Creative, Noteworthy, And Just Plain Awesome

WIZARD MUST DIE: L ' OR DES FOUS

11/10 (a.k.a. This Goes To Eleven)

I gave Wizard Must Die's "In The Land Of The Dead Turtles" a glowing recommendation here, but almost never have I loved an album as quickly as I loved L'Or de Fous.  The title is French for Fool's Gold, but this album is real gold.  The amount of attention and detail that went into this album will surely rank it among the best of the decade.  The challenging melodies and rythms, the layering of sound, the crescendos and decrescendos blew me away from the first listen, and continue to engage me as I find something new to appreciate each time I hear it.  Don't think I am likening Wizard Must Die to Tool, but L'Or de Fous has the level of perfection of a Tool album (and actually Florent phrases his vocals in a similar fashion to Maynard at times).

Anyway, enough of my gushing; check out these two tracks that the band put together visuals for, but I can tell you lots more great moments await when you check out the other four tracks (The Disappearance of Camille Saint-Saëns is particularly awesome).

 

Wizard Must Die are from Lyon, France.

They are:

Florent Michaud (guitar, vocals)
Enguerrand Dumas (bass)
Robin Aillaud (Drums, percussions, synths, programming)

You can pick up this masterpiece of an album on Bandcamp here

SLOWER..ER

 

SLOWER: RAGE AND RUIN

Slower has released one of the very best albums of the year...again.

The five Slayer covers they released in January blew me away, and I still listen to all of them on a regular basis.  Now, two more covers and four originals.  In the words of Bob Balch, from the Heavy Psych Sounds Bandcamp page:

"Bob Balch here. This second SLOWER record “Rage And Ruin” consists of Amy Tung/Barrysmith (Year Of The Cobra) on vocals and bass, Esben Willems (Monolord) on drums and myself Bob Balch (Fu Manchu, Big Scenic Nowhere/Yawning Balch) on guitar.

When we started this album the original intention was to cover SLAYER’s EP “Haunting The Chapel” in its entirety. We started with “Chemical Warfare” then went on to “Haunting The Chapel” but once we got to “Captor Of Sin” we realized that tune didn’t want to be slowed down at all. So we started writing our own songs and I’m glad we did. The result is “Rage And Ruin.” Two sides with Slayer songs in the middle bookended by SLOWER originals. We are super proud of this record and can’t wait for you to hear it!!
Mixed and Mastered by the very talented Esben Willems. Recorded at our individual studios."

Check these out:

Possibly the coolest cover tune I've ever heard:

 

And an original that's an instant classic:

If you've been reading this, you know the band is:

Bob Balch: Guitar

Amy Tung Barrysmith: Vocals and Bass

Esben Willems: Drums

You can pick this masterpiece up here

Nothing I can say...

 

October Blessings

 Check Out Some Of The Rock Gold That's Dropped This Month

PLANET OF ZEUS: AFTERLIFE

Years ago I described Planet of Zeus as Greece's version of Clutch, but now I see they are much more than that.  During the sixteen years after their must-own debut album, Planet of Zeus have not lost a single percent of their aggressiveness, yet have consistently increased the quality of production in a way that accentuates their songwriting and musical talents.  

Hear for yourself:

Planet of Zeus are:

BABIS PAPANIKOLAOU: VOCALS, GUITAR
STELIOS PROVIS: GUITAR, VOCALS
GIANNIS VRAZOS: BASS
SERAFEIM GIANNAKOPOULOS: DRUMS

Check out more of Afterlife here.

BLACK ELEPHANT: THE FALL OF THE GODS

Italy's Black Elephant just released a new album yesterday, and I can already tell this will not leave my commuting playlist for a long time.  As quoted from Small Stone Recordings Bandcamp page,

"Heavy Blues, check... Fuzz, check… Psychedelic, check!"

This album will make a lot of top-ten lists at the end of the year.  Listen for yourself:

Black Elephant are:

Alessio Caravelli: vocals and guitar
Massimiliano Giacosa: guitar
Francesco Glielmi: bass
Simone Brunzu: drums

Listen to more of The Fall Of The Gods here.

OLD BLOOD: MIDNIGHT CLIMAX

Old Blood's Acid Doom was in my top 5 albums of 2020, so naturally this was an instant buy for me.  They seem to have replaced "Octopus" on bass, but I can't find the new bass player's name.  Anyway, "Midnight Climax" is creative, polished and professional.  Every member of this band is a master of their craft, and I have to think they are very good live.  Hear for yourself:

You can hear the rest of Midnight Climax here.  Be sure to check out the very heavy ending track, "Snakes".

BONUS:  NEW TONY REED SINGLE: "EVERYBODY'S BLUES"

I've only recently come to appreciate how talented a musician Tony Reed is.  Someday I will post more on this Rock God, but his story is so vast that I will need to do much more catching up with all his work before attempting such an undertaking.  But for now, check out this single, which he calls a throwback to the 80's.  Tell me this doesn't get stuck in your head for quite a while:

This year is promising to be legendary in terms of the great rock it's produced, and wait till you see what's coming down the pike in November.  I'm out for now; continue to rock hard!

Released Today, But An Instant Classic

 BRANT BJORK: 

ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE DESERT

Stoner rock legend Brant Bjork has teamed up with stoner rock legend Mario Lalli on bass, and soon to be stoner rock legend Ryan Güt to produce an instant contender for stoner rock album (and album cover!) of the year.  Brant has always surrounded himself with great musicians, but this lineup may be his greatest ever.  I recognize how strong a statement that is, but stand by it.  For me, "Once Upon A Time In The Desert" exceeds the Ché album, which happens to be one of my favorite albums of all time.

You be the judge:

This one reminds me of "Avenida del la Revolucion", another favorite of mine.  Just shows that Brant never forgot what it felt like to be a teenager.

Rock Legends:

Graham Bywater Releases New Music

 NEW TORSO COMING SOON

Graham Bywater, driving force behind the band Possessor, is soon to release his second solo project.  The first Torso album was excellent, if a bit too short, and this second effort promises to be even better.  Check out the second pre-released track: 

"Brain Cells" will release in September, on Friday the 13th, and you can pick it up here.

Happy Labor Day Weekend

Released Today

 THIS JUST IN:

MAMMOTH VOLUME:

RAISED UP BY WITCHES

A new Mammoth Volume album is an automatic purchase for me, but I am confident it will take me weeks to get my head around this one.  This is definitely their most ambitious album, as they enter lots of new territory.  No single track could hint at the variety of songwriting ideas on this album, but this song is an early favorite:

Mammoth Volume are Swedish.

Thay are:

Jörgen “Aston” Andersson: vocals 

Daniel Gustafsson: guitars and keys

Kalle Berlin: bass

Nicklas Andersson: drums, percussion, vocals

Also released today.......

DELVING: ALL PATHS DIVERGE

Delving is a solo project by Nick from Elder.  Another album with a multitude of musical ideas that will take lots of time to fully comprehend.  I will also say that I purchased this album by the end of the first song I heard, which was Sentinel:

When you were younger, weren't there albums for which you'd plant yourself perfectly between the speakers, stare at the album cover and listen to the entire thing in one sitting?  This is one of those albums for me.

All Paths Diverge was written entirely by Nick DiSalvo, originally from Massachusetts

Nick also performed the entire album, with help from 

Fabian de Menou on the Rhodes and upright pianos, and

Michael Risberg adding guitar ambiance on "Zodiac"