The non-stoner stoner/sludge/doom/psyche thread

[wingnutkj]

On the one hand, I'm with Shadowplay on this:

...the frankly embarrassing dope culture surrounding the sludgier side of metal, all these bands called Bong Goblin, Sativa Drang, Stoner Muffin' and that sort of thing, either come across as incredibly old fashioned or incredibly immature...

I don't partake, and it's slightly cringey when the top YouTube keeps recommending videos posted by "The Bong Druid Of Mammoth Weed Mountain" and "The Stoned Meadow of Doom".

BUT on the other hand, I like me some utterly unashamedly backward-looking heavy pentatonic Sabbath-worship. Big grunty riffs with bare-controlled feedback. Bonus points for female vocalists, and if they manage to do something around a concept (horror, sci-fi, whatever) without it being cheesy.

A few bits and bobs that I've been listening to recently:

Kröwnn
Songs about Conan the Barbarian? Umlauts? Big heavy riffs? Wizards+Dragons+Swords artwork. How utterly ridiculous. And yet I've been listening to it a lot, and after all the riffing, they sneak in an atmospheric harp-and-oboe outro.

Blood Ceremony
Flute solos! Female vocals! Completely redolent of Heep, Tull, Sabbath and that whole period, but jolly good fun, and my nagging thought is that if they didn't exist, someone would have to invent them.

Holy Grove
Heavy fuzz riffs. More female vocals. I found a few records by the Italian record label "Heavy Psych Sounds" in a record shop in Florence, and it turns out the label is entirely appropriately named.

Devil Electric
Even more pentatonic riffage and ferocious female vocals, this time from Australia.

Vakunoht
Now-defunct local band obsessed with the golden age of Soviet space exploration. I saw them many times in the now-defunct Captain's Rest basement. Lovely chaps, fantastic live, and the proggy-riffy-psychey lunacy of their only album pretty much sums them up.

I've skipped over a few of the more obvious/classic examples of the genre (yer Electric Wizards and Sleeps and all that) but I'm keen for other recommendations if anyone has any.

[mackerelmint]

Any band that sounds like a Frank Frazetta painting is worth checking out, IMO, weed or no.

Fuck yeah songs about wizards and shit!

[shadowplay]

I'm just reposting this again but I imagine folk into metal might like it more than I do and I do like it. It does take a few songs for the guitar to emerge but you know...it's a concept album. I must admit I cower behind the sofa at the sound of chug. I do like stuff that has some of the drone stuff while not being metal, like Kreng (more obviously) and Snow Ghosts (very lightly on the likes of The Fleet which has a good solo IMO and Held the Light).

Skuggsjá - A Piece for Mind & Mirror.

Video for the title track which I can report is the perfect soundtrack to a drive across a dark, rain blasted Scottish moor at night. VALHALLA I AM COMING!

SKUGGSJÁ is the epic sound of Norway's Norse history as told through harder music by Ivar Bjørnson (ENSLAVED) and Einar Selvik (WARDRUNA). Written by Bjørnson and Selvik for the 200th anniversary of the Norwegian Constitution, SKUGGSJÁ tells the history of Norway to the present day by highlighting ideas, traditions and instruments of their Norse past. In a magnificent tapestry of metal instrumentation, a wide variety of Norway and Scandinavia’s oldest instruments, and poetry in Proto-Scandinavian, Norse and Norwegian, SKUGGSJÁ fuses past and present, both lyrically and musically, and reflects on themselves as a people and nation.

Might not be METALZ enough for some folk, it's on the edge of being too METALZ for me at times but at the same time it's pretty fucking awe inspiring and anyone wanting to look beyond folk singing about their bongs and soloing all the flipping time might like it. It's like an epic aural film, I've no clue what they are on about but that only adds to the experience.

And yeah I hate all that singing about dope shite, I generally imagine it's aimed at the sort of person that lives at home well past their 30's and has an 'impressive' collection of Warhammer 40K figures.

Btw do you have Prurient - Frozen Niagara Falls? It's a bit of a masterwork of clashing electronics, limber folk tendrils and bestial black metal mores (orrr...as my beloved put it and she likes Prurient; 'don't play that again around me..EVER!'). There's a lot of more electronic acts stained with drone metal splatter like Theologian and the like.



Oh an Btw for more heavy Psyche which strays into Gnod territory at times check out this record by Dead Sea Apes; Spectral Domain

D

[megamaeng]

I'm very happy this thread was started! The recommendations so far have been awesome!

I wish I could contribute with other bands but I'm basically only familiar with the usual suspects.

Does anyone know if there are bands that do this stuff but faster? Or is that an oxymoron?

[RuffiansFC]

Mars Red Sky and Mount Salem are two of my favorites in this genre, including the stoner groups. Fu Manchu could fall in this category since they only really talk about cars.

Kylesa is great, and is known to do some fast songs. They also have two drummers, which is awesome.

[thegumbootman]

Here's a good band from Sydney:

Sour Cream - Drink Alone

[Stereordinary]

I'm a big fan of the band Sinsitro from Portugal.

https://projectosinistro.bandcamp.com/album/semente

[megamaeng]

Kylesa is great, and is known to do some fast songs. They also have two drummers, which is awesome.

holy shit, THANK YOU for the Kylesa recommendation!!

I've been listening to Static Tensions and tho it's prob not a great fit for this thread, it's EXACTLY what I wanted to hear for some inspiration for some tracks I'm putting together. Great Stuff!

[budda12ax7]

Acid King

[budda12ax7]

Fu Manchu

Nebula

Space invaders

[PorkyPrimeCut]

Dead Meadow?

[budda12ax7]

Dead Meadow?

Funny, I tried to get into these guys. I don't know, it just doesn't work for me.

[fakeplasticdreams]

Chelsea Wolfe is always dependable for me.

[loveinathens]

Omega Massif
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLxZTqKgOf4

Ufomammut
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VU-ZyGK5M1w

YOB
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEFZiG_kNLQ

Fister
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQqS5DSfa1Q

[PorkyPrimeCut]

Dead Meadow?

Funny, I tried to get into these guys. I don't know, it just doesn't work for me.

I find them to be a mixed bag & am by no means a hardcore fan.
They certainly fit the Stoner/Sabbath bill though, depending on which album you listen to.