Nebular Nine: November 2023

Music is a drug. A strong, addicting, healing drug.

Here's what I medicated with most in November.

Ok, so obviously not all of these were November releases but thats not how this works anyway. 

'Lords of Data' by Astral Hand came out in March. Too bad I didn't know about the psychedelic doom within back then. The Anuseye album came out in October. It's pretty cool. Same with Massive Hassle. That album cover is VERY deceptive. It's not black or death metal at all! Uh, the heavy ass Tortuga album was also October. And the Ufomammut EP. And the Howling Giant. They were all late October, okay? 

November's best is the self-titled Psychic Trash debut. Bear in mind this is basically (literally) Wizard Rifle with a different name. With all the gun violence in the US they thought it best to change monikers. Same weirdo duo though! Maybe a little less weird.

Ethereal Tomb released their album in September. It's great. They're even better live. Show report upcoming.

Last but not least is the reissue of Hermano's 'Only a Suggestion'. I suggest you listen to it.

November 'As I Go' Spotify Playlist (one song from each release I listened to, in order. If I listened to it 100 times it's still just one song.)

Van tunes: Filter - 'Short Bus', Black Mastiff - 'Loser Delusion'

Podcasts: Talkin' Slayer, some Communist/Socialist/leftist stuff I don't want to look up right now, the Clean and Sober Stoner interview with JJ of The Obelisk.

Nebular Nine: October 2023

Once again we find Baroness on top of the pile! No surprise. I love it. Love it! I also love the newest from Hippie Death Cult, 'Helichrysum'. They're pared down to a trio with the bassist taking over vocal duties. The switch from male to female vocals was a surprise (I don't know much ahead of time these days) but they're fucking awesome so there's no need to compare. It's psychedelic, doomy, heavy, light, gnarly, thrashy, melodic, a bit proggy, and I'm falling in love with it.

Speaking of albums with range, 'Blackest' by Lazarvs isn't an album with one type of song. It's hard to describe but they can sound kinda like Fear Factory but also Alice in Chains. I could pull a handful of other assumed influences out of the songs covering multiple eras and decades. Damn, I wanna just listen to it again right now.

The Sea of Snakes album is from 2022 but I just got wise to it now. Plenty of AIC influence here too. Like if Layne Staley fronted a doom-sludge band not afraid of a ballad.

Dopelord! I pledge my allegiance! Massive sounding atmospheric doom will always have a place in my heart. I feel like this is a real step up for them. Long may they rumble. 

Restless Spirit know how to riff, man. They kind of remind me of Spirit Adift on one level but this album has more force than SA's more recent output. Heavier too. Headbangin', air guitarin', and beckoning calls to epicness!

Bottom row, but no less cool than the others features the trip-me-out healing power of Goat's 'Medicine' (psychedelic, Eastern-influenced, groovy, flutes!) making me want to start a hippie commune (even more). New Howling Giant! I'm still assimilating this one but I'm very pleased, as always, with their style of room-filling stoner doom. Expect to see this next month. Finally, somehow I missed this Raglefant album way back in January. Heavy, groovy, that southern-ish style sludge made for beers and bongs! 

OCTOBER PLAYLIST A near 8-hour journey through the mind MEH, The Hermit of Four Smells.

VAN TUNES

CD: Black Rainbows - 'Superskull'

Podcasts: (in no order) The Fuzz Club talking about the new Hippie Death Cult

Talkin' Slayer: All October episodes including Patreon only.

The High Way with Kyle Shutt talking to (separately) Neil Fallon, Bob Balch, Dave Wyndorf, Buzz Osborne, Laura Pleasants, Tomas Jager, Kenny Kreisor

Upstream: Capitalist Realism

Revolutionary Left Radio: Toward Liberation: Palestine on Fire

Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend: Patrick Stewart, Talking 'In Utero' with Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic, and Steve Albini

Metal on Metal: Mark McGee of Swarm of Spheres

Delirious Nomads: Nick DiSalvo of Elder

Keys to the Kingdom: Ep 1. Operation Petticoat 

Now Playing: Tortuga - 'Iterations'

Nebular Nine: September 2023

For the first time in a long time I went a whole month without alcohol. And the last 8 days without weed. Or wearing a hat. Those things are irrelevant though as the quality of the music was unaffected. 

Based on number of plays the new Baroness takes the cake for September. 'Stone' seems to be the logical place for Baroness to be at this stage in their career. Stellar.

Frankie & the Witch Fingers are one of those bands that found me. A little weird, a little progressive, a lot of fun. 'Data Doom' kicks ass. 

Not enough can be said about Danko Jones. High energy rock and fucking roll. Their 11th studio effort kicks all kinds of ass. My only complaint is by the time it came out I was basically done cutting grass for the year so I couldn't bomb around the yard yelling lyrics to the wind like a nut job. Ah well.

Another all-time in Brant Bjork. I would also include here 'Saved by Magic Again' by Brant Bjork and the Bros. They are companion pieces and all. And both classic. These reissues are niiiiice.

Random throwback with 'Ocean Machine'. I know I've listened to it before but it had been forgotten and neglected for decades by me for some reason.

Speaking of neglected, I liked the debut from Kvelertak. Then I didn't like them. Now I like them again. Thank you, 'Endling'.

That Iron Buddha album is some heavy shit. Gotta get back to that one.

The Nashville show of Clutch's PA Tapes is a killer set! Lots of favourites. And I hear that Neil Fallon chose that set list. 

Last but certainly not least, the newest from Night Verses, 'Every Sound Has a Color in the Valley of Night: Part 1'. They're a new band for me but I am totally a fan now. This mostly instrumental album is quite the departure from the sound of their debut (and subsequent albums) and I'm blown away by their musicianship. 10/10 will listen again. 

Van tunes: Slayer - 'South of Heaven', High on Fire - 'The Art of Self Defense (original Man's Ruin release), Mizmor - 'Prosaic', Bell Witch - 'The Clandestine Gate', Beaten to Death - 'Unplugged', Danko Jones - 'Electric Sounds'.

Spotify playlist (one song from every album I listened to at least once, most more than once):

As I Go Sepetember 2023

Nebular Nine: August 2023

We have quite the diverse lineup this month! Some psych doom, some stoner doom, some death metal, some metallic hardcore, some Metal with a capital M, and whatever we call Mutoid Man. 

The collaboration between Rezn and Vinnum Sabbathi is just so fucking cool. Spaced out concept album full of atmosphere and tone, telling a pretty cool story if you ask me. I need the vinyl to put with 'Eldovar' and 'Mariner'. 

Mutoid Man and Uncle Acid came through again this month. Just great albums. The reissue of High on Fire's 'The Art of Self Defense' is pretty great too. As expected. 

I expected the new Ringworm to be as vicious as it is but honestly I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed the new Kataklysm. Going to see them play at a coffee shop in November. Rad!!! 

New Moon Coven is pretty good. Need more spins. Ya know, I'm not as excited about recent Spirit Adrift albums as I used to be. 

And holding down the center is Swamp Ritual's 2017 album. I just discovered them thanks to Weedian's Trip to Montana (not pictured. Neither is Trip to Washington). Love them! 

Van tunes (compact discs): Gozu - 'Remedy', NIN - 'With Teeth', Slayer - 'Reign in Blood' and 'War at the Warfield', and Them Crooked Vultures - self-titled.

Instead of another collage of small pictures of more of my listens I made a playlist of one song from every album I listened to at least once in August, in order. It's "only" eight hours long. For now it's just a link. I'll try to embed it later.

August 2023 Spotify Playlist

Nebular Nine: July 2023

With the exception of Weekend Nachos' classic 'Worthless' this month's Nebular Nine could constitute a good portion of my year end favourites. The other eight albums knocked my socks off!

Mutoid Man, holy shit. I gave it a first listen on my surround sound system. By the time it finished I could barely breathe. A non-stop, adrenaline-fueled, emotional thrill ride. Again, holy shit. 

Auralayer lays it DOWN, man. I guess they call themselves "power doom" and sure. Riffs for days is all I care about. Melt gained a new fan with 'Replica of Man'. A song wiggled its way onto my radar and I was off the races. "Hive Mind" is brilliant!

New Budos EP! Only thing better would be an LP! 

I'm not huge on live albums but sweet mother of fuzz Uncle Acid's 'Slaughter on First Avenue' sounds soooo good it's criminal. And if you know me at all you know I'm a sucker for Black Rainbows! I just wish it wasn't such a pain getting orders from Heavy Psych Sounds Records in Canada. 

Blackbraid does it again. I don't listen to much black metal these days but I'll listen to this on repeat! Which I did with the new Mizmor as well. Numerous times. Much easier to obtain that CD.

Wow. Good month. 

Van tunes: Gozu - Remedy, Slayer - Live Undead, probably more that I'm forgetting. Well, and the Talkin' Slayer podcast.

I should also mention the Superunknown Redux and Best of Soundgarden Redux from Magnetic Eye Records are both fantastic! They inspired a run through of Thou's Nirvana covers album (Blessings of the Highest Order) and various other covers album (a Primer of Holy Words (or something like that)). Also both fantastic.

Aaaaand a bunch of other stuff I listened to:

Destroyed in Seconds, Johnny Booth, Mastodon, Royal Thunder, The Acacia Strain (GREAT show at the Broom Factory!), Some Pills for Ayala, Javelina, Knocked Loose, Capra, Clutch, Cavalera Conspiracy, Local H, and Queens of the Stone Age!

Starting with next month's installment I'll be adding a Spotify playlist of what I've listened to. One song from each albums and perhaps some random entries.

Enjoy.

Nebular Nine: June 2023

Man alive! June featured some of my all time favourite bands. I've been listening to almost all these bands for years. I only discovered Crown Lands this year but I am falling in love with the Toronto prog rock duo. King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard have only been on my radar for a couple years but their output feels like a decade! Petrodragonic Apocalypse is their latest banger! 

Up top we have Black Rainbows, Royal Thunder, and QOTSA. Three kinds of rock, man. Black Rainbows are so fun. Mlny Parsonz is probably my favourite vocalist (and RT songs are excellent regardless). It did take me some time and dedication to warm up to the new Queens though. It's been like that for their last few albums. 

It didn't take as long for the new Dead Quiet. Some dang catchy tunes! Happy Canada Day!!

And with Bongzilla you know what you're getting and they never disappoint. Tolerance is never an issue! 

Clutch is my fave so....bonus tracks!!!

Last but not least, the live drums on the Fear Factory sound great! Remix/master is cool too.

And the rest of these. Will update later.

Nebular Nine: May 2023

May 2023! What a month! Well, I make every month good because of my good taste. Ha! The Nebular Nine may have nine albums listed but most of the air time was spent on Gozu and The Acacia Strain. Gozu makes me feel oh, so good and The Acacia Strain can make you feel oh, so bad. 

The new Blood Ceremony is oh, so good too. Probably my favourite of their releases. Some stiff competition there though. 

Clutch's Pitchfork and Lost Needles isn't totally accurate. While I did listen to most of those tracks it was actually an mp3 folder where all the "rare"/off album tracks were labeled as being from that album. ALL KILLER.

Still spinning Crown Lands! Just discovered Rotor on this album and now I'm a fan! Instrumental stoner rock? Yes, please. And of course a Weedian comp. A good one too!

Blast off! It's party time! Had some serious SOAD urges in May!

Van tunes: Slayer - Undisputed Attitude, Hell Awaits, God Hates Us All, NIB Black Sabbath tribute, SOAD - Mesmerize, Toxicity, QOTSA - Songs for the Deaf, Monster Magnet - Last Patrol, Kyuss - Blues for the Red Sun, Welcome to Sky Valley, Gozu - Remedy

Now playing: Odyssey by Vokonis (Kicking off Pride Month!)

Also.....new Kanaan, Djunah, Last Rizla, Dozer, Cattle Decapitation, Clutch live, Giobia, Void Master, and Galactic Empire.

More System of a Down, the Budos Band, Negative 13, Corrosion of Conformity, Fear Factory, Crown Lands, and a full Danko Jones run (studio albums). Not shown but the three Mountain Tamer albums also got love.

Nebular Nine: April 2023

Don't be surprised of you see some of April's highlights show up on my best of 2023 list. The new Dozer album is incredible. Like holy shit. Like HOLY SHIT! I'd be totally cool to drift in an endless void if this was the soundtrack. The percussion might be my favourite part.

Elsewhere new stuff from Thundergoat (various styles but really cool), Sound of Smoke (first song rules!) Wolfnaut (why am I just rockin to these guys now?), Sonic Demon (raw my dawgs!), and Choose the Juice (pretty damn chill with awesome art) drowned out a lot of noise. 

I found out that those two Demon Cleaner albums were on Spotify. So I listened to them over and over again. Then again. So much easier than messing with 20 year old CD-Rs full of mp3s.

I'd like to retroactively change my Best of 2020 list to include Slomosa. Can't wait for the new album!

Add in the most recent Weedian compilation and the Olde/Grale EP.

Van tunes: Black Sabbath - Paranoid and Master of Reality, Megadeth - The Sick, The Dying...and The Dead!, Slayer - Undisputed Attitude, Blood Tsunami - Grand Feast for Vultures, probably something else I forgot.

As for most of the rest....

Nebular Nine: March 2023

It's almost a given that a new Weedian comp will make this list. April will have Trip to Wisconsin guaranteed. 

The new Acid King finally dropped and it will be remain a staple for months. It's sooo good.

So, every first day of Spring I break out my Gandharvas cd and blast A Soap Bubble and Inertia over and over. This year they're on Spotify so I grouped in Sold For a Smile (which also has a version of "The First Day of Spring"). 

Clutch put out a live album!!! Neil swears more than I'm used to on this recording. Who cares!

That Warp album keeps hanging on. Probably the best thing happening in Israel right now. 

Surf's up, man! Daikaiju keeps crashing down on me! Gnarly, dude.

Spinning Smoke's 2021 album leading up to their new one. And Green Yeti was a great new discovery!

Van tunes...'Siamese Dream' because I always keep a copy in the van. Sabbath's 'Paranoid', Monster Magnet - Last Patrol, and perhaps 'Blast Tyrant' special edition.

Now playing: Isaak - 'Hey'

And an expanded view of March music. Not all inclusive obviously. No April foolin'!

The Dozer and Greenleaf runs were fun. More Acid King, baby. El Supremo, Witchthroat Serpent, Bog Monkey, Earthbong are cool. I really like that New Mexico Doom Cult band. Various other bands I can be counted on to spin and some other stuff that was just ok. 

Nebular Nine: February 2023

 

I spent most of February obsessing over a handful of albums. Most notably that Slomosa debut from 2020. I missed it then but I'm making up for it now as there was news of a new album on the way. I love everything about it. The riffs, the vocals, the lyrics even. Obsessed.

The Weedian Trip to Maryland comp ranks high mostly because there are a lot of tracks. But also because it's cool. So are Blue Heron but I know I  didn't listen to it more than Acid King. 'Beyond Vision' is album of the year material, my friends. All praise to Lori S.!

I found Warp through reddit (and Doom Charts) and listened to 'Bound by Gravity' a ton of times. I love everything about that one too. 

Miss Mellow came to me via Morphy on YouTube. Funk, psych, riffs, swagger, all around good times. 

I heard a new Isaak track and immediately said "Shit, man, shit. This song rocks fuckin ass!" Then proceeded to see what I'd been missing all this time. A killer band, that's what. Eager for the new album! Happy to have found 'Sermonize'!

I can't quite remember how I found Mountains but I'm glad I did. Grunge-ier than most other bands in my rotation but there's nothing wrong with 90s-early 2000s influence. Another happy discovery. 

Ok. Last but not least. Deep Purple's 'Deep Purple In Rock'. Why, why, why for the love of all that riffs had I never listened to this before. I failed myself. I heard "Child in Time" on a show or movie and was captivated by the snippet. Then became captivated by the whole album. I know Deep Purple. I own 'Machine Head' on cassette, CD, and vinyl (I think). So why did I not explore their other albums? My bad.

In the van I listened to the newest Megadeth, Brant Bjork. Melvins 'Stoner Witch'. Dozer's 'Madre de Dios'. Some others I suppose that I can't recall at the moment. But it was mostly the stuff above and some podcasts about Marxism.

Garage tunes only happened Feb 1 and it was Dozer's 'In the Tail of a Comet'. 

January 2023 Playlist

I've canned my weekly The Week That Was Wednesdays feature on Instagram for a bunch of reasons. (Previous posts @notglossyeh) But I still want to share what I've listened to. 

Just less frequently and less visibly. 

Anyway, here are the artists I listened to in January!

Full studio album runs of Fu Manchu, Acid King, Dead Meadow, Baroness, Electric Wizard, Queens of the Stone Age, Kyuss, Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats, Royal Thunder, and Egypt.

A Weedian comp or two, some Lair of the Minotaur, a couple Wrong releases. I started a Black Rainbows run which I will return to when I'm done with Kylesa.

And the only new album that really got my attention was the debut from Daevar. They sound just like Windhand so I'm all in! Oh and Earthbong!

Van tunes consisted of uh, Megadeth, Beaver, some QOTSA...and others? It was a whole month. I can't remember! 

Until next month!

2022: My Favourites

Well, here we are again. 2022 was actually a decent year personally. There are always big things hanging overhead but at least not many fell. I drifted further and further from the more extreme forms of metal. I mean, most of what I'm going to list below isn't even metal. Most of it can be heavy but there's almost no death, black, grind, noise or whatever. 

I've even sort of reinvented myself in terms internet presentation. "MetalMatt Hinch" doesn't really exist. I dropped Twitter a while ago, I changed my IG handle, lastfm account, and other associations with that handle. It's just me now. And these are 40 albums that really turned my crank in 2022 tiered into the four higher states of being. Enjoy!

FULLY ENLIGHTENED BEINGS (pure beings devoid of faults)

Clutch - Sunrise on Slaughter Beach (Weathermaker)

Stöner - ...totally (Heavy Psych Sounds)

Brant Bjork - Bougainvillea Suite (Heavy Psych Sounds)

16 - Into Dust (Relapse)

Elder - Innate Passage (Armageddon Shop)

Dead Meadow - Force Form Free (Blues Funeral)

Colour Haze - Sacred (Elektrohash)

King Buffalo - Regenerator (self-released)

Mammoth Volume - The Cursed Who Perform The Larvagod Rites (Blues Funeral)

MWWB - The Harvest (New Heavy Sounds)

GODS OF THE FORM AND FORMLESS REALMS (aeons of refined bliss)

Black Space Riders - We Have Been Here Before (self-released)

Marc Urselli's Steppendoom - Steppendoom (Magnetic Eye Records)

Baardvader - Foolish Fires (Baardvader Records)

Freedom Hawk - Take All That You Can (Ripple Music)

Soulfly - Totem (Nuclear Blast)

Gypsybyrd - Visions (self-released)

Wo Fat - The Singularity (Ripple)

Ufomammut - Fenice (Neurot)

Fuzz Meadows - Orange Sunshine (self-released)

Dhidalah - Sensoria (Guruguru Brain)

DESIRE REALM GODS (enjoyment and satisfaction of desires)

Witchfinder - Forgotten Mansion (Mrs. Red Sound)

Megadeth - The Sick, The Dying... And The Dead! (Universal)

Blackbraid - I (self-released)

Ian Blurton's Future Now - Second Skin (Pajama Party)

Druids - Shadow Work (Pelagic)

Nebula - Transmission From Mothership Earth (Heavy Psych Sounds)

10,000 Years - III (Death Valley Records)

Uncle Woe - Pennyfold Haberdashery & Abbatoir Deluxe (Red Spade)

Cult of Luna - The Long Road North (Metal Blade)

Gnome - King (Polder Records)

PRECIOUS HUMAN LIVES

Earthless - Night Parade of One Hundred Demons (Nuclear Blast)

Pike vs The Automaton- Pike vs The Automaton (MNRK)

Crowbar - Zero and Below (MNRK)

Somali Yacht Club - The Space (Season of Mist)

Lazer Beam - Man In The House/Lost in Oblivion (LCF)

Cancer Bats - Psychic Jailbreak (New Damage)

My Sleeping Karma - Atma (Napalm Records)

Messa - Close (Svart)

Mizmor - Wit's End/Myopia (split with Thou) (Gilead Media)

Sons of Arrakis - Volume 1 (self-released)

Tell me what I missed!