TUBE CULT FEST 2019

🇮🇹 Tube Cult Fest 🇮🇹
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🔥 REVIEW: WARP - S/T (2019) 🔥

From the flourishing Israeli heavy psych scene, that just keeps on giving amazing new bands over the past few years, comes another blooming project... Warp, a power trio based in Tel Aviv formed by three friends and members of various local punk rock bands who wanted to do something different, with a more riff driven approach and vintage sound. After several years confined to a basement bending and twisting their sonic output, the band are finally ready to unleash their impressive debut on CD via Reality Rehab Records (February 15th) and on Vinyl by the renowned german label Nasoni Records with a scheduled release for March. In a perfect storm of stoner, hard rock and doom with thundering riffs, rumbling solos and the deafening roar of a windy rhythmic section as dark, gloomy and powerful ripple currents fill the air with the high voltage discharges evoking the evil spirits of Black Sabbath, Witch or Fuzz.

You can definitely see the punk roots as the songs develop fast into a high pace of raw and primitive yet highly addictive rock tunes, that is until the Sabbath sleazy bridges and greasy breaks appear with the wicked fuzzy saturated guitar unleashing sordid riffs and degenerated solos accompanied by the demolishing sound of the drums, the obliterating bass lines and stony corrupt vocals, coming all together to create these amazing sections within the songs. An astonishing debut by the three piece that looks more like an obscure and lost demo straight from the golden 70´s with that old vintage bluesy sound that alternates between fast and slow tempos... but always keeping it heavy and groovy.

With 8 songs running a little under 30 minutes you´ll find yourself dumbfounded with this amazing record on loop all day long and I don´t blame you... because it happened to me too.

BANDCAMP

REVIEW: GORM - S/T (2019)

After a couple years stuck on a windowless bunker secretly located along the western bank of the Warnow river in Rostok, Germany, three cosmonauts finally completed their intensive training and eagerly joined the space exploration program. The project Gorm, comprised of Maicus on guitar, Henning on bass and Paul on drums, inaugural mission was launched on January 1^st digitally and on vinyl with independent funds on a local operation. On their maiden voyage, we see the exciting cosmic power trio with a valiant departure from Earth into an amazing space ride through the Milky Way, aboard a robust and well-oiled machine fueled by a premium composite of high quality instrumental Heavy Psych, Doom and Stoner.

While the audacious crew is on a daring mission to explore and research some of Saturn, Neptune and Pluto´s natural satellites, we are riding on the backseat admiring the mesmerizing vast and dense soundscapes created along the way. It´s a rough expedition, full of ups and downs, chills and trills but the well trained and tight trio have crafted their forces, operating so smoothly between transitions of calm, tranquil and peaceful sections into gnarly and turbulent boosts of speed and heavy discharges of power. Performing multiple complex Lunar-orbit rendezvous, the band slowly delves deep into space as the lively and jammy drums create powerful magnetic pulses, while the thick, opaque and woolly bass lines filling the void, combine forces with the stellar and flair guitar radiating strong gravitational warm riff waves and fuzzy pulsar leads bursting like ultra-high-energy cosmic rays. A fascinating and memorable sonic journey with five intricate heavy slabs of spacey psychedelic jams that any respected marijuanaut should enjoy and fully appreciate this entrancing and illuminating hour like an episode exploring the Cosmos with our much esteemed Carl Sagan.

With such a well-thought and excellent debut LP, made with noticeable fun and passion in a genuine effort and in true DIY spirit we can safely say that... “The force is strong with this one!”

Bandcamp

🔥 SONICBLAST MOLEDO 2018 REVIEW 🔥

First off, I´d like to apologize for the delay but I´ve been swamped at work and had to compensate for the days I asked my boss in august so I could attend an alleged “wedding in Spain”. See, the key to a good lie is to have some truth in it... You, most certainly, can see our neighbor country from Moledo do Minho and Sonic Blast Festival is in a fact, at least for me, a religious and spiritual ceremony celebrating love.

With such an amazing line up this year's edition, sold out almost a month before, was destined to be a success and probably the best one so far... felling pretty excited to go a day earlier and also catch the warm up sessions, specially for Acid Mess. You could feel the energy and freedom pulsating through the streets giving life to the otherwise quiet village has you walk in direction to Ruivo`s, a small bar by the beach. Certainly not one with the best acoustic conditions and definitely overcrowded, the place was set a blaze by the cosmic group from Oviedo as they jam late into the night with their perfect mix of psych & prog sonic infusion that left the crowd all fired up for the main event.

By the first rays of sun light I was already regretting my poor choice on the brand new tent and realized that my stay wasn´t going to be as pleasant as last year´s... even the private camping where I camped again, was failing with to many people/cars and the WC´s always locked. With a forced trip to Vila Praia de Ancora to hit an ATM and get some cash since Moledo´s only one was already as dry as a nuns nasty, we arrived to the pool with the first band already playing and the place packed. Remember laughing at a fool the night before saying that he was going to the pool in the morning to save a good spot as I watched from the balcony Portuguese psych rockers Solar Corona setting the right mood with warm instrumentals and inebriating psychedelic rhythms.

The vibe was golden and the good times were rolling with the following shows and solid performances by hard psychers Desert Smoke, Astrodome and Atavismo all presenting their new records and fresh batch of interstellar traveling instrumentals.

Under a scorching sun this poolside trip was getting hectic with the crowd taking turns between the pool and the bars to cool things down as the wild card of the afternoon took the stage... from the UK the jam band Electric Octopus came to close the spot with their unique party rock and funky sound, that ended this fiesta.

Finally on the main stage, UK doom band Conan were set to open the hostilities while I browsed the merch tent. Quite a barbaric way to start the evening if you ask me... Ufomammut came next and suffered from the same problem. The Italians were miles away from the gig given a few years back at Reverence Festival in Valada as the dark sound atmosphere and devilish projections failed to deliver, during the daytime, the full doomster effect I was expecting to see.

Returning from a long hiatus, iconic desert band Nebula arrived in Moledo to deliver a compilation of Californian dusted hits. Classic songs from the stoner genre that gave this band a place in it´s history but if they´re relevant to the future only time will tell... The years haven´t been good for Eddie Glass and company who looked like they were with the conspicuous crowd that came directly from the EDM festival Neo Pop that was held the week before nearby. The fact that he had to apologize during the set because the drummer was too high on MDMA certainly left me wondering...

A quick drive by the food tents to manage something to eat and grab a bear, no time to loose when the next band stepping in is Causa Sui. You don't wanna miss a second of a performance by the danish dudes... they tour so rarely that their live shows can be considered a natural phenomenon, rare and beautiful as a perfect storm of heavy psych and jazz. The psychedelic quartet returned finally to Portugal after a magical show in Barcelos at Milhoes de Festa in 2011 to unleash the power of Freedom Fuzz. With a visual projection as mesmerizing as the soundscapes they create, Jonas Munk and company go through an amazing set, mixing the classics with recent jams and deliver, quite easily, the best show of the day.

Not an easy task to follow such an epic performance but german psych lords Samsara Blues Experiment rose to the occasion. Returning now as power trio to an electrified audience, they knew out to keep the fuzz & buzz going with a spaced out performance and great show. The experienced group never let´s you down and even though a more straight forward approach to the old material was noticeable, where you definitely miss the second guitar, it was fun to finally see the new material live.

Already tired and anticipating a bad nigh of sleep I decided to fall back and go to retreat has Mantar, the psychotic german duo, demolished the place, at least judging by the tumultuous noises and diabolic vibrations creeping into the camping site.

As expected, another poor night of sleep followed and after some discussion in full zombie mode, we all agreed to skip the overcrowded pool and go instead to the beach to try get some rest.

A wise decision for a dude who needs a little peace, right?

With a much more friendly ambiance, started the second day on the main stage as Naxatras, the greek psychedelic trio, welcomed everyone with a festive performance on their debut show in Portugal. The cool vibes all around created the perfect setting for a laid back and mellow entrance for the last day of the fest.

   

Changing into the fast lane, came The Atomic Bitchwax drifting all the way from New Jersey. But what I´ve said about Nebula is also valid here... despite the always fun show, not much different or new since I saw them headlining this fest in 2014.

After seeing a bit of 1000 Mods and go for another round trip for food, everyone was eagerly waiting for Kadavar´s sound-check to be done... bet they´re not easy to please but you could tell just for that “test song” that we were in for a treat. And what a treat it was, as the german vintage power trio sucking the 70s put out an electric and flaming show. With a more complete sound and road experience since I last saw them in 2013, the band brought the hard & heavy sabbath as black as the night.

Quite the setup for the main act... the stage was still filled with static electricity when Earthless came up to drop the electromagnetic pulse and shut everything down. Good lord, the San Diego cosmic trio came to take us on a memorable trip through the cosmos. Always a pleasure to see guitar virtuoso Isaiah shredding hypnotic guitar solos and massive riffs with the fine company of the thunderous rhythmic section comprised of Mario and Mike. You just simply can´t get enough of this guys, as the set goes through the more recent material and ends with two covers of Led Zeppelin and Groundhogs.

Completely beaten down I crawled my ass back to the camp site as soon as the show was over, enjoying from there with a glass of home made licor in one hand and a doobie on the other, the last gig of the day with Portuguese heavy rockers The Black Wizards.

Congratulations are in order to the promoters and all the staff involved in making this a yearly pilgrimage I always look forward too go. Slightly concerned about the growing of this festival that doesn´t seem to be much sustainable anymore... sure you can open more space on the main stage to accommodate more people but I fear a loss of experience. Long lines on the food tents or to buy tokens, the pool stage is starting to feel really small for so many people and there was no skate activities this year, breaking part of the tradition. I say it´s time to go for the beach stage Duna Jam style, put some DJ´s on the pool and bring on board a skate shop and a constructor for a mini ramp or a best trick contest. 😎

All photos by Rodriguez!
All videos by Sonic Blast Moledo

🇫🇷 FUZZY SOUNDS FESTIVAL 🇫🇷

Art by Jo Riou Graphic Designer

 🇫🇷 Fuzzy Sounds Festival 🇫🇷
Featuring: Mars Red Sky, Glowsun, Steak, StoneBirds, Your Highness, Alunah, DOMADORA, DECASIA and Witchfinder

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MONOLITHIC FESTIVAL 2018 BARCELOS, PORTUGAL

🌵 Monolithic Fest in Barcelos, Portugal 🌵

 More info: Monolithic Fest 2018

ATOMIC MOLD - HYPNOSIS MUSIC VIDEO

New video for Atomic Mold a stoner trio from Verona, Italy.
Hypnosis is taken from their upcoming new album "Hybrid Slow Food" out in February via Electric Valley Records.