Earthless: "Violence of the Red Sky"

Here's one to chew your teeth on. Typically when epic doom songs exceeding 10 minutes in length are released as singles, they're edited down into "teaser" mode. Earthless don't play that shit. Here's "Violence of the Red Sea" in all its 15-minute glory, even though it's the kind of hook-based classic rock jam that you could easily see making a logical six minute cut.

Windhand: "Woodbine"

A lot of the stoner doom bands these days are veering in the direction of groove/boogie, so it's nice when you run across another band vying with Yob to win the sheer wall-of-sound sweepstakes. I was going to review their previous, self-titled debut last year, but I kept finding conflicting street dates which indicated it may have just been picked up for wider re-release by a bigger label, so I took a pass. Won't be making the same mistake when Relapse issues Soma next month.

Kylesa: "Unspoken"

Well this is new. In a literal sense, of course, but "Unspoken", the first single from Kylesa's upcoming Ultraviolet LP, has kind of a space rock / not-quite drone vibe to it that is kind of a break from the group's usually straightforward stoner sludge. I mean, I've seen this band live more times than just about any other in the last five years and I've never seen a smile on Laura Pleasants' visage even once, so I wasn't expecting anything cheery, but this gratifyingly sees the band evolving beyond their usually straightforward sing-growl-sing template.

You've got a long wait until Ultraviolet proper is unveiled: 5/28 on Season of Mist, bitches.

Gates of Slumber: "Death March"

Scion AV is still pumping money into heavy metal, and this time around we get some free doom courtesy of Indianapolis' Gates of Slumber. Hell, this time around they even financed a video, which doesn't always happen (I don't recall seeing anything for the recent Corrosion of Conformity EP). Many decry corporate dollars being used as a cash influx into underground music, but thus far Scion has proven itself a bit more sincere than when, say, Anheuser-Busch decides they're going to come at those Guinness bucks.

Download here.

Venomous Maximus: "Path of Doom"

Is Texas the new Georgia when it comes to that dank stoner rock? Austin's got The Sword and New Orleans birthed Eyehategod and Crowbar... in between you've got Houston, and now representing H-Town proper is the fairly new retro-occult act Venomous Maximus, who actually have more of a unique, old school Euro doom thing going on compared to most of the domestic stuff. Beg Upon the Light is the band's first full length, which yours truly reviewed for Metal Injection here. Check out the video for single "Path of Doom" below:

The Sword: "Apocryphon"

Out today - and apparently up early on Spotify as of at least yesterday - Apocryphon is more of the same from Austin's own The Sword. This band has pretty much established themselves by now as Mr. Dependability... those other bands might change but The Sword never will. They're like the Motorhead of uptempo stoner doom. Fuck yeah.

Om: "State of Non-Return"

Al Cisneros is back after moonlighting with Shrinebuilder and a Sleep reunion with a return to his day job with Om. "State of Non-Return" wields elements of the Middle Eastern drone used to heavy effect on 2009's God is Good, but it primarily represents what many fans will embrace with open arms: the fuzzy stoner doom that Cisneros cut his teeth on.

Advaitic Songs is out July 24 on Drag City.
[UPDATE 11/1/12: added music video]:

Witch Mountain: "Beekeeper"

A lot of female-fronted doom nowadays. That's not a bad thing. Witch Mountain is on Profound Lore so you'll be hearing shitloads about them on the indie rock blogs any minute now, but they are a pretty traditional, old school doom band, kind of a cross between Candlemass / Sleep but with more versatile vocals.

Cauldron of the Wild is out June 12 on... never mind, said that already.

Saint Vitus: "Let Them Fall"

Scott "Wino" Weinrich has been a busy motherfucker. In just the last three years alone he's released two solo records, a recent collaboration with Conny Ochs, an album/tour as part of the supergroup Shrinebuilder, a 2011 effort under the band header Premonition 13, and a near endless series of acoustic solo dates. He's also spent a fair amount of time out on the road with the band he cut his teeth with, Saint Vitus, and 2012 sees the first studio release by that band since 1995... and first to feature Wino since 1990. Out April 27 on Season of Mist, Lillie: F-65 even sports an official video in "Let Them Fall".

Ufomammut: "Empireum"

In the whole doom metal realm I don't think anyone gets under-appreciated more than Italy's Ufomammut. Psychedelic almost to a Krautrock T, this band isn't quite filthy enough to satisfy Electric Wizard fans nor do they write accessible enough songs to hit it off with the Cathedral / Sabbath-loving crowd. Instead, they favor spacey, long form jams with no real vocals to speak of - some occasional chanting or buried howls occasionally pop up but that's about it - so think of a more ethereal, less immediate Yob and you're on the right track... sorta.

Ufomammut have jumped ship from their own Supernatural Cat label to Neurot Recordings for their latest, Oro: Opus Primum, which is the first of two themed concept albums. Interesting choice, releasing the longest song on the album as the first official "single", especially considering this new album is a slow burner, so track one is mostly a long build. Whatever: they put together some visuals for your punk ass, so chew your food and enjoy.

Uzala: "The Reaping"

Uzala is a new doom band out of Boise with a twist: clean female vocals. Not clean in the played out Nightwish / Evanescence mold but more like a Sabbath-worshiping Doro. Their self-titled debut came out February 1 on At War With False Noise but can also be streamed / purchased digitally via Bandcamp.
(via Tiny Mix Tapes)