Assembled at the behest of SloomWeep Productions and offered as two separate digital compilations, StonedChine Vol. 1 and StonedChine Vol. 2 are specifically focused on the growth of underground heavy sounds in China and the Chinese diaspora. Each volume offers one or two tracks per band and has a runtime that, on its own, would be a 2LP — Vol. 1 is 54 minutes/eight tracks/five bands, Vol. 2 is 63 minutes/six tracks/three bands — if physically pressed. The styles included run a gamut between and sometimes within the bands themselves, as Alpaca from Shanghai lead off with 2019’s single “Drown” (12:04) and the maybe-new “Jauria” (8:03), moving between sludge to psych-dub jamming to grindcore in their first piece while in “Jauria” they use a declarative chug as a backdrop for a Crowbar-style airing of grievances, shifting into a dramatic solo section before looping back to the central riff.

Immediately, StonedChine Vol. 1 claims extremity as part of Chinese heavy, and The Hermit, who close with the whistle-from-the-movie-inclusive “Kill Bill” (6:19) with their Bongzilla-type crust ‘n’ crackle sludge, reinforce the message. But the ‘various artists’ release doesn’t skip on the variety either, as Ramblin’ Roze picks up from Alpaca with a turn toward heavy rock that nonetheless keeps the threat of violent intent palpable with an opening news-broadcast sample about nine hikers being found murdered in the woods.

That song is “Mountain of the Dead” (8:35), and with feedback building behind its start, one expects an onslaught, or, given the content, at very least a madcap boogie in the vein of Japan’s Church of Misery, but the fuzzy roll that ensues is more Uncle Acid in its languidity and guitar interplay, melodic grunge-doom vocals more straightforward to keep up with the tempo boost as they kick into a “Hole in the Sky”-style riff and transition back to the hook with Heaven and Hell-style purpose, lead guitar howling behind the vocals before it goes down the drain at the end. Ramblin’ Roze‘s “Escape” (4:37) is partly acoustic and has an even stronger lead vocal performance, a thick Zeppelin vibe that grows raucous near its conclusion after a relatively peaceful start. They’ve reportedly had lineup changes since 2020’s debut LP, Howl of the Coomb, from which “Mountain of the Dead” is taken as a remaster, but would fit on any number of EU/US heavy rock imprints.

Guangzhou-based deathsludge rockers Rude Gove offer two tracks from last year’s Chirp of Doom in “Save My Soul” (4:15) and “Yeti” (4:15), rawer in production and more beastly in their assault, like they dug a whole in their own low-end mud and decided to record there. Peppered with lead guitar hinting at melody, “Save My Soul” is gritty, low and guttural, and “Yeti” follows suit with a speedier swing and more open cymbal crash, the vocals veering toward cleaner throaty shouts but still with plenty of Carcass-type gurgles to fill it out, catchy and no less coated in dirt-dust for that.

Based in Melbourne, Australia, meditative psych explorers SPAWN issued their righteous Live at Moonah Arts Collective (review here) through SloomWeep in 2021, and are the most tripped-out act on either volume of StonedChine, with “Meditation in an Evil Temple” (6:28) as their lone inclusion, resonant in its worldly acid flow. They’re a sharp curve from Rude Gove just before and they give way to the aforementioned The Hermit to cap Vol. 1, but can’t help but stand out even from the scope of intent Alpaca laid out. Returning to harsh vibes, “Kill Bill” — from The Hermit‘s 2021 The Wall of Desire EP — boasts some subtler layering in the guitar near its finish and is fluid in its movement from one part to the next, making its primary impression in bite with some depth underneath.

Vol. 2 is perhaps more solidified in its methodology, but consistent in the purpose of highlighting the Chinese underground. “My Pet Depression” (8:04) and “Endless Parade” (13:32) come from Apollo 20‘s Endless Parade 10″, released in 2021, and they appeared in succession there as well. The melodies in the vocals of the former remind a bit of Acid Bath‘s brooding slog, but “Endless Parade” offsets its early whispers with blown-out shouts soon enough before re-mellowing and nestling into an engaging solo-topped jam at about six minutes in that carries them for the duration, some cricket chirping added among the light effects swirl to help ease from one to the other.

A lucid ending there lets the punch of bass at the outset of BanyanRiver‘s “The Ghost of Temptation Still Haunts On Me” (15:36) have that much more impact, and as the longest cut on either volume of StonedChine, it declares itself with a patient buildup and a slow, Black Sabbath‘s “Black Sabbath”-type pull in a short opening movement before a dead stop and feedback arrive to announce an ultra-dense janga-janga march. By the time it gets to including what might be vocals beamed in through another dimension, it’s a semi-metallic thrust that will drop to chants and meditative doom, but the bass and drums still hold the march as the guitar gradually freaks out en route to the inevitable noisy ending. “All is One” (7:48) launches from there with standalone chant-like vocals for its first minute-plus, and maintains that ceremonial spirit as it works its way into a central nod, growing furious and punk in its shove at 5:35 and riding that speedier course to its end, laced with feedback.

Bass also introduces HallucinGod‘s “Go Space” (6:49), which is a less-directly sludged nod at first, clean vocals resting atop an angular but flowing doomer riff, turning semi-psych with guitar effects and backing vocals in its midsection before reviving its prior lumber. HallucinGod‘s second track, “Marijuaua Desert” (11:27) (sic), is broader in its arrangement and remains grounded in the kickdrum even as the guitar reaches into ethereal atmospherics branched outward from the solid groove underpinning. Layered group chanting in the verse fascinates and gives over to speech in the left channel and swirl in the right, but the hint toward the intensity to come is in that drum, which grows steadily more active before taking off into a modded High on Fire-style breakout turned almost cosmic in HallucinGod‘s hands, if only momentarily. They’ve grown huge in the interim, which is shown in the slowdown and subsequent roll toward the return of the folk instrumentation that started the track for its ending, which fades out and brings StonedChine Vol. 2 with it.

With more than a few surprises throughout, these two StonedChine compilations get their point across in the freshness of the bands’ approaches to heavy. As SloomWeep posits, the Chinese heavy underground is new — the label counts 2011 as the country’s first stoner-doom show; Never Before (who don’t feature here) played — and many of these acts sound accordingly young, but it’s new bands, new players and new ideas that result in new sounds, and it may be that the bridges being constructed between styles by some of these groups, whether it’s sludgy grind-dub or just an individualized take on doomed psychedelia, will continue to flesh out as the next decade or so plays out. In any case, the mission of StonedChine in showcasing China’s flourishing heavy scene — as well as SloomWeep‘s roster of talent — is unquestionably a success, and coming out of a comp with the homework of more bands to dig into is an ideal made manifest here. It’s not a minor undertaking, but being split between its two volumes helps, and both the educational value for those outside its own geographical sphere and as a listening experience, easily worth the minimal chasedown. All you have to do is be willing to hear something new.

Various Artists, StonedChine Vol. 1 (2023)

Various Artists, StonedChine Vol. 2 (2023)

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Wang Wen will re-release their 11th studio full-length, 100,000 Whys, on Sept. 24 through Pelagic Records. Of the eight inclusions on the 62-minute offering, “A Beach Bum” — a live video for which premieres below — is among the most urgent. Its linear build pays off in a fashion more weighted than much of what surrounds in cuts like “The Ghost” or “If Tomorrow Comes” earlier or the soft keyboard-driven “Lonely Bird” after, but the aspect draws the material together across the span of diverse arrangements is a thoughtful delivery of individualized textures the likes of which a band might only be able to hone, say, after more than two decades and across 11 albums, and an obvious commitment to sonic exploration. As a result, the repeating key lines of “Lonely Bird” are no less evocative than the ringing telephone (in ear sound, like you’re waiting for someone to pick up) in “A Beach Bum.”

“A Beach Bum” is also the longest song on 100,000 Whys, but it’s by no means the only crescendo. “Wu Wu Road,” which starts out with an exhale of guitar over a deceptively active drum pattern before the synth melody takes fuller priority, builds to a horn-inclusive apex of its own, with a start-stop riff as a rhythmic counterpoint to the melodic keys and a vibe emerging that’s as likely to bring to mind modern heavy prog as it is classic soundtracks, at least before the slowdown hits. Even the penultimate “Shut Up and Play” has its guitar payoff, so if that’s what you’re going in looking for, it’s there. But 100,000 Whys — which is my first exposure to the band, but won’t be the last — is of course about more than its sundry apexes, and its stretches of serenity and complexity, from the opening “Forgotten” to the closing “Forgotten River” brim with purpose.

Something to keep in mind perhaps as you dive into “A Beach Bum” below, the live version presenting an opportunity to see the song’s arrangement unfold in suitably organic fashion, all its ebbs and flows, arrivals and departures. If you’d like to hear 100,000 Whys in its entirety,

Wang Wen, “A Beach Bum” official live video premiere

“A Beach Bum”, taken from Wang Wen’s album “100,000 Whys”. Out on vinyl September 24 via Pelagic Records. Stream / Download / Order here: https://listen.pelagic-records.com/wangwen-100000whys

Produced by Space Circle Music
Shoot by GEEK SHOOT JACK films
Calligraphy by Jiushang

Over the course of their 22 year-long career, WANG WEN have reached a profoundness of intention in their music that reflects in the massive soundscapes that they bring on record and from the stage. It comes as no surprise that in these dire times, the band delivers a record that speaks to humanity on a universal scale. “100,000 Whys” arguably presents the band at their most accessible since the release of 2012’s 0.7, but also at the height of their ability to create moments of high tension and exhilarating release.

Between the recording and the release of 100,000 Whys, Wang Wen shared a documentary titled “Seven Thousand Hows” with the world, chronicling a three day trip to Nepal, where the band participated in a benefit concert for the victims of the 2015 Gorkha earthquake. ‘When people are talking about music, and people are talking about peace and love. We play music as a reminder that you are a human being, not a beast. You are different from the beast,’ declares band leader Xie Yugang from the stage of Purple Haze Rock Bar in Kathmandu.

Around the time of the outbreak, Wang Wen, having just finished composing material for their eleventh full-length, found themselves locked in their hometown of Dalian, a large port-city in the north of China. Instead of recording their album in St. Petersburg, Russia, as planned, they decided to put 100,000 Whys to tape in their own rehearsal space in the Dalian Urban Music Center. Again Wang Wen requested the services of producer Wouter Vlaminck (this time without his brother Lode); a decision which feels natural, considering the breakthrough success of their 9th full-length “Sweet Home, Go!”, released in 2016, and the strong reception of its follow-up Invisible City, released in 2018.

Artwork cover by Manolo Gamboa Naon
Recorded at: GT Studio / Dalian Urban Music Center
Sound Engineer: An Jiguo
Producer: Wouter Vlaeminck

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Exciting news that Philadelphia’s Rosetta will have the chance this July to tour China. I mean, it’s cool enough just to get an opportunity to go to China, let alone tour there, so yeah, right on. Rosetta‘s latest release is 2013’s The Anaesthete, which you can hear in full below and was self-released last summer as a name-your-price download, but they’ve also got a new EP in the works called Flies to Flame that was mastered at the end of April and will be out later in 2014 on Translation Loss.

You can read about that project under the China tour dates below, all info snagged from their Tumblr:

TOUR: China Summer Tour 2014

We are delighted to announce that we will be touring in CHINA this summer! This is one of the most exciting opportunities we’ve ever had. Because of family/life events, we’re not able to do any other significant touring in 2014, but this was too good to pass up. Spread the word!

July 2: Hong Kong @ Hidden Agenda
July 4: Shenzhen @ B10
July 5: Guangzhou @ SD Livehouse
July 6: Wuhan @ Vox Livehouse
July 8: Shanghai @ YYT Livehouse
July 10: Chongqing @ Nuts Club
July 11: Chengdu @ Little Bar
July 12: Xi’an @ Guangquan Club
July 13: Beijing @ Mao Livehouse

Our new EP, titled Flies to Flame, [has been] mastered. It’ll be out later this year in traditional formats — LP and CD — on Translation Loss Records. This not a pay-what-you-wish digital release.

This recording was a departure from our normal working style. We wrote the material in late 2012 and recorded it in a garage in early 2013, while we were writing The Anaesthete. It’s deliberately lo-fi, jangly, and experimental, a tribute to the stripped-down sound of the post-rock and drone records we loved when Rosetta began. Most of it was improvised as it was being recorded, and it was not edited or ‘fixed’ to make it sound polished. All the grit is there. We used different instruments and equipment than we normally play with, since this material isn’t intended to be played live. Instead it functions as a kind of process document, from an important and transitional year in our life as a band.

For the first time since The Galilean Satellites, we did all recording and mixing ourselves (with the invaluable help of our intern engineer, Alex Ruday). Mike Wohlberg is returning to create the artwork and layout, and James Plotkin is mastering it for both CD and vinyl.

Track list:
1. Soot
2. Seven Years with Nothing to Show
3. Les Mots et les Choses
4. Pegasus

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Rosetta, The Anaesthete (2013)

Immediately notable for the simple fact that they come from China – by way of (where else?) Lawrenceville, New Jersey – the heavy power-rocking trio The Fever Machine have hooks to spare. The band call the material on their self-released debut full-length, Living in Oblivion, “schizo rock,” but I couldn’t disagree more. Nothing on these nine tracks is happening by mistake, and the Shanghai three-piece are never out of control, from the three-part vocal arrangement of opener “Hell Yeah” to the maddening infectiousness in the chorus of the finale “The Arouser.” Their songwriting is varied, which I think might be what they’re talking about with the self-imposed genre designation, but really, these songs are more put together than the imbalance a word like “schizo” implies. They effectively blend pop accessibility with a riff-rock edge and veer occasionally into punk (the bopping “Blind Faith”), rockabilly (the motoring “Out of Touch”) and even add flourishes of psychedelia to longer tracks like “Synesthesia” and “Don Pedro,” which offset the otherwise alternate-universe-radio-friendly bounce of some of the other material. Vocalist/guitarist Danny, bassist/vocalist Fabi and drummer/vocalist Miggs are maddeningly tight, and the production is likewise crisp and professional, starting with the drum beat reminiscent of “Hurricane” from Kyuss’ …And the Circus Leaves Town that launches into “Hell Yeah,” a song that, once it gets going, is poppy enough to make Torche blush. Still, that accessibility doesn’t come at the cost of any warmth of tone, and especially from Fabi, the bass fills are thick and excellently supplement the riffs to fill out The Fever Machine’s overall approach. There will be those for whom it’ll simply be too clean, too poppy, too perfect-sounding, but the level of craft on Living in Oblivion is undeniable, and for the vocal arrangements alone – they waste no time showing a taste for the à la Queens of the Stone Age lush in the second half of “Hell Yeah” – there’s much about the album that demands attention.

“Blind Faith” uses a start-stop intro and interplay between Danny and Miggs/Fabi to show off more purposefulness in 45 seconds than some bands show in their entire career, and like much of Living in Oblivion – if not all of it – the song that ensues is brimming with energy. At 3:22, it’s a classic radio hook, and “The Milfshake,” which follows, uses pretty much the same methodology in its start, even upping the presence of the bass groove. The difference, though, is “The Milfshake” is instrumental, allowing time to process the choruses that The Fever Machine have already put forth even as it branches out the sound with a second-half circus-style build that pays off in more echoing guitar and tonal hum from Fabi to bridge directly into the opening of “Dance with Deviance,” a landmark in the record’s 42-minute runtime. Once again, the band knows exactly what they’re doing, and there’s no mistaking the purposefulness of their push. Miggs double-times it on the hi-hat for the verse, and opens up to Songs for the Deaf-style punctuation during the chorus, which only makes it hit harder, and Danny’s vocals drive home lines second only to the closer in being memorable. It’s them at their most Queens of the Stone Age, perhaps, but it works. The guitar solo bridge has a personality of its own as well, and as “Synesthesia” follows with a slower, slide-infused groove, the band are pretty aware of balance. Danny’s and the backing vocals come out of sync in the chorus, and especially after the simple, thick, rolling groove of the verse, it’s just gorgeous as a payoff, earning its spot as the centerpiece of Living in Oblivion while, like “The Milfshake,” expanding the sonic reach of both the band and the album. The midsection solo/bridge picks up the pace, but at just under six minute, there’s more room in the song for The Fever Machine to take their time in getting back to the chorus, and they do, Fabi laying down some foundational jam lines in the process. It’s a smooth build, and not the last one on offer here.

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