High Tone Son Of A Bitch. That’s it right there eh?! ‘Nuff said. Only it’s not even the half of it. Back in 2007, with merely one EP to the Oakland quintet’s name, ex-Cruevo guitarist Drew Kott fell from a San Francisco window and plunged his bandmates, especially brother Paul, into a deep mourning. It sparked a long hiatus which was broken by last year’s release of long-recorded EP Velocipede (Self-released), and there’s a show of intent to stick around with new two-track Death Of A New Day / Eye In The Sky (Self-released).Continue reading →
Whilst steadily garnering a reputation in their native Balkans, Bulgarian trio Obsidian Sea finally saw some US action in 2016 with a repress of second album Dreams, Illusions, Obsessions (Nuclear War Now! Records). Third album Strangers sees a Ripple Music release that will undoubtedly propel the psych-Doom outfit further. Continue reading →
Those familiar with Baltimore acid-Blues combo The Flying Eyes may be blissfully unaware that two of that happy breed make up the larger share of an outfit bearing the name Black Lung. This darker-sounding trio, however, is no maelstrom of evil hostility, and has more in common with the parent band than the moniker might suggest. Continue reading →
It is not often when I finish listening to an album for the first time that I say “what was that” and I actually enjoyed the album. Pilgrimage of Loathing (Accident Prone), latest from North Carolina psych-doom trio MAKE, is one of those few albums. Each song has its own personality and story yet they all seem to just flow together. From the first riff to the final note, you are put on a rollercoaster of music and emotions.
Opening track, ‘The Somnambulist’, has a very tribal feeling opening with crescendo drumming over delay guitar effects. It then climaxes into fuzzy bass, heavy guitar distortion, and eventually leads to the vocals which felt very black metal. Being the longest song on Pilgrimage of Loathing, it only makes sense to have the most twists and turns in structure and really the emotions in the song. With easily the strangest song title on the album, ‘Two Hawks Fucking’ acts almost like an intermission in what was an angry first half of an album. This track really stands out from the rest as it is not only an instrumental piece, but is also very calm. Heed my warning, this is not a turning point in the album especially the second ‘Human Garbage’ starts up. With a flip of a switch it seemed, the aggression was back in full force. If MAKE was looking for a sludge song that was heavy on the hardcore side, they nailed it. Lastly, the North Carolina natives make sure to squeeze in a stoner doom track, ‘Dirt’. Slow and heavy from start to finish with harsh vocals over the top make for a song that you will lose yourself listening to.
Never has a band sucked me in so quick to an album before like MAKE has done with Pilgrimage of Loathing. Each time I listen through the record, I find I enjoy the album as much as I did the first time I listened. While I have read this is the angriest MAKE has been thus far, I can safely say there is more emotion to this album than just anger. This fact alone separates the album from a large amount of good albums this year has produced, up to a great album where only a select few have reached.
