Royal Blood - Royal Blood (2014)

Artist: Royal Blood

Origin: Brighton, United Kingdom

Genre: Alternative Rock

Album: Royal Blood

Year: 2014

Website

Track listing:

1. Out of the Black

2. Come On Over

3. Figure It Out

4. You Can Be So Cruel

5. Blood Hands

6. Little Monster

7. Loose Change

8. Careless

9. Ten Tonne Skeleton

10. Better Strangers

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While I think I will never get into their second album How Did We Get So Dark?, this was a breath of fresh air from the alternative rock scene for me and I was quite impressed by the power they delivered in just a drums - bass setup. Most of the tracks are catchy as hell and easy to listen to, simple and great at the same time.

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Purchase: 12" LP from VelvetMusic in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

Acid Witch - Witchtanic Hellucinations (2008) Review

Origin: USA

Genre: Doom / Death Metal

Label: Razorback Records

Release: 2008

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I listened to Acid Witch's most recent single To Magic, Sex and Gore, which was released last November, and it feels as if nothing has changed since their first days. The band still uses the same kind of song and album titles, with the same music coming from dudes who obviously live in a state of constant Halloween. They have stayed with Hells Headbangers for some time now, which is a perfectly fitting label for them and they have built their name within the underground the last ten years.

By writing about one Acid Witch album, one has covered significant parts of their other albums as well. Witchtanic Hellucinations is the one I have heard the most, and then comes 2010's Stoned, because after that I distanced myself from following the band, yet with all its weaknesses, their music is enjoyable to an extent. The mix of slow doomish lines, with the heavy use of 80's horror keyboard samples and death metal growls, sounds pleasing in theory and is successful to a point with Acid Witch as well.

Another strong point of the project is the fair use of solos, which might not be executed that much with other similar bands, yet adds a lot of color even to otherwise dull tracks in the album. The production is suffering a little bit, especially in the vocals section, which seem as if they were boosted in volume too much in the studio, however the filthiness of the sound in overall comes of aid during the listen. The label doom / death may be misleading, since there are also slight stoner elements and a strong trace of psychedelia,  or practiced witchcraft by the hippies of the 70's.

Once you get yourself comfortable around listening to bands like Hooded Menace or Coffins, Acid Witch become a bit irrelevant. For a more laid back listen, they fit very well when you want to listen to some cool doom riffing, gnarly growling, and if you're interested in the last days of October of classic horror movies of the past decades, you might find even more appeal in this band. Musically, they shouldn't shock anyone with their mastery, but it's not a band to discard right away either.

Door to Door Promotion: Mist - Demo 2013

 Dear witch hunters and fellow headbangers,

Mist is a new all-female occult doom metal band from Ljubljana (Slovenia), formed in July 2012. They build their music on the legacy of legendary bands like Black Sabbath, Pentagram, Candlemass, Coven, Saint Vitus and others. With the premiere live show at the end of September 2013 the girls without a doubt demonstrated, that such a specific genre of music is not necessarily just a men's domain. The band just released a limited edition of their demo simply entitled Demo 2013, which is already sold out.

Line Up:

Nina Spruk - vocals
Ema Babošek - rhythm guitar & backing vocals
Nina Grizonič - lead guitar
Neža Pečan - bass
Mihaela Žitko - drums

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED FOR EVERYONE.

Listen on Bandcamp

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Orchid - The Mouths of Madness (2013) Review

Orchid "The Mouths of Madness"

Spring 2013, Nuclear Blast

Listening Needs

Physical Needs

History repeats itself? Its a common proverb and probably true. Lots of bands that worship the 70s rock/metal sound have sprung (out of nowhere?) the last years, making the old school new school again. I don't know if its fashion or a natural reaction to the infinite amount of rubbish all over the mainstream music industry today. Whatever it is, the case lies on the fact that the old fans will find something fresh to enjoy and the new fans will be taught how it is done.

If you have listened to this band before, or read something about them, you surely have encountered the bands Black Sabbath, Saint Vitus, Pentagram etc... And that's about what Orchid are. I can say with certainty that they are the best progeny of Sabbath since 1970, with tons of bands trying to sound like them or being heavily influenced by them. If it isn't anything new, what should you listen to them? I don't know. It is the mishmash of all the classic doom metal/rock elements with a modern metal sound and production that make them succesful. And enjoyable to the bone.

Most of the riffs have been played a million times the last 40 years, but not as properly as Orchid use them. There are also heavy church bells and a some bits of flutes, which are also common in doom, i know right. The psychedelic and stoner elements are present everywhere on the album, as if you wouldn't not be expecting it, delivering some pretty amazing tunes. It feels as they would continue the early Black Sabbath way from 1975 and after. They fit perfectly, musically & aesthetically, they even perform almost like the good old stoned Sabbath. The vocalist is something between Sabbath and Trouble, which is like perfect for this music.

The Mouths of Madness is the second album after the mastepiece Capricorn in 2011, and the similarities are even more recognizable, in songs like "Silent One", "Loving Hand Of God", "See You On The Other Side". All nine tracks have the appropriate dose of doom, old school rock, melody and atmosphere. I love it because it sounds like Sabbath, a lot. Maybe even more than Sabbath.

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DAMAGE: [7.0/10]