The 12 Reeks of 2020!
~By Reek of STOOM~
Still from These Final Hours (2013)
As we continue our week-long Doomed & Stoned team retrospective on the music that moved us in 2020, the notorious Reek of STOOM has his favorite albums broken down by month by dreadful month! (Editor)
January: ELDER DRUID – Golgotha
Golgotha by Elder Druid
Bellicose Belfast outfit Elder Druid breach the salt lines to manifest their virulent breed of doomed sludge in their latest offering, Golgotha. Every yard is as epic as its title. Its power and majesty bleeds through every low-fuzzed corpuscle and sinew. Golgotha is the Sound of Wrath. Elder Druid is the Sound of Doom. Faultless!
February: SLIFT – Ummon
UMMON by SLIFT
The French penchant for Spacey Psychedelia goes into full-blown Ion Drive for this dejeuner delicieux. Roaring space rock workouts, krautrock meanderings, and atmospheric ambience. Stunning!
March: THEY WATCH US FROM THE MOON – Moon Doom
Moon Doom! ( The full experience.) by They Watch Us From The Moon
Kansas-based Doom entourage They Watch Us From The Moon! deliver a rich cornucopia of sound on their debut album, Moon Doom! -- a virulent mixture of heavy, slow riffs, and space rock theatrics. TWUFTM have brought us one of the best debut releases I’ve heard in a long while and they should not be ignored.
April: JG THIRLWELL & SIMON STEENSLAND – Oscillospira
Oscillospira by JG Thirlwell & Simon Steensland
The Right Honorable Lord Foetus brings his considerable and prolific experience to this extraordinary avant garde work. Broody, mesmerising, and off-kilter, smarting with anguish and glowing with epicness!
May: VROVL – La Chasse au Marais/De Eendenjacht
La Chasse Au Marais / De Eendenjacht by Vrovl
Belgian outfit VROVL pull out a masterpiece of intricate, top-notch progressive rock -- deftly spanning the bridge between pastoral, symphonic, and progressive metal in a way that is both unique and breathtaking!
June: ORGÖNE – MOS/FET
ORGÖNE - MOS/FET by HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS Records
A bewildering, dazzling and bizarre array of songs, noises and shiftless innovation from this amazing French band. The gamut of prog, krautrock, musique concrete, and space rock are despatched with real flair and musicianship!
July: THE EX PAST – The Experimental Experience
The Experimental Experience by The Ex Past
Expansive, ballsy heavy psych from Russia that delivers tonal treats and trippy trap-doors a-plenty. A definite head-melter!
August: MOTORPSYCHO – The All Is One
No intros needed for this spectacular group of Norwegians. Confident, challenging, brimming with pure invention...grandiose is the word!
September: MOTHER’S CAKE – Cyberfunk!
Cyberfunk! by Mother's Cake
More delectable Austrian Prog from this ridiculously talented ensemble. A fusion of classic '70s hard prog, fuzzy psych, and sonic theatrics that will have you bouncing!
October: KEVEL – Mutatis Mutandis
Mutatis Mutandis by kevel
Poland’s grip on the stoner-doom genre was fastened to death-like by this incredible release. Heavy as a bag of anvils, crawling through depths, valleys, the void, and beyond with its breathtaking scope!
November: SUN CROW – Quest For Oblivion
Quest for Oblivion by Sun Crow
The Seattle stoner doomsters pull out an incredible display of Power, Craft and skill! A fantastic blend of sludge, doom, and stoner metal along with psychedelic flair make this a very serious AOTY contender!
December: THE AMORPHOUS ANDROGYNOUS – We Persuade Ourselves We Are Immortal
We Persuade Ourselves We Are Immortal by The Amorphous Androgynous
Future Sound Of London teams up with VDGG legend Peter Hammil and a star-studded array of musicians for this incredibly diverse, lusciously-produced and precision-executed smorgasbord of progressive rock wonder, weaving seamlessly through prog rock, trance, ambience, and electronica. Incredible!
