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'