CURSE THE SON – Delirium

Sixteen years into their career, Curse The Son have unleashed a devastating work in ‘Delirium’. By taking many cues from classic stoner and doom bands and then adding their own brand of extra sludge, this fifth album from the New Haven heavyweights certainly doesn’t sell itself short in terms of riffs. The record’s general heaviness will be enough to win over a huge section of the metal community, but some already intense workouts take on new levels of darkness when the arrangements are peppered with some very bleak lyrical concerns.

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THE REAL GONE SINGLES BAR #77

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 previous few weeks. This time around, our chosen eight numbers take in some ska, some chunky country rock with the emphasis on the rock, a couple of brilliant synth oriented tracks, a treat from the shoegaze archives, and more besides. As always, we hope you find something new to enjoy.

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THE REAL GONE SINGLES BAR #75

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 previous couple of weeks. We think this selection is an interesting one, with something to entertain a broad range of different ears. We’ve got an acoustic based singer songwriter who sounds like they’re heading for big things, some re-promotion for a rock based banger, something with a ska heart that’s almost timeless, a bit of pop infused country, and more besides. As always, we hope you’ll find something new to enjoy!

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BLUE HERON – Everything Fades

Blue Heron’s debut release, the 2022 double single ‘Black Blood of The Earth’/‘Everything Fades’ introduced a band who really didn’t skimp when it came to a heavy riff. Their sound, a hearty mix of classic doom and sludge, created a monstrous noise; an intensity that made the tracks instant genre classics, despite vocalist Jadd Schickler’s “gargling with concrete” styled approach occasionally making the Blue Heron sound rather more marginal than some of their peers. A swiftly delivered full length release (‘Ephemeral’) really capitalised on their heavy abilities, but also showed off a band who were also capable of a hefty, bluesy swagger, bringing more of a desert rock/stoner quality. Between these bleak moods, Blue Heron appeared to have the full spectrum of heavier stoner vibes covered…and with aplomb.

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MAMMOTH VOLUME – Raised Up By Witches

Swedish stoner rock band Mammoth Volume are an interesting prospect. Their work isn’t shy in sharing the kind of 70s guitar tones you’ll find on early Queens of The Stone Age recordings, or exploring the corners of retro sounds beloved by latter day Opeth, but there’s always more to their albums than fuzzy heaviness and Hammond drenched grooves. ‘Raised Up By Witches’, their fifth release, in many ways, finds their mix of blues, fuzzy stoner metal and jazz coming of age.

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