the swagger they put into it. The four-track collection was originally released in 2012 as a limited-type tour-only cassette (initial nerding out here), but the material stands up to the wider — if still pretty limited — self-release it’s now receiving. “Tears of Blood” is a highlight, but each of the cuts stands itself out, and though I noted it prior, Olde Growth‘s development since their self-titled still rings true in these songs, given new context by John Trimmer artwork and due out shortly in an edition of 100 CDs and 50 tapes.

“Brother of the Moon” broods as much as its propels, its riff sounding big enough to stand up to the band’s epic lyrical ethic while still maintaining a stonerly fuzz. As the band is essentially a rhythm section, there’s no shortage of groove throughout, but LoVerme‘s capable of carrying a melody at this point even as he offsets it with gruffer shouting. Alternately manic and doomed, “Brother of the Moon” leads into “Warrior Child”‘s blend of bass groove and subtle effects swirl, marauding its way through a verse before a shouting chorus that plays out in call and answer before bowing to a final slowdown, heavy and a not unexpected but certainly welcome guest.

The longest of this small batch at 5:22, “Tears of Blood” is a ripper straight through, engaging in Olde Growth‘s post-High on Fire battle axe rush. It’s the melody that holds the song together, LoVerme following the riff but beginning to show that he doesn’t necessarily need to while Berry punctuates each line with a snare fill, cymbal crashes, sometimes both. If anything on Owl might foreshadow the next stage in Olde Growth‘s evolution, I hope it’s “Tears of Blood,” but that’s not to count out the handclap-ready bass drum of closer “Edge of the Sea,” which pulses with energy but finds room for a chorus slowdown that only serves to highlight the evolving dynamics of the two-piece outfit.

I dug this when it was called Tour EP 2012 and I find my appreciation not at all diminished for it as Owl, so I’m glad to have the excuse to revisit it by making it The Obelisk Radio‘s Add of the Week. In addition to having the CD and tape up for preorder, LoVerme and Berry have put the EP up for a limited-time-only pay-what-you-will download at the Olde Growth Bandcamp, from whence the following is also hoisted:

Northern Ireland-based trio Slomatics get down with some vicious tone worship, but I have the feeling that if you took this stuff and played it on an acoustic guitar, it would still sound heavy. Their latest single, The Future Past, follows last year’s A Hocht full-length and sees the Belfast three-piece returning to the very beginnings of the band circa 2004 and refining some of their earliest material.

With two songs — “Running Battle” and “Son of Ampbreaker” — The Future Past doesn’t bring about quite the same kind of lurch that “Beyond Acid Canyon” from the most recent LP had, but even for being just slightly faster than that or Slomatics‘ contributions to their 2011 split with Conan (review here), neither cut lacks for weight or crater-honing force of impact. “Running Battle” launches an onslaught of low end and then cuts through it with blown-out vocals and buzzsaw leads, the drums holding steady on a still-plenty-slow stomp that “Son of Ampbreaker” varies from without fully departing.

The second track has a more open feel in the guitar and bass — as much as something so pummeling could be called “open” — but even here, the trio attack on all fronts, drummer Marty providing the shouts that seem to puncture the thick, thick, thick wall of tone, echoing with a destructive psychedelia made visceral through added noise and the let-me-just-point-it-out-again-because-it’s-so-fucking-heavy plod.

No word on a physical release, and the vibe I got was that going back and taking on these previously unrecorded songs from their early days was just something Slomatics did for fun or perhaps to exorcise at last the nagging demons of these riffs, but either way, if they’re just blowing off steam, that’s some viciously heavy steam to blow off. If you haven’t yet caught on to Slomatics‘ bludgeonry, The Future Past might be a great way to get introduced, and it’s for that reason that I made it The Obelisk Radio‘s Add of the Week, and swiped the stream from the Slomatics Bandcamp that you can check out below:

I guess on a basic stylistic level, Dutch post-metallers Ortega aren’t really hitting on anything groundbreaking, but aside from its title being the best euphemism I’ve heard yet this week for getting a boner, I chose to feature their 18-minute single-song EP, The Serpent Stirs, for the basic reason that it was just what I needed today, just when I needed it. This afternoon, in a swirl of office chaos and lacking indoor voices, I plugged in my headphones and it was like I had just boarded a plane. Off I went.

The Groningen outfit delve pretty deeply into Panopticon-era Isisisms, but are tonally thicker and their requisite ambient break in “The Serpent Stirs” — the sole track for which the EP is named — features a surprisingly effective bluesy solo and some righteously grooving bass work. Again, it ain’t saving the world, but the build in The Serpent Stirs was enough to remind me of what was so appealing about this kind of stuff when it first started appearing, and enough to make me want to check out Ortega‘s other releases, the 2012 A Flame Never Rises on its Own EP and 2010′s 1634 debut full-length.

And when it comes to The Obelisk Radio, a big part of the reason I got it going in the first place was for just those moments, when you feel like your brain is going to fucking collapse and you need to punch out immediately and head somewhere else, mentally if not physically, so as The Serpent Stirs filled that role for me today, it seems only appropriate to make it the Add of the Week.

The band is Richard Postma (vocals, guitar), Alex Loots (guitar), Frank de Boer (bass) and Sven Jurgens (drums), and they’ve got vinyl and CDs and such for sale on the Ortega Bandcamp, from whence the following player also comes:

With shades of industrial, black and post-metal, Brooklyn’s Sannhet cast a deep shadow with Known Flood, their debut LP. And then they hide in that shadow, and they lurk around for a while, all creepy-like. The trio released Known Flood on vinyl last week through Sacrament Music, the new imprint cast by the crew at the St. Vitus bar, and with its forward-thinking approach to churning tonal oppression, transitional drones and ambient heft, I can’t help but think it’s a good fit. Very easy to imagine this noise filling that room.

The record (produced by Colin Marston of Behold… the Arctopus!, et al) is consuming when played at high volume, with a kind of surrounding effect coming from tracks like the centerpiece “Moral” or the subsequent “Slow Ruin,” which effectively touches on Neurosis crunch without simply aping it. Sannhet sound bigger than three people and add chaos by means of an assortment of loops and samples handled by drummer Christopher Todd and guitarist John Refano – the lineup is completed by AJ Annunziata on bass — but at the root of Known Flood is a fierce grip on aesthetic and directionality and an obvious push toward the sonically extreme. Whether it’s an earlier bruiser like “Safe Passage” or the final ambient swell of closer “Flatlands,” screaming or instrumental, Sannhet make each turn consistent, dark and intricate.

Textures unveil themselves more with each listen as vague samples become clarified standouts, and repetitions become all the more engrossing and hypnotic. “Still Breathing,” the penultimate and longest track (7:46), also proves the most patient in its unfolding, but when it reaches its apex, there is a shattering effect that’s not to be missed, Refano and Annunziata mounting a linear build that Todd makes turbulent with the addition of blastbeats and corresponding open crashes. Eventually, they break through it with a sweeping payoff that, but for the malevolent noise underscoring “Flatlands,” would be a fitting end to the album.

Glad to have Known Flood added to The Obelisk Radio, and if you’d like to experience it en masse, please refer to the stream below, courtesy of the Sannhet Bandcamp:

Sannhet on Thee Facebooks

Sacrament Music

This Spring, Los Angeles rockers Heavy Glow will head out on their second West Coast tour, and they’re marking the occasion with the release of a new two-song 7″. Boasting the tracks “Mine all Mine” and “Headhunter” — as well as art from Mad Alchemy — the single was all set to arrive last week but for a problem with the shipping that caused a delay. Undeterred by misfortunes of fate or record-warping cold, Heavy Glow still have Mine all Mine/Headhunter up for pre-order through their Bandcamp page.

Marching the line between the desert crunch of Queens of the Stone Age and Foo Fighters‘ fluid pop delivery, Heavy Glow‘s “Headhunter” is coolly atmospheric and engagingly grooving at once. Movement is a key element, and even as guitarist Jared Mullins indulges in a bluesy solo, bassist Joe Brooks and drummer Michael Amster (also Blaak Heat Shujaa) hold down a solid, relaxed vibe that comes to prominence in the start-stop end of the song. “Mine all Mine,” as the A side, is more chorus centered, with Mullins tossing in a bit of falsetto vocally and matching the guitar line in the post-chorus, but both tracks offer a switched-on take on classically structured desert-isms without losing themselves completely in the psychedelic aspects of their genre.

Both tracks bode well for Heavy Glow as they move forward this year in following up their 2011 full-length, Midnight Moan, and I’m glad to have the chance to highlight Mine all Mine/Headhunter as The Obelisk Radio‘s Add of the Week. You’ll find it in regular rotation on the playlist, and the band have “Headhunter” up for streaming on their aforementioned Bandcamp. Heavy Glow are on Thee Facebooks here.

A bit of continuity never hurt anyone. You might remember last week’s Radio Add of the Week was by a newcomer Spanish band called Llord. You might not. Well, as it turns out, guitarist/vocalist David and drummer Michael Kelly from that outfit have another new band, this one called named Lord Summerisle after Christopher Lee‘s character in The Wicker Man. That’s a pretty good start. Their debut demo is, like Llord‘s, only three tracks, but it still gives an idea of where the band is coming from, blending progressive technicality and noodling with stretches of heavier grooves. Together with bassist Diego Caicedo, the trio moves away from Llord‘s primitive riff-led extremity and into move complex and effects-driven sounds, remaining instrumental while setting the course with opener “Pare Huarg,” while revealing an echoing clean-singing style from David on the spacier second cut, “1864.”

With all three songs running over six minutes long, Lord Summerisle give parts plenty of room to breathe and develop, but I wouldn’t call their demo jammy in the sense of a lot of modern Euro heavy. Rather, “1864″ filters classic prog complexity through modern tones, and the vocals give an airy, open feel. Where Llord‘s demo was recorded live, this one feels more layered and constructed. That continues through the last cut, “Ocellót,” though the riff and motoring tempo put it more in line with mid-’70s bruisers, there’s nonetheless a process at work in the presentation that runs deeper than “plug in and hit record.” That’s not to say Lord Summerisle sound unnatural, because they don’t, just that what the trio shows on their first outing is a personality distinct from that of the band with whom they share two-thirds of a lineup. They’ve made the demo available as a free download through Bandcamp, from whence the player below also comes:

There’s not much known about Spanish sludge rockers Llord. The Barcelona-based trio recorded their debut demo last October and put it up for free download on Jan. 31, its three-tracks given a sense of extremity through guitarist David‘s vocals even as the band shows a commitment to a classic heavy approach, recording live and completely without the use of effects pedals. The former is nothing new — recording live is cheap and makes sense for a first demo by which to give listeners a general idea of what you’re going for sonically — but the lack of effects, Llord‘s attaining such tonality without a fuzz box or wah, that intrigues, whether it’s on the lead lines of “Iron Pescatore” or the larger stretch of riffing contained in 10-minute closer “Verro.”

Also noteworthy is the richness of the tones Llord are able to dial in. Bassist Aris complements David‘s guitar with clean, full-sounding runs, and even though the vocals have a more extreme metal bent — they remind especially on the slower Slayerisms of “Ordell” of Lair of the Minotaur — with drummer Mike serving as the anchor for their riffy wanderings, the material wouldn’t sound out of place with classic heavy rock wails put over them. This balance immediately gives Llord an individual sensibility in their take, and though I’m sure the demo’s primitive assault will be used as the first step in a progression that it is, it still provides a fascinating listen here and now.

Take a listen via the Llord Bandcamp stream below and see if you don’t agree. Glad to have these guys included in The Obelisk Radio:

Rife with unfuckwithable plod and thickened miseries, The Gates of Slumber this week unleashed five new tracks as a Scion A/V Metal-sponsored EP called Stormcrow. The collection, produced by Sanford Parker, feels even more weighted in the low end than did their last album, 2011′s excellent The Wretch (review here), and the Indianapolis-based trio have kept the ultra-despondent vibe of that record alive while expanding the scope a bit musically, crushing as much with tone as with emotionality.

“Death March” and “Dragon Caravan” retain the memorability of The Wretch, not so much relying on hooks to grab the listener’s attention as leaving an indent behind when they’re done. The louder the material on Stormcrow gets, the deeper that indent goes, but nothing The Gates of Slumber does feels excessive or wanting for authenticity. They have become the forerunners of classic American doom over the last several years, and while it’s easy to read Stormcrow as a victory lap, it’s also a next step in their ongoing development.

Even if the ultra-Vitusisms of The Wretch left you wanting (which, if you heard them, they likely didn’t), guitarist/vocalist Karl Simon, bassist Jason McCash and drummer “Iron” Bob Fouts do the hard work here of making them more their own, closer “Of that Which Can Never Be” reminding of some of Paul Chain‘s desolation as filtered through Orodruin‘s last demo. Scion A/V Metal has made the EP available as a free download, which you can find at the link below, and the five tracks have also been added to The Obelisk Radio as of today. Doom on.

Download The Gates of Slumber’s Stormcrow EP