Grime

For some (un)healthy aural pummeling, check out Italian outfit Grime‘s self titled debut EP released in the summer of 2011! These guys offer up a nice varied blend of sludge, doom and metal with screechy black metal-esque vocals with such intense aggression you physically recoil upon the initial listen. After a much disturbing intro (sampled from the Cape Fear remake) the band goes for your throat and don’t let up for half an hour.

This is just pure brutality at insane levels. The production, the attitude – everything seems designed to ultimately destroy the listener. Sometimes at a crawl, occasionally picking up speed the band never lets up and succeeds in their quest of completely annihilating their surroundings. Eight songs that is nothing less than physically exhausting, check it out!

Sample track: 

Bandcamp: http://grime666.bandcamp.com/
Website: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Grime/209557405747608

Iron Witch

If you’re in the mood for a bit more rough-edged stoner I can highly recommend Iron Witch‘s debut EP Single Malt released on Witch Hunter Records in 2011. Mixing up the heaviness of other outfits like Black Sabbath and Sleep with the hardcore stylings of Black Flag (circa My War-era), this UK outfit offers up a pretty unique brand of sludge with a nice punk edge that I really grooved on. It’s slow, it’s loud and they kept things just a lil’ bit ugly for taste – nice!

Five songs clocking in just around 25 minutes full of fuzzed-out doom-laden heaviness and a screeching vocalist that actually reminds me of GG Allin (!!!), I can definitely see this outfit being enjoyed by punks and metalheads alike. And according to more than one reviewer I read, these are the future kings of UK Doom! Free downloads are available.

Sample track:

Bandcamp: http://ironwitch.bandcamp.com/
Website: http://www.facebook.com/ironwitch1977

Ice Dragon

Whoof! Great stoner rock riffs with damn glue dripping from the guitar strings is offered up by Boston quartet Ice Dragon on their epic second album The Sorrowful Sun. We’re talking some pretty cool psychedelic stuff with a nice experimental edge and wicked cool haunting vocals with a definite Ozzy Osbourne feel. Heaviness intact their sound is lo-fi and pretty noisy for what you’d usually expect from the genre (they actually kinda remind me of Upsidedown Cross), making them really stand out compared to other acts.

Nine songs of pure sludge heaven clocking in around 40 minutes with some nice surprises thrown in every now and then to keep things interesting, and yet again I find myself scratching my head wondering what the hell is wrong with the modern record industry for not picking these guys up. Their first album The Burl, The Earth, The Aether is offered as a free download – you should definitely check ’em out!

Sample track:

Bandcamp: http://icedragon.bandcamp.com/
Website: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ice-Dragon/59570859070

Thorun

UK stoners Thorun‘s EP Chorus of Giants is the kinda record release/demo that makes you scratch your head wondering why they haven’t been signed to a label already. Maybe it’s because they dabble in instrumental music, a genre most people in the “industry” consider hard to market, but their brand of instrumental stoner rock is just perfect. Heavy riffs, great production, songs are good and varied without ever getting masturbatory (a risk pretty common with the metal genre).

Recorded live to keep the studio gimmickry to a minimum (giving them extra punk points for me!) they’re earning some well-deserved underground press and slots opening up for more established bands. Their first effort EP 2010: Reprise is available for free on Bandcamp as well as Megaupload.

Sample track:

Bandcamp: http://thorun.bandcamp.com/
Website:  http://www.thorunband.com/