November is Doom- The Top 10 Stoner Rock Albums of 2021

 

Do you smoke weed? Have you continued to smoke more this year?  Here are the albums you should have been listening to. These are album that are not prog or doom, falling somewhere in the middle with more than likely a heavy doses of bong blues to them Ok now that that is out of the way, much like in years past   sort through the genre lists before making the overall top ten of the year list. I know many of you are ready for this year to be over with. Hate to break it to you but nothing is getting better next year. 

 The fact these artists 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 a albums of 2021

10- Hot Ram -" Electric Medicine" 

This is almost more of an honorable mention this Atlanta band might have missed the hipster wave of popularity but are confident and doing their own thing. The vocals are set back into the guitars often more barked than sung.  They are not too stoned to keep things moving as rather than the typical lumber they come at a pretty brisk pace

Abysmal Hymns: November is Doom- Hot Ram- "Electric Medicine"

9- Jess and the Ancient Ones - "Vertigo"

They move in a heavier direction with a slightly weird mix but it is darker.  While they have typically been a more retro 'occult rock| type sound, there is slight Sixousie tinge to the vocals. Vried influences color this album but the keyboards anchor them back in the more 60's style sound  

Abysmal Hymns: Jess and the Ancient Ones : "Vertigo"

 

8-Red Fang -Arrows"

 Their 5th album so they know what they are doing. Grinding weighty riffs and gruff vocals smoothing out into more melodic choruses. This hookier sound that is more like if the Foo Fighters were a metal band.

Abysmal Hymns: Red Fang : "Arrows"

 

7- Appalooza - the Holy of Holies" 

Grunge is not far removed from stoner rock as bands like Soundgarden and Screaming Trees really blurred the lines. i This band offers a modern and sometime heavier take on that sort of thing, at times they are not far removed from Godsmack. However, the smoke better which has inspired their dynamic and darker slant that drew me into this album. 

Abysmal Hymns: Appalooza : "the Holy of Holies"

6-Confusion Master -"Haunted" 

 Not sure why Cthulhu is on the album cover as there is nothing Lovecraftian about the lyrics, though they are horror movie inspired. They are heavy as fuck, but still care about the songs. Often using samples well to set the mood and jams the fuck on on burly grooving riffs that are inspired by an evil bong.,

Abysmal Hymns: November is Doom- Confusion Master- "Haunted"

 

5- Psychic Hit : " Solutio"

This band did not just fall off a turnip truck in California, these guys come from the likes of Hawkwind  and Funeral Chant. They know how to tap into early 70s metal recalling even Judas Priest. Their other heavy boogies pull from Thin Lizzy and Alice Cooper. Powerhouse vocalist, Ariana Jade as enough sass and sultry to her voice to feel like a legit proto metal front woman.

Abysmal Hymns: Psychic Hit : " Solutio"

4-King Buffalo- " the Burden of Restlessness" 

This band from New York graced our best of 2020 stoner rock albums and they are monsters; when it comes to writing as they have unleashed a new batch of exotic grooves that borders on being progressive though the bulk of what they do when not using a taunt Tool like snake of a riff is to drone on it until the drugs simmer some.

Abysmal Hymns: November is Doom- King Buffalo : "The Burden of Restlessness"

3-Book of Wyrms - "Occult New Age" 

Retro tinged stoner proto metal not unlike the kind that rose to a new level of popularity just over a decade ago is back with this band from Virginia. The Lindseys are a husband-and-wife team, with Sarah singing and Jay playing bass. The guitars are pretty dominate in the mix of these very jammy tunes. They move at the pace of Ted Nugent with more boogie than doom lumbering, though the Sabbath influence can be felt, thought at no point in time do they feel like a tribute band which is one thing I like about them

 Abysmal Hymns: Book of Wyrms : "Occult New Age"

2-Hippie Death Cult - "Circle of Days " 

Their 2019 album was awesome, so I will settle for an EP   There is more of a Sabbath vibe to the groove here They have a jammy feel, but are always moving the song. The great solos are great the vocals bellow and they coast along until drifting back out into a haze of pot smoke

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

1-Boss Keloid - "Family the Smiling Thrush" 

On the more progressive side of bong , this album finds it exhaled in an angular yet ballsy manner than flirts with metal. The grooves are formed from odd times. The vocals are more blues based perhaps not as commanding as Clutch, but cut from a somewhat similar cloth. The guitar tone is weird it sounds to be harmonizing with synths.

Abysmal Hymns: Boss Keloid : " Family the Smiling Thrush"

November is Doom- Hot Ram- "Electric Medicine"

 The stoner scene is Atlanta was big with the hipsters for minute then they moved onto what ever was next, These guys missed that wave but are confident and doing their own thing. The vocals are set back into the guitars when the are sung and come up in the mix when more barked. This works of a familiar loud to soft dynamic from the 90s. They are not too stoned to keep things moving as rather than the typical lumber they come at a pretty brisk pace. The second song is like if "Into the Void " was given a more thrash driven groove. Is there some Mastodon influence? Yes, is that a coincidence given where they are from ? Ummmm, it still works as a song. 

The chugs are beginning to take on a more uniform sound so while I am going to need more from them moving forward from this point this still works for what they are doing the vocals once again sit back and cost on  lower almost whispered vocal to more of a throaty bellow.  At the two and a half minute mark they switch it up and go into more of a jammy boogie.  They try to cover Judas Priest's "Riding on the Wind".. For a group whos a three piece that does not place great emphasis on vocals they are at a disadvantage here, granted they can always layer guitar in studio to try to replicate the twin guitar attack of Priest , but why try to sing something Rob Halford penned unless you can get up in your head register? I would have preferred another original song. 

"the Grave of the Arch Stanton" has more of a Clutch feel to it, in terms of winding bouncing groove and the way the vocals are handled. It does step away from the more chugged riffage the front end of the album was heavy on so I will give them that.  The beginning of "Binary Sunset" is a dramatic departure from what we have gotten from them earlier in the album and is the kind of dynamic shift I wanted to hear if they were capable of. From a song writing perspective  it kind of wanders off in the distant and some of the fat could have been trimmed as it drones for four minutes past where it should have gone. I will give this album an 8.5, it is not perfect, but puts this fledgling band ahead of the other unknowns fighting in the Atlanta underground metal scene and allows them to do better than just hold their own in the stoner metal scene, if you are into more aggressive and metallic stoner metal then this is one of the year's better albums.