French trio Karkara is back with their third full length, All Is Dust, which continues to bring heavy, fuzzy psych/garage rock goodness to their fanbase, which should start to grow with how good this record is. The band has a Middle Eastern vibe going on too combined with some Krautrock influences that somehow meld well with their heavy psych/stoner side. These guys have delivered some super unique stuff in the past, and All Is Dust may be even cooler then their previous two records.
Monoliths is a great opener that is nine minutes of the stoner/psych meets Krautrock with a touch of Middle Easter vibes as mentioned above. I love the psych guitar work on this track, especially towards the end. We seamlessly flow into The Chase, which reminds me of Hawkwind at their most up-tempo. Bring that distortion pedal down hard good sir! The vocals are deep and sounds like there are being sung out of a tunnel or well, but it somehow works. The Chase absolutely rips, even the slower build at the end.
We slow it down a bit with On Edge, that brings more of the Middle East influence with the opening riff and is more psych than it is any of the other descriptions I have thrown around with this record, with the solo being exhibit A for my description. More of that Hawkwind worship shines through on Moonshiner, which has the polar opposite vocals from the tunnel low of The Chase to a high pitched vocal to start, until the pace picks up, more straight ahead singing takes over the song and the psych guitar work takes over you. The addition of the synth brings this tune up a couple notches as well.
Anthropia goes from mid-tempo stoner to Kraut/psych ripper right before your eyes and just slays for seven straight minutes. The pièce de resistance (French band, see what I did there?) is the title track that just needs to be experienced over the nine-minutes of excellence. I love the new Karkara record. The guitar work along with the Hawkwind meets Can in Marrakesh is just an amazing combination. Some may be put off at the song lengths given there are six tracks over 47 minutes, but every second on All Is Dust is worth your time. 9/10
Leaves Eyes - Myths Of Fate (AFM Records) [Matt Bladen]
One of the first bands to be classed as 'symphonic metal' the dual vocalled, German act celebrate their 20th year with new album Myths Of Fate. Alexander Krull sits in the producers chair again and brings the bombast that the band are known for. Myths Of Fate injects that bombast from the beginning of Forged By Fire with folksy flutes on Realm Of Dark Waves, swashbuckling epics are about as Krull's growls are joined by the soaring cleans from Elina Siirala on tracks such as Hammer Of The Gods, as the metallic riffage is joined by Jonah Weingarten's cinematic soundtracks.
Leaves Eyes - Myths Of Fate (AFM Records) [Matt Bladen]
One of the first bands to be classed as 'symphonic metal' the dual vocalled, German act celebrate their 20th year with new album Myths Of Fate. Alexander Krull sits in the producers chair again and brings the bombast that the band are known for. Myths Of Fate injects that bombast from the beginning of Forged By Fire with folksy flutes on Realm Of Dark Waves, swashbuckling epics are about as Krull's growls are joined by the soaring cleans from Elina Siirala on tracks such as Hammer Of The Gods, as the metallic riffage is joined by Jonah Weingarten's cinematic soundtracks.
All together it makes it for a massive sounding album where all the best bits of Leaves Eyes wrapped up in their sonic storytelling. Lea-Sophie Fischer (Eluveitie) adds fiddle on Goddess Of The Night and Thomas Roth’s on mediaeval Nyckelharpa to widen the their mythology, from the anthemic In Eternity, the Viking chug of Sons Of Triglav and the propulsive Sail With The Dead which ends the record with some proper symphonic metal from the early days. Leaves Eyes continue to do what they do well with Myths Of Fate. 7/10
Hammer King - König Und Kaiser (Napalm Records) [Matt Bladen]
Germany's primary proponents of cudgels and regalia, Hammer King come back with the next chapter in their story surrounding there namesake. Still led by Titan Fox on guitar/vocals, he is the creative force behind the band and has been since 2015 and this new record König Und Kaiser (King And Emperor), followed Kingdemonium from 2022.
Hammer King - König Und Kaiser (Napalm Records) [Matt Bladen]
Germany's primary proponents of cudgels and regalia, Hammer King come back with the next chapter in their story surrounding there namesake. Still led by Titan Fox on guitar/vocals, he is the creative force behind the band and has been since 2015 and this new record König Und Kaiser (King And Emperor), followed Kingdemonium from 2022.
What the bloody hell the storyline is about I have no idea, something about kings obviously but now with a time travel element as the addition of Emperor allows them to collaborate with Warkings singer Tribune, a band who they will tour with this year. Musically we get more power/heavy/thrash metal with Fox leading the riffs alongside guitarist Gino Wilde, bassist Günt von Schratenau and drummer Dolph Aidan Macallan.
Things get going with the opening double shot of Hailed By The Hammer and The Devil Will I Do as the title track gets heavier, Fox's vocals boisterous and powerful on Future King. Charles Greywolf and Jacob Hansen make it sound like canon fire, or maybe hammer strikes on an anvil. Hammers, Kings, Heavy, Metal, it's all here, play loud. 8/10
Datcha Mandala - Koda (DM Prod/Take It Easy/Discos Macarras) [Rich Piva]
In 2022 French band Datcha Mandala release one of the worst things to hit my ears with their EP The Last Drop. It was pretty much unlistenable straight ahead crap rock but dropped all kind of words to make me think this was going to something I would dig.
Datcha Mandala - Koda (DM Prod/Take It Easy/Discos Macarras) [Rich Piva]
In 2022 French band Datcha Mandala release one of the worst things to hit my ears with their EP The Last Drop. It was pretty much unlistenable straight ahead crap rock but dropped all kind of words to make me think this was going to something I would dig.
A couple of quotes from my original review:
“According to their press release, this EP was supposed to be a tribute to 70s rock, but I feel like they really missed the mark. If that is what they were going for it is way too overproduced and slick for that kind of call back to arguably the greatest era in music.”
“According to their press release, this EP was supposed to be a tribute to 70s rock, but I feel like they really missed the mark. If that is what they were going for it is way too overproduced and slick for that kind of call back to arguably the greatest era in music.”
Also…
I guess my feedback here is to be careful what you reference in your press, because when you mention words like “blues”,” psychedelic” and “Robert Plant” you are setting up certain expectations that are very difficult to live up to.
Well, the trio is back with a new full length called Koda, and I am already annoyed and have not even listened to it once. However, I am allegedly a journalist, so I am going to give this a fair shot, but my expectations are extremely low.
The opener, She Said, is already on a much better path, but these guys need to stop with the 70s and Zeppelin comparisons because it is not even close. This is good straight ahead rock with a tiny bit of fuzz and a little crunch. The song is better than the entire last EP by leaps and bounds with a cool riff and great drumming. The title track has a cool riff too and is a very radio friendly hard rock song with a stadium sized chorus, even if the lyrics are a bit cheese. I hear more Muse than I do anything psych or stoner.
The Wanderer is straying off the path, because this mid-tempo clunker is killing the vibe I was getting from the first two tracks. Om Namah Shivaya is a fun one; love the riff and the melody as well as the couple of tempo changes. This is the best song I have heard from these guys. But just like that we are back to mediocre rock with Wild Fire, that sounds like they are trying, but not succeeding, to sound like The Black Angels and Love Myself that sounds like it was built in a lab for straight ahead boring rock.
I didn’t need the big burp opening Thousand Pieces where the band seems to have just finished listening to a Jack White record, just way less good, while It’s Not Only Rock N Roll (And We Don’t Like It) has too clever of a title for such an average song. Koda definitely did not need eleven songs, but here we are, with the want to be blues of Julietta and the closer, Homeland, just muddles along with the band attempting to sound like Alice In Chains and failing miserably.
Meh. Not great. I tried, but this is more of the same stuff that to me is just uninteresting songs from a band who has no idea what they want to be. They are all over the place, except for the places they claim that they sound like. Datcha Mandala has not been for me and Koda just confirms that sentiment. 4/10
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