It’s a proposition that has beguiled scientists for decades now, but Italian stoner metallers Isaak have finally aligned the proportion data and determined that The Longer the Beard the Harder the Sound. So proud was the Genoa foursome of this discovery that they took their central theorem as the title of their 2012 record. The band, who went by the name Gandhi’s Gunn at the time, released their debut full-length, Thirtyyeahs (semi-review here), in 2010.

Needless to say, the reverberations through the scientific community since Isaak‘s discovery have been rippling outward ever since. Word reached the ears of Small Stone Records, who added the band — vocalist Giacomo H Boeddu, guitarist Francesco Raimondi, bassist Massimo Perasso and drummer Andrea Tabbì De Bernardi — to its ever-increasing roster of European heavy rockers, so that their riffy, burly jams might enlighten others to the complex mathematics within the driving grooves of “Breaking Balance,” the moody ’90s stomp of “Flood,” or the final resonant psychedelic proof of the 10-minute closer “Hypothesis,” on which Isaak add further distinction via balancing sitar lines and massive, modern riffery.

This new version of The Longer the Beard the Harder the Sound is set for a June release and includes four bonus tracks: The Pink Floyd cover “Fearless,” the Iron Maiden cover “Wrathchild,” and two more originals, “The Right Time” and “Isolation 2.0.” You’ll find those as well as the rest of the original album ready for consumption on the player following. Please enjoy.

Full stream ahead:

Isaak, The Longer the Beard the Harder the Sound

Small Stone will release Isaak‘s The Longer the Beard the Harder the Sound this summer. More info at the links below.

Isaak on Thee Facebooks

Small Stone Records

Sometimes you want a bit of unabashed weirdness, and fortunately that’s what Italian post-metallers Varego have on offer with their new video for the track “Soul to Devour” from their self-released debut LP, Tvmvltvm. And I don’t just mean weird, I mean like claymation weird, which is a whole other continent on the weirdness map. In “Soul to Devour” we see a sort of robed-mystic/Jesus guy contend with bugs, doll parts and life on what appears to be the red planet. Apparently it’s the first in a series. I can dig it. Album info follows the clip below.

Have fun:

The Post Metal/Sludge band VAREGO releases their first official videoclip. The song “Soul to Devour” is taken from the full-length TVMVLTVM, out during 2012 by Argonauta Records. The album, which has been highly acclaimed by many relevant channels, is a mystical/esoteric concept that will have its continuity in the next works of the band. The videoclip “Soul to Devour”, released by www.sfiammaproduction.com, features some of the main events and characters of a long odyssey through Earth and Cosmos.

Varego is the name of an entity formed by five musicians, veterans of the underground music circuit. Born in 2009 with a sound briefly compared to various Post Metal genres, the band worked with the producer Billy Anderson (Neurosis, Melvins, EyeHateGod, among many others) for the debut album made of ten songs. The work is a strong mix of “Sludge” sonorities, for a final result featuring epic and progressive elements. “TVMVLTVM” (this is the title of the album) is a first part of a concept with mystical/esoteric themes and it’s released by the label managed by band members and named Argonauta Records.

There’s an underlying weirdness to The PEK‘s debut album, Heroin, that doesn’t come out until the very end. For the most part, the Italian rockers sound like they should have called the record “Beer,” since the kind of gaunt, tortured side of addiction is all but absent from what they’re doing, but then the closer, “Follow,” devolves into a kind of barrage of screaming voices and sharp-cutting noise. It’s definitely a surprise, and I’m still not sure if it alone justifies calling the album what they did (there’s a narrative thread in the lyrics, but whenever I think of heroin in music, my mind goes immediately to Alice in Chains‘ Dirt, and I don’t know if it’s possible for a band to make an album more aurally representative of addiction than that), but the heavy rocking six tracks beforehand still have an appeal anyway, especially when you take into account the current strength of the Italian scene.

Bands like OJM, Gandhi’s Gunn, and Black Rainbows (all of whom The PEK has played with), Ufomammut, Void Generator, Oak’s Mary and plenty of others have ensured that Italy has grand representation on the larger scale of the European underground scene, and with Heroin, hopefully The PEK can start the process of joining their ranks. The trio, which formed in 2007, have Heroin opener “Fold” and fifth track “Neo” streaming on their MySpace page and Facebook profile, and the video for the mid-pace stoner groove of “Neo” can be seen below by anyone interested in checking them out. Enjoy.