Curse the Son - Psychache(2013)

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A masterful piece of Sabbath worship that was released on the very first day of this year, Psychache is the second album presented to the world by Connecticut's CURSE THE SON.

Bass and guitars all combine sonic forces to create a smooth blast of warm, hairy fuzz, following each other to a T to ensure that the sustain remains as hypnoticly coherent as possible.

The vocals are a great blend of 70s rock falsetto with some stylings from 90s Grunge and Alt thrown in as well. They remind me a lot of the vocalist from Royal Thunder, but male, as well as containing hints of Jus Osborne in there.

Saying goodbye to Henry Aslinger is a bittersweet experience for sure, in that it has this air of unease, of a lurking darkness behind the tone wall...then when the Spider Steals your Weed, CTS let you know that its all gravy baby, just ride the fuzz and it will all be fine in the end.

I now have a Psychache which is giving me visions of tribal drums coupled with mouth harps, these riffs blend together so smoothly, and rip roaringly I feel like this is something I should have taken a Valium for? For no other reason than to just sink even further into the thick fuzz than my current state of stoned will allow, to get right up close and personal with those hammer pulls.

As the valium makes its way into my system, with tremolo picking that has such tone, it chugs...I realize the proper head med I should have reached for was a Soma. Curse the Son graciously provides this Soma at no extra charge and delivers unto me my favorite riff of the album with some sinister horror lyrics to match "this is where the nightmares go to find you when your all alone". I would be scared if it weren't for the valium and soma that were donated, but I know that these nightmares are friendly by now.

Now that the nightmares have passed, Curse the Son believe that I am ready to know the secrets of the Negative Ion...I don't know if I am, the opening bass line has me shaking in my boots with an ominous crawl that is reminiscent of the clean interludes in Dopesmoker, when the fuzz kicks in finally, its like a souped up version of one of my favorite riffs of all time: Electric Funeral. This fact alone and The Negative Ion has stolen the show for me, to be able to incite the memory of two legendary songs while also retaining originality is no easy feat, and its a balance Curse The Son seems to be at home in.

In a world where Sabbath worship runs rampant, Curse the Son stand apart by delivering it with conviction, style and coloring the riffs with some individuality.

Toneparisons: Sleep, Electric Wizard, Black Sabbath, Royal Thunder

-Stonerhound

Dead Southern Bishop - Hymns of Malice and Discontent(2012)

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Dead Southern Bishop look a lot like they sound, like they could think of a million fucks to give but don't even bother, because who gives a fuck?

Mammoth sounding grit kicks off Last Rites that already has me excited to listen to this thing front to back

The tone sounds like a darker Eyehategod, Incorporating Phil Anselmo esque spoken word which is interrupted by the dominant Mike IX style screams.

They absolutely nail the wooly, woody sound on Bitter. This song greets you with a hellscream that is quite disconcerting, the vocals that follow on this one are reminding me a lot of Rwake.

Bound & Tied contains a very cool vocal cadence matching the tail end of the main riff. Present again are the deep gutteral, matter of fact spoken words ala Anselmo.

Malice sounds like the guys got really chiefed one night while watching Up in Smoke, and during the music sequence at the end someone decided to start blasting Slayer, the four(or perhaps it was at a time when they had 3...) must have looked at each other like Shaggy and Scooby had just learned the location of some scooby snacks and ran straight for the band room.

DSB does a perfect job of creating a huge Dirt wall, especially on Bound & Tied and White Trash Queen. If you really listen closely, you can hear different variances in grit coming from the Left, Right and Center...then when you blur your focus, they are cemented back together into one huge wall of wooly perfection.

White Trash Queen locks into a huge sludge groove at half time as a verse, then at standard time as a kind of chorus which ends up being a really awesome effect. I have heard many bands utilize the age old trick of Chorus being a backward Verse...but this trick works wonders for a listener like myself. Ending in a very sludgy breakdown that makes me imagine Thou adding about 30 bpm to their standard pace, this album has left me in very good taste.

The guys are endorsed by a kickass string company called Knucklehead that makes strings in WTF DOOM sizes for a very low price. I for one will definitely be giving these strings a shot, before switching to huge strings I always loved the sound and feel of the hexcore strings by DR, a luxury that this small company also utilizes within their humble means.

Dead Southern Bishop are one of the purest forms of Sludge I have heard in a long while, commanding a sound all their own while still paying homage to those before that built the sound into what it is today.

These guys have a good groove going in more ways than one, I believe they totally belong on House Core records. This is one of those bands where I don't care how often they release or the quality of the release, I will be watching, waiting, listening and sharing.

Hymns Of Malice And Discontent is available as a free download on their bandcamp.

Toneparisons: Eyehategod, Rwake, Phil Anselmo, Thou

-Stonerhound

Black Tar Prophet - Note to Nod(2012)

http://blacktarprophet.bandcamp.com/track/note-to-nod-side-1

http://blacktarprophet.bandcamp.com/track/note-to-nod-side-2

Channeling drones from the inner tarpits of the soul BLACK TAR PROPHET is a 2-piece instrumental Noise Doom band from Tenessee.

The album starts off with a non-chalant, groovin' bass line littered with samples portraying the irony in the world. When the samples drop out, the fuzz kicks in and the drums get to building.

When you thought the heavy was about to kick in, you are pulled back to the clean bass and what sounds like someone flipping through channels with an eerie underlying sound of some heavily breathing beast. If I had to guess it's Lucifer himself sitting back on a couch made of buds grown in the blood of the weak just after a giant bong rip, admiring the results of his influence in the world. Like an infinitely more mystical and badass Dr. Evil from Inspector Gadget.

The fuzz comes back and thats when Bassist Greg Swineheart really starts pushing it. Still relatively the same riff but each pass contains slight nuances in the drone dynamics, sounds like he is really slamming some pedal volume into the front end and lets it ride.

After letting the fuzz rip into wild feedback for awhile, BTP lock into an extremely huge early Earth sounding drone section that I wouldn't mind hearing on loop for the rest of eternity

Side 1 ends with a barely audible loop under a triumphant bass drone discussing beings with plans for humanity and society until she is cut off by a swell of feedback thats leads us into side 2 with a continuation of the monologue on extra terrestrial influence.

As Side 2 gets rolling, the imagery of 15s blasting and clipping to a point of warping and twisting wildly within their enclosures spewing forth sine wave distortion at their own whim. This side ends with a nostalgic acoustic outro with warbly Longmont Potion Castle reminiscent delayed vocal samples feigning alien assimilation. Too. Dope.

One of my favorite aspects of this band is that the music is a crystal clear reflection of the guys making it, although I don't know them personally, BTP are untainted by the narcissism of trying to be perceived as and rather just being.

The songs from this album were put together by Greg and former guitarist Mark Owen who ended up leaving the band before the CD was released. Mark performed the guitars for this album while Greg handled Drums/samples/tracking/mastering. Greg has pushed forward after the departure of Owen, recruiting Erik Dever for the split album with Crawl as well as an upcoming album in January 2014 which you will catch wind of here most definitely.

Take a hint from BTP, find a friend that plays drums and/or guitar, crank it loud as you can and just start grooving, there is obviously nothing to lose! As the cover clearly illustrates, your amplifiers are either a possession, or an altar...build your wall with reverence and let yourself be heavy!

Toneparisons: Weedeater(Sunn SS heads on the cover, and a concert lead as their bandcamp cover...this may be why...), Earth(early), Sleep, The Body, Eyehategod

You can buy and listen Note to Nod at the bandcamp links above or the bigcartel link below, make your appreciation for Black Tar Prophet OFFICIAL by also liking their facebook!

http://www.facebook.com/blacktarprophet
http://blacktarprophet.bigcartel.com/

-Stonerhound