Heavy Metal Textbooks

BIZARRE COLLECTION

 

Here is an absolutely psychotic mix of new music I'd like to recommend.

First:

BLASTING ROD: OF WILD HAZEL

Japan's Blasting Rod is a truly unique and creative group of musicians who write and play whatever strikes their fancy.  Every tune takes you down a different musical avenue, often making you ask "Where am I?  What just happened?" when you get to the end of it.

So far, this is my favorite track from this album:

Another favorite is "Oh, Emma, Burn It Down".  It starts with the feeling you're listening to a cool rock band in a bar somewhere in the Western US and finishes with you being chased by a monster yelling in Japanese.  I love the trippy atmosphere of "Where Today Begins And Yesterday Ends/Star King" and dig the punk feel of "Sin City Blues".

If you're in the mood for something cool and different, check out this gem here or here

Blasting Rod are:

S. Shah: Guitar/Voice/Percussion/Synthesizer
Yoshihiro Yasui: Bass Guitar/Guitar/Percussion
Chihiro: Drums/Percussion

Second:

SCRAPE: SHAKE THE NATION

When I bought Gnome's King album, I got on the mailing list for Polderrecords, and have learned that there are tons of great rock bands in Belgium.  One of them is Scrape.

Scrape manages to simultaneously pay tribute to punk and nineties metal.  

I like all five tracks a lot, but this is my current favorite:

"Shake The Nation" is an EP worthy of your attention, and you can check it out here.

Scrape is:

Wouter Vandaele - Vocals & Guitars
Sebastiaan Hoet - Guitars
Jens Vanhee - Bass
Stijn Decoene - Drums

Third:

FROGLORD: LIVE BY THE FUZZ OR DIE BY THE SLIME

England's Froglord produced one of my top five favorite albums of 2023, and are already back with a top-rate EP.  I obviously love this band.

Froglord are:

Too mysterious to have their names findable online, but here's a pic:

Check out the other two tunes here.

Fourth:

MR. BISON: ECHOES FROM THE UNIVERSE

Italy's Mr. Bison have really turned a corner and stepped up their songwriting game.  On this album I hear traits of the bands Motorpsycho, Elder and King Buffalo.

I posted the pre-released track "The Child Of The Night Sky" back in November, but the complete album is finally out and I wanted to share this gem of a tune:

Mr. Bison are:

Matteo Barsacchi: Guitar/Synth/Bass
Matteo Sciocchetto: Guitar/Vocals/Bass
Lorenzo Salvadori: Drums
Davide Salvadori: Acoustic Guitar/Synth/Hammond/Mellotron/Bass

Check out this epic album here.

Fifth:

MONKEY3: WELCOME TO THE MACHINE

Back in 2016 I referred to Switzerland's Monkey3 as the Pink Floyd of stoner rock, and now they've chosen a Pink Floyd-related title for their newest album.  If you are unfamiliar with this veteran band, I think you'll understand the Pink Floyd analogy when you hear this:

Monkey3 are:

Walter: Drums

Jalil: Bass

Boris: Guitar

dB: Keyboards/Sounds/Acoustic Guitar

Check out the four other instant classic tracks here.

I hope I've given you enough to explore to make up for the long delay since my last post.

I'm out for now; Stay heavy!

-ULTRA