Reviews

I’ve been listening for the past two days to Sorrows Path and their most recent release (2014) Doom Philosophy. The band had approached me and while I had heard of the quintet from Greece before, I admittedly was completely unfamiliar with their material. At first glance, or first listen rather, I was immediately reminded of Candlemass and Doomicus Epicus Metallicus. I think the boys would concur that their music has its roots in acts like and alike the aforementioned.

Belzebong and their first full-length album Sonic Scapes & Weedy Grooves is a milestone record in the Doom/Stoner Rock genre. There is no doubt in my mind. This 2011 release by the quartet from Kielce, Poland is a power-packed, riff-laden and uncompromising testament to Belzebong’s authentic and unambiguous style and execution of their material.

This is not for everyone, I realize that. But to me, upstate NY based Doom slayers ‘Bastard Lord’ with their self-titled debut-album, is one of the best manifestos in the genre ever. Period.

Of course, statements like that are always highly subjective, ultimately it always comes down to personal preference rather than an unbiased assessment. That said, I stand by my words and I will explain in a little bit why I’m belaboring that point so much. Before I do that, though, let’s first focus on what ultimately matters most, namely the actual material on ‘Bastard Lord’.

It seems that Ric Bennett and his label Twin Earth Records are firing on all cylinders. And he now even got support from a family member, namely his wife Elisa Maria, who completes the trio ‘Stars That Move’ with her deliciously haunting lead vocals. We’ll talk about that a little bit later in more detail as we are going to take a much closer look at what you will find their 2016 release titled ‘No Riders’. Before we do that, let’s complete the staff roster: While Ric, as usual, is in charge of the guitars and Elisa Maria taking care of the Vox, Frank Sikes’s drumming is as solid and song-conducive as it has been in the past, like for instance on the self-titled ‘Starchild’ album we discussed a couple of weeks ago. He’s the kind of drummer you want in your band, that’s all I’m saying!

Alright, you’ve likely never heard anything like ‘Droid Intelligence’ by Burn Thee Insects before. Unless you were already blessed and had a chance to listen to this remarkably unique debut release. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but when I heard the album for the first time, I was ‘pleasantly confused’ for the lack of a better term.

Okay, this is one of my favorite finds of 2016, no doubt. Starchild with their self-titled debut album, are one of those bands that you wish you were in. Well, at least I do. I first encountered of Starchild when I was on the TwinEarthRecords website. I remember listening to two tracks “The Futurist” and “Wings” and I was completely blown away. When I told Ric Bennet – who owns that label – how much I liked what I heard, he shared with me that it was actually his band, meaning he played guitar in it and sang. That made it even more interesting.

‘Starchild’ is one of those records where words simply fail me to adequately describe it, or let alone, do an even remotely meaningful review on. However, I guess what I just said in term being a little envious and wishing that I could write and play music like that – in a band like that – pretty much sums up my admiration for this album and its makers.