Live Review: DESERTFEST LONDON, UK 2018 – Day 1 [Photo Gallery]

Zeke @ Koko. DesertFest London 2018

The UKs very own version of Roadburn took over London over the bank holiday weekend of 4th May – 6th May. The annual 3-day DesertFest London festival hosted over 70 bands including some of the biggest names in the stoner rock scene, at the most iconic venues in Londons Camden town – from the Roundhouse to Koko, The Underworld, The Black Heart and The Dev(onshire Arms). Camden was a hive for worshipers of the scene to congregate for the 7th edition of this fundamental tour, and with headliners that included Graveyard, Napalm Death, High On Fire, Hawkwind and Monster Magnet, this year has been it’s biggest and most diverse yet!

FRIDAY 4TH

Today saw the festival at it’s busiest for its opening day, with 26 artists across 5 stages, not to mention the thousands of tourists bustling about Camden town – famous for its vast array of boutique and quirky independent shops, amazing street food, and markets, weird and wonderful street performers and musicians, as well as being the absolute hot-spot for all kinds of sub-cultures to thrive. With the distinct smell of weed fresh in the air on a blisteringly hot day in the capital, I was ready for the beginning of what would be an epic weekend of (natural) highs from the outstanding line-up at DesertFest London 2018. (Full gallery follows article). Continue reading

Watch Trailer Of QUEEN Biopic ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ Feat. Rami Malek As Freddie Mercury!

The much talked about Freddie Mercury and QUEEN biopic, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, yes the one starring Rami Malek as Freddie himself, has its trailer out today. November 2 will see the movie hitting the theaters on its release day as scores of rock & roll fans will throng to their nearest multiplex screens, to witness the legend’s story unfold to the masses for the very first time.

The one of a kind biopic on probably the best noted rock star of the bygone years, depicts the journey of Farokh Bulsara, a.k.a. Freddie Mercury and of his band mates in QUEEN, from the time they formed in 1970 to their greatest live performances which includes the legendary Live Aid, the ups and downs in the band. The film written by Anthony McCarten, follows QUEEN as they produce hit after hit, topping the charts while constantly evolving their sound. Through disparate songs like “Killer Queen“, “Bohemian Rhapsody“, “We Are the Champions“, “We Will Rock You” and countless others, the band reaches unparalleled success and Freddie becomes one of the most beloved entertainers on the planet.

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BLACK COFFEE’s “I Barely Know Her” Video Delivers 70’s Nostalgia To Your Ears!

This is something straight outta the 70s. From the big hair, the fashion and their hook driven retro sound  Black Coffee is putting a retro twist on modern rock. The music is definitely a throwback to rock and roll’s most formative years, it’s just that the production is much more cleaner and the sound is substantially more heavy. The band has a sound that makes you feel like you are blowing the dust off one of your favorite vinyls.

 Black Coffee formed in early 2017 after drummer Tommy McCullough introduced singer/bassist, Ehab Omran, to guitarist Justin Young. Within the first few days, these artists began songwriting and the chemistry was overwhelmingly apparent. With the release of  Black Coffee’s debut album, ‘Take One’, on April 21st, the Columbus, Ohio rockers definitely possess the sound, style, confidence and work ethic that created legends in music in the previous few decades.

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MINUS KNIVES Feat. Ex-Spineshank, Ex-Factory 81 Members Release Debut Album [Album Preview]

Los Angeles rockers Minus Knives, featuring former members of Factory 81 and Spineshank, have just released their debut, self-titled album, ‘Minus Knives’. The band features former Factory 81 guitarist Bill Schultz and bassist Kevin Lewis, along with Ex-Spineshank vocalist Brandon Espinoza. Preview the whole album below! Continue reading

Review: EGONAUT – ‘The Omega’ [Official Video & Album Stream]

Ride the bleak train coming out of Sweden, with Egonaut, a band of black-hearted minstrels.  They have been around since 2005, conjuring their audio Doom/Alt magic.  The group is made up of Mikael Bielinski  on bass, Dennis Zielinski on keyboards, Markus Johansson on drums, Fredrik Jordanius on guitars/vocals and Emil Kyrk on vocals.   They have an impressive body of art, including the albums ‘Electric’ (2011), ‘Mount Egonaut ‘(2013), ‘Deluminati (2015).   

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Review: SHIT THE COW – ‘Cavelord’ [Album Stream]

Sweden’s Shit The Cow released their first full length last December and it rips! Since 2011 they have released five EPs, ramping up to their debut album ‘Cavelord’. They describe their music as “scrapyard rock” that is “sound of an old rusty truck crashing into a tree” and I think that is true of their sound. They like to keep their songs short and tight, and that can also be said about the tracks on this new album. They have matured their sound, without cutting out any of the lean riffs. I would recommend this band and this album to someone who is looking for something like Queens of The Stone Age but with a rusty Red Fang edge to it. Robin fronts the band with guitar/vocals while Danno and Erka share the responsibility of guitar/bass. Robin gives their sound a tight rhythm to follow on drums. Continue reading

DESERTFEST LONDON Artist Preview – Full Line-Up Included!

The UK’s premier independent festival Desertfest London returns over the May bank holiday (May 4th-6th) with what can only be described, as unquestionably it’s most biggest and broadest line-up yet!

Now in its 7th year, the festivities will take place across multiple venues in London’s Camden Town including the famous Underworld and breathtaking Roundhouse. With over 70 acts announced across the whole metal spectrum, together with the biggest names in sludge, doom and psych!

Not only that, as par tradition Desertfest will be holding their annual pre-festival party at The Black Heart on May 3rd featuring a full headline set by North Carolina’s A.S.G and London’s own Flash House as support! (Pre-festival tickets here)

Read below for full headliners and bands that are not to be missed! (Full weekend line-up follows article. Weekend and day tickets available here). Continue reading

ALICE IN CHAINS Adding Finishing Touches To New Album; Unveils More North American 2018 Tour Dates

ALICE IN CHAINS have announced dates for the second leg of their North American headline tour, which kicks off August 22 at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Vancouver, BC. The new dates are part of a worldwide trek that will see ALICE IN CHAINS performing across North America and Europe. Dates are listed below and ticket info can be found HERE.

ALICE IN CHAINS (vocalist/guitarist Jerry Cantrell, drummer Sean Kinney, bassist Mike Inez and vocalist/guitarist William DuVall) are currently putting the finishing touches on the much-anticipated follow-up to 2013’s critically-acclaimed album, ‘The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here‘. That album entered Billboard’s Top 200 chart at No. 2 and debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Alternative Albums Chart, Top Rock Albums Chart, Hard Rock Albums Chart and iTunes Rock Album Chart and its first two singles, “Stone” and “Hollow,” both hit No. 1 on the rock charts.

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The Bucketlist With HOGAN’S GOAT

*In this series we pose the age old questions to a wide array of music lovers. As fans of music most of us keep a mental list of active bands we want to see live that we haven’t yet seen. The Bucketlist brings to you those lists of your favorite artists and why those bands mean so much to them*

 

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 released 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.  Their album was one of my favorite albums of the year and would likely be in the top 20 albums I heard last year. However, the stand out track “Shitkicker” from the album stayed in my listening rotation from the moment I heard the track until this very day. While that was one of the strongest tracks on the album the rest of the album is just as good including their most recent single they released a video for “Annie Off The Rails”. This isn’t your run of the mill Nashville band, forget about Nashville being the home of the Ryman, Nashville hot chicken and country music legends, Hogan’s Goat stands out more than those combined.  Continue reading

Review: COSMIC WOOL – S/T [Official Videos]

 

Cosmic Wool is straight from the Heartland Of America, Oklahoma City to be exact. The band formed in 2013 by brothers Nevada (Guitars/Backing Vocals) and Rado Romo (Lead Vocals/Bass) who both are formerly of the band Anti Mortem and Nevada is currently the guitarist for Texas Hippie Coalition as well. The remaining members of the band are John “Drew” Williams (Guitar/Keyboards) who met the brothers through a mutual friend, and Tom Frizzell (Drums) who responded to an ad by the band seeking a drummer. The band initially like most bands do started out as a jam band. Cosmic Wool was something for the Romo brothers to do with their breaks between tours. With the dissipation of Anti Mortem in 2014 it freed up more time and Cosmic Wool was moved up as a priority. The band first released a 3 track EP ‘Over Your Eyes’. The band tested their sound with local Okalahoma crowds and they seemed to love the direction the band was going in. The next step was to step further out of their region and see if the country was ready for the comforting sounds of Cosmic Wool. In 2016 the band released another EP titled ‘White’. The band further developed their “cosmic” psychedelic sounds and intertwined amazing melodic choruses within their newer songs creating the sound they have today. Cosmic Wool spent the spring of 2015 to the summer of 2017 writing and reworking the songs that would make up their debut full length, working with Chainsaw Kittens guitarist Trent Bell perfecting the sound they were looking for. The band has stated “We met Trent through another producer we’re friends with named Dustin “Provo” Provenzano who did the first Cosmic Wool demos as well as the Anti Mortem demos. Bell Sound is a huge facility,” points out Rado Romo, “so we took full advantage of that and recorded most of the guitar, bass and drum tracks together in the same room. We also experimented with state of the art synths and keyboards to round things out.” The bands sound has been described as various things, space rock, desert rock, psychedelic rock, groove metal, but one thing is for certain; the band has moved out of the hard rock genre and created a sound that is uniquely theirs. The bands debut self titled full length was released on December 19, 2017 and is available at most online music merchandisers. Pick up a copy on Amazon here, or check it out on spotify.

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