Daily Peaks · 27.02.2026
I actually hate the sound of a piano because it lacks midrange frequencies and the sound is thin despite the instrument's immense weight. It actually makes me aggressive, except for Elton John's "Song for Guy." The Belgian band "We Stood Like King" uses the piano as the lead vocalist, much like Brian Johnson of AC/DC is the saxophone in a blues-rock band. And you know what? This damn piano plays such beautiful melodies within this sometimes brutal sound, which, in my opinion, will be far too...
Daily Peaks · 16.02.2026
The small but excellent German label "Broken Music" regularly surprises me with interesting releases. Their latest is from the Osnabrück band "The Neurophonic Temple," and the name says it all. I haven't heard a trio where the drummer sings since the 80s, when Dan Beehler (Exciter) was screaming and powering his heart out on drums. "The Neurophonic Temple" focuses on creating a homogeneous sound where the vocals are more of an additional instrument than a messenger. The song has a healthy dose...
Festivals · 29.01.2026
The name of this festival in Cambrai comes from the local delicacy called "Bêtises". These are very sweet, very colorful and very varied candies, which are also mentioned in the Asterix volume "Tour de France". “Bêtises” means stupidities and so the origin of the festival name would be clarified. This festival has been around since 2003 and the line-ups read like a who's who of the French metal and punk scene. The 10 bands of this year´s lineup present also 10 different brands of music,...
Daily Peaks · 06.12.2025
At first, I was curious because I wasn't familiar with SYBERIA from Barcelona. The press release linked to a YouTube video for their new song "llampecs d’oblit d’uns records en vida," (flashes of oblivion of memories in life) so I clicked on it and was greeted by a scene I know well from our travels through Catalonia: Cercs on the Llobregat River, the Via Verde road running alongside the river, and the former Cercs power plant. The video's narrative takes us through the Llobregat Valley,...
Unknown Pleasures · 05.11.2025
Sometimes I receive emails that turn into more than just a quick click-and-delete because I don't like the music. That's what happened when Sergio, one of the employees at Aloud Music in Barcelona, sent me an E-Mail. I've had this label on my radar ever since the AM Festival in 2018 (https://www.heavystoned.eu/live-report/amfestival-2018/. Aloud Music releases music far removed from the mainstream and has a real knack for discovering new acts. For example, Emma Ruth Rundle first played at the...
Heavystoned Albums · 19.09.2025
Every day, my Bandcamp algorithm sends me interesting new bands from all over the world that I probably won't see at festivals or concerts in the next 25 years. They're either from Canada, New Zealand, or Chile, or they're one-man projects, or they come from a country with a relatively small music scene, like Spin the Skull from Portugal. The cover of their eponymous debut album reminded me of the numerous crust, hardcore, and D-beat bands I listened to in the 80s, and I immediately pressed...
Concerts & Tours · 03.08.2025
We actually meet always a bunch of friends and mates when we go to a concert in our beloved Backstage. We actually also know the bands and their members when we go to a concert. So we actually are at least 60% into social things before, during and after a concert. This time we met none of our friends and we were full into the wide spread musical diversity which offered us three fantastic bands on a rainy Sunday evening.
Daily Peaks · 11.06.2024
If tags don't seem to fit together at first glance, it could be that someone is trying to describe the British band Elephant Tree in a few terms. At first I thought that the band Travis had recorded a fuzzed metal album or that Fran Healey from Travis had moved to North Carolina to jam with a few local sludge bands. No, not any of those things, it's our favorite weirdos Elephant Tree. The previously released song "Try" sounds like you're being run over by a bulldozer driven by the...
