Tag Archives: Doom

Review: REPTILIAN ILLUMINATI – ‘Dark/Light’ [Album Stream + Video]

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 Reptilian Illuminati formed in 2016 in the land down under Australia. The band is influenced by a wide variety of artists like Pallbearer, Ahab, This Will Destroy You and Pink Floyd. The band is comprised of Matthew Brennan – Guitar, Terry Pietrosanto – Guitar, Dean Astrella – Guitar, Dexter Karpe – Bass, and Matty Innes – Drums. Reptilian Illuminati is an instrumental band that brings a wide range of elements into their music including historical samples which attributes to the concept of the album. ‘Dark/Light’ is their debut album and is also a concept album based on UFO phenomena. Using speeches and audio clips as historical clues and some spacey riffs and beats at times the album is truly cohesive. ‘Dark/Light’ was recorded at Brown Lounge Studios Engineered by drummer Matty Innes Mixed by Matty Innes and Michael Marinucci Mastered by Chris Themelco at Monolith Studios. The album released on September 1st, 2017 and is available on Bandcamp here and you can stream below.The band has also released a music video for the track “Valentich” which was filmed and edited by Lewi Haskins at Sonder Media. It’s an amazing video that has beautiful naturalistic imagery and then turns to the sky and shows it with a kaleidoscope effect that is simply amazing.

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Album Review: STONEBIRDS – ‘Time’

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If one were to accurately describe the after-effects of the act of combining the iridescent romanticism of psychedelia and the intense brooding nature of doom-rock then they’d gain an awful lot of credibility upon mentioning Stonebirds, a project which was formed in 2008 and has since proved itself to be a noteworthy Continue reading →

Album Review: MONOLORD – ‘Rust’ [Tracks Streaming]

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Monolord

‘Rust’

RidingEasy Records

‘Rust’, the third long-player from Sweden’s Monolord, is a mountain-sized monster of an album, a great, lumbering beast with a low heartrate and a horrifyingly bad disposition. The follow-up to 2015’s breakthrough ‘Vænir’ sees the band ascend into the upper pantheon of modern doom while maintaining and further honing a sense of melody that eludes most of their contemporaries.  ‘Rust’ is an exquisitely crafted truncheon designed for maximum impact, a phaser set on ‘Infinite Crush’; it’s also a moody, dynamic, emotive piece of work that stands with the finest heavy music released this year.

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Review: HOGAN’S GOAT ‘S/T’ [Song Stream]

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Hogan’s Goat is named after a tale from Scottish folklore. The band initially formed in late 2014. As the story goes, a farmer (Hogan) owned a goat rumored to have an odor said to travel miles away. The goat’s been described as having patchy fur, an eye out of socket, and flies abound. For the band, this perfectly symbolized their unorthodox style, that which is anything but unnoticeable. They couldn’t have picked a better fable for their namesake. More like a powerful mountain ram the band roams through various styles of music never staying in one place too long. Their first show (at SXSW, on the rooftop of The Blind Pig) was part of an all Nashville (non-country) showcase. Soon after, Hogan’s Goat returned to Nashville, they competed in BMI’s “Road To Bonnaroo” (winning the fan vote) and played many other shows around the Nashville area. While most people think Nashville is only a country town, there is a vibrant rock and metal scene there as well. Hogan’s Goat has hoofed their way out of sea of country music to spread their music to the masses. While the band is based in Nashville it’s members migrated from all around the country like Billings, Montana, Denton, Texas , Southern Pines, North Carolina as well as Nashville. Like their music their roots run further than the eye can see. In March of 2016, Hogan’s Goat began recording their first LP, ‘Hogan’s Goat’ which is set to release July 18th, 2017. The album was self-produced, mixed by Alex Gilson and Nathan Zensen at Gold Cassette and mastered by Tommy Dorsey. The band looks to tour regionally, nationally, and globally. Continue reading →

State of the Art: RED FANG [Videos]

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*This is part of our State Of The Art series, showcasing bands every Monday from the featured State*

This month’s State is Oregon!

Red Fang is a popular stoner metal band from Portland, Oregon. They’ve come a long way since forming in 2005. 2009 saw the release of their first album, ‘Red Fang’, released under Wantage Records. With a diverse mix, this was a strong first album. Giving fans a mix of sludge, metal, psych, and some death metal thrown in, it had something for every metal fan. “Good to Die” remains one of my favorites. Released in 2011 with  Relapse Records, their second album, ‘Murder the Mountains‘ helped to further propel them into the spotlight. They were picked up for the 2011 Metalliance tour along with Helmet and Crowbar, as well as the Rock Star Energy Drink Mayhem Festival, opening for Godsmack, Disturbed, and Megadeath. Later in the year they were tapped to open for Mastodon for their 2011 and 2012 United States and European tours. Afterwards, they embarked on a headlining tour of Eastern Europe with Black Tusk. Really, not shabby at all! It’s very clear to see why they remain one of Portland’s most loved bands.

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Review: SMOKE MOUNTAIN – S/T EP [Full Stream]

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Smoke Mountain formed in 2015 in Florida. The band is comprised of Sarah Pitt on vocals, her husband Lee Pitt on guitar and Lee’s brother Brian Pitt (Switchblade Cheetah, Neon Lushell) on drums. The band recently completed and released their debut self titled EP on May 1, 2017. The EP was writen recorded and produced by the band themselves and was mastered by Carl Saff (LoPan, Attalla). Lee also played the bass parts during the recording of the EP, but they don’t use a bassist in their live shows. In their live performances Lee runs his guitar through a guitar and bass amp, which I’m sure gives them an even more unique sound. Though this EP is just 3 tracks it is a beautiful introduction to the band. I certainly can’t wait to hear more.

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Review: OLD BLOOD – S/T [Album Stream]

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OLD BLOOD is multi-dimensional band that incorporates blues, stoner rock, doom and acid rock into one beautiful package. They formed in 2014 in Los Angeles, California. OLD BLOOD quickly signed to DHU Records in Europe after the critically acclaimed release of two demo tracks on Bandcamp and a Youtube video for their song “Glowplug”. OLD BLOOD takes a push into unknown territory in the genre with the addition of crystal clear vocals, keyboards and emphasis on heavy grooves and an extensive live stage show featuring The Rigomortettes beyond the wall of amplifiers. The soaring vocals by Feathers are the perfect pairing to the bands groove and doom elements within their music. OLD BLOOD incorporates various elements into their sound that makes them almost impossible to pigeon hole to one genre. They have been slapped with the label of “Acid Doom” and that is likely the most fitting. OLD BLOOD’s debut album was recorded and mixed by Frankie Siragusa at The Lab Studios in Hollywood, CA and mastered by renowned Los Angeles record mastering engineer Mike Wells at Mike Wells Mastering in North Hollywood, CA. The debut released on August 27, 2016. Continue reading →

State Of The Art: WITCH MOUNTAIN

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*This is part of our State Of The Art series, showcasing bands every Monday from the featured State*

This month’s State is Oregon!

Witch Mountain was formed in 1997 and became a household name in the city that keeps it weird, Portland, Oregon. The doom crew had just released mostly likely the best album thus far since the formation of the band in the 2014 release ‘Mobile of Angels’ their 8th album. Singer Uta Plotkin was belting out all the vocals on the most recent albums. Her voice became the definition of doom to most within the scene. Uta announced she would be leaving the band prior to the release of ‘Mobile of Angels’ in September of 2014. If that wasn’t already enough bassist Charles Thomas was leaving the band as well. This left only drummer Nathan Carson and guitarist Rob Wrong. Uta left some huge shoes to fill for whoever would eventually take her place. The band had a few months to look around for a singer prior to Uta leaving the band. They were in no immediate hurry to fill the spot and just wanting to ensure they had the right person. Less than a week after receiving a video audition from Kayla Dixon she was to become the new singer of Witch Mountain. Dixon spent some time with the Cleveland based band Demons Within, but the majority of her career was in theatre acting. The 19 year old Dixon was flown out to join the band and newly added bass player Justin Brown from the Portland band Lamprey. Once again the band was complete. Continue reading →

UK Metal Pioneers PARADISE LOST Set To Release New Material!

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In a world where it bands come and go, some like the blip on a screen, and others hanging around for a few years before devolving into either obscurity, notoriety or death, news about a long existing group that not only stays relevant but manages to transmogrify their existing sound into new territories ALWAYS gets us excited with bated anticipation.  We’ve been officially put on notice by stalwart metal label Nuclear Blast that Paradise Lost, Continue reading →

State of the Art: Pennsylvania – BLACK URN

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*This is part of our State Of The Art series, showcasing bands every Monday from the featured State* 

This month’s State is Pennsylvania!

 For those that have missed it for one reason or another, Monday marks the day that the staff here at Metal Nexus aims to shine a light on a previously unknown/undiscovered band from a certain state. Currently on Pennsylvania, I, your beloved Mstr, have got one hell of a find for YOU, our precious readers.  Hold on to your horses, my friends, because the boys in Black Urn are raring to have you drawn and quartered in the public square.  Hailing from the City of Brotherly Love, Black Urn are artists painting on a complementary canvas to counter that idealistic nickname (even though the nickname is just the literal Greek translation, and not a reference to the abundance of eros in Philly).  There’s a number of (insert sub genre category) metal to have emerged from the Keystone State, although sadly, in my eyes, the best of what it has to offer is often getting overlooked.  Continue reading →