Review: Bloody Monroe - Some Like It Heavy

There’s a period during the last three weeks of the year that is a veritable black hole for music releases (and pretty much any kind of entertainment releases, be it movies or books) and anything that comes out in that window of time gets lost in the Holidays/year-end shuffle. I feel that this is what happened to this remarkable debut album titled Some Like It Heavy from Calgary, Alberta trio Bloody Monroe. I love how the band references Marilyn Monroe both in their band name (and album cover art) as well as in their album titles. Their first EP released in 2019 was called How to Bury a Billionaire, a word-play on the Monroe movie “How to Marry a Millionaire”, and now their full-length album, a play-on-words of what is probably Marilyn’s most iconic role in “Some Like It Hot.” I hope they continue using that pattern of Marilyn Monroe movie titles as album titles.

On to the music. Some Like It Heavy is a blend of hard rock and heavy metal with a sprinkle of alternative. It’s got old school values that will make fans of ‘80s and ‘90s metal appreciate this record. “I Cast a Shadow” pulls you right in with its infectious opening riff. “Utero Manifest” and “Left of Sin” follow, two good tracks with more of an alternative flavour showcasing the band’s talent for songwriting. “Only You” gets a vote for my favourite song on the album. It’s the closest thing to a rock ballad I’ve heard in quite a while and I love it. It features a nice acoustic guitar intro, with accompanying strings and piano. “Over Again” is a track that displays singer/guitarist Mike Green’s guitar skills. “Why So Serious”, with a nod to Batman’s Joker, is one of the highlights of the record with its super catchy chorus. “They Live”, another reference to a movie title, this time of John Carpenter’s socially-relevant film, is a well-crafted song, but one that runs a little long in the end. “Chosen One” is a solid song with a barrage of great guitar licks. I’m torn about the next song, “People of Today”, as it’s one of the highlights of the album with timely lyrics and a terrific guitar solo, but in similar fashion as “They Live”, its lengthy runtime makes it lose some of its momentum in my opinion. Song number 10 closes the album out on a high note, “Army of Two”, a head-bobbing tune with another superb guitar solo where Mike’s vocal style sounds reminiscent of Metallica’s James Hetfield at times.

As a proud Canadian, I’m always thrilled to discover talented new Canuck bands. Bloody Monroe is definitely a band to keep an eye on. Their debut full-length record is a solid and meticulous effort that is sure to find legions of fans. Give Some Like It Heavy a spin and you’re bound to become an admirer of this Bloody Monroe. You can pick up the album in digital formats free of charge (for now) at their official Website.

Bloody Monroe’s Website: https://www.bloodymonroe.com/ 

It's the First Harbinger Friday!

Welcome to the very first Harbinger Friday! What is Harbinger Friday you ask? Well, since Bandcamp Friday (a day where Bandcamp waives its revenue share and all the money goes directly to the artists and labels) seems to be on vacation for the time being, I decided to continue doing my little roundup of suggestions the first Friday of the month. So, just like I used to do to celebrate BC Friday, I’m going to give you readers and listeners five picks for the week to spend your money on and support the bands and labels we love so much.

First off, to close out 2021, on the very last day of the year, Deathgaze duo VAZUM released a “Name Your Price” double single titled “Gallows” and it’s absolutely excellent. Give it a listen and pick it up on Bandcamp here.

Second, to kick off the year in style, The Swamp Records’ Willow Ash released an album of oddities and unreleased tracks titled Oddments By… and it’s a great collection of songs that go well together as a whole. At only $4 on Bandcamp, you can’t miss on a deal like this right here.

Third, Italian genre label Heavy Psych Sounds Records just released a repress of punk rock/garage rock band Hot Lunch’s 2013 self-titled debut and it’s a doozy! You can grab this little gem right here.

Fourth, if Power Metal and NWOBHM is your thing, you can do no wrong with Spanish label Castle Black’s release of Power Paladin’s debut album titled With the Magic of Windfyre Steel. The Icelandic power metal band delivers the goods aplenty and you can hear/buy it over here.

Last and certainly not least, the mighty Ripple Music will be releasing a 13-song tribute album to rock legends Blue Oyster Cult titled Dominance and Submission next week on January 14. The project features a who’s who of today’s best heavy rock bands such as Howling Giant, Great Electric Quest, Mos Generator, and War Cloud to name a few. I’ll be reviewing said album next week and, in the meantime, you can pre-order it here.

That’s all she wrote, folks! Here’s hoping Bandcamp Friday returns over the next couple of months. Until then, you can tune in right here on the first Friday of every month to get some recommendations from your friendly Harbinger of D.O.O.M. Have a great weekend and happy listening!

Review: Titanosaur - Absence of Universe

Brand new year, brand new records. My first review of 2022 features Hudson, New York’s one-man army Titanosaur’s Absence of Universe album. It starts the year off with a wallop of a record. Geoff Saavedra is the mastermind musician/singer/songwriter behind Titanosaur and deftly performs this plethora of tasks.

I first became aware of Titanosaur through Fuzzy Cracklins’ The Swamp compilation a little over a year ago with a great track titled “Messages.” Then I heard his team-up with DemonScar when they did a kick-ass cover of Motorhead’s “Mean Machine” and I was impressed. Last year saw Titanosaur release the excellent Inti Wañu EP and on February 4^th, the world will hear the culmination of what I believe is the man’s most polished effort yet, Absence of Universe. Titanosaur has a raw sound of old school meets the new school of metal/hard rock with a pinch of punk and stoner rock thrown in. Another thing I appreciate a lot about this one-man band is the use of a mascot. You know, like Iron Maiden’s Eddie or Megadeth’s Vic Rattlehead? Titanosaur has Titano, an uber cool alien dinosaur which appears on the album cover and in pretty much every videoclip. Nobody seems to be doing that anymore (aside from the aforementioned Maiden and ‘Deth, of course) and I miss it, and I love that Geoff is doing that with Titano.

On to the music! If you’ve never heard Titanosaur’s music, it’s got echoes of Motorhead, the rawness of the Ramones, and the ferocity of Sabbath. I even hear nods in the vocal department to Godsmack—haven’t heard that band in ages but they had some cool songs back in the day—which remind me of that awesome “Scorpion King” soundtrack song “I Stand Alone” at times. But I digress. The record opens with the frenetic “The Echo Chamber.” You know you’re in for a good time from the get-go. “Conspiracy”, which was the first single, follows. A catchy and timely song, percussion-driven and filled with heavy guitar chugging. “So Happy” is another song dealing with the state of society today with some great guitar licks. Next up is “We’re All Waiting”, the second single and my personal favorite song on the album. Bound to stay stuck in your head all day (in a good way), catchy as all hell, with a groovy bassline to boot. This one has it all. “Miles to Go” slows the pace down and introduces keys to the mix. A good track to bridge the album’s two halves. The sixth song, “The Mountain”, is set to be the next single and a damn good choice at that. It’s one of those head-bobbing tunes with some terrific guitar playing. It’s followed by “Shut Off the Voices”, a definite highlight of the album. It addresses the voices in our head, whether you want to take it from a mental health point of view or just silencing our inner-demons that can sometime sabotage us, the song works really well. “I Will Live Forever” is one of the most accessible songs on the album and is about self-empowerment. It features a splendid guitar riff and some Spanish lyrics as an added bonus. The record comes to an end the way it started, with a banger, to close out in the form of “Needed Order”, packed with chugging guitars and thumping basslines.

Titanosaur is here to stay. Absence of Universe is the first must-own album of 2022. Its nine songs have infinite replay value, not a single dud on this record, folks. The musicianship is tight, no small feat when it’s one dude performing all the duties. And the songwriting is quite sound, with its parallels and analogies between Titano’s life in space and our life and issues on this earth. Head over to Bandcamp to pre-order your copy when it lands in our universe on February 4^th!

Titanosaur’s Bandcamp page: https://titanosaur1.bandcamp.com

Happy Doom Year!!!

Another year is over, and sadly the world is still pretty much in the same state as we left it a year ago. In terms of music though, it has been an even bigger and better year than 2020 which had provided us with an enormous amount of amazing music. It’s been a year of new discoveries from awesome bands all over the world, of old favorites releasing fantastic records, of reliable labels delivering the goods in spades, and a community where support and friendship has reigned supreme. I’d like to thank all the bands, the labels, the artists, the Twitter metal community and family, and the friends I’ve met along the way for continuing to make the Harbinger of D.O.O.M. blog a growing presence in the Doom/Stoner/Metal landscape. I truly hope this blog has helped brighten your musical horizons in one way or another. I have lots of stuff in store for you in 2022, including a major project. Here’s to you all, wishing you a very Happy New Year filled with good health, lots of love, abundance of wealth, and stacks of phenomenal records and digital albums.

Harbinger of D.O.O.M.’s Top 13 Albums of 2021

It’s finally time to compile my list of the thirteen best—or rather my thirteen favourite—albums of the year. Why thirteen, you ask? Because it’s been such an amazing year for music that I couldn’t narrow my list down to only ten albums, and fifteen felt like too many, so lucky thirteen it is! For each album, I’ve posted a little comment along with a link to the review I did of it when it was released. In those reviews, you’ll find links to the bands’ Bandcamp pages to purchase their music, if you so desire.

13. Craneium – Unknown Heights – A great album from a brilliant band that had to be on my year-end list. Read my review here.

12. Altareth – Blood – The doomiest album on this list. Powerful from start to finish. Read my review here.

11. Indus Valley Kings – Indus Valley Kings – The first album I reviewed in 2021 that started the year off with a loud bang. Read my review here.

10. Lords of the Opium Church – Lords of the Opium Church – Fellow Canucks! An old school rock/stoner album to have on repeat. Read my review here.

9. Book of Wyrms – Occult New Age – What a trip this album is! Terrific occult/heavy psych record. Read my review here.

8. Kadavar & Elder – ELDOVAR: A Story of Darkness & Light – The collaboration of the year! Pink Floydesque and immersive album. Read my review here.

7. Devil Electric – GODLESS – One of my absolute favourite Doom bands of the past five years releases a stellar record. Read my review here.

6. Wytch – Exordium – The best female-fronted album of the year. Absolutely phenomenal. Read my review here.

5. KISS – Off the Soundboard: Tokyo 2001 – My favourite band of all-time. It may be 20 years old, but this double live album was officially released in 2021 and it’s on par with the first Alive! so it deserves its place on this list. Read my review here.

4. Sleep Moscow – Of the Sun – Probably the album I’ve listened to the most this year. It suits any mood I’m in and it’s a quiet, meditative record. A stunning collection of some of the most beautiful songs of 2021. Read my review here.

3. VAZUM – V+ - The most underrated band of the year. I absolutely love this album! A Deathgaze/goth/new wave/industrial masterpiece. Read my interview with the duo here.

2. Doctor Smoke – Dreamers and the Dead – What a total blast this album is! Feels like a greatest hits compilation so much it’s filled with cool songs. A perfect heavy rock/metal record. Read my review here.

1. Iron Maiden – Senjutsu – A huge surprise from a band I’d lost a bit of interest in. Their best release in 20 years and an ambitious double album that continues to blow me away with every new listen. Up the Irons for my favourite album of 2021! Read my review here.

There you have it, folks! I hope you’ll discover one or two albums to your liking on this list that you hadn’t heard of or paid enough attention to. Here’s to 2022, hopefully another year that will be stacked with amazing records!

Elder & Kadavar – ELDOVAR: A Story of Darkness & Light

For my final review of what has been a phenomenal year for music, I picked the sublime collaboration between two bands: Elder and Kadavar. The pandemic and lockdown brought them to play together and the end result is ELDOVAR: A Story of Darkness & Light. Elder and Kadavar have been around for a while and both bands have a remarkable discography. If you’re not familiar with either of them, you owe it to yourself to spend a few hours on Bandcamp to peruse their body of work. The two bands whose styles merge seamlessly here, give us a blend of heavy psych and prog rock filled with nuances from a plethora of other genres.

It’s undeniable that Pink Floyd has been a major influence on both bands; the Floyd blueprint is all over this record and it’s blissful to the ears. “From Deep Within” puts the listener in a trance; Floydian vibes abound in this opening track. “In the Way” trades Floyd for Led Zep as it echoes something that could have easily been found on Zeppelin III. A folkish tune, it’s one of the absolute highlights of this wonderful album. “El Matador”, which was the album’s first single, and a perfect choice as it truly encapsulates the record’s musical direction and uniqueness. It’s followed by two magnificent instrumentals, the soft “Rebirth of the Twins” and the delightfully Floydian “Raspletin”, a stellar track. Then comes the centerpiece, the epic 11-minute “Blood Moon Night”. Majestic in scope, I do find it a tad self-indulgent in certain spots. Maybe it’s because I’d read that the lads felt it might be the best song either band have ever written, so my expectations were sky-high for that one. Nonetheless, it remains a fantastic, complex song. Things come to a gentle coda with “Cherry Trees”, a song with some great piano and hints of Supertramp.

ELDOVAR is nothing short of astonishing and a clear album of the year candidate. The communion of Elder and Kadavar has birthed an unforgettable album and we can all be thankful that it’s now in the world for us to cherish. Whether you’re a fan of Pink Floyd, either of the two bands responsible for this record, or simply enjoy quality heavy psych and/or prog rock, you’re bound to fall in love with this mind-blowing collection of songs.

Elder’s Bandcamp page: https://beholdtheelder.bandcamp.com/

Kadavar Bandcamp page: https://kadavarberlin.bandcamp.com/ 

Is it Bandcamp Friday yet? It sure is!

Bandcamp Friday’s back, baby! For the uninitiated, Bandcamp Friday’s the day where Bandcamp waives its revenue share and all the money goes directly to the artists and labels. It happens the first Friday of every month. What better time to support your favorite artists and bands! It’s becoming kind of a tradition for me to give you music lovers some buying suggestions and tell you about my personal picks of the week. Plus, it generates a little traffic on the blog, so everybody’s happy. So, without further ado, here are this week’s finest, from your friendly Harbinger of D.O.O.M.

First off, a collaboration that is absolutely phenomenal: ELDOVAR, which consists of two bands, Kadavar and Elder, joining forces during the pandemic to make an unforgettable album. I’ve just finished listening to the whole thing for the first time and my mind is blown. A review will follow in the days to come. Do your soul a favor and pick up a copy of ELDOVAR: A Story of Darkness & Light right here.

Second, the ever-reliable WEEDIAN has curated another stellar compilation, this time focusing on the Aussies with Trip to Australia. A “Name Your Price” festival of the best Aussie Stoner/Doom/Psych music running over five hours in length and featuring 58 bands. Snatch a copy here.

Third, an instrumental band that is very close to my heart, IKITAN, are releasing a tape (and digital album) featuring two new gems and their now famous “Twenty Twenty Live at Forte Geremia” 20-minute epic. It’s titled Darvaza y Brinicle and you can purchase it here.

Fourth, Magnetic Eye Records are giving us a double dose of AC/DC tribute albums. Their legendary Back in Black album gets the Redux treatment over here from the best Doom/Stoner/Metal bands playing today. Then there’s The Best of AC/DC Redux which shines the spotlight on some of the band’s biggest hits as well as deeper cuts, covered and reimagined by a who’s who of today’s best bands. You can find it here.

And last but not least, if you just want a single song to bob your head to, then Titanosaur’s got you covered with the second single off their upcoming new album; a killer song called “We’re All Waiting”. I can’t wait to hear the full record! Check it out over here; it’s also a “Name Your Price” track.

That’s all for this #BandcampFriday, folks. I hope you’ll find something to your taste in my sample of suggestions and that you'll listen to great music while supporting those hard-working bands. Until next time, have a rockin’ weekend and happy listening!

Double Shot: Devil Electric & Eye of Doom

Another double shot of quick reviews for you today. The first, Devil Electric’s Godless, released ten days ago; the second, Eye of Doom’s Curse of the Pharaoh, saw the light of day about fourteen months ago. 

I first came across Devil Electric in the summer of 2016. Their debut EP, The Gods Below, had just been released and it completely blew my mind. To me, this Australian quartet fronted by Pierina O’Brien felt like the true heirs of Black Sabbath for the 21^st century with a woman handling the duties on lead vocals. They followed it up with a self-titled record a year later and it solidified my initial opinion of them. Fast forward four years later and they give us Godless, a masterpiece of an album.

From the get-go, Devil Electric’s signature sound is omnipresent on “I Am” and you know you’re in for a great time. “All My Friends Move Like the Night” was released over a year ago as a single and what a great choice it was; one of the band’s all-time best songs. Catchy as all hell with riffs galore. “Mindset” is another catchy tune with an infectious chorus, and probably the most accessible song of the record. “Your Guess Is as Good as Mine” is a definite highlight; with lengthy instrumental portions, it’s a very immersive track. “Take the Edge Off” is the very definition of short and sweet and a runner-up for my favorite song on this record. Highly addictive; feel free to hit the repeat button! Song number 6 is the title track; a tight, pulse-pounding, guitar-driven doomy rocker. “I Will Be forgotten” slows the pace down a bit before turning into a powerful song with a dominant bassline and Sabbath vibes that are prevalent throughout. It comes to an end with what I’m feeling is my favorite cut right now, “The Cave”, a track with an ominous atmosphere which builds to a fiery crescendo. Talk about ending on a high note!

The four-year gap between Devil Electric’s last album and Godless was well worth the wait. They deliver a masterclass of what doom metal/heavy psych should sound like. O’Brien’s pipes are in rare form and the trio of musicians backing her up are a force to be reckoned with. It’s an essential album to own if doom, heavy psych or metal is your thing. This is a record you’ll find yourself spinning quite often for a very long time. Without a doubt, one of the year’s ten best albums!

Devil Electric’s Bandcamp page: https://devilelectric.bandcamp.com

I’m a proud Canadian and I’m always happy when I come across Canadian artists who make music that resonates with me. My latest discovery comes in the form of Vancouver trio Eye of Doom who released their stunning debut EP, Curse of the Pharaoh, in September of 2020. I usually don’t review albums that have been released this far back but they truly deserve your attention—and I love doing what I can to help shine the spotlight on Canuck bands as much as possible.

Curse of the Pharaoh is a concept EP of sorts and represents doom in every sense of the word. Comprised of three songs, the epic title track kicks things off in doomy glory. A fuzzy, thick, and heavy soundscape, with the perfect type of vocals to transport us to a different time and place. “The Waning” is a short instrumental with spoken words that bridges the gap on to the third and final track, “Scold’s Bridle”, a jewel of a doom song with plenty of softer moments including a beauty of a lengthy guitar solo to take us out. I hear the influence of Sleep with elements of prog and space rock.

If Curse of the Pharaoh is a taste of things to come, then Eye of Doom are a band we should definitely keep an eye (and mostly our ears) on. Themes of mysticism, astronomy, and the occult populate the sonic landscape of this terrific EP. I’m very eager to hear their next release and to witness what musical territory they’ll explore on a full-length album. I give Curse of the Pharaoh my highest possible recommendation.

Eye of Doom’s Bandcamp page: https://eyeofdoom.bandcamp.com 

IKITAN's New Cassette Release

IKITAN, one of my favorite new instrumental bands, will soon be releasing two great tracks. I had a conversation with them this summer which you can read here. Here's the official press kit for their new Taxi Driver Records cassette/digital release.

IKITAN, a heavy post-rock trio, is proud to present "Darvaza y Brinicle", its first limited-edition cassette, published by Taxi Driver Records.

The cassette will be released on Friday 3rd December 2021 and the two new songs, titled “Darvaza” and “Brinicle”, will be available on Taxi Driver’s Bandcamp page as well as on all the band’s digital stores.

The tape contains the two singles on side A, and “Twenty-Twenty Live at Forte Geremia” on side B, which was released digitally and as a video in June 2021.

Only 30 copies of the cassette will be available, and each one comes with a digital download of the two singles… and a BIC pen.

The two songs will also be premiered on 666MRDoom’s YouTube channel on Thursday 2nd December 2021.

Listen to “Darvaza” and Pre-order the limited-edition cassette “Darvaza y Brinicle” (limited-edition: 30 copies) here.

“With a lot of new riffs under the belt since the release of “Twenty-Twenty”, and having had the opportunity to share “Live at Forte Geremia” with the world, it was the right time to publish some new music.

We’ve been rehearsing a lot as a consequence of the prolonged state of emergency in Italy, and “Darvaza” and “Brinicle” are the first products of this increased musical productivity in IKITAN’s headquarters”, says the band.

Unusual natural phenomena and weird facts have always been fascinating for IKITAN; the name of the band itself represents the alleged Aztec god of the sound of the stones, as depicted in the cover of “Twenty-Twenty”.

The Darvaza is in Turkmenistan whilst the Brinicle occurs in the Antarctic Ocean.

“Darvaza (“Door to Hell”, an artificially-created crater that’s been burning since the 70es) and Brinicle (a finger-of-death ice stalactite that kills everything it encounters in the water) represent two different yet complementary sides of our nature, devastating and powerful but ethereal and dream-like at the same time”, says IKITAN.

The idea of releasing the two singles as a cassette comes from Massimo Perasso, owner of Taxi Driver Records, an independent music label based in Genoa and born in 2009.

“We’re very happy to partner with Maso, a true legend in Genoa when it comes to heavy music, stoner and all types of interesting and cool projects, and his label Taxi Driver Records. We’ve always been fans of the label and its releases, and to be among some of Genoa’s (and beyond) best acts makes us very proud”, concludes IKITAN.

IKITAN was formed in Genoa, Italy, in 2019. The band’s self-released debut “Twenty-Twenty” is a one-track instrumental EP lasting 20 minutes and 20 seconds, and it was published on 20th November 2020. The EP was well-received globally by the press and fans alike.

As it was impossible to play live due to the pandemic, IKITAN recorded its first live video, “Twenty-Twenty Live at Forte Geremia”, in March 2021. It was recorded on top of an old military fort (819 m asl) and it captures the band playing “Twenty-Twenty” live for the first time, in a dramatic scenery between sea and mountains, and with no audience. The video of the concert, a tribute to generator parties, is available on YouTube.

The artwork for both “Twenty-Twenty” and “Darvaza y Brinicle” is crafted by Luca Marcenaro.

Save the date! "Darvaza y Brinicle" will be published on 3rd December 2021 in a limited-edition cassette by Taxi Driver Records and it will be available on the label’s Bandcamp.

Listen to “Darvaza” and Pre-order the limited-edition cassette “Darvaza y Brinicle” (limited-edition: 30 copies) here.

“Twenty-Twenty Live at Forte Geremia” is available on IKITAN’s Bandcamp as a name-your-price digital download as well as a live video on YouTube.

IKITAN’s debut EP “Twenty-Twenty” is available as a limited-edition (200 copies) digipack with a free poster and sticker as well as a digital download on Bandcamp.

Find IKITAN on:

Bandcamp - Facebook - YouTube - Instagram - Twitter - Spotify

https://linktr.ee/ikitan

IKITAN:

Luca Nash Nasciuti: guitar

Frik Et: bass

Enrico Meloni: drums and cowbell

“Darvaza y Brinicle” was recorded at IKITAN’s Studios in October 2021.

“Twenty-Twenty Live at Forte Geremia” was recorded at Forte Geremia on 7th March 2021.

A Double Shot of Reviews: Altareth and Doctor Smoke

It’s been a minute since I last reviewed an album on the blog. Apologies for that. Real life has been insanely hectic for your friendly Harbinger of D.O.O.M. these last six weeks and apart from the occasional article and interview, I haven’t had time to properly dedicate my time to doing track by track rundowns of some of the past few weeks of releases. The year is winding down and it continues to be chock-full of stellar releases and album of the year contenders. I’ll do something different for the next couple of reviews; instead of lengthier reviews focusing on a single album, I’ll give you a double shot of shorter reviews for albums that really blew my mind. So, here we go!

Ten days ago, Sweden’s doom quintet Altareth released their fantastic full-length debut album, Blood, on Magnetic Eye Records. Make no mistake though, this band has been around for at least seven years. They seem to have changed directions musically as they veer more towards classic doom/metal with heavy psych and occult references on this release as opposed to the more classic rock sound they had on their excellent demo track “Deconstruction” back in 2015. Blood opens slow and very heavy with its title track, full of fuzz and sludge. The catchy “Satan Hole” follows, a great cut and easily the most accessible of the album. If I had to pick favorites, it’d be the absolutely epic “Eternal Sleep” and the ominous “Moon”, with its great guitar riffs and solos. “High Priest” is certainly the most Sabbath-sounding song here, with singer Strömberg channeling both Ozzy and Trouble’s recently deceased frontman Eric Wagner at times. The seventh and final track, “Empty”, closes out the album at a lengthy 9 minutes.

Blood is everything a classic doom lover could desire. Think Black Sabbath meets Sleep with a dose of Windhand. It’s heavy, menacing, and leaves a lasting impact on the listener after the record is done spinning. I give it my highest possible recommendation.

Altareth’s Bandcamp page: https://altareth.bandcamp.com

Magnetic Eye Records’ Bandcamp page: https://magneticeyerecords.bandcamp.com 

Another release that completely slipped away from me in terms of review is Doctor Smoke’s phenomenal sophomore album, Dreamers and the Dead. This one came out at the beginning of September, and one thing led to another and it fell through the cracks for a review. Time to redeem that omission for this album that I can’t stop spinning.

Seven years went by between the Ohio quartet’s debut, The Witching Hour, and Dreamers and the Dead. The band has now signed with the mighty Ripple Music and these boys don’t know the meaning of the expression “sophomore slump”. This record is a barn-burner from beginning to end. It’s reminiscent of the glory days of ‘80s heavy metal and big arena rock anthems, giving the album a feeling of instant familiarity. “Reborn into Darkness” opens this 10-song rock fest with its infectious riffs and rhythms. If we move to the third and fourth tracks, “Waking Dreams” and “Out of Time”, two songs filled with fiery guitars and terrific vocals from Matt Tluchowski (who sometimes sounds like a more melodic Dave Mustaine). “What Lies Beyond” is a sleeper song; the more you hear it, the more it becomes an earworm that’ll have you singing along. The title track might very well be my favorite song on the record but the jury is still out on that one; honestly, we’re spoiled with ten outstanding tracks here! “The Rope” is fun, fast and furious, followed by the final cut, “This Hallowed Ground”, a darker song and in my opinion one of the very best in an album brimming with rock gems. 

Dreamers and the Dead is exactly what the doom doctor ordered! A perfect blend of heavy metal and hard rock with some blues on the side, channeling the heydays of the hair metal era and putting a modern spin on it. Doctor Smoke’s mixture of killer guitars, vocals that are a thing of beauty, and a fun atmosphere throughout, what more could you ask for? We have ourselves a definite album of the year candidate here, folks!

Doctor Smoke’s Bandcamp page: https://doctorsmoke.bandcamp.com

Ripple Music’s Bandcamp page for Doctor Smoke: https://ripplemusic.bandcamp.com/album/dreamers-and-the-dead