Arc of Ascent straddle the stoner/doom divide like sentient giants, spiritual lion tamers of a beastly Kyuss/Sleep hybrid, a crooked staff in one hand and a whip in the other. Their 2010 debut, Circle of the Sun, was a bold and fuzzy big top spectacle, and follow-up The Higher Key is definitely a continuation of the same spacey show, but it’s not the thick, groovy riffs or the the psychedelic effects that mark this new album as a must-experience circus. No, instead it’s the strong voice of bassist Craig Williamson that sparks this comet’s fire, a soaring furnace of hypnotic melody with just a hint of dastard caterwauling, not unlike one Messiah Marcolin if the robed night stalker presided over asteroids instead of gravestones, and it truly separates the New Zealand power trio’s acid blast of narco-metal from the deluge of monolithic mayhem with which it might otherwise get lumped.
Incoming Cerebral Overdrive Le Stelle: A Voyage Adrift
Supernatural Cat Records
If Italy were to have their own version of Mastodon, I suppose Incoming Cerebral Overdrive would be it. The band’s fourth album, Le Stelle: A Voyage Adrift, is jammed ear to rear with quirky time changes, intrepid riffing, and heavy bullishness, making it a contemporary yet progressive blend of math rock, hardcore, and sludge. While it can be said that Le Stelle delivers relentless, crashing waves of metal, the perfect accompaniment to the album’s lyrical concept based on the discovery of a sea-stranded man’s diary, it actually feels more like ICO are on a flat-out hyper-drive ride through planetary mines. The album’s overall spacey vibe, especially on the doomed-out cosmic trip of eleven minute closer “Rigel,” may no doubt be owed to the composition and recording help of Ufomammut’s Urlo and Poia, but they, like the Malleus Rock Art Lab cover, are just a nationalistic pleasantry; ICO is the archetype ambassador for the insane super kill.
Listen to “Bellatrix” from Le Stelle: A Voyage Adrift!
The beer n’ bong rock found on American Sharks’ Weedwizard 7″ is over in six minutes (discounting the time it takes you to flip the damn thing), but chances are you’ll spin it many times in a row, so it’ll feel like a 10″ or 12″ by the time you’ve had your shotgun fun. Side A’s “XVI” (or “Sixteen and Pregnant”) is a total stoner metal ripper and if Red Fang’s “Prehistoric Dog” had a gorgeous twin sister, this would be it. Side B’s “Indian Man” fires an altogether different vibe at you, like Sweatmaster jamming out atop a roof of nails, but the garage tweak contains enough of the band’s Texas edge to keep the party going. Nothing much left to say except I want more, so I pray to thee, oh wise Weedwizard, oh ye of the mighty green beard, for much more from these American Sharks.
Check out the video for “Indian Man” from the Weedwizard 7″!
Arc of Ascent
Incoming Cerebral Overdrive
American Sharks