Serpent Throne - The Battle of Old Crow

Alright, from the onset I must say I love everything about this band. Everything. The album cover for this release for example. Perfection. Secondly, everything else about "The Battle Of Old Crow" is a pure vein mined of it's epic win.

"Old Crow" is pretty much a riff fest from the second one. They're one of those stoner-rocky kind of bands that pretty much live and die by the quality of their riffs. Fortunately for Serpent Throne, the riff-quality is more than enough to carry this record through 10 songs.

I should also point out as well that riff quality matters all the more for Serpent Throne because they're instrumental. Not too many instrumental stoner rock bands out there, but the lack of a vocalist on this record is decidedly not a bad thing. When you consider the fact that the vocals on a lot of records like this are some guy either trying to sound like Ozzy Osbourne and failing or some guy trying to sound like King Buzzo and failing, the lack of a vocalist isn't much of a problem. In fact, I think it gives them a lot of room to really kind of put how epic their riffs are front and center.

Serpent Throne is basically two parts straight ahead fuzzy riff-rock, with well worn riffs and beats, mixed with one part NWOBHM type epic, twin-guitar shredding, and a little dash of Morricone-esque dustiness. It's these last two elements that really set this record apart and push it over the top for me. I love riffs and I'll never knock a band for just piling thick stoner riffs one on top of each other, but Serpent Throne manages to kick it up a notch by giving what they do a kind of grandiosity which is sometimes lost in dirty riff-rock kind of stuff.

Overall, "Old Crow" is a great album to put on and just kind of bob your head to. If you're like me and you like your riffing with a little bit of epic, then I would suggest checking out Serpent Throne. I hope this record comes out on vinyl because I'd prefer to have that nice cover all big and stuff. To sum it up, this album rocks.

Band: Serpent Throne
Album: The Battle Of Old Crow
Genre: Stoner Rock/Metal, Instrumental
Country: USA
Rapidshare: Here

By Bez

Seventh Void - Heaven Is Gone 2009

I have been waiting for this bands first effort to to come out for a while now. Take half of Type O Negative and some guys from other underground bands(Uranium 235 and Inhuman) and stir thoroughly. Sounds kinda good, right? Well it is. Heaven Is Gone is a damned good disc and in short, Seventh Void are a decent somewhat radio-ready stoner metal band. Not that that is a bad thing, per se, but with Type O being as unique as they are let's just say I was expecting something new to be added. Still though, that is my one and only complaint.

Kenny Hickey (vocals, guitar) and Johnny Kelly (drums) are joined by Matt Brown (Guitar, formerly Uranium 235) and Hank Hell(Bass, formerly Inhuman) have molded a polished, well produced virgin effort. The guitar team of Hickey and Brown is rock solid and sounds almost as if they were made to play off of one another. The groove on the title track is a pure wall of awesome. Hickey is a damned good vocalist as well, reminiscent of Chris Cornell in his heyday with Soundgarden. As a matter of fact, alot of people will draw correlations between Soundgarden and Seventh Void. They do come off as a retro classic rock band melded with the grunge metal attitude of Soundgarden in both vocals and music. Like I said, nothing new but nothing bad either.

Seventh Void is a slow paced monster of a band for sure. Fans of old school metal like Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Cactus, and Uriah Heep will find a place with this album as will fans of the grunge-era alike. As for the fans of the stoner rock/metal genre, you are right at home here.

Band: Seventh Void
Album: Heaven Is Gone
Genre: Stoner Metal/Retro Grunge/Old School Doom
Country: USA
Rating: 4/5
Rapidshare: Here

By Bez

Wine From Tears - Through The Eyes Of A Mad

As one can see from the majority of my recent reviews I have been on a journey into the realms of new doom metal releases and thus far 2009 has brought some wonderful additions to the genre. Wine From Tears's latest epic "Through the Eyes Of A Mad", is one among them that truly stands apart from the crowd in its darkened glory.

The album flows effortlessly through almost an entire hour and a half of epic ethereal doom metal in the vein of bands like Katatonia, Candlemass, Draconian, My Dying Bride and Saturnus. The music as a whole is filled with glorious elegance tapered by deep growls and haunting piano refrains amidst deeply distorted guitars and a wall of bass and drums that reminds one that the sky could indeed fall at any moment.

Through The Eyes Of A Mad will fit into any fan of doom and gothic metals collection and be held in high regard. It is an epic journey through grief and doubt, suffering and hope, and love both celestial and terrestrial. While not progressing the genre, Wine From Tears will emerge as a new breed of royalty in the halls of doom.


Wine From Tears hails from Russia, where winter is a constant companion and it shows within their work. This album is a feast for the palate. The mournful concoction is a pale winter potion to which one cannot be sated of lightly and even the most discriminating of connoisseurs will hardly find any fault in it whatsoever.


My only sadnesss about this album came about when it was over. Alas, I shall have to wait for the next batch that will most assuredly be aged to perfection.

Band:Wine From Tears
Album: Through The Eyes Of A Mad
Label:Solitude Productions
Rapidshare:Here
Rating: 4.5/5

By Bez