YAWNING BALCH – Volume Three

The first two albums by Yawning Balch – the side project featuring members of Yawning Man with Fu Manchu guitarist Bob Balch – yielded some fabulous music. The lengthy, improvised jams filled a pair of records with brilliant, almost ambient desert rock sounds; a whole world of sonic textures that really capture a moment, but really allow listener to be really drawn in by the band’s almost cinematic qualities.

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THE PALE HORSE RITUAL – Enchantress EP

Some projects take a while to get off the ground and become a concrete reality, but Ontario’s Pale Horse Ritual (formerly The Pale Horses) took the idea of not rushing anything to extremes. The earliest line up of band the dated back to the late 90s when they were an on/off project for the musicians involved, but it wasn’t until 2024 that a stable line up was formed and the band finally entered the recording studio. They might have taken an age to reach the world’s ears, but the ‘Enchantress’ EP (released via Black Throne Productions (home of Sons of Arrakis and AAWKS) is a real treat.

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STONE DISCIPLE – Stoner Thrash EP

‘Stoner Thrash’ by Stone Disciple is one of those releases that, to use an old phrase, does exactly what it says on the tin. The guitar tones used throughout are pure stoner; the speed of the material, less so. Attacking like a harder edged Fu Manchu colliding with a riffy, speed loving Sabbath clone, this EP’s songs cover all the important stoner bases, and yet convey an energy that feels pleasingly fresh at the time of release.

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VOLT RITUAL – Swamp Lake City EP

From the moment their self-titled release arrived on Bandcamp in 2022, Polish doom/stoner/space rock band Volt Ritual proved to be an act headed for greatness. Whether channelling Black Sabbath on that debut, or putting elements of Hawkwind and Neu! through a much heavier filter on their ‘Return To Jupiter’ follow up, the musicians never sounded anything less than a hundred percent committed to delivering the riffs.

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THE REAL GONE SINGLES BAR #89

Welcome back to the Real Gone Singles Bar, the place where we explore some of the individual tracks that have landed in our inbox over the last few weeks. Although this selection digs deeply to showcase recent tunes from up and coming talents, there’s one name here that should be familiar to most. We’ve also got a couple of superb singer songwriters, some classic sounding dream rock, and even a superb sounding single from a cool pop act. As always, we hope you find something new to enjoy!

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