Wizard Rifle (Stoner/Noise Rock) - 'Here in the Deadlights' CD Review (Seventh Rule Recordings)

Portland-to-Los Angeles three-piece Wizard Rifle released their second disc, Here in the Deadlights, in October (Seventh Rule Recordings) and this new five song disc combines sludgy stoner rock with muscular garage punk along with some elements of free-form jazz. In terms of comparisons, the sludge of Melvins, the bluesy stoner-rock of Mudhoney and the destructive garage punk sounds of any of the early AmRep bands (i.e. Halo of Flies) immediately come to mind but Wizard Rifle’s music is also cross-cut with the free-form unpredictability of no-wave punks like James Chance and the Contortions. All of the songs clock in around the six minute mark and they are highlighted by excellent production, which clearly brings the band’s sonic wall of sound to the forefront. Here in the Deadlights was recorded at guitarist Max Dameron’s Breakfast Studios and mixed by Billy Anderson (Sleep) and Jesse Johnstone.

The disc starts with “Crystal Witch”, which combines the swirling psychedelia of early Pink Floyd with stoner sludge and a big, muscular guitar sound. This is a high-energy number with building guitar riffs and tom rolls over which Dameron and drummer Sam Ford sing in a bluesy, hoarse rasp. This number immediately flows into “Buzzsaw Babes”, which is a garage/blues number that features a twisting guitar line, a big bottom-end bass and pounding drums along with fuzzed out vocals. “Paul The Sky Tyrant” is more of a heavier song with its grinding, groove-based riffs and marching beat. The (mostly clean) vocals on this number are beneath a twisted guitar line and the music is more bluesy than fuzzy. “Psychodynamo” is the longest track on the disc, clocking in at almost nine minutes, and this number starts with minor key, atmospheric, space-rock and spoken word vocals that build and eventually pick up speed , taking the song to an old-school hardcore ending. The disc closes with “Beastwhores”, which starts as a post-punk free-form jazz number that morphs into stoner psychedelic sludge.

What is fitting, given the sound of this band, is that Seventh Rule has pressed a limited edition vinyl version of Here in the Deadlights on “Deep Purple” Color-in-Color Vinyl (ltd to 100 Copies). Buy this through the label’s mail order shop before you have to pay eBay collectors’ prices.

Wizard Rifle has shared the stage with the likes of Yob, Church Of Misery, Black Cobra, Arabrot and Rabbits and the band was recently in town for a show at St. Vitus. In an era where almost every concert is recorded, I couldn't find any live footage from the band's recent fall tour so - here is a video from Wizard Rifle's 2012 show at The Acheron.



Links:
Wizard Rifle

Zolle [Italian Stoner/Doom Band] - Self-Titled CD Review (Out May 13th on Supernatural Cat)

STREAM: Zolle - "Trakthor"

I find it difficult to write reviews of instrumental albums as, often, the individual songs don’t stand out or break from the overall sound of the album. As such, it is difficult to make reference to any high or low points on the disc as these sorts of albums one listens to start-to-finish or not at all.

Instrumental Italian stoner/doom duo Zolle will release their self-titled debut album on May 13th via Supernatural Cat. The band practices a ‘less-is-more’ approach and pummels and grinds through the disc’s groove and riff-oriented ten tracks in twenty-eight minutes. While the music is relentlessly heavy, the band expresses their sense of humor through the song titles – many of which reference redneck living. The band’s most recent single, “Heavy Letam”, is suggestive of “Letame” — which means manure in Italian — resulting in “a shitty anagram about heavy metal.”

Continuing with the redneck references, the band’s bio starts with the line “Only those who know the ease of a cow while defecating can understand the genesis of the songs of Zolle.” While I have no idea what this means, somehow it seems relevant to the video below.



Zolle was formed by Marcello Lan (Morkobot), who lays down the meaty riffs, and counterpart Stefano who beefs things up on drums and xylophone, the duo commenced work on their debut album throughout the summer of 2012, and in just two months they had the music ready to commit to tape.

Their self-titled album was recorded in September of the same year by Michelangelo Roberti at Mizkey Studio (Morkobot) and mastered by Giovanni Versari (Zu, Morkobot, OvO, One Dimensional Man). It was almost all played live, with overdubs reduced to the bone. The drums are of considerable proportion and made of copper and the amplifier an old digital model of the ’50s which makes for a mammoth sound. Finally, Urlo from Ufomammut and Roberto Rizzo of Quasiviri/Runi add synth seasoning to flesh out the album.

Links:
Zolle

Spiritual Beggars - "Mantra III" CD Review (The End Records)

Spiritual Beggars’ third disc Mantra III (1998) is a well-crafted halfway point between the psychedelia of Another Way to Shine (1996) and the hard rock/grunge of Ad Astra (2000). For this release, I think the closest point of comparison is The Battle Rages On- era Deep Purple as the addition of prominent organ / mellotron from newcomer Per Wiberg adds a “Jon Lord” feel to the songs. Adding to the Deep Purple comparison, vocalist Spice utilized a gruff “Ian Astubry” vocal style on Another Way to Shine but leans more toward clean bluesy leads this time out which sound similar to Ian Gillan.

The disc starts out on an off-beat note with “Superbossanova” which is an instrumental bossa nova piece (as if it would be something else given the name of the track) before kicking into “Homage to the Betrayed”, which is a hard rock number built around a riff-based groove and a big bottom end. This track is fairly indicative of the overall sound of the disc as it has more energy and drive than Another Way to Shine and there are shades of the arena rock (“Homage to the Betrayed”, “Land of Prozac”) that took full form on Ad Astra. Breaking up the core sound of the disc, in addition to the opening track, is “Inside Charmer”, which starts with a bossa nova intro before going into a Rod Evans style 60’s psychedelic stoner track. The band really hits their groove on the numbers that sounds as though they could have come from Deep Purple’s catalogue. Tracks like “Euphoria” and “Sad Queen Boogie” make me shocked that I never heard this disc at the time it was originally released. The band even pulls off an extended Deep Purple-like instrumental jam on the track “Mushroom Tea Girl” and doesn’t let the track sag at any point over its 8+ minute running time.



The original issue of this disc was 12 tracks (54 minutes) but addition of three bonus tracks to this reissue takes the running time to 70 minutes. “The Band is Playing” is a Southern boogie number, “Redwood Blues” is a guitar-based blues grind and the disc closes with an alternative mix of "Euphoria".

Links:
Spiritual Beggars

Thinning The Herd - "Oceans Rise" CD Review (St Mark's Records)

I missed Oceans Rise (St. Mark’s Records) when it came out (April 5th) and probably would have never gotten around to listening to this disc if I hadn’t received an email that it was going to expire from my promo pool. I’m glad that I grabbed this disc when I did as I would have been missing out a good thing. Oceans Rise is groove-based stoner metal crossed with a healthy dose of grunge and the disc sounds like what you would get by throwing Metallica, Alice in Chains and the current incarnation of Pentagram into a blender.

Thinning the Herd has been around since 2006 and the band is a power-trio comprised of guitarist/vocalist (and fine artist) Gavin Spielman, bassist Nick Lee and drummer Ben Proudman. Spielman sings with a raw but clean vocal style that leads to comparisons to Layne Staley or Pepper Keenan and his clean guitar riffs and solos adds a distinctive element which keeps the band from ‘sinking’ while mining the well-traveled grunge and stoner-metal genres. Adding to the mix, Lee and Proudman lay down the disc’s bottom-end with some muscular grooves and tight fills that sound like they came out of St. Vitus (or any of Wino’s other projects).

The disc’s eight tracks (35 minutes) go by fairly quickly in a haze of slow-burning, dirgey blues riffs (“On Fire”), Sabbath grooves (“Chill in the Air”), greasy hard rock (“Defiler”) and Soundgarden-style grunge (“Binge”, "Look Behind") which make a memorable impact without over-staying their welcome.



Links:
Thinning The Herd

Maserati Live @ Northsix, Brooklyn Dec. 2, 2006

It was an interesting night at Northsix last night as all the bands were (predominately) all instrumental. Maserati drew the biggest crowd of the night with its brand of space/ psychedelic rock. Maserati's website describes the band's music as "Pink Floyd for hipsters...[t]his is stoner rock for the working man." I can't think of a better description. Just to be clear -- this isn't the Roger Waters era of Pink Floyd that the band is referring to. Maserati's sound goes straight back to the Syd Barrett/Piper at the Gates of Dawn era. Many of the tracks played last night would fit well along side of Pink Floyd tracks like Interstellar Overdrive.

Maserati hasn't done a show in the area for almost two years but they are returning next Sunday night (Dec. 10) for a Todd P show @ Uncle Paulie's.

Here is the scoop on Uncle Paulie's:

[ UNCLE PAULIE'S ]
$2 beer! Uncle Paulie's is totally a temporary structure built out of blue canvas and two by fours and plywood on a slab of concrete next to the huge under-construction death star minaret upside-down hot-air-balloon lookin' sewage treatment plant in Greenpoint. During the daylight, men in hard hats eat fried food here. Totally patio, but totally inside! Easy to get to but so far out nobody cares! Noise & djs till the wee hours! $2 beer! Bring yr ID for the beverages.
-- MYSPACE --> http://www.myspace.com/unclepauliesnyc

Maserati has a new CD/LP Inventions for the New Season due out in the Spring on Temporary Residence, Ltd. A couple tracks from this release have already been posted to the band's MySpace page. The pre-release tracks sound great and band's set last night was phenominal so this upcoming release will be something to look forward to.

I have a couple additional pictures from the show posted below: