CD Review: Krokodil Dental Plan - Feed my Krokodil (Stoner, 2020)

The music of the french stoner combo gave me hope and power on a cloudy day. Which route does the band take? It's the mixture of direct riffs that leave the speakers a unpolished way to lay the foundation for dirty Rock 'n' Roll.

 

Next to go is that groove that pumps relentlessly and will keep you rockin' out to the music. It makes you want more of the same once you've had taste of it. The second track "Die A Million Times" brings this on point. 

Finally the vocals are rough and mixed more to the background but it's welcomed. I think it would ruin the sound if taken too much to the front.

The biggest strength however is the many faces the band shows during performing it's music. Each of the six tracks has been worked on in detail. While sure it's loud and rude music it's also that Krokodil Dental Plan fine-tuned each number on the EP. 

 

"Né Pour Perdre" for instance is keen on giving you the extra of rough guitar sounds. It centers well around those loud notes but doesn't have the groove monster under it "Die A Million Times" presents.

The title track itself seems to focus on speedy vocal performance but surprises with a softer jamming solo-section. The bass guitar rules "Hot Served Enemy", a straight Rocker with slightly guitar-driven variations. The last song "Old Man of Sorrow" closes the release with midtempo slower music but with the distinct sound that makes this band remarkable for me.

The EP is well worth the money for the many sides of Dirty Rock it provides. The CD is shipped out for 5 Euro plus shipping and handling while the download comes at the same price at Bandcamp.

 

CD Review: Arcade Messiah - III (Instrumental Metal, 2016)

Massive guitars - these words were left behind in my mind after listening to the newest effort of Arcade Messiah. John Bassett impressively shows how to present guitar wizardry in modern sounds to the audience these days.

The album cover for Arcade Messiah's "III", (c) by Arcade Messiah, used with kind permission

Summary
 
The longplayer simply entitled "III" is packed to the brim with beautiful and massive guitar sounds. If you adore such sounds the first three tracks, especially "Citadel" and "Revolver" will make you alone more than happy. You don't need to read further - go straight forward to Bandcamp and buy the record for a few bucks. You can't go wrong here.

For all others it should be mentioned that the album builds up the tonality to a absolute peak in the first three tracks. Afterwards the tension falls down a bit to give air for some more breathing to the atmosphere. Those two numbers that follow go with less massive sound and examine the fragileness of guitar sounds with softer music.

What else has changed since the last record? "III" is compared to the previous album a output that comes in a much thicker presentation. Everything has been outworked to sound heavy from the start. Most of all the drums speak out clearly to me. They are much more brutal and present than on "II". Even the bass shines more through on this album. In addition some vocals can be heard. They fit well and don't ruin the listening experience. 

It's the fun that winds down in your ears while listening to the album that makes it stand out from other releases. John Bassett plays a lot with themes and motives on this one and it's simply a calming and positive feeling those notes leave behind.

Purchase-Link and Album Player

Please appreciate those efforts with a purchase. These time no physical format can be offered since John Bassett moved his home while creating these tunes and decided to go a safe route finacially. But the digital plattform Bandcamp happily offers losless formats so you will have the same quality with the files than having a pressed CD.  Enjoy a preview in the player below.

Contact Data

The story of Arcade Messiah goes on! Make sure to follow the project through their homepage or use Facebook to do so.

CD Review: Arcade Messiah - II

Short Introduction

Arcade Messiah is a one-man instrumental metal music project from KingBathmat frontman John Bassett. It combines a mix of Metal/Post Rock/Stoner/Doom/Prog elements all together on one disc. The first album was released exactly one year ago and received a lot of positive feedback from fans all over the world.

John Bassett spoke to Prog Megazine about the resonace he received. He was surprised about the positive reactions so he decided to create a sequel. He further said that it's meant to be a sort of continuation of the first record but with the hope of being a better, bigger and more dramatic piece of music. The intention was to grow the music without losing the vibe and atmosphere of the original album. The next chapter in the history of Arcade Messiah is set for release on 22nd November 2015 via Bandcamp and then everywhere else on Nov 27 through Stereohead Records.

(c) by Arcade Messiah, used with kind permission

Summary / Player / Purchase-Link

Please bring some time to listen to the album properly. It comes with many layers of melody and variation in them that are ofter overwhelming on the first listen. But if you give them more spins you'll discover so many fine points that you'll wonder what you may've overheard the time before. 

The album is well worth some money. Currently the pre-order price is set at 0,99 GBP on Bandcamp until the release on 22nd of November 2015. Afterwards you'll be able to set the amount free of choice. Please give some bucks so independent and progressive music can continue to push on forward and offer all of us even more of these great musical journeys. It will take you out of your everyday life for a good amount on time and I remember having enjoyed every single minute of it.

If you decide to pick up a physical copy packed in a six panel digipack you'll be rewarded with a ninth track on the disc that add's a playing time of 19 additional minutes to your playing time. That track is something very special, all of you guys out there digging the long-tracks of progressive music will love this. It's like a never-ending epic.

The record will be released on 22nd November via Bandcamp. Currently a album preview is available for streaming as well as two full tracks. I've included the full songs at the Album-Overview section of the review. Here is the album-roundup to get a quick idea of the record:

Album-Overview (Track-by-track review)

Moon Signal: after a slow intro section the album starts with a high complexity. This is a well outworked piece of guitar work. It really needs a lot of time to get through all of the sections and comes in very rough. Don't let this hinder you. It's a rather heavy start to the album but the further tracks go in a bit easier.

Red Widow: More groove based progmetal. It's a breaker and positive "push-it-forward-track". Complex yet very fitting drums and guitar shred on this one. Rough sections follow cleaner parts and surprisingly some total soft-toned notes see the light towards the last third of the song. They lead over to a very dirstorted part with crushing guitars all over. The end comes fast and abrupt.

Black Dice Maze: The song starts out as a beautifull ballad with clean and pure guitars. The drums fit very well to this starting a soft rhythm. Drastically it all changes and a lot of roughness comes rushing in. This goes over to a typical prometal riff and finally unfolds into some more rough crushing and edgy guitar sound giving it all a more complex and hard sound structure. The next move goes back to the progmetal style and comes around clearer and in a more compact style. The end comes in very climatic and dramatic before the whole soundsphere collapses and goes back to some soft notes but not in the same style as at the beginning.

Gallows Way: A clear and calling sound speaks out of the guitar. Is there someone out there? This creates a very spheric and haunting atmosphere. I often wonder why some of the roughest records include hard tracks but at the same time there are these soft pearls in there as well. Those give you freezing chills. This is one of those shining diamonds. It doesn't last long but maybe you'll remember it as long in your mind as I did... The slightly distorted ending builds a crossing to the next track.

(c) by John Bassett, used wth kind permission

Fourth Quarter: A fine mixture of rougher and silker soundscapes can be found in this one. Held in a typical progressive style it's slightly hard but with a very warm and melodic tonality to it. Beautiful melodies can be found a lot in here.
It's like walking through a garderen that offers so many flowers to see. A intensive journey through what instrumental progressive music can offer in all of it's variations, diversity and complexity.

Via Occulta: A short intermission. Clear guitar notes flying around. The drums catch them up and form a little jam-alike atmosphere.

Read the Sky: A highly complex track. It get's back to the rough style. Held in a midtempo the track evolves around the main riff and comes with a lot of distortion. Inside of the storm you'll find a eye of melody that shine through. The darkest and hardest track of the album in my ears.

Start Missing Everyone: Spacy sounds start this one.But once that is gone sheer power takes over. A compact closing point. A good ending point for all people taking the download edition.

The Four Horsemen (CD-only-track): A catchy start to the epic with soft yet ever-changing guitar sounds and rhythm patterns. It evolves even further to a powerfull guitar bloom but not so heavily distorted as "Read the sky". It comes to a first peak towards nearly the half of the track and goes over to a somewhat ghostly spheric intermission just to come back with fresh power before going back in the softer mode and back to power again. The chilling and dreamingly sphere is present on the vast majority of the next track section before heavyness comes rushing back in. The drumming is most complex on this song. Lot's of variations and drum fills. The end set's a last mark on heavyness leaving me in the hope that we'll hear more of this great musician in the future.

Bevar Sea taking us inside of the studio with full new song

Yeah, india's doom metal band Bevar Sea has entered the studio a while back to lay down their new written songs on tape. Happily enough for us the band is sharing some insights into this creative working process by letting us hear some of the new material in advance.

(c) by Bevar Sea, used with kind permission

This time they've released the full new track "Where there's smoke (there's a pyre)" on Soundcloud. As far as I can hear this one is showing a bit of the faster side of the new album since it's a pushing forward track yet it has all the strong and pure riffing trademark's for which doom metal became so loved and liked for.

What I like on top of this is that it comes along packed in such a traditional sounding production. It feels as if you could be inside of the rehearsal room with Bevar Sea and hear them playing. I love the roughness of the sound, it gives such a hard, heavy and direct feeling to the music. The song made me feel well all the way.

The new record is entitled "Invoke the bizarre" and has been set for release on 1st September 2015. Make sure to see the band's Soundcloud page, there's already more preview stuff up there for you to check out... And give the band a like on Facebook to be sure not to miss out the further recording process.

Reverence Festival 2015 announces line-up and early bird tickets

Yeah, the Open Air season is drawing near. You can feel in my eyes that the emotions and feelings are getting better the more the sun shines and the more time you can spend outside.

So here's the info for the 2015 edition of the Reverence Festival for all the people living in Portugal or nearby to make this summer something special for you. Note that the early bird tickets can help you save some of your precious festival budget and a new feature the "Sunrise Psychedelic Jam" has been installed. There's also a new possibility for accommodation available if you need a bit of luxury at this point.

On August 27th, 28th and 29th Reverence festival returns to Valada, Portugal, to offer up another weekender of quality psychedelia. This monster line-up showcases acts from the stoner, grunge, shoegaze and doom scene, with more acts to be announced in the coming weeks.

Update 2015/07/06: If you want to have the quickest overview on this festival I suggest you to watch the video below. It presents the 2015 edition line-up along with some nice video impressions from the camping grounds, festival visitors, some stage impressions and the nice surroundings of the festival place in a short 2 minute video. A longer video showing a more detailed view on the 2014 edition can be found at the very end of this article (just scroll down to the end of the text).

Update 2015/07/02: The line-up still grows! This looks like it will be a massively valueable event to visit.
Recently added to the already diverse line-up is the cemented folk rock band Sean Riley & The Slow Riders, also performing will be heavy doom rockers, Samsara Blues Experiment, and legendary stalwarts The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, who continually push the line in experimentation.

Update 2015/05/21: New bands have been added to the line-up: UFOMAMMUT, BIZARRA LOCOMOTIVA, 10.000 RUSSOS, DEAD GHOSTS

(c) by Reverence Festival, used with kind permission

Reverence Festival is somewhat of a marathon, where hardcore fans can bask in Valada’s Summer heat as late as 6am. This year they’ll debut their ‘Sunrise Psychedelic Jam’ which will see members of various bands on the bill play together while the sun rises over the river.

UK psych breakthroughs The Horrors headline with Californian doom legends Sleep, at two ends of this hyperspecific spectrum, these giants of their genres perfectly summarise the Reverence sound pallet.

French post-rock heroes Alcest also star at the top of the bill next to Amon Düül II, the German outfit largely considered to be one of the founders of the Krautrock scene and a seminal influence on its development. It’s with bands like these that not only prove Reverence to be multi-cultural in their tastes, but also true to the scene in which they’ve mastered.

Ex Brian Jonestown Massacre, Joel Gion & The Primary Colours also head up the powerhouse weekender with transcendental psych soundscapes and blistering walls of feedback, whilst Ukrainian rockers Stoner Jesus dish up their own divine take on the genre.

The event takes place in the relaxed surroundings of Parque de Merendas, which runs along the banks of the Tejo river and includes a fluvial beach, picnic areas and coffee shops. Traditional Portuguese food and drinks including vegan and vegetarian will be available, as well as camping facilities adjacent to the festival site with toilets and showers.

Valada is a small picturesque village, in the heart of Cartaxo, famous for agriculture and wine production. Often considered the wine capital of Portugal, Reverence are celebrating by having the local produce available all weekend. Located approximately 60kms inland from Lisbon and 550km from Madrid, easily accessible via train from Lisbon where shuttle buses will be running from nearest station Reguengo to the festival site.

This year Reverence have teamed up with ‘Sleep Em All’, an up-market Portuguese camp accommodation company who specialise in tee-pees and luxury camping facilities. They will be taking over a one acre area of the fifteen acre campsite with luxury tents and caravans, which will be available for €11 to €17 per person per night.

3 DAY TICKETS:
€ 58 from February 13 - 30 June
€ 65 from 1 August - 26 August
€ 70 from 27 August

DAY TICKETS:
€ 35 from 13 February - 4 June
€ 30 from 1 August - 26 August
€ 45 from 27 August

THURSDAY TICKETS:
€ 10 from 13 February - 26 August
€ 27 in August

Tickets: www.blueticket.pt  www.ticketline.sapo.pt 
Reverence: http://www.reverencefestival.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/reverencevalada
Sleep Em All: http://www.sleep-em-all.com

If you would like to check out some of the highlights of Reverence Festival 2014 or just to see how things are set up there see the video below.

CD Review: Bevar Sea - Bevar Sea

Note:  If you have a own band or project that you think might fit in well here for a review or as a presentation / introduction please drop me a line or two in a E-Mail. Please see my profile for my E-Mail adress. I appreciate new suggestions very much so don't hesitate to contact me. I'm also interested in band news / updates / tourdates so keep the stuff coming. Thanks!

If you're having troubles writing in English please send me a E-Mail in your preferred language or use the free Google Translator to transfer your message to English. I also use that tool, it's of course not perfect but I think it will mostly likely work out for our purposes.

Short Introduction

Bevar Sea are a stoner/doom band that is located in Bangalore / India. The band formed back in late 2010.  They have been influenced by heavy blues-rock of the ‘60s and ‘70s, the band is focused on presenting classic heavy metal exactly the way it should be, by employing an organic, no-frills approach to songwriting and live musicianship. This review talks about the first full length output of the band. At the moment Bevar Sea are working on a brand new record which is schedulded for a release mid 2015.

(c) by Bevar Sea, used with kind permission

Short summary / Player / Purchase Link

If you love the Black Sabbath albums back from the very first days of this legendary band you'll love the music of Bevar Sea,too. To me personally the band took me back to my childhood days when I used to listen to songs like "Sabbath bloody sabbath", "Ironman" or "War pigs". It is a great pleasure for me to see a band is carrying on the torch of these roots of the doom metal.

The even more cool thing is that besides all the traditional sounding elements the band also took care to put in some fresh efforts by mixing in elements from the Stoner music into their songs. Another aspect I like is the length of the tracks. All of the tracks are longer tracks which play around a lot back and forth with the riffs and elements so you have a pure time of enjoyment with them and can the sometimes montone repeat of the stuff even let's you get in deeper into the songs. Well done!

The albums comes for the nice price of only 3 US Dollar as a download. There's also a cool limited edition of 500 physical copies on CD available that comes in a 3 panel digipak with a clear tray in the middle and a 12 page booklet. This version can be purchased for 8 Dollar at the Bandcamp page of the band.

Don't miss out the progress of the band recording the new album. You can keep a eye on them through Facebook or go to Youtube to see some videostuff of the album recordings.


Track by track review

1. The Smiler 
Big, bright riffs kick in rough and hard to this one. A riff change leads over to the vocal driven part. Very dark and sharp vocals give the track a gloomy atmosphere. Much variations put inside in this one like the clear bridge at the middle of the track. Extensive solo sections towards the end. A very compact and fitting open for the album.

2. Abishtu  
A slow bass intro opens up track two. Clear guitars follow before the typical rough guitars jump in and the tempo is altered. The fastest song of the album. In the middle towards the solo section a slight change to clear guitars mixed with distorted parts. The end is set in a similar form as the beginning. The cycle closes again.

(c) by Bevar Sea, used with kind permission

3. Universal Sleeper
More set in the doom tradition this one comes slower and more room for experimenting around with the riff. Vocals are very clear in the beginning but go over to a heavier style as the song progresses. A new riff at the middle gives the track a new direction, pushing forwards to a more experimenting, progressive touch.

4. Mono Gnome  
A very long and epic track with seventeen minutes duration this one closes the album. It starts with a typical riff and form for a Bevar Sea track. A riff-hacker with the hard and dark vocals many parts are set on a longer and montone form but giving the song the room for some experimentation and trying out several variations. Towards the middle of the song seems to morph over with a slower  section but comes back with the main theme afterwards only to change over to the next slower, experimental part with distortion filling a big room of the music. The final chapter is kept on a softer note with clear notes setting a big contrast to the previous very heavy styled song segments. A great way to end this epic song.

CD Review: The Dry Mouths - Two Months (easter gift inside)

Note:  If you have a own band or project that you think might fit in well here for a review or as a presentation / introduction please drop me a line or two in a E-Mail. Please see my profile for my E-Mail adress. I appreciate new suggestions very much so don't hesitate to contact me. I'm also interested in band news / updates / tourdates so keep the stuff coming. Thanks!

If you're having troubles writing in English please send me a E-Mail in your preferred language or use the free Google Translator to transfer your message to English. I also use that tool, it's of course not perfect but I think it will mostly likely work out for our purposes.

It's easter again, time to celebrate the (hopefully) upcoming spring time of the year.
As it is already a little tradition over here at the Metalunderdogs blog we are sort of giving away something so we can celebrate together.

Short Introduction

This year, thanks to the guys in The Dry Mouths we can enjoy the full band release catalogue totally for free. The band describes itself on Bandcamp as a "Alternative Rock band from Almeria, Spain. Their music is a mixture between the rock of the 90′, stoner and the experimentation, leaving itself to notice in the first listening influences like Nirvana, Tool, Mogwai, Explosions In The Sky, Black Sabbath or Pink Floyd."
All the four recordings of the band can be downloaded for free from Bandcamp.
This review talks about the newest release of the band the EP "Two Months" which was released at the beginning of 2015.

(c) by The Dry Mouths, used with kind permission

Summary / Player / Purchase Link 

What I like most about the band is that they dare to make things differently. It's not the same odd song structure's they restrict themselves to. They do try out a lot and always look for new ways so the music never get's monotone. Plus all the artworks having something of their own, it's stuff that put's a own finishing note to each recording.

On the "Two Months" album the band is keeping things very straight forward and very hard and heavy. Nevertheless they've also used the room for some experimentation so you'll notice some unusual stuff in the music also on this newest addition to the band's release list.

Since they've set up the download as a pay what you want option you can also decide to give a little back for what you've taken by handing over some coins to the band when asked at the download page.
You can also get physical copies of "Two months" as well as for all the other three releases of The Dry Mouths. Just check the detailed descriptions at the page of each recording on Bandcamp.

In addition the band has set up a download mirror for all the albums in various quality levels on their website. Please consider to spread the word about'em in return.

The band is going to play the next show on

Apr 18th
La Boca Club
Madrid, Spain

Also make sure to keep an eye of the further band activities via Facebook on the band's website.



Track-by-Track review

Tour P-2
A powerfull beginning for the record. Starts with powerfull chords, then goes over to a forth and backward moving riff and rhythm structure. Yet the song spreads a cool feeling with it.

Tea Pex
A compact and hard riff hits this one up. It moves over to a softer section just to return back to the harder structure. Followed up by changing moments between rougher and softer sections. The Solo section is kept with very high notes.

Party & Son
A slower beginning starts this midtempo number. The tempo speeds up with a cool drum fill pattern. The refrain spreads a relaxed feeling with a different speed. Another drum pattern - very diverse. You can feel the band has some fun playing around with their music.

(c) by The Dry Mouths, used with kind permission

Cold Mind
I love the counting in of the song! A rough and very compact track but the structure makes it a cool time to listen to it. Surely one of my favorites of the band so far.

Intromental / Info Mental IV
The last song starts with a softer touch. The band shows it's more technical side on this one. The rougher edge is presented in the second part followed up by some more softer notes the band is jamming upon. Part three holds again more roughness with very powerful chords and guitar leads put inside. Some classic metal riffs towards the end before some notes leave one with the hope behind that there will be more to come of this great band.

A sunset, a sunrise for the brand new The Dry Mouths EP

The Dry Mouths, one of the most active bands in Andalusia have released a superb new video for the song "Tour P-2". Set at the beautifull location of a sunset the band kicks out the new track with enormous power. I think not many bands out there are able to bring their raw and dirty power the way the band does on this song and video. In addition the bands performance shows a expression that really let's you feel the power the band has shown in the past years. The band did four albums in four years, videos and performances and an infinite number of concerts. Fans of a good mixture for hard rocking, handmade direct music with softer vocals that perfectly fit to the tone should stop by and check in here.



This video single gives a fresh look into the all-new release of the band entitled "Two Months", which has been released on the 15th of January 2015 on vinyl on the Clifford Records label. You can order the record directly through the Bandcamp page of the band. 

For 10 Euro plus shipping and handling you'll get five new songs on a beautifull 10 inch vinyl single plus a CD with the songs on it so you can store this rarity in a safe place. A immediate digital download is included as well to skip the waiting time until the arrival of the package. This edition is strictly limited to 250 pieces. 

The whole stuff comes packed into a unique cover which you can see below. It expresses in my eyes the very own way the band goes as a sound mixture between the rock of the 90's, stoner and experimentation. The cover gives it overall a more authentic feeling which gives you the feeling of holding something different in your hands. It's the memoy that it gives that you will remember afterwards. It is not one of the many records but this one, exactly this one piece of music that keeps in your mind for a long time.

(c) by The Dry Mouths, used with kind permission