Tia Carrera
Cosmic Priestess
Small Stone

If Tia Carrera’s 2009 album, The Quintessential, was a bit of a hazy, sleepy, psychedelic deviation from their norm, then their newest one, Cosmic Priestess, is a return to form. That form, of course, is a rather loose and improvised gush of hot, bubbling cosmic lava, and that old rock n’ roll cliche of melting faces seems to be the guiding principle on which this celestial babe governs her kingdom. Firing up fuzzy freak jams and roughshod riffs from the outset, the album itself, like the music, is a real trip, with opener “Slave Cylinder” delivering earthly, 70s-inspired, knuckle-dusted fury before coasting into the clouds with “Sand, Stone and Pearl.” Where it really takes off, though, is when the meteoric, near 34-minute “Saturn Missile Battery” kicks in and you find yourself on a galactic tour de force that’ll make you think you’re at the Roadburn festival on, well, Saturn. Closer “A Wolf in Wolf’s Clothing” grounds you there for good, its moon rock groove forcing Saturn’s rings into a wobbly spin like warped vinyl. Have a nice life on planet high, buddy, because you’re never coming home.

Sorry, folks, but the songs are too big to share here. I can’t even find a youtube video of any of ‘em. Looks like you’ll have wait until this one comes out!

Red Giant
Dysfunctional Majesty
Small Stone

Red Giant have always been somewhat of an enigma. They disappear for years at a time and just when you think you’ve forgotten all about ‘em, they show up at your door one day, ten stories tall, clutching a sledgehammer in one hand and a cluster of planets in the other hand, a shit-eating grin like a chasm on their face. Then all of a sudden it’s like they never went anywhere at all, and the reason they’ve only put out two albums in the last eleven years (1999′s Ultra-Magnetic Glowing Sound and 2004′s Devil Child Blues) is because they’re thick-chested overlords of the cosmic mean machine with some heavy duty responsibilities, like riding high atop choppers of flame into the heart of interstellar battle, forging lunar wars in the name of universal dominion. Only when they’ve defeated their space foes and captured the black skies above us do they settle down to tell tales of their conquests via macho, bubbling, dope n’ roll songs. Their latest episode, Dysfunctional Majesty, is another batch of bad-ass biker metal blues cut from blood-soaked denim and bathroom walls, which means it sounds like AC/DC, Alabama Thunderpussy, Beggar’s Ball, Dixie Witch, and any one of Wino’s bands all at once, in case you’re having trouble remembering. However, dig the Clutch-like groove on “These Satisfactions are Permanent” and the Sleep-like doom of “Silver Shirley” for some new twists on their gruesome, galactic sound. Hop on board this one, friends, because it’s one hell of an awesome ride and who knows when they’ll be back around for another spin.

Listen to “Chopper” from Dysfunctional Majesty!

Buy Dysfunctional Majesty from Small Stone!

Black Sleep of Kali
Our Slow Decay
Small Stone

Debut album from Denver’s Black Sleep of Kali, which, despite its name, is a furious force of sludge metal devilry that’s more whack-a-mole doom than it is a slumbering death crawl. And it’s no easy feat keeping up that kind of  eternal energy with an average run time of six minutes for the eight songs laid down here, but I suppose anything is possible when you’re drawing your annihilation inspiration from a dark and violent goddess. Right, so it all rolls heavily along like an avalanche of Baroness worship, but the sonic assault of Our Slow decay isn’t without its groovy riffs, hardcore fluctuations, and punk metal aesthetics either, which makes for a fairly dynamic, anarchic listen that will not only knock your walls down but will piss on your rug, too. Definitely a big-balled gut bucket of bubbling black action, this one.

Listen to “The Crow and The Snake” from Our Slow Decay!

Buy Black Sleep of Kali’s Our Slow Decay from Small Stone!