If it hasn’t been said before in this space, I love Philadelphia. I’ll admit it doesn’t have the same sense of cosmopolitanism as New York — its history designates it a purely American city — but the people are so much nicer. It’s as though the city wasn’t constantly acting in a commercial for the city. It’s like someone turned down the asshole factor. If I could ever afford to live anywhere (which I don’t expect to be able to), I’d live there in a second. Even the hippest Philly record store I’ve been to yet, AKA Music, made NYC‘s Other Music look like a parody of itself.

Along with an extensive (if somewhat disheveled) used section from which I grabbed someone’s promo of the new Alice in Chains (meh), and a dollar bargain bin that yielded a copy of Pharaoh Overlord‘s II, they also had both prog and psychedelic sections. The prog section even had a krautrock subheading. Awesome. And for vinyl heads, there’s a whole other store’s worth of it in the back.

I nabbed a compilation of early Peruvian psychedelic music called The Roots of Chicha, which proved to be awesome, and the self-titled release from Iron Claw on Rockadrome‘s Vintage division. Yes, the name comes from King Crimson. The record is a collection of tracks recorded from 1970-1974 from the Scottish band, most of which I’m fairly certain were unreleased before, and on the plastic wrapping of the disc there were five magic words that assured the purchase: “For Fans of Black Sabbath.”

And that more or less sums up what Iron Claw had going on nearly 35-40 years ago. According to the label, they started out by playing Black Sabbath‘s Black Sabbath in its entirety during their sets along with their originals, formed in ’69 in Dumfries, were done in ’74, and until this exhumation, were buried by time and obscurity. The extensive liner notes detail their years together with notable shows and lineup changes and how different players affected the band, and the music is blown to hell, but a track like “Skullcrusher” still lives up to its name.

For serious devotees of the heavy ’70s new and old, Iron Claw‘s a can’t miss. They can’t all be Leaf Hound‘s Growers of Mushroom, but I think I prefer Iron Claw to the self-titled Jerusalem record Rockadrome put out a while back. You’ve got 16 tracks of classic hard riffing with the occasional prog freakout (“Pavement Artist”). Put that together with a city like Philly and mark it a win.

…Or something. Any way you slice it, Californian heavy psychers Ancestors have a new song called “Antler Wings” streaming. It comes from a limited split 7″ with Graveyard, and was originally hosted by Decibel exclusively. Because I’m feeling clever this week with the interknobs, here it is, followed by some relevant PR wire info:

Ancestors – Antler Wings

Los Angeles based psychedelic doom rock collective Ancestors premieres its brand new song “Antler Wings” today via Decibel. The dynamic track will appear on an upcoming split 7” with Swedish rockers Graveyard, due in early 2010.

The “Antler Wings” 7” is available as a limited run of 500, and can be pre-ordered at this location. The band will also have copies available for sale at its upcoming live performances. The track drops on the heels of Ancestors just-released sophomore album Of Sound Mind, which hit stores on October 6 via Tee Pee Records.

This spring, when I envisioned the how the rest of the year was going to play out, right at the forefront of my mind was Mania, the third album from Swedish fuzz rockers Truckfighters. In both my review and interview with the band, I raved about how groundbreaking a record it was, how it was changing the face of modern stoner rock, adding a progressive intelligence to the genre that most bands wouldn’t even be able to conceive, let alone execute.

I feel exactly the same way today.

Mania, released through Fuzzorama, is hands down the best pure stoner rock release of 2009. It built upon the solid foundation of its two excellent predecessors, 2007’s Phi and 2005’s Gravity X, but took a turn in a more fleshed out direction that caught me off guard in how hyper-developed it was. All of a sudden Truckfighters were a mature band, one of the best in Sweden, and with tracks like “Monte Gargano,” “Con of Man” and “Majestic,” they set the bar incredibly high for both themselves and the genre. Not to get all neo-con about it, but I think as history plays out, Mania is a record whose importance will grow with time.

Some albums just feel like a landmark, and Truckfighters‘ third most definitely did. This is a personal list, and there were records I listened to more for myself, but not many (about three, to be exact), and I don’t know if any of them broke the kind of ground Mania did. It was a crowning achievement for the band, put them on a different level entirely, and more than that, left the genre different than it found it.

Put to tape in 1987, the six tracks that make up the studio-recorded portion of Reactor’s The Real World are a classic metal obscurity that comprises the best of the day’s heavy elements with just a touch of doom groove underlying. The band was born of the Maryland scene with lineup connections to Pentagram (most notably Joe Hasselvander who was in and out of the band on guitar), and their until-now-forgotten songs make their way out thanks to the fine work of Pittsburgh’s Shadow Kingdom Records.

I’ve made no bones about the fact that I find Shadow Kingdom’s ethic of unearthing bands like Reactor to be incredibly noble in the past, nor will I now. The Real World isn’t about to make anyone rich. It’s not a “Special 10 Year Anniversary Reissue” of something still in print. This is an original compilation of a lost metallic gem, put out because the label feels passionate about it. Because it sounds cool. Because how awesome would it be if 20 years from now someone came to you and wanted to put out your band’s original demo? This is love of metal in its purest form.

The songs themselves are pretty barebones metal, and it’s pretty clear from listening to the simple, punk-like structures of “Meltdown,” “Terrorist” and “Greenhouse” that Reactor was just getting started. “(When Your) Number’s Up” and “Real World” are a little more complicated, but the unquestionable high point of The Real World is the memorable “War Machine,” which most effectively blends the catchy, upbeat tone of the earlier material with Cold War-era social worry and a touch more complex melodicism. The chorus of, “The war machine is hungry/Feed the war machine,” says more than it even means to about the time in which it was written.

Read more »

Nick Oliveri (Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age, Mondo Generator, Dwarves, duh) has been playing solo acoustic shows out west for a couple years now, but following the release of his album, Death Acoustic, he’s heading east for two weeks next month. The PR wire has the details:

Nick Oliveri has taken his Death Acoustic tour to Australia, New Zealand and Europe, now he is heading home with a run of solo shows across the United States east coast during January/February and west coast dates set to follow shortly after. Catch Nick in intimate, solo mode at :

Fri, January 22nd – Middle East, Cambridge MA
Sat, January 23rd – Pianos, New York NY
Sun, January 24th – Khyber, Philadelphia PA
Mon, January 25th – Velvet Lounge, Washington DC
Tue, January 26th – Volume 11 Tavern, Raleigh NC
Wed, January 27th – Casbah @ Tremont Music Hall, Charlotte NC
Thu, January 28th – Lenny’s, Atlanta GA
Fri, January 29th – The End, Nashville TN
Sat, January 30th – Hi Tone, Memphis TN
Mon, February 1st – Double Door, Chicago IL
Tue, February 2nd – Frequency, Madison WI
Wed, February 3rd – Southgate House, Newport KY
Thu, February 4th – Grog Shop, Cleveland OH
Fri, February 5th – Small’s, Hamtramck MI
Sat, February 6th – Garfield Artworks, Pittsburgh PA

Greece doesn’t have the stoner scene reputation of Sweden or the Palm Desert in California, but you’d never know it once you got lost in Superfreak, the latest offering (first for MeteorCity) from long-running rockers Nightstalker. The band formed in 1990 and has been going steadily ever since, but even if Superfreak is your first experience with them – as it was mine – the easily accessible songs, catchy choruses and memorable musical hooks will make the band a standout in your mind, especially if you’re a fan of a straightforward approach.

Actually, make that “especially” a double. Though on a couple tracks it can feel like Nightstalker are pounding you over the head with the repeated lines of a chorus – “Baby, God is Dead,” “The Light,” “Superfreak” – these are also some of the record’s strongest moments. Nightstalker have all the tightness in their presentation of a solid but underrated Euro act like Red Aim, but vocalist Argy alternately channels Ozzy Osbourne and Dave Wyndorf, setting the band apart from an otherwise forgettable pack of similarly-minded acts.

Read more »

I’m not sure there’s much left to say about the self-titled debut from Shrinebuilder, the much-hyped supergroup featuring Scott Kelly (Neurosis), Scott “Wino” Weinrich (Wino, etc.), Dale Crover (Melvins) and Al Cisneros (Om). The first time I heard about the band was when I interviewed Kelly about the last Neurosis album. He said, “Yeah, I’m gonna be in a band with Wino and the dudes from Om” — at the time, Chris Hakius had yet to be replaced in Om by Emil Amos and in Shrinebuilder by Crover. My response was a stunned, “Dude.” Kelly said, “Yeah, I know,” and we had a good laugh.

That “dude” has pretty much been my feeling on Shrinebuilder the whole way through. Before it came out, it was more or less universally agreed that it was going to rule, and when Neurot put it out on Oct. 20, it ruled. Simple as that. One has to wonder what the second album will be like (because, as Cisneros confirmed in our interview, there will be a follow-up), since on these five songs it’s relatively easy to discern who wrote which part. You’d have to figure there will be a more solidified sound going forward, with the first album out of the way.

But that’s speculation for another time. For now, Shrinebuilder‘s Shrinebuilder proved a doom milestone in 2009. A dream lineup executing a collection of killer songs with poise and precision. To slather it with hyperbolic appreciation at this point seems excessive, but suffice it to say I’m really, really glad this record came out this year and it’s been a source of continued enjoyment since its release. I imagine I’ll be returning to it for some time to come.

[NOTE: As per Phaseinducer‘s comment, I’ve changed the host where you can get the file to Archive.org. Since they allow for direct linking, there’s a player below. Thanks to all for reading and downloading.]

audioObelisk Transmission 001

You may have noticed the fancypants banner on the right of the page (or the one above). It’s true, I put together a podcast. Sort of. I know dick-all about podcasting, so it’s basically just a collection of killer tunes for anyone interested. Before you decide to get the file (or don’t), there are a couple things you should know:

? These songs are all my rips.
? They were ripped directly from physical media (CDs) to wav form — no digital sources allowed — compiled in Sony SoundForge 10 and then converted to 256k mp3 for better sound quality than standard iPodular fare.
? The file is 279mb, and there is two and a half hours’ worth of music.
? I chose not to inject myself into the proceedings in some kind of DJ form. If this becomes a regular thing, I reserve the right to do so in the future.
? If I don’t get a serious response from this, I likely won’t do it again, because it’s time-consuming all around. Please share with someone you care about and tell them where you got it.

Because I wouldn’t have you go into this thing blind, the track list is after the jump. If you notice some glaring omissions (off the top of my head, I can think of Katatonia, House of Broken Promises, Snail and Paradise Lost, though I’m sure there are others), it’s probably because I didn’t have a physical copy of the album. Can’t win ’em all. Appropriately, we start with Clutch…

Read more »