Inspired by and a homage to the Latin phrase “that which nourishes me, destroys me”
is the newest collection of occult doom rocking from Australian band Devil Electric.
Driven by the soulful, often dreamy vocals of Pierina O’Brien, which are counterpointed by bassist Nicolas Dumont, though it’s Tom Hulse who plays the bass on this album (though it clocks in at about 34 minutes), especially the groovy Weirdos and also performs the vocals and wrote the strutting
When We Talk About Nothing.
Behind this “tango between vintage doom metal and modern heavy rock” is the studied, propulsive drumbeat of Mark Van De Beek and the fuzzy, six string of Christos Athanasias, they kick off with the doomy title track and the punchy feminist snarl of
Jill & Jack Shit as
Acid Bath is the most mind bending cut featuring extra guitar from Lex Waterreus of Seedy Jeezus.
Tahlia is another doom driven EP from Devil Electric with a strong sense of the occult and lots of groove.
7/10Kim Jennett – Queen Of Hell (Self Released)If you ask me
Queen Of Hell has been a long time coming. Kim Jennett has gone through many guises in her career but this powerhouse singer seems to have found her niche with
Queen Of Hell a four track EP that shows off her massive voice, love of rock, the blues and brought through a modern rock lens.
Opening with the anthemic
Hell Is Wherever You Are, we’re firmly in Halestorm territory as Kim tells her tales from the frontline of the rock scene, a woman who has had enough and is using her music to reclaim her identity. The savage
Dead To Me continues in this vein with choppy, bass led grooves from the 90’s alt rock scene while
Bloody Killing Floor brings the glammy feeling the 80’s sleaze sound.
The understanding and appreciation for the history of rock is abundant on her own tracks and of course anyone who has the balls to take on
Immigrant Song must be applauded. As
Queen Of Hell is Kim Jennett ready to take her crown and her throne as the UK’s biggest new voice.
8/10
Cemetery Dogs – It All Seems Fine (Self Released) After their rough and ready trio of tracks on
CCC Demos, Cardiff riff trio Cemetery Dogs drop their first ‘proper’ EP of tracks mixed and mastered. Though just as this is stoner/doom so it’s all lovely and fuzzy, driven by Gibson SG’s and Red Stripe. Cemetery Dogs have Sky Valley on their mind with grooving, psychedelic, ever so slightly off kilter riffs that permeate the layers of your brain to get the head nodding.
You Can’t Have It gets It All Seems Fine going with some driving Kyuss/QOTSA riffs and dual shouted vocals. No Reason gives them some punk volatility Scott’s Lemmy-like growl as rough as his guitar while the rhythm of Jo (bass) and Phil (drums), add the force of Melvins and maybe even some Black Flag.
With mixing by Andrew Sanders and mastering from Wigg Grant, it allows them to exhibit a bit more of their psychedelic nature with songs such as Pink Sky, keeping the grittiness of those initial demos but refining them to be more potent. At just 15 minutes you get the full picture of Cemetery Dogs the band, closing with the percussive doom of Old Man which owes something to The Troggs.
On Cemetery Dogs’ debut EP is more than fine, it’s very good, very loud stoner riffage. 8/10
Eternal Champion – Friend Of War (Self Released)
You could call Friend Of War from Eternal Champion and EP but also a Double A-Side, however you can definitely say it was long clocking in at over 31 minutes across two tracks.
The 13 minute title track is a spectacular showcase of what sort of a band Eternal Champion have become, a sprawling, cinematic track which features spoken word elements, plenty of lore and the most epic sounds Eternal Champion have crafted.
With the influences of bands such as Cirith Ungol, Manilla Road and even a bit of Ghost coming vocally as the choirs and orchestrations are all used to build this conceptual track, which is worth the price of admission alone.
After that though is something a little different as Yslsl is an 18 minute of ambient soundtrack that will do very well to accompany your next D&D session, showcasing the wider appeal of a band like Eternal Champion. If this is an indicator of where they are going in the future then consider me a Friend Of War. 7/10
