#matheus jacques

[doomedandstoned]

Brazilian Doomers Acidemia Reveal First Sounds From Debut Full-Length!

~Doomed & Stoned Debuts~

By Matheus Jacques

Album art by @doomed_6b

Imbued with acerbic criticism and immersed with misty, dense sonority, the Brazilian trio ACIDEMIA don't deny their roots, bringing in the DNA elements from bands such as Electric Wizard, Sleep, Windhand, and Ufomammut. The corrosive veil evoked by Henrique Soares (bass, vox), Mateus Varela (guitar), and Thiago Granetto (drums) seems to permeate every element of their sound, which brings us to the band's current moment where they tread the path to 'Podridão' (2021), their first studio album.

Mainly influenced by the current global moment, the lyrics of the album Podridão (the band's first work to have compositions in the native language) talk about human misery, suffering, uncertainty, moving towards to become the densest, well-prepared and captivating material of the band created in 2015 in the city of Lages. That's what we start to see now with the debut of his first single, the track "Névoas de Ácido," available exclusively here.

Check it out!

Listen: Acidemia - 'Névoas de Ácido'

LYRICS   (translated)

Who will say what is right? Extinct acting by desperation Feeding with pain Annihilating their own fear

The masked despair The same blood running through the veins A raw face The truth in a reflection

Existence, black magic Illusion, despair Seven lit candles Ritual and darkness

The disturbed mind, ordering to act No feeling, deep immensity The disturbed mind, ordering to act No feeling, deep immensity

The dusk is near Mists near to the surface Scream of horror and despair Will it be an order for the next kills?

Acid corroding through the skin Every drop is a suffering, eternal moment You only live once, don't you?

SOME BUZZ

The band Acidemia carries a slow, dirty and dissonant sound proposal composed by a power trio that originated in the city of Lages, Brazil. Around 2015 they started with Jams without commitment just to relax, inspired by bands like Black Sabbath, Electric Wizard and Sleep with Rubens Silva on guitar, Thiago Granetto on drums and Henrique P. Soares on bass and vocals. Through some riffs played in Jams, set out below songs that would be a basis for the band's first EP entitled 'Extinction, recorded at Fatboo Studios and released in late 2018, with six songs that portray the hatred expelled by society.

Extinction by ACIDEMIA

Since then the band started playing at festivals promoting their first EP, and one of the shows was at Santana's Sunday where they shared the stage with the bands Balthazar and Losna, having as their first audiovisual record the song entitled “Slow Children ” which opens the EP.

In July 2019 at the event Sétima Semana do Rock Catarinense, the band Acidemia performed in the famous acoustic shell of Joca Neves square located in Lages, showing a slow and unprecedented sound for the general public. From this show in the square came the second material entitled 'Live in Swamp,' with six songs played live, one of them unpublished entitled "Podridão," showing that the band was already starting work for the first full album with a new identity and with lyrics in Portuguese.

Acidemia - Live in Swamp by ACIDEMIA

The new songs continued to appear in 2020. However, with the departure of Rubens Silva, Mateus Varela started to play guitar, continuing the composition of the album. In March, there was the first show with a new lineup and some new songs. With the advance of the pandemic, naturally as ideas that emerged for the album were turned to something more intimate and darker of the human being, related to anxiety and depression. With this new lineup influences were increased in the identity from bands like Monolord, Ufomammut, Old One, Windhand, making the sound more experimental and abstract. In 2021, they started recording their first album entitled 'Podridão.'

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[doomedandstoned]

Fresh Heaviness From South America’s Dixie Goat

~Review by Matheus Jacques~

Artwork by José “KAT” Canales

Death is a gentleman, too. He makes good losers of us all.

Give fifty years to someone without any apparent drive toward self-improvement or capacity to mature, recycle, renovate, and otherwise improve things around them, and you will probably find them in exactly the same place -- no change, making the same mistakes, failing to advance. On the other hand, give just five years to a person operating with the opposite mindset, with a tendency toward exploring new ideas, unafraid of doing something different, and their creativity will probably surprise you. This thought crossed my mind as I was listening to the new album by Chilean band DIXIE GOAT.

LISTEN: Dixie Goat - There's No Light Without Darkness by Electric Valley Records

With a debut that made their direction and musical ability quite evident, represented by the lively 'Black Sun Child' (2015), Dixie Goat provided us with the best possible elements of stoner rock, hard rock, and doom metal. They established their sound and style with a sense of sobriety and maturity, drawing parallels to great bands like Corrosion of Conformity, Spirit Caravan, Orange Goblin and Brant Bjork. This energetic, balanced, and all-around solid album was the kick-off for the band's trajectory that now culminates in 'There’s No Light Without Darkness' (2020). Their latest offering demonstrates how much a band can fulfill their essence -- presenting us with their best efforts, yet still finding room to grow and sound fresh (without losing what made us first appreciate them) --- all within the span of half-a-decade.

Coming from a country that boasts of crystal clear musical quality within the stoner strata, Dixie Goat (who hails from the capital city of Santiago) sounds slower and denser in this new work. Beginning with the album's title track, we're taken in a direction that much darker than their first opus, yet no less authentic to the trio's core identity or musical intentions. The Sabbathic “There's No Light Without Darkness” introduces us to the band's expanded musical universe in condensed, instrumental form.

This is succeeded by a doomer with grungy touches, “Dancin' On Your Grave.” One notices, as the elements unfold, the dynamic previously dictated by this "love triangle" (fast, heavy, and dense) now favors a little more of the gloomy and funereal.

The third segment “Two Faces” is a great example of this grungy-doom/doomy-grunge characteristic, demonstrated by Nikk's vocal approach -- which sometimes had me imagining Layne Staley obsessed with Corrosion of Conformity's Pepper phase. To be clear, this is a huge compliment, and "Widow's Tear" follows suit with swampy verses set to a powerful beat.

The lively, up-tempo pace of Dixie Goat's past is not lost on their newest material, for following this we have “Green Karma” spicing things up a bit with an extra dose of speed, sliding out of the slower-paced script thus far and betting on the bluesy groove of the hard rock tradition. As we move from "Zuma" to "Supershit" into the last track, the band isn't just stepping on the gas a little; they're practically sticking their boot to the accelerator (at least compared to earlier tempos) to deliver an explosive rock´n roll vibe without strings or limitations.

“From One Hell To Another” joins the doomy grunge and stoned hard rock elements with exquisite coherence, sacramenting this album closer with a melancholy atmosphere that suddenly turns energetic in its final moments, as it summons us to one final dance through the desert.

Honouring the scene from whence they belong and which has presented so many great stoner-doom bands to us (Kayros, Yajaira, La Jack, and others), the power trio Dixie Goat put a bullet right on the bullseye with this new album (recorded by YBM Records and mastered by the great Jack Endino). The emphasis on low tuning and murky vocals is palpable, and the choice of tones is quite tasty and on-point -- balancing the lightest and fastest tempos against the weight and might of the slowest. Continuing in this manner, with the wisdom to improve as much as possible in a short timeframe, the band will no doubt have a bright and promising future.

Dixie Goat's There's No Light Without Darkness is availalbe in digital and vinyl format via Electric Valley Records.

[doomedandstoned]

Brazil’s MURDOCK Reveal Inner Struggle in Sludgey New Groove Monster

~Doomed & Stoned Debuts~

By Matheus Jacques

With a sonority based on classic hard rock and following a path that began in 2019 much more rooted in psychedelic rock, Brazilian four-piece MURDOCK don't deny their reverence for the heavy music of the '70s. Quite the contrary: the DNA of the band is clearly filled with the verve of the feel-good decade. However, following a path that is opposite to many bands from the contemporary Brazilian heavy rock scene, Murdock performs their music with lyrics rooted in the native language.

Going from Deep Purple to Black Sabbath and travelling through iconic Brazilian rock legends like Casa das Máquinas and Patrulha do Espaço, the band headed by Guilherme Sezoski (guitar, vox) and completed by Pholl Gregório (bass), Rafael Rau (guitar), and Guilherme Franco (drums), released two singles previously: "Olhos Sinistros" independently and "Porcos" via the brazilian label Abraxas Records, which has been working with the stoner rock, doom metal, and seventies-inspired strands of heavy music within the country for years -- either as a label releasing bands or as a producer bringing iconic names to play on national ground.

Now, Murdock brings to the world their newest song and the first representing their new wave of compositions, the well-produced and skillfully executed “Irônico Maldito,” which foreshadows the group's next EP to be released in June.

As Guilherme himself announces, “Irônico Maldito” talks about the mental battle of someone with a double personality and the psychological conflict of someone tormented by uncertainty. Still according to him, playing guitar and composing for the band was the way he learned to live with uncertainty and fear even in the beginning of the pandemic.

In this way, “Irônico Maldito'' is portraying a personal situation and paving the way for the band's next studio work, which should arrive with both new songs and a possible new version of an old track. In the process, the band has concentrated great effort in producing material with great recording quality and tight composition inspired by bands such as Sabbath, Purple, Zeppelin, Kadavar, and the Brazilian rock 'n' roll greats.

Here is an exclusive premiere presented by Doomed and Stoned so you can check out Murdock's new material. Behold: "Irônico Maldito" (a translation of the lyrics follows).

Murdock - Irônico Maldito

LYRICS

I don't care what doesn't satisfy me He was always the one who says he is not A damn ironic What you did to me? I am only a friend Or an enemy

Unable to be just a good guy He showed himself, the black fruit blossomed A damn ironic What did you do to me? I'm just a friend Or an enemy?

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[doomedandstoned]

Greek Rockers Degenerate Mind Impress in Powerful New Record

~By Matheus Jacques~

Cover Art by Rawbite Studio

Starting an album with good hard-hitting drum work is always an extremely positive way to open things, as it extends a "red carpet" for your audience. To this kind of excellence we are introduced with "Justice," opening track from the great new work by DEGENERATE MIND from Athens, Greece, entitled 'B.L.E.V.E.' (2021)

The first reference that came to my mind as I listened to Degenerate Mind's new record was the penultimate material released by the British hard rock band Chrome Molly, the exceptional "Gunpowder Diplomacy" (2013). Tones, guitar leads, the drum section, and some other elements reminded me of the line presented on that album. The Greek band obviously present their sound with more weight and blood in the eye, let's say, yet maintaining a certain likeness to the Leicester crew.

Ranging between elements of '80s metal, '90s sonority, contemporary stoner rock, and influences ranging from Armored Saint to bands like Ugly Kid Joe, Alice in Chains, and Sasquatch, the Greek four-piece band demonstrates a work absolutely aligned with the weight and even the versatility of these influences, yet without losing themselves precipitously in ranges outside of their natural territory.

On the contrary, most of the time Degenerate Mind show absolute control of everything. I had previously checked out the EP Degenerate Mind from 2018, but this album is an absolute evolution and victory for the band. With a particular emphasis on excellent drum work, which always seems ready to dictate precise tempos and provide structural integrity, the instruments are given indispensable support making each song sound full-bodied. As in the second track, "Never Care," the drummer invests a firm pulse and driving rhythm that provides a most energetic, rock 'n' roll verve to the work. That, of course, in addition to great riffs and excellent vocals.

B.L.E.V.E. by Degenerate Mind

There are eight tracks with a very competent sound, precise solos, and melodies harmonized with ever-present weight, where "Justice" and "Never Care" are just the very welcome beginning of an accurate, heavy, and energetic journey lasting over 40 minutes of duration, with a distinct and vibrant groove. At various times, by the way, the record evokes a spirit of "arena rock" with songs balanced between contagious energy and the simplicity of assimilation. A work suitable for different audiences, but also with attributes to fully please different segments, as well. I point out, for example, "Cross The Line," a track that highlights elements similar to Orange Goblin and Sasquatch, but also present in the details smany of the influences mentioned above.

Then there is the recommendation for Degenerate Mind's full-length debut of Degenerate Mind. A debut forged in weight and executed with energy, exuding an identity original enough not to be relegated to a copy of anything. Quite the contrary, B.L.E.V.E has an organic feel and well-crafted material that I hope will be heard by a lot of Doomers & Stoners this year.

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