TONEwood: stoner metal

Showing posts with label stoner metal. Show all posts

22 Dec 2018

TONEwood's Top 10 Metal Albums of 2018

For fear of sounding like a Jerry Seinfeld joke, what's with all the insane death metal albums this year? Though I consider myself to have a broad taste, my greatest worry in making this year's top 10 metal albums has been whether or not the list would be too samey. I decided that censoring or catering the list for any reason wouldn't be right - After all it should only be about which albums were best - subjectively, of course. Now the biggest challenge is gonna be varying the descriptions...

Mindkult: "Lucifer's Dream"

Timeless opium tunes at the edge of the cosmos

Looking for something that takes the edge off every day life? Then let Mindkult's cyclopean riffs crush you with sludgey heaviness instead of your day job and money troubles!

Sasquatch: "Maneuvers"

Retrospective stoner metal just the way we like it

As far as stoner metal goes, Sasquatch steer straight for the same pitfalls as many others; Their focus isn't on being original - They're clearly followers of classics like Fu Manchu and Kyuss. Rather, the focus lies with the simple enjoyability of their primal flow, the heavy-handed groove of a well-crafted rhythm section, and the craftsmanship of the riff.

Rozamov: "Of Gods and Flesh"

Destructive and heavy, just the way it's supposed to be

Atmosphere ranks highly on the list of elements that define American stoner/doom metal band Rozamov's second EP Of Gods and Flesh. With massive walls of distorted guitars, gigantic monoliths of bass and drums, the quartet form a solid core of doom with mood-setting gusts of ethereal vapors around it.

2016 Top 10 - Part I: The Metal Part

2016 has been an incredibly strong year for music. Although we've had to say goodbye to several legends, many new hopes continue to arise and bring the sound and feeling that we crave.

I've had the chance to listen to a relatively high amount of new albums this year, and only few of the albums I was anticipating were disappointing. Of course choosing just ten was incredibly tough with many huge contenders sadly having to be left out.

Otis Reaper: "Otis Reaper"

Tempting riffs with attitude

"Sludge" has always felt like a very appropriate description as a genre. Sludge means a semi-solid residual mass, and it really captures the essence of the genre: A slowly-running residue of various elements of hardcore punk, doom metal, stoner rock and more. Tennessee sludgebangers Otis Reaper play prime-example sludge metal with all the classic elements of the genre.

Conan: "Revengeance"

When it just can't be heavy enough

Conan is one of those bands born out of good ol' frustration and wild abandon. Those feelings are well and truly evident in their screamed vocals and ultra-heavy riffs. They've had somewhat of a comet-like career, gaining a loyal audience from early on with their two EPs "Battle in the Swamp" and "Horseback Battle Hammer". If those titles don't set the mood for what the band themselves call "caveman battle doom" I don't know what does.

TONEwood

Pages

22 Dec 2018

TONEwood's Top 10 Metal Albums of 2018

25 Aug 2017

Mindkult: "Lucifer's Dream"

21 Jul 2017

Sasquatch: "Maneuvers"

19 Dec 2016

Rozamov: "Of Gods and Flesh"

16 Dec 2016

2016 Top 10 - Part I: The Metal Part

1 Feb 2016

Otis Reaper: "Otis Reaper"

22 Jan 2016

Conan: "Revengeance"