Heavystoned Albums · 21.07.2025
After a creative break of just six months, the Washington band is releasing their second album, and I can already tell you that it will take you across the Sahara, from one oasis to another, and thus from one style to another. The more rock-oriented debut is now followed by a more relaxed version of the desert trip, with significantly more oriental influences. The opener, "Earth Wisdom," is a pretty hard-rocking song, but the following song, "The Search Continues," reminds me strongly of Peter...
Daily Peaks · 11.07.2025
When I hear the name Matra, I immediately think of the French brand's former Formula 1 and sports cars, which already looked very avant-garde in the 1970s and were very successful with rather simple technology. This almost decodes the Italian band. The Milan-based band sounds simultaneously proto and retro; proto in terms of simplicity: we simplify the music to a few chords and anticipate punk, and retro in terms of style; we have a bag full of 1960s styles to wear and don't know how to get rid...
Daily Peaks · 10.07.2025
The 45-minute length alone made me wonder whether I should even listen to this song. Hey, I said to myself, you've already listened to Dopesmoker several times, just let yourself be taken on this trip through "Peace of Chaos." It's actually several songs played one after the other without a break; there's doom, stoner, psychedelic, basically everything you'd expect to play in a live jam. But that also requires a good understanding within the band to play something like that in one go. For me,...
Heavystoned Albums · 03.02.2025
I really like the instrumental parts of each every "Elder" song although they take about ten minutes. Surya from Cadiz, Spain, are the compact version of Elder playing organic and harmonic riffs with a warm tone between 3 and 8 minutes and they have a powerful voice which fits perfect to their music. The album starts with the instrumental ‘Evergreen River’ which eposes already all the facets of the upcoming album within two minutes. Without pause, the heavy riffs of ‘A Blazing Crusade’...
Heavystoned Albums · 29.01.2025
Hailing from Pirmasens, the German capital of shoe manufacturing, ZOAHR offering us a time and style capsule of early 70´s Prog Rock, jittery Detroit Blues drenched in a bit of Garage Rock, crowned by a clear and weightless voice. The opener "Endurance Race" is carried by a distorted leading bass. Not in the style of Lemmy's bass, but more like Chris Squire or Geddy Lee. The song lets you feel the tension of a long-distance race, the song never calms down and constantly pushes forward. A great...
Daily Peaks · 18.12.2024
One of the most cited quotes in the early 80´s about Motörhead or Rush were: How can a three-piece create such a sound? Same could be said in 2024 about ze Germans Kombynat Robotron, hailing from Kiel. We saw them at the Desertfest in Berlin 2023 and at the Stoned from the Underground 2024 and both gigs just passed like two minutes although the songs actually started after two minutes. This band creates a fascinating minimalism and you as a listener are free to build your own pictures or...
Daily Peaks · 12.12.2024
The Swedish band Gaupa was one of the best discoveries of the Berlin Desertfest 2023. For the band, musical boundaries only exist to be torn down, no musical style contradicts the other, but rather complements it. This energetic and anarchistic attitude can be heard in the underlying punk attitude in this song. The lyrics also seem to me to be more of a quite personal sound alphabet filled with existential feelings and expressions, a barely unknown combination in this genre. This compact...
Festivals · 10.12.2024
Planet Desert Rock Weekend, organized by John Gist of Vegas Rock Revolution, has become a must-attend event for heavy rock fans. This unique Las Vegas festival offers an intimate atmosphere where fans can connect with like-minded rockers and musicians at top venues like Count’s Vamp’d. Shows are held at night, allowing attendees to explore the city during the day. The 2025 edition features eight international bands alongside acts like Fireball Ministry, Unida, and Mos Generator. Ripple...
Heavystoned Albums · 05.12.2024
Welcome back to the 70s and early 80s. Welcome back to the days when you could still listen to records in a record store as a teenager and the clerk would take the trouble to lift the tone arm and play each song for 30-60 seconds. You can't put anything more vintage on a Bandcamp page than the Italian band "Desert Collider" from Cecina. The opening track, *"Orphans of the Sky Part I: Generation Ship"*, kicks off with an atmospheric blend of tribal drumming, liquid bass, and synth whoops. It...
Heavystoned Albums · 28.08.2024
"ÁCIDO Y PUTO'" features illustrations by Borja Fresno Benítez and Carlos Bedmar, and is available on CD and digital formats through Small Stone Recordings, as well as limited opaque blue vinyl (250 copies) via Kozmik Artifactz. The album opens with the over-eight-minute track "Space Nomad," which blends a bluesy soul with heavy-psych elements, reminiscent of the trippy moments of TEN YEARS AFTER. The track's vintage atmosphere, steeped in wah-wah and funky rhythms, transitions into a heavier...