When the opening track on an album brings in echoes of The Beatles before diving deep into a sonic stoner rollercoaster you know you are back with German Stoner merchants Kadavar. Yes, this is album number five from the reasonably prolific trio whose previous albums have always ranked highly here. The Devil’s Master, for that is the track, haunts and echoes, those down tuned riffs cementing the heaviness that is characteristic of the band. This continues on Evil Forces, and already there is a sense of darkness that wasn’t so prominent in the last album Rough Times. At times though the album is lighter than in previous releases, although the stoner vibe and heavy riffs rarely even consider going elsewhere. The 70s sound that so many bands of this genre aim to capture has been bottled by the Berlin outfit, and if you enjoy the cascading riffage, thunderous drumming and long for the days when things were certainly simpler, For The Dead Travel Fast will be an essential purchase. 7/10
Puddle Of Mudd: Welcome To Galvania (Pavement) [Manus Hopkins]
Puddle Of Mudd is the same as ever on album number five. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, or a good thing, but something for any listener to decide. It’s not likely they’ll be recruiting a slew of new fans almost two decades into their career, but this record also won’t be one that polarizes any old fans that have stayed interested in the band since their heyday. Welcome To Galvania is enjoyable in a nostalgic kind of way. Sure, it gets whiny at times, but for a brief time it really brings you back to the 2000s, if there’s anyone who misses that era. The slower songs are worth skipping over, but more upbeat tracks like You Don’t Know and My Kind Of Crazy are incredibly catchy, even if it’s in a guilty pleasure sort of way. You can’t take this album too seriously, and don’t fool yourself into thinking Puddle Of Mudd is becoming relevant again, but this is a good record for what it is. 7/10
Blackwater Holylight: Veils Of Winter (RidingEasy Records) [Paul Hutchings]
Heavy psych sounds from Portland, Oregon in the shape of Blackwater Holylight, a quartet whose live show was entertaining at The Lanes supporting Vodun and Electric Citizen back in May. The band’s approach is similar to many, but the vocals are lighter and add a little more interest than for many of the band’s peers. Down-tuned guitars, an undercurrent of fuzz and the simple things done well add up to a solid release which follows on from their eponymous debut last year. The four ladies who comprise the band, Allison Faris (Vocals & bass), guitarist and vocalist Laura Hopkins, drummer Cat Hock and Sarah McKenna (Keys) add a subtle and delicate touch with their harmonies and gentle vocals but the sonic heaviness remains undiminished throughout, with the use of slow, powerful passages negating the need for massive churning riffs. The Protector and Daylight, both of which sit in the middle of the album are fine examples of where less is more, with the latter slowly building to arrive at a massive conclusion. 7/10
Your Highness: S/T (Hoogheid Records) [Manus Hopkins]
Belgium’s Your Highness deliver and impress on their new self-titled record. Kicking off with Devil’s Delight, one of its best tracks, it’s instantly worth dropping whatever you’re doing to pay attention. It has a stoner/doom feel for sure, and the songs are composed completely in that style, but there’s an aggression here that stoner bands often lack. It makes for a much more exciting record. The album is only eight songs long, bit there’s enough packed into the eight songs for a full record experience, and it means the record doesn’t drag on past the point that it runs out of steam, which is a very good thing. Another definite highlight on the album is Born Anew, which tastefully uses some unconventional guitar work and bass leads. There’s not a bad track on the album though, and it’s one you’ll want to listen to as a whole. 8/10
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