Let me tell you, this is not a headline I expected to write in 2019. It’s been almost a decade since what we like to call The Doom Revival™ first started being felt across the metal community, as album after excellent album were released in the genre. As a result,…
Good morning and welcome once again to the wave of progressive stoner metal which has been washing over us for several years now. This time, we are proud to premiere The Ghost Next Door’s A Feast for the Sixth Sense, a politically charged exploration of groove, riffs, and the powers they hold. The album’s centerpiece is probably the…
The Load-In As I write these words, we are deep in the festive dead-zone, where gigs by anyone other than tribute or function bands are practically non-existent. Fortunately, in amongst the office parties and family commitments, I still managed to find a couple of shows to go to in December,…
You’ve seen it. You’ve debated it. You’ve cried over it. But what’s done is done: Our list of the best albums of the year is behind us, and there is much rejoicing. But what about the albums we loved that didn’t make the final cut?
Four years ago, I started to keep a complete list of every band I saw. Three years ago, I began kicking myself for not starting that childishly simple task sooner. Never mind. At least I can tell you exactly what I got up to this year – with one important caveat. A…
Now that’s more like it. After a couple of uncommonly lean months, my gig diary was back up to fighting weight in November, and I saw around thirty bands (some of them twice, but we’ll get to that), including some past and present favourites, giving me plenty to write about…
The Load In The gig drought continues. Admittedly, I was out of the country (again) for a good chunk of the month and, typically, almost everything I wanted to see in October happened whilst I was away. I was particularly annoyed to miss Sleep Token’s first headline show, taking place…
We here at Heavy Blog are not known for under-doing something when it comes to bands we love; we like to shower them with attention and do it often. Thus, it should be no great surprise that, so soon after we reviewed their most recent release, we’re here with an…
Enter Boss Keloid. Their sophomore release, Herb Your Enthusiasm, was well belied by its name as it put them on our radar; their music was progressive stoner personified, all treble, fuzz and smokey haze. Honestly, we were expecting more of the same from Melted on the Inch and were content with that. Their brand of stoner mixed with sludge was to our liking. But, instead, Melted on the Inch threw us quite a bit of a curve ball. On it, Keloid have reached back into their progressive rock roots and brought forth a sound which, while not a complete stranger to their established tones, is certainly something new. The result is an album where composition is way more varied than before, synth tones rule the day, the vocals are non traditional and the overall theme seems much changed. Insert a weed joke here, something about breeds? Let’s just get to it.
Something is a-buzzing within the progressive stoner community. We’re barely past the half way mark and the number of great albums released in the genre is steadily increasing. In light of such a process, the definitions of the genre are being challenged, as is only natural; in times of such rapid expansion is when sub-genres are born. From the slower, smoke-drenched Boss Keloid, through the more progressive oriented Illudium, right up to the all together hectic Tardive Dyskinesia, progressive stoner metal is beginning to splinter. However, just as important to this process is a clearly defined center, an essence from which the rest of these experimenters can draw. Where should one look for such a center? How do you even define it?
Luckily, the work of the righteous is often done by others and Lady Luck has mercifully rid us of our conundrum. Through the ways of the inbox, we have been presented with Family’s Future History and within it, we have found our center. The album contains everything that progressive stoner metal is doing today and does so in a lucid, well thought out and delivered manner. However, it never strays too far from the basic trappings of the definition. That’s what makes it so perfect for our needs. It represents a snapshot of a movement, a frozen moment that is immediately understandable to anyone versed in the ideas and sounds of the emerging mode.
