Howling Giant - Black Hole Space Wizard II

Howling Giant Black Hole Space Wizard II (Independent)

Howling Giant may be passed over to you as a stoner rock band or something of the ilk, but they’re far too experimental and avant garde in nature to be narrowed into a small definitive genre. Their first album in the Black Hole Space Wizard chronology was some of the heaviest and most enchanting music I heard last year. Well they’re back for Part II.

Fuzz. Acid. Rock. Space. Doom. Stoner. Post-Post-Post Hawkwind. I don't care what you call it, this album is so mood lifting. Props to them for following up on the first chapter with an awesome force of astral boogie.

‘Henry Tate’ is a fitting first strike. It prepares the listener for what is on the horizon without overindulging. Within its first minute, the album begins to sound like a sojourn into the stars. Beginning an album with an instrumental is a pretty risky move, but Howling Giant did well to make sure that this track lays the foundation for Black Hole Space Wizard II. Whatever inspired this tune, it’s a real jammer and my face may have been melted off in the aftermath.

‘The Pioneer’ is a track that I kept coming back to. It has a really cool vibe, and it’s definitely here where one can start to see some of the Hawkwind influences sinking in. This is definitely a genuine rock band. They are out there in space conceptually, but in a literal sense, they remain solid rockers doing rock & roll things.

‘Visions’ would leave one wondering just what exactly these guys are on over in the studio. This isn’t necessarily a suggestion toward drug use, but esoterically in mind and spirit, they’re really on a special wavelength that delivers something incredible when combined into a creative force. Some parallels may be drawn to Explosions In The Sky, for their ability to work within multiple octaves and design melodies that reach incredibly ambient heights. Just as this song reaches its zenith, it tumbles back down into an eclectic rush of melody and awe inspiring brilliance that will level you. Unbelievably, the song drifts into “Forest Speaks’ in such a way that one might not even notice that they’re on the next track until the second instrumental is almost finished.

The crescendo lands at ‘Circle of Druids.’

A warped sample of someone speaking echoes into the air as the song starts. “Take this firefly, traveler, and let it guide you. But be warned, do not stray from its light,” the astral voices warns. The lyrics are seeping into the spirit smoothly, elevated by the titanic riffs of this Nashville group sequestered between sweeping vistas of mountains, hills, and small communities dotting the countryside along Tennessee. Surely, somewhere in that terrestrial wonderland that is Tennessee’s earthly panorama, Howling Giant emerged with their firefly burning brightly in the void.

If you are not ready to land, then you will play this album back again. Black Hole Space Wizard II is available now, and you can check out the album or order it on bandcamp!

Crown of Wallachia - Demo

Crown of Wallachia Demo Independent

Although one track alone is only a small offering to go off of, if this sample is any indication of the talent and composition behind Crown of Wallachia, then there is an unstoppable fury pulsing behind them. The band is a brainchild of an enigmatic resident of Oregon, who creates with guest musicians playing leads in the studio. As far as independent and individually run black metal projects go, Crown of Wallachia's quality is as pure as it is ambitious.

The band is a conceptual homage to the Wallachian lord who fought to keep the borders of Christianity in Europe with an edge of ruthlessness that will be forever remembered in the West. Count Vlad Tepes the Impaler was nothing if not an unleashed warrior with no limits, and that’s the spirit that the demo conveys.

The demo is superbly produced, and the machine gun instrumentation is captured wonderfully across the track. There are certainly no experimental or over the top elements in this song, but the purity of second generational black metal is utterly evident; raw rapid tempo music that channels all the maddening energies of the twisting nether. One could certainly picture a montage of Vlad Tepes reducing all of his enemies to pulps of human flesh and blood.

Woodhawk - Beyond The Sun

Woodhawk
Beyond The Sun (Independent)

Woodhawk provides an exciting and fundamentally rockin’ voyage through thick waves of sonically juicy grooves and jams that take off into radically trippy melodies. Unearthed under fuzz and down tuned walls of audible shock waves is the heart and soul of old school bluesy jams. The songwriting on this album could best be described as magical. From track to track, Woodhawk provides something righteous and undeniably contagious. Layers upon layers of musical talent open up a panorama of sounds traveling lucidly around each riff and hook. The bones holding Beyond The Sun up are funky, eclectic, and driving around an ensemble which includes organs and synths; Beyond The Sun isn’t just a rock album, it’s art with an astral supercharge.

Beyond The Sun was released in April 2017, and you can check them out on their bandcamp!

Pagan Altar - The Room of Shadows

Pagan Altar
The Room of Shadows (Temple of Mystery)

Pagan Altar may never receive the accolades commercially successful bands have, but if they did, how would that alter the spirit of their legacy?

The status of an underground cult legacy for a band can be revered or affect the perception with utter disdain as if the weight of something utterly pretentious burdens the very mention of a band on that level. However, Pagan Altar’s genuine appeal results in something far more charming than simple elitism.

For decades, their music has resonated in circles as if a myth passed along toward anyone fortunate enough to stumble upon the revelations of classic songs like “Armageddon”, something so heavy and mystical that it can not be described without emphasis on how real it is. Whether enchanting fans with epic melodic sojourns like “Reincarnation”, or shorter thematic rock head bangers like “The Night Rider,” Pagan Altar are in a class of their own.

Track one of The Room of Shadows, “Rising of The Dead”, is a promise that Pagan Altar’s sacred spirit will conclude in a triumph of truth that leaves these doom metal’s pioneers to a better part of history. The death of Terry Jones certainly finished the band, but we have the luxury of this entire album, which was recorded prior to the vocalist's unfortunate loss to cancer in 2015. “The Picture of Dorian Gray” moves with a goliath of NWOBHM power fusing pure 70s rock melodies and ferocious punk energy, and crescendos with “Danse Macabre”, a subtle soothing trippy jam wonderfully placed bombastic tempo changes driven by simple classic rock beats. Vocally, Terry Jones is weaving a final spell that will mark his indelible spot as a fortune teller and keeper of tales. Whatever path his spirit may have gone to, his status in this world is cemented as folk legend.

Altar’s strengths can be seen with some credence as more than just a metal band, but a coming of age result from the 70s rock explosions. Heavy metal, acid rock, proto punk, folk, and even bits of arena rock filter through the incredibly dynamic guitar playing of Alan Jones. Andy Green’s drumming is so hypnotic that you might miss how essential these beats are to controlling the majesty swirling all around him, like an axis of pure thundering rock & roll gypsy power.

Sentiments of prophecy throughout the tomes of Altar’s pages are certainly part of their endearing legend; however, Terry’s son Alan claims that the lyrics to this album were all finished more than a decade before the vocalist passed away. The hymns of this masterpiece are certainly empowering and intriguing stories that ride on into the sunset with the voice Terry Jones left behind one final time. As the singer dances around a whirlwind of harmonies and thick grooves, his essence remains in arcana with the power of a sorcerer, not unlike the band’s iconic mascot. Unquestionably, The Room of Shadows is the final Pagan Altar album that anyone could ask for, and the chilling finale of “After Forever” will leave you wanting more every time.

Release date: August 24th, 2017 via Temple of Mystery.

Venom Inc. - Ave'

Venom Inc.
Ave’
(Nuclear Blast)

Venom's legacy exists as a pillar that hoists up the metal community going as far back as 1981. Without compromise, they fostered an abundance of style and imagery that have now become permanently intertwined throughout our hessian culture.

However, more than the looks and Satanic themes, Venom thoroughly inspired metal with riffs and hooks that are now essential to speed metal and black n' roll's format.

Ave' may be one of the most anticipated and decisive comeback albums of 2017. Ave' sustains the heart and soul that powered Venom's ferocious music and takes the band into new terrain. Without question, Mantas and Abbadon maintain the creative forefront that drove Venom's energy. Ave' is a wall of 11 pummeling tracks that incorporate the spirit of Venom Inc's feral performance talent and undying zeal.

Ave’ honors Venom’s old strengths without failing to push forward as Venom Inc., which is an undeniably strong feat of the album. Although some may insist that Ave’ ventures off of a traditional path toward styles and tones that are not purely ‘80s, it’s not an overwhelming problem, given that the song structure is utterly Mantas and Abbadon in all forms with merely minor tonal adjustments via modern technology. The tracks are characteristically Venom through and through, wish some vision toward the future to allow for necessary creative growth.

Ave' was released on August 11th and is available via Nuclear Blast.

Low Flying Hawks - Genkaku

Low Flying Hawks
Genkaku
Magnetic Eye Records

Low Flying Hawks are slipping into the sludge and unweaving riff after riff of fuzz induced harmony on Genkaku. The album creeps like a leviathan of doom and groove with moments of eye opening clarity that dip into spiritual awakening across every song. Magnetic Eye Records are releasing a treasure for doom gaze in the later half of this decade.

Lyrically the songwriting is really able to capture what feelings the music is reflecting, and you may catch that minutes into the first track "Smile". As the world turns in on itself in a tragedy of realities that would seem more fitting in a nightmarish dream, one must survive beat after harrowing beat, and I think that the band captured that in the opening track.

The drumming provided by Dale Crover (The Melvins) tops off what Trevor Dunn (Mr. Bungle) implements with serene melody; the musical gifts of each member come out naturally, soaking the listener into a vortex of adhesive music that does not easily let go. The same hypnotic brilliant composition that Dunn delivers in Mr. Bungle (with tracks like "Slowy Growing Deaf" and "Vanity Fair") is evident throughout the album.

Sulky but potent blues, Genkaku is pure noir overlapped by the modern ambiance of sonic technology. The music is a scathing and kinetic powerhouse made by two of the most respected artists in the community.

Dunn teases with vocal Low homages to Mr. Bungle sporadically throughout the track, but nowhere more evident than "Twilight."

"Sinister Waves" sends Genkaku off with an ominous conclusion. Wherever Low Flying Hawks fly off to, at the end of this track they close the book on an album that is fruitful with enchanting and ghostly harmonics. In its final waves, Genkaku lays melancholy notes of righteousness that will ripple through your head for quite some time. Genkaku comes out on August 23rd, which is exactly my birthday, and if you catch this in time and want to hook me up upon reading this self-gratuitous plug, then this doom goblin would be eternally grateful.

Interview with Dwid Hellion of Integrity

Hardcore and heavy metal were not friendly neighbors in the early 80s, but a number of crossover albums and changes in the underground scene helped to bridge that gap by the end of that decade. Although many of the pioneering bands from the underground movements in Washington D.C. Los Angeles, Boston, and New York had burned out or moved on by the early 90s, some were still holding on for better or worse.

Then there was a behemoth coming to life in Cincinnati, Ohio known as Integrity. Integrity were among the first crop of bands and some would say the very first that came out of this period between 1988 and 1994 with a new development to the hardcore metal hybrid sound. One could say that truly metalcore was breathed to life during this period due Integrity’s 1991 release Those Who Fear Tomorrow.

Howling For The Nightmare Shall Consume was released on July 14th through Relapse.

Nearly three decades later, singer and messenger Dwid Hellion remains at the forefront of this creative revolution. Howling, For The Nightmare Shall Consume was released earlier this month, and it has stirred quite a buzz among long time fans of the band and critics alike.

I had the opportunity to sit down with him and talk about the new album, as well as some of the man’s deeper understandings of spiritual lore and philosophy.

Doom Gazed: Hi Dwid, thanks for taking the time to answer these questions! Integrity has a really heavy and unique sound that not many if any bands can replicate, and I love how you're always on the forefront in the extreme music community.

Dwid Hellion: Thank you. You are very kind I truly appreciate your interest and enthusiasm for my music.

DG: Raw. Energetic. Passionate. The violence and hatred are so strong in this record. How do you continue to channel all that energy through all of these years? Integrity is still one of the most savage animals in all forms of rock & roll.

Dwid: Without music as my outlet, the emotions would most likely consume me. This has not been a forgiving burden to carry, and it has put my life in some very difficult situations over the years. I am grateful that music and art has afforded me a means to channel my passions into a productive outlet. Blending into society can be a strange disguise, one that does not truly conceal my true nature.

DG: One of my favorite qualities of the new album is that it has an earthly jam vibe to it. It doesn’t lose that essence in the recording.

Dwid: Dom and I have been like brothers for years. We have a lot in common and we both have a clear understanding of what Integrity is about. The songs became an extension of our imaginations and I feel that everything flowed easily and organically in the recording studio.

DG: So I learned a little bit about this artist named Francis Bacon, and understand that he holds a huge significance around the album. Could you go into depth about that?

Dwid: Not necessarily a huge influence. When I started storyboarding the album, I wanted to find an anchor to tie all of the songs together in a way. The idea came to me that it should be themed around a seance that a young Bacon would have as his painting career was just beginning. These are blueprints, the songs themselves have a life of their own and much more depth than the early direction that I assigned to them. I would prefer the listener to interpret the songs and the album as their imagination permits. Hopefully taking a personal interpretation and conjuring up something that I would have never imagined.

DG: My favorite track on the album right now is "Die With Your Boots On." What did you write that song about?

Dwid: That is a song that I wrote about Lemmy when he died. I thought to myself, here is a man who died with his boots on. He lived his life as he wanted and he played music up until the very end. It is a song that was written to honor this great legend of music.

DG: “7 Reece Mews” is an interesting song title, and I really loved the bit toward the end where the song takes off into something a little less heavy but no less foreboding. Would you explain a bit about the song title and why you chose it?

Dwid: 7 Reece Mews is the address of Francis Bacons painting studio. It is where he made all of his horrific paintings. It would be the location for the seance that we discussed earlier in this interview. The drunken seance would have somehow worked out. Transporting the young Bacon, in a lucid dreaming way, throughout time and space to occult occurrences which actually took place in history. His exposure to these visions would have opened up something within Bacon that forever changed how he would view the world and the people around him. Seeing the demons within. Demons which he would go on to paint and with great success and notoriety.

DG: You’ve gone to Brad Boatright many times, and there are countless other excellent bands who have worked in the studio with him, so what is it about him that makes him so great to work with?

Dwid: Brad possesses a brilliant talent for sound. He is able to bring out the very best in any piece of recorded music. I find myself quite lucky to have Brad and Audiosiege as a part of my creative team.

DG: There is a lot of destructive energy associated with humanity in your music, and obviously, anyone who pays attention to history for more than 10 minutes would probably think the same way about the evil of mankind. Do you think that there is a silver lining or any window of hope at all, or is it just suffering?

Dwid: I think there is always grey area with anything. The world has always been ending. Since man was able to communicate, there was always this deep rooted fear that the final days were upon us and within every man’s own lifetime. There are many pleasures and joys to experience within this world, and equally as many torments and fears to be shackled with. Life is a myriad of experiences. I try to view the world from an honest perspective. It is not entirely evil nor entirely good. Humanity is a diseased animal acting irrationally. It is like using a DaDa poem as an instructional manual. I absolutely enjoy the madness that mankind has hurled at the world. It is a spectacular disaster and it has had me captivated since my childhood.

DG: Is there a point ever in your career where you say you want to quit making music and handle everything from the business end?

Dwid: The music is therapeutic for me. I suppose I will never stop creating. I have recorded music for 3 decades now, so I am not certain that I would even know how to quit.

DG: Where do you see the state of extreme music today and do you think it still does a good enough job to push new boundaries?

Dwid: That is a relative question. Extreme music does not always mean the same thing to everyone. I believe that being sincere and passionate lends quite a lot to how I would define extreme music. Fanatical and passionate about your creative intention. I never set out to expand boundaries. I have been accredited with doing so, but it was never a strategy. For me, making music that I would like to hear has always played an important role in my recordings. I have a vast range of interests, especially outside of music, which also bleeds into my recordings. This amalgamation of my interests fuels my creative process. I also do not have the mentality that I must be confined to following any rules attached to specific genres of music. That, in itself, affords a tremendous amount of creative freedom.

DG: There are some esoteric and maybe even spiritual ideas that I take from Integrity’s music, and as someone who has delved into some gnostic apocrypha, I’m eager to pick your brain to see where it may fit into Integrity’s music.

Dwid: There is absolutely an esoteric aspect to Integrity. Gnosticism is a wonderful alternate perspective of the more established religions of our time. I am fascinated by the many interpretations of scripture and how these interpretations often coincide with one another and occasionally and dramatically can differ. An example would be how the book of Genesis is portrayed in a Gnostic perspective. The serpent is freeing Adam & Eve from this vindictive and oppressive deity known as Jehovah (God). This lends a fascinating point of view and creates an incredible twist to the story that many of us were taught since childhood.

DG: Do you think that spirituality is a cancer, or would you say that it’s more of a threat when in the form of religion?

Dwid: Spirituality is a necessary escape from the flesh prisons that we each reside within. Religion, is a means to govern our spirituality and to use this need for our spiritual escape as an oppressive weapon against us and as a means of currency. That is not to say that I dislike nor disapprove of religion. In fact, I am entranced by the duality of it all.  I find established religions to be among the most evil, and therefore the most intriguing for me.

DG: Would you say that there’s a new sense of spiritual awareness shifting into place in Western culture, or do you think we’re still very much behind in that regard?

Dwid: That is difficult to say. Perhaps there is the same amount of spiritual awareness within the humans, but at this time in history, they are channelling that awareness into other, less established faiths. I think that Christianity as an empire, has begun to unravel. They are desperately trying to modernize their approach to coalesce with modern man. When a religion begins to tailor itself to appeal to the popular culture, it has already breached its faith.

DG: I’d like to thank you again for doing an email interview for Doom Gazed, I love the new album and hope to catch you on tour.

Dwid: Thank you for your time and your interest.