Fuckin’ “L.A. Connection.” This song rules, man. This was one of three videos Blabbermouth posted that were put up by former Rainbow/Ozzy bassist Bob Daisley, and damned if I could find anything better to close out the week. It doesn’t get much better than ’70s Ritchie Blackmore and Ronnie James Dio kicking out a ridiculous hard rock song that has nothing to do with anything.

There’s a new podcast coming this weekend. Do you know what the theme will be? I do. I guess you’ll just have to stay on this page and click “Refresh” until it’s actually posted so you can find out.

Next week we wrap up August, and I promise I’ll finally have that Yawning Man feature up. I’m also slated to do two more interviews, and I’ve got conversations with Man’s Gin and Masters of Reality already in the can, so we should be well stocked. Next week also starts the semester, which is terrifying but a reality I was going to have to face sooner or later. Can I work, go to school and manage the most kickass stoner blog in the known multiverse? Probably not, but it’ll be fun anyway.

It would be literal nonsense — in that it wouldn’t make any sense at all — for me to review Hawk, the new collaboration record between Isobel Campbell (formerly of Belle and Sebastian) and Mark Lanegan (ex-Screaming Trees, Queens of the Stone Age, etc.), but I got it today and some of it is pretty killer in a moody pop kind of way. I don’t know what it’s doing out by you, but “Snake Song” is perfect for the gray humidity inflicting itself on the valley this evening. Enjoy:

I’m in Connecticut for the weekend and wanted to wait until I got up here before I posted the ceremonial Frydee video. Ah my friends, what a week it has been. I could go into it, but frankly, I haven’t got the energy. Instead, I’ll just sludge out to the Axehandle clip above and enjoy the night beach-side, moon reflected on water and all that. Maybe find a beer. Can’t really lose.

A hearty congrats to our amigo Mike “ZodiacLung” Hanson, who is getting married this weekend. Our best to him and his bride on the nuptials, a lifetime of happiness and so forth. Marriage gets a bad reputation, but I’m a fan, more power to the happy couple.

Being back at work has proven more challenging than I could have imagined, but it’ll settle down. Just in time for school to start, I’m sure. What a mess. At several intervals this week I thought to myself, “You know, I used to sit in my underwear all day and review doom records.” I suppose the difference now is I wear pants and do six other things at the same time. Guess what, here’s life.

Wish you a safe and enjoyable weekend. Thanks for all the responses on the Italy Where to Start post. Any requests for others, let me know in the comments.

You know we’re celebrating when “Sabbra Cadabra” comes out, and when it’s the extended version Sabbath played on the now-famous Asbury Park 1975 bootleg, we must be celebrating something big. And so we are. Yesterday my sister gave birth to her second son, making me a third-time uncle. Kid was nine pounds and looks like an old man. Makes noise like a door creaking.

Hopefully that goes toward explaining the relative lack of posts today and yesterday. I’m gonna head back over to the hospital and gaze adoringly for a while. If you’re in Philly tonight, I’ll be at the Clamfight show at the Millcreek Tavern, which, if you look below, just also happens to be where the Small Stone showcase is next month. Marvelous coincidence, that.

Next week is gonna be a little haphazard because I start work on Monday (Eek! A job!), but I’ll do my best to keep things regular around here. Stay tuned for a Yawning Man interview and reviews of Riotgod, The Kings of Frog Island and more. Meantime, be safe and enjoy the weekend.

You ever find yourself wondering what a band is up to and then find they’ve just done something that kicks total ass? Hence this video of Beaten Back to Pure playing in what looks like a parking lot on July 25. To anyone in the anti-sandal congregation, I humbly submit vocalist Ben Hogg‘s performance in the above clip. Nothing quite like an open-toed ass kicking.

Today is my last day here in Vermont, which has been kind to The Patient Mrs. and I over the past month. I’m ready to be back in Jersey, though, and I know I’ve got my work cut out for me once I am, but it’ll be good to be home. I know I’ve mentioned it a couple times, but I’ll be at Ace of Clubs tomorrow night rocking out to Earthride and Valkyrie. If you’re going, make sure you get there early for Alkahest, Admiral Browning and The Resurrection Sorrow. Killer lineup. Hope to see you there.

Going to spend the rest of today packing the car to get a relatively early start in the morning, so I’ll sign off and say I hope as ever that you have an enjoyable and safe weekend. See you back here Monday.

Have I had seven beers? Yes. Does that mean this Uriah Heep video isn’t the best thing ever? Absolutely not. Do I understand the double-negative I just perpetrated? No dice. Enjoy “The Wizard” from 1972′s Demons and Wizards:

Kind of hard to believe, but an Obelisk search for Roachpowder brings up nothing. This means either I’ve mentioned them before and all my back posts are deleted (and if that’s the case, I don’t want to know), or this post is the first time the Stockholm band have been discussed on the site. They were pretty killer. End of discussion.

Stay tuned next week as we’ll wrap the month of July. I have exciting news regarding both my life situation and The Maple Forum, so look for that to come before next Friday, as well as reviews from Horseback, Black Sleep of Kali and several others. Next week is my last in Vermont, and The Patient Mrs. and I are headed to Burlington over the weekend, so I hope to come back with some Buried Treasure-type goodies to report on.

Good fun all around. I hope you enjoy the Roachpowder track above and I hope you have a great and safe weekend. Cheers.

You know the scene in Pootie Tang where Pootie has the hit single that’s completely silent and Chris Rock is the DJ who has to introduce the song without a name? I was reminded of that as I scoured the great big truck known as the internet looking for what the title of the song WhiteBuzz‘s new video is for (duh, it’s the one that sounds like Sleep — oh wait).

That title? “Untitled.” Glad to have put in the time. Sometimes life is just silly.

WhiteBuzz‘s Book of Whyte came out in 2009 on MeteorCity (read review). Here’s that video:

It’s too bad that “In a world…” movie preview voice-over guy is dead, because he’d be perfect for this trailer. “In a world where scrunchy hardcore kids think they know something about playing doom, one man stands apart from the pack…” and so forth. It would be awesome, but fortunately the music speaks for itself when it comes to Victor Griffin‘s Place of Skulls. Their new album, As a Dog Returns, is due out late September.

It’s humid as hell here in the valley, where I’ll be staying until Sunday when I head back up to Vermont until August 7. Something about this weather always makes me think of sludge. It’s the water in the air and the feeling like there’s no escaping its brutality. Sourvein would seem to emphasize that musically, so here’s Tom Denney‘s video for “Seamerchant.” Sourvein are slated to have a new album out this Fall.

This weekend the August podcast goes up. Don’t miss it.

Anyone who’s around, I’ll be at the Lo-Pan/Devil to Pay show tomorrow night at Ace of Clubs in NYC. Going to be a fantastic time, I’ve been looking forward to it all week. I’ve seen Lo-Pan twice now and both times they’ve killed it, and when last I caught Devil to Pay, I walked out having bought three of their albums. So there you go. Hope to see you there.

Whatever your plans, I hope you have a great and safe weekend.

In honor of two comments adding Cactus to the list of where to start with the heavy ’70s, I thought we’d end the week with some. This is their version of Mose Allison‘s “Parchman Farm,” live audio from 1971. Pretty dern killer if you ask me. Hope you like harmonica.

It was kind of a crazy week, and though you might not see it on the site (in part because the internet here is so shitty it’s caused a major slowdown in productivity), I’m actually getting a lot of work done, which was the reason for the whole Vermont trip in the first place.

If you’ve bought a Roareth CD, thank you so, so, so much. I have a batch waiting to go to the post office to go out tomorrow, but even if you haven’t heard from me, please know that yours is on its way. They’re going quick, so if you haven’t gotten one yet, I suggest you do so. Once they’re gone, they’re gone.

With my third beer in hand, I wish you a long, safe and enjoyable weekend. We’ll see you back here on Monday.

The truth is I was going to end the week with some Yawning Man, because Gary Arce‘s guitar tone, though born and descriptive of the Californian desert, also matches the woods of Vermont better than I could have ever imagined, but I’m planning on reviewing their new album next week, and it wouldn’t do to repeat myself. As a substitute, enjoy the above track from Ten East, which is the formidable gathering of Arce, Mario Lalli, Brant Bjork and Bill Stinson.

It’s hot here, and buggy, but not as bad today as yesterday if you’re out of the sun, which, with the blinds down and my face buried deep in this laptop, I am as best I can be. I’ve already done more reading and writing here in the last day than I’d done all summer back home in the valley, so I feel good about that, despite feeling like I’m neglecting the site, which I am. I’ll try and establish a little more balance next week, I’m still kind of getting settled here.

Everything’s a process, in other words.

The Patient Mrs. and I are shortly to go see Predators, part because I’ve a weakness for the original and part because the theater is bound to have air conditioning, so I’ll wrap up here and say thanks for checking in. Next week I hope to have reviews of Blackwolfgoat, the aforementioned Yawning Man and Chicago‘s Geronimo!, among others, and I’ll put up my recent interview with Gozu‘s Marc Gaffney as well, so plenty of good things to come. Be safe and enjoy your weekend.

We close this week with a track off what’s commonly regarded as C.O.C.‘s worst album, America’s Volume Dealer. I chose it for a reason I’d rather keep personal (nothing tragic). There’s another version on the YouPipes with a picture of thrash band Hirax that stays up the whole time the song plays. I very nearly put that one up instead of this, just because it’s funny.

Plus, it’s America Weekend, and we all know there’s nothing more American than C.O.C. They’re like apple pie topped with smartbombs plastered with advertisements for penis enlargement capsules. That’s how American they are. Are you that American? I’m not. Next to C.O.C. I’m practically Uzbek.

Tumult next week as I make the aforementioned move to Vermont for a month, but that doesn’t happen until Wednesday so stick around anyway. I’ll have that interview with Zoroaster posted and a writeup on my visit to the studio with friends-of-the-site Kings Destroy. Good fun to be had.

Please be safe this weekend, and we’ll see you back here Monday.

The whole “promoting by not promoting on The Obelisk” bit is tired and sad, so I’m going to let it rest this time. Zoroaster‘s new video for the track “Odyssey” made a premiere well-timed for the release of the Matador album next week on some website that takes ads. Here’s the clip, directed by Chad Rullman:

The Obelisk is proud and thrilled to be hosting the premiere of the new, first-ever Kings Destroy video, “Old Yeller.” Dig it:

For those who don’t remember, “Old Yeller” comes off Kings Destroy‘s first 7″ single, Old Yeller/Medusa. The band is guitarists Carl Porcaro and Chris Skowronski (both of Killing Time), vocalist Steve Murphy (Uppercut), bassist Ed Bocchino (Stanley) and drummer Rob Sefcik (Electric Frankenstein).

Steve Murphy had this to say about the track and the video:

“Old Yeller” was a collaboration between a filmmaker friend of ours named Dave Danesh and Morgan Nichols. It has various live footage from the Cake Shop show as well as the show we did at the Charleston with Droids Attack. Dave Danesh came up with the concept.

The idea surrounding it is pretty self-explanatory and goes hand-in-hand with the lyrics. The song is about how the media has been bought off by the US government and therefore lost its way in terms of protecting our democracy as the fourth check and balance. We don’t have a lot of political songs, however we definitely feel like this is a major problem right now.

This video has never been played before for anyone other than the band members — an official world premiere. So grab a nice cold PBR and hail the demise of our glorious nation.