Category: news

HEAVY HIPPIES

Turtle Skull are some heavy hippies from Sydney, Australia.  I absolutely loved their 2018 and 2020 albums, and their latest has been in my music rotation since its release in late May.  Here are two of my favorites:

When Kadavar first arrived on the rock scene, they were considered to be a very heavy, doom-influenced band.  They have evolved with every album, and even collaborated with Elder (Nick seems to be a huge fan of Kadavar) on a surprising album, completely different from what you’d expect from either band.  Four years later and Kadavar continues to be full of surprises.  While not overtly heavy, I think the album easily falls into the “heavy hippies” category.  As with so many great albums, this one did not instantly appeal to me but wormed its way into my brain due to its expert songwriting.  Listen for yourself, hopefully more than once so you too can be seduced by these legendary musicians.  Here are a couple of my favorites:

Kadavar are German rock legends.  They are:

Been a while since Desert Psychlist dipped our toes into the Argentine underground scene so let’s make up for that right now by introducing you to Pilotos Del Tiempo, a power trio from Neuquen consisting of Santiago Veiga (drums); Rodolfo Velazquez (bass/vocals) and Martin Walter (guitar/vocals) who have just released their debut album “Ecos de un Ambiente Devastado“. If you like your distortion devastating, your fuzz heavy and your psych even heavier we think you are going to love these guys.

The durability of your speakers/headphones get tested right from the very off with swaggering opener “Detrás” not only do they have to contend with thunderous swinging drumming, growling heavily distorted bass and fuzzed to the max guitar riffage they also have to deal with vocal lead and dual harmonies pitched at the raw, loud and throaty end of clean. Those speakers do not get much respite with following instrumental “Queena” either, this tune comes at you lathered in distortion so filthy it will stain your ears, and don’t expect to hear some swirling lead work cutting through all the delicious nastiness because even the solos are coated in grimy dissonance. Next up.is “Say My Name” the albums only song with English lyrics, here we find the band offsetting their full on stoner metal attack with elements of heavy psych beneath slightly cleaner but no less gritty vocals, the swirling guitar solos do cut through a little more here but are still far from anything close to being pristine. “Labertino” follows and begins with a mix of whispering and throat singing accompanied by a low bass motif and some weird crackling effects before the song explodes into desert/stoner groove drenched in close to breaking up fuzz, vocals here are a little more melodic and a tad mellower but not what you would call exactly harmonious. Doom makes its presence felt on the slightly schizophrenic “Esclavitud de la Razón” but it is a quirky doom with a hard to explain off centred feel, a feel made even more off-centred thanks to its semi narrated vocal dynamics. The doom sticks around for the blackened and sludgy “Invertido” this song boasting crunching reverberating riffs and pounding steady percussion supporting thick guttural vocal tones, the song also features some cool Iommi-esque shredding in its last quarter. Final number “Vagabundo” brings back the speaker shredding fuzz and distortion and twins it with a vocal harmonies that are a strange mix of stoner rock rawness and clipped goth like cleanliness, even stranger is that those vocals work really well against the wall of noise that is surrounding them.

Been a while since Desert Psychlist dipped our toes into the Argentine underground scene so let’s make up for that right now by introducing you to Pilotos Del Tiempo, a power trio from Neuquen consisting of Santiago Veiga (drums); Rodolfo Velazquez (bass/vocals) and Martin Walter (guitar/vocals) who have just released their debut album “Ecos de un Ambiente Devastado“. If you like your distortion devastating, your fuzz heavy and your psych even heavier we think you are going to love these guys.

The durability of your speakers/headphones get tested right from the very off with swaggering opener “Detrás” not only do they have to contend with thunderous swinging drumming, growling heavily distorted bass and fuzzed to the max guitar riffage they also have to deal with vocal lead and dual harmonies pitched at the raw, loud and throaty end of clean. Those speakers do not get much respite with following instrumental “Queena” either, this tune comes at you lathered in distortion so filthy it will stain your ears, and don’t expect to hear some swirling lead work cutting through all the delicious nastiness because even the solos are coated in grimy dissonance. Next up.is “Say My Name” the albums only song with English lyrics, here we find the band offsetting their full on stoner metal attack with elements of heavy psych beneath slightly cleaner but no less gritty vocals, the swirling guitar solos do cut through a little more here but are still far from anything close to being pristine. “Labertino” follows and begins with a mix of whispering and throat singing accompanied by a low bass motif and some weird crackling effects before the song explodes into desert/stoner groove drenched in close to breaking up fuzz, vocals here are a little more melodic and a tad mellower but not what you would call exactly harmonious. Doom makes its presence felt on the slightly schizophrenic “Esclavitud de la Razón” but it is a quirky doom with a hard to explain off centred feel, a feel made even more off-centred thanks to its semi narrated vocal dynamics. The doom sticks around for the blackened and sludgy “Invertido” this song boasting crunching reverberating riffs and pounding steady percussion supporting thick guttural vocal tones, the song also features some cool Iommi-esque shredding in its last quarter. Final number “Vagabundo” brings back the speaker shredding fuzz and distortion and twins it with a vocal harmonies that are a strange mix of stoner rock rawness and clipped goth like cleanliness, even stranger is that those vocals work really well against the wall of noise that is surrounding them.

Hey Fuzzers,

I know, it’s been a while since we’ve published anything, life’s been a bit crazy, and I was quite busy the last couple of years, and using my spare time and energy to organise cool gigs with friends, here in Hamburg, Germany. Things seem to settle down, and the venue we were using closed shop :'( so I’m gonna be a bit more active here, keep an eye out for some nice stuff coming up, but enough about me, as here’s the main reason I’m writing today:

The crazy occult psych rockers from London, Black Helium are back with a new LP “The Animals Are Coming”, released last Friday (June 20th) through Riot Season. If you have been following More Fuzz for a while, you won’t be surprised that I got out of my cave to spread the word about this, I freaking love this band, their music pushes all my buttons, thick tone, vocals drenched in reverb, killer riffs, catchy hooks, and the right dose of trippy freakouts.

I reviewed their second album “The Wholly Other”, and ranked it #2 of my top in 2020, as I just kept it on repeat the whole year. Even 5 years later, I still find myself coming back to it very regularly. In between, they’ve also released another amazing LP, “UM” in 2023 (still wonder why I didn’t review it). I also finally managed to catch them live, twice, for some epictasticly fulfilling sets. So if you’ve got any chance of catching them live, DO IT!

After their Sabath-worshipping Debut, their sound-defining second album, and the confirmation of that with the third one, it seems the Londoners wanted to experiment a bit more, and with this 4th LP, take us on their sonic exploration through the galaxy, delivering a quite versatile yet consistent album, keeping on pushing their boundaries while staying true to their core.

How is the sound?

As their press release describes: “Imagine Amon Duul II jamming with Tonny Iommi plus Carl Wilson on vocals.“, which is pretty much on point, but let’s get deeper into it…

Opening the festivities with the longest track on this album (11:44, ouw yes!), they start gentle this time, on a nostalgic vibe that feels like a fluffy and warm blanket in winter, to get you comfy for the trip ahead. And just when you start to let yourself go, they really kick off with a catchy riff, just before melting the two together and take it on a fuzzy riffadelic journey from here, as if they’re telling you “buckle up, don’t resist, enjoy the ride, and see you on the other side”.
They keep the riff coming back and forth, bring back the nostalgic vibe, go at it again, freak out in a spacey outburst ater 5min, mesmerising and enticing, playing with the tempo and the tension, keeping us on the hook in this noisey cloud, letting us wonder when they’ll bring back the riff. Spoiler alert: they don’t, choosing instead to push their jam further and freakier, until it reaches some dimentional barrier, letting it end with echoing effects that many of us concert-goers are familiar with.
It might be bold to use such a track as an opener, most bands would use that as a closer… I guess this is a statement of what the band’s core is, a reminder that most of our heavy psychedelic scene is not only about kickass riffs or hazy melodies, but that freaky jams are at least as much engraven in our DNA, if not more.

That said, here comes the second track, ‘Saviour Destroyer’, starting with tribal drumming and haunting vocals, cues in a dragging rhythm and reverberated guitar, almost cliché, right? And 2 min later it just erupts in a heavy fuzzy riff for a while, before going back and forth a bit, and then pushing it further, taking it up even another notch, melting these contrasting parts together to reach a fuzzalicious climax.

Damn, not even 2 songs in, and listening to this album makes me feel like these guys are showing us how it’s supposed to be done, all the while keeping it laid-back and easy-going. This is all carefully thought-out and ingenuously crafted, a perfect middle ground between intuition and intention.

Not easy to follow-up on that, as these two first tracks were pretty intense, but that’s where Black Helium show another kind of know-how. They just switch the mood completely, let the steam settle back down, pulling out a very krauty instrumental 4min track out of their Mary Poppinsesque sleeve to give us a bit of a breather, while displaying their undeniable sense of groove.

The intro of ‘They Have Bodies’ might let you think we’ll stay a bit longer in Krautrock territory, with a very synth-sounding bassline, just to immediately break into a melancholic hazy dream. The first half feels like they’ve reached a sort of end of their journey, bringing things down to a rest. It has a very contemplative touch that slowly soothes the listener, mostly induced by the echoing vocals, and even if the groove from the intro comes back, it is only in a dulled version, fitting the overall atmosphere. And yet here they take it up again around the 4min mark, with the guitar foreshadowing a change in the weather, the drums joining in the build-up, to bring back the same groove, on the guitar this time, in a more dynamic version, all three instruments seeming at once a bit more awake, while the singing keeps the same melancholic vibe, resulting in a mellower track full of finesse and beauty.

The fuzzed-out echoing guitar, almost sounding like a modular synthesizer, at the beginning of “Up On A Hill” might let you think we’re heading back to something more krauty, only to be (happily) deceived again. This was the sound of a noisey echoing guitar heading deep into neo-psychedelia, and it is perfectly executed, with its catchy chorus and laid-back verses, in a way that wouldn’t feel out of place on a Black Angels album…
By now you might know better but to expect them to leave it at that, and so shortly after the 2:30 mark, they kick it with a short ramp up, and krank the fuzz, bringing a nasty riff to the front, before falling back impromptuously into the neo-psychedelia of the first half for a last round before calling it off.

‘The Horror Mask’ and its 10+ minutes rounds off this mesmerising journey in the perfect way, starting slow and gentle, warm and groovy, the smooth bassline, melancholic vocals, playful drumming and sunny guitar licks puts us in a comfy mood again, somewhere between Yawning Man and early Tame Impala. It doesn’t last long, as they soon start drifting into the void for a while, as if losing foot from reality. The bass slowly anchers the band, the drums following closely, letting the guitar spin and swirl to bring back the jam feeling from the opener, slowly picking up the tempo, achieving full thrust mid-track, and taking the rest of the track to enjoy the blissful purity of this jam state, losing themselves in an endless deep dive through time and space.

Why is this album worth listening to?

• Black Helium keeps on mixing the influences of their holy forefathers and pushing it further into unknown sonic territories.
• The overall sound is still damn right on point, no matter which atmosphere Black Helium builds, they make it ring perfectly.
• With this 4th LP, the Londoners manage to keep it refreshing, expanding their sound, while confirming what they’ve achieved until now.

In what situation you should listen to this album?

• Out in the wilderness, celebrating the summer solstice around a bonfire, contemplating your soul looking back at you from the flames.

The post Black Helium – The Animals Are Coming Review appeared first on More Fuzz.

Another protest song perfectly fitting the global mood right now, and this one is in the form of a cover version of Michael Jackson’s They Don’t Really Care About Us by metalcore band Saliva. Produced by prolific team Judge & Jury, this reimagining of an iconic song from an even more iconic artist, Saliva’s version brings an electrifying new genre and spin to the original. Catchy and approachable but with all the right political points, you don’t wanna sleep on this.

Hear for yourself below!

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Soul Meets Body is 3 halves of a whole idiot- fronted by Genevieve Moore and backed by her two best buds, Soul Meets Body plays thick bitch punk rock with sounds reflective of PUP, Taking Back Sunday, and Jeff Rosenstock. Hailing from Maryland, Washington DC, and Virginia, Soul Meets Body’s songs tackle issues in the music industry, neurodivergence, and mental health. Their performances are very much influenced by hardcore, with high energy shows featuring lots of headbanging, air punching, and high kicks. Moshing is not only encouraged, but widely expected. The band puts a big emphasis on community and inclusivity and wants you to be a part of it.

The latest from East Coast punk outfit Soul Meets Body, this track combines post-punk urgency in its tempos and ties it in with a classic punk hallmark: political dissent. Described by the band as “a searing anthem for a generation on edge” and it can’t be more aptly described, to be perfectly honest. Raw and emotional, No Youth No Future is the protest song we all desperately need as the world continues to plummet into flames.

Hear for yourself below!

For more updates follow All Metal Everything  on Instagram

Follow the ‘All Metal Everything’ playlist on Spotify

Send us your music on SubmitHub