The album opens up with “Like Embers” which has one of those Neurosis type riffs that you will stay going around in your head for a few days. It then builds and builds into an unrelenting Sepultura-esque ditty, but then turns back into that sense of decay again with the opening riff. Certainly a real impressive introduction to ‘Inhumanform’. Every subsequent song after offers something that is unique onto itself. By the time you get to the track “Black Rain” it opens with a real rocking High On Fire type rhythm. But again takes a different path and changes tempo completely. It should be mentioned that the album was mastered by Brad Boatright (From Ashes Rise) who has in the past mastered High On Fire, Sleep, Tragedy etc.

Age Of Woe have great independent ethics and have toured through ‘Rise! Bookings‘ so have played many DIY venues. Being autonomous does not bring in money, hence so many bands end up recording in cheap as chips type recording studios. But they recorded at Polar Studios in Stockholm, Sweden. Where in the past Led Zeppelin, Rammstein, Entombed etc have recorded, so you know the band have pumped every cent/krona they have into this recording. The result of course is a very highly polished production that will last the test of time.

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Diseased riffage and rotting vocals with the aggressive attitude of punk only begins to sum up Olympia’s BONE SICKNESS. On April 30th, the band’s debut album Alone In The Grave will be released via 20 Buck Spin. Today we are streaming the whole deranged piece of torment below…Read the CVLT Nation review of the album HERE!

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Picture glowing embers and the charred remnants of razed buildings. Raging fires and smoke-filled skies. Ash drifting in the hot winds like some sort of contemptible snow. Complete and utter desolation. Slow-motion hopelessness in a black sand desert. Picture this and you’ll have pictured something strikingly similar to Santa Fe’s doom metal/drone masters Drought. Their self-titled four-track album might as well be the soundtrack to the apocalypse; offering a guided tour to our horrific ultimate demise.

Drought formed in 2008 and features current members Luke Sheppard (drums), Hoagie (guitars/vocals) and — since 2010 — Bones (bass). The band plays mostly instrumental tunes, successfully conjuring images of vast, uninhabitable landscapes and the feelings of loneliness and despair that would no doubt accompany such places. Feelings of certain, inevitable doom. Epic mid-tempo dirges with soaring guitar passages give way to churning blast-beats now and again, keeping things interesting. The songs, ‘Nightwalker,’ ‘Penitente,’ ‘Peyote Priestress,’ and ‘Canyons,’ range from 8 to 19 minutes but never fall prey to stagnancy. Drought infuse each track with an energy and potency that belies the slow tempo that typically defines the doom genre. Sheppard’s drumming is massive, intricate, and spot-on. Hoagie’s guitar work is crushing, atmospheric, and, at times, quite beautiful. Bones’ bass tone is clear, the lines are supportive, and it sits nicely in the mix. All in all, the record is brutal, thought-provoking, and extremely cohesive. Why this band is unsigned is beyond me; a situation that should be rectified immediately.

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Right now I’m sipping on some CULT OF THE SEVEN CROWNS chopped & screwed mixtape. On the real, I really dig this motherfucking mix because it combines two things that I dig: hardcore & drugged-out hip hop styles. This is an epic, mind-melting blast that should be listened to HIGH. Only 100 copies were created by Fuck Yoga, but we also have it here it for download! Check out “Land of Screwdom” and inhale some slowdown chaos into your ears…Hail the CULT OF THE SEVEN CROWNS for killing it on the 1′s & 2′s!

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I have never understood the appeal of ventriloquism. There is something infinitely creepy about ventriloquist dolls; maybe if the acts were more along the lines of weird and horrifying I would enjoy them more. I really wonder about people who do ventriloquism. The dummies always have the weirdest, most exaggerated faces, with huge staring eyes, bulbous noses and cheeks stretched into a grimacing smile. No wonder so many horror films have featured talking dolls. Also, their voices are terrifying – all high and squeaky and manic. I just don’t like them. But if I feel like freaking myself out, I can stare at photos of vintage ventriloquist dummies for hours, feeling the thrill of a chill down my spine. So if you feel like that today, check out a wonderful and weird gallery below…

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4:20 is almost upon us, so I wanted to represent with a post from a band that always elevates my high: WEEDEATER. In 2012, they gave a bongadelic performance at Churchill’s in Florida and today we would like to share the whole stoneriffic event with you! CVLT Nation salutes South Florida Hardcore for always filming the killer shows!

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At CVLT Nation HQ, we will be celebrating the 420 weekend, so we thought we should spread the joy! All our clothing and hats will be 30% off starting today until Monday the 22nd with code 420WEEKEND! Plus, every order placed during the sale will get a FREE pin pack! As if it couldn’t get any better, all domestic orders over $75 ship for free, and all International orders over $150 ship free. So spark one up (or don’t) and get yourself some new threads from the CVLT Store!

I haven’t had a TV since I was 11, so in my mind Ozzy will always be a long-haired doom god and the leader of one of the best bands in existence. But I never imagined that Black Sabbath would come back and create music in my lifetime. I am fucking stoked that Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Ozzy Osbourne have reunited not just to make some money off of their existing catalogue, but to reignite the fires of hell that drove Black Sabbath to become one of the most legendary bands of the 20th Century. They are coming out with a new LP, 13, (pre-order HERE) in June 2013, and they are streaming a track off that new album, “God is Dead.” Check out the tune and tour dates below. What do you think??

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New Zealand’s Beastwars first came to my attention a little earlier this year due to the nonstop praise the wonderful Craig Hayes (Six Noises, Pop Matters, About.com Heavy Metal, Hellbound.ca) was giving this stoner driven quartet. New Zealand doesn’t have a vast metal scene (Ulcerate is the only other group that comes to mind right now) so it’s always a big deal when a band from NZ suddenly starts blowing up the airwaves. I checked ‘em out, and damn, they were definitely worthy of all that hype. Crunchy riffs, growling vocal lines and huge songs that kick you right in the guts – Beastwars are something very exciting indeed and we are incredibly pleased to present an exclusive stream of the track “Imperium” from their new record Blood Becomes Fire.

Blood Becomes Fire is an age-old story of dealing with our own mortality and the band explains that:

“The new album serves witness to the end of days, told through the eyes of a dying traveler from another time. It is a work inspired by eternal themes. It’s a reflection on mortality, death and disease. Sooner or later they come for all of us and we’ve all screamed to the gods for answers, not that they’ve ever come.”

The songs found here are powerful, and of course loud, and the narrative of the record is fed through each track with a stylish blaze. From the opening crunch of “Dune” and Matt Hyde’s rough, immediate voice to the sneaky melancholy of closing track “The Sleeper,” Blood Becomes Fire travels the path of life via highs, lows and straight up rocking out.

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