“In the early 90’s, in a back street garage somewhere in Bristol, Simon, Hugo, Wayne and founding member Dave Spencer would jam for hours and then retire to Simons house for tea and a ‘chat’ until we could barely communicate. These were happy days and we really didn’t give a fuck about anything other than getting in that garage, away from the scum outside, and turning those amps up to 11.”
“Instrumental set than soon yields to a decelerating passage than recalls the Twin Peaks theme, deliberately or not, lightly enough that it owns the musical passage but also with enough atmosphere to put you straight into the surreal headspace of Lynch’s pine forests complete with a chilly tension… swirl, pummel, soar and pound past in a pretty triumphant mix of post-rock and a range of harder stuff that feels good to bang your head into… sound of an overdriven amp and the most guttural Sabbath worshipping punishment capable of being dealt out by the band, with more of that savage lead guitar work crawling and scrawling across it’s face… hyperblast cosmic carnage, taking in some classic rock riffs, fills and some bad-ass basslines, all captured crystal clear off the desk and synched to perfection.”
“Comets on Fire are psychedelic rock band that have a heavy emphasis on the ‘rock’ part of the equation… At this point they sounded like noisy proto-metal, heavily influenced by The Stooges, MC5, Black Sabbath, and Hawkwind… Their music is very jam based and loose but it rarely meanders and gets boring. They also use the echoplex frequently, adding to their spacey sound. Any fans of space rock, especially Hawkwind and Acid Mothers Temple, should give Comets on Fire a try. Those who want some trippy prog rock, but with a powerful drive and sludgy riffs should also apply.”
“Tolmunud Mesipuu means “A dusty beehive”. There are three of them in the band, and speaking of alien languages, such as Estonian, you won’t hear it much at their show. It is purely instrumental music. For some, it is simply mental. TM’s critically acclaimed debut album paints a hypnotic, dissonant and manic landscape – it might as well be forgotten 70’s cult trash movie, which people watch just for the soundtrack.”
“The Bakerton Group is a side project of the rock band Clutch, comprised of Tim Sult, Jean-Paul Gaster, Dan Maines and Neil Fallon. Per Wiberg (Opeth, Spiritual Beggars) handles the organ duties on their newest recording, El Rojo. The band is completely instrumental and their recorded songs are very similar to the extended jams they do in a live setting.”
“The Mystick Krewe of Clearlight came together in 1996 as an instrumental side project led by guitarist Jimmy Bower and drummer Joe Lacaze of the New Orleans sludge metal group Eyehategod, along with members of Crowbar and Down. Bower and Lacaze’s inspiration from the start was to get away from the pummeling nihilistic dirge metal of Eyehategod and use their new project as an outlet for the improvisational music that they had absorbed growing up in New Orleans, whether it be jazz, soul, funk, or rock. The Krewe’s influences range from the Southern blues-rock of The Allman Brothers Band, native soul and funk legends The Meters, The Neville Brothers, and Dr. John, and, on the heavier side of things, the groove-heavy riffs of classic Deep Purple. The idea of no barriers frees up these metalheads by trade and has given them the chance to show off their musicians’ chops and indulge themselves in lengthy guitar solos and extended jams that have more in common with the festive spirit of Mardi Gras than a headbanging doom rock concert.”
Side-project from members of Colour Haze. Colour Haze fans will definitely appreciate this album. This is even more experimental, long improvised music played in altered state of mind.
“A side project of Japanese Band Church of Misery. Formed in Tokyo, their music is a mixture of psychadelic groove, funk, and doom metal. Music influenced by Cactus, Grand Funk Railroad, Mountain, Sir Load Baltimore, Captain Beyond, Meaters, Graham Central Station, Funkadelic.”
“Hailing from Munich, they follow in the tradition of other classic rock trios such as Cream, Grand Funk Railroad and The Jimi Hendrix Experience… Initially, the band seemed to be strongly influenced by the sounds of Black Sabbath… This style later evolved into an unmistakably dry, bass-laden soundscape. Characteristic of this phase is Kogleks’ continual guitar playing between trance-like bass rhythms… further develop this style with longer, more complex song structures, and increasingly strong jam and jazz elements. The results of these experiments were, in part, ridiculously long, complex, and self-referential 20-minute songs.”
“Monkey3 are a psychedelic rock band from Lausanne, Switzerland, that is similar in style to bands like Beaver, latter day Celestial Season, Pink Floyd and especially 35007. They rely on hypnotic riffs and repetitive nature of music. In live situation this is all enhanced by light shows and by projecting images and snippets from movies on to the stage or a backdrop.”