Happy 4/20 everybody! Hot off the presses for the occasion, today we focus on a release from a band that’s rapidly becoming a household name in the stoner rock scene: Howling Giant. The Nashville, Tennessee quartet decided to put out an instrumental EP made up of some of their Twitch jams, polishing them up and recording them in the studio. The end result is a four-song EP titled Alteration.
Hot on the heels of some terrific releases in 2020, Howling Giant deliver the goods yet again with Alteration. While they didn’t have a full-length album out last year, they covered Black Sabbath’s “Lord of this World” to perfection and also performed a stunning rendition of Alice in Chains’ “Rooster” on Magnetic Eye Records’ Sabbath and AIC tribute albums respectively. Their most noteworthy accomplishment of 2020 though remains what is in my opinion the most epic psych/stoner song of the year released as part of a split with Sergeant Thunderhoof on Ripple Music’s Turned To Stone Chapter 2. Their song titled “Masamune” is an absolute master class in crafting an epic piece of rock music.
Alteration is an in-between album to tide us over until their next full-length record. We can witness and hear the band evolving on these instrumental pieces. Every track has its own distinct persona. “Understudy” kicks things off with a riff that makes you wanna yell “Hell, yeah!” It gives off some cool prog rock vibes and is one heck of a fun jam. “Luring Alluring Rings” really nails Howling Giant’s signature sound. More than any other cut, this piece is instantly recognizable as a Howling Giant song, akin to the way one can differentiate a Jimmy Page, Eddie Van Halen, or David Gilmour guitar riff/solo mere seconds into it. The penultimate track, “Enemy of My Anemone”, starts off slower but spirals into a quicker pace. I wonder what this one would sound like with lyrics. It feels like it would be a great song! We end this 21-minute trip with “Farmer Maggot’s Crop”, featuring country blues/bluegrass guitar virtuoso Mike T. Kerr. The shortest track on the EP, but far from the worst; it has a multitude of sonic layers that feel almost comforting, like gazing at stars in a cloudless sky at night.
There isn’t a single dud on this short but incredibly replayable EP. Howling Giant was already a band that I loved, but this set of instrumentals has given me a newfound appreciation of their musical talents. I am eagerly anticipating their next full-length album. If you wanna celebrate 4/20 in style or are just looking for some damn fine stoner/psych/desert rock music, then throw a fiver their way and pick up Alteration.
Howling Giant’s Bandcamp page: https://howlinggiant.bandcamp.com/music
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