Readying The Ride...

Silent Agreement - From the Amusement Park (2020)

Making their debut with this three-track EP, the German group of Silent Agreement bring an updated but earthy take on classic hard rock as their main focus. Punchy rhythms and to-the-point riffing keep things active and moving, while the vocals hit a nice balance between roughness and clarity. “Solid”, the first of the EP's songs, opens with a funky flanging guitar solo before dropping in a grimy hard rock groove and vocals to match. A string of questions leads to assurance that the singer will be “solid as a rock,” before kicking back to another flanged break, then cycling back through. It has good energy and a well-grounded groove,

“Dream World” picks up with a somewhat more easy-going vibe, as the singer reflects on a series of mental images and scenarios, ultimately refusing them all. The rising energy of the chorus lets the vocals really shine, while a slow-down bridge gives things a shot of soul. Lastly, “Judas” brings a growl of contempt to the lyrics and their delivery, while a dark edge infiltrates the guitar's chunky chords. Another tasty bridge does duty here, with some of the fanciest noodling of the EP popping up as it rides along. A nice intro to the band, with enough earworm hooks to keep these cropping up in memory until their follow-up arrives.

~ Gabriel

For Fans Of; early Exciter, High Spirits, Molly Hatchet, Motorhead, early Van Halen

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Silent Agreement - Judas (320 kbps)

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Early Signs Of Life...

Randy Holden - Population II (1970)

Originally released in 1970, the debut solo album from Blue Cheer guitarist Randy Holden featured a style that was unfamiliar at the time, but which has subsequently grown to a full genre. While the hard and psychedelic rock styles of the '60s are still quite evident, there's also the chunky riffs and fat bass-end of heavy metal peeking its head out into the world on this album.

Of course, back then, the record technicians who had a fix on how that style should be handled in the mastering process were few and far between, so now that half a century has passed, Riding Easy Records have unearthed it and given it proper audio treatment, letting the wide-spread grooves and sprawling solos shine out with greater body and fullness.

For such an early chunk of heavy metal exploration, the album goes down with surprising smoothness. Packing four full tracks, with a couple of shorties sandwiched between them, the album flows along in cool form, letting its melodies and hooks roll along without too much fuss about sticking to the standard practices. It's a fun and fascinating peek at some nearly-lost roots of the style, and with the ten-minute closer of “Keeper of My Flame”, it packs a big finish. Riding Easy's reissue is due out on February 28^th, so if you're ready to dig on one of the pioneers of heavy metal, get ready to pick this one up and have it take you back.

~ Gabriel

For Fans Of; Deep Purple, The Human Instinct, Iron Butterfly, MC5, Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels

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Randy Holden - Blue My Mind (320 kbps)

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Waking Into Anguish...

Voidlurker - Industrial Nightmare (2020)

Following up on their 2018 demo, the three-piece of Voidlurker have returned with just under thirty minutes of material on their debut EP. Leading off with the ~7:30 title track, the band rolls out some thick and heavy sludge. Slow-grinding riffs, dirty vocals, and flexings of acerbic aggression give the song big flavor, with a ramp into higher tempos at the end helping it to break out of the swampy slog. “Jeffrey Doomer” follows, keeping some of that higher tempo in play while solidly sinking itself into the low-end. Craggy chord progressions and rolling break-downs inflect things with a bit of groove sensibility, while keeping a hazardous vibe well intact. A kick-out riff in the last minute of the song again punches things up, and paves the way for the third track, “Rotten Seed”.

After a bit of low-key intro fun, the song bursts out into wider and more reverberant presentation, growling away with a touch more feedback to the fuzz. The growing heaviness of the riff is emphasized by the gradual slowing of its playing, letting listeners really feel themselves getting dragged down along with it. Despite that, for an eight-minute song, it carries itself well and doesn't make you feel as though you're waiting it out. Lastly, “Bitchcraft and Misery” brings out the snarling attitude in stronger force, hitting some hard combos of drums and guitar for a nasty impression.

All together, the trio have put together a solid first studio effort, and show proficiency in a wide enough range of sludge forms that it'll be hard to predict just what their next one will sound like. Here's hoping it emerges before too long, and keeps up the quality they've put forth so far.

~ Gabriel

For Fans Of; Deuil, Hypnochron, Leechfeast, Plaguewielder, Zaraza

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Voidlurker - Rotten Seed (320 kbps)

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Ready And Yearning...

Canopy - Humanity Loss (2020)

About a decade in the making, Canopy's first album follows a demo and a pair of EPs (which we covered here and here), and capably demonstrates that the band has been honing their material over all that time. Delivering just under fifty minutes of material across the six tracks (with the two-minute intro track, “Intrusion”, easing listeners into the experience), doom and sludge are stirred together for a heavy dose of suffering, and the results are superb.

The two-part “Hostile Architecture” follows the intro, operating in a largely instrumental fashion, though some screams and howls are used to punctuate the chilly vibes. Strong bass riffs and drums to match are contrasted with the scratchy highness of the guitar's tone, and a couple of spoken samples appear in distorted form to give things extra flavor.

Once that first chunk is concluded, it's on into “Exigent Weight”, which lines up a slow-grind ride with some surprisingly poignant strains from the guitar slid into the agonized atmosphere. The vocals take a more forward and distinct role with this song, but step back again to let the climax rise and strike in full power before rejoining the instruments. Sharp song-writing keeps things intense and stimulating, while the production hits a nice balance between clear and swampy presentation.

“No Cure” picks up from there, going deeper and heavier, and delivering a strong sense of immersion with the coiling echoes of the guitar-work. The vocals ride the swell and fall of the instrumental momentum with very effective poise, snaking in with a howl there or injecting a rasping scream there, always punching the energy higher. Lastly, “Adrenochrome” steps in with a slow-building ramp into action, escalating to hard-slamming rhythms and a final burst of expression. Excellent work throughout, and though it's a digital-only release for now, here's hoping that they find a label savvy enough to put them out on physical media in the near future.

~ Gabriel

For Fans Of; Dead Existence, Leechfeast, Mudbath, Primitive Man, Slabdragger

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Canopy - Hostile Architecture II (320 kbps)

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