Spiders are a neat little rock n’ roll outfit hailing from Gothenburg, Sweden, featuring John Hoyles of Witchcraft and Axel Sjöberg of Graveyard (although at the time of this review he’s no longer in the band), but starring the foxy Ann-Sofie Hoyles as lead scream Queen, and I’ve waited on writing about them because it seems every time I sit down to do so they put out another single. Indeed, it all started back in January when Spiders released this here four-song EP on regular vinyl and picture disc, and given the aforementioned members penchant for the retro sound, this one definitely stinks of drugs and fuzz, but it also takes on much more of a sonic sexiness, no doubt due to Ann-Sofie’s tempting wiles. You might think a band like Spiders would come off sounding like Blood Ceremony or The Devil’s Blood given the dynamics, but they’re more dirty denim and sweaty leather than black robes and incense, and fall in line with the likes of the American electric dealers of the 60s and 70s, like Fred “Sonic” Smith jamming with Grace Slick. Spiders are a don’t-drink-what’s-in-the-red-cup kind of party, a backseat education for dark minds and idle hands. Anyway, Spiders then took this four-song EP and cut it in half, releasing two separate 7″ singles in the US in March, High Society b/w Gracious Man (Kemado Records) and Nothing Like You b/w Long Gone (Valley King Records). If that wasn’t enough, they then released another 7″ single in August on De:Nihil Records, featuring the brand new song “Fraction” and a cover of Alice Cooper’s “Under My Wheels.” We can now only hope a full-length is on its way. In the meantime, I’m gonna go drink what’s in the red cup and rock the fuck out.
I know this song isn’t on the self-titled EP, but videos are fun, so check out the video for “Fraction”!
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.
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.
Spiders
Ape Machine
Danava