THE WHOREHOUSE MASSACRE - Always Has and Never Has Been

The Whorehouse Massacre has returned with five new songs and 26 minutes of filthy sludge metal. This is excellent stuff. Crashes rain down upon the listener, knocking your head up and down beyond your control. This somewhat mysterious two-man band locks into a relentless groove not entirely unlike a Dopefight, Soyuz Bear or even In The Company of Serpents. They're somewhat mysterious because like Brant Bjork I want to ask "where you from, man?" It's hard to say but for pride's sake I'll consider them Canadian. For those unfamiliar with the band, the vocals are rough-hewn but not obnoxious, it's one of those instances where (slightly) growlier vocals actual match or even enhance the music. I've long been a fan of this underrated band, but I'll leave with a warning to audiophiles: this recording has a lo-fi edge to it, which again enhances the experience for me, but may leave others cold. Their loss.

LUNG FLOWER - Death on the Crowsnest EP

Got another heavy Vancouver band for you, and these guys are standouts. I first caught a whiff of Lung Flower about two years ago when they had a different vocalist and slightly different sound. I mean not totally different, but less metal-y. Anyway, the band recently returned with a new vocalist and this bangin' three song EP. This is much heavier than I remember the band being, they sound almost like a NOLA band here, straddling that line between thrash and stoner rock the way Eyehategod does so well. There's also a healthy dollop of grunge ladled on top, not entirely unlike a Tsar Bomba, Satellite Beaver or even Cultura Tres. Anyway this is a PAY-WHAT-YOU-WANT situation so if you're into heavy sludge rock, you'd be a fool not to check this out.

REVEREND SNOW - El Bandero

Found this one on Paul Rote's feed, via Steve Rodger on bandcamp. Another great Canadian band, it's only three weeks in, but this is shaping up to be Canada's best year yet for music. The cover is unassuming but inside is what every stoner rocker is looking for. Reverend Snow is raw like a pustulating sore, the fuzz is thick and snaps like a live wire. I could go on, but I'll spare you, but the sound here is not entirely unlike Fu Manchu at times. The cover is unassuming but inside is what every stoner rocker is looking for. What you get here is 11 songs and 48 minutes of blazing rock n roll and you can NAME-YOUR-OWN-PRICE. If there's one criticism to be made it's that the rawness that defines the performances, spills out into the way it was mixed. It isn't muddy or tinny, but it's a bit thin in places. I don't care about that stuff, though. I'm not audio snob, just give me them sweet jams!

SARIN - The Burial Dream

From the CDC website:

• Sarin is a human-made chemical warfare agent classified as a nerve agent. Nerve agents are the most toxic and rapidly acting of the known chemical warfare agents. They are similar to certain kinds of insecticides (insect killers) called organophosphates in terms of how they work and what kind of harmful effects they cause. However, nerve agents are much more potent than organophosphate pesticides. 
• Sarin originally was developed in 1938 in Germany as a pesticide. 
• Sarin is a clear, colorless, and tasteless liquid that has no odor in its pure form. However, sarin can evaporate into a vapor (gas) and spread into the environment. 

This is good rainy afternoon music. I can also see it being a good soundtrack for a warm night downtown, but we're not even close to being there yet so I'll stick with my first thought for now. This has got a lot of post-metal elements, which I usually don't go in for, but something about this Canadian band appealed to me. Their sludgier moments are excellent. On March 20 of this year it will be twenty years to the day of the Japanese Sarin gas attack. Stay tuned to the Everyday Strange features for a look at that. People are nuts, Sarin the band, reflects that in a contemplative way. I should point out here that the 7-track record comes with 3 bonus alternate versions of the ambient/drone interludes (which isn't entirely unlike Serpentine Tunnels), all of which I like.

TRAGIC MAGICK - Two EP's

This one comes courtesy of Paul Rote on bandcamp. What a find! Canada has been running away with it lately, I don't mind saying. Between this band and Strange Broue I feel a musical renaissance stirring under my feet. This is the War of 1812 fought with the Devil's Third! This lo-fi Toronto band brings a pair of two-song EP's to the table, one from last summer (all instrumental) which seems to have passed by me and everybody else according to the empty spaces on bandcamp, and the second was released just a couple days ago. The new EP only streams one song but there are two when you download the album. The four songs are about 16 minutes long in total, but what a 16 minutes, grammar be damned! Sweet melodies, evvvil riffs and excellent low-key vocals served on a steaming plate of crushing heaviness.

It seems the band originally hadn't reset the default bandcamp price of $7 on their first EP and so no one wanted to take a chance on them because the asking price was too high for two digital songs. Well now it's set as PAY-WHAT-YOU-WANT so it's now, officially, a steal. One other thing that might have hurt the band is the (current anyway) lack of an album cover. Ideally an album cover gives you some idea of what you're in for. Well, let me be the one to tell you, you're in for a wicked treat. The cover art I put up was taken from a google image search of the band from their bandcamp page but seems to be a cached image. Take it from me and Paul, this is KILLER!

STRANGE BROUE - Children of Sabbath

I admit it, I'm hooked. I can't get enough of this Strange Broue. The 'band', I've discovered consists of one guy who tracks everything himself. Obviously, this set-up allows full creative freedom and we've already been treated to a number of different looks from the project in the few shorts weeks it's been up on bandcamp: acoustic occult rock, expansive doom and shorter, punkier stuff. 'Children of Sabbath' gets into that classic doom mold. It's a bit more like 'Mystifying Oracle', which by my calculations rests somewhere between Electric Wizard and Uncle Acid, musically, not entirely unlike a Doctor Smoke, for example, but I'm sure we're in for a surprise or two along the way. This will probably be the last thing Strange Broue releases for a little while, an LP is planned next. I'll be holding my breath. As I've said I'm becoming a huge fan of this project, they've put up three releases on bandcamp for a total of five songs since the year began. For convenience sake, and for nerdly fun, I've combined those five songs with the earlier 'Acoustic Haunting' tracks to create a mini-album.

Here's my proposed tracklist:
1. The Beast (from 'Acoustic Haunting')
2. Dead Rising (from 'Mystifying Oracle')
3. Electric Blizzard (from 'Mystifying Oracle')
4. Grim Creeper (stand-alone single)
5. Children of Sabbath (from 'Children of Sabbath')
6. Druglust (from 'Children of Sabbath')
7. The Captor (from 'Acoustic Haunting')

Music player for all four Strange Broue releases are in chronological order below:

LAVAGOAT - Ageless Nonsense

Cover artwork by Jason Dopko.

I must admit I straggled. Lavagoat has long been one of my favorite Canadian bands because they always struck me as unpretentious and genuine within their own sound, which is metal first and sludge / doom metal second. I held off on purchasing 'Ageless Nonsense' though because it was kind of cost-prohibitive for me when it came out. But in my mind, the band had earned a higher asking price and I wasn't about to put off getting it forever. Aside from having one of my favorite band names I don't think I've ever heard a song from Lavagoat that I didn't like. I haven't heard them all mind you, but you get the picture. 'Ageless Nonsense' doesn't disappoint in that regard, every song is great and it turns out that $9 is a worthy investment after all.

JUST THE FACTS (according to the band's facebook page):
Genre: Metal

Hometown: Saskatoon, SK

Short Description
Lavagoat is an otherworldly concoction of doom, death, thrash, psych, 70's hard rock and heavy metal brewed in Saskatoon, SK since 2007

ASTRAKHAN - A Tapestry of Scabs and Skin

That Seer post that just happened inspired me to correct a mistake I've made around here. It's a mistake of omission by not showcasing Astrakhan's latest EP. By now you've heard it or at least seen it make the rounds I'm sure, but a band can never have too many voices in the choir, so I'll join in. I call castrato! Anyway, these proud native sons of Vancouver have been compared favorably to Tool among other things and seem to be, creatively speaking, at the forefront of a progressive rock movement in my own backyard that uses stoner metal as its launchpad. It would be hard not to be impressed with Astrakhan's musical assault as they pull out all the stops and push skill, dexterity and imagination to the breaking point. This 4 song EP is up on bandcamp right now as a $2 digital download, but it's also available on spinning black circle.

SEER - Vol. 1

It's been a good stretch for Canadian bands and for Vancouver bands in particular ... Huh? What's that, you don't believe me? Well may I point out Wiser Fool, Waingro and Astrakhan to go along with La Chinga, Baptists, Anciients and Black Wizard? Vancouver: we're not just for Nickelback and Bryan Adams anymore. But enough about that, we're here to discuss Seer, whose musical escapades align quite beautifully with neighbors Anciients and Astrakhan. I'd swear there was something going on here, these proggy stoner stylings are kind of their own thing in the stoner world and it's like it's all happening right here. I'd do the least bit of digging to find out if these three bands shared members or were even friendly with one another but I'm too important lazy. 'Vol. 1' is only two songs, but they take you on an epic journey of 70s riffs, progged up by about 70 percent, but maintaining that stoner metal edge, especially in the vocals. If nothing else, check out the first track "Glimmervoid", it's a beaut, and if that don't hook you then nothing will.

ACID†PRIEST - Outta Control

This was a good find. Totally off my radar until they showed up on the bandcamp feed. The music is like a one part punk, one part doom and two parts stoner mix. There's something consummately Canadian about this music, so if you're one of those sickies out there with a maple leaf fetish ... this one's for you. The EP is up for pre-order right now, you can download four of the seven tracks with the rest of them coming January 20. For now, enjoy the four that are up there and PAY-WHAT-YOU-WANT when it's time to pony up.

STRANGE BROUE - Mystifying Oracle

Here's a band from Quebec that is heavy, dirt heavy with distorted vocals in the vein of Electric Wizard or Salem's Pot. And like Salem's Pot or Windhand or Uncle Acid, Strange Broue isn't afraid to get all "feel-y" and pull out the acoustic as displayed by two stray tracks released in November called "The Captor" and "The Beast". But the focus of   the two song 'Mystifying Oracle' is on corrosive guitar tones, shambling riffs and tortured vocals. Though these Canadians display a solid working knowledge of the Electric Wizard style, they know when to cut the shit as the two tracks here come in a shade under 12 minutes. Not too long, not too short. Anyway, I predict that the next thing they release will be on vinyl first on some label or another, UNLESS they've got another short EP already in the can. But this band won't remain unsigned for long.

UPDATE:
The day after posting this, Strange Broue collected the two acoustic tracks mentioned above into a single release called 'Acoustic Haunting'. Also, I've added a bunch of links to bands I've mentioned facebook pages.