Bezoar
Wyt Deth
No World Order Records

That’s it. You’ve convinced me, Brooklyn. You are now thee number one spot in the world for heavy, weird, fuzzy, psychedelic music. Okay? Hull, Elks, Bad Dream, Weird Owl, Children…and now Bezoar. I’m sure there’s plenty more rats crawling around in the sewers there that I’m not even aware of, but as far as I’m concerned right now, none of ‘em are bigger — or carry more diseases — than Bezoar. I mean, even their name invokes images of a mythical beast from children’s fables, and this three-headed varmint more than lives up to the hairy, red eye scares it promises. Expounding doom-infused wyt noize, Bezoar’s debut full-length, Wyt Deth, is a lumbering mess of feedback and mildewy riffs, a witchy, warbling deth-psych album that’s definitely hard to listen to, but surely impossible to turn off. Whether it’s the short and sweet allure of songs like “Burn Everything” and “Nikola” or the long and devastating hold of songs like “We Are Not Alone” and “Knight,” the whole damn thing is nauseously enchanting, and you might think it sounds like a dungeon full of hungry, dying prisoners moaning for sunlight, water, and mercy, but that’s just Sara Palmquist (bass/vocals), Tyler Villard (guitar), and Justin Sherrell (drums) laying down the most mystical stoner metal you’re likely to hear all year. Awesome stuff.

Listen to Wyt Deth in it’s entirety right here!

The Devil’s Blood
The Thousandfold Epicentre
Ván Records/Metal Blade Records

The Time of No Time Evermore, The Devil’s Blood’s 2009 debut full-length, was — ahem — bloody brilliant, one which led me to discover a whole rash of occult rock acts currently burning up black candles on foggy stages all over the world. The Eindhoven band’s ritualistic spin on the classic metal of the 70s was nothing short of spellbinding, and it has been under that spell that many have waited, like patient subjects, for the enchanting follow-up. Indeed, The Thousandfold Epicentre can best be described as enchanting, a more ethereal and mystical offering than its predecessor. With its eleven songs borne of psychedelic desire, and five of those stretching themselves like witchy fingers beyond the seven minute mark, it is a bolder and more indulgent record that leans heavily on epic orchestration as though it were an ash-stained pulpit from which the band is delivering their Satanic sermon. However, it’s stand-outs like “Cruel Lover,” “She,” and “Fire Burning” that employ the galloping, Thin Lizzy-like attack that made their debut so great, and without those, this album most surely would have gotten lost within itself.

Listen to “Fire Burning” from The Thousandfold Epicentre!

Hull
Beyond the Lightless Sky
The End

Hailing from what seems to be the most magical of all rock n’ roll boroughs right now, Brooklyn, Hull represent that geographical body’s brute Hulk force, and one run through their sophomore album, Beyond the Lightless Sky, will leave you wondering how there are any buildings left standing at all in Kings County. Indeed, Hull’s dense, triple-guitar punishment can reduce anything to rubble, but it is amidst the dust and debris that Hull emerges to capture our collective astonishment by drawing us into their more kindly tempered, idyllic post-rock bosom. Of course, we soon realize it’s all a fantastic ruse, the promise of proximate peace nothing more than a lie designed to get us close enough to crush, and sludgy blows rain down upon us once more. Apparently Beyond the Lightless Sky is some sort of concept album about Mayan brothers, so I’ll just go ahead and assume that’s what all the dudes in the band are screaming about, but what does it for me is the way Hull mixes the massiveness of Omega Massif with the lumbering pace of Harvey Milk and then tosses in some mystical solos for good measure. Beyond heavy, man.

Listen to “Beyond The Lightless Sky” from Beyond the Lightless Sky!