Ape Machine
War to Head
Ape Machine Music

Contrary to the metal scene that’s sprung up around them in Portland, Oregon, Ape Machine prefer to — ahem — ape the psychedelic blues of the 70s when delivering their heavy brand of smoke n’ roll. Their debut, This House Has Been Condemned, was full of slow burning, seven minute jams over top of which vocalist Caleb Heinze howled at the moon, and kind of reminded me of a laid back Zen Guerrilla, man. Well, not ones to rest on their cosmic laurels, Ape Machine have embraced the more metal aspects of the 70s hard rock sound on their latest album, War to Head, which means the riffs are mightier and the dynamics are retro-fried, giving ‘em a tighter, bolder, Deep Purple push with some fuzzy Gothenburg gusto thrown in for good measure. They still manage to find occasion to slip into their former ways however, as evidenced by the quick shot of soul that is “No Sugar in My Coffee,” the groove and noodling of “What’s Up Stanley?” and the electric slide throughout “The Sun,” “Downtrodden,” and “Please Do Not Use Red Ink and Do Not Erase,” but it’s songs like “Hold Your Tongue,” “Can’t Cure Deceit,” “Death of the Captain,” and “Black Night” that flex a wicked Sabbath muscle and propel Ape Machine into the stoner realm on the wings of bell bottoms and dirty blues.

Listen to “Can’t Cure Deceit” from War to Head!

Danava
Hemisphere of Shadows
Kemado

Danava have always been able to separate themselves from other Iommi-inspired retro rockers by infusing an unabashed weirdness into all that they do. Hemisphere of Shadows, the Portland band’s third full length and first since 2008′s UnonoU, is no exception, and, in fact, the addition of a second guitarist (Andrew Forgash) means the blitzkrieg of riffs are now twined-out to inflict a maximum assault of strange. With a much shorter run-time than previous albums and a decidedly tighter focus, Hemisphere of Shadows finds Danava reigning in their druggy psych-metal jams without strangling them, and without stripping them of their cosmic, downer, prog, and occult flourishes. Danava seem to be so on point here that there’s no way they didn’t record this album at Stonehenge one white hot and foggy night, and with songs like “Shoot Straight With a Crooked Gun,” “The Last Goodbye,” “I Am the Skull,” and “The Illusion Crawls” (featured earlier this year on a split with Lecherous Gaze and Earthless) galloping around like Ichabod Crane in an Iron Claw t-shirt, Hemisphere of Shadows will find all kinds of favour with fans of ’70s freak n’ roll and fuzzy good times.

Listen to “The Illusion Crawls” from Hemisphere of Shadows!

Admiral Browning
Battle Stations
Self-released

On Battle Stations, Maryland instrumental three piece Admiral Browning take the cosmic noodling of The Atomic Bitchwax, the abrasive structure of Stinking Lizaveta, and the fretted fury of Mastodon to create metal jams powerful enough to command a whole fleet of warships (okay, maybe not a whole fleet, but three for sure) to certain victory. From the album’s dedication aimed at anyone who’s survived a life-threatening illness to its Skillet artwork portraying the aquatic besting of a robotic beast, the pervading theme is a positive, triumphant one. Battle Stations, AB’s fourth release, is also a personal win for the band, who conquered the stagnant waters of creativity they felt surrounded them after the release of 2009′s Magic Elixir. Charging hard with opener “Riff Crisis,” it breaks down at the three minute mark and a trend is set whereby Battle Stations is rife with songs within the songs, and it’s as if you’re treated to more than just the five listed on the jacket. Nowhere is this more evident than on the album’s longest songs, “The Binary Language of Moisture Vaporators” and “Dreams of Hammurabi,” both of which traverse multiple metal landscapes in melodic, thrash-y, fuzzy, attention-grabbing fashion. Add to the mix the psych-charged “One Lucky Canary” and the exotic flare of “Interlude” and you’ve got one wild fight on the waves, my friend.

Listen to “Riff Crisis” from Battle Stations!