Ethereal Riffian - Shaman's Visions (Remaster)

Review by Aaron Sullivan.

When one thinks of all the countries that have produced great Stoner/DOOM bands Ukraine don’t usually come to mind. With Shaman’s Visions, Ethereal Riffian is looking to change all that.

One of the immediate bands that come to mind at first listen is OM. While Ethereal Riffian employ two guitar players, they are still able to capture the OM vibe. This is spaced out, fuzzy Stoner/DOOM. You can’t help but find yourself swaying with each riff as if you were stuck in a trance. Vocals are not sung but rather chanted. While the album is divided into tracks they each build off the other, making it sound so cohesive that it feels like one track. Additions like flute, bongos, and female vocals only add to their hypnotic brand of Stoner/DOOM.

This album does what good Stoner/DOOM albums should. It takes you on a trip and makes you feel under the influence even if you are not. Doommantia adds

This is one of the most tripped-out albums released in recent years and you will feel like you are on a psychoactive drug while listening to 'Shaman's Visions' as the music really does alter your cognition and perception of everything around you.

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Horseback - Half Blood

Artwork by Denis Forkas

Half Blood, the new Horseback album, has just been released on their Relapse Records Bandcamp page. This is an album that takes you on a journey. Starting with americana black metal; twisted boogie grooves, repetitive twangy guitars, and harsh blackened vocals. Ending with full on krautrock droning; gorgeous layers of organ and guitar, and the gentle tick-tock of electronic drums. Here's a couple of reviews from AllMusic and The Inarguable, and here's an interview Invisible Oranges did wth Jenks Miller, the man behind Horseback.

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Mal - Eonian Quiescence

The end is near! Again it is doomsday at Metal Bandcamp. Eonian Quiescence is the debut album from French band Mal. The core of this is massive doom riffs with blackened vocals and buzzing guitars, but the songs on Eonian Quiescence are pretty far from the melodies of traditional or funeral doom. The understated keyboards, the sudden outbursts of chaos, and the excellently programmed drums all create a feeling of a horrific mechanical ceremony. Read the review from Metal Storm and give the album a listen.

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Old Mountain - Demo

Psychedelic doomsters Old Mountain have updated their Bandcamp, now all three songs of the demo are available. The standout track is still the incredibly heavy and atmospheric Clarissa, give it a listen below. A little warning: At around 13:30 the doomy goodness ends, the rest is ambient noise and some druggy banter. As this Doommantia review states, that is probably why Clarissa is subtitled 'Explains Hallucinogenic'.

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Dark Castle - Surrender To All Life Beyond Form

Artwork by Stevie Floyd

Dark Castle's Surrender To All Life Beyond Form is a dense and atmospheric take on doom. There's also industrial elements, drone metal and unorthodox scales - all covered in a thick layer of crud and fuzz.

Here are reviews from Metal Review and The Obelisk. A common thread in the reviews is that the album is a challenge, but like AllMusic writes, after repeated listens it reveals itself to be an astonishingly varied and well-conceived song cycle.

Photos by Carmelo Española.

Listen to album below and visit their Bandcamp to view all the artwork for Surrender To All Life Beyond Form and more examples of Stevie Floyd's art.

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Rye Wolves - Species battle in the Branches

Rye Wolves - Species battle in the Branches is psychedelic doom with angular noise riffing. The vocals are possessed, the guitars down-tuned and extremely distorted. The songwriting covers a lot of ground including a black metal passage in the closing epic workout Malnutrition Bends The Beak. Read the review from The Obelisk and check it out.

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From Exile - Monolith

One of my Bandcamp favorites is From Exile's Monolith from 2009. Progressive metal, mostly instrumental - basically a 32-minute lection in guitar metal with arena-rock riffs, sublimely beautiful meditations, heavy-as-shit headbanging chuggery, blistering solos, and soaring anthems as this excellent review from No Clean Singing puts it. Read another review from The Number of the Blog and check it out.

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