November Is Doom : Hippie Death Cult-

 

With a line up change that finds Ben Jackson gone and bass player Laura Phillips taking over the mic, the first song of their new album strikes me as sounding more like other female fronted doom, and less of the rock n roll feel that not only Jackson's voice brought but his songwriting as well. "Shadows" does begin to work in the more progressive grooves the band once travelled into. Phillips does have a decent voice. She can use a subtle moan, that gives things a dreamy feel in places, along with belt it out or scream as called for. They embrace a more jammy side when the guitar solo is given the room to playfully extend. 

"Better Days" has more of a Royal Thunder feel. With this comparison comes soulful singing and a moodier introspection. When the dynamics bring a heavier punch, there is a more organic tone than your typical metal gain which plays to their favor. "Red Giant" works off a pretty heavy groove and continues to find the band moving in a more metallic direction. They continue in the metal direction with "Toxic Annihilator" , but picking up the pace to a taunt chug. 

When the album veers into more psychedelic jams there is a looser sense to it that the more focused arrangments of past albums. The production is also not as refined though this might be to acheive more of a retro sound. "Tomorrow's Sky" has a more rambling rock sound to it. The guitar solos are well done, but also jammy and perhaps not as focused, though that to might be the point of their new direction. I will give this album an 8.5, it's good for what it is and might grow on me, though I think I prefer the previous incarnation of the band. This is still one of the best vest metal, proto stoner doom or what ever you kids want to call this sort of thing that I have heard in a minute.  

November is Doom : Hippie Death Cult : "Circle of Days"

 

Their 2019 album was awesome, so I will settle for an EP if that is all I can get. There is more of a Sabbath vibe to the groove here. It swings a little more than Bill Ward's playing normally did. The vocals are belted with a soulful blues bravado. I like when his voice relaxes into a dreamier register. I like the subtle key boards in the back ground adding ambiance. They have a jammy feel, but are always moving the song. The great solos are great and full of feeling if you are into that sort of thing.  'Hornet Party" is more aggressive in it's attack like a metal version of Clutch. The vocals bellow and they coast along until drifting back out into a haze of pot smoke. This song is incredibly dynamic , and gives the vocals room to employ varied colors . 

There is a darker moodier more introspective tone to "Walk Within" .  I am not sure I would call this a ballad. It is one of the bands more melodic and experimental moments. Almost three minutes into the song before the vocals are used for more than texture. There is some tasteful guitar work. It seem to have more in common with 90s era stoner rock that split the difference with grunge. In some ways similar could be said about the title track though it has a more brooding almost Tool like groove to it. There is an odd timed bridge that the vocals dance around. Everything fits perfect though it is not what I would expect from these guys .  Not so say various incarnations of stoner metal do not flirt with progressive nuances.

They kind of pick up where the progressive tendencies left off  and simmer on them with "Eye in the Skye'. It broods with atmospheric musing until midway into the song when things take a shift in a metal direction. The riff is pretty killer and the whole turn of the song has a great head banging groove to it.  I will round this up to a 10. In some ways it shares sonic space with the new Mastodon album, but there is more bong loaded jamming with this one.   

the Top 10 Stoner Rock Albums of the Decade

The decade began before this blog was started , I can not just rely on sorting through previous reviews. This is not something I can just thumb back through reviews for , I am just embedding video clips to support the reasoning for these albums to be listed as such, since I already did a best of the year list for each sub-genre. Stoner rock in past years was often lumped in with sludge and doom, but this year I seperated everything out. Maybe these are not the hippest albums of the decade when it comes to this genre, btu what matters more is the fact these are the albums I listened to the most when it came to this sort of thing. ; Any ways here are the Top 10 Stoner rock  albums of the decade.



10- Uncle Acid & the Dead Beats - "Wasteland"-2018 








9-Blood Ceremony- "the Eldritch Dark " 2013




 




8-Electric Wizard - "Black Masses"- 2010








7-Atomic Bitchwax -"Force Field " 2017





 



6-Hippie Death Cult-"111"- 2019 








5- King Woman- Created in the Image of Suffering"-2017


 




4-Windhand- "Eternal Return"-2018








3- Queens of the Stoneage- "Villains"-2017 









2-the Devils Blood- "the ThounsandFold Epicentre" /2011 -









1-Clutch- "Psychic Warfare" -2015 





 

the Top 10 Stoner Rock Albums of 2019

It's that time of year again, to sort through the top 10 albums of all the respective genres, then use compile the top 10 albums of the year. Later in the month I am making  the top 10 lists for the decade, though to be blunt  this is the decade's weakest year for music.  Especially when it comes to new artists, however stoner rock is one of the few genres that proved an exception to this as only 4 of the 10 bands are veterans.  You had to search much harder to find ten albums that rose above, yet that is what I did. As in  past years I am  giving a brief explanation as to why these albums stand over their peers in lower positions on the list. The very fact these bands made it on the list speaks to how great these albums are so it's not a slight that the number 8 album is above the 9th album, there is something that just gives it an edge that makes me want to listen to it more. After all we can try to look cool and pick the hippest bands for a list, but at the end of the day what makes an album the best is that it makes you want more, you look forward to listening to it again. Sure you can bitch and complain about your favorite band not being on the list. However  I listen to five new albums a day so yes I heard your favorite album and was not impressed. No,  I do not care what you think about. it  I do hope you can find your next favorite on this list  and  have included links to reviews of these albums if you want to check out audio on these guys. Anyways here are the top 10 stoner rock  albums of 2019 .

10 Arrowhead - "Coven of the Snake" 

 A great deal of retro stoner metal that falls in the rotation of these guys. They are really good at what they do. I hear hear some Think Lizzy influence in how the vocal melodies work, so this is not just Sabbath worship. The guitar tone of this Sydney band is very much metal and the grooves are aggressive. They are more about getting stoned in a van with a wizard airbrushed on . If you are too then don't sleep on this album.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2019/11/november-doom-arrowhead-coven-of-snake.html

9-Pale Gray Lore-"Eschatology"

 This is a heavy handed version of drug laced Camaro rock. The vocals offer more hopefully floating sense of melody.The tight syncopated feel of what they do has as much as in common with Helmet as they do Kyuss, with more to their songs than just bong worship. This took the number 9 spot from Arrowhead because these guys go more places and give them a spin of their own rather than sticking to conventions.


 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2019/07/pale-grey-lore-eschatology.html

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8-Black Mountain- "Destroyer" 

 They experiment with the stoner rock formula, blowing it up and then melting it back together. It barrows from elements of music that I like so the fact their influences are sometimes worn on their sleeves is ok with me. This album sounds great, unlike my complaint this year that there are many albums where they have a good sound , but not good songs. This is not the case here and shows what a good balance of this should be.More focused and better executed than the Pale Grey Lore album.



 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2019/04/black-mountain-destroyer.html

7-Silver Tomb- Edge of Existence 

One Half of Type O Negative, they are using pot to cope with their grief where A Pale Horse Called Death tries harder to carry the torch. There was always a psychedelic touch to Type-o, this expands of of that. With Kenny Hickey handling the vocals there is more grit than your average stoner band. Darker and heavier than the more polished Black Mountain.


 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2019/11/november-doom-silvertomb-edge-of.html

6- Seer - "Vol 6"

 This band is going in a more proggy direction. The vocals are greatly improved and pretty much the key selling point for this one ,though if you are into guitar solos those are well done too. It beats Sliver Tomb, due to the vocals being better which is key for me.

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2019/01/seer-vol-6.html

5- Monolord - "No Comfort"

 This Swedish band continues to find their sound maturing. So much so , the second song is more of a 70s rock thing than the kind of fuzzed out Sabbath worship. This might not be as heavier as previous releases , but I like the jammy feel of the songs. Their songwriting and over all scope of sound outclasses Seer

. https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2019/09/monolord-no-comfort.html

4- Ecstatic Vision- "For the Masses" 

 They remind me of Monster Magnet more often then not. A little warmer and  more organic sound than Monster Magnet but in the same sonic sphere. They boogie and groove along, often making me wish I did not quit smoking pot as they would sound great high. They came out on top of Monolord because they are more sonically intense.

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2019/11/november-doom-ecstatic-vision-for-masses.html

3- Green Lung- "Woodland Rites" 

This band worships the green that taints their lungs . They have been getting some buzz, The balance between Sabbath worship and having their won sound is for the most part achieved. The vocals are in more of an Ozzy direction, with touches of Ian Gillan perhaps. The over all vibe of this album is what snags the number 3 spot from Ecstatic Vision.


 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2019/11/november-doom-green-lung-woodland-rites.html

2- Howling Giant- "Space Between Worlds "


This band is capable of pulling out some impressive doom riffs right along side of their more bong drenched moments of hyper tension.The vocals make me think of Foo-fighters , but comparisons could be just as easily drawn to Atomic Bitchwax, since the last Atomic Bitch Wax album sounded like if the Foo- Fighters were smoking meth. it turned out to be a great deal heavier than expected going into this and the prog elements do not diminish the power. Even more ambitious than Green Lung.


 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2019/11/howling-giant-space-between-worlds.html

1-Hippie Death Cult -"III" 


 The key selling point of this band to me is their singer,This guy is fucking outstanding as  he encompasses a great deal of dynamic range while retaining a bluesy sound.ere plenty of things like guitar solos to keep most metal heads happy. There is more proto metal to the riffing, the singer is what really sets these guys apart . Sure there is a little Ian Gillan to his voice at times, but that is better than another half ass Ozzy imitator. They are where they are because they have the best vocals which in turns gives them a more defined identity .

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2019/11/november-doom-hippie-death-cult-111.html

November Doom - Hippie Death Cult : "111"

The key selling point of this band to me is their singer,This guy is fucking outstanding as  he encompasses a great deal of dynamic range while retaining a bluesy sound. Phil in Down could be a fair comparison, though this guys can back off into a smoother rock sound. Not saying that Phil can not do that, this is just not as a overtly metal sound having more in common with Thin Lizzy though with more colors to his voice.  The first song is more Sabbath like with "Unborn' going off into Deep Purple tinged prog. They go off more into jams here. "Pigs" is more of a boogie. Yes, Sabbath has moments like these and those are not doom either.  It is not until the middle of the song the singer gets to use something other than a whiskey tinged blues belt.

"Treehugger" is more melodic and give him room to open up and sing again. There are the Sabbath like riffs as well , so they can do this without turning their backs on their heavier side. The bass cuts through on this one and is Geezer influenced in that is remains melodic without following the guitar parts. The vocals have a call and response dynamic with themselves. The singer also lets out some harsher Pantera like screams . The last song things get much more Sabbath like, leaning into the heavier side. The melodic section three minutes in reminds me of how Sabbath uses a similar dynamic on songs like "Fairies Wear Boots'.  The vocals are not allowed as much singing room, but do keep from falling until just a straightforward belting. They guitar also has more of a a metallic attack, reminding more of Sabbath's "Born Again" album than the Ozzy years. The Pantera screaming becomes a thing again as the song builds.

The last song and perhaps the second song are the only two that fall under more conventional realms. There plenty of things like guitar solos to keep most metal heads happy. There is more proto metal to the riffing, the singer is what really sets these guys apart . Sure there is a little Ian Gillan to his voice at times, but that is better than another half ass Ozzy imitator.This album is a solid 9. Will be searching for a down load of it for sure.