Ufomammut - Idolum

Although I've always dug what I'd heard of Ufomammut, I'd never really taken the time to get into them until I heard the opening track from this album; Stigma.

To set the scene, myself, ZoSo))) and a mutual friend are smoking the evening away on a cold Sunday, holed up in ZoSo)))'s attic listening to decent tunes. Quite far into the evening we're hella stoned and our friend, who shall be referred to here as Gary Tadgers asks ZoSo))) put "that band we had on yesterday" on. His request is granted and the next thing my ears are treated to is one of the greatest, meanest opening riffs I've ever heard. I'm hooked on the dirge from the get go, and once the electronics give way to bass, it only gets better.

And then the proper riff drops, and I have not stopped listening to it since.

It's like dubstep only with proper instruments and isn't shit.

Acrimony - Tumuli Shroomaroom (1996)

Some 90's stoner here for your listening pleasure. This combines vintage desert fuzz with a much heavier vibe - think Kyuss crossed with Cathedral. Some long epic tracks that crawl across your brain and lots of groove ridden stompers. These fuzz boxes are turned up to full throb! For some reason, Acrimony never seem to get mentioned as much as the more obvious names from this genre - give your head a pleasure blast - Listen

Toner Low

My musical diet of grind has finally been usurped in favour of the return of the riff. This album absolutely pulverises. Slow, dirging riffs that sound like they could collapse under their own weight, accompanied by booming drums that sound like they were recorded in R'lyeh.

It probably was recorded in R'lyeh.

Gorse - Bovine Soul

Gorse come across like an English AmRep band with some heavy stoner thrown in for good measure. There are plenty of heavy riffs and bursts of noise rock to get your teeth into and lurking in the sonic background are some nice psychedelic guitar bursts. Vocals are all very David Yow - no complaints from me on that score - and blend seamlessly with the song arrangements.

The songs are not just one idea, churned out 10 times to make an album but all have a strong riffs or arrangements to give identity to. This has a great thick bass tone and crisp heavy drums to anchor things down, making sure the guitar can wander about with bursts of distortion and fretboard abuse without losing the feel.

Listen

Band info

CABROCORDERO - Namastie Qoh

Finally an album from me that isn't grind or punk. Cabrocordero are a 2 piece sludge band from Argentina. We featured their debut record over at VDO and now we have the most recent full length here. They have definitely grown as a band since their last offering. The songs sound much more thought out and are amazingly produced. This probably due to the fact that the man sitting behind this desk is Topo Armetta (Dragonauta, 8 Hands for Kali, Los Natas.) Reminds me of early Big Business and Bison BC. Well worth a listen.

Smoke it