The Sonic Sofa’s 420 Payload: Dozer, Green Yeti, Saint Karloff, and more…

Posted on April 20, 2023 by thesonicsofa

Once a month, The Sonic Sofa jettisons some of the heaviest and coolest releases from the past month straight to your ear holes. The reviews are byte size to pack in even more jams. Click on links to support the musicians and use the built in song players to listen to stoner rock while you read!

Fox Medicine release new full length, Doom Candy

Fox Medicine’s style is lavishly plush and definitely bubble-gummy. Strings and vocals are credited to Neezy Dynamite, who delivers high-flying melodies and some downright nasty riffs. Drums and percussion are performed by Vanny Keeps. The doomy Portland, Oregon duo released their new single, Dream Car, ahead of their new album, Doom Candy, which dropped on April 14. Find all of their music on Bandcamp.

New stoner blues album from Rainbow Bridge

Italian rock trio, Rainbow Bridge, produce a wall of sound that falls somewhere between blues and electric psychedelia. They’ve got a heavy blues groove with a classic rock sound and psychedelic aura, dripping with awesome guitar effects and catchy vocals. Check these guys out if you’re into bands like early Sabbath, King Hobo, or Kamchatka. Their new album, Drive, was released in March.

Hermopolis releases new single, Pontic Winds

Hermopolis formed roughly 4,000 years ago in Upper Egypt. In present times, the group is reportedly building up a mystical and ritualistic doom-mension in Europe and have released their first two digital singles, Pontic Winds and Al-Qarafa. Check out the band’s linktree for access to all of their platforms and music.

Dozer is back with a new single and album announcement

Dozer is back after a decade since their last release. They announced their eighth album, Drifting in the Endless Void will drop on April 21. In the meantime, they have released a couple of new singles, Ex-Human, Now Beast and Dust For Blood. The influential Swedish stoner rock group are as heavy as ever, with some super crunchy riffs, precise drum work, and high flying vocals.

Sun Mass release massive, low-end heavy stoner rock album

Missouri’s Sun Mass is the instrumental stoner doom project of Taylor McKnight who performs all instruments, as well as production and mastering on his debut record. The album, There’s Nothing Here, is insanely bass heavy, with an immense and awe inspiring emphasis on the low end. It features some cool artwork by Pnyxartwork. This is the perfect doom album for headbanging on a road trip or grooving to on the sofa.

Saint Karloff’s new single, Psychedelic Man, from upcoming album, Paleolithic War Crimes

Oslo’s Saint Karloff has announced their third full length, Paleolithic War Crimes. If their new single, Psychedelic Man, is any indication, the album is going to be a serious headbanger. Huge riffs, infectious guitar hooks and vocals, and a groovy rhythm section, this track has it all. The Norwegian power trio is dedicating the album to bassist, Ole Sletner, who lost his battle with cancer in 2019. For fans of bands like Clutch and early High on Fire. Paleolithic War Crimes releases June 2.

New stoner influenced alternative rock from Ruff Majik

Ruff Majik is a four piece rock band from Johannesburg, South Africa. The group blends desert rock tendencies, alternative-rock vocals, some sizzly guitar work, and the occasional horror movie sound-byte, into their own unique blend of riffy action. Active since 2015, the group is set to release their sixth full length album in April. The record is called Elektrik Ram, and the group has released several promotional singles: Queen of the Gorgons, Cement Brain, Elektrik Ram, and She’s Still a Goth.

Necropolitan, the spaced-out new album by Green Yeti

Hailing from Athens, Greece, Green Yeti is a three piece stoner doom band that specializes in delivering spaced out doom metal with a particularly raw and live sound. Their new album, Necropolitan, features a brutally deep and sinister bass tone, paired with an epic sounding drumset. Complete with exploratory guitar riffs, tons of spacy interludes, and a variety of vocal styles, Green Yeti have produced yet another ripping album.

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Swan Valley Heights release third heavy stoner rock album, Terminal Forest

Posted on April 10, 2023 by thesonicsofa

Swan Valley Heights is back with their third offering, Terminal Forest, an engaging and powerful stoner rock album. The German four piece group came on to the scene in 2016 with their self titled release, followed by The Heavy Seed in 2019. With the release of Terminal Forest, SVH have completed a nearly perfect trilogy of their own style of heavy, riff driven, spaced out stoner rock.

*Dario Puggioni produced the surreal cover artwork*

The band has stayed true to their style over the years, but have only gotten tighter and more creative. Similar to bands like Weedpecker and Spaceslug, SVH produce walls of heavy riffs, bathed in a heavy psych atmosphere develops and breathes with each composition.

The songs range in length from the three minute instrumental, Space Bash III, up to the 12 minute closer, Star Fever. With six tracks totaling 46 minutes, buckle up for an intense, engaging musical experience, with layers of psychedelic complexity.

1. Microbe Galaxy 11:24
2. The Hunger 5:11
3. Space Bash III 3:08
4. Terminal Forest 10:00
5. Looking For Bird Pet 4:18
6. Star Fever 12:19

The rhythm section is an absolute behemoth, with rock solid drums perfectly synced with a beefed out bass tone. Tracks like Terminal Forest highlight the band’s deep groove, with the bass taking a cool lead at the beginning while the song turns into a huge driving riff. And those guitars… flowing seamlessly from heavy riffage, to blazing, wah-infused leads, to spaced out, exploratory psych patterns. The guitars contain some seriously catchy hooks, like on instrumental headbanger, Space Bash III. Looking for Bird Pet, probably the best track title on the album, up there with “My First Knife Fight” from The Heavy Seed, also unleashes an awesomely massive headbanger riff. Listen for some awesome drum work and a huge riff with some wah-pedal drenched leads on the sprawling Star Fever.

Like their past work, the album tends towards an instrumental approach and the musicians definitely have deepened their groove over the years. No less can be said for the diverse vocals, which continue to be engaging and perfectly placed in the album to evoke emotion. Opening track, Microbe Galaxy, showcases the vocals nicely, with some great harmonies at the end. The Hunger features vocals on the mellower side, but with the addition of some grungy harmonies. The lyrical content tends towards the musing, reflective side.

The album was mixed and mastered at Tonmeisterei Oldenburg in Oldenburg, Germany. Dario Puggioni produced the wildly surreal cover artwork. The album is available on Bandcamp through Fuzzorama Records, where you can find the album on CD, vinyl, and streaming. Go to the band’s website for the latest news and tour information. They’re also active on social media. If you’re into well produced heavy psych music, punctuated with sections of heavy riffs, Swan Valley Heights is worth checking out.

TOUR DATES

JUN 24 StoomFest – London, UK

JUL 14 Stoned From The Underground – Erfurt-Stotternhei, Germany

AUG 11 Hoflärm 2023 – Seelback, Germany

Album Review: Mystic Vulture by Cleõphüzz

Posted on March 10, 2023 by thesonicsofa

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This album review comes with bittersweet news: Cleõphüzz, the five piece desert rock band from Ville Marie, Quebec, unique for their addition of cello in the mix, have announced that they are parting ways, citing problems related to the pandemic. Lucky for us, they were able to rally their forces one last time to release Mystic Vulture, their epic final album.

Mystic Vulture is the group’s second full length, a followup to 2018’s Wizard of Phüzz. The album has everything you could wish for from a stoner rock album, from spacious sounding drums and gnarly riffs, to the huge, spaced-out sound, down to the psychedelic desert scape cover artwork by Tessa Najjar. Going back to that “huge, spaced-out sound,” it’s refreshing to note that this album really ‘breathes,’ with the band taking time to establish psychedelic auras, explore riffs, and really jam. The eight song album clocks in at 47 minutes. It was recorded and mixed by Francois Lachapelle during the pandemic and released in February.

1. THE END 2:32
2. DESERT RIDER 5:54
3. SORTILÈGE 4:15
4. DESPERADO 9:02
5. SARCOPHAGE 3:27
6. WHEN THE SIREN BLOWS 6:49
7. MYSTIC VULTURE 6:32
8. SUNDOWN IN THE AFTERLIFE 8:01

The album is mostly composed of instrumental tracks, which are given cinematic quality by the cello, notably on opener, The End, and closer Sundown in the Afterlife, which features a cool symphonic ending with some beautifully harmonic resolution. The grungy vocals come in to play on the swaggery riffer, Desert Rider. Listen for some Alice in Chains-esque harmonies on Desperado, which also features some heavy guitar progressions and a cool grindy organ.

A great album from psychedelic start to finish, Mystic Vulture can be found on Bandcamp. Digital download is available for $5. There’s no word of a physical release given the band’s current status. The band still maintains an active social media presence. Check out this interview with guitarist, Alex Savourin, for more insight into the band’s creative process, influences, as well as their disbanding. Hopefully they will reunite someday and give us a chance to hear these tracks performed live.