The Doommantia Webstore is now again open for business. Anyone who ordered something during our down-time will have their orders sent out Tuesday July 5th. Sorry for making you wait but I had to close down the store for a few weeks just to restock, and rearranged the way we do business. But we are back, new items coming in soon too….
The whole landscape of Italian Heavy Rock, presents all sorts of great, actually AWESOME, bands and labels who try to push them, even if the specialized press doesn’t help at all. Between those, I have a special soft spot in my heart for the choices of Black Widow Records. They’re enamoured with old school sounds: prog rock in out own mother tongue, psychedelia, keyboard drenched hard rock, occult stuff. All in the name of passion for music, and with complete indifference for trends.
Desert Wizards fit that description perfectly, while being maybe closer to the taste of more traditional Heavy Psych lovers and less obscure than other releases from the label. This self titled album could easily fit in the Elektrohasch rooster, delivering almost an hour of loose, intense, heavy psychedelia, completely devoted to the concept of jamming, fuzz and acid drenched melody.
The tracks go on in a colourful, evocative flow off electrified riffing, organ, female and slightly trippy male vocals, solos and moments of eerie arpeggios. The vibe is very close to the early works from Deep Purple, Atomic Rooster, the Morrisdon-less moments of The Doors, the most jamming ones from Led Zeppelin, Hawkwind, early pink Floyd. But also modern titans of Psych like Colour Haze. There’s not a single moment of tiredness in this album, its trippy and magical, and incredibly warm. Get it. On Vinyl.
Review Written By Andrea Contanzo
When I heard about this project by italian Hard Rockers Wicked Minds, I had goosebumps. The idea itself, a whole cover album devoted to italian prog bands from the seventies, is beautiful and unique. While there are bands who carry the tradition and love for the glorious days of Italian Prog/Hard Rock, by doing covers on stage, I havent yet heard a full tribute album. Wicked Minds are great musicians, possibly one of the most talented bands in the tradition of Deep Purple/Uriah Heep inspired hard rock, and yet its with an utter humble spirit that they approach the project. The songs picked attentively in the discographies of giants like Le Orme, Balletto DI Bronzo, Osanna, Delirium, New Trolls, are all gems in their own completely jaw dropping style, whether you love this type of sound or not.
You could hear how those bands were actually taking the rocking touch of what was starting in the United Kingdom, pushing the electricity and volume of the instruments high and experimenting with sounds and instruments. And yet you could hear the influence of Italian melodic tradition all over them. And they sound different from anything else to this very day. The covers are done with the highest level of respect, played beautifully, with a modern while still purely raw production and a rooster of guests that will make the connoisseurs tremble: Lino Vairetti (Osanna), Martin Grice (Delirium), Sophya Baccini (who sings New Trolls and Circus 2000 songs), Aldo Tagliapietra (Le Orme), Antonio Bartoccetti (Dietro Noi Deserto, Antonius Rex, Jacula), Stefano “Lupo” Galifi (Museo Rosenbach)…
In the end, the project IS ambitious and peculiar but it will please fans of this music and possibly attract future discoverers of a goldmine of traditions and wizardry that I am still amazed at.
Review Written By Andrea Contanzo
Wicked Minds @ Myspace
Black Widow
Not many people know that when Lacuna Coil started they were more or less pure Paradise Lost worship, mixing in hits of early technical Death Metal in their style for something new and exciting. Enter their record deal and a name change and they’re style drastically changed too. This album is perhaps the closest thing they’ve ever done to their early demo days. This the first full length by Italy’s favorite international (former) Metal-heads is a mixed bag of good and bad. It’s apparent that the loss of the founding guitarists and change of direction was something that they struggled with on this recording as a result. Given time however, this album will grow on you.
The production is what you expect from a Century Media act that the label was unsure of. This is Doom Metal pure and simple. The guitars have a slow and depressed feel to them. There are several leads and one solo. The guitars are mostly open chorded and they have a fair amount of dirge and darkness. They create an epic yet sad atmosphere and show the early signs of the bands eventual sound. The bass follows the guitars far too much for comfort; thankfully this would change on later releases. The drums are creative and fairly original. They are one of the standout instruments on this album.
The vocals are good enough and a great example of the “beauty and the beast” style that has become so popular these days. Andrea’s vocals are at their deathliest on this album. Its shame that he stopped utilizing them so early on in the bands career. Christina’s vocals are excellent as always, but she is still clearly trying to find her voice on this album. Musically there are some good ideas. This is a very original piece of music that no one can argue with. The down side to this CD is that it’s incredibly repetitive and lacks the maturity that would come on the following release. A lot of the riffs sound “local” as if played by the garage band down the street. One must wonder if this would have turned out differently had they spent more time on it.
Aside from the flaws on this recording it’s still a very good album and worth owning. It shows the band going from straight up Gothic Metal to straight up Doom Metal. This gets an 8/10.
Review Written By Grimdoom
Official Site
Lacuna Coil @ Facebook
The good thing about keeping acquainted with blogs such as the Sludge Swamp (RIP) or Stonerobixxx is that you’re never really out of the loop – and the good thing about not listening to every album that comes your way is having a virgin perspective when it suddenly/randomly comes to their new material. Such is the case with me and Kamni, an alternative stoner metal band from Russia who made waves with their début. It’s basically impossible that you haven’t heard of the band, as they were all over the place with their début, and here they are, with a new EP.
Now, I’ve actually never heard of them before, but if I could use a few one-word definitions for Kamni’s music, they’d be: atmospheric, repetitive, hypnotic and beautiful. It’s all about a single riff (played with tones so fat and full they might as well be obese), supporting bass, minimal drumming, and overall a minimalist approach. That is where the band has it’s biggest strength – the atmosphere they create, the mood, is so good, so mesmerizing that it can easily serve as a substitute for recreational drugs. It’s that good. Anyway, without further ado….
“A.T.O.M.” is one of those albums, EP’s that have such an opener that it seems impossible that any of the songs following the first one can be as good. The opener, “Shiva THC” is one killer track that can get you hooked instantly: it’s a mellow, chill-out song until the very middle, featuring hypnotic instrumentalization (I think a reed) and interesting woodwinds on top of subtle and repetitive bass and drumming, before kicking it into stoner metal territory and laying one (as in, singular) fuzzed out riff. That period is brief however, and only serves to stir you before returning to mesmerism territory. It’s above and beyond, so much so that, I got stuck there for about a week.
Then comes “Lysergic General” and Kamni brings us high-end stoner doom that is simultaneously more stoner than doom and more doom than stoner somehow. It begins with feedback before laying it on thicker than the first track – it takes two full minutes to get to the riff. It dooms onwards for a few minutes, laying vocals on top of the music. The vocals are completely original, I must say – I wouldn’t say completely devoid of influence, as there is that doomy quality to them, but they do a good job supporting the atmosphere, which gets thicker after the vocals get done. After a solo-like interlude, scorching licks of guitar on top of lumbering bass and riff (singular) move up the curve and finish the song right where the tipping point should be. It’s beautiful how they never bring it back down.
“Collapse” is basically what’d happen if you applied the norms of ambient music to stoner metal. It kicks off with mellowed-out, chill groove applied to a singular riff, minimal drumming and subtle licks of guitar. Notice the use of singular when saying “groove” because it is pretty much improvised licks of guitar over all other instruments, which remain stable at a singular eight-bar arrangement throughout the song. When the guitars kick in, they remain within that same range – they play the same thing, with added vocals and faster, arpeggiated guitars. It’s meant, clearly, to create mood by way of repetition and succeeds admirably.
The final and title track, “A.T.O.M.” is a strange beast. It’s a fifteen-minute ambient track that is basically atmospherics (i.e. industrial-style, minimal drums, almost no bass and other sounds) laid underneath reed improvisations. It carries on the overall feel of the EP, the hypnotic air begat by repetition, and creates a very ethereal, dreamy atmosphere. However, it is, by and large, my least favourite track as such, but that’s mainly because I don’t fancy ambient much, and it’s too much ambient for my tastes. Oh, it would set the mood for a variety of things, as it is a perfect background piece, but it needs too much attention and kinda disturbs the flow of the EP, in my opinion.
So, what is the verdict, you ask? Let me tell you this – this review took less time than all my other reviews, even those of the bands I already knew, precisely because all songs are based on repetition, that is to say, the EP is very easy to digest and very easy on the ears, as such, I don’t think anyone will have a hard time with it. But perhaps the most remarkable achievement of this EP is that it will not be hard on those who have no acquaintance whatsoever with the genres involved, which makes this one essential. Though I do believe the last track disturbs the flow quite a bit, so, I’d say we have a winner in our hands. 8.5/10.
Review Written By Sarp Esin
If, like me, you’ve been disappointed by the direction Josh Homme took after the first two Queens Of The Stone Age releases, weren’t really impressed by The Crook Vultures and you’d love to finally hear some riff rock done right, this album will delight you. I discovered this releases on Bandcamp, but if I understand the dates right, its been around for a while, in an understated and not too covered way. The sound 7 Weeks deliver is a mixture of Stonerish Riffage, with lots of influences by Josh Homme’s stylings, especially his “Rated R” period, Brant Bjork and a touch of the heavier stylings of Soundgarden.
The songs are infectious and full of good hooks, with a lot of QOTSA styled harmonized vocals, while the guitars are a good compromise between the heaviness of Stoner Rock (lot of fuzz and thick riffing in’em) and the more melodic moments. If one flaw can be pointed out, its how the singing kinda lacks a specific personality or an edge in the performance. While the melodies are very catchy and energetic, the delivery is extremely close to Homme’s tonality. Which is not a bad thing it takes away a lot from the power of the album. Besides that, the music is good enough to be remembered, especially the riffs. Good rocking stuff.
Review Written By Andrea Contanzo
7Weeks @ Myspace
7 Weeks @ Bandcamp
Apprently this album had some expectations behind it, and the band has quite a cult following.
After listening to the record, I see why they might be loved and yet I cant keep but thinking that they’re a bit overrated. Their sound is great, don’t get me wrong. Good riffs (although quite rehashed) and interesting Danzig/Ian Astbury vocals with a strong gearing towards “darker” melodies that definitely bring to mind a slightly pumped up version of The Cult in many occasions. Still, while a couple of the tracks are very catchy and armed with some smart hooks that could work very well on some Hard Rock oriented stations (“Finders Fee” for example, has a sticky refrain that’s easy to remember and hard to forget), the whole thing leaves that aftertaste of forgettable anonymity that lots of retro rockers have.
A clear example is, to say one, the track “Misery”: the riff sounds like some weird cross between Scan Rock, Danzig’s vocal stylings and a touch of badly digested COC riffage. It’s all good, and it’s definitely listenable,at some spots seriously good (the guitars are pretty mean at times) but nothing really worth the high praise some seem to give. If you really have a craving for the genre, go on. But there’s much better stuff around.
Review Written By Andrea Costanzo
Tank86 have recorded what I think is the best instrumental metal album released this year with ‘Rise’ which is a whirlwind of killer riffage, hooks and relentless power. I did this interview with bassist Jochum van Weert. If you haven’t heard Tank86 as yet, you better make it a priority now !!
1. First up, congratulations on a great album. My first question has to be give the readers some history of the band. Most people have only discovered the band since the release of “Rise” but the band has been around for a few years, am I right ?
Yeah we’ve been around for a couple of years. Our guitarist Joost and me and our former drummer Jan started the band somewhere in 2004 and we were soon joined by Floris on guitar. We released our first EP called “Ariba” in 2005. In 2007 Rogier replaced Jan on drums and we released another EP titled “Behold” in 2008. Last year Harold replaced Floris on guitar and now “Rise” is our first full length album. So yeah we’ve been around, slowly honing our craft into what it is today.
2. There has been a steady increase in the number of instrumental bands in recent years, why do you think this is and how did Tank86 come to be an instrumental act, why no vocals ?
The increase in instrumental bands is probably due to more and more people discovering how cool it actually is, both as a listener and as a musician. As a listener there is a lot more room for your own interpretation since there’s no lyrics that tell you what the songs are about, so you can fill that in yourself. As musicians there’s greater freedom in writing. There’s no conventional song structures you have to conform to and it’s easier to incorporate different styles in your music.
TANK86 deliberately set out to be instrumental for this very reason. We were in a few crappy bands before this and with TANK86 we wanted to keep things in our own hands instead of depending on a vocalist. We never looked back since.
3. A few music-related questions now. The songs on “Rise” have some odd time signatures and a lot of tempo-changes. Was this planned out or did they come from the result of a lot of jamming ?
I’d say a bit of both. Most were specifically written, but some just came up when jamming the new songs. Since we’re instrumental we have to do more to keep songs interesting. Tempo changes and odd signatures are two great tools to do it, so those have become integral parts of our style.
4. Tank86 almost can’t be tagged by any genre, it is stoner-metal one minute, then sludge, then doom, then classic metal and the band even sounds kind of like a progressive-metal band in other passages of music. Was there much thought given to the actual style or did it just come naturally ?
We just play the stuff we would like to hear ourselves. We like all the genres you just mentioned, so it’s just natural those end up in our own songs. It’s simply what comes out when we start writing. The mixing of these different styles also works very well to keep the songs interesting. A doom riff just sounds way more heavy when it comes right after a fast riff. It’s all about dynamics.
5. One thing that I didn’t mention in my review of “Rise” is the song “Gottes Krieger” features a solo by Dozer’s Tommi Holappa, how did that come about ?
After the release of Behold in 2008 we had the pleasure of doing a European tour as support for Dozer. Tommi is the nicest guy you’ll ever meet, so when we asked him if he liked to contribute to our new album he immediately agreed. We sent him a demo track of the song beforehand so he knew what he was up for. When we were in the studio recording Rise, we sent him a rough mix as soon as we recorded the song. He recorded his solo in Sweden and sent it back to us so we could mix it in the track.
The name of the song was also the name of the nightliner bus we did the tour in, so that adds a nice touch. We thought it fitting for an instrumental band to add guest features by cool guitarists to the album and we think it turned out really well.
6. A lot of people have a pre-conceived idea about Dutch bands and that is they are all pot-smoking hippies. Of course that comes from thinking about all those coffee shops that sell weed. Does the drugs really play a major role in music in your country or is it just a cliché created by the Western media ?
I think it’s a bit blown out of proportion. Of course there is the coffee shops and a liberal view towards using weed, but people here don’t really make a big deal out of it. The fact that beer is legal in the US doesn’t mean everybody is drunk all the time. There’s people smoking a lot, there’s people smoking occasionally and a lot of people never smoke at all. Probably the same in every other country except the smoking here is legal, that’s really all there is to it.
7. You told me about all the hard work and time that went into making “Rise.” Can you tell the readers when that process began and what went into the recording process for the album ?
I think the oldest song on Rise is about 2.5 years old, so all that time we’ve been writing stuff for the record and slowly fine-tuning everything. At the beginning of 2010 our guitarist Floris had to quit the band because of health issues, so that set us back some time. We were lucky to find a good replacement in Harold and he worked his ass off in learning the stuff and helping us finish up the writing.
We took a lot of time recording the whole album by ourselves first, after that we went into the studio to record it again professionally. This way we had all the details and layers worked out before we entered the studio. That way we could really focus on the recording itself while we were in the studio. We’ve set up our own label Rising Magma Records to release the album, so a lot of work goes into that as well.
8. The album sounds amazing, it is incredibly loud but at the same time clean and crisp with each instrument being perfectly placed within the mix. Can you tell us about Rob Van Boeckel who mixed the album and how did you come to work with him ?
About two years back we decided to experiment in a few different studios. Not to record an album per se, but just to try out different things and recording techniques. New Road Studios with Rob van Boeckel was one of those studios we tried. We liked the session there so much that we decided to record the album there. Rob is great to work with, he really knows his way around his studio and the equipment, but lets us do our own thing. He has suggestions and critique but just at the right times. We’re very happy with the recording and mixing process. On top of that Brett Caldas-Lima of Tower Studio did an awesome job on mastering the album, so kudos to him too.
9. The band has received some very good reviews for “Rise” and lots of them. Did the band embark on a major promotional campaign for the album or has a lot of been word of mouth ?
We’re very happy that people really seem to “get” our album. We do our promotion ourselves so we sent out CDs to everywhere we saw fit. The rest of it is word of mouth and that is of course the best advertising there is. That’s the good thing with the heavy rock community: everyone is very passionate about heavy music, so good stuff spreads itself. That along with the internet gives the power to bands like us to reach a big audience. Good times we live in.
10. Tank86 is an instrumental band but is the band influenced by other instrumental bands and if so, who ?
We draw influences from a lot of stuff, surely some instrumental bands as well. A couple that come to mind are Capricorns, Karma to Burn, Pelican and Russian Circles.
11. Us American people are really jealous of you Dutch folk, great bands, a great scene and of course the Roadburn Festival. What is your opinion on the scene in your country ? Is it really as good as it seems to be ?
Yeah the scene here is great. There’s a lot of decent venues, so lots of cool bands come to play here. We’re pretty spoiled actually. So for a country as small as ours we’re doing pretty good.
12. Speaking of the Roadburn Festival and live shows. Tank86 has played on the same bill as bands like Monster Magnet and Pelican which is two very different sounding bands. What have those experiences been like for the band ?
It’s been great. Like you said, there are a quite a few different styles mixed up in our music. This gives us the advantage that we’re compatible, so to speak, with a lot of different bands. There’s something in it for both Monster Magnet fans and Pelican fans I guess. Both experiences have been cool. Monster Magnet is fun because it’s over-the-top rock and roll and it’s a big band, so we get to play for a big crowd. Pelican is way more atmospheric and progressive, which is just as cool, but in a different way. We get the best of both worlds in that sense.
13. The future for Tank86 looks extremely promising. Now that “Rise” is out there, what has the band got planned for the rest of 2011 and 2012 ?
We’re currently talking to booking agencies to set up a European tour after the summer, so that’s the focus for now. We’ve worked our asses off on this album so we’re eager to start destroying stages everywhere.
Also we’ve slowly picked up the writing again too. This album is done, so now we gig and write new stuff for the next one. It’s just what we do.
14. I think that is all the questions for now. Thanks for the interview, much appreciated. Any last words for the readers ?
You’re very welcome. No deep messages from an instrumental band, just stay heavy guys!
Not every band creates a masterpiece let alone a landmark album. Most only squeak by with a “good” or a “great” recording that while admired by many doesn’t gain the cult status and the inevitable debate that others do. This in short, was Katatonia’s finest hour. This could be considered the birth of modern Doom/Death, as it doesn’t follow the path of the Peaceville three. The aforementioned were crunch heavy, riff happy and structured. Katatonia on the other hand opted to open chord over 90% of this recording as well as considerably repetitive and minimalistic with their riffs, avoiding the hallmarks of what is now traditional Doom/Death.
The production is good enough for what is here. Apparently this album was written completely in the studio, perhaps causing the minimalistic characteristics more out of necessity than intention. The guitars are not all that heavy but they are epic in a somber sort of way. There are leads woven throughout every song. The songs have a semi-droning feel to them. A sense of hopelessness and futility are ceaselessly beaten into your skull throughout the album. It also sounds as if they are in drop ‘D’ tuning. The bass follows the guitars but this only adds to the downtrodden feeling. The drums are more or less played on hi-hat, bass and snare with little to no variation. This is also used to good effect, as anything more would have caused this album to lose its sorrow filled and pointless vibe.
The vocals, provided by Opeth’s Mikael fit the music’s dreary attitude nicely. He sings clean on one song but the rest are his trademarked growls/shrieks. The lyrics are simplistic and lacking in intelligent English. Over all this is a very emotionally stark album. Its bleakness filling the listener with visions of oblivion. This is the album where the band developed its signature melancholy guitar sound. This album (like Paradise Losts’ ‘Gothic’ before it) gave way to countless copycats and sound-alikes even to this day. If there are any bad marks to be given it would be the band should have continued on in this style. (Granted ‘October Tide’ continues this style to an extent, it’s not the same).
This is a very recommended album to Doom/Death fans or anyone interested in what good Katatonia sounds like as it’s truly a masterwork of simplicity and sadness. This gets a 9/10.
Review Written By Grimdoom
Katatonia Official Homepage
Katatonia @ Facebook
Katatonia @ Youtube
Katatonia @ Peaceville
Well I be damned, June was the best ever month in terms of views, comments and posts. The view count smashed the previous monthly record but it was also Doommantia’s busiest month yet with 118 posts which included over 80 album reviews.
Nothing much as changed in where these views are coming from, the USA still tops the list but Italy has now firmly cemented its place at number two. Next comes Germany, Russia, the UK and then Greece and Australia. The 311,260 page views came from a staggering 122 countries including places I have never heard of such as Azerbaijan. In the USA, California heads the view-count with my home state of Washington right down at the bottom of the list. Back to countries, some country figures are way up especially Finland which shot up the list by some 30 places. All pages on Doommantia get viewed by the 100’s to the thousands daily with the home-page being the most popular but that is obvious. Second is the podcast page and thanks to Crestfallen’s Kev and Bob from the Soggy Bog radio shows for their continuing support. The third most popular page is the Doommantia web-store even though nobody buys CD’s anymore and that is followed by the Foundry Of Show page and keep on tuning in for that too.
I said in the May report that the site had peaked, well I was wrong so I will say it again now. The sudden jump in views can only be blamed on the extra amount of posts made possible by the new writers that have climbed on-board. I give heart-felt thanks to Sarp Esin who has done a remarkable job supplying us with insightful, detailed reviews. Daryl Adolph from Canada who is another great writer and Andrea Costanzo who is one of the most prolific reviewers on the Internet. John Wisniewski who keeps coming up with exclusive interviews including one he did with John Perez from Solitude Aeturnus. And of course I have salute Grimdoom for his reviews on some of the older doom albums which have been an essential addition to the Doommantia site. I can’t let this moment pass without thanking the rest of the Doom-Crew. Aleks Evdokimov – your interviews rule my friend, Marilena Moroni aka Mari – you are one of the sweetest doom-witches on the planet and your posts are always wonderfully entertaining and informative. Dr.Doom Metal is also prolific in his interviewing capabilities and his additions to the site are always awesome reads. Mahesh and Saul Crowley have also gave us excellent reviews and articles. Last but not least, Sandrijn van den Oever and Dr. Abner Mality – you guys are two of the coolest, most genuine people I have ever met and your work will never go unappreciated. I also have to thank Lee from the The Sleeping Shaman and Adam Drzewuck from We Wither for allowing us to share some of their interviews and live reports. Thanks to all of you.
The interest in Doommantia reviewing albums is now officially out-of-control. If you want your album reviewed, be ready to wait. Even with 15 writers it is impossible to keep up with the demand. My personal waiting list for reviews is over 90 albums and I know some of the other writers are struggling to keep up with the amount of music that keeps on coming in. A couple of other things, my mailing address has now changed slightly after a major screw-up by those monkeys that called themselves the US Postal Service so take note of the new information on the contact page. Also, I have to say thanks to my wife Crystal for not only putting up with the ear-splitting doom music that is constantly playing in our apartment daily but for also joining Doommantia and more specifically the web-store. She is now the person you need to address all enquiries to when sending CD’s for reviews and she also will be the one sending out the CD orders. Soon there will also be a toll-free number to place orders so keep watching out for updates. The website keeps growing and expanding and will continue to do so. Thanks to everyone that sent me get-well wishes and made enquiries about my health. I am living on a day-to-day basis so your support is everything I need right at the moment. OK, that is all for now, thanks and as usual Doom on, support the bands, please buy an album, don’t steal it if you can avoid it and spread the word on your local underground heavy bands. Over and out……………Ed
doommantia 